Whispering Verse

"Xia De, you..."

Seeing that Shade's attitude was really firm, Miss Danister, although she wanted to say something else, could only nod her head in the end:

"I will deal with the affairs of the academy as soon as possible. In addition, I want to give you an item. If you encounter the 'Mirror Hidden Man' again, it will at least guarantee you a chance to fight back. You can use that item once The high-circle thaumaturgy I stored in it - Red Moon Fall."

Storing one's own thaumaturgy in alchemical items is not a very uncommon technique, and this is how Yin Luna's "Sunshine Gun" brooch came about.

"In addition, if you use it at night, when the item is damaged by use, I can briefly project to your side. Although the combat effectiveness is definitely not as strong as the main body, it should be no problem to help you escape."

Miss Denister said again.

This is indeed a very powerful technology. Shade nodded to express his gratitude, and then mentioned the Winter Chorus:

"I want to get in touch with them. Is there any way?"

This was not the first time that Shade had suddenly made a strange request, so Miss Daniste didn't care:

"Today is Wednesday, right? Yes, I also went to the "Moon and Spell" course in the afternoon. Then this matter is easy to arrange. You can go back and wait for the news."

She agreed readily, and Shade thanked her again. When she was about to get up and leave, the sorceress reminded her worriedly:

"Even if you have the alchemy items I gave you, you should never think of confronting the [Mirror Hidden Man] head-on. Although the probability of you encountering him again is not high, but... I have lost my teacher. I don’t want to lose my only student again.”

She said it very seriously, looking at Shade with her rose-red eyes.

"Don't worry, I value my life more than anyone else."

The alchemical item Miss Danist mentioned was delivered to Shade through the poem pages early the next day, Thursday morning. It was a palm-sized small book with a red leather cover, and its shape matched Shade's impression of Miss Danister.

Of course, this item only looks like a book on the outside. In fact, after opening it, it is filled with complex hand-painted ritual arrays to fill it with power. This also shows how powerful Yin Luna's technology is in making the "sunshine gun brooch" with just a low ring.

On the front and back of this book, which is not actually a book, are outlined in golden ink the image of the sun, moon and stars that Shade and Miss Daniste have been searching for. There is also the school badge of St. Byrons on the top of the front, and Miss Denister's autograph on the bottom.

"With rich elements of miracles and enlightenment, the Thirteen-ring Warlock is truly extraordinary."

At the breakfast table, Shade commented that with this, he would not have to worry too much about activities in the Green Lake area and the next time he goes to the island with Megan.

Today he plans to go to the Green Lake area to look for the group of tomb robbers related to the Edwards family and Angel Fingerbone. Of course, considering that he has to go to the Tobesk train station to participate in a group mission in the evening, Shade needs to be back before five o'clock in the afternoon. .

After breakfast, Shade left Mia at home and set off. At present, he doesn't have many clues, and he knows almost nothing about the tomb robbers. But the pen picked up from the sunken ship in the water ghost's lair, Mohu's pen that can distinguish names, may be able to play some role. Because Dorothy said that the pen was a commemorative out-of-print pen, and a batch was only produced more than two years ago.

Since the time overlaps, maybe the bones in the water ghost's lair are related to the tomb robbers. But it was still a bit difficult to find follow-up clues from just one name, and the overlap in time might just be a coincidence, so Shade decided to ask local friends for help.

When we arrived at the border checkpoint in the Green Lake area, it was already ten o'clock that morning. The sentry barracks looked more lively than the previous days. At the same time, Shade also noticed that with this sentry post as the center, there were more wooden barracks wrapped with wires extending to the east and west sides.

Even though it was only the morning, the number of people waiting to cross here already exceeded the sum of the two times Shade passed through here. Surrounding the checkpoint and the crossroad village next to it, there is even a lively area similar to a market, where people with burdens and children gather.

This resulted in soldiers having to push and yell at people to maintain order.

The increase in the number of people crossing the border means better business at the nearby Crossroads Village Tavern. When Shade and Captain Rades sat down in the tavern, they clearly felt the increasingly lively atmosphere here.

He glanced at the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Delarion hanging on the wall, and then asked Captain Rades:

"Didn't you say last time that you are no longer welcome in this tavern because you beat up the Kasenlik people?"

The captain shook his head:

"Someone made trouble here again last week, and it turned into a fight between Carsonrick and the locals, which almost set the straw pile next to the tavern on fire. I led the people to put out the fire, otherwise we wouldn't have anywhere to sit today. Speak."

The female tavern owner wearing an apron came over with a tray, greeted Captain Rades with a smile, and put their drinks on the table.

Shade knocked on the wooden table and asked worriedly:

"There have been a lot of conflicts in the border areas recently?"

"Yes, and not just near the checkpoint."

Captain Rades lowered his voice slightly:

"The whole area seems to be sitting on a powder keg. I know that for the big shots above, this kind of confrontation between rural farmers and lower-level soldiers is nothing at all, but in my opinion, this will definitely cause trouble. ."

Shade sighed and shook his head slightly, and then talked about the purpose of his visit.

Captain Rades is the deputy battalion commander of the camp, and of course he knows something about some of the underground smuggling businesses in Green Lake City. When he heard that Shade wanted to find a group of tomb robbers from two years ago, he suggested that he go to the village of Pukhov by the lake, which was the small village that Shade passed by when he went to the lake to fish:

"I'll give you a note. You go to the Pukhov Village Tavern to find 'Bad Eyes Barry'. He will definitely be able to give you clues. He is the local gang leader and does business in brokerage, smuggling and underground casinos. The information is very good. Well-informed.”

After saying that, he started to write a note, and Xia De asked curiously:

"Captain, have you also approached him for business?"

The middle-aged officer carefully made a silent gesture:

"I didn't ask for it, it was my superior who asked me to help him handle some things...The battalion commander, Colonel Dewey, has been here for more than ten years, and he has a lot of business."

He snorted as he spoke, obviously not understanding this kind of behavior, but he also knew wisely that this was inevitable:

"Today is Wednesday. Bad-eyed Barry is either hanging out with his men in the pub or at his lakeside villa. He is the one wearing an eyepatch on his right eye. If you can't find it, just ask the bartender and tell me my name. He will definitely help."

"Captain, it seems that you are doing well in the local area."

"this is nothing."

Captain Rades said, his smile getting brighter:

"I'm here to buy you a drink today. After drinking this drink, you can go and deal with your own affairs. When you are free, we can go to a club in the city to have dinner together. Regarding matters in the Green Lake area, I still have a lot of things to discuss. What do you say?"

Pukhov Village and Crossroads Village are located at the ends of the left and right forks of the main road leading from the city to the border area. Although the distance is not particularly close, it is at least more convenient than coming out of the city.

Before half past ten, Shade arrived at his destination. The month of sowing has arrived on the seventeenth day, and the warm spring sunshine shines on the village near the lake, making the already lively village look even more noisy.

The tavern in Pukhov Village is no worse than the tavern in Crossroads Village, and because there are sailors and more merchants, there are also many people in the tavern. When Shade walked into the tavern, many people were gathered around the table watching the Rhodes gambling game, or sitting together in twos and threes chatting about boring things.

The stench of alcohol in the tavern was very obvious. Shade looked around and didn't see anyone wearing an eyepatch on his right eye. So he walked to the counter and asked the bald man with a big belly and a towel on his right shoulder:

"Is Bad-Eyed Barry here today? Captain Rades asked me to come find him."

The middle-aged man glanced at him and pointed to the drunken man on the right who was holding a wine glass. The latter was thin and looked like he had overdosed on illegal drugs:

"Barry didn't come today. But you can ask him. He probably knows where Barley went."

Hearing the bartender's voice, the drunken man looked up at Shade, and then an ugly smile appeared on his face. When he grinned, he revealed yellowed teeth, and the left front tooth was missing:

"You want to ask me something?"

He twirled his fingers at Shade:

"Five, no, ten shillings."

Shade looked at the bartender, who shrugged and said he would have nothing to do with it. So Shade lifted his clothes, revealing the gun bag on his waist. The drunk guy probably had poor eyesight, so he held his head on the table and looked at Shade's waist, trying to see what it was. But what he saw was a fist appearing in front of him:

"ah!"

He only had time to scream before he was knocked to the ground. Shade turned to the bartender and said:

"I'll take him out to sober up."

"Please."

Then he watched Shade dragging the drunken man away from here, and the people in the tavern were used to this scene, and they just yelled a few times.

In the stable outside the tavern, the horse drinking trough successfully sobered up the drunkard, and Shade also learned that the well-informed "Bad Eyed Barry" was in the villa by the lake.

There was a group of wealthy guests from Michaela Blast Furnace City this morning. They should be discussing business now. "Bad Eyed Barry" is engaged in the brokerage business, and it is common for him to deal with the people of Kasenlik.

Shade was very satisfied that he could get the information he wanted without being forced to help others with tasks such as finding cats or fighting. He loosened the collar of the drunkard whose head he had just pressed into the sink, took out a shilling from his pocket and threw it beside him.