The Seed of Pain

Jorgen and Elin entered the station and saw Jito being dragged on the ground by two guards into the temporary jail cell. Strange muffled sounds came from Jito's throat, and his lame right leg twitched on the ground. Cannon viciously kicked Jito's hand grasping the bottom of the iron fence, forcing him to let go. Then he kicked Jito's back, trying to kick him into the cell like a wad of paper.

"Hey! I was only gone for a few minutes!" Elin pushed Cannon's left shoulder, and the lifted foot Cannon suddenly lost his balance and fell to the ground.

"Let him go," Jorgen said to the guards still holding Jito.

"But..." The guard looked at Cannon, who was lying on the ground with a bruised corner of his head, and then at Jorgen in front of him. He released the shackle around Jito's neck. Jorgen pressed down on his shoulders and motioned for him to sit on the chair next to him and rest. After Jito sat down, he put his hands in front of his chin and blew on his swollen hands from his twisted mouth.

"Are you openly against me, you rascal? How dare you put a neck ring on him?" Elin said.

Cannon pushed away Elin, who was glaring at him. "Arresting a murderer and using a neck ring, what's wrong with that? Don't you like evidence the most? That robe is right under your nose now..."

"Enough." Sandis Windweaver walked over from the next hall. "Two inspectors, arresting Jito was a direct order from me. You shouldn't be too hard on Cannon, he was just following orders."

"Sandis, I think you'd better put this thing around Cannon's neck." Elin shook the neck ring in his hand. "If you want to keep dogs, at least don't let them jump out and bite people at will."

"I said don't humiliate him. Because he takes direct orders from me. You should at least show me some respect, Mr. Elin."

Jorgen put a hand across Elin's chest, signaling him to calm down, then said, "Sir Sandis, I've said this is our case. You shouldn't make such decisions arbitrarily."

Sandis did not speak, but handed Jorgen a set of folded purple clothes.

With just a glance, Jorgen recognized this outfit. It really was the Twilight Cultist robe that Dores had lost. From the color and texture to the worn white parts, he recognized it all. The only difference was that a small piece of cloth was torn off the right cuff. Jorgen understood that this gap matched the cloth grasped in Dores's dead hand.

"Evidence. This is one of the words I learned from you humans." Sandis said. "Although countless years have passed, I still can't understand why some humans can live without faith in God. Like the two of you, Jorgen and Mr. Elin. You don't believe in God, you only believe in 'evidence'. So I think this ragged robe must be the thing you believe in. When we found it, it was lying under Jito's bed."

"What do you want to do?"

"Announce that Dores killed Gamero, and Jito, who was directly cared for by Gamero, avenged his dwarf 'father'. In addition, considEling that he stole this robe from the murder scene, I believe he is also a dangerous Twilight Cultist."

"Do you know how absurd this claim is?" Jorgen said. "The Twilight Cultists have no common human emotions. They are ungrateful, only turning the care of others into ten times more hatred. They do not have behaviors like 'revenge'."

"Of course I understand this characteristic of the Twilight Cultists. It was based on this characteristic that I made this inference. I believe Jito's revenge was not intended to repay Gamero's kindness, but... mutual care between associates. Do you understand, Jorgen?"

In that moment, Jorgen knew Sandis' purpose in hindering the progress of the case. It was not to divert the conflict between the Night Elves and the Dwarves - on the contrary.

"You want to expel the dwarves from Auberdine," Jorgen said. "You can't do that. They built today's Auberdine with their own hands, together with the Night Elves. This is also their home."

"No, I'm not so unreasonable. Since Gamero was suspected of being a Twilight Cultist, then the mining team that has been living collectively with him - also feels somewhat unsafe, right? Perhaps sending them back to Ironforge for a thorough investigation by their own race would be a good idea. Of course, I still welcome any foreigner who respects our night elves. "

"Do you want to provoke political warfare?"

"No, I don't want to. And I'm very sure there won't be any political conflicts. You see, I have evidence. On this basis, I will formally request expulsion as a loyal warrior who has experienced the Warsong Gulch war, the invasion of the orcs, and has over 300 honorary medals. I am very confident that neither Ironforge nor the Stormwind you serve will have any objections. "

"My God, I can't believe it..." Elin pressed his right fist against his forehead.

Jorgen understood that if Sandis forcibly closed the case like this, he could do nothing. After all, this was just a minor murder case, the deceased had no power or influence, let alone being a Twilight Cultist. If it really rose to a political level, no one would care who killed Dores.

But he couldn't let things develop like this. Someone had been killed, someone needed to atone. Not for the so-called justice, but for the true nature of things.

"You don't know how much progress the investigation has made in the past few days," Jorgen said. "I can confidently say that we are close to the core of the case. We can't give up now. Moreover, procedurally speaking, this robe needs my and Elin's acknowledgment to become valid evidence."

"Why don't we see directly whether those diplomats will believe me or you more."

Jorgen shook his head. "Sandis, you have lived for thousands of years. I have always admired your career as a warrior. But after accumulating thousands of years of wisdom, do you really think that isolating the races from each other is the best way to solve problems? I know you had to sell land to humans because of economic difficulties in the territory. You want Auberdine to live peacefully forever. But now, you are pushing things in the opposite direction. Think about it."

Sandis slightly lifted his chin, his eyes half closed. He was silent for a long time before speaking.

"I'll give you three more days. After three days, if the case is not closed, I will not compromise again."

After speaking, he left with the guards. Cannon followed with his bruised forehead.

"You convinced him," Elin said. "Well done. What's the key point? To stir up his pride?"

"No. Just let him think. Stop talking nonsense and take Jito away quickly."

They took Jito to Gubo Blapp's ship. Seeing Jito with blood clots on his forehead and swollen hands, Gubo opened his eyes wide and said, "I heard that you Military Intelligence Section 7 people like to torture prisoners, it turned out to be true. Tsk tsk, this is the first time I've seen..."

"Come on, it wasn't us. "Elin said." Back to the old problem. Gubo, should we talk on the deck or go down to the cabin? "

Inside the cabin, it felt somewhat crowded with four people.

"Okay, first question," Jorgen said. "Gubo, you have to translate accurately for me. If there are words you don't understand, be honest, don't try to fool around with an 'almost'. Ask Jito for me: Did he kill Dores? "

This was just a routine question. Jorgen wanted to observe Jito's reaction. Jito, signing with his hands, occasionally glanced at Jorgen and Elin with his remaining half left eye.

"He said no."

"Next question. Did he get that Twilight Cultist robe from Dores?"

"Twilight... What's the sign for Twilight? ...Oh, I remember. Oh, he says no, never seen that robe."

"Then, next question." Jorgen said. "Was Dores Strayleaf his father?"

Gubo turned his head and looked at Jorgen uncomfortably, as if to say, "What kind of messy question is this?" Jorgen glared at him and said, "Just translate it straight. Don't worry about the rest."

Although the whole process was bumpy due to Gubo's lack of proficiency in sign language, Jorgen and Elin finally obtained a lot of information, including expected and unexpected.

Dores was not Jito's father, but he was indeed Jito's anonymous sponsor during his growing up in the orphan age. When the orphanage principal absconded, Dores suddenly provided a large sum of money to fund Jito's purchase of land lease rights documents. To this day, the lease term still has 25 years left.

Jorgen believed this money was the high-interest loan that Jacobson had given Dores three years ago.

"Jito said it was a gift," Gubo said, "a birthday gift."

"Why do you think Dores sponsored him?" Elin asked Jorgen.

"That depends on the answers to the next few questions. Jito, were you burned like this at the Twilight gathEling fifteen years ago?"

Jito was obviously excited. His fingers trembled, and strange chirping sounds came from his mouth as he moved his hands.

"Yes, he said yes. He... was just a child as a 'seed'."

"'Seed'? What does that mean?"

"He said it refers to the first child tied to a pyre and burned to provide a... demonstration for others who want to dedicate their children. ...By the beard of the all-powerful King of Bronzebeard. This is the most terrible thing I've ever heard. Can't you find someone else? I don't want to translate anymore..."

"No, Gubo, you have to help finish this. "

Suddenly, Jito started signing nonstop. His movements were short and violent, almost standing up from the stool, with large drops of sweat sliding down from the top of his head, and his whole face looked more distorted and frightening because of anxiety.

"Quick, Gubo, tell us what he's saying!"

"Don't rush me, you two can't stop first? Alas, I'm cursed ... okay, okay, he said, he said ... red necklace! No, necklace with rubies. He remembers such a thing in a little hut... the hut was very dark... but he wasn't afraid at the time. Because there were other people there. There was a girl, a few years older than him, who gave him her ruby necklace and said it would accompany him... would make him feel at ease. No, no. Jito did not get it. At this time, the door opened. There were people in dark purple clothes coming in, they were very tall... very scary. He was grabbed and dragged out the door... then it was... fire... the fire was lit... very painful..."

"Why didn't he get the necklace? Ask him quickly!"

"I don't know, it's not me, he said he doesn't know. But he remembers the girl's name... Hel... Hel... Helio. This is the girl."

Jito fiercely punched his own thigh, frightening Gubo to jump up. As if to crush his own bones, he punched two, three times, and in that mutilated left eye, tears welled up. That was futile tears. The pain borne by his mutilated, ugly body was beyond the reach of tears.