[O death, where is your overcoming power. O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin. The power of sin is the law. - 1 Corinthians]

At this time in Constantinople, the sky was bright and a hint of fish belly white was exposed in the east.

Thanks to the timely fire fighting by the city defense army, the fire in the hotel was finally put out. In the surrounding slums, all the civilians who came to join in the fun were quickly driven away by the heavily armed cavalry.

"How is the inspection going?" Riding on a horse, the noble man stood outside the fire scene and asked his subordinates about the situation after inspecting the ruins of the hotel. Although the fire was discovered in time, the fire did not spread too widely, but he wanted to find any clues.

I don't have much hope anymore.

He originally rushed here immediately after receiving the news and the authorization from the palace meeting, but he was still a step too late - obviously those guys had already left.

But just when the man was about to give up, the new clues provided by his subordinates made his eyes light up.

"Sir Manuel, we found two bodies inside."

"What did you say? Two bodies were found."

Manuel was slightly startled. He originally thought that the burning of the stronghold here was just a way for the assassins to destroy their traces, but the sudden appearance of corpses undoubtedly complicated the matter. Was it because the corpses were destroyed and traces were destroyed, or there was another hidden secret.

"Are there any other discoveries? Are there no useful traces on those two corpses?" Manuel couldn't help but frowned. He was responsible for investigating the case of Finance Minister Vatazes three months ago.

If the assassination case was investigated here, it would have been abandoned halfway. All the efforts he had made before would have been in vain, and he would have failed his father's expectations.

"this……"

"Tell me what you find!" the young nobleman got off his horse and asked.

When Manuel asked this, the subordinate in charge of the exploration was hesitant and hesitant. Apparently he was hiding something. Seeing this situation, the young noble couldn't help but become a little impatient, but he couldn't get angry.

.After all, although these people in front of him are taking orders from him, they are all Queen Ducarina's people and are only temporarily at his disposal.

Under Manuel's repeated questioning, the cavalry officer responsible for surveying the scene of the fire finally had to present what he had just found in the ruins to the young noble.

"Sir, please see, this is what we found on the body."

All I saw was a dagger. But it was no ordinary dagger. The exquisite craftsmanship and the patterns on the hilt all showed that it was an instrument from the palace.

The moment he saw the dagger, Manuel's expression changed slightly, and he finally realized the complexity of the matter, and at the same time felt a little annoyed - it seemed that those people were really taking advantage of him.

The silent young noble immediately mounted his horse and ordered all his subordinates to retreat. Of course, there was no way to prove that this matter was related to the palace with just a sword, but he could at least use this evidence to question those people.

What exactly do you want to do?

…

At the same time, outside the scene of the fire, a group of people hiding in the shadows of the slums were watching the leaving young noble and the Roman cavalry behind him.

It was the killers who escaped from the sea of ​​​​fire last night. At this time, they were in a state of disarray. Not only did they fail to complete their mission, but two of their companions were even caught in the opponent's trap.

Everyone was in panic, not knowing what punishment would await them next. Before the shadows could worry about their fate, a soft voice behind them slowly reached their ears.

"It seems that I shouldn't expect you to handle this matter well." The hooded man came slowly. He had been watching everything that happened last night with cold eyes. When the fire engulfed the entire hotel, the eunuch said

He already knew what happened. The owl, the little birds he raised, had indeed hardened their wings, and finally flew out of the cage when he wasn't paying attention.

"My lord, make atonement. We will never make a mistake next time." The scared and sweaty killers did not dare to express their anger. Their life and death were completely at the mercy of the people in front of them. The crowd of crows could only beg flatteringly.

"Only the God in heaven knows whether he will miss or not," said the feminine voice. The eunuch brushed off a wisp of soot on his robe. It was as easy as this for him to get rid of the crows. "You idiots are really incapable of accomplishing anything.

What's worse is that it will mess everything up. What I'm worried about now is not the owl, but the man. If you leave anything behind in the fire... he is not such an easy person to get rid of. "

"Please rest assured, sir, we will definitely not leave any loopholes. Please find a way to delay the mission of hunting down the owl for us."

"Then it's better to ask me to pause time. Do you think I'm a wizard?" The eunuch sneered, obviously not taking the words of the shadows in front of him to heart. And every word he said seemed to be an understatement, but it fell on the ears of the crowd of crows.

Biandu was like a bolt from the blue, and all the shadows suddenly turned ashen.

And next, the words of the great eunuch are the real judgment against them.

"Owls, it's really a pity. I have to say that they are my favorite birds. But since I have already lost a group of birds, why can't I lose another group?" The feminine eunuch said in a long accent.

At the same time, he was also playing with his fingers. There was a ring on each finger, shining in the morning sun. It was gold, silver, set with rubies and sapphires, but no matter which eunuch seemed to be so

satisfy.

Just like he doesn't care about these rings, he will throw them into the fire and melt them without hesitation if they are uncomfortable to wear. Likewise, he, the caregiver, will not begrudge these killers as tools.

…

…

…

At this time in Constantinople, the sky was clear and clear, and the rising sun in the east was slowly rising, casting its bright sunshine on the blue waves of the Golden Horn.

In an inconspicuous corner of the dirty slum, a hooded man slowly walked out, followed by another man.

"Is everything done quickly?"

"Don't worry, it's normal to have dozens of corpses in the slums. The scum will only notice the valuable things they have on them, so they won't make it public and look for trouble," the man replied.

"What you can do, you will never disappoint me." The soft voice said softly, "At least you can solve troublesome problems quickly and neatly. When it comes to dealing with the owl, you will not disappoint me, right?

Laocratius.”

The eunuch took a deep look at the man beside him, waiting for his answer.

"But I need funds and fifty birds."

The man also stopped and stood there as quietly as a shadow and said.

"Do you want that much?" The feminine voice paused slightly, and then continued to move forward, the voice becoming weaker and weaker. "The kind you want is not easy to find... you need to be young and literate..."

"It would be better if you were younger, at least you won't be suspected..."

"...Young ones may be more likely to be discovered by owls..."

"...No, it's that Manuel..."

When the man mentioned this name, the eunuch immediately stopped, turned to look at him gloomily, and asked: "What do you mean?"

"Obviously that Manuel is someone sent by Queen Ducarina. If he discovers anything fishy, ​​His Majesty the Emperor will definitely be embarrassed. I think you will be in a very bad situation then."

Laocratis reminded that they had just executed the crows for this reason, but the eunuch did not seem to realize the seriousness of the problem.

The eunuch who was awakened by these words realized the threat, and his wrinkled face became even colder. "This bastard from Moria is really a troublesome guy." You can hear the soft voice.

There was a sound of gnashing teeth.

"My lord, that is the son of Grand Duke Anastasius, please be careful what you say." Laocratis said with a half-smile.

But the eunuch snorted coldly, "What's the matter? He's just a remnant of the former Komnenos family. If he doesn't live in the countryside honestly, he will only be used as a knife by others."

"What about my request?"

"Don't worry, I will take care of it." Although his mouth was full of contemptuous words, this eunuch who had gone through many hardships in the palace still did not have any carelessness in his actions, and immediately agreed to Laocratis' request.

The two of them quickly disappeared into the increasingly noisy slums.

…

…

…

The Golden Horn, as its name suggests, is a harbor where wealth gathers. The wealth the Roman Empire derived from it was as much as the sea water of this bay. It is said that Emperor Manuel I only taxed foreign merchants in Constantinople for one year.

You can earn 20,000 pounds of gold, and now even though Alexius III has granted large sums of privileges to Latin merchants living in Constantinople, the empire can still rely on this wealth to maintain daily operations.

But at this time, in the Golden Horn, due to the commotion of the fire last night and the martial law in the city, Galata's customs search was particularly strict, and all passing merchants were subject to strict investigation.

"When there is really no peace for a moment, the higher-ups know how to torment us."

"That's right! We haven't been paid for almost half a year. Why don't you leave all these drudgery tasks to us?"

"Who says it's not the case? Any place with a little bit of oil and water is not controlled by those people. You see, last night, there was no trace of that brat from Varyag, and you don't know where to go to get away."

"Don't worry, the leader of Igor and the smugglers has been exposed, and he will definitely suffer."

The soldiers who were inspecting the ship were full of resentment as they spoke to each other.

The people in charge here were the city defense guards who put out the fire last night. They didn't sleep a wink all night, but the next day they received an order asking them to check all passing ships to confirm their identities. The soldiers had no choice but to curse and check all passing foreign merchant ships.

They were very dissatisfied, but they could only accept this reality. After all, field troops like them who had retired from various military regions could have such a job.

It’s good enough to enjoy his old age in peace. Today, almost all the troops in Constantinople are in arrears with military pay. Not long ago, the Thracian army stationed in Adrianople even mutinied, and the Empire sent some troops overnight.

The Varangian Guards and the Vardaritai Legion went north to suppress it. Apparently, people's resentment towards His Majesty the Emperor sitting in the palace has gradually reached a threshold, and they are just waiting for the final breakthrough.

"Wait a minute, where is your ship going?"

Soldiers full of resentment stopped a Dromon battleship. It was strange how a battleship was about to leave Constantinople at this time. The empire's Royal Navy rarely dispatched them. After all, these battleships moved even slightly.

It would cost a lot of manpower and material resources. Today's emperor, who is greedy for money and good goods, will naturally rarely dispatch them. What's more, this is a single battleship. I have never heard of any dispatch by the navy before, so it is really suspicious.

I saw the Dromon battleship docking slowly at the edge of the pier. On the deck, a fully armed Roman officer walked out of the cabin, looking around with a completely impatient look. And behind him, there was

More than a dozen soldiers followed, each wearing armor and fighting skills. Such a formation immediately dampened the momentum of the city defense guards who wanted to board the ship for search.

"Is there any problem with us being ordered to go to the Black Sea?" On the ship, the leading Roman officer stood on the side of the ship with no intention of getting down. He looked down at the garrison stationed at the dock and said arrogantly.

Black Sea?

Several soldiers looked at each other, they were actually going to the Black Sea, but neither foreign nor domestic ships were allowed to go there. Even if they wanted to use the passage to go to Trebizond, they had to obtain the authorization from the emperor, and the Dro in front of them was

The Mongolian warship asked them to let them go without any prior authorization.

This is really abnormal. Although the status of these city defense guards is not very high, they still have some experience as veterans who have retired from the border areas. However, looking at the menacing appearance of these people in front of them, they are so quiet that they feel sad in their hearts.

I couldn't help but hesitate again.
To be continued...