Dusk fell, and Bay Town's garrison soldiers headed back to camp for dinner in small groups.
"What crime did Daddy commit? Why did they lock him up?"
The little boy was about five or six. His coarse cloth clothes looked filthy, and his face was covered in grime. Only his collar seemed a little cleaner.
The woman, whose features were regular and whose skin was slightly sallow, tightened her grip on her son's little hand and shushed him, warning him not to speak carelessly.
"Mrs. Leonard, you really should come less often. Commander Lashius gave orders not to let anyone visit Captain Leonard."
Bay Town Prison was under the Norwington Family's jurisdiction, but after troops were stationed in King's Bay, the Combined Fleet took over the military facilities and basic infrastructure.
During Leonard's imprisonment, the warden had looked after him, sparing him much hardship.
Mrs. Leonard took several silver coins from her sleeve and pressed them into the guard's hand. With a bitter smile, she said, "My husband misses his son. Just a little while. We'll be out soon."
"That's not the issue. I can't take this money. Please take it back." The soldier pushed the coins back, firmly refusing them.
Captain Leonard hadn't been imprisoned for committing a crime in the first place. The men in Bay Town were frustrated too. But rank was rank, and that bastard Lashius had troops at his command. Under the garrison regulations, officers of the King's Bay Combined Fleet were the superiors of the Bay Town Prison staff.
With the Second Fleet gone from the Inland Sea, even the local Council Hall had to bow to the Combined Fleet's wishes.
When you lived under someone else's roof, you had to bow your head. Their families depended on these jobs, so they could only