Blue Sword

In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, everyone rushed along the way. After spending most of the day, we finally arrived in Venice successfully.

Asik felt rather regretful that he did not encounter any pursuers from the jailer.

What exactly are you regretting? Albrecht groaned silently.

The city-state of Venice was established on many islands in the northern Adriatic Sea.

In the early Fourth Age, the urban area of ​​Venis was still on the mainland. Later, as the barbarian extraordinary armies continued to invade the Western Solomon Empire, the residents of nearby Western Solomon were forced to flee to live on many offshore islands and bombed them. The bridge connecting to the mainland was destroyed, leaving only shipping and waterways for transportation and supplies.

In the end, he managed to survive the barbarian wave at the end of the Fourth Age and persisted until rescue arrived from the Eastern Solomon Empire.

In the middle of the Fifth Age, with the decline and shrinkage of the Eastern Solomon Empire's national power, Venis gradually gained an autonomous political status from the strict control of the empire.

One of the most famous autonomous rebates is that Venice has adhered to the free port and tax-free policy for hundreds of years, attracting a large number of Italian and Canadian consortiums to invest in Venice, and eventually turning Venice into the offshore financial center of the entire West.

In terms of economy, developed multinational banks, securities markets, funds and trusts, insurance, financial leasing and futures businesses, as well as various financial derivatives, are almost concentrated in this archipelago on the northern coast of the Adriatic Sea. In the city-state. The princes and nobles of various continental countries are also happy to deposit their property in the Venetian Bank, or hand it over to professional managers for operation and preservation.

As for politics, as a white glove for capital operations by Italian conglomerates, the city-state of Venetia could even openly challenge the Holy See in its heyday and independently implement a loose policy towards extraordinary people. This is why the emperor gave priority to cooperation with the city-state of Venetia. , rather than force negotiation.

After all, the Saxon family also purchased assets in Venice!

Everyone rode their horses to the coast, and saw a huge bridge across the sea in the distance, which had been blown into two pieces hundreds of years ago.

This is the famous "Venice Free Broken Bridge", which completely separates the Venetian Islands from the mainland.

"How are we going to get through here?" Albrecht was worried. This northern Frankish knight came here for the first time and had no idea how to enter Venis. "Do we need to cut down trees and build a few canoes to paddle across?" ?”

"Then you'll be sunk by their shore-based guns," Asker complained.

"What should we do?" Albrecht asked.

"Look for the Thieves Guild." Ask said.

In the original game world, when players enter a new town map, the first thing they do is to find the Thieves Guild.

I found the Thieves Guild, so where are the places and NPCs in the city where I can take on quests, where are the secret black markets and illegal gatherings of extraordinary people, and most importantly, how can I pay the ransom to the guards to get rid of the wanted order if I accidentally kill a resident’s chicken? Wait, we can all figure it out in one go.

Asker walked to the shore. The saltwater lake here was covered with large reeds, which looked desolate and quiet. He led everyone along the reed field for about 1 kilometer, and finally found a simple dock, where a thin and capable young man was sitting on the boat smoking.

Seeing a large number of armed knights approaching from a distance, the young man's expression changed and he was about to dive into the water to escape. Suddenly, he heard the sound of metal collision.

To be precise, it was the sound of coins colliding. He knew this clear and beautiful rhythm all too well.

Asker held a money bag and swung it in a circle carelessly in his hand. The young man's eyes stared at the money bag and turned around for a long time. Finally he couldn't help shouting:

"Hey, what do you want to do?"

"We are looking for a way to get to Venis." Ask said boredly, "We also prepared a large amount of boat fare, but it is a pity that we can't find a passenger ship."

"Hey, the empire has recently invaded Calais, Italy. How can there be any serious passenger ship that dares to carry people in the Adriatic Sea? I'm afraid it was forced by the Emperor of Shinra." The young man laughed. He threw the cigarette butt into the mud next to him and said, "If you can trust me, take my boat."

"You?" Asik also laughed, "How many people can your little broken boat carry? We are all wearing armor and swords, it is very heavy."

"Even though my boat has a shallow draft, it has a wide bottom!" The young man patted the side of the boat. "Including me, it won't be a problem to carry two more knights."

"Okay." Asik didn't bother to bargain with him, "Three silver marks, everyone. For every third of the number of people transported, I will give you one-third of the travel expenses."

"Only three silver marks?" The young man jumped up as if he was deeply humiliated. "This price is absolutely impossible! You have to know..."

"I know that in Venis, hiring a boat like yours for half an hour only costs 80 copper coins." Ask sneered.

"That's the price in the city!" The young man didn't expect that this guy actually knew the freight price in Venice. He rolled his eyes and said, "From the shore to the island, there are occasionally strong winds and waves, and there are guards checking. The price must at least double..."

"Then let's keep looking. There should be more than one of his ships along this coast." Ask turned back and said to Albrecht.

Seeing that these knights were really about to leave, the young man finally lost his temper. Carrying people on the shore is considered a private job, and whoever gets the money from the stowaways gets the money, so he is not the only one in the guild wandering around the shore.

If he met any of his companions, there was no guarantee that any of them would accept the shipping fee of three marks, and then he would not be able to make the money.

Then the young man stood up, raised his arm and cried:

"Wait!"

The knights turned around and said nothing.

"The price of three marks is barely okay." The young thief chuckled, "But this city has been strictly checking outsiders recently, and you will definitely not be able to get in with your equipment."

"I do know that there is a safe place to cross the border, as long as you follow me. Of course, the freight is the freight, and other procedures will be charged extra. Do you understand?"

"Okay." Seeing how understanding he was, Asik agreed readily.

So everyone started to get on the boat. The boat could only carry two people at a time, so Asker arranged for a knight and a girl to take the boat together and transport all the girls over first.

This was to prevent the young thief from taking a risk if two girls boarded the boat at the same time, thinking that the girls were easy to bully (although in fact none of these girls were easy to bully).

The young thief silently looked at his arrangement, thinking that this guy was indeed an old man and was not easy to fool.

After transporting everyone there, Ask was the last one to get on the boat.

"Can you paddle?" the young thief asked, and threw the oar directly to him.

"I know a little bit." Ask picked up the oar and started rowing smoothly.

"Oh, you are an expert." Seeing his skillful handling of the boat, the young thief exclaimed, "You have the Norman paddling skills!"

"Do you also know the Normans?" Ask asked casually.

"Of course." said the thief, "Didn't the Norman pirates occupy Sicily? Who doesn't know about it in Italy and Canada? Our Venetian navy even fought against them."

"Are you from the navy?" Ask asked.

"It used to be," the thief said, "but not anymore. The top is so corrupt that even veterans can't survive."

Having said this, he seemed to be interested again, leaning over and saying cryptically:

"Did you know that our Governor of Venice was recently hanged in the port of Torcello?"