Sherlock Holmes

No matter how small the meat is, some people will eat it, no matter how small the page is, some people will read it. Those people who think that the empire has been peaceful in its years may just glance at this report that has no practical significance, then smile slightly, and then read it. past.

But eventually someone will stare at these words and read them letter by letter.

Therefore, no matter what, people will see the line above and be shocked. They may even wonder if they bought the wrong newspaper, and then they will see the small printing mark of the Holy Journal that no one dares to copy. Finally, I was so trembling that I couldn't even hold the newspaper steady, and it fell to the ground with a clatter.

Ancient Roman city.

The date of the inheritance ceremony is not absolute, but in most cases it is once every five years. On this day, the entire ancient Rome area is rarely open to the outside world. The Council of Elders system adheres to the principle of absolute openness and allows all citizens of the empire to enter the city. , reporters, supportive people, senior members of the Holy See, competitors from other factions, etc. In short, if you don’t bring weapons and don’t try to sneakily set up a stall in the city to sell reactionary brochures, then you can come in.

The Hall of the Elders Council, with broad stone pillars and ancient domes, the buildings in this area can be traced back thousands of years before the start of the Holy Calendar. Under the noon sun, everything looked so majestic and sacred, but the silence inside the building was... So turbulent. The elders on the high platform of the parliament used magnifying glasses to compare how many unusual things had happened in the empire during this term, whether taxes had increased, whether the mortality rate on the front line had dropped, and whether the number of newborns in the hospital had increased. With a few more percentage points, even the infidelity rate among nobles will be included in the evaluation criteria.

In fact, if we look at the usual data, Emperor Augustine has still led the empire to grow steadily over the years, step by step, in a down-to-earth manner. This should be regarded as the favorite and most stable pace of progress for a race. So in the eyes of these elders, he still seems to be the best candidate to be the next emperor.

But too many things have happened this year, especially the conjecture that wild demons can be controlled, which has forced these members of the Council of Elders to be more cautious. There are 137 people in the council, and it seems that every vote needs to be discussed for a long time.

Under the high platform of the parliament, two people were sitting quietly. One of them was wearing the simplest bachelor's robe. He was not young, but still energetic. However, his hairline was a bit high and he had already reached the edge of baldness. , at this time, he was looking at a button on his robe very calmly, pinching it with his hand and spinning it continuously, like a student who slipped away in class.

On the contrary, a straight-looking secretary in a suit behind him looked a little nervous.

Not far away, an old man was sitting in a wheelchair. He was wearing simple and lightweight pajamas. His eyes were closed at this time. Several sets of medicine bottles were hung behind the wheelchair. As the infusion tubes flowed into his blood vessels, a stream of A nurse looked at the medicine in the bottle from time to time and asked softly whether the old man was feeling uncomfortable. Most of the responses he received were smiles and shakes of the head.

This is the main venue of the inheritance ceremony. In that magnificent building, it is like a silent teahouse. Two guests who met by chance walked into it and sat quietly, waiting for the storm to leave or a bigger storm. advent.

Outside the venue, there were a large number of supporters of Augustine the Great who started shouting from time to time, holding slogans such as [Empire = Augustine the Great], waiting for the final parliamentary results, waiting for the great emperor to Just like every inheritance ceremony in the past, I came to the door of the parliament hall tiredly, waved to my people, and told everyone that I was okay, the empire was okay, and it would even get better and better.

At this moment, several carriages came to the side of the Council of Elders amidst the shouts. Then several people wearing gold and dark blue robes stepped out of the carriage and walked straight to the main building of the Council of Elders.

When the security personnel of the Parliament saw these people, they could tell from their clothes that these people were from the Tribunal, the highest judicial institution in the entire empire. After carefully checking the documents of these people, it took a long time. After the exchange, the security personnel could only let him go.

Looking at the backs of those people, one person recalled the newspaper he had read yesterday morning and thought of what these people had said just now. His pupils shrank suddenly. He must have realized an extremely frightening possibility and couldn't help but shake his body. A shudder.

Among the surrounding crowd, many people also saw the members of the Tribunal entering the Council of Elders Hall. Suddenly, some rumors began to spread, and waves of minor commotions were set off.

But no one noticed that at the front of the crowd, there was an old woman who was trying hard to open her eyes filled with morning mist, trembling slightly and looking in the direction of the building gate in front of her.

When people reach the age of seventy or eighty, it seems difficult to tell their age from their appearance. The withered skin, wrinkles and age spots have spread all over their body. As time goes by, it is difficult to add any other changes. .

How did such an old man get to the front of the crowd?

Nobody knows.

What's more, no one knew that she had been living alone in a state of confusion for almost half a year.

A few months ago, his son and daughter-in-law took their newborn granddaughter on a steam train to London, because Lord Nightingale had just arrived in London at that time, and her granddaughter suffered from congenital hearing impairment. , they want to try their luck.

But unexpectedly, what finally arrived was the news that the family's body was completely gone.

From that day on, the old woman was suddenly the only one left in the originally bustling home. In this way, she lived alone at home for more than half a year. She was a little old and couldn't remember things, so she had Sometimes, she would cook two dishes as she had been used to for many years, and then slowly place a few sets of tableware on the table. But for a sudden moment, she remembered that there was no one else in the family anymore. , this kind of grief hit her again, making her hunched over and hurting to the bone.

But just yesterday morning, after she saw the report about the London airship accident in the newspaper, she, who had been frugal all her life, resolutely spent three times the ordinary ticket price and took the train to ancient times. The fastest train from Rome to France.

She didn't even know why she came here.

But she still came, and relying on her seventy or eighty-year-old body, she squeezed to the end of the queue like crazy and looked at the solemn building.

Of course, until just now, she still didn't know why she did this. She just seemed to think that if the emperor was really the murderer, then she should look at him for her child and keep that same withered face in her heart. , and then cursed the other party deeply.

Cursing in front of the person is probably better than cursing in front of a photo.

Just now, she seemed to have seen some adults wearing Tribunal attire walking into the building.

Another two hours later, he saw an old man in a wheelchair being pushed out, surrounded by members of the tribunal, walking towards the car next to the parliament.

At this moment, the crowd was excited!

During his 60-year imperial career, it is impossible to calculate how many supporters Emperor Augustine had in the world. The news in yesterday’s newspaper seemed to have offended the minds of these supporters. At this moment, the great Emperor The king actually walked out of the Council of Elders hall surrounded by members of the Tribunal. No, he was held hostage?

At the inheritance ceremony? !

No one could allow such a thing to happen, so the crowd became angry and boiling. Some radical people began to rush into the security personnel, swearing, and roaring into chaos.

Under this situation, naturally no one would pay attention to the old woman. She was already prostrate on the ground. I don't know if it evoked the saddest memory in my heart, or if I felt that the Holy Light finally answered my prayers all night long. , in short, she curled up, heartbroken, and burst into tears.