Chapter 223 Harold: My Fault
"This desert man clearly explained the origins of those books at the beginning, but suddenly changed his words and denied his previous statements. Do you know why, Grand Disciplinary Officer?"
Azar's words were full of distrust. He suspected that Seno or several other disciplinary officers present had given some kind of hint, but there was nothing suspicious about the conversation recorded in the file.
Did you use body language to hint at the scene?
It's impossible that no one at the scene noticed it. It's impossible that the chief disciplinary officer Seno and several disciplinary officers on duty all colluded with each other to protect those desert people.
"Perhaps he felt guilty and was unwilling to give out his accomplices, or he suddenly thought of his interests with the businessman. This is not uncommon."
Said Seno, he paused, and then said, "I think the merchant he mentioned may not be selling physical books. The merchant may be providing typewriters and copiers to the mercenaries.
So that they can reproduce some rare books that are only circulated in the tribe for knowledge exchange, or perhaps the merchant is the source of those books, and he copied some books and sold them to the mercenaries for profit."
Azar nodded slightly as he listened. He agreed with what Seno said. How could there be books of that quality in the desert? Those books could only have come from the rainforest or merchants from the other six countries.
Hazard: "If that's the case --"
Sino: "If that's the case, there's no need to continue."
The voices of Azar and Seno overlapped. Azar looked at Seno, and Seno looked up at him without any guilt.
"Isn't it?"
Seno asked back, seemingly not caring about the increasingly ugly expression of the person who actually holds the power in Xumi.
"If this speculation is true, it is most likely the spontaneous behavior of some businessmen.
And you should know that big businessmen with names and reputations have more or less come into contact with the buying and selling of paper books. Do you want to take this opportunity to rectify the market and completely ban private transactions of paper books with thundering means?
I think the opposition will be very loud, including from the families of many sages. This is obviously not conducive to the stability of Xumi and will also cause you to lose the support of businessmen, scholars, and senior officials of the Ministry of Education.
So I say there is no need to investigate further. At least a large-scale search for the mastermind will do more harm than good.
In my opinion, the best approach is to let it go and let the discipline officers outside the city take responsibility for the incident and let them publicly apologize for arresting someone by mistake.
If you are really curious about the main culprit, I will conduct a secret investigation in my personal capacity, keep an eye on the direction of books on the black market, and report to you immediately if there is any progress."
Hazard had a stern face from beginning to end. This was obviously not the result he wanted, but he had to admit that this was the most sensible thing to do under the current situation.
As a wise man, he has a lot to consider. The first is to put the overall situation first in everything and not make decisions based solely on his own likes and dislikes.
Of course, the reason why he had to compromise with the merchants was not only because he was worried about losing the support of the people, but also because the Xumi Guard was too weak.
If a new god is born who is willing to listen to his advice, he will not have to be restrained. In the face of God's power, the resistance of scholars, businessmen, and mercenaries is like an ant trying to stop a tree.
Azar calmed down and said to Senor, "Then interrogate the mercenary named Harisi. Use some powerful means to make him tell you everything he knows!"
At least pick a few of them out to serve as a warning to others, otherwise these businessmen will really rely on their control of the economic lifeline to act lawless.
"No, I can't do this."
The first thing Seno blurted out was a rejection, and Hazard had a few tic-tac-toes above his head:
Inverted!
How many times today have you contradicted me? I, a great sage, can't even mobilize a disciplinary officer?!
Seno ignored the expression on Hazard's face and explained to himself:
"I have always been against lynching. He was wrong and he has admitted that he participated in the buying and selling of paper books. He should be dealt with according to the fatwa.
- For private sales of paper books with a quantity of less than ten, all illegal gains will be confiscated, a fine will be imposed based on the amount of the stolen goods, and the person will be held accountable based on the amount involved, and criticized and educated for two to four days.
A series of edicts and Seno's righteous and stern tone made Azar laugh in anger. He sneered and said sarcastically:
"You are a good discipline officer who does his job conscientiously. I hope your beliefs can also move those desert people."
Seno knew that Azar was talking about the "fifteenth mercenary", the hot-tempered mercenary who neither heard his hint nor gave any information.
After he asked a few questions, she questioned him with red eyes, "The followers of the Red King are helping the alien race to persecute their own compatriots. Don't you feel ashamed?"
Seno replied, "I am not a believer of the Red King." Upon hearing this, veins popped out on the mercenary's forehead and he roared and overturned the table.
His protest did not cause any trouble. Just as he was about to attack, Seno subdued him and threw him into the solitary confinement cell, but the interrogation was forced to end.
In the following days, Seno took him out for interrogation again. Every time, he cursed at him, calling him a "traitor", "running dog", "son of the rainforest people"...
The Xumi common language was mixed with desert language. Some of the words he said were too obscure. Even Senor, who knew many desert languages, could not understand their meaning, but he could tell that the curses were very dirty.
The other discipline officers sitting in the room were indignant when they heard their respected superior being insulted in such a way. If it weren't for Seno keeping the situation under control, they would have dropped their pens and started cursing and beating the man.
"I work according to the teachings and my heart, regardless of whether others understand or not."
Seno responded to Hazard's sarcasm with the same words he used to tell his subordinates at the time.
Azar waved his hand impatiently, saying "I don't want to listen to you anymore". Senor saw that Azar had no desire to talk, so he bowed politely and left the sage's office indifferently.
He deliberately pretended not to notice Setale who was guarding the door, ignored his colleagues who greeted him on the road, and did not respond to their calls. He seemed to be hit hard by the disagreement with the great sage.
...
"Thank you for your hard work, Senior Seno."
After listening to Seno's narration, Harold let out a breath and sighed in his heart: How miserable, being scolded by the people you helped, how miserable it is.
Seno crossed his arms and said, "It doesn't matter. This is what I want to do. 'Strong' means protecting those who need protection and keeping them from harm. This is a line from my favorite novel, 'The Bizarre Adventure of Slime Land'."
...
Ha ha.
Except for El Haisen, everyone else had a wry smile on their face.
Seno continued, "I will stand in the shadows to protect the people I care about - this is a line from the popular character Fire Princess in Slime Land. I like it very much and have always wanted to find a chance to talk about it."
At this point, his tone rose slightly with excitement.
...
Now no one could even smile bitterly.
Why did I become so childish, Harold muttered to himself, Hmm... "Slime Continent" seems to be my work as well?
…So it was me who made you like this?!
But you are right, who says that only those who stand in the light are heroes - well, a strange melody suddenly echoed in my mind.
Harold rubbed his forehead, drove away the brainwashing melody, and said:
"Even I have heard rumors that the Great Sage and the Great Disciplinary Officer disagreed."
He did not care about showing the lag in his intelligence sources - there was nothing he could do about it, as he was the only scholar among the five who spent most of his time outside the city.
Setale nodded, and placed one hand on her chest. She was used to hiding her emotions, but a look of obvious worry appeared on her face:
"I also heard that the Great Sage wanted to replace the Grand Disciplinary Officer because his performance during the mission did not satisfy him.
There is a rumor going around in the Court of Magistrates that the Grand Disciplinary Officer made a serious mistake in his work and angered the Grand Sage.