Gao scratched his head. If there hadn't been only one person applying, he would have kicked the woman out long ago. How could the adults have agreed to such an obvious scam?
Yun Zhe was more interested in the fact that only one person had applied for the job. But now was clearly not the time to ask. He asked Gao to bring the two children over, while leaving the tutor behind. Yun Zhe had many questions he wanted to ask this literature and history teacher.
"What's your name?" Yun Zhe gestured for the girl in front of him to sit down, and then asked.
The young woman, still clinging to a sliver of hope that she had managed to stay, dared not sit down. Yun Zhe did not press her, and continued to ask.
"You said you teach history and literature, so you must know a lot about history, right?"
Agatha nodded. "I love history. My grandfather taught history in the capital."
Yun Zhe's eyes lit up. Although Agatha didn't say it aloud, Yun Zhe already knew that her grandfather was a history teacher at the Imperial Academy in the capital. It seemed that Agatha's ability to re-enter the Imperial Academy wasn't solely due to her good grades.
"That's great! I happen to have a question for you. What do you know about the Mad King's Sword?"
Agatha paused, then shook her head. "These are all unfounded legends, and they're not within the scope of my research..."
Agatha politely declined Yun Zhe's answer, but Yun Zhe didn't seem annoyed. Then she heard Yun Zhe continue, "When you say 'unfounded legend,' do you mean there's no physical evidence, or is this history simply fabricated?"
"The story of the Mad King has been around for a long time, and it is indeed recorded in some historical materials. However, there is no clear record of this sword in the historical books. People tend to believe that there was indeed a specially crafted sword, but the sword itself is not as evil as the legend suggests." Hearing Yun Zhe's rather professional question, Agatha also answered seriously.
Yun Zhe thought for a moment, "I can tell you definitively that swords are real, and as evil as the legends say. What do you think about that?"
Agatha suddenly smiled. Her first reaction wasn't excitement or skepticism, but sympathy. In her eyes, Yun Zhe was just another person who had been deceived. History had shown that many Mad King's Swords had appeared, including one used for a restoration, but all were ultimately proven to be fake. The Royal Academy still possessed a fake Mad King's Sword, obtained from a charlatan.
Yun Zhe stroked his chin. "I'll bring you the sword later, but I want to hear the story of the Mad King's Sword. How did this sword come about? How exactly did the Mad King go mad?"
Agatha paused for a moment, "I don't actually know much. My research focuses mainly on the war between the elves and humans last time, but I can tell you what I do know."
He'll talk about anything; Yunzhe is like a sponge craving knowledge right now, especially historical knowledge.
As the two were chatting, Morrison rushed up excitedly, "Sir, sir, great news! We've captured that man named Stanton!"
Upon hearing this, Yun Zhe jumped up excitedly. He had given up on pursuing this lead after encountering the gray fog the previous night, but wanting to give it another try, he still arranged for Morrison to stake out the area near the woods, hoping to catch Stanton. Surprisingly, this arrangement, which Yun Zhe himself wasn't very confident about, actually yielded results.
Yun Zhe was overjoyed. "Where is he? Where did you take him?"
"Sir, I've taken the person to the basement. There are our men all around, so there's absolutely no problem."
Yun Zhe nodded and turned to Agatha. "Miss, I'm sorry to trouble you to wait here a little longer. When Gao arrives, he will take you to the appropriate place. I have matters to attend to here, so we can discuss the historical issues later." With that, Yun Zhe left the shocked Agatha behind and ran downstairs with Morrison.
In the castle's basement, Yun Zhe finally met Stanton.
He wore dirty leather armor, had long, messy, grayish-red hair, and looked quite young. His ordinary appearance made him unremarkable. He slumped in his chair, seemingly half-asleep, staring at Yun Zhe with his eyes half-open.
Yun Zhe sat down opposite him and quickly sensed the incredibly complex inner turmoil within Stanton. Clearly, this half-dead state was a deliberate act.
Yun Zhe didn't speak, but just stared at him with great interest, listening to his increasingly outrageous thoughts, and couldn't help but laugh out loud.
That laugh was like a sword, piercing through Stanton's disguise completely. Stanton slowly sat up straight and began to ponder a question that Yun Zhe was interested in: How can I save my life?
“You should know,” Yun Zhe’s eyes were full of laughter, “that even if you don’t say anything, you’ll still die when you go out.”
Stanton was startled; these words touched upon something he least wanted to face. In this regard, the Chamber of Commerce truly preferred to kill the innocent rather than let the guilty go free.
“But you won’t let me go. I’m your only chance right now,” Stanton swallowed hard and said, enunciating each word clearly.
Yun Zhe clapped his hands and looked at Morrison with a smile. "Morrison, you see, he understands the situation very well."
Morrison couldn't understand how Yun Zhe could still laugh. Clearly, the other party had the upper hand at this moment. If he didn't say anything and just stayed there, wouldn't that be a very troublesome thing?
"I'm curious why you came back, knowing that you were being watched."
Stanton mentally criticized Yun Zhe and his companion's tracking skills, then carefully considered how to answer in order to gain more leverage.
He didn't actually want to come back, but things happened so suddenly, and he still had many letters and belongings in his tent that he hadn't destroyed. If the trail led back there, the outcome would be the same as if he had been caught. Perhaps even worse; at least for now, there was still a sliver of hope for survival.
However, before he could return, he was captured. But now that he's been arrested, someone has probably already destroyed those things.
"His residence?" Yun Zhe pondered, suddenly realizing how foolish he hadn't considered this opportunity. He whispered a few words in Morrison's ear, then dismissed everyone from the basement.
Stanton saw Yun Zhe whispering to Morrison and tried hard to hear him. Only after everyone had left the basement did he feel relieved and slumped back into his chair.
“Stanton, I have a lot to do today. There’s something I’ve said that I don’t know if you’ve heard before.” Yun Zhe paused for a moment to see Stanton’s reaction to the words.
Stanton was inwardly scornful, thinking to himself, "This is nothing more than the opening line of a torture interrogation."
Yun Zhe smiled and said, "Sometimes, the dead are more useful than the living."
Stanton was startled. He stared into Yun Zhe's eyes, trying to figure out the layers of meaning behind what this non-human had said.
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