"Calm down? How do you want me to calm down!!"
Even though the middle-aged man tried to persuade him kindly, the old man's tone was still irritable.
"These soldiers came up and said that there was a problem with the gate mechanism that I was responsible for, and they wanted to take me away for questioning. Okay, no problem. I am an empire citizen. I know that I have an obligation to cooperate with the investigation, and I am happy to accept it."
"In order to fulfill my obligations, I ignored the weird looks and hurtful whispers in the Chamber of Commerce and followed them here. But now they don't tell me the details of the problem. Why wait until the commander comes?!"
"When I was designing the gate mechanism, I had to select thousands of materials. I also personally handled every maintenance of the gate mechanism. I didn't dare to let my apprentices take full responsibility for fear of problems!"
"Let's not talk about merits and hard work for now. I should at least be treated with the most basic respect, right? Look at the eyes of these people. They don't seem to call me for questioning. They clearly regard me as a prisoner!"
The old man pointed with trembling hands at the surrounding city guards.
"Okay! Treat me as a prisoner! But then you should also let me know what I did to get dragged here, right? It's just that there is a problem with the gate, and they don't say where the problem is. I can't cooperate even if I want!"
The old man's tone was quite aggrieved, and the soldiers surrounding the city guard looked embarrassed.
Middle-aged people are also in trouble.
He knew that the old man usually had the best face. As the most famous craftsman of the Hutt Chamber of Commerce, the old man was most proud of his own skills.
However, just now, the old man's work results were questioned in public!
Being able to follow the soldiers without saying a word was already a sign of great cooperation from the old man. The middle-aged man followed all the way because he was worried about a conflict between the old man and the soldiers.
But now when they arrived at the place, the soldier did not disclose the details and acted extremely indifferent. This completely broke the old man's emotional defense line.
"Master, listen to me. Since the soldiers kept the situation so closely guarded, it must be very important. There might be some misunderstanding. Let's just wait patiently, okay?" The middle-aged man patted the old man's back. , comforted, "When Mr. George comes, I will ask what happened. Can you take a good rest first?"
"Oh - if the king is willing to rule again, how can I be aggrieved like this!" Feeling that what the middle-aged man said was reasonable, the old man just muttered angrily, then sat down without complaining anymore.
Seeing that the old man was willing to calm down and stop showing his temper, the middle-aged man breathed a sigh of relief. Then, he heard movement and saw the three Leonhardts walking towards them.
"Oh, we're finally here!" The old man jumped up when he saw George.
Seeing Leon Hart walking with George, the middle-aged man was a little surprised. He was even more stunned when he found that Leonhart was accompanied by An, who was also wearing a mask.
"...Little citizen Hertel, I have met Lord Leonhardt and Lord George." Hertel bowed deeply.
"President Hertel, why are you here too?" George raised his hand to indicate that there was no need to be polite.
"To be honest, Mr. George, Mr. Cole of our Chamber of Commerce is a maverick, and it is not easy for ordinary people to understand his thinking. I was worried about unnecessary misunderstandings, so I came with him."
"Haha, that's it."
This was not the first time that George met Old Cole, but he was not very clear about his character. The impression he left was that he was a very responsible and skilled master. But after the fuss just now, he had a general understanding of Old Cole.
He turned to Leonhardt and said, "This is the president of the Hutt Chamber of Commerce, and the old master next to him is the craftsman responsible for maintaining the gate mechanism."
"Lord Leonhart?!" Only now did Old Cole notice that Leonhart, who had arrived with George, looked a little more serious.
The captain of the Imperial Guard takes action, the situation is definitely unusual!
"Sir, with all due respect, what exactly happened to the gate?" Hertel asked directly without much greeting.
Raising his hand to disperse the surrounding city guards, George told the two people who were called about the situation.
"The gate was deliberately destroyed?!" Hertel became more and more horrified as he listened. "There were even intruders entering the city through the gap in the gate to cause trouble?!"
"This, this, this..." Old Cole's expression was exactly the same.
Things have reached this level, even if they have nothing to do with the intruders, until the prisoner is arrested or conclusive evidence is found to prove his innocence, the Hutt Chamber of Commerce cannot escape the involvement, and it is not an exaggeration to say that they are the biggest suspect.
"Old sir, President Hertel, don't worry. I called you here just to ask a few doubts. I hope you two can cooperate well." Leonhardt stepped forward with a gentle tone.
"Of course...of course..." The two nodded repeatedly.
"That's perfect." Leonhart smiled and turned back to George, "Colonel George, please order someone to raise the gate first and then dismantle it to the shore for easy observation."
"yes!"
After making the arrangements, Leonhardt looked at Old Cole.
"Master, can you recall the details of the maintenance of the gate mechanism years ago?"
"Okay, I remember it very clearly."
"I heard that just now. Didn't you notice anything unusual at that time?"
Old Cole thought about it many times before nodding heavily: "I'm sure not! All the mechanism points are operating normally, especially the gate body. Because according to the experience of previous years, there will usually be heavy rain after the New Year, and the integrity of the gate is very Importantly, I checked specifically and it is impossible for a large hole for people to pass through to appear out of thin air."
Leonhardt thought for a while and said: "Then, do you know how to cut a gap of about one meter in diameter from the gate underwater without leaving any trace?"
"With a diameter of one meter, there are still no traces?" Old Cole frowned and replied tangledly, "Sir Leonhardt, don't blame me for being blunt. I personally selected the materials for the main body of the gate to ensure quality. . Even for a warrior like you, under water... no, even on land, it would take a lot of effort to carve out such a hole for the gate, and the movement will definitely not be much smaller!"
"..."
Leonhardt thought to himself that what you said was so straightforward!
Of course he knew the extent of his abilities, but since he was asking old Cole, who was a skilled craftsman, he must be asking about what tools he used!
Who knew that Old Cole’s first reaction would also be to do it with his bare hands——
The empire is full of martial virtue, but after all, it has its shortcomings...
"What tools I mean." Leonhardt showed an awkward yet polite smile.
"Oh...oh! Hey - my brain!" Old Cole slapped his forehead and started thinking seriously.
Hertel covered his face with his sleeves.
"The chisel... is no good. You can dig with something. Even under the water, the patrolling brothers can see that the part above the water is shaking; the carving knife... I can't even give those bastards half a year to make the big one. It can't stand the force underwater, and there will probably be movement on the water surface when you play with it; the saw...if the shape is good, the movement will be small, but it is difficult to use force underwater, and it is not easy to find a starting point...wait, saw?" Old Cole seemed to have thought of something.
The soldiers of the city guard raised the sluice gate again, and the gap above was shocking.
"Show me the gap!" Old Cole shouted.
Hertel quickly stopped him: "Don't worry, don't worry, you can take a look after the gate is removed!"
Old Cole, who was eager to verify his conjecture, noticed his surroundings and then remembered the current situation: "Oh——"
The cute and respectable performance of the old child caused laughter from all around.
With the concerted efforts of the soldiers of the city guard and the assistance of various tools, the gate was dismantled and transported ashore.
Seeing Leonhardt's nod, Old Cole's movements were not as aging as his appearance. He jumped up to the gate in a few steps and squatted at the gap to take a closer look.
"...Have you not found the missing wood?" Old Cole's words came true.
"Yes!" Leonhart became excited.
"That's right, that's it!"
