"I'm sorry for disturbing you late at night."
The handsome young man with blond hair in front of him bowed slightly to apologize.
Xiao Lin smiled slightly and motioned for him to sit down first.
"Lan, what do you want from me?"
"There's something I want to confirm."
"what is it then?"
Xiao Lin made him a cup of tea, and the rising heat obscured their sight. But Lan's words turned into a sharp sword, passing through the heat and pointing directly at Xiao Lin's heart.
"Mr. Xiaolin, you are not from the Imperial Capital."
"..."
Xiao Lin remained silent.
Lan didn't care about Xiaolin's almost acquiescent attitude, but continued to say warmly:
"According to the intelligence I have collected, you are an uncle-nephew relationship with an old watchmaker who died three years ago. It seems suspicious, but in fact, there is no flaw in the witnesses, evidence or past experience.
If you focus all your energy on proving that you are not the old watchmaker's nephew, you will definitely fall into your trap. However, you overlooked a problem. "
Xiao Lin's eyes were slightly drowsy and he asked, "What's the problem?"
"The old watchmaker's problem."
Lan slowly explained: "Is he from the Imperial Capital? Is he a watchmaker? Is he a real person? As long as we start from this aspect, we can easily find that among the 17 watch shops in the Imperial Capital, there is no such thing as an old watchmaker. The man, or rather the old watchmaker, is just his disguise.”
Bang bang bang——
Xiao Lin couldn't help but clapped his hands and praised: "Very good reasoning, what you said is basically correct."
"Thank you, Mr. Xiaolin. These are all flaws you deliberately exposed, aren't they?" Lan's words surprised Xiaolin even more.
I know your flaws.
I know you know my flaws.
I know you know I know your flaws.
It was precisely based on this kind of psychological game like matryoshka dolls that Lan and Xiaolin were alone together tonight.
"I have to say, I want you more and more."
Lan has a calm personality and a smart mind. She can analyze the situation clearly and is not easy to fall into traps.
He serves as Esdeath's adjutant in The Hunter, assisting her in handling some political affairs and chores, which shows that he is very capable in domestic affairs.
Coupled with his current position, success in wooing him will bring great help. He is a talent that Xiaolin is extremely eager for.
"You want to get me...although some people have special quirks, but I'm like Mr. Xiaolin. You don't want to get me literally, right?"
"Not at all!"
Xiao Lin couldn't help but complained: "Are you infected by Will?!"
"I think so." Lan smiled.
The teasing just now was just an interlude to lighten the atmosphere, but now we are about to get down to business.
"Lan, you said you were ambitious."
"That's right."
Lan made it clear when he joined the Hunters that he was ambitious and therefore very motivated.
Others may not understand why this gentle young man said this.
But Xiaolin knew.
He used to be a teacher, but when he returned from an outing, he found that his students had been massacred by thieves.
However, the local practice of concealing the information in order to protect the reputation of public security aroused strong dissatisfaction with Lan. He joined the Hunter in order to change the status quo of the empire and avenge the students.
"Before we get down to business, just to show my sincerity, I'll give it to you."
Xiao Lin took out a document and placed it in front of Lan.
"This is?"
"You might as well open it and take a look."
With doubts in mind, Lan gently opened the document, and her calm and peaceful expression suddenly froze.
In fact, he had another reason to join the Hunters, and that was to find out who was the murderer of his students.
And the murderer is...
"The organization under the minister's son Sheila, Champ in [Wild Hound]."
Lan whispered the murderer's name.
If it was just speculation, Lan wouldn't believe it. After all, he had the ability to judge.
But he had an impression of the clown in the intelligence, and he clearly knew that the murderer who killed his student was a clown-like person.
So when he saw it again, he couldn't control his emotions. The documents he held became wrinkled, and his hands turned slightly white due to exertion.
However, Lan is very good at managing emotions, and he calmed down after taking a few breaths.
"Although I don't know what Mr. Xiaolin's purpose is, I still want to thank you."
He stood up and bowed deeply.
Xiao Lin shook his head and said: "I just did something trivial. After all, Lan, you have been investigating this matter recently. With your intelligence, you can quickly find out who the murderer is. I just shortened this." It’s just a process.”
"But no matter what, Mr. Xiaolin helped me a lot."
Lan is surprisingly persistent in this aspect.
Perhaps because of this, he is always thinking about finding the murderers who killed his students several years ago and avenging them.
Xiao Lin sighed softly: "If the empire hadn't become like this, your students wouldn't have been killed."
"...Probably." Lan looked sad.
"But! Lan, you should have noticed the fact that the decaying empire is hopeless!"
"..."
"So, do you want to join my side?"
The brewing feelings were in place, and Xiao Lin took advantage of the opportunity to invite him.
Arousing the sadness in his heart is just the foreshadowing, recruiting him to join is the real purpose.
But Lan was not swayed by his feelings. He raised his eyebrows slightly and asked doubtfully: "Xiaolin, are you, like Tazmi, also a member of the revolutionary army?"
Unexpectedly, he had already guessed that Tazmi was from the Revolutionary Army. No wonder just now he took the initiative to ask Esdeath what to do if Tazmi became an enemy. It seemed that he had been alert.
But, unfortunately, he guessed wrong.
"I'm not from the revolutionary army."
Xiao Lin shook his head and explained: "The Axis Cult... have you heard of this name?"
"Is the Axis Sect a newly established church after the original Anning Sect was renamed?"
Lan tapped his chin with his index finger and said unconvincingly: "I recently received information that the church is expanding aggressively to recruit members.
Many travelers said that the members of that church were very fanatical, and they tried their best to carry out missionary activities to every passer-by, and strongly wanted to attract them to join the religion.
Moreover, the method was so excessive and bad that the convoys who were doing business in the past were so frightened that they took a detour to the royal capital after hearing about this incident. "
...I'm sorry, I'm really sorry!
Xiao Lin covered his face with his hands, feeling ashamed and seriously doubting that he had made a mistake in establishing the Axis Order.
He also didn't expect that the leader would be so fanatical and lead his followers to preach crazily to others.
If Xiao Lin hadn't strictly prohibited it, he might have taken the initiative to launch attacks on surrounding towns.
It is precisely because of this that Xiao Lin is so eager to get Lan, so that he, the internal affairs officer, can act as a rein and restrain the fanatical leader.
"In short! Lan, you should know that it is impossible to improve the empire from within. But once the revolutionary army rises, it will cause more casualties to the people. That's why I established the Axis Order, hoping to use wisdom and peace Come and settle the dispute! Join us, Lan, I need you."
"I'm sorry, please let me think about it."
Lan, who has calmed down, will not be so easily moved by Xiaolin's emotional speech.
And in his opinion, there is no difference between the Axis Order and the Revolutionary Army, and the empire is not really as hopeless as Kobayashi said.
Naturally, he will not agree easily.
But he promised that he would seriously consider Xiaolin's request and said that he would not tell Esdeath what happened tonight.
Lan left, Xiao Lin felt a little regretful.
She thought she could use the student's death to arouse Lan's anger so she could take the opportunity to impress him.
"It seems that my thinking is too simple, but Lan should also understand that it is impossible to save the empire from the inside."
Sighing, he picked up the kitten lying by the window and said, "Are you right, lovely Miss Killer?"
