I formed the strongest swordsman group

Alice d'Orléans - a very typical French name.

And it's also the name of a French nobleman.

As far as Qingdeng knew, French people with "German" in their names were basically nobles.

"German" in French is similar to "from" in English, which means "where it comes from."

In order to distinguish themselves from ordinary civilians and show their prominent status, the nobles took the name of their fiefdom as their surname, plus the prefix "德".

"De" is preceded by the person's name and followed by the name of the fiefdom. "XX·De·YY" means "XX from YY".

Take the name "Alice d'Orléans" as an example, which means "Alice from Orleans".

Qingden did not know the noble lady named "Alice".

——I do know a girl named "Elody Angoulême".

What a pity, Qingden really doesn't understand France's humanities and history.

Therefore, he did not know what kind of place "Orleans" was.

In Europe, the size of the fiefdom and the level of economic development determine the level of the nobility.

It’s embarrassing to say that when talking about “Orleans”, Qingdeng only thinks of Kentucky’s New Orleans Grilled Chicken Leg Burger.

Thinking of this burger, he suddenly felt a strong craving for it, and his mouth was so fluid that he almost drooled.

No matter how delicious the cuisine of the feudal era is, it cannot be compared with modern cuisine.

Apart from anything else, the quality of the condiments alone makes a world of difference.

The stranger looked at Qingden and Kinoshita Mai eagerly, waiting expectantly for a reply.

Qingdeng shook his head and replied:

"Sorry, we have never seen such a girl."

Even Qingdeng, who didn't know much about Europe, knew that "Alice" was not a rare name.

Its popularity is similar to China's "X Ting" and "X Juan".

Since "Alice in Wonderland" became popular across Europe, "Alice" has become one of the most common and popular girls' names in the Western world.

It has even led to the general impression among literary and art workers that "girls with blond hair should be called 'Alice'".

As soon as Qingteng finished speaking, Kinoshita Mai on the back asked curiously:

"Doesn't this girl have any more obvious physical features?"

It has to be said that the amount of information given by the stranger is really too little - hair color, eye color and age, none.

A Frenchman with blond hair and blue eyes is no different from finding a Chinese with black hair and black eyes.

The Frenchman with blond hair and blue eyes is gone. This is not a very obvious and impressive appearance feature at all.

"Ah! I have a picture of her!"

As he spoke, the stranger hurriedly stretched out his hand and took out an old photo as big as a palm.

"Please look!"

Qingden carefully reached out and took it.

This photo is really old.

So old that a single breath could break it.

He was afraid that he might accidentally break it.

Therefore, he used the tips of his thumb and index finger to gently hold a corner of the photo to prevent any irreversible damage to it.

Kinoshita Mai leaned her head over and watched intently with Qingto.

I saw two figures, one big and one small, reflected in the photo.

The larger figure stood upright, with head held high and chest raised, like a soldier.

As for the smaller figure, he was sitting on a chair with his knees together, fully dressed.

The stranger thoughtfully pointed to the petite figure in the photo.

"She is Alice."

His reminder was obviously unnecessary - if the little man was not Alice, could the tall man be Alice?

Today's cameras are still very backward.

Not only is it huge in size and complicated to operate, but the clarity of the photos it produces is really lackluster.

Either the exposure is serious, or the focus is not accurate... there are many problems.

It is no exaggeration to say that even with the most advanced cameras, every photo taken looks like a ghost film. In the true sense, "photographing people looks like ghosts."

The resolution of the photo is not high.

On this basis, this photo is really old, and some places are seriously yellowed and faded.

And unfortunately, that part of Alice's face was severely damaged.

In this way, it will be more difficult to see his face clearly.

Qingdeng had narrowed his eyes and observed very hard, but he could only barely make out his figure.

Other than that, all you can see is a dark mass.

All in all, the effect of this photo cannot be said to be better than nothing, it can only be said to be useless.

Qingdeng handed the photo back and said with a wry smile:

"Sama, your photo is really blurry, I can't see it clearly at all."

The other party seemed to have expected this situation a long time ago and did not show any disappointment.

He put away the photos silently, and then sighed heavily:

"Alas, this is the only photo of Alice... It would be nice if this photo could be clearer..."

Qingden raised his eyebrows disapprovingly - to be honest, even if the photo was very clear, he didn't think they could identify the grown-up Alice based on this old photo.

Children grow very fast, almost every year.

Judging from her figure in the photo, Alice was probably only about 6 years old when the photo was taken.

According to what the stranger just said, Alice is already 15 years old this year.

6 to 15 years old - this age gap is really too big!

After such a long time, her appearance must have changed a lot.

At this time, Kinoshita Mai suddenly asked the stranger:

"Sir, is this girl your daughter?"

The stranger nodded vigorously.

"Yes! She is my daughter!"

As he said that, he took out the old photo again and looked at it carefully with a nostalgic look on his face.

"This is a family photo. The man standing here is me."

"What a pity... her mother passed away too early, so there are only me and her in this photo."

Qing Deng frowned slightly and asked:

"Your Excellency, please forgive me for asking - did something happen to your daughter?"

Although Qing Deng spoke very implicitly, everyone could hear his implicit meaning - why are you looking for your daughter?

The stranger was silent for a while, and then sighed.

"... 7 years ago, when my daughter was 8 years old, she suddenly disappeared."

"According to my subsequent investigation, she was most likely abducted..."

"I heard that she was abducted to the Far East."

"So, I went around looking for her while doing business."

"The world is so vast, even if it is just this small island country, it will take me decades to find her."

"Although I don't want to admit it... but the chance of finding my daughter is so slim that it makes me despair..."

"But as long as there is a glimmer of hope, I will not give up!"

He paused at this point.

When he spoke again, his tone was sad:

"Alas... time flies."

"It has been 7 years since she was abducted."

"She is 15 years old this year...she is old enough to get married."

"She should grow up to be a beautiful woman like her mother."

It turned out to be a father who was looking for his missing daughter...

The emotional Mai Kinoshita suddenly showed a melancholy and sad expression.

She was an abandoned child.

Therefore, she had a strong empathy for such things.

Qing Deng, on the other hand, had a calm face.

This was not because he was cold-blooded.

He just habitually held a "guarded" mentality.

Who was this stranger?

To put it bluntly, to Qing Deng, the other party was just a complete stranger.

Qing Deng didn't know his background at all.

God knows how true and false the words he just said were.

Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that he has always been telling the truth.

Throughout the ages, from east to west, human traffickers have always emerged in an endless stream.

Westerners have always been like this.

They always talk about nice words such as "advanced" and "modern" and claim to be civilized.

But the most uncivilized and brutal group is none other than them.

In the current period when "capitalism is devouring Europe unscrupulously", Westerners can be said to have taken the attribute of "talking about ideology and thinking about business" to the extreme.

At the macro level, there are governments that brazenly launched aggressive wars in order to sell opium.

At the micro level, there are merchants who break the bottom line and will not hesitate to sell ropes to hang them as long as it is profitable.

Whether it is human trafficking or opium planting, as long as it is a business that can make money, there will be countless merchants scrambling to do it.

Completely ignoring ethics and morality, disregarding the ethics of the code of conduct, and carrying the so-called "market economy" to the extreme.

Let’s not talk about the long-standing “triangular trade”, let’s just talk about the present - the epitome of human trafficking today is the famous “Human Museum”.

Through various means such as robbery and buying and selling, dwarfs, giants and other deformed children are collected, locked in cages, and exhibited everywhere as exhibits to satisfy people’s curiosity, and the name is “Human Museum”.

There are countless dirty things like this from the hands of Western businessmen.

What’s more terrifying is that they have no malice when making this “blood money”.

In other words, they don’t think that what they do is wrong or sinful at all.

Because of this, Qing Deng always subconsciously stays vigilant and keeps a few more eyes when facing big businessmen from the West - none of these guys who have been baptized by capitalism are good people!

Judging from what the stranger just said, his daughter seems to look pretty good.

In this way, it makes more sense that she was trafficked.

After all, the "preference" and cruelty of Westerners to children is no longer a secret.

The most typical example is "The Godfather and the Little Boy".

If it were in the 21st century, she might have been sold to an island.

Thinking of this, Qing Deng couldn't help but feel pity and cast a sympathetic look at the stranger in front of him.

If what he just said was true, then this father was really pitiful.

The 8-year-old daughter was abducted and her whereabouts are still unknown, and her life or death is unknown... Just imagining it makes people feel extremely suffocated!

However, apart from "expressing deep sympathy", there was nothing else Aomori and Mai Kinoshita could do.

It is true that they did not know the blond girl named "Alice d'Orléans".

Even if you want to lend a helping hand, there is no way to start.

Seeing that his expectations were once again frustrated, the stranger sighed again.

"Sorry to disturb you..."

After that, he put the old photo in his hand back into his arms, straightened his clothes, and seemed to be ready to leave.

Before leaving, he said to Qingdeng solemnly:

"Your Excellency, please allow me to solemnly say thank you for your help just now!"

Qingdeng nodded gently to show his gratitude for accepting him.

"I wish you peace! I wish you find your daughter as soon as possible!"

Kinoshita Mai kindly sent her blessings.

The stranger twitched the corners of his mouth and forced a smile:

"Well, I appreciate your good words!"

…

…

The stranger walked at a leisurely pace.

The strange thing is that he did not go to the settlement of Westerners, but went straight to the outskirts of Osaka.

Soon, all the houses and buildings disappeared, leaving only dense woods and shrubs.

Suddenly, a "rustling" sound came from his side.

"……Come out."

The stranger said calmly with an expressionless face.

"...Sir, why did you go out without permission again?"

With a helpless voice, a tall young man slowly walked out of the bushes, walked to the stranger, and then knelt down on one knee.

Looking closely, this man is not a Westerner, but a real Japanese. He is extremely unremarkable in appearance and appearance.

"'Watching the lively street scene' - this is one of my few hobbies."

As the stranger spoke, he turned to look at Osaka behind him, which was shrouded in dots of lights.

"The lively street scene represents stability, prosperity and peace."

"These beautiful scenes will inspire me! Make me full of strength! Make me energetic and continue to dedicate myself to the great cause!"

Having said this, the stranger paused for a moment, and then cast an angry look at the young man in front of him:

"What? Is it possible that I don't even have the right to 'go out'?"

The young man said hurriedly:

"Please forgive me, sir! I'm just worried about your personal safety!"

The stranger waved his hand.

"That's okay. I understand your worries."

"In fact, I did encounter some trouble just now."

"While passing through an alley with many izakaya bars, I was troubled by drunkards."

"Fortunately, I met a kind person who came to my rescue."

"Ah, by the way...I even forgot to ask the other person's name."

The stranger smiled bitterly.

"Forget it... Judging from the other person's appearance, he probably won't tell me his real name."

He spread his hands and stepped forward again.

"Let's go back."

He hadn't taken two steps when the young man spoke suddenly - the latter's sudden speech immediately made the former freeze in place like stone.

"Sir, there is news about your daughter."

"What did you say?!"

The stranger turned his head suddenly, and his two sharp and fiery gazes were directed towards the young man.

Although the young man was startled, he continued his words dutifully:

"It is reported that the Shinsengumi recently recruited a French girl who is proficient in arithmetic to fill the vacancy of the 'Director of the Finance Office'."

"The girl's name is Elodie Angoulême, she is 15 years old and has light blond hair and sky blue eyes."

The further the stranger listened, the more dramatic his expression changed.

First there was anticipation, then surprise, thoughtfulness, and finally ecstasy.

"Elodie...Angoulême...proficient in arithmetic...can't go wrong! It's definitely her! It's definitely her!!"

The stranger shouted with excitement.

"The ages and looks match! Even the specialty of being 'proficient in arithmetic' matches very well. There is no such coincidence in the world!"

"Alice... you let me find you! I finally found you!"

Before he could say anything else, he couldn't wait to move his feet and ran towards the north with rapid strides.

"Sir, please stay!"

The young man quickly called him.

"Where are you going?"

"Does that need to be said?"

The stranger said without looking back.

"I want to find my daughter! I came all the way to this small island country just to find my daughter!"

After that, he ignored the young man and prepared to move on.

However, the young man added new words in time, causing him to stop again.

"Sir, new instructions have been issued from 'above'! You are ordered to return to the 'Big Nest' immediately!"

The stranger was startled.

"...Why do you want me to go back at this time?"

His face was elongated, his cheeks were darkened, and his expression was particularly ugly.

"I'm just a small person, so I don't know the specific matters."

"But...according to what 'above' revealed, after years of forbearance and accumulation, we are going to make big moves next!"

When the young man mentioned the word "big move", he could not suppress the excitement in his voice.

"..."

The stranger sank, silent for the most part.

After a while, he let out a long breath.

"There is no other way... Since it is his order, I can only obey it."

"I gave up the precious time of 'reuniting with my daughter' and rushed back to the 'big nest' as fast as I could."

"If I was not called back for something important, I would not give up!"

Please give me a monthly ticket! Please give me a recommendation ticket! (Leopard crying.jpg)

Could it be that... Elodie is Alice? ! (Leopard silly.jpg)