Whispering Verse

It was just noon when I left Granny Natalie’s tailor shop. Because Mia's lunch had been prepared before going out, Shade didn't have to rush back.

He still had a lot of things to do here, but considering that he was not particularly familiar with the entire area, Shade returned to the Green Lake Hotel to have lunch, then got on the carriage, planning to go to the Michaela Blast Furnace City in the south. one look.

Although the two cities are located in different countries, due to the special nature of the times, it is actually quite easy to cross the border. After getting on the carriage, Shade chatted about the local customs and customs with the coachman who was wearing a straw hat to block the sun, and then learned from him that generally speaking, there was no need to check at all when traveling between the two places.

It was only after it was determined that negotiations between the two countries would be held in the Green Lake area some time ago that outposts were established in the border area for inspection. But it is not difficult for locals to avoid it. This is a plain area. There are no barbed wire fences or walls between Delrayon and Kasenlik. Only the main roads have checkpoints. And if you're not afraid of the trouble, you can even go there and back by boat across Green Lake.

After leaving the city limits, the carriage drove on a country road. Because of the frequent communication between the two cities, the country roads are also very well maintained, similar to those outside Tobesk.

Shade knew that the two cities were close, but he didn't expect them to be so close. In fact, less than five minutes after leaving the city limits of Green Lake City, he could actually see from the carriage window far away on the southern horizon, tall chimneys spewing black smoke into the sky. Thousands of buildings pile up on the horizon, and you can feel the prosperity there just by looking at the distant view of the city.

"Sir, you see the air in Green Lake City is so bad, but we don't have that many steam plants here. Can you guess the reason?"

On the bumpy carriage, the driver also noticed Shade looking into the distance, so he asked him in a casual tone.

Shade said firmly:

"The industry in Green Lake City is not developed, so the pollution from Michaela Blast Furnace City has affected Green Lake City?"

"Yes, the south wind blows all year round in the Green Lake area, and the black smoke from the chimneys of the glass-making factories in the City of Glass will eventually come to us. So although there are not many factories in Green Lake City, like the City of Glass, there are always It’s all foggy. I heard that Tobesk City is also foggy all year round, but I don’t know if it’s the same as here.”

The coachman's voice came from the wind, and Shade continued to squint his eyes and look at the city in the distance in the south:

"Don't the locals have any objections to this? I heard people say that living in such fog is easy to cause lung disease."

"Of course there are opinions, and many people even want the City of Glass to compensate us for the cost of air pollution. Newspapers have talked about this matter many times, so even a coachman like me can say a few words. But this kind of thing is difficult to solve. Who can tell clearly? There are valuable trade routes in the Pantanal that are worthy of negotiation by the kingdom, but what do we have here?"

The coachman said, Shade nodded, and just as he was about to say something else, the coachman reminded him:

"Sir, I can only take you to the border checkpoint for a while, and then you have to get on the carriage on the other side to enter the city."

"Kingdom checkpoint, won't you be allowed to cross the border?"

"Of course not, but across the border is the territory of Mikaela Blast Furnace City. How can the local coachmen allow us northerners to make money on their land?"

The coachman said with a smile, shaking the reins to make the running horses go faster.

The so-called border checkpoint is run by the Delarian Army. Similar to the "Red Water Camp" Shade saw on the Sikal Mountains, the military camp was established near the border. Passengers passing through the checkpoint need to have their carry-on luggage checked and register the reason for crossing the border.

If it is a carriage carrying goods, you will have to wait for a long time, but pedestrians like Shade who don't even have luggage can just queue up and register.

The driver took Shade to the entrance of the checkpoint and told Shade many ways to deal with the soldiers making things difficult for him. When Shade paid the fare, he also gave him an extra shilling. The coachman took off his hat and expressed his gratitude to Shade.

Shade planned to spend the entire afternoon in the City of Glass, and even thought about buying a few pieces of glass art to take home and give to his friends. So he did not observe the camp carefully, but went directly to the camp post, which was a little muddy due to the rain the previous day, and quickly found the place to queue up for registration.

Most of the people lining up here waiting to cross the border are nearby villagers, old women carrying baskets, peasant women with children, businessmen carrying backpacks, and even young travelers traveling together. Fortunately, although there were a lot of people queuing up, registration was very fast, so Shade didn't have to worry about wasting too much time.

However, less than two minutes after he started queuing, he caught a very familiar figure at the edge of his vision. Shade was stunned for a moment:

"You read that right?"

【Is your friend. 】

The stranger's face showed joy. He took the initiative to leave the team, waved his hand and shouted at the figure in the distance:

"Captain Rades!"

The middle-aged officer who was checking the handover status of the night patrol with his men turned around and was stunned for a moment when he saw Shade waving, but he immediately recognized Shade, who was disguised with witch eyeshadow:

"Hammy...Mr. Watson?!"

He said in surprise, then walked over quickly with a smile, and held Shade's hand tightly. "Captain Eight-Gun" Rades, on this ordinary early spring afternoon, once again unexpectedly met Shade in a distant foreign land.

Relying on the border checkpoint and military camp, there are hotels and pubs in the "Crossroads Village" outside the camp, and it is very lively. The two people who met their friends in this strange land temporarily left the camp and came to the country tavern.

After pushing the door open and entering the tavern, people automatically gave way to the inside after seeing Captain Rades's costume. After sitting down, Shade asked:

"Captain Rades, I really didn't expect to meet you here. Is this the first time we have met since you left Tobesk with the 'Gold Star Medal' in January? Oh, you are not stationed in the Pantanal. , serve as camp commander?”

Shade asked curiously, quite happy to meet friends in a foreign country.

A fat woman wearing an apron and a headscarf walked through the noisy crowd and brought them beer in wooden glasses. Probably because of Captain Rades' uniform, she was quite polite to the two of them.

"Thank you, just leave it here. Oh, Mr. Watson, now Delrayon and Kasenlik are gathering troops to the border. We, the troops deployed in advance, need to rotate and let the elite troops stationed in the camp, so I will Got transferred here."

Speaking of this matter, Captain Rades was still quite sad:

"I have been a battalion commander in the Pantanal for two months. Two weeks ago, I was transferred to Green Lake to be in charge of border registration. Although I have more things to manage, and more people under my command. Much more, but I became the deputy commander of the camp.”

"The negotiation between the two countries is a big deal. It may allow you to make great achievements like you did at Sikal Mountain, and then go further."

Shade comforted.

"The way I see it, it's still possible in the explosive Pantanal, here..."

The captain sighed.

"Be careful what you say."

Shade reminded, the captain looked around cautiously, nodded, picked up the wine glass and took a sip:

"But there are advantages here. It's really humid over there in the Everglades, and there are so many bugs in the camp that it's scary. I've never seen so many bugs in my life. Although the air quality in the Green Lake area is not good, at least the camp is very safe. It’s clean, and there’s a tavern next to the camp. In the swamp, if you want to have a drink, you have to say hello to the quartermaster in advance.”

There were quite a few guests in the tavern. The captain looked around again, then lowered his voice slightly:

"In my opinion, this negotiation is definitely not simple. I also have connections in the military, and many people believe that at least a small-scale contact war is needed before the negotiation can be fruitful. However, it is unlikely that we will start a fight here, and the high probability is still Pantanal.”

This reminded Shade again of the conversation he had with Lesia about negotiations and war:

"If we can avoid fighting, it's better to be peaceful."

"Yeah, I don't want to fight either, but it's hard to tell what the big guys above are thinking. What we care about is our military pay and lives, and what they care about may be 'greater interests'."

The captain shook his head. He was not eager for war or pessimistic about the world, but based on experience, he felt that a fight was more likely.

Of course, while reminiscing about old times, Shade also did not forget to talk about his purpose of coming to the Green Lake area. Captain Rades vaguely knew that Shade was not an ordinary person, so he did not ask where Shade came from.

"I was entrusted by someone to come to the local area to investigate an ancient family. It was the Edwards family that once existed on the central island of Green Lake."

"I know this."

The captain pointed in the direction of Green Lake outside the window:

"After I was transferred, my superiors told me a lot of things to note. One of them is that you are not allowed to board the central island of Green Lake under any circumstances. This sounds strange, because it is obviously a good water port, and it is Recognized territory of Delrayon.”

Thinking of the horrific things that appeared in the Battle of Sikal Mountain, the captain withdrew his gaze from the window and cautiously asked his friend across the table:

"So, that island..."

"I haven't investigated yet, but it's certainly not safe."

Captain Rades nodded slowly:

"I understand when you put it like that. It seems that this world is more dangerous than I thought. Oh, were you queuing up to cross the border just now? I will give you a special pass in a moment. You don't have to queue up for inspection in the future, just show the pass."