Krafft's Notes on Anomalies

Craft returned to the hotel with the book under his arm.

The hotel was relatively quiet in the afternoon. There were no customers in the small restaurant on the first floor. The boss was wiping wooden wine glasses behind the counter. Seeing Kraft come back, he took the initiative to say hello: "You came back very early. Do you want something to eat? I recommend grilled fish with beer."

"Why do you say 'ye'?"

"Oh, your companion just came back not long ago. You don't look like you are here for business, otherwise I can recommend some old acquaintances to you." The boss put down the cup. It's not good to be busy, but it's too boring in the afternoon when no one is around. He can't leave the hotel and hang out. It's best to have someone with whom he can chat.

Ryan came back so early? Kraft thought he would have to spend at least a whole day wandering outside. After all, it was difficult to find something that was "mysterious enough". Even if he went to find those captain friends, he might not always be able to find it. Others' main business is to make money by running businesses, not to collect all kinds of gadgets, especially gadgets that don't look normal.

Many times, captains or sailors are in a foreign country. In order to relieve the depression and torture caused by a long voyage, they have two extra drinks in the bar. When they go out, they will have a chance to meet local people selling various things.

Some of these unknown people would make false claims, such as that they would bring good luck or have special functions, and then the drunkards would buy something they had never seen before.

It is not ruled out that if you are in a place with strong folk customs like the Icefields, you will see a strong man holding an ax selling to you as soon as you go out, asking if you are interested in taking a look. It is difficult for the person who encounters it to tell whether the other person is really asking you to take a look, or whether he is euphemistically saying to you, "Brother, I'm a little tight lately."

There are many specific reasons, and there is no need to go into details. Most of them are similar to the fact that Kraft was promoted by local people as "local specialties" and "purely handmade products" when he was traveling. When I bought it, my mind went crazy, and after I finished it, my vision went dark. It was pure injustice.

Later, more than once, I found signs of labels being torn off in the corners, or simply mass-produced goods from the small commodity market with labels not torn off.

Kraft only lost dozens or even hundreds when buying souvenirs. The captain and sailors later realized that losing blood might not be that simple. Losing a few black silver coins was not a big deal, but losing more would be a bit painful.

At this time, they will be very willing to sell these things to get some money back. Most of the knickknacks found on the sailors' stalls have this origin.

"So, boss, you know quite a few people in Wendeng Port?" Kraft found a seat near the counter and sat down. It was a rare visit to Wendeng Port. The lunch just left him still unsatisfied, "Just grilled fish. No beer.”

Many taverns and hotels in such ports also function as information distribution centers, and the bosses sometimes work part-time as intermediaries while chatting with you, and some of them also stock up on goods themselves.

Regardless of whether they have the above functions or not, most bosses are quite good at chatting, and the guests coming and going give them enough content to talk about. It's a bit like the taxi driver in the impression of otherworldly souls. People who sit in one position and work for a long time have passively developed conversational skills.

The boss asked the chef to bring the grilled fish, poured himself a glass of beer, leaned on the counter and cleared his throat.

"How can there be a man who doesn't like beer?" He took a sip of beer, and the foam wetted his wanton beard. "The ones I know are all people who make a living at sea. Most of them I don't see a few times a year. Some of them are From time to time, I will help them sell goods and recommend sources of goods to them.

When I was in my twenties, I envied them. I wanted to save some money and sold the hotel, then bought a boat, and then led a group of sailors like them to complete the Dunling Run Icefield. "

Among the young people in Wendeng Port, at least nine out of ten have the same dream as their boss. Have your own boat, go challenge the rough seas, and come back with money and enough stories to brag about in the tavern for a few days.

"Sounds good, but then why didn't you go?" Kraft picked up in time so that the boss could continue the conversation. It's a bit embarrassing to say that Kraft himself had such thoughts. He always had some unrealistic romantic fantasies about the ocean.

"Well, it's because I know more people." The boss sighed, seeming to be thinking of his lost youth.

"What does this have to do with anything?"

"As I get to know more people, I realize that things are actually not as good as I thought. Even though those people seem to be very cool running around, in fact they live a life of careful planning. They make money by relying on information and connections. Most of their net worth is in On the ship. If you take the old route, you won’t make a lot of money. You still have to look at the market conditions on both sides.”

The boss is quite familiar with its operations and must have really considered joining the industry.

Kraft also became interested. He really didn't know much about these things before: "What about the new routes? I remember that there are always some captains who like to run routes that few people take, such as from us to the other side of the ice sheet. .”

What the boss said reminded him of the story of Captain William, the captain who transported food and wine in exchange for the furs held by the icelanders.

Cousin Ryan's stories made him very interested in strange overseas lands. He even wanted to collect such stories, record them, revise them and publish them, and compile a "Craft's Fairy Tales" that would be passed down to future generations.

The boss forced a wine burp out of his stomach and snorted disdainfully, "That's what I thought when I was young. Like many people, I always thought that I was smart. There are many smart people in the world. Someone must have thought of the new route. , but it is either difficult to drive on the way or there is a problem with the destination, so it has not been developed until now.

Let's just talk about the ice fields. It was not difficult in the past, but there were only a few tribes that could communicate with each other, and it was hard work by some old captains. Now it is enough to trade with a few familiar captains. Others have to go further along the coastline to find other new tribes.

As for the new tribes that have not had much contact with us, it is hard to say whether we can communicate with them. "

The boss took another sip and showed an expression like someone who had been through it before: "So it's better to do a stable business. Every year, some of the people I know never come back, even those who take the old route are no exception. Being able to do this in a tavern Good stories are told over a drink, and no one really wants to be the protagonist of an adventure story all the time.”

"Indeed, only living people can come back to tell stories, and how many people will care about the people who feed the fish." Kraft agreed with the boss's statement. Even the Titanic would have accidents at sea, not to mention the current situation. As for the wooden sailboat, sea travel is not as stable as the otherworldly soul. If the boat capsizes and there is no rescue, it is basically waiting to die.

"Boss, do you know where there is a shop selling rare gadgets in Wendeng Port?" Kraft asked in passing, without high hopes.

"No, you can only see this kind of thing on the street stalls. Stores without a stable customer base here would have starved to death." The boss put down his glass and shook his head, "It's a pity that you can't see the street stalls in the past two days. Wait until the snow melts. Let’s talk about it again. Don’t offer high prices to those people, I’ve never found anything more valuable than two silver coins.”

It is true that he speaks from the bottom of his heart. Buying things at high prices from street stalls is a big mistake. Kraft has a very clear understanding of this.

…

…

After eating the grilled fish and letting the boss's conversational temperament express itself, Kraft went upstairs and knocked on Lane's door.

"Are you there, Ryan?"

"Come in, I've already bought something." Lane opened the door and invited Craft to come and see his results. He was lucky. The stonemason happened to have a severed hand taken from a broken stone sculpture, which allowed him to show off his creativity.

When Kraft entered the door, he saw a very impressive ornament placed on the table. It was a stone-carved palm, cut off from the wrist, just enough to be cut downwards and stand on the table.

There is also a crooked rune engraved on the palm, which looks a bit like a squid's tentacles. There's no fancy polishing or anything like that, it looks like it was dug out of some old ruins. Of course Kraft had no ability to identify cultural relics, but his intuition told him that he had seen this style before.

When he thought a little more seriously, a large memory flashed quickly, and his inhuman consciousness told him that this was very similar to a certain rune on the rune eyeball that Ryan bought. It seems to have been slightly upgraded. It is smoother than the original one on the eyeball, and there is no lag or collapse at the connection between strokes.

"Where did you buy it? The same place as last time?" Kraft pressed his temples.

He had no symptoms of dizziness or headache, but he was just not used to this feeling. It seemed as if he was divided into two parts, one part was an ordinary person, and the other part expanded infinitely, and he could easily fish out the piece he wanted from the vast sea of ​​information. .

This gave him a subtle illusion, feeling that there was a living thing surging in his skull, and his brain had its own independent ability, making him dissatisfied with this small living space.

"How do you know you bought it from the same...captain as last time?" Ryan almost thought that he was exposed to the same stonemason to buy things. Fortunately, he realized in time that Kraft didn't mean what he said and changed his mind in time to tell the stonemason. Became a captain.

Ryan wiped his sweat and added to his words: "He said he bought it from the same place as last time. It is indeed related to the pair of stone eyeballs last time, right? He knew I would buy these things, so Leave it to me. I think grandpa will like this." The language here is similar to English, and there is no distinction between grandpa and grandfather, so Lane calls Old Wood the same as Kraft.

People who don't know the inside story can easily mistakenly think that they are biological brothers, but in fact they are almost the same.

"By the way, I'll give you your money back. I have a good relationship with him. He sold it cheaply, so he didn't use your money." Ryan took out the purse Kraft gave him in the morning and returned it intact. Kraft.

"How about this? How much is it, why don't we share it together?" Kraft took the money bag, not doubting Ryan's intentions at all.

"It doesn't matter, it's just the price of one silver coin. I'm going to have my own fiefdom soon, so I don't have to worry about it." Speaking of this, Ryan's face was filled with pride.

Considering that he was almost 20 years old, Old Wood also felt that it was not a problem to let him run around. He had planned to officially grant this guy the title of a knight and give him a piece of land for the family to spread its branches. At that time, he will also be assigned two good horses, a set of full-body armor and weapons, and he can also recruit his own followers.

"When the time comes, I am willing to come and testify to your generosity and virtue." Kraft smiled, "I will go back and take a nap first, hoping to be refreshed when I set off tomorrow morning."