Chapter 212 04.0211: "Promise with the Girl"

Horatio chatted with his new superior and discussed some other matters related to the naval department.

Overall, the new leader has the same vigorous and decisive temperament as Lieutenant General Hood.

But his thoughts were even more elusive. His face, which always maintained a fake smile, was like an extremely thick shield of emptiness, blocking any attempt to peek into his mind, making it impossible to see through it.

Horatio could feel his meticulousness and familiarity in intelligence work during the conversation.

His brain seemed to be a confidential library. When mentioning a certain person or force, he could always give a brief description of the target in a few words without thinking, and point out some secrets that Horatio was completely unaware of.

He even knew that Horatio was working with the Inquisitor.

In response, he simply reminded Horatio that his first duty as an Imperial Navy officer was to fulfill his duties, and only secondarily to serve the Inquisitor.

He didn't say anything more.

"I just sent a mission briefing to the Thinker Array in your office. It mentioned a large newspaper printing factory that is printing a large amount of rumor waste paper that is unfavorable to our Gothic Fleet. I hope you can lead the naval guards to deal with it today and see if you can find any clues."

"Yes, Your Excellency the Baron."

After explaining the situation, Horatio walked out of the office.

In accordance with the agreement with the girl, he leaned against the wall at the position Lina mentioned.

Sure enough, ten minutes later, the door of the Fleet Security Committee chief's office opened and closed again.

Horatio leaned his head out and came face to face with the girl.

She looked calm and walked over with her usual quiet steps.

"So, you know everything?" The two looked at each other in silence for two seconds. Horatio was the first to give in and asked the girl in front of him.

"Not only do I know about this incident, I also know what happened between you before this incident."

"Ah...?" Horatio's eyes suddenly widened, and his gaze wandered a little due to his guilty conscience.

[Did she hear the noise that night? No, wasn't she away that day?]
Lina's eyes were as calm as water, and she looked at Horatio, who was surprised and embarrassed.

"I learned about Lieutenant General Hood's accident the night I heard about it, and I immediately asked my father for leave. I wanted to go and comfort and take care of her, but as soon as I walked in..."

The girl lowered her head and coughed lightly, using her actions to cover up the details that were inconvenient to say:
“I thought it was not suitable for me to play at that time, so I planned to come back the next day, but I couldn’t find anyone when I went there yesterday morning.

I think you probably realized that the person was missing at that time - if you still have even a trace of conscience, driving you to visit the sad girl whose treasure you took away. "

"I went there, and I learned that she had been taken away. Do you know where Farida is now, Miss Elphinstone?"

"I am indeed a little worried about this matter. That's why I asked you to come out." The girl stared into Horatio's eyes, and her long eyebrows were furrowed again:

“She must be feeling very uncomfortable and depressed now.

The disappearance of her father, the terrible curse, and having to keep a distance from you all weighed heavily on her, but she still chose to live in exile because she was afraid that the last few people close to her would be hurt again. But! "

The girl's tone sank:
"No matter what she thinks, she is still my best friend and I want to help her. But given her current situation, only you can lead her out of the haze."

The girl sighed helplessly:

"So, how about we help her together?"

"Please tell me, Miss Elphinstone, I will do whatever I can for her."

Lina stared into the young man's blue eyes and said seriously.
"Please listen carefully.

There is a small lake called Swan Lake on the landscape hill next to the Gothic Capital Grammar School.

There is a flower field not far from the lake. On the slope to the right of the flower field, there is a row of hedge trees. Their roots are intertwined to form a fairy garden-like corridor. It is very beautiful, and you can directly see the sparkling lake from there.

It was her and my secret base when we were young. Whenever she was in a bad mood or was bullied by classmates at school, she would hide there and be alone.

If you have time, you can go there and try your luck. In addition, thanks to my father's current position, I can now access a lot of information, and I will do my best to help you find Farida's whereabouts.

No matter what, you must meet and talk things out with her."

The sincere and pure friendship between the two girls touched Horatio's heart.

With so many people helping me, what difficulties can’t be overcome?

"Thank you, Miss Elphinstone." Horatio bowed solemnly to the girl.

"Come on, Mr. Horatio. I didn't expect you to be able to transform from the condemned criminal in the den when we first met to what you are now.

Maybe you really are a miracle, aren't you? Maybe you're the only one who can save her."

“Leave it to me.

By the way, the tube of blood used to verify my identity was sent to the Navy Department by you?"

"Oh, did you hear something?" "I heard that your father used the intelligence network to expedite the process that night, so he was able to find me so quickly."

Horatio thought about it and realized that Hood, who was still a major general, was holding a meeting that night.

If the girl's father was also reporting to the Navy Department, she would definitely give the blood sample to the person she was most familiar with.

Then what he heard should be correct.

Think about it, from the time the blood test results came out to the time the Navy Department came to pick up the person, the efficiency of doing things in such a short time was quite similar to the pragmatic style of this captain.

If that's the case, I'll have to pay a formal visit next time to thank Baron Keith.

If the Navy Department had not sent someone from the Ministry of Justice's special police to take him away in time, he would probably have suffered a serious crime in the Ministry of Justice.

It is even unknown whether he can survive to this day.

"Do your duty, sir. I'll tell you what happened when this is over."

The girl just laughed mysteriously, gently adjusted the gold-rimmed monocle on her eye socket, and adjusted it. Then, maintaining the same dignified and respectful smile as when they first met, she returned the same way and her figure disappeared behind the opening and closing door of the chief officer's office.

Afterwards, Horatio once again passed through the heavily guarded corridors and sentry posts and returned to his office.

As soon as I entered the door, the tempting aroma of ribs hit my nose. It was obvious that Louise had already had breakfast.

[At least the Ministry of the Interior is not as slow in logistics as their administrative efficiency] he thought.

After working day and night yesterday, Louise now looked very hungry and ate a little wildly.

Her cheeks were puffed out, her lips were shiny with oil, and she chewed the delicious food happily, enjoying it very much.

Just by looking at this infectious scene, one can feel the vitality and satisfaction of eating life. Horatio even felt his stomach rumbling a little.

"The Admiralty rib roast is delicious, thank you. Would you like some too?"

Seeing Horatio coming back, she hurriedly swallowed the meat in her mouth, and her happy face was filled with praise for the food and invitation to Horatio.

“You can keep it until you come back.

Well, when you get on board, each ship has its own special food, each is different, but all are very delicious, isn’t it very attractive, just like opening a blind box. "

"Really? What is the special food of the Indefatigable?" Louise asked curiously with eyes wide open.

"I think the open-faced sandwiches and cream of mushroom soup are pretty good, and there's also this giant alligator-like alien barbecue, but I forget the name."

"That's Clotalid, sir." Thei came out with a smile.

"Colotariid?" Louise had never seen one, so she could only imagine it based on Horatio's description.

"If you're interested, I can ask my chef to cook it tomorrow and bring half of it over for you to try. It really tastes unique."

"That's a great trouble to you."

"It's okay. We are already colleagues, Mr. Kokoren. It's normal to share lunch boxes with colleagues."

"Then I would like to thank the generous Miss Peru in advance for making an indelible contribution to the Special Warfare Division's sumptuous lunch tomorrow."

"By the way, Louise, Ms. Peru, the Special Operations Division just received a mission, Archie! Archie!"

Horatio took off his hat and raised his voice to the door opposite.

"I'm here, Horatio. What's up?" Archie ran over from the opposite side, his hands and face covered with dust and ink marks from the files, obviously he had just put down the work at hand.

"Today, the Fleet Security Committee issued us a mission. We are required to lead the naval guards to seal off a newspaper printing plant and see if we can find out anything."

"Find out what?" Louise was a little confused.

"I think the Security Committee is worried that this might be a conspiracy by the enemy to spread rumors and slander the Gothic Fleet, distract the fleet's attention, interfere with our investigation, and put us in a disadvantageous position in public opinion."

Thei placed his delicate chin with his tender white index finger, tilted his head and thought for a moment, then pointed out the deeper considerations of the higher authorities in one sentence, which was almost exactly the same as the instructions the captain gave to Horatio.

“As expected of you, you are the Agent of the Throne. You are right. We are now competing against time and efficiency, but our enemies obviously don’t want us to find them so easily.

Out of the utmost caution, I have chosen the three of you to carry out this mission."

Horatio's considerations are:
Louise is an all-rounder with good overall qualities and is also a reliable bodyguard.

Thei was quick-witted and intelligent, and with her around, it would be much easier to reason and analyze the scene, thus helping him make his judgment.

Archie, on the other hand, has a keen intuition and is good at paying attention to details that are easily overlooked. He can help them fill in the gaps and perhaps discover some clues that they have missed.

"We're always ready." Archie and Louise held their heads high, restored their standard military appearance, and saluted in response.

　Uh, I played U-boat as an underwater man all night, and when I woke up it was 2pm QAQ
　　Please vote for me! Please recommend me! I will post the next chapter after it is revised!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)