Sheriff Darbey is the head of the police station across from Fort Siesta. He is the sheriff of Manion and perhaps the sheriff of the entire Sicena Parish.
Because the sheriff of Xixinna has disappeared - yes, he happened to be on the missing list, and no one knows where he has gone.
In fact, Sheriff Dabe himself was waiting in a restaurant across the street. When he saw Hitzfeld get out of the car, he immediately crossed the street and bowed deeply to the girl.
"I know you will come here! Please rest assured! We have protected everyone well!"
He and Hitzfeld met at Sisburg, so he heard about Colin's affairs from the warden. He realized at the first moment that this decisive countess would definitely come, and with his current level he was obviously not qualified to participate in those terrible and deadly evil disasters. If he wanted to have more contact, communication, or even establish a relationship with her, it would be most appropriate to help her a little in these aspects.
"Thank you for your hard work, Sheriff." Hitzfeld shook hands with him while wearing gloves, then asked, "What's the situation?"
She had a good impression of Sheriff Dabe, because although he was over 40 years old, he still maintained a good figure and it was obvious that he worked out hard on a daily basis.
"No, the two old men don't even know that Colin was captured. Some natives tried to get close to us, but they retreated when they saw us on duty."
"That's good news... Excuse me, Sheriff, are you an only child?"
"? He's an only child...but is this important?"
"No, I'm just curious because I found that most families in Xixinna seem to have only one child."
"Oh, you mean that!" The sheriff suddenly realized, and his expression became a little complicated. "This is a long story... I think it may be due to the disease. The doctors here are very poor. As a native miner, it is not easy for me to live to this age."
He said that he also had two older sisters, but unfortunately, they both died young.
“Are all local public officials born and raised here?”
“Almost all of them.”
"Lieutenant Colonel Kabu too?"
"Of course, because few people from other places are willing to come here on their own initiative. Even if they are 'exiled', not so many people will come here at once. Most positions can only be held by locals."
Speaking of this, the sheriff said in a self-deprecating tone: "After all, it's our own home. If we don't care about it, who else will care about it? It's not like we haven't dreamed before, but it's obvious that just like some people are born to wear gold and silver, the fate of the city in this respect is no different from reincarnation."
Hitzfeld knew that he was complaining - using this opportunity to complain that Sisina and Manion had such an insignificant position in Wayne Port's heart that they had never even received any decent help. He had the intention of asking for such help.
She didn't take it to heart.
Maybe she'll bring it up later when she gets back, but that's not something to worry about now.
"Oh, right." She seemed to suddenly think of something, "Have you heard of wax bend disease?"
"Waxflexia? Isn't that a very serious genetic disease?" Sheriff Dabe was surprised. "Do you have any relatives who have it?"
"It's not me, but someone I know." Hitzfeld nodded, and his tone sounded meaningful: "It should be 'know'."
"Then you should be prepared to mourn. This disease is currently considered a terminal illness. There is no specific medicine, and the attack cycle is very short. You may end up in the grave within a few years."
The sheriff said with some regret: "It's so tragic. This kind of disease is very difficult to endure when it occurs."
"What if I say that Colonel Bilis has wax bends."
"It's the colonel?" The sheriff was shocked. "How could it be him?"
"Don't you know?"
"Two months ago... around this time, the colonel announced that he would retire. At that time, Commander Hayden gathered all of us for a banquet. I remember that the colonel seemed fine at that time... but then there was news that he had a terminal illness."
"You don't know what the terminal illness is?"
"I don't know. There is no news on this."
"Did you ask?"
"No, it's too presumptuous to ask such a thing."
Hitzfeld squinted his eyes and looked at the sheriff until he was sweating profusely before letting him go.
In fact, they knew in their hearts that this had nothing to do with being presumptuous or not. It was simply that Colonel Bilis had retired from that position - he was no longer in charge of the city defense force or involved in local defense, so this kind of concern - even if it was presumptuous concern - had nothing to do with him.
As for the ways of the world...there's nothing to blame.
Hitzfeld sighed as he recalled the incident about the cerebrum.
If she remembered correctly, the old priest in "The Count of Monte Cristo" had this strange disease. When this disease attacks, the patient's whole body will be stiff and unable to move. In severe cases, he will faint. If it happens several times, he may not wake up.
This is indeed a genetic disease, and it does coincide with one of her guesses.
“How many genetic diseases are there locally?”
I don't know when she took out a notebook and a pen to write something down.
"Well, you say a lot when you say more, and you say a little when you say less."
"Can you tell me in detail?"
"Because the neonatal mortality rate is very high." The sheriff nodded. There was nothing to hide. "Because of some... well-known reasons, we actually have a lot of babies born here every year."
Hitzfeld nodded to show her understanding. She knew that Sheriff Dabe was referring to the fact that there were many slaves in the local area who had no human rights.
Whether you are a male or female slave, when you cannot control your freedom and life, you naturally cannot have the right to reproduce. You should know that some trading companies do not even bother to separate male and female slaves in the transportation process in order to save costs. This series of combined reasons leads to a large number of female slaves getting pregnant "accidentally" every year.
The breeding environment of these female slaves was mostly very bad. Cabins, toilets, haystacks... any place you can think of that is infested with lice and fleas is the site of such unexpected outbreaks.
This can indeed explain why the local neonatal mortality rate is so high, but again, Hitzfeld is concerned about more than that - the mountain natives, and why normal Sara families like Mel Colin and Sheriff Dabe have no brothers or sisters.
"But as you can see, not many people can survive. We all say that this is because there are extremely serious infectious diseases here, and the source of these diseases is those lowly guys!"
"Is this what you really think?"
"Well... everyone says that, but we may not really mean it..."
"Are you used to it?"
“……” The sheriff blushed and said nothing more.
He felt that Hitzfeld was being too blunt!
He is said to be an earl... Is there any nobleman like him who would ask such a question?
If he didn't know her identity and status, and had already confirmed with Haydn that it was her, he would definitely suspect that it was some country detective who was causing trouble.
"That is to say." Hitzfeld closed the notebook for the time being. "I can assume that the local Sara family, including normal Sara families, have been plagued by some kind of infectious disease that specifically targets children. Is that right?"
"Probably so."
Sheriff Dabe nodded. "Generally speaking, children have poor resistance when they are young, and they get sick a lot. Some children die because they can't survive, but most of those who can develop normally never get sick again."
“Not including genetic diseases?”
"Except for hereditary cases, you know, it's called a genetic disease after all..."
“What a ratio.”
"I haven't done any exact research...we only have five hospitals on both sides, but I estimate it's about 20%!"
Considering Sheriff Dabe's position, he has met quite a few people, and his estimate of 20% is probably close to the actual data.
"So, Sheriff," Hitzfeld put the notebook away completely, "what do you think caused this situation?"
"?"
This question confused Sheriff Dabe.
What caused it...what else could it have caused?
If he really wanted to talk about the reasons, he could list too many. For example, there was a rampant slave market here, and many unscrupulous companies transported slaves from overseas to Nanxinze in ships without any cleaning or disinfection during the process. Once they were on shore, they drove the male and female slaves, who were full of feces, into the carriages like livestock and transported them here. Such people were imported into the entire parish in large numbers every year, every month, and every day. Isn't it normal that epidemics broke out here?
And those ape-men in the mountains... Well, they are a little more civilized than the ape-men overseas. At least they don’t eat human flesh. But who knows which tribe still has the custom of eating raw meat, which is also very easy to get sick, okay?
The Sara people's hatred of these guys is not entirely out of prejudice.
"The slaves—"
Hitzfeld suddenly changed the topic of the conversation. "What do most companies buy and sell slaves for? I heard the lieutenant colonel mention it, it seems to be for mining?"
"Correct!"
The sheriff nodded quickly.
"It's mining... Because the soil here is very hard, but at least there are some minerals and oil fields, so there is a great demand for miners."
“So there are a lot of mining companies here?”
"Of course, in reality, many slaves were brought in by mining companies. If they were to go to other companies to buy them, they would be ripped off, so they just organized their own labor."
"Have you ever been down into the mines?"
"No—why would I go to a place like that?"
"Maybe you should go check it out."
Hitzfeld said meaningfully, and then changed the subject: "Sicinna and Manion...these two places have a lot of population inflow, but how much outflow?"
"not much."
The sheriff shook his head.
Because most slaves, both male and female, would die of exhaustion soon after going down into the mines.
Well, maybe they didn't die of exhaustion, but of illness from inhaling a lot of ore dust, but what difference does it make? They are the indispensable cogs here, and without them, the existence of the entire parish would be meaningless.
"The slaves can't get out, but what about the masters?" Hitzfeld looked curious, "What about Sara people like you?"
"Discrimination is everywhere, Count."
The sheriff's tone was very meaningful.
Any small noble in Port Wayne dared to point at Manion's administrative throne and say that this was "exile". Think about it from another perspective. No matter what he did in a parish that was so crude and barbaric that it had not yet abolished the human trade, would outsiders look favorably upon him?
No, they won't. They will just say sarcastically:
"Look, he smells like the sheepfold!"
"Look! He's waving his dirty money to buy things!"
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①: Sheepfold, another name for slave camp.
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So... due to many reasons, people in this place rarely go out.
The accent problem here is quite obvious, and it’s not that easy to lie and say you’re from somewhere else.
But Hitzfeld refused to give in. She felt that such discrimination could not be an excuse.
Because it is obvious that people who can encounter such attacks must not have a high enough status. For those who are really high-level, such as families who have become rich by engaging in human trafficking and mining, isn’t it very easy for them to immigrate?
"I don't know about that." The sheriff said he could do nothing to help. "In fact, we hope that the guys who made money will get out of here immediately, but they just want to stay here, generation after generation, and so far..."
He gestured.
"Things like the 'Cockinson brothers' are not something we can deal with casually."
Hitzfeld raised his eyebrows: "So Bishop Dickert is important."
"Yeah...it's a shame he's dead."
"Did Brother Kerkinson send anyone here?"
"Not yet, but I have a feeling they will start soon."
Sheriff Dabe's hunch was not a lie. He believed that the Cockinson brothers were undoubtedly involved in a serious case in collusion with the Eclipse evildoers. If they did not want to be arrested on charges of treason, anti-social crimes, and crimes against civilization, they would definitely go crazy and kill anyone who might know the details.
Hitzfeld looked up at him for a second, and he quickly assured him, "I've already told the lieutenant colonel before I came here. Several bridges and the eastern airport are blocked. They can't escape... If they want to escape, they can only flee to the mountains."
"Thank you for your hard work, Sheriff."
When he comforted him the second time, Hitzfeld already knew some things.
She said to Belmaren, who was already impatient, "We can change places."
Change place?
Both Dabe and Belmaren were surprised.
The latter didn’t believe there would be such a surprise: “When you don’t continue to waste… I mean, don’t you go in and see the people?”
"It's not necessary, and I don't like to defend all the time. Defense can't solve the problem here."
Hitzfeld tugged at his scarf.
This not only keeps her warm, but also covers the collar around her neck.
"Going to see Cuckinson?"
