Chapter 129 - Rewards and Punishments

"This is a patrol." Black Eleven pointed at the highly-guarded yard. "White Mountain City has over seven hundred patrolmen in six teams. They take turns to patrol. They are not that great, but usually people do not want to cause trouble with them because they might end up on the wanted list of the mercenary union."

"Do Band of Brother and Storm mercenary groups have any connection with the patrol?" Anfey asked casually.

"I am not sure. We have run business here for decades, but still have no access to their top secrets." Black Eleven smiled. "Let’s hurry up. Staying here too long would look suspicious."

A middle-aged man rushed into the patrol station, crying and screaming. A few patrolmen at the door stopped him and violently threw him back out on the street.

"God…" the man screamed at the top of his lungs, sitting on the street. "Why can’t anyone carry out justice for me? Why? Bastards, you are all bastards."

"What happened?" Anfey asked.

"A dispute. Are you interested in it?" Black Eleven asked.

"We have nothing to do right now anyway." Anfey shrugged.

"Anfey, if you do not have anything to do right now, why don’t you…" Black Eleven suggested.

"I do not want to repeat it again." Anfey’s expression hardened. "Suzanna told me that both of us would not be a match for even five griffin riders. I don’t want to die for nothing."

"Anfey, maybe we can use some tactics. With your intelligence…" Black Eleven said.

"When we have a huge difference in abilities, tactics would only make it look ridiculous. No matter how smart the chicken is, it could not kill a manticore. I think you understand it as well," Anfey said.

Black Eleven was quiet for a while and heaved a sigh. He lifted the curtain and said something to the wagon driver. The wagon driver stopped the wagon and ran into the crowd, which was watching the guy screaming on the street.

After a while, the wagon driver came back. What happened to that guy was not complicated. His son was with a merchant caravan on the way back to the White Mountain City. He went to pee in the wild. Suddenly, a startled three-eyed magic cow ran towards him. To dodge the three-eyed magic cow, he rolled away. He accidentally rolled into a 7-foot deep crack, where he found a black box made of Magic Concealing Crystals. There were five top magic crystals in the black box.

He was super lucky to find that black box. With his salary, even if he had worked over five hundred years without paying for food and shelter, he would not be able to afford those five top magic crystals. One day, he was drunk and told people the secret about the black box.

Since then his luck had turned into misfortune. A rather popular guy in the Cloud Chamber of Commerce overheard him tell about his secrets and reported back to Arlanga, the chairman of the Cloud Chamber of Commerce. The next morning, the son of that man was taken away by the people from Cloud Chamber of Commerce. They also searched for the black box and took it as well.

That man came to the patrol station several times to appeal, but Arlanga had already come to report that he had lost five top magic crystals in a black box made of Magic Concealing Crystals. The key was that Arlanga could name all the design details about the black box, even some flaws in it, while the man and his son were not so sure about the design details, sometimes even describing them incorrectly when the patrol asked them questions about the black box. In the end, the patrol decided that the magic crystals and black box belonged to Arlanga and sent the man and his son to the jail.

After hearing this, Black Eleven sneered, "Arlanga is setting people up again."

"Why are you saying that? Maybe that guy just pulled it off," Anfey said.

"You do not know about Arlanga. If that man and his son had not been pushed to the corner, regular people might dare to have any dispute with Arlanga," Black Eleven said.

"What about him?" Anfey asked.

"Arlanga has two good daughters. They each married an important person in Storm mercenary group. It’s said that Cloud Chamber of Commerce received a lot of support from Strom mercenary group." Black Eleven showed disdain on his face. "If this had happened in a peaceful time, the patrol might take some time to look into it, but it is such a sensitive time now. The rules in the Country of Mercenaries had been changed by Mourtta. No one knows which direction things will go, but they know it is never smart to cause trouble for powerful Storm mercenary group. Therefore, the patrol made a judgement without looking into it," Black Eleven answered.

"I feel you are a little cynical. Being cynical will not do you any good," Anfey said casually.

Black Elven smiled bitterly. "You have no idea what he has done. I own five hotels, two fabric stores, two blacksmith shops, and some other businesses. I have been blackmailed by him several times. I really do not like him. In fact, Cloud Chamber of Commerce are doing great, plus Storm mercenary group referred a few capable people to them to take care of their management. Arlanga did not have to do much to make a decent amount of money. He could just sit at home, counting how much money he makes everyday, but he rather set others up for little things. It was hard to understand what he was thinking."

"Money would not bite your hands no matter how much you make." Anfey lifted up the curtain and glanced at the crying man. "Let’s change the topic. It has nothing to do with you and me."

"What should we talk about? How about Honna?" Black Eleven took a deep breath. He did notice himself being a little overexcited about it, but it was not all his fault. He hated Arlanga so much that he would have used all his resources to take revenge on him. However, he did not want to cause any unnecessary trouble because he had so much responsibility on his shoulders.

"Honna?" Anfey asked.

"The woman you asked me to investigate." Black Eleven smiled. "She is a social butterfly in White Mountain City, and also a bright flower in bed. Many people have been in her bed, and she also has slept in many others’ beds."

"Have you been to bed with her?" Anfey asked.

"No." Black Eleven could not help staring at Anfey. "What are you thinking about?"

"You sounded like you know her well. I thought maybe you have been her temporary husband," Anfey said.

"I am not interested in her." Black Eleven’s mouth twitched. "How about you?"

"What about me?" Anfey asked.

"You asked me to conduct a secret investigation on her. It seems that you are interested in her," Black Eleven said.

"What if I am interested in her? Are you jealous of me?" Anfey asked.

"How did I get to know someone like you?" Black Eleven had nothing more to comment on with Anfey.

"Let’s keep walking and see how long the people behind us will follow us," Anfey said slowly.

Black Eleven tapped lightly on the wagon as the wagon rocked a little bit. He hesitated a bit before he whispered to Anfey, "Anfey, we need have a heart-to-heart talk."

"Go ahead. I am listening." Anfey nodded.

"Do you still remember Black Ghost? Did you kill him?" Black Eleven asked.

Anfey was startled for a second, smiled and said, "Yes, why are you suddenly asking me about it?"

"Thank you for your honesty." Black Eleven heaved a sigh of relief. "In fact, the king has suspected it was you for a long time."

"Oh?" Anfey said.

"It was pretty simple in fact. Saul and Ernest did not kill him. We have sent out secret agents to investigate everyone in the Rose Home Hotel that day, including the owner and staff. None of them could pose any threat to Black Ghost. After giving it a lot of thought, we noticed we had missed one person in the hotel. It was you," Black Eleven said.

Anfey did not respond. He just quietly listened to Black Eleven.

"Evil Mist was investigating you as we did the investigation on you. I do not know why they are so interested in you," Black Eleven said.

"Evil Mist?" Anfey frowned.

"Evil Mist is a very mysterious and powerful organization. Black Ghost was their assassin," Black Eleven said.

"Did the king ask you to tell me this?" Anfey asked.

"Yes, the king asked you to be careful of Evil Mist," Black Eleven said, nodding. "The king said he would keep your secrets and would not let anyone know. However, you cannot keep doing this. The king hoped you could communicate with Master Saul to avoid any misunderstanding later on."

"I know." Anfey smiled. He knew what he had done in Blackwater City had gained the trust of Yolanthe, and that was why the king sent Black Eleven to tell Anfey these things.

First of all, Yolanthe had hinted to Anfey that he was not a king that Anfey should fool around with. Yolanthe had suspected him before Anfey noticed it. Second, he warned Anfey to be careful of Evil Mist because he received some information that Anfey would potentially have a confrontation at the Evil Mist station in White Mountain City. He warned Anfey to show his concern for Anfey.

Anfey had not run away on his own when things happened. Instead, he brought Saul’s family along. Yolanthe may not know everything that had happened on the way, but he must know everything that happened in Blackwater City. Anfey and Suzanna had taken on all the dangerous missions and kept everyone else in safe places. Smart people could understand Anfey’s concerns and his bonds with Saul and everyone in his legion.

Anfey knew the relationship with Saul had not been long, but they had definitely connected. When Yolanthe talked about the issues with Saul, Anfey could analyze what he said in two ways. One was that Yolanthe hoped to continue to have a good relationship with Saul and avoid any possible misunderstanding. The other one was that Yolanthe was trying to control Anfey with this invisible bond with Saul. This bond was a way to have both parties build their trust. Actually it was a way for Anfey to gain Yolanthe’s trust, since there was a huge difference in their positions. Yolanthe could decide Anfey’s fate with the blink of an eye.

"The people behind us are still following us. Where are we heading to?" Black Eleven suddenly asked.

"Is there any joyhouse?" Anfey smiled. He did not look stressed and nervous at all.

"There are many hookers. But what is a joyhouse? A place with hookers?" Black Eleven asked a weird question.

"Yes, don’t you have joyhouses?" Anfey asked.

"It is interesting where you are from. Let’s go to a bar. No, let’s go to a hotel. Most of the waitresses are hookers there."