Chapter 24: The Value of Life
Chapter 24 The Value of Life
Straight and upright, a dark blue, high-collar tuxedo, a three-star Bass epaulette as bright as a star, spotless white gloves, slim, flattering, immaculate pants, a polished silver buckle belt, and a handy officer’s knife hanging from his waist.
Arthur dipped his hand in some water and meticulously backed his hair behind his head.
It wasn’t until he was certain that everything was flawless that he finally donned the peaked bowler hat with the Greater London Constabulary crest, symbolizing the Scotland Yard Police.
He looked at himself in the mirror as he changed back into his familiar form.
It had only been three days, but it was like a lifetime ago.
He gazed at the familiar yet strange person in the mirror and slowly raised his hand in salute.
Agareth’s voice sounded ghostly, “Inspector of Police, Greenwich Police District, East London Region, London Metropolitan Police Force, Arthur Hastings, tsk tsk tsk ……”
Arthur straightened his collar, “Agares, why does that sound sour to you. I’m just a small police inspector, managing 4 police precincts. How can I compare to you, the Duke of Hell who commands 31 demonic legions?”
“Oh ……” Agares covered his mouth, “That’s all in the past, now I don’t have a single little mongrel under my command, so I don’t have any weight to speak in hell, while you, the police inspector, can at least be in charge of 4 patrol districts within the power of life and death.”
Arthur stared at him for a moment, he always felt that this guy had been talking shady lately.
Agareth leaned against the wall and surveyed Arthur’s new look, “Arthur, as much as I hate you in this skin, you’re looking more and more like a good guy in this outfit.”
Arthur said, “Agareth, if I remember correctly. In the devil’s context, it seems that the word good man is not a good word, right?”
Agares grinned and heatedly laughed twice, “Good man is not a graceful adjective, but I am indeed praising you! Arthur, haven’t you heard the saying?
The most advanced hunters often come in the form of prey.
You could not have been better for my great plan of harvesting souls by acting like a good guy.”
Arthur loosened his shoulders, which were sore from the prolonged tightness, and spoke, “Is that so? How is it that what I’ve heard is different from you. I’ve only heard that the highest-end ingredients often require only the simplest of cooking methods.”
“Arthur, what the hell are you talking about. Why can’t I understand any of it? The two of us are wearing the same pants now, can’t you be honest with me?”
Arthur shook his head gently, “If there was only one pair of pants, I’d rather have one of us wear them while the other one is naked.”
“Why?”
Arthur calmly replied back, “Because if two people wear the same pair of pants, then what each of us is trying to cover up can be exposed.”
Hearing this, Agareth looked down at his own, then up at Arthur’s, before dragging out the end of his sentence.
“Wonderful! But, Arthur, if there really is a pair of pants, it would be better for you to put them on first. Because aren’t you about to show something?”
Arthur heard this and was suddenly struck dumb.
He slapped his head and cursed under his breath, “Damn! I almost forgot about Willox.”
He turned around and walked out the door with big steps.
Agareth asked, “What are you doing?”
“Nonsense, running away, of course. It wasn’t a bad trip to Scotland Yard, at least I earned a new set of clothes. Agareth, I’ll see you in the Americas.”
Arthur clutched the doorknob, but before he could pull it open, he heard Agareth’s growl ringing in his ears.
“Arthur!!!”
Arthur frowned and rubbed his ears.
“What the hell are you doing? My ears are going deaf from you!”
“Can you not act so action-oriented in everything? You’re a police inspector now when you say run! What are you afraid of? Whoever wants to screw you, you’ll get them killed!”
“What’s wrong with police inspector? Agareth, this isn’t hell, at least not the one you’ve been in. We have a place where murder is a felony, where stealing five shillings can be a death sentence, and you still think it’s a trivial matter? You outsiders have to respect the opinion of us locals in such matters.”
Agareth sniffed in anger, “Hey! Arthur, fuck you! You kid is still acting with me aren’t you? I think you should just quit being a cop and go be a theater actor than you’ll have a better future as a cop!”
Arthur raised his eyebrows slightly, “You mean to tell me that you’ll help me?”
Agares snorted coldly, “Of course. But well ……”
The Red Devil leaned against the tabletop, he crossed his arms and dragged his chin with a smile that wanted to eat him, “We’ll have to talk about the price.”
Arthur thought for a moment and struggled to raise five fingers at him.
Agareth was surprised, “Five souls?!”
“No, five pounds.” Arthur thought, “I’ll have to leave the other five pounds in case you fail and I have to take the boat.” “Arthur! Will you fucking forget about the boat ride! You can’t even trust me to do my job?!”
The red devil was already hysterical: “I’ve never seen you bargain with the devil like this! In order to save those poor friends of yours, you dared to do anything. Why is it so hard for me to ask you for something? Fuck, in my opinion, Jesus should be taken down from the cross and nailed to you!”
Arthur was helpless at the Red Devil’s anger, “Agareth, five pounds is really quite a lot, five pounds is a hundred shillings, twelve hundred pence, and that’s enough money to kill twenty people if the Bloody Act isn’t amended.”
“Then go and buy the lives of those twenty men; the old man is not in the habit of shopping for himself! Do you have slaves here? It’s fine if you go buy two for me!”
“Agareth, you’ve really been asleep for too long, and you’re a little dazed. Slave trading was banned in Great Britain back in 1807, and if you’re caught slave trading, you’ll be fined a hundred pounds for each slave!”
“So what if I just want slaves?”
Arthur shrugged, “Then you still have to leave me five pounds for the boat ride, slaves are plentiful in the North American colonies.”
“Will you stop thinking about that stupid ship of yours! Hell, you boys are only shrewd as a fox when you’re facing me.
You know what? What you’ve been used for by that Robert Peel?
He’s using your exploits to cover for the Catholic Emancipation Act and distract the public.
And incidentally, to promote his ever-present campaign to repeal the Blood Act.
And you, for one, didn’t react to it at all!”
Arthur sighed helplessly, “Agareth, you’re the devil and could care less about reality. But I’m different, I have to take these things into consideration.
What’s more, haven’t you said it all? I’m also now the Inspector of Police of Scotland Yard, and I can speak better than even you in London.
The Blood Act is to be amended, and the Catholic Emancipation Bill passed, and I can’t think of a better result than that.
As for Sir Peel ……
It’s hard enough in this day and age for things to turn out well, and I really can’t fault the perpetrators for any misbehavior in the course of their actions. Exploitation is just as good as exploitation, and at the very least we have the same goal in mind.”
Agareth gave him a blank look without a good reason, “Inspector? Aren’t you all set to run away in a boat?”
Arthur saw that he was angry this time, so he could only persuade him with kind words, “As long as a person is alive, he can always work his way back to the position or whatever.”
“Are you really going to run away?”
“Or what?”
Agareth took a deep breath, flickering sparks of fire all between his nostrils.
He felt like his temper had gotten the better of him since signing the pact with Arthur.
Agareth glared at him fiercely, “You little bastard, put that boat ride away. You are going to be fine.”
Arthur was a little confused, “Why?”
“Because someone wants Willox dead more than you do. Arthur, the sheriff isn’t anything less than a police inspector, and neither are you.
For some people, he’ll always find a way to get you killed if you get in his way.
Are there few tramps and beggars who die in the streets in London? On the Thames, haven’t you ever seen a floating corpse?”
Arthur’s expression started to change a little as he looked at Agares, “You seem to know a lot of things.”
“That’s for sure, don’t forget which bowl I eat, I can solve all the mysteries in the world.”
Agareth said meaningfully, “Arthur, you love life. But as you can see, a life is worth no more than five shillings to those who once made the Bloody Code ……”
……
Just above Arthur and Agareth’s heads, on the upper floor of the locker room, was an ornately decorated office.
A middle-aged man in the same police uniform as Arthur was ambling about.
Knock knock knock!
A knock sounded at the door.
“Come in.”
A police officer with a competent style came to the middle-aged man and saluted, then bent down and whispered in his ear.
“Superintendent, Willox’s body has been found.”
(End of chapter)