The Law of the Silent Gentleman

Chapter 42 – Show On Board

Diego Gombet’s merchant ship Chimeweed is moored at the pier in Spinel Bay. The red and blue flag of Zanodia was hung on the mast, and the same color brocade was hung on the body of the ship. The whole ship was dressed up like a noble lady.

The banquet was held in the evening and was divided into two venues: the officers, shareholders of the shipping company and invited dignitaries feasted and entertained on deck, while ordinary sailors celebrated on the pier. Diego Gombet put on a big feast, and there was a steady flow of wine on and off the ship. A makeshift stage was set up on the deck, and the businessman invited three groups of people to perform: a group of animal trainers (with cute little monkeys and chattering parrots), a group of jugglers (with fire-breathing and magic tricks), and a group of toilets. It’s the “Poetry of Frost” band. Three groups of artists take turns to make sure that the guests will never be bored.

Giuliano was afraid of running into someone he knew (if Fernando was there, recognition would be the end), so the three of them put on masks. Being in a banquet, this is not only not unobtrusive, but on the contrary, it’s just right – some of the distinguished guests have heard of “Frost’s Poetry”, and they feel that the three musicians wear masks to pretend to be mysterious, so as to add more charm to themselves. Some gimmicks. The nobles of Zanodia have always loved hypocritical hospitality, so they were happy to cater to it.

After several rounds of performances, the cheers and applause won by “Poetry of Frost” became louder and louder, making the artists of the other two teams jealous. During the break, Diego Gombet came to condolences, and happily told them that many guests were asking about the origin of “Poetry of Frost”, and seemed to intend to invite them to the house as guests. Naturally, having invited such an excellent orchestra, Diego Gombet’s evaluation in the social circle has skyrocketed, and both the host and the guest can be described as a win-win situation.

After playing the fifth piece, the orchestra exits and the animal trainer enters the stage to perform. Several small sheds were set up on one corner of the deck, specially for entertainers to rest and prepare. The three sat in the shed and enjoyed the juice served at the banquet. They can’t drink alcohol, and if they get drunk and make a fool of themselves, everything will be over.

Enzo slightly lifted the curtain of the shed and looked out: “There are a lot of people here today, and our reputation will soon spread among these noble circles. It will be hard for Fernando not to invite us by then.”

Giuliano laughed maliciously: “Rexi will be overwhelmed by bouquets again early tomorrow morning. Well, I think that Diego Gombet seems to be very interested in you, maybe he is the main force of the flower army… “

The bard sneered.

“Speaking of which, if Fernando really refuses to invite us, he may ask Diego Gombet to intercede for us, and he will definitely agree.” Giuliano opened the other half of the curtain and searched for the businessman in the crowd.

As the host of the banquet, Diego Gombet wore a golden robe, which was very conspicuous, and it didn’t take Giuliano much effort to find him. He was holding a wine glass and was talking to a man. The latter was wearing the uniform of the Yinfangsong family, with his back straight and his hands behind his back. From his standing posture, he looked like he had practiced martial arts.

Giuliano’s heart skipped a beat when he saw the man. In an instant, he returned from the feasting and feasting of Xanodia to that **** night in Vanessa. The flames, the steel, the vibrating sound of the crossbow string…the tragic shouts and the bone-chilling coldness when passing through the long sewer. His teeth chattered, shaking like chaff, his hands clenched unconsciously, and the wooden flute in his hand was almost cracked.

“Giuliano!” Enzo pulled him back, wrapped his arms around his shoulders, and pulled him into his arms. The assassin’s voice trembled uncommonly. “What’s wrong with you? What do you see?”

Giuliano came back to his senses, and when he looked out again, the man had disappeared, and Diego Gombet was talking to a lady with a high bun. He looked back and found that Enzo was looking at him with concern. He smiled bitterly. It turned out that Enzo would care about others in the same way.

“I… saw a man just now. He was the guard next to Fernando, the night my family was killed…”

As he said that, he suddenly realized that besides himself and Enzo, there was another completely unrelated person—the bard Leixi—present. He covered his mouth in panic. Will Lei Xi go to inform? No… as long as Rexi said “I don’t want to participate anymore”, they were all over!

However, the bard’s expression was calm: “Did you speak just now? Why didn’t I hear clearly.”

Enzo patted Giuliano on the back: “Lexi is one of our own.”

The young apprentice bit his lip, trying to ignore the presence of the bard. Until now, he is not very happy to talk about that night with Enzo, let alone there is an unrelated person beside him. But he had no choice but to continue: “That man was also there at the time.”

“You mean the guard?”

Giuliano nodded: “It must be him.”

“Since Fernando took him to Vanessa, this person must be Fernando’s confidant. Maybe there are some clues about him. After the banquet is over, we might as well ask Diego Gombet.”

“…Yeah,” Giuliano whispered.

Not long after, it was their turn to play again. Giuliano’s mind was full of Fernando and his confidant, and he didn’t pay attention to the music at all. Worried that his absent-mindedness would ruin the performance, Lexi simply switched Enzo and him in the next round, with Enzo playing the flute and Giuliano playing the drums, so that even if his mind wandered, it would not ruin the whole performance.

Finally, the banquet came to an end, and the guests dispersed. Diego Gombet sent his servants to clean up the “battlefield”, and he personally visited the three performance teams with a generous bounty. After receiving the reward, the other two teams thanked each other and left first. The businessman seems to attach great importance to the “Poetry of Frost”, not only giving more rewards than others, but also enthusiastically retaining them. Lei Xi tactfully rejected him according to the etiquette. According to his character, he would not talk nonsense with the businessman, but for Giuliano, he said a few extra good words, which made the businessman overjoyed.

“To be honest, Mr. Gombet, our ‘Frost Poetry’ came to the city-state of Zanodian this time to make a career. If we can participate in a few more elegant activities—like yours Like a banquet, it will greatly benefit our reputation.”

Diego Gombet smiled: “Of course I understand.”

“By the way… I just happened to see you talking to a gentleman in the livery of the Infantson family, didn’t I?”

Gombet was taken aback: “Huh? You mean Marco?”

“I don’t know his name, but I recognize his livery.”

“Oh, then it should be him. That’s right, he is a servant of the Yinfangsong family and the guard of Mr. Fernando. I originally invited Mr. Fernando today, but unfortunately he was ill and couldn’t come, so I sent His servant sent an apology.”

“That’s a pity. I hope he recovers quickly. But you know Mr. Fernando Infançon?”

“How is it possible not to know each other! His family runs a shipyard, and I am a merchant ship owner. We are old acquaintances! Here, you see,” Diego Gombet pointed to his favorite ship, “this ship is not long ago. Just out of the shipyard of the Infantson family.”

“Is there such a coincidence?”

“A third of Zanodia’s ships are manufactured by the Infonson family’s shipyard. It can’t be a coincidence. Why, do you want to get acquainted with Mr. Fernando?” Gombet patted his head, ” Oh, how could I have forgotten that the Fangson family’s autumn ball is famous? If you can perform at the ball, it is really famous all over the city! If you want, I can recommend your orchestra to Mr. Fernando, but Whether he agrees to…”

Seeing that the road leading to the masquerade was about to be opened, a sharp human voice suddenly came from the pier, interrupting Gombet. The businessman frowned, walked to the side of the ship, and shouted to the sailors on the shore: “What’s going on? Why are you making so much noise?”

On the pier, two burly sailors stopped a ragged middle-aged man who smelled of alcohol, as if they wanted to throw him into the water.

“Thief! You thief!” The middle-aged man shouted hoarsely, “You stole our boat! Ugh! That’s our boat!”

A sailor slapped him across the face. The man staggered and fell to the ground. The sailor saluted Diego Gombet: “Sir! This madman is making trouble again! Don’t worry, we will teach him a lesson!”

The businessman waved his hand annoyedly: “Forget it, I can’t account for killing someone. Hand him over to the city guards so that I won’t be upset.”

“Obey!”

Two sailors picked up the cursing man and dragged him unceremoniously to the other side of the pier. Diego Gombet turned around and said apologetically, “I disturbed you all. That is a madman who constantly disturbs us. It is really annoying. I hope you will not be disturbed by him.”

“No problem,” Enzo replied, “but—forgive my curiosity, why did he accuse you of stealing his ship?”

Diego Gombet scolded angrily: “When I mention this, I get angry! I took in that man out of good intentions, but I didn’t expect him to add trouble to me!”

“Oh? What’s going on?”

“The man was originally a helmsman. His previous ship was hijacked by pirates. Most of the people on board died. He was the only one who survived by chance. Later, I saw that he was pitiful. He was an experienced helmsman, so he hired him. Unexpectedly, he went crazy as soon as he took the helm, and kept saying things like ‘this ship is exactly the same as ours’, ‘this is our “Pansy” .At first I didn’t pay attention, just thought he was nostalgic for the past, but then he got worse and called me a thief, and I was in league with pirates, and after taking the Pansy, I changed it into this “Chickweed” No. How is this possible! I bought my boat from a shipyard! I’m a serious businessman, so I don’t do those sneaky things! I think he’s out of his mind, and when he sees the boat, he thinks it’s a ‘pansy’ ‘No. As soon as the ‘Chickweed’ docked, I drove the madman off the ship. But he still comes here to make trouble from time to time…”

Diego Gombet seemed to suffer a lot when he babbled on and on about the madman, until at last he realized that he shouldn’t have poured out his bitterness on the three musicians. He hastily apologized to the three, and ordered his servant to take them back to the Golden Trout Tavern.

After being disturbed by the madman, the matter of recommending “Poetry of Frost” to Fernando’s Masquerade Ball became a thing of the past. Along the way, Giuliano bit his nails and secretly cursed the troublemaker. Enzo had another idea.

“Maybe we should meet that madman.” After arriving at the Golden Trout Hotel, the assassin said mysteriously to Giuliano.

“Are you crazy too?” Giuliano was puzzled, “What’s the use of a mentally disturbed person?”

“Isn’t the so-called ‘madman’ a one-sided statement? We should listen to what ‘madman’ says.”

“Don’t you doubt that what ‘Madman’ said is true? Diego Gombet had collusion with the pirates?” Giuliano didn’t say a word. Haven’t the pirates been wiped out by the great General Suveta? If businessmen and pirate snake rats nest together, how can there be no flaws?

“Judging from our interactions with Gombet during this period, I think he has a good character, not a sinister and cunning person. But you still remember that Gombet’s merchant ships were produced by the shipyard of the Infonson family. Will…”

Giuliano’s eyes lit up: “You said Fernando colluded with the pirates?”

“It’s just speculation. Unless evidence is found…”