While Gypsophila was chatting with the shopkeeper, Yuffie put away her luggage and walked to the bar, showing some interest in the conversation between the two.
The shopkeeper glanced at her, took down an earthen pot from the shelf, poured water into the cups one by one, and pushed them in front of the two of them.
"Of course I know." He answered easily and effortlessly, not as if he was telling a 'secret' at all, "Isn't he our Lord City Lord?"
"Tell me more about it?" Yuffie leaned one arm on the table and threw a silver coin to the shopkeeper as money for the meal - which also included the cost of the intelligence. "Help us warm up the bread a little, and it can make some butter."
That’s even better.”
The movement just now was not her usual habit. After her appearance changed into that of a Yinil youth, even her small movements seemed to be affected. Fortunately, her thoughts still belonged to her.
This may reduce the chance of the 'pretender' acting inconsistently with her appearance, but it increases uncontrollable errors. At least, if she uses this body to perform secret techniques, she is not confident that she can achieve perfection.
Let her try to improve this potion when she has free time, Yuffie thought to herself.
"No problem." The middle-aged man picked up a baguette from the shelf and cut it into slices with a serrated knife. "There are many rumors about the Lord of the City. For example, she is the lover of His Majesty the Emperor. The identity of the Lord of the City is just a
It’s a cover, and she’s secretly colluding with the alliance elders... What’s a little believable is that she’s not an Yinir—after all, she never shows her face.”
"The city lord here is a woman? What's her name?" Yuffie asked deliberately, "Also, how many people here know about these things you mentioned?"
"Yes, what's so strange about women? The previous emperor was still a woman, right?" The shop owner spread his hands and said disapprovingly, "Her name is Shuiyun. As for what I said, everyone living here
Everyone knows it, but only these Gurno people -" he pointed at the doll girl who looked like Noka, "will treat these useless rumors as secrets."
He put the sliced bread on the plate and walked into the kitchen nearby to warm them up. Yuffie picked up the cup and took a sip of water, mentally recalling what the boss had just said.
Shuiyun is the city lord here, which is reasonable. Without such an identity as a cover, many intelligence-gathering tasks will become very difficult. As for other rumors, as the shop owner said, most of them sound very strange.
It's unbelievable, including the fact that she's not an Inir.
There are many reasons for a person to choose to hide her face, not to mention that as the head of an intelligence agency, her identity and appearance are worthy of confidentiality. Of course, if she is 'really' not an Yinir, she chooses to join the Pale Hand
The reasons are somewhat questionable. Although judging from the momentary situation and Sora's remarks, I am afraid that the original oath of "loyalty and loyalty to the country" has now been blown away by the wind.
While she was thinking, the shopkeeper came back with re-toasted bread and a few small pieces of butter, and placed the tray on the bar. She immediately stopped thinking, took the plate back to the table next to her, and shared the breakfast with Lin and Anya.
Only Man Tianxing was left alone to continue chatting with the boss.
After eating and drinking, the four of them returned to the streets of Zecheng. The town was a little livelier than an hour or two ago. People gradually walked out of their homes and started their new day in an orderly manner. Compared with the bustle of Xiyang City and Xin'an City
The busy scene with a slight atmosphere of life made Yuffie feel more comfortable and even slightly recalled his hometown.
The small town under the rule of her father, Baron Steinmetz, was usually like this. Because of this, Yuffie was even more unwilling to believe that a man named Shuiyun could manage Zecheng peacefully and leisurely.
The "King of Fog" will be the mastermind of those attacks in the past few days.
…
They arrived near the city lord's official residence and walked among the crowd while observing the surroundings of the building.
Zecheng's castle lord's palace is located on the north side of the town. Compared with the huge and solid underground fortress that Tube has been operating for hundreds of years, Kirito's stronghold seems very ordinary. Common local willows, poplars and ginkgo trees are planted in the palace.
There are also a few flowers that bloom all year round. Innis-style buildings with no more than two floors are scattered everywhere, flickering under the cover of branches and leaves.
The red lacquered wall surrounds the entire manor, with a gate in each of the four directions. Women in white robes stand in front of the door as guards. The city lord's palace does not seem to prohibit entry and exit. They walked half a circle around the manor, and then
I saw at least a dozen residents dressed in different styles walking through the gate and heading into the mansion, and almost the same number of people left.
However, it is not an easy task to sneak in - or blend in to investigate.
Relying on the wizard's instinct, Yuffie sensed that every female guard standing in front of the door had gone through systematic secret arts - or alchemy training. In terms of strength and understanding of secret arts, those guards far surpassed her.
Most of the humans and monsters she knew. In addition, the entire manor was shrouded in a looming spell. She didn't have much chance to analyze it, but it was enough to confirm that the caster of this spell had more skills than Shuiyun and her.
Strong strength.
In other words, this seemingly ordinary manor has the qualifications to become one of the strongholds of "The Pale Hand".
Half an hour later, they returned to the square and found a less crowded corner to rest and discuss the results of the previous investigation.
"What's going on? Is there any way?" Lin also saw the mystery of the manor, "Sneaking in or breaking in doesn't seem to work. Should I sneak in first and then talk about it?"
"If you are well prepared, those guards will not be difficult to deal with." Yuffie replied thoughtfully, "But I am not sure that we can avoid that 'enchantment' and prevent us from being discovered." She tapped her knees with her fingers, thinking in her mind
A bold idea suddenly came to him, "Actually, we can visit him directly."
Anya immediately looked at her with curiosity. Lin, who looked like a young businessman, chuckled, as if he had guessed what she was thinking.
"We have evidence granted by His Majesty. Although it is impossible to conduct a comprehensive investigation here, it should not be difficult to do so with the help of it to see the water and clouds." Yuffie said.
"But what if...she plans to lock us up again?" Anya is obviously still a little worried about what happened before.
"Let's not talk about whether she can do it. If she really does it, wouldn't it prove that there is something wrong with her?" Lin explained with a smile, "We are now the 'emperor's envoys', and not everyone can be imprisoned casually.
La."
Yuffie nodded, agreeing with her friend's statement. At this moment, a somewhat familiar figure passed by the corner of her eyes, and she quickly looked up to make sure she had seen the right target.
——The ranger who brought them out from Wei Feng's stronghold, Leia.