Eagle Flag of Epirus

　　【Death, where is your power to overcome. Death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin. The power of sin is the law. ——1 Corinthians]

　　 At this time in Constantinople, the sky was bright, and the east showed a hint of whiteness.

　　 Under the timely fire fighting of the city defense army, the fire in the hotel was finally extinguished. In the surrounding slums, all the civilians who rushed to join in the fun were quickly driven away by heavily armed cavalry.

　　 "How's the inspection?" Riding on the horse, the noble man stood on the periphery of the fire and asked his subordinates about the situation after inspecting the ruins of the hotel. Although it was discovered in time, the fire did not spread too widely, but he didn't really have much hope of looking for clues.

　　 After he had received the news and the authorization of the court meeting, he rushed here non-stop, but he was still a step late—obviously those guys had already left.

　　 But just when the man was about to give up, the new clues provided by his subordinates made him shine.

　　 "Master Manuel, we found two bodies inside."

　　 "What did you say? Two bodies were found."

　　Manuel was slightly surprised. He originally thought that the burning of the stronghold here was just a means of destroying the traces of the assassins, but the sudden appearance of the corpse undoubtedly made things more complicated. Is it the destruction of the corpse, or there is another hidden story.

"Are there any other discoveries? Are there no useful traces on the two bodies?" Manuel frowned. He was in charge of investigating the Minister of Finance Vatazes three months ago. If the assassination case was found here, it would be abandoned halfway, and everything he had paid before would be in vain, and it would have failed his father's expectations.

"This one……"

　　 "Just say what you find!" The young nobleman came down immediately and asked.

　　Manuel asked this, but the subordinates in charge of prospecting reacted a little hesitated at this time. Obviously, there is something to hide. Seeing such a situation, the young nobleman couldn't help becoming a little impatient, but he was also not easy to have a seizure. After all, although these people in front of him are obedient to him, the people who are all Queen Ducarina are only temporarily dispatched by him.

　　 Under repeated questioning by Manuel, the cavalry officer in charge of investigating the fire site finally had to present what he had just found in the ruins to the young nobleman.

　　 "My lord, please see, this is what we found on the body."

　　 I saw it was a short sword. But it is not an ordinary dagger, the exquisite craftsmanship and the pattern on the hilt all show that this is a tool from the palace.

　　 At the moment when he saw the short sword, Manuel's expression also changed slightly, and finally realized the complexity of the matter, but also felt a little annoyed-it seems that those people are really using themselves.

　　 The young nobleman who said nothing immediately got on the horse and ordered all his men to close the team. Of course there is no way to prove that this matter has something to do with the court just by relying on a sword, but he can at least take this evidence and ask them clearly what they want to do.

　　……

　　 At the same time, outside the fire, a group of people hiding in the shadows of the slums were watching the young nobleman who had left and the Roman cavalry behind him.

　　 are the killers who escaped from the sea of ​​fire last night. At this time, they were in a panic. Not only did they fail to complete their task, but two of their companions even confessed to their opponents in the trap.

　　 Everyone was panicked, and didn't know what punishment would greet them next. Before the shadows were worried about their fate, a soft voice from behind them slowly reached their ears.

"It looks like I shouldn't expect you to do this well." The man in the hood walked slowly, watching everything that happened last night with cold eyes. When the fire swallowed the entire hotel, the **** I already know what happened. Owl, the wings of the little birds he raised were indeed hard, and finally flew out of the cage without paying attention.

　　 "Lord Atonement, we will never miss it again next time." The scared and sweaty assassins did not dare to express themselves, their lives and deaths were entirely at the mercy of the people in front of them, and the crows could only beg flatteringly.

　　 "Only the gods in the sky know whether you will miss," said the soft voice. The **** brushed off a puff of soot from his robe. It was as easy as this for him to get rid of the crows. "You idiots are really inadequate. Worse still, they will mess up everything. I am not worried about the owl, but the man. If you leave something in the fire... he is not so good. The one who sent it."

　　 "Don't worry, sir, we have absolutely no flaws. Please find a way to delay the task of hunting down owls for us."

　　 "It would be better to ask me to pause the time. Do you think I am a wizard?" The **** sneered, obviously not taking the words of the dark shadows in front of him to his heart. And every word of him seemed to be an understatement, but it was like a bolt from the blue when it fell to the ears of the crows, and all the dark shadows suddenly looked like ashes.

　　 And then, the eunuch's words are the real trial against them.

"Owl, it's really a pity. I have to say that they are my favorite birds. But since I have lost a group of birds, why can't I lose another group?" The feminine **** prolonged his accent. At the same time he was playing with his fingers, each with a ring on each finger, which was shining in the morning sun. There were gold, silver, rubies and sapphires, but no **** seemed to be that way. satisfaction.

　　 Just like he wouldn't care about these rings, he would not hesitate to throw them into the fire and melt them, just as he would not care about these rings. He, the breeder, who is a tool of killers, would not be stingy either.

　　……

　　……

　　……

　　 At this time in Constantinople, the sky is clear and bright, and the sunrise in the east is slowly rising and sprinkling bright sunshine on the blue waves of the Golden Horn.

　　 Inside the dirty slum, in an inconspicuous corner, a man in a hood walked out slowly, while another man followed him.

　　 "Hurry up with everything?"

　　 "Don't worry, dozens of corpses in the slums are normal. The scum will only notice the valuable things on them, so they won't go out and worry about it." The man replied.

"What you can do will never disappoint me." The feminine voice said softly, "At least you can do it quickly when it comes to solving troublesome problems. You won't let me down when dealing with owls. Lakratis."

　　 Huachen glanced deeply at the man beside him, waiting for his reply.

　　 "But I need money, and I need fifty birds."

　　 The man also stopped and said, standing still like a shadow.

　　 "Want that much?" The feminine voice paused slightly, and then continued to move forward, the voice becoming weaker and weaker. "It's hard to find what you want...you must be young and literate..."

　　 "Being younger will be better, at least not being suspected..."

　　 "...The younger ones are more likely to be spotted by owls..."

　　 "...No, it's the Manuel..."

　　 When the man mentioned the name, the **** immediately stopped, turned around and looked at the other person with a gloomy expression, and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Obviously that Manuel was sent by Empress Ducarina. If he finds something strange, His Majesty the Emperor will be embarrassed. I think you will be in a very bad situation then." Lakratis reminded. Just now they executed the ravens for this reason, but the **** didn't seem to realize the seriousness of the problem.

　　The **** who was awakened by this word only realized the threat, and the wrinkled face became even colder. "This **** from Moriah is really a troublesome guy." The voice of gritted teeth could be heard in the soft voice.

　　 "My lord, that is the son of Grand Duke Anastasius, please be careful." Lakratis said with a smile.

　　 But the **** snorted coldly, "What is it? It's just the remnants of the Komuning family in the past. If you don't be honest in the country, you will only be used as a knife."

　　 "What about my request?"

　　 "Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Although his mouth was full of contempt, the **** who had gone through trials and hardships in the court still did not care about his actions, and immediately agreed to Lakratis' request. The two of them quickly disappeared in the slums that were gradually becoming noisy.

　　……

　　……

　　……

　　 Golden Horn Bay, as its name suggests, is a harbor where wealth gathers. The wealth that the Roman Empire gained from it can be as much as the seawater of this bay. It is said that Emperor Manuel I can earn 20,000 pounds of gold only by taxing foreign merchants in Constantinople for a year, but now although Alex III has transferred a large amount of privileges to live in Constantinople For the Latin merchants, the empire can still rely on these wealth to maintain its daily operations.

　　 But in the Golden Horn at this time, due to the commotion of the fire last night and the martial law in the city, the customs search in Galata was extremely rigorous. No matter who the merchants in the past were, they were strictly investigated.

　　 "When there is really no peace, the above knows to toss us."

　　 "That's right! It has been almost half a year since I have been paid. I still have to leave these drudgery to us."

　　 "Who would say no, which place is slightly oily and watery is not controlled by those people. You see last night, that Varyag's stinky boy had no shadow, and I don't know where to go."

　　 "Don't worry, Igor's affairs with the smugglers have already gotten to the top, and he definitely suffers from it."

　　 Soldiers who are investigating ships, you are full of grievances.

　　It was the city defense guard who was in charge of fighting the fire last night. They didn't close their eyes one night and got an order the next day to ask them to check all the ships passing by to confirm their identities. The soldiers had to scold all the foreign merchant ships while scolding them. Although they were very dissatisfied in their hearts, they could only accept this reality. After all, it’s good for field troops like them who have retired from various military districts to have such a job and enjoy their old age. Today, in Constantinople, almost all the troops have been owed military pay. Not long ago, they were stationed in Adrianople. The Thracian army even had a mutiny. Even night, the Empire sent a part of the Varangian Guards and the Vadaritai Army to the north to suppress it. Obviously, people’s resentment towards the emperor in the palace gradually reached a threshold, just waiting. The last breakthrough.

　　 "Wait a minute, where is your ship going?"

　　 A grieving soldier stopped a Dromon battleship. It’s very strange that at this time, how could there be a warship leaving Constantinople. The Royal Navy of the Empire has always been seldom dispatched. After all, these warships will consume a lot of manpower and material resources if they move. Naturally, they are rarely dispatched. What's more, this is a separate battleship, and I haven't heard of any dispatch from the Navy before. It is really suspicious.

　　 I saw the Dromon battleship slowly docking on the edge of the pier. On the deck, a heavily armed Roman officer walked out of the cabin, squinting and looking completely impatient. Behind him, there were more than a dozen soldiers following, each with perseverance, such a battle suddenly made the city defense guards who wanted to board the ship searched more than half of their momentum.

　　 "Is there any problem when we are ordered to go to the Black Sea?" On the ship, the leading Roman officer stood on the side of the ship and didn't mean to come down. He looked down at the garrison guard on the side of the pier and said pretentiously.

　　 Black Sea?

Several soldiers looked at each other, they were actually heading to the Black Sea, but no matter whether foreign or domestic ships were to go there, even if they wanted to go to Trabizon, they had to be granted the authority by the emperor. The Mongolian warships asked them to let them go without any prior authorization.

　　 This is really abnormal. Although the status of these city defense guards is not too high, they still have the knowledge as veterans who have retired from the frontier. However, seeing the menacing appearance of these people in front of them, they can't help but hesitate in their hearts.

　　 At this moment, a voice suddenly came from behind the guards.

"I said, everyone is a soldier. Although they belong to different departments, everything has to go through procedures. Did you say yes, sir, after all, we also have orders." A middle-aged officer came to the dock and scratched. With messy gray hair, smiled.

　　 Seeing his arrival, the guards who were nervous for a while were relieved. It was their commander, the old guard of the Plesia Gate.

　　 And seeing the arrival of the old guard commander, the face of the Roman officer on the ship sank slightly, and what he cared about was not the guard commander himself, but the guards gathering behind him.

　　 "So, what do you want?" the officer asked coldly.

　　 "We are directly assigned to the palace to search all passing ships. Everything is a routine matter. Please forgive me." The old guard said, neither humble nor arrogant. "As long as the investigation is completed, you can pass, and we will never block it."

　　 "What if I disagree?"

　　 "That can only be said to be sorry, we can't disobey the imperial palace's order to release without authorization, unless you can take out the release order granted by the imperial palace." Old guard guard directly refused.

　　 "Who has time to apply for a release order at this time?" The officer raised his voice in anger, "Our mission on this trip is not something you can delay."

　　 With a sound of "锵——", the long sword from the officer's waist was pulled out halfway, and it was glowing with cold light under the sunlight.

　　 Seeing that the long sword was out of its sheath, the guards on the side of the dock showed their weapons without showing any weakness, and the atmosphere became tense.

"You can come up and search, search and try, provided that you can bear the consequences!" The Jie Yao officer drew his sword and pointed it at the guards under the ship, only to see Romfaya's sword on the edge. The engraved Roman pattern gleamed in the sun and entered everyone's field of vision.

　　 is the saber in the court! The old guard guard and the other soldiers suddenly felt a little stunned, and suddenly became more worried about the identity of the person who came.

　　The person who can use this weapon is obviously the imperial guard of the court. It seems that the people on this ship are not small. Is it really because of some important secret mission. The guards of the city defense army could not help but fall into a dilemma at this time. Forced search will inevitably cause conflicts with these people. If they do something bad, they will offend the court. Even if they are acting on orders, is it Emperor Alex III Just let them go over there?

　　 The guards wavered.

The martial law in the city is well known to be an order issued by the court council controlled by the queen, and how many conflicts of interest between the imperial party and the rear party are entangled in this. Although these city defense guards know nowhere, they also know that they are absolutely involved without authorization. It's ugly to die.

　　 Just when they hesitated, they were on the deck, and the words from the ship finally played a decisive role.

　　 "Okay! Brother, since they want to see your majesty's warrant! Then show them honestly! Why waste time here, your Majesty will not blame us at that time."

　　 With the lazy voice, a young man poked his head out from the deck. Although he was young, the armor he was wearing was only for the Varangian Guards in the court to use silver chain mail. This is all too familiar to the city defense guards at the Plesia Gate.

"Good morning, old Jim!" Igor naturally greeted the stunned guards under the ship. In this place he had patrolled several times, he knew each other better, but the two sides had been bribed by smuggling merchants. The problem is not very pleasant.

And when the old guard commander saw Igor (although only a half-hearted in his eyes) as a Varangian warrior appeared on the ship, he finally believed that the Dromone battleship was in the palace. There are relationships.

　　 "Okay, then I will let them come up." On the bow, the officer yelled and retreated, then suddenly turned around and strode away, while looking at the soldier behind him, shouting: "Put down the ship board!"

　　 His subordinates responded neatly, grabbing the plank from the pylon on the ship and preparing to put it down on the dock, and at the same time the spears in their hands protruded out of the ship's side in a neat row. Suddenly, the murderous aura became more and more solemn, but below, the old guard commander Jims was still silent as an ice sculpture.

　　 After a while——

In the end, the veteran who had experienced the storm finally chose to let go. He didn't know why Igor appeared on this ship, but from the current point of view, these people must have something to do with the court, and his small role is still It's better to be less provoked.

　　 "Release!"

　　 At the last moment when the ship's plank was about to fall, the old guard commander yelled and ordered the soldiers to open the sea barrier to let the Dromon battleship pass.

　　……

　　 When the warship with its long sails sailed out of the Golden Horn, the split sea waves left a few white waves in the sway, as if laughing at the increasingly decaying city behind them.

　　 While on the boat, everyone was finally relieved at this moment. This is a complete adventure, but at this moment their situation has to make such a choice.

　　 Standing on the bow, looking at Dunkari, Neorian, Perama, and Galata passing by on the way, Igor enjoys the rare comfort brought by the sea breeze. Behind him, at the top of Constantinople, the outline of Hagia Sophia is becoming more and more compact. The boat headed northeast, and when they passed through the abandoned city of Krisopolis, the road to the Black Sea was unimpeded.

"I think you should be able to take away that sword now! That's too panic." Igor shrugged and turned to look at the frosty girl. He didn't move at all because he looked at the sea long ago. I'm tired of watching the scenery, but I'm just afraid that the opponent will poke a hole with a sword.

But behind him, the girl did not put down the sword in her hand. From the moment she walked out of the cabin, the dangerous and cold tip of the sword had been on Igor's back, and the girl was holding a broad sword that was not light. There is always no erratic.

　　 Just then, the long-lost voice sounded.

　　 "Okay, Elisa, you can put down the sword." Li Xini, who came out of the boat, finally looked up and saw the rare day. He patted his daughter on the shoulder and asked her not to be so harsh.

　　 After receiving her father's order, the silent girl took the sword back into her scabbard, but she didn't seem to be interested in the scenery of the sea, so she walked back into the cabin alone.

　　 Finally, the comfort of sitting on pins and needles is gone, and Igor can finally relax with a long sigh of relief.

　　 "I think our cooperation just now was pretty pleasant!" Although he is no longer the other party's prisoner status, the embarrassing situation makes Igor not daring to be too much as a guest. He tentatively looked at the Sicilian man in front of him and said.

Li Xinni in front of him was noncommittal and said flatly, "Even if you didn’t show up just now, it’s actually not a big deal. Since we have chosen this method, we are certainly not unprepared. Of course, we still have to thank you for saving us a lot. Trouble."

　　 Even though Igor's understatement sounded a bit irritating, when his eyes fell on the desperadoes on the ship and the weapons on them, he couldn't help but agree with what the Sicilian man said in front of him.

　　 But obviously, it's not the time to pay attention to this, and the stalemate in such an atmosphere is not what he wants to see.

Taking a deep breath, Igor said: "I think your current goal has been achieved. As long as I draw the nautical chart to you, I think I should be of no use to you, so you can let me go!" This is the condition he and Li Xini finally negotiated. He handed over the nautical chart in exchange for the whole body to retreat. That map was something he had been familiar with since he was a child, and he had already remembered it, and for Igor, who had studied surveying and mapping in a monastery in Crete, it was easy to draw it. And now that the other party has left Constantinople, he can also convince the other party that he has no reason to betray the other party.

　　 Just when he thought everything was going well, Igor did not expect what happened next.

Li Xini, who was so busy, replied slowly: "Actually, Igor, I have changed my mind now. I found that there was no need to be so troublesome in the beginning, since you said that you have completely remembered the map. , Then I would like to invite you to join us on this voyage, wouldn’t it be great! Not only have a talking chart but also a reliable guide."

　　 The gentleman straightened his collar and said elegantly, but every word and word of his was as sharp and merciless as a sword.

　　 And Igor, who got such a reply, couldn't believe his ears.

　　 go to sea with them! This is totally unacceptable! He also went back to Crete to see his seriously ill father, how could he be in the muddy water with them.

　　 But obviously Li Xini didn't believe in Igor's promise, let alone his situation. This seemingly gentle and steady middle-aged man finally revealed his original face, as fierce as a bird of prey, his purpose was always in his eyes.

　　At this moment~www.ltnovel.com~ Watching the warship unfolding with long sails is getting away from the land, and my last hope is also fading. Qi and blood rushed to the top of his head, and the young man of Varanga stared at the opponent and let out a roar, ready to give it a go:

　　 "You are turning back!"

　　 However, before he could pounce on him, several strong men on the left and right of the deck had already held him back with old fists and made him unable to move. Igor, who was so painful that he couldn't straighten his waist, only felt that the blood in his mouth almost choked himself to breathe. He was not an opponent of these people at all.

And looking at the young man at his feet, Li Xini looked at an ant and said: "I think you need to calm down for a while, Mr. Igor. But anyway, you are welcome to join us on our long journey. The long way for the sinner."

　　 As the man from Sicily whispered softly, Igor's vision gradually blurred. And there was a low voice in his ear, lingering in his ear, echoing in the sound of the waves for a long time without stopping.

　　"Why faraway travelers are not willing to rest and stop

　　 Just because someone’s desires can never be satisfied

　　 Someone advised me not to lose my way

　　 But I don’t know that I have already turned away from where I should go

　　This is the long way for the sinner

　　Go to the hometown of ghosts

　　 passersby, why are you panicking

　　 It was the devil that made you fall here

　　 or draconian laws and harsh rules make you nowhere to hide

　　 Death, where is your power to win

　　 death, where is your sting

　　The sting of death is sin

　　The power of sin is the law. "