Yes, Madam Prime Minister

Of the three Heidi people present, the shortest girl was about the same height as Dinia, around 168 cm.

The tallest Heidi boy was about the same height as Ronan, at 180 cm. He and Ronan were the tallest people in the entire banquet hall. Next were Mayor Ares, who was about 176 cm tall, and the Heidi old man, who was about the same height as him.

The rest of the people were only a little over 1.7 meters tall, or even shorter.

Ronan had seen this many times before, so it wasn't surprising at all. He just kept his head down, cutting the roast chicken with his knife and fork. The knife made a crackling sound as it sliced ​​through the golden, crispy skin, a sound that was enough to whet anyone's appetite.

The music started playing soon after.

Ronan was tone-deaf; to him, music was either unpleasant or pleasant. The music played by the three Heidi players was undoubtedly pleasant.

When the piece was finished, Dinia and Mayor Ares applauded simultaneously, followed immediately by Secretary General Bar and others, and Ronan, of course, also began to applaud.

After all, the leader applauded, so how could you not applaud? Not only should you applaud, but you should applaud for a long time to show how much you agree with the leader.

It must be admitted that White Star City Secretary General Barr is just like Ronan in this respect; the two of them have been clapping for ages.

But in the end, Ronan, who was younger and a proper magician, was the better choice, as Baal, who was already sixty years old, simply couldn't keep clapping.

"Madam, how's the music?" Mayor Ares asked Dinia.

"The beginning is just a typical cheerful chapter, and the technique is only so-so, but the later part is wonderful, it is an optimism hidden in loneliness."

Dinia commented.

"Good!" Ronan exclaimed and started clapping again, even though he hadn't grasped anything Dinia was talking about.

A smile flashed across Mayor Alles's face, then his gaze focused on the eyes of the old man who was playing music directly in front of the long table.

Their eyes met, and the old man suddenly put down his zither and knelt down on the ground with a thud.

The old man from the Haidi tribe shouted, "Madam Special Envoy, we Haidi people are guilty!"

Pierre and the other merchants suddenly looked surprised; they hadn't been told about this beforehand. The poet perked up immediately; to him, what was about to happen was probably going to be a good show.

Mayor Alles and Barr also looked slightly surprised, but that was obviously an act.

Ronan had anticipated that something would go wrong after the performance.

Just as Dinia was about to ask what was wrong, Ronan suddenly reached out and interrupted her, then clutched his stomach, "Ouch, ouch, my stomach hurts, my stomach hurts so much! I knew I was born an inlander and couldn't eat seafood."

Ronan's acting was so bad that anyone could tell he was doing it on purpose.

Mayor Alles and Barr both frowned. Barr looked at Pierre and said, "Go and call the doctor."

“No need.” Dinia stood up, took Ronan’s arm with one hand, and said to the others, “We’re leaving now.”

Although Dinya lacked experience in some areas, she could still understand Ronan's meaning; Ronan wanted her to leave quickly.

Ronan also stood up, revealing a meaningful smile, "Excuse me, Mr. Mayor, Mr. Secretary-General, you can handle the affairs of White Star City yourselves."

Ronan, Dinah, and Agustina then left the seaside estate.

After a long while, they reached a quiet, deserted street by the sea. Ronan finally stopped groaning and started laughing.

"Haha, they won this round, but they also lost," Ronan laughed.

Neither Dinia nor Agustina understood what Ronan meant by that.

"Let me start from the beginning. Long, long ago, the Haidi people lived here. According to some scattered records, their civilization was once very prosperous. Even the empire from a thousand years ago stopped its conquest here. But later, for some reason, it declined and became wretched."

"About three hundred years ago, at the end of the previous dynasty, northerners began to migrate here one after another. Although there were constant conflicts between the two sides, there were no major disputes, and at least not many people died."

“Until more than a hundred years ago, during the War of the Two Kings, my ancestors came here, and decades of slaughter began, with the number of Haidi people reduced from more than a million to one hundred thousand.”

"Given the blood feud spanning generations, how could the Haidi people possibly stand on the side of us butchers' descendants? I only gained a little trust because my grandfather and father died young and I never spilled blood. Baal, on the other hand, personally killed Haidi people."

"But just now, Haidi clearly discussed with the mayor and the others, planning to take the blame for most of the smuggling crimes in front of you, and then implicate a few other people so that the city hall could quickly close the case and give you a satisfactory explanation."

“But the Haidi people are not fools, nor are they just tribal people from the South Road. These three musicians are high-ranking members of the Haidi people. They know very well that taking the blame upon themselves would give the kingdom an excuse to further attack them.”

"So, I really didn't expect that the mayor and his group could persuade the Haidi people."

"That's why I say they won this round."

"As for why they lost again, it's simple: the Haidi people can't trust local officials, let alone the mayor who was transferred here. In this situation, the mayor gave the Haidi people a reason they couldn't refuse, or rather, they were all in the same boat, and this boat was definitely not just some smuggling Flame-patterned Rust Iron Spiders, definitely not."

The situation just now confirmed Ronan's previous speculation: smuggling sea spiders was only a small part of the business.

"If it's not smuggling, then what is it?"

"Dinia asked."

"No rush, ma'am, let's talk about it slowly back at the hotel."

Ronan told him not to rush.

Chapter Ten: Arson, Raid, Make a Big News

On his way back to the hotel, Ronan made another unexpected discovery: he actually saw the Seapipers from Wright City in White Star City, and they were even high-ranking members of the Seapipers from Wright City.

Could he possibly be here to help write songs for performance?

Unexpectedly, he underestimated the seriousness of the situation.

Back at the hotel, Ronan recounted the events of the banquet and his analysis to his advisor, Yvette.

“You say it’s not smuggling? What’s your reasoning?” Yvette said.

“I just thought of that myself.” Ronan naturally wouldn’t say that he had thought of it long ago, as that would offend the female staff member. “Because the scale of the Sea Spider’s smuggling cannot be large, for a very simple reason… so it is more than enough to just misappropriate fiscal revenue. Although Secretary General Barr is greedy, he is also a cautious person. He cannot allow lower-level officials to plunder silver coins indiscriminately.”

“It seems I was wrong before.” Although her previous reasoning was refuted, Yvette readily admitted, “You mean the mayor and his group are colluding with the Seapiper people on something far larger and more profitable than the Sea Spider smuggling operation?”

“That’s right,” Ronan affirmed, then continued, “Miss Orion, you reminded me that I suspect they might be smuggling copper. After all, if they can get sea spiders from across the sea, there’s no reason they can’t get copper. But there’s a problem here that doesn’t make sense.”

"Heh, it's good that you understand there's a problem." Yvette sneered. "The copper must be loaded onto a ship. It's impossible to smuggle it using the special abilities of the Seapipers. But White Star City's port isn't big, and the surrounding waters are still patrolled by anti-smuggling ships. It's impossible for a large-scale smuggling operation to go undetected."

There is a source of copper, but Bai Xing City does not have the conditions for smuggling copper.

Yvette took a breath and then said, "As the mayor who was transferred here, I originally thought that Ares was just pretending not to know and taking advantage of the situation to make money. But judging from his behavior at the banquet that you relayed, he was a direct participant, or even the mastermind. This is not reasonable. Even if he felt that he had no political future and wanted to make money, he should not do it in this way."

"Indeed."

Ronan responded.

To be honest, he was initially a little surprised by the mayor's attitude.

However, once you realize that the mayor is planning something big, it's not so surprising.

"Putting aside whether it's smuggling copper, at least the mayor, secretary-general, and Haidi people are planning something big, to the point that they've already misappropriated White Star City's fiscal revenue. As for the smuggling of Flame-patterned Rust Iron Sea Spiders, it's actually the lower-level officials who are doing it. They don't have any silver coins to misappropriate, so they have to find ways to scramble from small merchants."

Yvette drew her conclusion.

Ronan added, "But it's impossible to keep big plans completely secret, so some mid-level officials must have discovered the problem, which is why Barr had to condone the foolish behavior of the lower and middle-level officials."

"The matter is basically clear. In the beginning, the mayor and his gang colluded with the Haidi people to plot something, and even misappropriated fiscal revenue for this purpose. Then, the middle-level officials discovered the Haidi people's abnormality. Then, these middle-level officials, together with the lower-level officials, found the Haidi people and asked them to smuggle sea spiders. In the end, the mayor and his gang had no choice but to acquiesce, otherwise the lower-level officials would definitely have exposed the matter."

Ronan went through the matter again.

"After all that talk, I only have one question: are we going to set the fire or not?" Agustina asked impatiently. Ronan's original plan was to set the fire and force the people of White Star City to cooperate with Dinia's group in conducting a full investigation.

She didn't understand or want to understand any of the analyses; she just wanted to know whether or not the fire was set.

“Release him,” Ronan said firmly.

Ronan began to explain, “Their show won’t end after we leave. If nothing unexpected happens, Mayor Ales will invite us to witness the trial of the smugglers first thing tomorrow morning. We can’t let them just end things so easily.”

Agustina didn't want to hear any reasons; she just wanted to set the fire. "There's no point in saying all that. Just start it. Don't worry, I'll unleash a massive firestorm. It'll be big enough, but it won't burn too much at once and cause the fire to spread and hurt innocent people. Of course, that is, if they don't run too slowly."

Ronan nodded slightly. Although Agustina was a bit impulsive, she was meticulous despite her rough exterior, and there were some things that didn't require special instructions.

Then Agustina's single eye turned to Ronan, "Speaking of which, wouldn't it be too unbelievable if we were completely unharmed? It doesn't look like we were ambushed at all. Mr. Artes, would you mind making a little sacrifice for us?"

“There’s no need for that. It was just for show anyway,” Ronan said.

“Don’t worry, my fire magic skills are widely recognized as top-notch, I won’t really hurt you,” Agustina said. Ever since she learned that Ronan was also a high-ranking mage, she had been itching to test his abilities.

"Stop fooling around," Dinia said in a low, serious voice.

After Dinia's words, Agustina instantly transformed into a dutiful child, "Yes, Captain."

"What do we do after we set the fire?" Yvette asked, wanting to know Ronan's next plan.

Ronan replied, “Go find Pierre. When you get there, tell him we were attacked by thugs. Once we're inside, he won't have a say in the matter. He definitely knows some inside information.”

“He probably doesn’t know what that mayor is doing,” Yvette said.

In Yvette's speculation, the mayor and Heidi are the main figures, while Secretary General Barr may have been coerced. What could a businessman possibly know?

“That’s not important. All he needs to know is that the mayor and the secretary-general misappropriated the city’s revenue and that he has evidence,” Ronan said. “That will definitely make the mayor and the others anxious.”

Ronan's goal was not to get the truth from Pierre, but to use him to force the mayor and his gang to take action.

Therefore, he didn't need to know exactly what the mayor and his gang were doing. He just needed to make the mayor think that Dinia had evidence and witnesses to prove his guilt, so that he could send people to arrest them.

If Pierre is arrested, how can the mayor and his gang not panic?

Investigating a case? They're not detectives from a novel, where arresting people and extracting confessions is the best method. Besides, they don't have the time. Dinia's appointment letter arrives in four days, and then Ares and Bal won't be afraid of her anymore. Right now, they're so afraid of her because they mistakenly think she's an investigator.

Yvette agreed with Ronan's idea, but still had questions, "Aren't the Seapipers going to do anything about it? It's not as simple as just helping to smuggle sea spiders."

"Don't worry, before leaving Wright City, I already had people investigate the Haidi people. I believe she's almost at White Star City now. Elena will meet with her soon, and then we'll come to the Seaside Manor. Now we just need to set a fire and then head to the manor to subdue Pierre."

Ronan said.

No way, Ronan wasn't playing house. Since he knew from the beginning that the Haidi people were problematic, how could he not send people to investigate?

“Okay, let me change my clothes.” Dinia made a decisive decision. “After Tina sets the fire, we’ll head straight for the Seaside Manor and prepare for battle.”

"Yes, ma'am."

Ronan agreed.

Chapter Eleven: Flames, Accident, Crushed Fingers

Three hundred meters away from the Southship Constellation Hotel where Ronan and his group were staying was White Star Plaza. In the center of the plaza stood the 23.7-meter-high White Star Clock Tower, which was named after the huge white four-pointed star on its top. The city of White Star was named after this clock tower.

At that moment, the window opened, and Agustina stretched out one arm with her palm open, muttering, "Hey, Lord of Fire Elementals, please don't be deaf, oh, you flame, come here."

Although he was talking nonsense, at that moment, a small bright spot in the sky above the White Star Clock Tower rapidly expanded into a large fireball, floating in mid-air with flames on its surface flailing wildly.

"Small Fireball, come!" With that, Agustina clenched her fist, and instantly, a fireball three hundred meters away flew rapidly toward the inn.

In the blink of an eye, the small fireball in the distance rapidly enlarged in the field of vision, just like a magician standing on the top of a clock tower casting a fireball spell on the inn.

With a deafening roar, the fireball shattered the entire window and exterior wall, rushing into the room. The entire three-story hotel trembled. The next instant, the fireball exploded inside the room, shattering the bed, dressing table, cabinets, floor, and ceiling into pieces, leaving everything charred and engulfed in flames.

"Oh no, there's a fire! Help!"

Agustina made a few exaggerated shouts, then leaped from the third floor, landing steadily and quickly catching up with Ronan, Dinia, and Yvette.

Ronan and his two companions were all orthodox mages and did not need to carry any weapons. Yvette, however, was not. She wore an eagle-beak helmet that only revealed her eyes and chin. Underneath her clothes was a breastplate, and she wore arm guards on both forearms and knee pads. In her right hand, she held a large-caliber flintlock musket, with an ammunition pouch slung over her waist and an axe on her back.

As night fell, the hotel staff finally managed to evacuate the guests and extinguish the fire that hadn't yet spread. They were about to apologize to Ronan and his group, but they couldn't find anyone there.

By this time, Ronan and his three companions had already crossed the seaside promenade and arrived at the gate of Fat Pierre's manor.

The manor gatekeeper saw Dinia and her group rushing in and was about to ask what they were there for when Yvette fired a shot at the lock on the iron gate, and Agustina kicked the gate open.

Without saying a word, Dinia snapped her fingers, and small mushrooms automatically sprouted from the lips of the three guards. The rapidly growing mushrooms went straight into their nostrils, and before the three could make a sound, they collapsed unconscious.

This level of proficiency can't be achieved without practicing more than ten times.

Meanwhile, the short, stout Pierre had just finished a three-minute-long battle and was embracing his tall, voluptuous lover, kneading her as he prepared for a second round.

"Darling, are you sure there's no problem?" the lover asked in a low, sweet voice.

“No problem. All this kingdom’s number one female mage wants is a result. We’ll just give her the result, won’t we?” Pierre showed no panic. “A big shot like her is just here to make some money.”

At the previous banquet, although Dinia was called away by that bearded man also named Ronan, the Seapi people confessed to the mayor their crime of smuggling sea spiders and admitted that they were the masterminds. They also reported three other merchants and five officials, two of whom were guests at the banquet. These two could only sit there silently, waiting for someone to come and arrest them.

Why don't the two of them implicate others, such as Pierre, or even threaten to fight to the death to make the mayor and secretary-general stop?

Because of their current situation, they are merely accomplices in helping to sell stolen goods. According to the kingdom's laws, they will simply be fined and spend some time in jail.

The lover nodded, but a trace of worry still lingered on her face. "But I heard that the mayor seems to be making some big moves."

“It’s nothing, just smuggling copper,” Pierre said.

The lover's eyes widened in disbelief. "How is this possible? How could something like copper be transported here secretly?"

“Yes, who would have thought that someone could transport copper to the heart of White Star City so quietly? It’s unthinkable, let alone suspecting that someone is smuggling copper, so it’s absolutely safe,” Pierre said. He actually didn’t understand how Mayor Ares and his group managed to do it either. As for magic, he had never heard of such magic.

Moreover, he had visited that place before; it was just a dilapidated ruin of the Heidi people, without any trace of magic being used.

"But who do they sell copper to?" the lover asked again.

*Smack!* Pierre's chubby little hand slapped the two large, white, fleshy mounds of flesh. "Why do you have so many questions? Lie down properly."