Chapter 1623 - 99: Fox and Rat Game (Part 9)

Chapter 1623: Chapter 99: Fox and Rat Game (Part 9)

Just as Siegfried was consumed by rage and determined to go all out, the middle-aged soldier said something that nearly made him lose his mind.

The middle-aged soldier asked, "Or do you think we haven’t taken good care of you?"

"So at your school, th-this, this, this is called good care?" Siegfried pointed at the furnishings in the cell.

The middle-aged soldier calmly replied, "I am blind, I can’t see."

"Then this?" Siegfried pointed at the yet-to-be confiscated tableware and asked sarcastically, "You’re giving me this pig slop to eat?"

"Pig slop?" The middle-aged officer looked puzzled and asked the young officer, "What’s going on?"

The one-legged young officer glanced at Siegfried and replied with some grievance, "The food given to him is all from the instructor’s kitchen, how can it be pig slop?! Perhaps people from the north can’t get used to our Paratu cuisine!"

The middle-aged officer "Oh-ed" and turned to Siegfried, saying, "The food you eat is the same as what I eat, we eat like this every day; you’re just too pampered."

"Me?" Siegfried almost coughed blood, "Pampered?"

However, the comment about "pig slop" was purely a slip of the tongue, unexpectedly ensnaring himself.

So Siegfried changed his direction of attack and questioned, "Since you already know our identity, why do you continue to imprison us? As far as I know, the Empire and your side are not at war, right?"

Siegfried expected the other side to quibble, saying things like "we are not imprisoning you, you are our guests, you just can’t move freely."

Unexpectedly, the middle-aged officer straightforwardly replied, "Because it’s not safe."

"What?" For the first time in his life, Siegfried doubted his ears.

"We imprison you because we need you safe," explained the middle-aged officer, "There are voices in the Supreme Committee that believe the Oath Breaker deliberately sent his daughter to Paratu, and if the Princess encounters anything untoward, he then has the justification to start a war."

"That’s [expletive] nonsense!" Siegfried finally couldn’t help but curse, "The Emperor wouldn’t need to sacrifice Her Highness to wage war against you! You know nothing about His Majesty! If there’s anyone in this world who could make His Majesty go against his principles, it could only be Princess Elizabeth! And as long as His Majesty gives the order, the Empire’s forces could immediately turn your Two Mountains Narrow Land into a sea of blood!"

"I agree with you, I also find it unreasonable because such a plan is too complex to execute; in military terms, any plan exceeding three steps is difficult to implement," the middle-aged officer began to analyze its feasibility, "But with the Oath Breaker, nothing is surprising."

Siegfried was astonished.

The middle-aged officer continued, "As for what you said about the Pretender Emperor’s ability to turn the Alliance into a ’sea of blood’, I cannot agree."

He earnestly asked, "Then why hasn’t the Oath Breaker turned the Alliance into a ’sea of blood’? Is it because he doesn’t want to?"

Siegfried was choked silent for three times, realizing that any emotional attacks in front of this blind man would turn into boomerangs hitting himself.

He simply gave up attacking and changed to making a request, "I want to see the Princess."

"Impossible," the middle-aged officer flatly refused.

"What about writing a letter?"

"Also no."

"Why?"

"You would coordinate your statements."

Siegfried was speechless, though he mostly wanted to know if Elizabeth was comforted, he indeed also urgently needed to align his story with Elizabeth.

"However, I can assure you," the middle-aged officer seemingly saw through the young knight’s thoughts and smiled, "Her Highness the Princess is very safe, she is tightly protected by reliable people, and she has agreed to be protected."

Upon hearing this, Siegfried breathed a sigh of relief, but still mocked, "A prisoner is a prisoner, why say ’protected’? Your side’s shamelessness always manages to be refreshingly new to me."

"It’s protection," the middle-aged officer ignored Siegfried’s sarcasm, "You are the safest with us. Now, the whole of Maplestone City knows your identity, soon it will be all of Newly Reclaimed Land, all of Paratu, and even the whole Alliance; soon the north will know too;

"In Paratu alone, there are countless who see the Pretender Emperor as a scourge, the Mad Emperor left unresolved debts in the Kingdom of Galloping Horses;

"In the United Province, they may also target you with the intent to stir up chaos;

"Not to mention our side, within the Oath Breaker’s court, do you and Princess Elizabeth not have a single enemy?

"Wouldn’t they want to seize this opportunity to destroy you?

"Those elders and youngsters who are crying all day to reconquer Mountain Front Territory, aren’t you their best chance to provoke war?"

The middle-aged soldier concluded, "Therefore, we must ensure your safety; you are safest in our hands."

Siegfried was almost convinced, but he was still stubborn, "So, we should thank you for the protection?"

"You indeed bring us quite a bit of trouble," the middle-aged officer replied, "You should know, at the highest level on our side, some people strongly demand your execution, because once you are dead, the north must act, the United Province’s forces will scatter, and our pressure will lessen."

Siegfried stared intently at the middle-aged officer’s face, trying to find signs of lies from subtle muscle changes, but he only saw a pair of eyes set in deep pits and a face weathered by storms, showing no waves.