sjar Chapter 121 Loyalty! - Obey the Queen's Order!
Chapter 121 Loyalty! - Obey the Queen's Order!
Chapter 121 Loyalty! - Obey the Queen's Order!
In the previous chapter, the chief jailer and two other jailers were searching for the Sword King in the wild. After discovering the rock spikes left by the Sword King on a mountain wall, they immediately reported it to the Queen and waited for the Queen's instructions at the foot of the mountain wall.
The chief jailer and the fat jailer went in different directions to check if there were other mountain walls nearby that were suitable for climbing, in order to prevent the Swordsman King from sneaking down from other places and escaping.
The thin jailer was waiting at the bottom of the original mountain wall, and then a team of guards sent by the Minister of Military Affairs arrived. The thin jailer started chatting with this team of guards.
The thin jailer chatted with the guards for a short while before the sun approached the distant mountains in the west. The head jailer and the fat jailer returned one after another. After all, after the sun sets, it's hard to see anything you want to find.
The fat jailer came back a little earlier than the jailer and had already started chatting with the guards. After learning what the guards were doing, he was stunned and thought, "Oh no! No matter what, we may have to climb..."
So, since the Minister of Military Affairs had already sent a team of guards to guard the base of the mountain wall, the Chief Jailer could safely lead them to climb to the top of the mountain wall.
Just when the fat jailer was full of worries and depressed, the head jailer came back.
After the thin jailer briefly introduced the head jailer's identity, a guard who was good at flattery immediately flattered the head jailer, saying, "Congratulations, head jailer! This is a great achievement!"
The head jailer, a seasoned sociable person, pretended to be humble and told the guard, "No, no, no. We haven't caught him yet, we've only found traces."
The flattering guard then flattered the chief jailer, saying, "Even if it's found, it's still a great achievement!"
The head jailer shook his head and said to the flattering guard, "Discovering the trail isn't as great a feat as catching the fugitive. If you can catch the fugitive here, you'll all have done a great deed! Hahahaha!"
Upon hearing this, the guards immediately perked up and started discussing it with those around them. They were basically repeating what the warden had said: "Catching the fugitive would be a great achievement!"
Seeing that he had frightened the guards with just a few words, the head jailer immediately took advantage of the familiarity and asked the guards, "Military Minister, did you say who is in charge of this group of people?"
After hearing this, the guards all shook their heads.
In fact, after discussing the details with the Queen, the Minister of Military Affairs agreed that the probability of the Swordsman King coming down from the top of the mountain wall was too small, so he casually arranged a team of guards to come over.
How casual was this? This team of guards were drawn from several nearby villages. And they hadn't even told anyone who would be the leader of this team.
The warden carefully examined the guards' equipment. They lacked the standard equipment of a regular army, and lacked the sleek, polished look of a regular army. He pondered for a moment, then made up his mind. He addressed the guards, "Since the military minister hasn't said anything, I should be in charge. After all, I arrived first and reported the situation."
At this time, one of the guards said to the other guards: "That's not right. I've never heard of a jailer in charge of the village guards." After he finished speaking, the team of guards nodded in agreement.
The thin jailer immediately assisted the head jailer and said to the guards, "You were sent by the minister, and we were sent by the queen. The queen is naturally of higher status than the minister, so it is natural that we, the head jailer, will be in charge of this place."
After hearing this, the head jailer looked at the thin jailer and praised his assistance.
After hearing these words, the team of guards immediately fell into discussion.
After some discussion, one of the guards said to the others, "If that's the case, then...it makes sense."
When the chief jailer saw that one of the guards had agreed first, he didn't give the other guards time to object. He immediately asked the guard, "Oh, by the way! Since the minister sent you, did he give you any instructions?"
The guard replied to the chief jailer, "We are ordered to stay at the foot of the mountain wall here and not leave until we receive further orders."
Another guard echoed, saying, "Besides this, there are no other orders."
The chief jailer asked the guards, "Hasn't anyone received orders to climb the mountain wall and chase the fugitive?"
After hearing this, the guards immediately shook their heads and said: No.
The head jailer looked at the bewildered guards and felt a little lost himself. He then asked the guards, "Who among you would like to climb up with us and help us hunt down the fugitive?"
One of the guards, very reluctantly, said to the chief jailer, "The minister's order is for us to guard here, not to climb up and chase the fugitive."
Another reluctant guard echoed the previous one and said to the head jailer, "Yes, if we climb up, it will be a violation of orders and desertion."
The guard who had agreed with the warden said to the other guards, "We all have a transfer order. Let's check our orders to see if we have received any other orders." As soon as he finished speaking, the guards took out their transfer orders and began to compare the contents.
After comparing several "transfer orders," the head jailer was speechless. Indeed, as the guards had said, the contents were identical, save for the guards' names and villages. The military minister's orders to this group of guards were essentially to hold their ground at the foot of the mountain wall and await the fugitive's descent, and not to leave without permission.
At this time, a guard who had been silent until then said to the head jailer, "Our instructions were only to stay down there. You probably didn't get that instruction. If you want to go up there and make a contribution, you can still go up."
After hearing what the guard said, the warden began to hesitate. He sat down where he was, thinking, "I've sent people here, but the Queen hasn't given any clear instructions. What should I do then..."
In fact, the guard was thinking badly just now. What happened?
This guard had a special relationship with the person who had delivered the "transfer order." That person had shared all the information he had gathered within the capital with this guard. He was the only one in the group who knew that the queen and her ministers were preventing the guards from climbing the mountain because they were worried that the fugitives might attack them from the cliff face.
This guard never told anyone else, let alone the warden. Just imagine how evil a person like that must be.
In this way, after comparing their respective transfer documents, everyone continued to whisper and discuss for a long time without stopping.
The head jailer, who was still sitting there, finally understood the situation and thought to himself, "They have a point. The minister doesn't need to send this team of guards to pursue the suspect. If the minister does, it means they're all trying to steal the credit from us. If the credit is ultimately snatched away by a few of them, then we'll be guilty without any merit..."
After another moment of hesitation, the head jailer slapped his thigh and said loudly, "Right!"
The crowd who were originally discussing stopped immediately and waited for the next speech from the chief jailer.
The fat jailer was already hopeless, having anticipated this outcome. He had long since determined that he couldn't escape and would have to climb up. And after hearing that the guards wouldn't climb, he felt even more desperate.
The thin jailer looked calm and composed. He had long guessed that the chief jailer would definitely climb up, and he and the fat jailer would definitely not be able to escape.
Although both jailers anticipated the outcome, their mindsets were completely different.
The chief jailer, who had gradually come to understand the situation, said to the guards, "Since this is the order from above, we will follow it. You will follow the minister's orders and guard down below, and we will follow the queen's orders and pursue the enemy. It's settled!"
One of the guards asked the chief jailer, "Are you going to climb up now?"
The chief jailer looked up at the sky and told the guard who asked the question, "It's almost dark now, and it's not suitable to climb anymore. We can only wait until tomorrow."
At this moment, the sun has set and night is about to come.
Another guard flattered the chief jailer, "I wish you success in catching the fugitive tomorrow!"
The head jailer shook his head and said to the flattering guard, "That's not necessarily true. Maybe they've come down again. By the way, you can't always gather all of you here. Starting tomorrow, you should take turns patrolling nearby. If the fugitives come down from other places, we won't let them slip away!"
Hearing this, the guards started discussing again.
Soon after, one of the guards said to the head jailer, "You should arrange this. We have all patrolled before, but we haven't arranged for anyone else to do so."
The head jailer thought for a moment and said to the guards, "It's my job to arrange the work for my men. So, let's do this! Guards from the same village will patrol in pairs. If they're not from the same village, they can just join forces and patrol in pairs."
After hearing this, the team of guards nodded in agreement and quickly formed their own group.
The warden saw that the guards had divided into groups, so he said to the guards, "One group will go out on patrol in each direction. After the two groups come back, the other two groups will go out on patrol."
One of the guards raised a question first. He asked the warden, "How long will it take for the patrol to come back?"
The head jailer told the guards, "Each of you can walk 10,000 steps and then return. Remember to be back before sunset. There will be no patrols after sunset. We don't think the escaped prisoner would dare to come down the cliff in the dark. At night, we can just take turns on duty. Fortunately, there are many of us."
Another guard asked the head jailer, "What if we find a fugitive during patrol?"
The chief jailer thought for a moment and then told the guards, "One person will follow secretly and leave marks along the way, while another will return here to report the news, and then everyone will go together to pursue the thief."
Another guard asked the chief jailer, "What if the fugitives split up into two groups and escaped?"
The chief jailer told the team of guards, "You also have a portrait of the fugitive, so the main thing is to hunt down that man. That man is very tall among our tall people, and he can be easily identified just by looking at his height." The man he was talking about was, of course, the Swordsman King.
After hearing this, the entire group of guards sighed in agreement, expressing their understanding. Next, each group carefully examined the Swordsman King's appearance in the portrait.
Afterwards, the warden began to make detailed arrangements, down to how the various teams should be divided into shifts, and how the night shifts and day patrols would not conflict in time.
Soon, the forest where the warden and the guards were located became a temporary camp. After nightfall, several bonfires were lit in this camp, adding a touch of human presence to the desolate wilderness.
Just as everyone began to fall asleep, the fat jailer whispered to the head jailer, "Boss, are we really the only three climbing up to chase the fugitive?"
The head jailer whispered back to the fat jailer, "Nonsense! There's only one man and one woman on the run. Are you afraid we can't handle them?"
The fat jailer whispered to the head jailer, "It's not a question of whether I can beat him or not..."
The warden had been overwhelmed with work, and his brain was already a bit annoyed. He said to the fat warden, "Hey, what are you trying to say? After all, this 'meritorious service' thing has to be done by us. If they take the credit, we'll be 'guilty without merit.'"
At this time, the thin jailer was still thinking more. He asked the head jailer, "What if the escaped prisoners are blocking the top of the mountain wall and won't let us go up?"
The jailer was stunned by this question. He was speechless for a moment and didn't know how to answer this difficult question.
Climbing such a steep and high mountain is inherently dangerous, and if someone is blocking your way from above, forcing your way up is essentially a dead end. In this situation, the top of the mountain is what military experts often call "easy to defend, difficult to attack."
The head jailer said to the two jailers, "They probably don't have any weapons, right? They even threw away their swords..."
The thin jailer shook his head and said to the head jailer, "Then who knows..."
The fat jailer said to the chief jailer, "If you throw away your sword, you might find a more suitable weapon."
After a while, the head jailer was also determined. He told the two jailers, "Whatever! As soon as the sun rises, we'll start climbing. Maybe we can get to the top before the fugitive wakes up. If he's still asleep, that's even better. We won't have to worry about catching him."
It was easy for the warden to say it, but it was definitely not the case in practice. At least the fat warden didn't think so, but he didn't dare to refute the warden anymore.
The thin jailer asked the head jailer and the fat jailer, "That being said, do you really understand how to climb this?"
The head jailer asked the thin jailer, "When I told you to go buy something, didn't you ask around in the village?"
The fat jailer told the head jailer, "I didn't ask, so I don't know."
The head jailer said to the two jailers, "Never mind. We must climb up tomorrow no matter what. The credit must be ours."
The thin jailer said to the head jailer, "Climbing is not difficult. I'll just go in front and you'll learn by watching me do it." By saying this, it meant that he could climb.
The chief jailer said to the thin jailer, "It's all right if you know it. I know a little bit too. We two will follow you when the time comes."
And so, after the three of them chatted about some other things, they all fell asleep.
So what happened next? Please read the next chapter...