Chapter 1274: Chapter 1274: Time and Hatred
"An exorcism by the Church? For what? Did something unexpected happen here? Hold on, I don’t remember any news from that time."
Mr. Antonio asked suspiciously, and the middle-aged stonemason nodded:
"During the earthquake last autumn, Old Stonemason Humphrey was hit on the head by a toppled stone statue and died on the spot. There was nothing suspicious about it. The police came by too, and there were many people present at the time, it was indeed an accident. It wasn’t published in the newspapers, only an obituary was posted. After all, if merchants from outside knew that a statue had been stained with blood, the price for all the statues would be lowered."
Mr. Antonio exchanged a glance with Shard. Both felt this matter was worth investigating. Although Mr. Antonio was an ordinary person, he also understood that the Church must have a reason to send someone for an exorcism.
"Besides that, there is one more thing."
The middle-aged stonemason continued:
"Uncle Huck is a living archive of the Stonemason Guild’s stories. He knows the most stories and history of the guild. He once told me that if one day you ever see something terrifying in the guild, to cover your face and squat down with your back to the light source. If you want to know the stories, you could..."
He showed an apologetic expression:
"You won’t be able to find him, no, he’s not dead, he’s been taken away... something about an assassination at a banquet."
"The Uncle Huck you’re talking about, is he the one who..."
Shard made a gesture of firing a gun, and the middle-aged stonemason nodded vaguely:
"We’re not allowed to talk about this matter."
Shard took out a wallet and gave the stonemason in front of him a silver coin, then said to Mr. Antonio:
"I know Earl Granger; I’ll try to see if I can meet that Uncle Huck this afternoon. You should search the guild for any news about Old Humphrey, who was crushed to death last year."
"No problem, I’m familiar with the people at the local Sun Cathedral, and I can also ask about the exorcism there."
Mr. Antonio said, so the two agreed to meet again at five in the afternoon, at the tavern at the end of Stonemason Street. However, the middle-aged stonemason, Mr. Peter Torfo, had not left yet, and he hesitantly asked Shard:
"Sir, you can meet Uncle Huck?"
"I know someone very powerful, but I can only try."
The middle-aged stonemason hesitated for a moment:
"If you have enough connections, could you... make Uncle Huck’s sentence lighter? I mean, he hasn’t actually harmed anyone. Of course, assassinating a prince is wrong... assassinating anyone is wrong, but he’s a pitiful person."
Although Shard mentioned wanting to contact the arrested ’Uncle Huck’ through Earl Granger’s channels, in reality, he wasn’t going to the Earl since he wasn’t familiar with him. So, after temporarily parting ways with Mr. Antonio, Shard went directly to see Margaret.
Her Highness the Princess, who was having afternoon tea, consented to help as soon as she heard Shard wanted to meet the would-be assassin:
"Change your clothes and blend into my entourage. Coincidentally, I was planning to visit him in the next few days anyway. Since you also want to go, let’s go now."
Despite the strict security measures for such important prisoners, Margaret can visit them whenever she wishes.
"Is it still for Miss Benanis’s assessment task?"
Shard asked, and the Princess, looking rather vexed, nodded:
"The enmity between the Stonemason Guild and my family is even more complicated than I thought. If I had been born more than a decade earlier, resolving this in that era would probably have been easier. But the hatred that’s fermented over time is stronger than any resentment. Time has allowed the seed of hatred to sprout and root in the land beneath our feet, and this enmity, by now, is deeply imprinted in Randall Valley. I’m not interested in blaming anyone from back then, but for me now, it’s quite a troublesome matter."
"You couldn’t have been born more than a decade earlier, otherwise..."
Shard pointed at himself, and the Princess tiptoed to give him a kiss:
"Otherwise, I would have been only slightly younger than Miss Benanis... Don’t tell her this, otherwise, even if I pass the test, I fear I won’t be able to become a Witch’s apprentice. But it seems like your relationship with Miss Benanis is quite good, isn’t it?"
This sentence didn’t seem to have any other meaning.
Uncle Huck is currently held at Marsh Prison in Randall City, but Her Highness the Princess wouldn’t enter such a place, so this meeting was arranged at the Randall City Police Department.
The meeting took place in the reception room on the top floor of the police department. The police sometimes have to handle such relatively dangerous meetings, so the reception room itself has a retractable fence that can divide the room into two parts.
Margaret sat down on the sofa, with Shard standing behind her, dressed in a red royal attendant’s outfit, wearing a black top hat, a longsword hanging at his waist, and a long gun slung across his back.
The maids close to Margaret actually all recognized Shard, and seeing him in this guise, they struggled to hold back their laughter. Margaret was also quite intrigued by Shard’s disguise, though she remembered her purpose.
Not long after, the criminal who had brandished a gun at last Wednesday’s banquet was brought in. Shard, when he first saw him, thought he was a haggard man, and now he appeared to have aged another ten years.
Uncle Huck was shackled at the hands and feet and was ushered into the room by two armed police officers, sitting on a solitary iron chair with his limbs locked to the floor and chair. Despite his haggard appearance, he had no visible injuries, and the interrogation from Randall Valley’s police and the Grey Glove was surprisingly more civilized than Shard had imagined.
After this was done, the policemen bowed to Her Highness the Princess and left the room, while most of the people behind Margaret also exited, leaving only Shard and a scribe maid responsible for recording.
Margaret set down her teacup and immediately commenced the following dialogue:
"You probably know me, Margaret Anjou. Rest assured, I am not here to persuade you to implicate anyone else in your confession."
Margaret handed the key ring on the table to Shard, who walked over and unlocked the barred door of the partitioned room, then unlocked the lock and handcuffs on Uncle Huck’s right hand, placing a cup of tea by his side.
Uncle Huck appeared nearly as old as Priest Augustus, despite being just over forty years old. He rudely gulped down the tea, to which Shard remarked:
"No need to rush, there’s plenty of tea here."
"I am here just to ask you a few questions."
Margaret continued:
"If I wanted to buy off your hatred with a sum of money, how much gold would it require?"
"Unless your money can turn back time, it’s worthless."
Uncle Huck’s voice was very hoarse, his facial expression exceedingly weary, yet his eyes remained fairly bright.
"If I wanted to buy off the hatred of the entire guild with a sum of money, how much gold would it require?"
Margaret asked again, though Miss Benanis did not allow her to personally spend money, she needed to ascertain the depth of the hatred.
"Money, ha, though I am reluctant to admit it, 60,000 krone should suffice."
Which is roughly equivalent to eighty thousand Gold Pound, several times the initial project amount—ten thousand pounds.
Margaret nodded; this figure did not exceed her expectations. Uncle Huck was willing to answer her questions, not only because of the tea Shard offered but because the guild’s stonemasons indeed needed the money. Some cared about dignity, while others needed to live. His own family had crumbled, but there were still those struggling to hold on.
Following this, Margaret asked many questions about the local stonemason guild, and Uncle Huck answered most of them, his attitude towards Margaret was not unfavorable.
Finally, Her Highness the Princess conveyed her thoughts:
"I am merely a princess and cannot represent the entire royal family. But this visit to Randall Valley City has shown me the pain past grievances inflict on the present people; I wish to resolve the hatred between the stonemason guild and the family. There is no need for hatred to continue into the next decade."
Her hands, adorned with white lace gloves, were clasped together:
"Huck, I understand your hatred and can empathize with your thoughts. But regardless of whom it concerns, delaying resolution of this matter won’t benefit anyone. I have no intention of saying the past is unchangeable and the future must be created by oneself. But if you are willing to help me, I promise to do my utmost to assist you in obtaining a reduced sentence upon resolving this issue. You’ll only need to stay in prison for up to two years before release."
This was already the maximum Margaret could promise.
"Her Highness the Princess, I understand what you are trying to convey. But you must understand, resolving this matter doesn’t depend on us; it depends on you, or rather, His Majesty the King."
The old man looked solemnly at the princess before him and stated the last sentence:
"What we lack is not just the deferred project payment but also an apology. Perhaps I am the first to dare to do this, but I guarantee, I am definitely not the last."
This was indeed the crux of the whole affair; Margaret could find ways to gather compensation through other channels, but a royal apology was far from easily attainable. For some, face was far more important than gold coins. Miss Benanis’ condition was "mutual satisfaction," a task with dual implications.
"The matter of apology I can try to address; what I lack now is understanding the inside story, as well as someone who can act as my informant for me. Although you are a criminal now, you are also regarded as a hero in the eyes of the guild’s craftsmen. If you are willing to help me, you are helping yourselves too. In a few days, I can allow your friends to visit you, and at that time you can convey some of the things I want to convey."
Margaret’s words were vague, but after over a week’s preparation, she apparently already had a general plan in mind.