A strange dizziness made Shade have the urge to blurt out his origins, but it was just an impulse. He was very familiar with this feeling. At the dinner at Lakeview Manor, the captain of Iluna's team just
Similar tactics were used against him.
"I"
He took a step back and frowned:
"Ma'am, your behavior is not polite to a friendly stranger."
The young girl also frowned, as if complaining:
"I'm really unlucky. I didn't expect that the person I met on the street was also a ring warlock. Sir, I'm sorry for my behavior, but I bet you must have peeked at my things."
"Yes."
Shade did not deny it and looked at her expression:
"Are you a ring sorcerer from Zarath School of Conjuration?"
"Are you going to report me?"
The blonde girl asked, looking at Shade with her eyes. Her eyes were very beautiful and full of energy.
"Of course not. What good will it do to me to report you?"
Shade said, then pointed at himself and added, deciding to take a risk:
"Madam, I didn't expect to meet you by chance. I am a ring magician from out of town and know nothing about the local situation. To be precise, I am a student of St. Byrons."
"St. Byrons?"
The young girl frowned and nodded slightly, neither agreeing nor doubting.
"My name is John Watson. By the way, last week was the exam week for the three major colleges. I came to the local area after the exam week."
He introduced himself and said that the time during exam week was to prove his identity.
He extended his right hand to the strange girl, who hesitated for a moment:
"Nobella Princes."
The girl wearing ruby earrings also extended her hand to Shade, their palms touched, and the voice in their ears rang in time:
【Five Rings.】
"So Mr. Watson, what do you want to do when you come here?"
"I just came to see my friend, but unfortunately he left early. I have to stay here for a while and wait for him to come back."
Shade knew that Miss Princes probably had not let down her guard at all, so she simply introduced herself, took out the note with the address from her pocket and shook it:
"I really have an urgent matter to do. Since you are a local, you should know about the mermaid statues. Unfortunately, I came across one of them and was about to report it to the church so that the church could seize the time to deal with this danger.
Take away the things. I wonder if Miss Princes has any safe way to tell the news to the church?"
He can use this incident to observe whether the other party can be trusted.
"You mean that sage-level relic?"
Miss Princes frowned slightly.
"Yes, I saw the academy reward order in your bag. If you want to give the statue to Zarath Academy of Literature, I can also sell you the information at a cheaper price."
If it weren't for the fact that the origin of the statue couldn't be explained, Shard's best choice would be to sell it to St. Byrons.
Miss Princes obviously didn't expect Shade to say this. She was stunned for a moment before shaking her head:
"Sage-level relics are too dangerous. Even if you sell them to me, I can't store them. But if you just want to pass the information to the church, I have some ideas. Come with me. Since you helped me just now, I
There’s nothing wrong with helping you.”
With that said, he asked Shade to leave together.
After a simple conversation, the two of them established the simplest trust. And when they were walking on the street to find a four-wheel taxi, Shade looked at her and felt as if he had seen her before.
But if Shade had ever seen a beautiful girl with outstanding temperament like Miss Princes, he would never forget her. Asking the "other me" in her heart, the woman's voice also believed that Shade had never seen her.
"This is really strange."
But the feeling of familiarity does not seem to be an illusion.
Finally, they found a carriage at the corner of the next street. The girl with earrings spoke to the carriage driver, and the carriage driver took them to the nearest Creation Church.
The church is located on St. John's Avenue, the most prosperous street in the dock area. Two streets away, you can see the church's spire extending over the surrounding buildings into the sky. After getting off the bus at the entrance of the lively church, Miss Princes did not take Xia with her.
De entered the church and walked east along St. John's Avenue, stopping at the entrance of an antique shop not far from the church.
"Wait me a moment."
After saying that, she walked into the antique shop, and not long after, the middle-aged man dressed as the owner of the store followed her out. This was also a ring warlock, but there was only one ring. He shook hands with Shade enthusiastically and confirmed with Shade.
After reading the information, he locked the store door and walked to the alley not far away.
"This is a local black market broker who specializes in intelligence business. He will pass the news on, and the church will know about it in about half an hour."
Miss Princes said, as if she was very familiar with the local situation. Seeing that Shade was still standing on the stone road looking at the church not far away, she asked:
"The things I promised to do for you have been completed. If there is nothing else, I think it's time for me to leave."
As she spoke, she looked like she was about to leave. Of course, her shoes did not leave the ground and she did not lift her feet at all.
"Oh, please wait, Miss Princess."
Shade immediately said that the other party was really familiar with Coldwater Port, so regardless of whether he was a correspondence magician from Zarath or not, the other party should be able to help him.
"I am a foreigner. Since I have just arrived here, I naturally want to familiarize myself with the local situation. Miss Princes, I wonder if you have time today."
"what are you up to?"
The young girl asked with a smile.
"I want to hire you to be my tour guide for a day and take me around the cold water port. It would be even better if you could take me to the black market where special items or knowledge can be traded."
It is now close to 12 noon. If Shade really hires someone, strictly speaking, it should be half a day.
Miss Princes seemed to be suppressing a smile, but still nodded:
"I really have nothing else to do today. It's okay to hire me as a tour guide, but can you afford the price?"
The pretty girl twirled her fingers.
"How much?"
In order to facilitate spending, Shade left Tobesk with a lot of cash in his suitcase.
"We can negotiate the remuneration slowly. It's already noon. Sir, won't you treat me to lunch?"
She spoke in very standard Drarian language with a relaxed tone.
Shade looked up at the sun above his head, calculated the thickness of his wallet, and weighed whether it was worth inviting someone to dinner:
"Okay, are there any recommended restaurants nearby?"
The two of them turned around and walked along the street towards the church along with the lively crowd at noon.
Miss Princes was probably of noble birth, so Shade originally thought she would choose a high-end restaurant in the center of Coldwater Port, but in the end she just chose a slightly more expensive restaurant in the neighborhood where the Creation Church was located.
The girl with a good figure was probably thinking about dieting, so she only chose some exquisite vegetarian dishes when ordering. After the waiter left, while waiting for the food to be served, Shade tried to ask the other party's true identity in such a city, but was ignored by Prin.
Miss Seth blocked it.
She was very familiar with the local situation. Although she had always avoided talking to Shade about the local ring warlock situation, she was very enthusiastic about talking to Shade about the recent big local news.
In addition to the sage-level relic [Mermaid's Dream], which triggered the police department to collect mermaid-shaped statues across the city, causing the prices of similar-shaped statues in the city to plummet, the most important news in recent weeks is that the "noble, beautiful, kind and elegant" Lei
Princess Thea Cavendish's visit.
The adjective was added by Miss Princess.
"Has the princess not left yet? I remember the newspaper said that after Princess Lesia's visit to Kasenlik, she only stayed there for a week before returning to Tobesk. Is she still here?"
Shade was quite surprised by this.
"Yes, he is still in the local area. It is said that he suddenly contracted a serious illness and was unable to travel long distances, so he stayed in Coldwater Port City for a while."
Miss Princes said with a smile.
"But why didn't I see this news in the newspaper?"
"This is not a good thing. The royal family is putting pressure on the newspaper not to publish it. And"
She lowered her voice:
"It's impossible that you don't know about the big event that happened in Tobesk a week and a half ago. That's because ordinary people don't know the truth. The royal family must know the truth from the church. There are rumors among the local magicians that the princess was killed by Tobesk
I was scared by what happened, so I pretended to be sick and didn’t want to go back, and wanted to wait until it was confirmed that it was safe before leaving.”
This statement is a bit slanderous. Shade heard a few words about Princess Lesia from Miss Louisa and knew that the five-ring sorceress was not such a timid person, so instead of being frightened,
The possibility of sudden serious illness is quite high.
"Perhaps I should carry the fruit and visit Miss Louisa on her behalf, but the princess doesn't seem to recognize me at all."
He thought in his mind.
"Speaking of which, Mr. Watson, I haven't asked you what your occupation is. If I remember correctly, the three major thaumaturgy academies require correspondence students to try not to leave their permanent city for a long time. Since you are coming from other places,
Coldwater Port, I guess you are engaged in some kind of relatively free occupation, so you can travel between the two places more conveniently, right?"
Miss Princes seemed to want to test Shade's identity, and Shade was already prepared to pull his thoughts back from the direction of the princess:
"I'm a writer, a detective's assistant, and I live with a very troublesome detective."
Shade said while thinking about what lunch Mia would get from Miss Louisa at noon:
"My usual work involves sorting out detective records and meeting the client with the person I live with. Of course, I also have to help the detective who is almost a loser prepare food, cough with him, and go for a walk with him.
Occasionally we have arguments about late-night snacks. But it is undeniable that although he is very troublesome, my cohabitant, the detective who likes to wear orange pajamas, perfectly meets my needs for a roommate."
"It's really nice to have a roommate like this. Is he a ring warlock?"
The young girl dining with Shade asked.
"Of course not, but he knows that I am a ring magician, and I have even tested the power of thaumaturgy and relics on him. But"
Shade thought of the cat that had become increasingly smart recently, and a smile appeared on his face involuntarily:
"If one day he can awaken his talent, I feel good about it."