Seeing that the old vampire and the vampire dressed as a coachman were both panicked, Shade quickly explained, and the old man became even more panicked:
"You do have a gun on you!"
While they were talking, a third man walked in from the outside. He was wearing brown leather boots, a straight formal suit, and a bowler hat on his head. There was gold decoration on the hat. This was for a very upper-class gentleman.
He frowned and appeared from the door, looking at the situation in the warehouse corridor:
"Thief? What are you here to steal?"
Then he saw Shade who was wearing a mask. He knew at a glance that he was not a normal person, so he immediately pulled out a black pistol from his waist:
"Don't move!"
The bright muzzle of the pistol was pointed at Sha De, who was standing in the sunshine of the autumn morning. Sha De, whose eyes had not yet adapted to the light, could not see his appearance clearly at the first time.
"Oh, you are so brave! This is the royal family's vineyard. Do you know whose property you are stealing?"
The well-dressed middle-aged man in a black coat scolded:
"Surrender quickly, or else."
Shade's eyes gradually adapted to the light outside the door, so he also saw who the person holding the gun was. He was stunned, but he didn't expect that he actually had an acquaintance here:
"Mr. Bernhardt?"
"Do you know who I am? Then, raise your hands, hand over your weapons, sir, be decent! We don't want a conflict to break out."
"I am."
As he spoke, Shade wanted to raise his hand to take off his mask, but Armand Bernhardt misunderstood this action and immediately said:
"Don't move! You now have the power to defend everything you do, but everything you say."
"I am."
"You dare to covet the royal family's property. You are so bold. Now raise your hands and tell the truth. There is actually nothing here. What are you here to steal?"
Seeing that he ignored his excuse, Shade, who had prepared the casting materials in advance, took a step forward gently, and then the three vampires in the corridor were surprised to find that Shade was missing.
"It's me, Mr. Bernhardt."
Shade's helpless voice came from the corridor door. Mr. Bernhardt turned his head and found the stranger standing in the sun leaning against the door.
Shade took off the mask on his face. Although he wore witch eyeshadow, familiar people were not affected by this eyeshadow:
"it's me."
The upper-class gentleman with the little bat symbol floating above his head squinted his eyes and saw Shade's face clearly in the sunlight. He opened his mouth in surprise, then immediately lowered the muzzle of the gun and stuffed it into the leather holster on his waist.
:
"Mr. Hammy Watson? Long time no see, you seem to have become more handsome!"
The surprised expression turned into a smile. He waved to indicate to his companions not to be cautious, and then stepped forward and gave Shade a warm hug:
"Before I left Fort Midhill, I left you a letter at the auction house, inviting you to come and visit me. Unexpectedly, we met in less than half a month! Why did you show up here? Oh, no need to
Explain to me, there must be something else to deal with."
The Viscount, who had been saved by Shade more than once, was very excited.
The White Valley Vineyard does indeed belong to the royal family of Carsenlique, that is, the Anjou family. However, the royal family has many properties within the United Kingdom, and it is impossible to manage every property personally. The Bernhardt family is a royal family.
His distant relative, Mr. Bernhardt, who owns the family vineyard business in Huntingdon, also looks after the vineyards for the royal family.
The old man who just walked out of the warehouse is the caretaker sent by Mr. Bernhardt, and the driver is Mr. Bernhardt's own driver. Surrounding the Bernhardt family, there is a small vampire
clan, these people are Mr. Bernhardt’s confidants.
The Anjou royal family entrusted the vineyard to Mr. Bernhardt and paid him an annual fee, while the output of the vineyard was directly transported to the royal capital Willendale.
As a relative of the royal family, Mr. Bernhardt will certainly not take the grapes and red wine produced here as his own, but it is still possible to take advantage of some small advantages. And what Shade just bumped into was Bainhardt.
Mr. Hart wants to pile the fresh meat from his manor for the winter in the warehouse in the vineyard.
In case Shade didn't believe it, he specially invited Shade to take a look at the warehouse. As expected, they were fresh dead cows and dead sheep:
"It's not that I'm taking advantage, but there's no other use for an empty warehouse, right? Besides, it's troublesome to get blood at home, but in the royal family's vineyard, no one will suspect it."
Mr. Bernhardt tried his best to explain that he did not want to embarrass himself in front of his friends. For a decent person like him, this was an even more difficult thing to accept than pointing a gun at him.
Shade's acquaintance with Mr. Bernhardt will begin this fall. Although this gentleman went to Fort Midhill with a divine token prepared for the vampire god, he himself did not know much about it.
matter.
On the night of the Battle of Middleburg, he followed the vampires of the High Ring to break into Cassandra's auction house and was captured alive. If Shade hadn't unexpectedly visited that night, I'm afraid the witch's apprentice Miss Swift wouldn't have let him
Live until dawn.
Mr. Bernhard no longer remembers what questions Shade asked him that night, but he still remembers that Shade saved him in the crime mansion and the auction house. At this time, they unexpectedly reunited here, and this gentleman was unusually strange.
Happy:
"There is no chance to repay you in Middleburg. Mr. Watson, please let me treat you to dinner, right now. But not here, it is too shameful. Let's go to the city now, to Huntingdon. I know a very good person."
Club, you'll love the scenery at Carson Creek."
He did not ask why Shade appeared here, but extended an invitation very enthusiastically.
Shade was not familiar with this city, but he felt relieved when he heard "Huntington":
"Mr. Bernhardt, are you familiar with this place?"
The two of them left together through the dilapidated warehouse corridor. The old man in charge of guarding the manor locked the door of the warehouse, while the coachman went to prepare the carriage.
After leaving the corridor and officially entering Kasenlik in early winter, Shade saw that behind him was a small manor that seemed to have declined, and the corridor just now was directly below the front of the manor. And if he wanted to enter the manor,
You have to go through the stairs on the left and right sides.
"Of course I'm familiar with this place. I spend eight months of the year in the city and only return to Willendale in midsummer. After all, the summer in Huntingdon is really too hot."
Mr. Bernhard introduced enthusiastically, and seeing Shade observing the surroundings, he added:
"Although the White River Valley Vineyard belongs to the royal family, due to poor management by the previous manager, the vineyard has long since declined, and the annual output is no more than 500 pounds. I won't talk about crowns, but converted into gold pounds, it's almost more than 500 pounds.
But the cost of hiring workers and maintaining the manor costs more than 400 pounds. Plus other expenses, we are actually losing money every year. But since the Anjou family is willing to pay me to look after this place, I have no reason to refuse."
He shrugged:
"The royal family has a lot of property, and they don't care at all about this shortfall."
"So is it likely that I'll buy this place?"
Shade asked, looking around in the sunshine. The weather here is very good. There are dilapidated houses and abandoned flower fields in the small manor. Behind the house are towering hills, and outside the manor there are large tracts of vineyards.
The sky is blue, with big clouds like cotton candy, and the sun is dazzling, but it is undoubtedly a good weather.
"I can ask for you, but without Kasenrik's identity, it will be difficult."
As Mr. Bernhardt spoke, he pointed to the carriage outside:
"this way please."
"It doesn't matter if I can't buy it, I just want to inquire about it."
Shade followed Mr. Bernhardt on the uneven soil of the manor, walked through the manor and stood in front of the shabby wooden gate, only to discover that the White River Valley Vineyard itself was on a higher hill.
Looking out at the blue sky, the boundless plains, and the city sitting on the horizon in the distance. This is a scenery that outsiders have never seen before. In the world of the steam age, it is so primitive but so natural.
The scenery was beyond his imagination.
Xia De smiled unconsciously, and his mood was as bright as the sun above his head:
"The most important thing today is that I want to ask you something about this city."
"No problem, we'll talk about it when we get to the city. I still have some influence locally."
Unlike the mountainous Fort Midhill, the city of Huntington is located on the great plains in the middle of the Old World and is rich in food and various cash crops, especially grapes. When riding Mr. Bernhardt's carriage towards the city, Shade
From the car window, you can see endless grape plantations, see women wearing headscarves working beside beehives under the clear blue sky, and even see traders carrying boxes of goods walking on the country roads.
Although they are all cities in the Old World, Huntington, located in the south, is completely different from the late autumn scenery of Coldwater Port, Torbesk and Fort Midhill.
The girls around Shade always admired the vineyards in Kasenlik in the south. Even Dr. Schneider, who came to Kasenlik for an academic conference, praised the scenery here. Although it is not the midsummer scenery now
The best season, but the scenery in late autumn has already made outsiders understand why people always praise the vineyards in the south so much.
The White River Valley Vineyard where Shade appeared is in the east of Huntington, only a twenty-minute drive from the city. And if you ride alone, the time to get to the city can be shortened.
On the carriage, Mr. Bernhardt enthusiastically introduced the city to Shade. As he gradually approached the urban area of Huntington from the countryside, the vast expanses of wilderness vineyard scenery disappeared, and the dazzling sunlight softened and was replaced by,
It is the scenery of a big city in the steam age that Shade is very familiar with.
