"Okay, Mr. Clown, and your circus companions." Richard looked at the clown and said seriously, "I sympathize with your situation and I hope you can solve it as soon as possible, but I still have to be on my way, so really I won’t participate anymore, goodbye.” After saying that, Richard was about to leave on horseback.
"Wait!"
At this time, the circus leader Oliver rushed in front of the horses, stretched out his hand to stop him and said: "Boy, you... you are not allowed to leave!"
"how?"
"You are a suspect too!"
"Um?"
"In the past three days, apart from our circus people, you have stayed with me the longest, which is as long as one night! Moreover, I have always hidden my money well, but you stayed with me for one night. Missing? Now, you are in such a hurry to leave, the suspicion is very high!" Oliver shouted, "So unless you can find the real thief, you are a thief!"
"Is that so? It seems a little difficult to stay out of the situation." Richard said in a low voice.
The clown said faintly: "Passer-by, it seems that you can only help us find the real thief. By the way, I am still looking forward to your performance. After all, whether it is talking about life or playing games, you have given me everything before. Big surprise.”
Richard looked at the clown and stared at each other for a long time: "So, Mr. clown, are you going to let me surprise you again?"
"If you can, that would be the best."
"Okay then." Richard said with a smile, turned to look at the circus leader Oliver, and said, "You want me to help you find the thief who stole the money, right? Well, I'll tell you directly. It’s me who has the money, and I stole your money.”
"Huh?!" Oliver was stunned, and everyone else, including the clown, was stunned, "Did you steal it?"
There was a hint of disbelief in his voice.
"Yes, I stole it." Richard nodded and asked Oliver, "I will compensate you for all the money you lost."
"Huh, you didn't steal it, right? You just said that on purpose to reduce trouble! You want to compensate me, can you afford it? Let me tell you, the money that was stolen from me can buy a village … Well, no, I can buy a castle… Well, no, I can buy a city!”
"Are you sure?!" Richard's voice rose slightly and he quickly listed the data to Oliver. "According to my contact with you the night before yesterday, it seems that the coins you received from the performance are not very many. Basically, there are no silver coins in sight. It's copper. At most, it's more than a hundred coppers per night, which is equivalent to more than one silver coin. Even if the situation is better calculated, it's only two silver coins per day at most.
If a month is calculated as thirty days, and you don't take any rest for a month, you will only earn 60 silver coins. To earn silver coins, you need to buy food and provide enough meat for the lions. At least 20 silver coins must be used in a month, so only 40 silver coins are left.
If you calculate it this way, even if you don't share it with the rest of the circus at all and take it all for yourself, the monthly income is only 40 silver coins, which is 480 silver coins in a year. I don't know what the ratio is for you to exchange gold coins, but it should be between 1:20 and 1:30. That's 16 gold coins to 24 gold coins. By the way, how many years have you been a circus ringmaster? "
"This circus has been established for three years." Tols, the animal trainer who was feeding the lion meat next to him, looked over and gave the answer.
"Then it's very clear. In three years, the maximum you can earn is 48 to 72 gold coins." Richard looked at Oliver, "Actually, it should be much less. I guess about 15 to 20 gold coins." Between gold coins.”
Oliver: "I..."
"And I have a hundred gold coins here." As he spoke, Richard took out a heavy bag from his arms, opened the bag and poured it out. The gold coins fell down and hit the ground with a sweet sound, like It's raining gold, shining extremely brightly in the sun.
Suddenly, everyone in the circus' breathing froze, staring at the gold coins on the ground, unable to move at all.
Richard looked at Oliver and said seriously: "Didn't you have your money stolen? Well, I'll pay you more money, so you don't have to go find the thief. In this way, your problem and mine will be solved at the same time. Solved—after all, problems that are solved with money are not problems, right?”
"This..." Oliver looked at the gold coins on the ground and was speechless. He just kept swallowing his saliva, "Gudong, Gudong."
"Okay, keep the money. I'm leaving. I'm really in a hurry. So... Goodbye!" After saying that, Richard pulled the reins of his horse and walked forward quickly, farther and farther.
"This is all my money, no one can steal it from me!" As soon as Richard left, the circus leader immediately eagerly jumped on the gold coins on the floor, and the fat all over his body was shaking with excitement.
The rest of the circus people stopped in place, breathing a little quickly. The lame groom McGee and the big man Tyne looked at each other.
The clown looked in the direction where Richard left, with a very strange look in his eyes, as if he had eaten a fly, but after a while he stopped laughing: "Okay, okay, this is really a big surprise!"
The clown's voice fell, and the big man Tyne on the side suddenly got angry, shouted loudly, took out a dagger from somewhere, and stabbed Oliver, the circus leader who was picking up gold coins on the ground, hard, and there was a "pop" sound. Enter the heart.
The lame groom McGee also ran over, holding a rusty dagger in his hand, and also stabbed Oliver, but at the last moment, the blade deflected and stabbed Tyne in the thigh.
Tyne screamed, with red eyes, he tried to attack the groom McGee with a dagger, and said hatefully: "I knew you would be like this..."
The groom McGee limped away, stared at Tyne, and breathed heavily: "Don't blame me, you would do the same thing if it were you!"
Next to them, the animal trainer looked at the two people and calmly walked towards the door of the lion's iron cage, while the beautiful young woman Amy hurriedly hid in the corner.
The clown sighed first, then his eyes flashed, and he said with some clarity: "By the way, this is the real purpose of that kid, it's interesting, tsk..."
…
the other side.
Richard had already ridden several miles away on horseback. He turned his head and glanced behind him. He didn't find anyone chasing him, and his eyebrows moved.
The reason why he paid for it just now was because he didn't want to cause trouble. On the other hand, I want to test for more information, see how the people in the circus will react, and see if the entire circus is deliberately cooperating with the clown in the performance, or if only the clown is an alternative existence.
Now it seems that the latter possibility is more likely, but we have to wait and see what happens in the end.
And this wait has to wait until evening.
…
In the evening, the sun was setting in the west, and the western sky was burning red, like lava flowing.
Ahead of the road, a tall castle appeared.
The entire castle is pitch black, like cast iron, and the red light shines on it with almost no reflection, giving people an eerie and mysterious feeling.
Richard approached on horseback, and the horse under his crotch made a long neigh, showing some resistance.
Richard's eyebrows slowly rose and he looked at the door of the black castle.