After Layton was led out of the main keep, the darkness had yet to lift. Louis did not rest, but simply ordered the guards to summon the next person.
Before long, a second hooded man was escorted inside.
The man breathed rapidly, his clothes carrying the strong scent of spices and southern liquor.
Louis raised a hand, and the knights stopped. "Take it off."
The hood was pulled away. The man blinked, and when he saw who was seated before him, his face turned white. He involuntarily stepped back half a pace.
He opened his mouth, instinctively reaching for that familiar excuse. "I'm just a small-time spice merchant..."
Louis merely watched him with a smile.
That night, the fires in Red Tide Main Keep burned late.
From a merchant of the Redglow Guild to a representative of the Ashen Guild, then an undercover messenger from Starfall-four or five members of Federation guilds who had hidden in Red Tide for years.
The fires in Red Tide Main Keep burned deep into the night as they were brought in one by one, then led away one by one.
Yet throughout the entire process, there was not a single cry of torture, nor a single drop of blood.
Louis did the same thing with each of them.
First, he named their true identities and the guilds they belonged to, then briefly recounted their activities over the past few years in Red Tide, Dawnlight Harbor, and Silver Ridge Hill...
Finally, he invited them to sit and slid over a letter bearing Red Tide's seal.
"Rest assured," Louis said, his tone gentle throughout, "I won't execute lawful merchants in Red Tide. Red Tide needs trade."
Across from him, those supposedly seasoned guild members broke into cold sweats beneath his calm gaze.
"There's just one