Lord of the Oasis

Chapter 861: The ever-changing world

Most of the guests in the hotel stood hesitantly, not knowing what to do.

They were all arranged to stay here by acquaintances in the town. They didn't move around the hotel very much on weekdays, so naturally they knew nothing about Kant and others.

Judging from the conversation between Kant and the orc man, the reason why this group of attackers came to the door was indeed because their target was Kant and others.

Without understanding the situation, should we continue to muddy the waters?

Most of the homeless people wandering around the lobby and escalators have this thought in their hearts.

"I don't know anything. I have to go back to my room to pack my luggage now. What does the conflict between you and that group of people have to do with us?" A dwarf walked out of the crowd and said to the Calradian soldiers.

The leading soldier glanced at Kant who was sitting on the chair, and stopped the dwarf who was turning around to leave.

"Please wait a moment," the soldier said.

"What? You still want to force others to stay?" There was a hint of annoyance in the dwarf's tone.

"Those who want to stay, stay, and those who want to leave, let them go." Kant said calmly: "Some people are worried that they will get into trouble. This kind of thinking is indeed unavoidable. But on behalf of Calradia, I promise that everyone will not leave. , people who participated in the discussion. We will not leak anything you say. And, as long as you choose to stay in the hotel: we can guarantee the safety of all of you before leaving the town."

After Kant finished these words, the noisy scene became quiet.

After a while, all the passengers who were stuck in the choice found a chair near the dining table and sat down.

"Okay then." The dwarf who was stopped by the soldiers frowned and thought for a while before agreeing.

The soldiers on the side saw that his attitude had relaxed, and immediately took him to sit on a chair near Kant.

"Thank you for your trust." Kant nodded, then moved his gaze to the dwarf beside him, and asked, "What's your name?"

"Molière." The dwarf glanced at Kant and responded.

"Well," Kant raised his head and said to all the homeless people: "Maybe you don't know who we are before today. So now let me introduce myself first. My name is Kant.

He is the lord of an oasis country called Calradia on another continent. The people with me are soldiers and generals from Calradia. "

"Hello everyone, my name is Bandak. I am the military commander of Calradia." After receiving Kant's look, Bandak briefly introduced.

"Hello everyone, my name is Abel. I am a soldier from the Kingdom of Elf. Our army from the Elf Kingdom and the soldiers from Calradia were sent to this island to perform tasks together." Abel said before the two of them After the words fell, he spoke consciously.

"It turns out it's you!" A passenger in the crowd screamed in surprise: "You went up the mountain to rescue the dwarf clan before. I have heard the names of you and the other two human captains."

"Yeah." Abel smiled and nodded, and said, "Then do you know what's going on with Corey Dave?"

Even when he met the dwarves last time, he never heard the name of Corey Dave mentioned by the leader of the dwarves. Now that he met someone who knew the inside story, Abel couldn't help but ask.

"I heard that he has been dismissed from his post by the Supervisory Office." The tenant thought for a while and replied: "But no one has seen him since then. I don't know if the dwarfs imprisoned him or if he escaped on his own. Where have you gone?"

"That's it." Abel said: "If that person was just dismissed from office, considering what he did, the punishment of dismissal would still be too light."

"Is Corey Dave the member of the Supervisory Office who set a trap to make the world think that the dwarfs have disappeared?" Kant raised his eyebrows and asked.

"Yes, the reason why we came to this island is probably because of what he did." Abel said angrily.

"I see." Kant responded.

"Let's not talk about it for now. Let's all describe what happened today." Bandak thought of the letter written by DeWitt. In that letter, the name Corey Dave was indeed mentioned. People's names are taboo. But the most important thing now is to integrate the clues in everyone's hands, so he hurriedly opened his mouth and presided over: "Who will say it first?"

"Everyone's experiences are similar, I think," a passenger in the crowd said.

"Yes, yes." All the other passengers and even a few waiters spoke in agreement.

"Are you staying together?" Bandak was stunned and said.

"Yes." Another passenger explained: "Everyone was called to the lobby by a young waiter, who said that some of the leftovers this morning were found to contain toxins. Everyone who had breakfast is needed Come downstairs for a health check.”

"Has any of us received such news?" Bandak confirmed to the soldiers behind him. After receiving a negative answer, he turned to the tenant who had spoken and asked, "About what time was it when you were called to the lobby?"

"About seven o'clock in the evening." The tenant responded.

"So that's it." Bandak murmured in a low voice without knowing what he was thinking of.

"We were still dining in the restaurant at that time," Abel thought carefully: "But why didn't we hear anything going on downstairs?"

Kant pondered for a while and then asked: "What does the waiter who brought you the news look like?"

"He is thinner than other orc waiters, and his face has no color." The tenant replied while recalling.

"Are they the same person?" Abel and Kant looked at each other, their eyes full of doubts. Then he shouted: "By the way? Where did the waiter go? We didn't see him in the cellar?"

"If he is a member of the dark side organization, he has probably escaped from the inn by now." Bandak said, "If he is a staff member who was held hostage in the store,"

Bandak couldn't bear it, so he didn't say the rest.

"Do you know the waiter mentioned by the tenant?" Kant asked the others.

"Of course they recognize it." Bandak said calmly at this time.

"Bandak?" Abel asked doubtfully, "Have you seen this waiter staying with other waiters before?"

"I've seen it, just tonight when I went to the backyard to cook medicine." Bandak looked at the two or three waiters in the field coldly and said, "He and he are bullying the waiter with fists and kicks. "

The two waiters named by Bandak looked embarrassed.

Chapter 862: Helpless Situation

After hearing this, Abel's expression became solemn. He opened his mouth and said, "I didn't expect such a thing to happen in this store. It seems that the source of all the things that happened today has finally been found. You two, please give us a good explanation."

The two orc waiters looked at each other, and the waiter standing opposite Kant said: "My lords, the attack by outsiders really has nothing to do with us. No matter who is responsible, it was the waiter who made the mistake. , allowing the attackers to take advantage of the loophole."

"Stop farting!" Abel frowned and yelled: "Are you the one who has the final say on right or wrong? I hate it when you gang up and bully weak bastards. Now give me the timeline of what you know. Straighten it up and ask others where you went wrong!"

"Yes." The waiter pursed his lips and responded: "This waiter is an orphan brought back by our boss from the suburbs of the city. He is weak and withdrawn. We usually just play with him casually. Unexpectedly This kid actually poisoned our food. But God took care of us. This morning everyone went to the city gate to help unload the goods, and we had breakfast at the tavern on the street. The staff meal was thrown away. "

"Then what?" Bandak asked coldly: "When did you find out?"

“When we returned to the store at noon, we didn’t know that such a thing had happened.” The waiter continued: “It’s just that people from the health center on the street came to our store and said: The kitchen sent the leftovers to be processed. The food leftovers were poisoned. The cashier was also panicked at the time and immediately asked us to search the kitchen to find out who poisoned the food and how."

"You didn't notify the residents in the store immediately?" Abel asked doubtfully.

"At that time, even if we informed everyone, we still couldn't explain it clearly." The waiter standing in the corner responded.

"Keep talking." Kant said calmly.

"Then we discovered what that kid was doing." The waiter paused and continued: "Before we brought him to the accountant, we dealt with him harshly in the backyard and taught him a lesson."

"It must have been more than just a heavy blow." Bandak recalled the scene he saw. After taking a deep breath, he said, "Didn't the waiter faint?"

"No! That boy is definitely pretending to be dead. When he saw you here, sir," the waiter argued.

"If I hadn't appeared in the backyard, the waiter would have been beaten unconscious by you." Bandak interrupted him and said, "Tell me what happened next."

"Yes." The waiter's face didn't look good. After all, he was used to being dignified among the waiters, and when he was suddenly being lectured, he couldn't even refute a word. It is inevitable to feel unhappy. However, Kant and others took good care of their hotel. As a waiter in the hotel, he had to endure whatever Bandak said. At this time, he replied humbly: "After you left, we sent Jieqi to the accountant and let him be dealt with. At this time, Jieqi woke up again and cried to the accountant how we usually treated him. Accountant The husband said: After this matter is dealt with, we will be dealt with again."

"Next, we started going to each guest room to call all the guests and said they were conducting health inspections." Another waiter answered.

"Then what? Why didn't you notify us? When was Mr. Accountant killed?" Kant asked.

"Because my lords, in addition to dinner time today, the main targets of our investigation are the guests who have had breakfast or lunch in the hotel. They have not eaten in the hotel. The only dish ordered by Mr. Kant, who has eaten in the hotel, It is cooked by the chef of the restaurant. The ingredients used by that chef are purchased and stored by himself."

"I see." Kant nodded and said, "Then how did Mr. Accountant get killed?"

"It's that boy Jieqi. I heard the accountant having a conversation with him alone in the kitchen. After a while, I heard the news that the accountant had been killed." The waiter's eyes seemed to be spitting fire and he said through gritted teeth.

"Jackie?!" Bandak said in surprise.

"At that time, there were only two people in the kitchen, namely him and Mr. Accountant. It must be him." The waiter nodded.

"Who was the first to discover the scene?" Kant raised his hand and asked everyone in the lobby.

The homeless people who listened to the story attentively were stunned for a moment, and then started identifying each other.

"I remember it was Mr. Dewitz."

"No, I also heard it from others." The person named denied.

Until the end, the source of this news was not found.

Everyone's expressions became distressed.

"If no one is lying," Kant lowered his eyes and said, "it seems that the first person to discover this scene was one of the people who were kidnapped just now."

"Your Majesty, what do you mean?" Abel's eyes widened, recalling in his mind the scene he saw in the corridor when Jackie came to deliver the message. Then he asked the waiter urgently: "How did you get kidnapped by those people?"

"Mr. Accountant died of suffocation because a rope was strangled around his neck." The waiter said: "In addition to the lobby, the back kitchen can only lead to the backyard. When all of us were searching the backyard, They were attacked from behind. So until those attackers revealed their identities, we didn’t know who the attackers were."

"It seems that Jieqi chose to cooperate with the thoughtful people of the dark side organization in a panic." Kant nodded.

"The conditions offered by the other party are probably something like 'I will send you safely out of the town.'" Bandak sighed and said.

"After I uncovered their conspiracy, Jackie should have escaped from this hotel." Abel said, "He is penniless now. I wonder where he will escape to?"

"I don't know." Bandak responded in a deep voice.

"I think he will still return to the hotel. After all, this is the only place he can hide in this small town." Kant said: "You have to ask him personally if you still have time. "

"Yeah." Bandak nodded.

"My lords, we have told you everything that happened today." The waiter said, "Now that you have learned what happened, can you let us go back to rest?"

Abel glanced at the waiter, walked to the tea table, and said to everyone: "Everyone has worked hard, please go back and rest."

Chapter 863: Search for fragmentary clues

"If there are any more personal details, you can tell anyone in our army later. We will not delay everyone's rest today. After all, most people should be tired." Kant added.

"Sir." A homeless person in the crowd said: "I hope I can leave the city within tomorrow. Can you please send a few soldiers to protect me? Just send it to the city gate. I will ask an acquaintance to pick me up after that. .”

"Me too." "Me too!"

After him, several homeless people asked.

"Your Highness," Abel said hesitantly.

"It's okay. All residents who need to leave the city within tomorrow should register with Molière and hand them over to me tomorrow morning." Kant promised: "I will allocate a group of people to escort you out of the city."

"Thank you, thank you." The first guest to speak thanked him wholeheartedly.

"It's okay." Kant stood up and waved his hand, turned and left Datang, heading towards the stairs leading to the guest room.

"Your Highness, are you going back to your room to rest?" Bandak followed Kant's footsteps and asked.

Kant walked to the steps of the stairs, stopped, and said: "Well, too many things happened today. I have to sort it out in the room myself. You and Abel will search the hotel carefully again. Make sure nothing is missed We have collected all the information together, and when the hotel owner comes back, we must at least give him an explanation."

"Yes!" Bandak nodded.

"After you are done with this, you and the soldiers should go back to your room and rest quickly. Thank you for your hard work." Kant nodded slightly.

"yes."

After watching Kant go up the stairs, the residents also returned to their bedrooms.

Bandak gathered his soldiers together and ordered: "All soldiers! Divide into five groups and search the hotel. Except for the occupied guest rooms. No corner can be missed!"

"Yes!" the soldiers of Calradia replied in unison.

Upon seeing this, Abel also began to lead the elf soldiers to conduct a detailed search of the hotel. He even flew above the roof tiles to check if there were any traces of someone slipping away from the roof.

The soldiers worked until late at night before returning to the lobby to gather.

"Did you find anything?" Bandak asked seriously.

"Squad 2!" A Calradian soldier stepped out of the queue, and Hongshenghui reported: "We found the rope used by the murderer to strangle Mr. Accountant."

Another soldier handed over half of the rope that was burnt black.

"Where did you find it?" Bandak gently held the rope in his hand and asked.

"In the woodpile under the stove in the back kitchen," the soldier responded.

"Well," Bandak nodded and continued to ask, "Did you find anything else?"

The team leaders shook their heads silently.

"We found traces of someone climbing on the roof." Abel said at this time.

This news was reported to him by his soldiers: the tiles on the roof were in a mess, probably because the waiters liked to sneak to the roof to party, but from the perspective of the elves, they quickly distinguished a corridor that extended to the second floor. Window footprints.

"The row of footprints proves that Jackie climbed to the roof alone." Abel said simply.

"Yes." Bandak nodded and said, "Everyone has worked hard. Let's go back and rest."

"Yes, Commander!" the soldiers agreed.

After disbanding, Bandak followed Abel and walked back to the guest room. He was still holding on to the half of the rope in his hand.

"Lord Kant and I are both wondering why you didn't seem happy at all when you heard the news we told you before the meal. It turns out you met those waiters." Abel took off his boots at the entrance. While doing this, he whispered to Bandak: "You stopped them, right?"

"At that time, I hesitated for a while until I heard Jackie lose his voice," Bandak replied.

"Alas." Abel shook his head and said nothing more.

"Your Highness." "Your Highness."

After seeing Kant sitting at the tea table, leaning under the candlestick and drawing something, Abel and Bandak bowed together and greeted him.

"Are you back?" Kant put down his pen, raised his head and asked, "Did you find anything?"

"The murder weapon was found, and Jackie did leave the scene, walked through the roof, and walked to the second floor to inform us." Abel responded.

"Well, what is the murder weapon?" Kant asked, stroking his forehead.

"The rope was thrown into the firewood pile." Bandak explained as he held the rope in front of Kant.

Kant stared at the half of the rope in silence for a while and said, "Okay, put this piece of rope in the package and seal it. When the owner of the hotel comes back, give it to him."

"Yes." Bandak nodded and replied.

"Your Highness, if we need to send someone to take the residents out of the city tomorrow, we will have the manpower over in the West City," Abel said worriedly.

"It's okay, I'll go tomorrow too. We have enough people." Kant shook his head and said.

Not long ago, Molière sent a list of guests who wanted to leave the city tomorrow.

"Aren't you leaving the city?" Kant asked in slight surprise after reading the list.

"No. Those who left the city first are fools. Those who organized the assassination will definitely find them." Molière responded disdainfully: "What's more, I want to stay and see how you put that group of people in jail. Go inside."

After Molière left, Kant made a rough calculation of the manpower that would be needed tomorrow. This task was not as labor-intensive as imagined.

"Your Majesty, you are going tomorrow too?!" Abel said in surprise: "No, that guild is not a serious place to begin with. What if Peake talks about Sir to the people he contacts?"

"It's almost the end of the month, and I still have to find out the specific situation of this guild." Kant raised his eyebrows and said, "I'm not you or Bandak. Peake doesn't have the need to mention it to the people around him. Me. Besides, the day we met Pique was two weeks ago, and he left the city after that. There was no chance to meet with the people in the guild."

"But I still feel something is wrong," Bandak shook his head and said, "The trees are big and attract the wind. We have walked along the way. We have met with the leaders of each race. The town is such a big place, and there are probably already Many people know our identity.”

"Oh, that's fine. I won't go to the guild myself, but you still have to send people to the guild to inquire. At least find out where the door to buy medicine is." Kant saw that he couldn't compete with what was in front of him. The two of them compromised.

"Yes." Abel replied.

Chapter 864: The shopkeeper who arrived late

"Are there any soldiers in our team who are suitable for such a task?" After agreeing to Kant's request, Bandak became troubled again.

"This is something you need to arrange yourself." Kant shrugged and said: "I will give you at most one day tomorrow. The day after tomorrow is the last day of this month, which is the day when the bottom-exploring operation begins."

"We will definitely find the right candidate," Abel responded.

Kant glanced at the two of them helplessly and said, "Just continue thinking. I'm going back to my room to rest."

"Yeah." Bandak nodded in response.

Kant ignored the two of them and stood up directly to leave the main hall.

Abel and Bandak stood there and thought hard for a while. Still no results.

Bandak sighed helplessly: "I didn't expect that I don't know the soldiers so well that I can't even think of their respective strengths."

"I know this group of people under me very well." Abel shook his head dejectedly and said: "None of them are suitable for this kind of investigation mission. Maybe the waiter at the front desk of the guild can introduce them to something. When I did, I fell asleep.”

"No way." Bandak sat down at the tea table, took out two teacups and filled them with tea.

"Thank you." Abel sat across from Bandak. At this time, he raised his tea cup and said to Bandak: "If it doesn't work, let me change my appearance and sneak in."

"Do you think His Majesty Kant will agree to your suggestion?" Bandak responded after taking a sip of hot tea.

"Then what should we do!" Abel sighed as he leaned on the tea table.

"Don't we still have a day tomorrow? Let me look again and see if there is anyone suitable in the team." Bandak turned to look out the window and replied.

"That"

"Dong dong dong!" A knock on the door interrupted the conversation between the two.

"It's so late, who could it be?" Bandak stood up, put down the tea cup in his hand, and walked toward the entrance while muttering.

After opening the door, a relatively unfamiliar face appeared in front of him. The other party was dressed very luxuriously and was obviously not a guest in this hotel.

"You are" Bandak said doubtfully as he tried to recall it in his mind.

"My name is Trubin, and I am the manager of this hotel." The half-orc in front of him looked very depressed, and he replied quietly: "I want to see your highness."

"Innkeeper?!" Bandak shouted, "When did you come back? Come inside, Your Highness has gone back to the bedroom to rest."

"I want to see him. If I can't see him today, there will be no reason for me to enter your room." Trubin turned his eyes away and said slowly.

"Then I'll go and inform His Highness right away. Please come into this room first. Prepare some hot tea in the room." Bandak noticed the frost condensing on Trubin's leather jacket: it must have come from the panic. You rushed back immediately from outside the city, right?

"Yes." Trubin nodded slightly, took off his boots, and walked into the main hall with Bandak.

Abel was currently worrying about the action plan for the day after tomorrow. When he saw Bandak coming with an unfamiliar orc, he seemed a little surprised and at a loss. He hesitated and asked, "Who is this?"

"We had dinner together before." Trubin's eyes looked back and forth between Bandak and Abel, and he explained: "I am the manager of the hotel."

"Ah," Abel stood up immediately, bowed and said, "I'm sorry, shopkeeper. My memory is not very good recently."

"It's okay." Trubin patted the water droplets on his coat and said, "Please go and inform His Highness Kant that I want to see him."

"Okay, okay." Abel and Bandak looked at each other and nodded.

Then he turned and walked towards the bedroom. After seeing the candlelight coming from the room, he knocked gently on the door and shouted in a low voice: "Your Highness Kant."

"What's wrong?" The voice from the bedroom made Abel sigh in relief. Kant hadn't rested yet.

"The owner of the hotel is here and he said he wants to see you." Abel explained to the crack in the door.

After a while, the bedroom door was opened by Kant. Before Kant had time to put on his coat, he was now wearing a single coat and asked Abel, who was standing in front of the porch: "Where is the shopkeeper?"

Abel respectfully folded his hands in front of him and replied: "I am sitting in the main hall to rest."

"Yes." Kant nodded and immediately walked towards the main hall. After seeing Trubin's figure, he quickened his pace, walked to him, and greeted: "The shopkeeper."

"Your Highness Kant." Trubin stood up politely and replied: "I have received the news."

"I'm sorry, because we stayed here and caused you so much trouble." Kant said apologetically.

This time, although there was no damage to the items in the store, the death of the cashier will cast a shadow over the hotel's reputation.

"I can only say that you and I are not very lucky." Trubin's eyes were a little sad.

"The people from the Supervisory Office have taken away the raid. Felit's body has also been taken away by them." Kant said: "It is for official investigation. I hope you can understand."

"I saw it at the inspection station. Felit shouldn't be like that." After talking about Felit, Trubin's voice took on a whimpering tone.

"Please show me your condolences." Kant sighed and lowered his head.

At noon, when he was traveling with the owner of the hotel, he heard Trubin tell the story of how he and Felit settled in this small town together.

At the end of the story, Trubin said to Kant: He is three or four years older than Philit, so Philit is always the one who is protected when he is wandering outside. Therefore, Felit, who has entered middle age, always maintains a child-like state of mind. And Trubin has been running around in order for them to continue to live peacefully. Deal with various forces in the town.

It was only in the past few days that Felit suddenly mentioned to him that he wanted to go out on his own.

Trubin naturally rejected Felit's request immediately for various reasons.

Therefore, Felit avoided seeing him for several days.

"It feels like a story about a little daughter's family." Kant commented at the time.

"Haha," Trubin said with a smile, "I'm used to him being by my side and being protected. Without the existence of such a person, I don't know if I would lose the idea of ​​working hard."

At the tea table, Kant stared at the sobbing innkeeper in front of him, feeling a burst of sadness in his heart and not knowing what to say.