C71

Loki started to speak, but the old man gestured for him to stop.

Then the old man himself said, "Little brother, please call me Allistair Beasley. You don't have to ask anything else. Tell me where you live and I'll come and find you. I'll tell you when the time comes, what you want to know. And I want to know about you. "

The old man's change in attitude toward Lodge could be seen from the name of his little brother and self.

After all, Loki's first question did not give him the old man's name. He only knew that the old man was the captain.

Loki smiled and said, "Well, I live in the auction house, so you can come and find me anytime you want. "Right now, we're not asking anything, so let's just chat casually."

Loki seemed to have forgotten that his house was heavily guarded, not just accessible.

The old man, Allistair Beasley, was much more cordial than before. He patted Loki on the shoulder and motioned for him to sit with him on the bow.

The fishing rod had been tossed aside by Allistair Beasley.

Roche asked, "I don't know, sir. Do you know a censor named Ike Abbott?"

Allistair Beasley stroked his beard, which had not yet turned white, and said, "To tell you the truth, I am generally indifferent to the affairs of this continent. Since you asked, I'll just say it. Ike Abbott is a man I don't know, but I've heard a lot about him. Ike Abbott is a good officer, but he's a bit of a romantic. "

Loki wasn't surprised that Allistair Beasley had heard about Ike Arbeiter, because the ship often carried quite a few officials, as Loki had learned from Kathleen.

Loki asked curiously, "Why is Ike Abbott a good official?"

Allistair Beasley was patient with Roche's question, and he went on: "Since Ike Arbeiter came to Merrith, the taxes on the city have dropped a lot. The civilians all admire him. "

Loki thought about what Alistair Beasley had said, then asked, "So before Ike Arbeiter came to Merrith, was the mayor also Ian Yarrow?"

The old man nodded without hesitation.

Why, thought Roche, did the tax revenues of Meris drop when Ike Arbeiter arrived? Could Ike Abbott, who was the censor, have had something to do with Ike Abbott's death? Loki wasn't very clear about the authority of an imperial official.

Loki just thought this might be the main point. He decided to go back and study it with Kathleen before making his decision.

Kathleen changed her clothes and went to the bow, where Allistair Beasley tactfully picked up his shoddy tin bucket and left with the fishing rod.

Kathleen pushed her hair back from her eyes, which were still covering them. She said to Loki, "My lord, I was rude just now."

Lodge, still sitting and talking to Allistair Beasley, smiled at Kathleen.

Loki's head jerked slightly to his side, meaning to tell Kathleen to sit down and talk, but he had no intention of answering.

Kathleen could tell from his expression that he didn't take it to heart and was waiting for her to continue.

She walked over to Lodge and sat down next to him, adding to the original position of Allistair Beasley.

Kathleen let out a small breath, trying to get her conversation with Rocky back to the natural way it had been.

Kathleen tried her best to speak calmly, "Sir, what do you want to know?"

"Very simple. I am very curious about your identity." Loki always liked to speak so directly.

Kathleen didn't answer right away, and so they fell silent, except for the sound of the waves and the creak and creak of the ship's planks.

He wasn't impatient with Loki's thoughts about Kathleen, and he knew that to answer the question he needed to give Kathleen some time.