Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

"The docks aren't that big, and the dockworkers all know each other. You're saying you don't know who's missing after the explosion?" Winters slammed the table hard.

"There're too many people on the docks, and anyone with the strength can become a dockworker, how could we remember everyone?" The man being interrogated answered flawlessly, "Your Honor, the constable, why don't you ask someone else?"

Winters asked various other questions from different angles, but the man stuck to his story that he knew nothing.

"Get out," an exhausted Winters waved his hand, "Send in the next one."

The man left, and another short, stocky man took his place in the chair.

This little man sat uneasily on the stool, lips pressed tightly together, saying nothing.

"May I have your name?" Winters politely broke the silence.

Before he finished speaking, the stout man sprang up as if stung in the buttocks, shouting, "I know nothing!"

"I'm asking for your name..."

"I know nothing!"

"Your name..." Continue reading at empire

"I know nothing!"

"Get out!"

"I know nothing!"

Winters grabbed a cup from the table and smashed it to pieces on the ground.

——Cut——

"The dockworkers are all tight-lipped, they won't say anything," Winters reported to Colonel Field helplessly about the inquiry results of the dockworkers.

In the officers' club lounge, Field, Moritz, and Winters sat around a small table in a circle.

"The dockworkers are scared to be seen as informers. A few gangs control all the dockworking business, and they've put a gag order in place, so naturally, the workers don't dare fart," Field's mood was foul, holding a wine glass for a long time without having a sip, "We can't protect the dockworkers' families, they won't side with us."

There were no leads on the assassination case, leaving Field and Winters with grim expressions.

Major Moritz, on the other hand, seemed completely unaffected and merrily poured his own drink. Winters couldn't help but wonder if Major Moritz was truly deaf or was just pretending not to hear so he could dodge the irksome work.

Under the calm surface of the docks, an undercurrent was brewing; the Benvenuto family's house was still empty to this day. The cripple on Hidden People Street had some news, explaining why all the dockworkers were keeping their mouths shut, and why the entire Benvenuto family had disappeared.

The dockworkers in Sea Blue City were roughly divided into several groups by region; they often got into violent conflicts over work competition, occasionally breaking an arm or a leg.

On the night of the assassination, the Montan people found their leader lying in a pool of blood in an alley behind the Pine Forest Tavern, killed by a stab wound beneath the left rib.

Just a few days earlier, the Montan people had a fierce fight with the Vaughan People, leaving one severely injured and several others with minor injuries. The one who was seriously injured died shortly after being carried back.

Monta Republic is located in the mountainous area, where the environment is harsh. As the land can't sustain them, the men have to join the army to earn money. Therefore, Montans are known to be fierce and tenacious; braving death, Monta has been an important source of soldiers since ancient times.

The Montan people now believe the Vaughan People are the murderers, swearing to repay blood with blood. That means they won't cease until they've spilled the blood of their enemies.

The Vaughan People, while denying they killed the Montan leader, regretted only that someone had taken their chance for revenge.

For the family-oriented Vaughan People, when one dies, a part of the community seeks revenge. The entire Vaughan community is interconnected by complex familial ties, like a pot of soil teeming with plant roots.

The Vaughan People, having suffered a great loss, were also licking their wounds and preparing to strike back.

In the bustling shadows of the port area, both sides were gearing up, accumulating strength for what might become a full-blown fight.

According to the cripple, both sides have been buying up real weapons and a lot of gunpowder on the black market. Even the Paratu People, uninvolved in the matter, were preparing in secret. The final outcome could be very ugly.

The Vaughan man who had died of severe injuries in the previous violent conflict was Benvenuto's own uncle. In Vaughan culture, blood-revenge by relatives is a praise-worthy action. Therefore, the Benvenuto home was now a primary target for Montan retaliation, and according to the cripple, their house had likely been protected by the Vaughan community.

Would the different groups of dockworkers fight to the death?

Field couldn't care less about such matters.

In his view, even if the sea at the port turned red with the blood of dockworkers, that was a problem for customs and the city guard.

But it was precisely because of this absurd reason that the dockworkers remained silent, refusing to speak.

"These bastards, they're certain we can't torture them without evidence," Field said angrily yet dejectedly, "Damn it! Lock them up and beat them, and they'd surely spill everything."

But Field could only talk tough; although torture was a common method used by Alliance law enforcement to obtain evidence, Alliance laws strictly regulated the conditions for its use. The Church also strictly forbade the use of torture on believers— in theory.

Today, if Field dared to imprison and torture the dockworkers without any evidence, he wouldn't have to wait for a future reversal in the case; he'd have to pack up and leave to write war histories right now.