The Book of Hibernation

Winter Thistle didn't take much rest all day and night yesterday, and now she was really tired, so she slept for a while on the wooden bed covered with grass mats.The condition of the cell in the basement of the city hall was not too bad, even better than some of the shabby huts he had lived in before.

Not long after he slept, he was woken up by the sound of messy footsteps.

The soldiers drove away the shackled mercenaries, counted their numbers one by one, and sent them to this cell.

There are so many mercenaries that almost fill up the cells on this floor.In the end, the soldiers led five people with chains and walked towards the cell where Dongji was.

Dong Ji suddenly became nervous, thinking about how to get along with these people.They are not stupid, they must know who caused their arrest.

The iron bar door opened, and the mercenaries walked in one by one, all of them staring at Winter Thistle were obviously very unfriendly.

They were more threatening, so the soldiers did not remove the shackles from them.Even so, it couldn't make Winter Thistle feel at ease.

The soldier locked the door and left, the sound of footsteps fading away up the stone steps.Winter Thistle was still standing against the wall, not daring to look at those mercenaries.

One of the mercenaries taunted: "Look, you are so scared that you don't dare to move when you stand there?"

Dong Ji didn't know how to answer the words, so she turned slightly and apologized.

After he finished speaking, several mercenaries burst into laughter.Laughter came from other cells nearby.

Another laughed and said, "Hey, you're a half-elf? Pull up your hair and show us your ears."

"Pick up the skirt and have a look. I heard that you elves don't have long hair. Is it true?"

"What skirt, this is a man."

"I heard that he is the anaconda's lover, does he still have pants to wear?"

"Hey! Little elf, have you ever been raped by an anaconda? How can you bear it with your little body? Let me tell you about it?"

The mercenaries were giggling, uttering all kinds of obscenities.Winter Thistle was still huddled in the corner, neither answering nor daring to move.

After a while, Dong Ji suddenly thought: These people were obviously holding a sigh of relief and were quite hostile to him, but they didn't really do any violence, and they didn't even take the initiative to approach him.

This is by no means because they obey the rules, let alone because they are kind.So... why?

None of them were locals, and they didn't have much respect for Aldin.From this point of view, Dongji had roughly guessed who the client behind them was.

Dong Ji looked at the person who spoke first, and asked, "You originally wanted to save me, right?"

The words "rescue" stunned the man for a moment.He stammered and replied: "Uh, it's not about whether it can be saved or not, we just use money to do things."

"I can more or less guess," Winter Thistle said, "someone entrusts you to save me and prevent me from being brought back for trial. But I have my own considerations, and I can't go with you. I'm sorry."

The mercenary snorted coldly: "Heh, the sharp-eared framer. You have your own considerations, and you made us suffer this fate?"

Winter Thistle said, "Whatever the Town Hall asks you, just tell the truth. Then nothing will happen to you."

"Why? How do you know?"

"Did you rescue me successfully? No. How many city guard soldiers did you kill?"

The mercenary thought for a while: "We didn't seem to kill him, did we?"

He looked at his companions, and one of them shook his head with certainty: "Not a single soldier from Harbor City died! Isn't it all because of this mage's tricks?"

Winter Thistle said: "That's right. You didn't rescue me, and you didn't kill the city guards. You just had a little fight and a little conflict... Then what can the city hall do to you? You haven't committed any major crimes. The bad result is to lock you up for a few days."

The mercenary said: "That's true, but it's not the same... They will definitely interrogate us and ask whose orders we obeyed, which is..."

"Whose order?" Winter Thistle asked.

"How can you say that!" The mercenary shook his head.

Winter Thistle sighed: "I don't know if you can listen to my words...but I still want to talk to you. If the city hall interrogates you, you should tell the truth, and it will be fine."

"why?"

"Why did they arrest me, you all know that, don't you?"

"I know. There is a black market in your city. You are the manager and have contacts with necromancers."

Winter Thistle said, "Think about the charges against me, and think about your client. You were ordered to take me away instead of killing me on the spot. Obviously your client wanted to save me and protect me. So, what is his relationship to me? If I am guilty, what about him?"

Several mercenaries in the same cell looked at each other.The other cells outside were also quiet, and everyone was listening to Dongji's words.

"Do you know why I don't run away?" Dongji continued, "First of all, I'm just a medicine maker, not very good at fighting, and I probably won't be able to run away even if I want to. If I run away and get caught again, I'm sure I have to suffer more. Also, I am the manager of the underground market, but I am not a necromancer. If I run away, maybe they will directly think that I am a necromancer. And you who saved me, obviously changed Became an accomplice of the Necromancer."

The mercenary thought for a while and asked, "But if we confess to the city hall... Aren't we also accomplices of the necromancer?"

Winter Thistle said: "No. You know who your client is. Is that person a necromancer?"

"He's not..." The mercenary frowned.

"That's right. As far as you know, he is just an ordinary client, and he has no stains, let alone a necromancer. You don't know anything about necromancers. You haven't hidden any plots or secrets. Is it just doing things with money? No matter what questions the city hall asks, what can you not answer? If you insist on not speaking, you may be punished, and you may be executed together with me; if you name the master, it shows that If you were only entrusted by someone, regardless of other things, then your charges will be lessened. Your biggest crime is a fight with the city guards, and you didn't kill anyone, and there were no serious consequences."

The mercenary hesitated: "But if we tell him...how can we get along in the future?"

Winter Thistle said: "Even if he wants to take revenge on you, he has to wait until everything subsides, right? At that time, if I am sentenced to death, then your master and I are on the same side, and he cannot escape joint responsibility. At that time, you will also be implicated. To avoid this situation, you must make preparations now and clear your responsibilities. If I can prove my innocence in the future, it will be even better. Your master will definitely see you at that time When it comes to me, I will explain things clearly in front of him and tell him what we talked about today, how could he not forgive you?"

The mercenaries exchanged glances again, but did not answer immediately.

"I'm just giving advice, I can't guarantee that you will be fine," Dong Ji sighed, "You are all smart people, you can think carefully about how to protect yourself better."

Dong Ji said so, but he didn't really have any confidence in his heart.

In fact, there were many loopholes in his persuasion to the mercenaries, he knew it himself, but he could only pretend to say it confidently.

When he was in the suburbs, he actually didn't know who sent these mercenaries. For a moment, he even wondered if Aldin sent someone to rescue him.He cast spells to hinder these people, simply to avoid casualties.

After some conversation now, from the subtle attitudes of the mercenaries, Dong Ji gradually guessed who their master was.Anyway, he can be sure that it is definitely not Aldin.

There are so many mercenaries, not everyone will believe him.Winter Thistle doesn't expect them to really tell the truth in the future, he just wants to appease their emotions first, so that they don't hate him.

Seeing the mercenaries all frowning and lowering their heads in thought, Dong Ji breathed a sigh of relief.

When he spoke just now, he seemed calm, but his fingers in his sleeves were trembling all the time.

===============================

Just as Aldin guessed.Bellows really began to protect Winter Thistle overtly and covertly.

Not long after the mercenaries were brought into the dungeon, Bellos sent someone over to have a private conversation with a guard captain of the trial court, and stuffed a few small leather bags.

The guards hurried to the basement and took out several people who were locked in the same cell as Winter Thistle.

They thought they were going to be interrogated, but no, the guards just shoved them into other cells, leaving Winter Thistle alone in his cell.

The mercenary complained a few words about the crowding, but didn't say much.

In fact, Bellos originally meant to transfer Winter Thistle to another place of custody, but the guards couldn't make the decision, and they couldn't gather all the members of the court for this matter, so Bellows could only give up.

In the afternoon of the next day, all those related to the almshouse market were taken to the city hall for questioning.There are traveling merchants, mages who have participated in the market, bodyguards at the door of the almshouse, old people and widows who take care of them, etc.

The testimonies of these people are highly consistent: the administrator of the poorhouse is Winter Thistle.

The Arcane Federation found the protective magic net in the market, disassembled it using the analytical circle, and extracted the authority rune.The custodian of the place used to be Kanai, and then indeed Winter Thistle.

They also checked the items of the Necromancy School brought from the market. Judging from the duration of the spell fluctuation, the items also appeared after Winter Thistle gained management authority.

Bellos proposed that Winter Thistle is Aldin's subordinate, and the actual controller behind it is Aldin, and Aldin should explain this.

Arden didn't deny it.He admitted that he was indeed responsible, that he had arranged for Winter Thistle to manage the market, and he didn't even know that this refiner had contact with a necromancer.

He proposed that now Dong Ji himself should be interrogated directly, and Dong Ji should be asked to confess the names and identities of the necromancers.

Aldin's attitude was so cooperative, but Bellos expressed his opposition to interrogating Winter Thistle.

He thought Winter Thistle was following orders, and the list of necromancers he confessed might not be credible.

Aldin hadn't said anything yet, and Mai Da stood up with a frown: "You have to listen to what he said first, and then judge whether it is credible. If you don't even ask him, what's the use of arresting him?" of?"

The consul of the city hall said: "Now we use the council instead of the trial court because things are not yet clear. You are not criminals, but you are involved in some disputes that have not been ascertained. And the mage is different. If the mage and It is related to the Northern Frost Plains, we can open a trial court. The Harbor City has professional interrogators and executioners."

Hearing this, Bellos glanced at Aldine.Aldin didn't waver, and nodded.

Bellows still insisted against interrogating Winter Thistle.

It took him a long time to explain his opinion. He believed that the refiner was a member of the local forces, so he must have prepared the words to deal with the interrogation, and it was meaningless to inquire now.Now you should focus on investigating the facts and evidence first, and put all the facts in front of the refiner, so that this person has no chance to frame others or make sophistry.

After listening to his suggestion, the royal court officials remained silent, and the other leaders of the chamber of commerce also frowned and thought.

After all, Bellos is the head of the chamber of commerce, so his words carry some weight.In the end, the Consul decided to adjourn today, while of course the search for evidence continues.

Tomorrow evening, the city hall will open the trial court to interrogate the refiner and the group of mercenaries involved.

Another review is over.The courtiers and consuls of the royal capital left first, and the others also left.

Aldin walked to the gate of the city hall and was about to go out when Bellos stopped him from behind.

There are many people around, it is not suitable for conversation, everyone pretends not to pay attention, but in fact there must be many ears listening.

But Bellos can only communicate with Aldin at this time.In the past few days, Aldin has been very law-abiding. He refused to meet anyone outside the city hall on the grounds of "avoiding more suspicion".

After calling Aldin to a stop, Bellows asked indefinitely, "You really don't care at all?"

"I care about everything in Harbor City," Aldean said.

Of course, Bellows was not referring to Harbor City, and he knew very well that Aldin was deliberately pretending to be stupid.He asked: "Are you willing to let that refiner go to the trial court?"

"So what if you make him suffer?" Aldin said, "He is suspected of dealing with the northern necromancer. If it is true, this is a very serious matter. Although the Chamber of Commerce has always been tolerant, it does not mean that it is tolerant without a bottom line." . Chief, you will not allow such a dangerous act, will you?"

Bellos had a cold face: "Of course. But have you ever considered that he is a very good spellcaster, and the skills he has mastered can bring huge benefits to the chamber of commerce, and he is a rare talent."

Aldin showed a suddenly realized expression: "Are you worried that he will be left disabled and will no longer be able to serve the Chamber of Commerce? You can rest assured about this. The interrogators in the city hall are not barbarians. They are very measured. If Winter Thistle is really Innocent, he will definitely get out of it."

Bellows said: "That man seems timid and timid. He will go to trial tomorrow. Maybe he will plead guilty as soon as he is afraid!"

"Isn't it good to plead guilty?" Aldine asked.

Bellos narrowed his eyes and stared at Aldin for a long time.

Aldin bowed slightly to him, and left the city hall surrounded by his entourage.