The news that Sheriff Vega successfully obtained the Duke's eldest son from the Duke's Palace spread throughout the streets of Monroe on the afternoon of February 6th.
Many residents rushed to tell each other. Businessmen, farmers, and hunters who were busy in the market, people of different ages and genders from different professions ran towards the Beicheng District Public Security Station in groups - being The arrest of the Duke's eldest son, whom everyone had always suspected of being a "magician," was secondary. The biggest motivation driving so many people to go to the security station was actually curiosity.
It has been fifteen years since birth.
In fifteen years, the eldest son of the Duke of Monroe, the first heir to the largest noble family after the royal family in the Crant Kingdom, controlled hundreds of thousands of people including the villages in the surrounding rainforest—— Even once, no one has witnessed what it looks like.
There are many speculations about his appearance in Monroe City and even among the people of Crant. Some people speculate that he has three heads and six arms, while others speculate that he is the result of the duchess having an affair with the devil and having long horns. and a monster with a tail, while others swore that little Oscar Munroe was actually a woman.
Everyone has their own explanation. It is said that even the high-ranking nobles in Crant's country have complained about Duke Oscar's behavior of hiding his heir.
Marriage is an excellent way for nobles to consolidate their power status. Although the education of most noble women from childhood has taught them to accept their fate, they will not resist even if the other party is an old man of their grandfather's generation. But when it comes to numbers, the Duke of Monroe's family is one of the top nobles in Crant's territory. Only the royal family can get married beyond them. Therefore, the two sons of the Duke's family have naturally been targeted by many noble families since they were young. of.
But instead of letting them show up and gain honors and become dazzling stars in domestic politics, Oscar Monro, who was supposed to educate little Oscar Monroe into an outstanding leader, has been refusing to let his son see the light since more than ten years ago. The same goes for the birth of a second son.
People came and went, and as soon as the news spread that the Duke's eldest son was taken to the security post, countless people with various purposes came here to inquire.
The crowd squeezed from one side of the wide red brick road that could accommodate two carriages to the other side. Looking down from above, the area covered by these people was at least five to six times that of the small security post, and they were still moving all the time. increasing.
"Go, go, it's blocking the light!" The security team member guarding the gate changed his previous carelessness and energetically waved away the residents at the door. But after driving away one group, another group will squeeze in. These people were extremely curious about what the Duke's eldest son looked like, whether he had three heads and six arms or devil's horns, or whether he was actually a woman.
Sheriff Vega did not hide little Oscar, he just sat in the right corner on the first floor of the security post. And those who saw him through the dim light couldn't help but have obvious disappointment on their faces.
--ordinary.
The only word that can be used to describe this boy who is the same age as Ferry is ordinary.
This is not to say that his appearance is so popular. After all, he is a pampered young man with fair and delicate skin, good clothes and well-trimmed hair. Little Oscar's appearance can be considered handsome - but compared to the various rumors that have been circulated among the people for more than ten years, he is really...
So human.
"Go, go, go!" The guards at the security post continued to wave, but the curiosity accumulated over more than ten years kept these people coming.
"..." Henry stood aside silently, as did Mira and Ferry. The clerk Franco was writing something as usual - Vega moved a chair and sat in front of little Oscar, but it was already ten years old. No words were spoken for several minutes.
"Okay, that's enough! If you continue like this, I will arrest you all for disturbing the peace!" The guard finally got tired of it and shouted loudly and rushed out. Many people had already seen the face of the Duke's eldest son. , and with this threat, they all became like birds and beasts and dispersed.
Finally able to get some peace and quiet, the guard wiped the sweat from his forehead. Then he sat back down at the seat he placed by the door.
The six people in the not-so-spacious security post remained silent. Only the "rustling" sound of the side of the clerk's palm rubbing against the paper continued as he wrote.
"..." It's not that Vega didn't want to convict little Oscar. In fact, he had tried all legal means since he took him back to the police station in the morning. But the other party refused to give in. For several hours, he didn't even say a word except a smile.
That calm and confident demeanor that didn't take others seriously combined with the fact that he had become very stinky at the age of fifteen, the sheriff almost wanted to grab him by the collar and beat him up with bulging veins - but he couldn't.
In this era, most of the methods for dealing with various prisoners were to beat them to death. Only when nobles were involved did people start to pay attention to the law and evidence. It's ironic to say that if the initially suspected culprit was not the Duke's eldest son, this matter might have been solved faster.
- Faster, but not necessarily fair.
If the Duke's eldest son is not suspected, then most of the residents of Monroe will be insecure like other places and start to doubt whether their neighbors and friends are the "magicians" who murder people. The suspicions that arise from this will then evolve into reports of each other's suspicions. In the end, the person who is the most suspected and has been reported by the most people will most likely be caught, beaten, and then sentenced to death.
Call it unfair, but this kind of thing is quite common in this era.
Just like the "chivalry" that is most commonly praised in Avenella and Silvalier, it is fair or fair. Be it respect or humility, all the "etiquette" and "civilization" of treating each other as equal human beings.
They only exist among "noble nobles".
The people of Civalier and Avenela, who uphold the spirit of chivalry, are ruthless when encountering infantry composed of sergeants and ordinary civilians who are unable to pay the ransom. When encountering knights and nobles, they often leave each other alone. A living mouth.
In addition to financial factors, in the final analysis, this kind of unequal treatment is because most of the nobles on the West Coast have intricate and complex connections. The inextricable connections in blood and marriage that started many years ago plus the huge The family lineage and the power of the army - if you want to convict a noble, if you don't find irrefutable evidence for the other party as the rightful party, you will inevitably face retaliation afterwards.
All things are born out of the pressure of existing reality. So the so-called finding evidence, convicting people, not using excessive violence, etc., in fact, in the final analysis, they have nothing to do with morality.
While the nobles enjoy these treatments with peace of mind, civilians are still being beaten every day. As a relatively professional legal maintenance agency, Monroe's security post can be considered fair to a certain extent. This is also the reason why Weijia will respond to everything this morning, even though the people who come are all civilians who will scatter like birds and beasts when they see blood. But you will never see this kind of situation in other countries and places where the military itself is used to maintain security.
Anyone would want to stay away from a soldier who can openly carry and draw weapons anywhere if necessary, not to mention the right to beat or even execute himself.
Returning to the original point, Vega naturally understood what the Duchess said that morning at the time, but holding the other person in his arms was just a kid in his teens who had never seen anyone else. Inducing the idea that intimidation would most likely reveal the truth, the Sheriff was still confident - a few hours ago.
"You're the one who killed my mother!" Ferry, who couldn't hold his breath, was trembling with anger and wanted to rush up and hit him countless times, but Henry just stretched out a hand and pressed the young man on his shoulder. The mercenary couldn't move - his behavior was quite in line with his age. Vega turned around and looked at Ferry. Little Oscar was calmly waiting for him without saying a word, and he had already begun to feel bored.
"Alas..." The Sheriff let out a long breath. But at this time, there were chaotic and huge footsteps outside.
"Huchi...huchi..."
"Pa-ta-" The man panting heavily ran over and leaned his whole body against the door. Everyone who was attracted by the silence immediately noticed the blood stains on his hand holding the door. Henry because Squinting his eyes slightly under the bright light at the door, this civilian seemed to be one of the people in the morning.
"Bob, what's wrong, are you okay?" Vega stood up holding the chair, while the middle-aged male resident he called Bob continued to breathe: "No...it's okay, this is not mine. ...It's not my blood." He said this: "You have to come quickly! ...The devil and the magician appeared again, and more than thirty of us surrounded him. But he was too powerful, we couldn't defeat him at all. !”
When Bob said this, Vega's eyes immediately widened. He turned back to look at little Oscar, and a smile appeared on the lips of the fair-skinned Duke's eldest son. "Damn it!" The Sheriff broke his crutch violently, and then looked at Clerk Franco.
"I'm watching him here." The latter replied with a calm face. Vega turned his head and looked at the three mercenaries behind him. After the three of them nodded in unison, the Sheriff limped and started to work hard. Run forward.
"This way..." Bob, who was running all the way, was obviously out of breath and couldn't keep up with the others. After pointing out the direction for them, he sat down on the road and started breathing heavily.
"Kill him!" "Damn murderer!" "No, don't go there. The Sheriff and the others are coming soon!"
Noisy sounds sounded in front of him. Vega gritted his teeth and continued running with one hand on his stinging thigh. It was at this time that everyone felt the fluctuations spreading in the air.
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh." The scream of a resident who was too close ended abruptly, and his neck uncontrollably rotated 180 degrees and returned directly to the back.
"Pa—" The resident rolled his eyes and fell to the ground vomiting blood. Already too dead to die.
"It's really an interference spell!" Weijia shouted loudly: "Spread out quickly, the interference spell has a very short range, so don't get too close and there will be no problem!"
"It's the Sheriff! The Sheriff is here!" More than thirty residents gave way to the passage, and at this time, the true appearance of the prisoner they surrounded in the corner became clear.
"Haha... haha" He was about forty years old, with blond hair and stubble on his face. It was obvious that he had been injured during the previous siege by the residents, and one of the arms of the "Magician" was limply hanging down. Not only that, there was a huge piece of gauze attached to the bridge of his nose - but it didn't look like he was hurt at the moment. Henry frowned and then slowed down.
After just a brief observation, the sage understood why the wounds on this man's face looked so familiar to him.
——Because it was hit by Kramer’s weighted ball.
This man was the elite soldier that the Sage had fought with and survived last night. Henry frowned and his face began to turn gloomy. But Vega next to him was even worse. He just looked over and stood there completely stunned.
"Lawrence...you..." There was undisguised shock in the Sheriff's voice, but then it turned into soaring anger: "That vicious resentful woman!!"
"Is this revenge on me!" The man with gray temples was shaking with anger, while the man called Lawrence standing opposite him held a black ring and shouted loudly: "Don't think too much, Captain! I am the magician!"
The scarred middle-aged man roared loudly: "I am the magician who kills people! If you don't stop me, I will continue to kill people!"
The words were clearly threatening, but they sounded extremely desolate.
"Damn it! What did they do to you? Was it Mary and Ann? Did that vicious woman arrest Mary and Ann! Lawrence, stop, I can help you!" Vega was still roaring loudly here, Lawrence Clenching his teeth and shaking his head in pain, Henry on the left rushed out in a flash.
"Die!!" The elite soldier with scars from last night's battle on his face noticed the sage's movements. He roared loudly and raised the black ring in his hand, while the expressionless Henry stretched his hands behind his back. " Clang——".
"Crack--" The ring and the clenched palm were split into two. Henry's next sword pierced Lawrence's heart.
"Uh-huh -" He spat out a mouthful of blood, his clear light blue pupils slowly losing their warmth, and the sage supported him.
"Thank you"
"In this way... they will be... safe..."
The light blue pupils widened and "plopped" behind him. Vega fell to his knees on the ground. Henry looked at the dead "magician" in his arms silently. He stretched out two fingers and closed them for him. Eyelids, and then slowly drew out the sword.
Blood flowed wildly from the wound that penetrated the heart. Henry let go of his hand and Lawrence fell to the ground.
"The magician is dead!!"
The residents began to cheer.
"Long live the Sheriff! The Magician is dead!!"
They didn't know the meaning of the conversation between the Sheriff and the other party, and the residents didn't care. This man claimed to be a magician and killed several people with strange techniques. Now that he was killed, this was something worth singing about happily. The thirty or so people watching ran to various places in high spirits. Everyone started running around telling each other.
The festive atmosphere spread quickly.
And among all the laughter and laughter, only the four sages remained silent.
"...Thank you." Vega sighed dejectedly, and then said to Henry.
"..." The sage did not answer. In this situation, any words were powerless.
"In the end...what on earth was I doing?" The Sheriff, whose white hair seemed to have grown a little more on his temples, shook his head and said this with a hint of self-deprecation in his tone.
"He was caught using interference spells to kill people. The magician died just like that. Little Oscar Monroe was cleared of suspicion and returned to freedom without any trouble."
"Damn it!"
"Damn it, ahhhhhhh!!" Vega knelt on his knees and slammed his hands on the road. His hysterical roar was quickly covered up by the joyous noises from everywhere.
Only the four people present could hear the pale-haired Sheriff's heartfelt screams that were incompatible with the bright spring sunshine in Monroe. (To be continued.)
