Before long, accompanied by a strong smell of blood, Augustus saw several Swiss Guards escorting nineteen disheveled and exhausted people towards him.
Some were so severely injured they couldn't walk and had to be carried.
One person was already indistinguishable between life and death; it was estimated that when the Swiss Guard cleared the battlefield, they carried him over directly since he still had a breath left.
The most noticeable among these people was the bandit escorted at the very front, likely the The Bandit Leader; not only was he tightly bound, but for some unknown reason, his mouth was also gagged, which Augustus found somewhat peculiar.
Dracula, seeing that the situation was under control, didn't charge with the main group but rushed back to report to Augustus first, unsure what had happened in the end; seeing this scene, he was also a bit confused: when did his Swiss Guard ever tie people up like this? It was just like bandits, embarrassing them abroad.
A group of people was escorted before Augustus, who scrutinized them again, frowning slightly.
These people looked unreliable no matter how he saw them; which idiot hired them to kill him? He still had a full company of Swiss Guard by his side.
The strangest thing was attacking him so brazenly instead of using assassination, which was far more cost-effective; was this an insult to him? Or was there another motive? Or perhaps a hidden move?
Augustus shook his head, not wanting to think about these things anymore; it gave him a headache, and he would know eventually anyway.
"Are you the ones who want to kill me?" Augustus tried to project the majesty of a venerable figure, but his emotions and tone were still very much off, making him sound like he was acting.
There was no verbal response, only the The Bandit Leader making muffled sounds while nodding repeatedly, as if trying to take credit.
The scene was momentarily very awkward, and the patrol captain almost couldn't hold back his laughter.
Dracula glared impatiently at the soldier standing foolishly beside him, chuckling, "Idiot, what are you standing there for! Didn't you see the Pope asking him a question? How can he answer with his mouth gagged? Hurry up and pull that thing out of his mouth! And why did you gag his mouth in the first place?"
The soldier replied pitifully, "Captain, his mouth wasn't gagged by us. He was like this when we arrived. It was..."
"If it wasn't gagged by you, then did he gag it himself? Alright, never mind who gagged it. The Pope is asking him a question, are you going to answer for him? If not, hurry up and pull that thing out of his mouth." Dracula interrupted impolitely.
The soldier pulled hard, extracting the sock-like object from the The Bandit Leader's mouth, and several broken teeth fell out with it.
The The Bandit Leader let out a long breath, then quickly replied, "It was us. But..."
"Stop!" Augustus didn't want to listen to his incoherent ramblings, so he interrupted mercilessly, "Don't rush. I'll ask one question at a time, and you answer one at a time. You will have a chance to speak, don't worry.
Next question, who are you?"
"I'll tell you everything I know, and you'll let me live, right?" Not sensing the other party's killing intent, the The Bandit Leader rekindled hope of survival.
"Do you think you still have room to bargain? Even if you say nothing, I don't care; I can find out everything that needs to be found. It's just that if you say nothing, you should understand what awaits you.
Whether you live or not depends on whether the information you provide is useful. I can tell you, your life or death is not important to me, and I don't like killing people." Augustus would not give any promises in such a situation.
The The Bandit Leader obviously guessed this would be the answer and replied without hesitation, "Okay, I'll tell you everything. We are mercenaries, and I am the leader. But we don't have the guts to go head-to-head with regular armies, as none of us have received formal training. So our usual business mainly involves guarding homes, suppressing rioting citizens, and such.
When no one hires us, we also do things like robbing houses, highway robbery, and occasionally taking money to resolve problems for others, or being hired to kill people."
"So, our current situation is 'occasionally'? You're not a professional, are you? Do you even know who I am, and you dared to take this job?" An unnamed anger rose in Augustus's heart.
"I don't know who you are; the other party didn't say. At the time, I saw that the conditions offered were generous, and I thought that since they came to us, it shouldn't be too far beyond our capabilities. Killing someone shouldn't be too difficult. I was tempted and took the job. May I ask who you are?"
"This is..." Dracula had just opened his mouth when Augustus stopped him.
Why tell him who he was? It was pointless. Not letting him know his identity was more conducive to questioning, lest he ramble freely.
"Who I am is not important." Augustus said, "You said the other party offered generous conditions, what conditions did they offer you? To make you value money over your life."
"The other party offered two thousand ducats, with a down payment of one thousand and the remaining one thousand to be paid after the job was done. Besides that, they also provided us with one hundred heavy crossbows and matching bolts."
"Good heavens, they are certainly generous! Who in the world is this?" Augustus couldn't help but exclaim.
"Oh, I know. The contact person mentioned the employer's name, but only said he was a prominent figure, not his specific identity." The The Bandit Leader thought the other party was asking him, so he replied.
"What?" Augustus was very surprised.
"Who is it?" Dracula asked through gritted teeth, as if he would tear the mastermind to shreds the next second.
"His name is Enzo, but I really don't know any more information about him."
Upon hearing this name, Dracula was first startled, then furious: "Enzo, it's him! I always thought he looked shifty and wasn't a good person; he actually tried to kill you! Your Holiness, let's send someone back to issue the order to arrest him now!"
Upon hearing "Pope," the The Bandit Leader sat down on the ground, scared.
Augustus rubbed his temples and said helplessly, "Dracula, calm down. The matter still needs to be investigated thoroughly before we can draw conclusions.
Also, think about it, the mastermind didn't even tell them my identity, so why would he tell them his own name? This is clearly a setup.
Moreover, when it comes to motive, Enzo is practically the least likely among the ministers. However, he did give me a good idea; as long as Enzo can clear his name, having him investigate this matter would be quite good.
By the way, Dracula. Those heavy crossbows are crucial clues. Keep them safe; we should be able to find something out."
"Yes, Your Holiness."
The The Bandit Leader suddenly knelt down with a thud: "Your Holiness, they told me all of this, and I've told you everything. Please let me go. I am your most loyal believer! If I had known it was you earlier, I wouldn't have dared even with ten thousand guts. Doesn't the Bible say..."
"Alright, stop right there. Take him away to rest." Augustus said impatiently.
"Your Holiness, you just said you would give me a chance to speak!" The The Bandit Leader didn't let go of any possibility of survival.
"You can talk, I just won't listen." Augustus waved his hand.
At this moment, a bandit from the back also began to wail: "Your Holiness, please let us go, we don't know anything! It was all his greed that harmed all of us; he deserves to die, but we are innocent!
In the end, we saw the error of our ways and tied him up to hand him over to you. I am a loyal believer; I go to church every day!"
"Take them all away."