‘Is he actually a spy? It seems the situation is more terrifying than I expected.’
Vera’s expression changed slightly as she stood beside Anke.
She had previously noticed that something was wrong with Kano, but she had not expected him to be a spy.
However, why would a spy take such a risk and take the initiative to expose his own identity?
“You said you are a spy sent by the First Prince. Then why are you taking the initiative to expose yourself now? Are you not afraid that I will execute you directly?”
Anke sat back, his fingers tapping the table as he looked at Kano.
“Of course I am afraid, but compared to death, there is something I want to do more.” Kano was incredibly calm at this moment.
“What is it?”
“It is for Grandpa Hans and the people living in Border City, so that they can live a better life under Your Highness’s rule in the future. Therefore, even if I might die, I must confess to Your Highness.”
Kano poured out the thoughts in his heart to Anke.
“That reason is not enough to convince me.” Anke shook his head.
“I know, but is Your Highness willing to give me a little time to let me finish talking about everything regarding myself?” Kano pleaded.
“Very well. Speak, I am listening.” Anke was also curious about the reason Kano was risking his life to expose his identity.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
Kano then began to tell his story. It began the same way as the story he told the day he became the Library Manager, but this time there were many more details.
Kano’s family, the Caniers family, was a wealthy merchant family that ran a dyeing workshop. Kano was the eldest son of the family.
At 10 years old, his father spent a large sum of money to send him to the Royal Capital to study, preparing him to seek a position as a government official.
3 years ago, Kano’s father developed a new dyeing process that could dye beautiful patterns directly onto cloth.
Local nobles saw the business opportunity in it.
Under the lead of the Church, they signed a contract with Kano’s father to operate the business together and expand the dyeing workshop.
But once the nobles obtained the dyeing process, they directly tore up the original contract. They colluded with the Church and burned all of Kano’s family members to death on the charge of heresy.
“The Church even sent me a letter, tricking me into going back because they wanted to kill me. It was only with the help of a kind groom that I narrowly escaped.”
Kano revealed the painful past that had been buried in his heart.
“Since then, the people from the Church and the nobles have been hunting me down. I had no money and nowhere to go, so I could only hide and wander in the slums of my hometown. Because I had an education, I was recommended by a gang in the slums to the First Prince’s subordinates. Afterward, under their arrangement, I came to Border City to pass information to the First Prince in exchange for high rewards.”
“Sigh… this era is still too dark.” Anke sighed at the corruption of this era as he listened to Kano’s narration.
“That day in the forest, I was actually not picking up dry firewood, but scouting Your Highness’s Alchemy Workshop,” Kano continued.
“What! Then what did you find?” Anke’s heart jumped, because at that time, he happened to be testing the Musket.
“I heard a very loud noise, and then I saw the Musket you put away. I also described these things in a letter sent by pigeon to the First Prince. I am very sorry. At that time, I thought Your Highness was the same as those nobles who took the lives of my family, so I…”
At this point, Kano lowered his head again, his forehead pressed against the floor.
This was the thing he had done that he regretted most regarding Anke.
“Don’t worry about the ‘so.’ What did you write in your letter to the First Prince?” What Anke cared about most now was how much of his Musket had been exposed.
“I wrote that Your Highness’s alchemical weapon can make a very loud noise, but nothing else besides that.”
“Is that true?” Anke confirmed with Kano.
“I swear by my soul. If I deceive Your Highness again, then after I die, my soul shall fall into Hell and be roasted by the fires of Hell forever.”
“Is it true?” Anke did not believe Kano immediately, but instead looked at Vera beside him.
“It is the truth. There are no traces of lying,” Vera replied.
“So that means only the loud noise of the Musket was exposed? That’s not too bad.” Anke breathed a long sigh of relief and then let Kano continue his confession. “Continue, Kano.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Kano continued to explain everything, from the two times Anke pardoned his capital crimes and granted him a position and favorable treatment, to his heart-to-heart awakening with Old Hans.
“I see clearly now. Your Highness is not like those corrupt and fallen nobles. You are a saint. Grandpa Hans believes that you can bring a stable life to the people of Border City. I do not want my betrayal to cause good people like Grandpa Hans to lose a benevolent ruler like Your Highness. Therefore, I confess everything to you here.”
Anke listened and remained silent for several seconds before speaking.
“Let’s not talk about how to deal with you for now. First, give me the clues about the coal.”
“Understood, Your Highness! This is the journal I found that recorded a lead on suspected coal.” Kano took out the Lord’s Journal he had brought, turned to one page, and spoke to Anke.
“This page mentions that a hunter from the Grey Wolf Forest presented a kind of black stone that could burn to the Lord and received a generous reward. But afterward, a servant used the black stone to keep warm, and died mysteriously the next day. The Lord considered it an evil Killer Stone, so he ordered the hunter and his family to be hanged and forbade anyone from looking for this Killer Stone again.”
After Kano finished speaking, he placed the page on the table facing Anke.
“I am not sure if the ‘coal’ Your Highness mentioned also kills people, but black stones that can burn are indeed characteristic of the ‘coal’ Your Highness described.”
Anke’s voice was excited and his fingers trembled as he pointed at the record in the journal. “This is it! This is exactly it! This is the coal I need!”
“This is the coal that can replace charcoal? But if using it for warmth causes mysterious deaths, wouldn’t it be too dangerous?” Vera looked at the description in the journal and spoke with some concern.
After all, the term “mysterious death” wasn’t used lightly. If Anke died mysteriously because he used this “Killer Stone,” then her Race Revival Plan would fall through.
“Rest assured, Vera. The so-called ‘Killer Stone’ is actually just carbon monoxide poisoning caused by incomplete combustion. As long as it is used correctly, nothing will happen.”
“Car… bon… mon… oxide… poisoning? What is that?” Vera repeated the awkward words Anke had just said.
“It means that if used incorrectly, it will produce a poisonous gas, and this poisonous gas will kill people.”
“Oh, poisonous gas.” Once poisonous gas was mentioned, Vera understood. Carbon monoxide was a poisonous gas!
With the matter of the coal settled, it was time to deal with Kano.
Anke set the journal aside, stood up from his seat, and walked to Kano’s side.
Then, under Kano’s confused gaze, he reached out to help him up and even kindly patted the dust off his clothes.
“The Southwest Slums are one of the keys to the development of Border City. Governance and transformation work are of vital importance. Kano, do you dare to take on the responsibility of Manager?”
Anke extended his left hand toward Kano and spoke in a serious tone.
“Thank you for your trust, Lord! Kano Caniers is willing to offer his life for my Lord!” Kano swore excitedly.
At this point, Kano officially became the fourth retainer under Anke’s command.
During dinner, Vera asked the question in her heart.
“Your Highness not only did not punish Kano, but instead gave him a higher official position. Why is that? He even swore to serve you with his life.”
“It’s very simple. Kano is like the coal I have been looking for. If used poorly, it will kill. But if used well, it is a flame that can warm tens of thousands of homes.”
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