September 2, Houllier City, Cambay District.
For a typical city in the Middle Ages, the aristocratic area where the lord is located is often the quietest, and the trading area where the market is located is the busiest. The Cambay area, where there is no sunshine all day long, is the so-called darkest "slum area".
The buildings in the Cambay District are extremely simple. If the mansion of the Duke of Luciferon exudes a profound heritage and a restrained luxury, then what can be smelled here can only be faded, decayed and rotten.
Rody will always think of the words that used to be seen everywhere in his mind-"Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes."
Even the slums have their own rules and "jianghu". There are always three or four batches of gangs like gangsters. Most of them are brutal and unreasonable. of unemployed youth. And the place where they often gather is the bar in Cambay District—because this is the distribution center for all kinds of news about the "Thieves' Guild".
Of course, the "Thieves' Guild" sounds like a powerful organization. To put it bluntly, it is just a loose organization where a group of sneaky thieves meet to share information. It has no entity, can't be found anywhere, but... is everywhere.
Sitting at the front desk of the "Pig's Head Bar", holding a glass of cheap ale mixed with water in his hand, Roddy felt that the name of this bar that he had never visited in his memory seemed familiar. "In a bar with the same name. Thinking that the wizarding world that once belonged to people's imagination is now almost a reality before his eyes, he felt a little inexplicably emotional. He shook his head and took a few sips of ale, but gritted his teeth and made a grimace.
It's so fucking bad.
I thought about finding wood elves to cooperate in brewing wine before, but I temporarily let go of this idea after meeting Nata. The concept of "high-end luxury goods" is too far away for ordinary people, and it is not easy to persuade a group of nobles to buy elves' wine with their current status. Although it is not impossible to make money, the timing is indeed immature, so I will give up after thinking about it.
Holding the wine glass, he was thinking about the Duke of Angmar, but unexpectedly, his dazed appearance caused a few jokes from the boss in front of the bar—
"Hey... Raphael, don't you plan to sing a few songs today? I've only listened to your stories these days, but I prefer the atmosphere in the bar to be more cheerful!"
Hu Ke, with a beard on his face, is the owner of this hotel. It was ten o'clock in the morning, and the bar was basically empty, so he was free. The bars in the slums are naturally not as good as those big taverns on the bright streets. The light is dark, the floor is dirty, the wine is cheap, but it is all mixed with water, and there is always a big dried pig's head hanging on the door. The darkness and cruelty of this area.
"Singing? That's not what I'm good at. If you want me to sing those songs, I guess you won't have any good business here."
Rody, whose alias is "Raphael", responded to the local snake with a smile, and his words were full of politeness, "If I have time at night, I will continue to tell stories. Don't worry, although the hall is always a bit dark, the service here is really good. Very welcoming, I will consider staying for a few more days.”
"God bless, it would be great if you could stay longer." Hook himself made a glass of ale mixed with water as if drinking water. Seeing that Roddy was about to pay the bill, his big hand With a wave: "Take it back, take it back, I invite you."
For this kindness, Rody didn't refuse, and returned to his room on the second floor after a few polite words.
This is the fourth day that Rody has lived in Houlier City. These days, he has stayed in this hotel as a "bard". Guy, the actual purpose is to inquire about some members of the Luciferon family inadvertently.
As a veteran player of the game, Rody knows that it is not reliable to buy news directly by throwing gold coins in "Cracked Earth". His previous solo career made him understand... only when he has gained the trust of the other party and made it clear that there is no conflict of interest between the two parties When the time comes, the kind of casual news is the most authentic and reliable.
Most of the local tyrants who throw gold and ask for news will end up being taken advantage of. Roddy is not that stupid. If he hastily aroused the vigilance of others, the end will be miserable—but when he walked to the desk and sat down, he realized that he was actually It has been "checked".
Stretching out his hands to sort out the stack of parchments full of regular script and Chinese characters, Luo Di could recognize the traces that these things had been turned over.
In such a mixed place, the other party flipped the parchment without taking away other things in the house, naturally for the purpose of surveillance and investigation, but Rody had expected this - because he was confident that he hadn't revealed any flaws.
"If you can understand Chinese, then you are awesome..."
Roddy muttered, and after thinking for a moment, he took out one and looked at it carefully.
This piece of paper contained all the information he had asked about the old Duke of Angmar in recent years from Hooker. Rody re-presented the chaotic narrative style of the hotel owner on the paper with a regular timeline—the past few days. After collecting the information, Rody was able to confirm that the serious illness of Duke Angmar Luciferon was caused by the "soul extraction potion".
The Duke's temperament changed drastically five years ago, and he suddenly yelled at the hunting ground without manners; four years ago, he could only stay in the Duke's mansion when he became weak. Has he gotten any better; three years ago, he started to stay behind closed doors, and he didn't even issue another government order...
The most important and most convincing evidence for Rody to believe that the old Duke was ill was that Hook had obtained the truth that "the old Duke once had blue blood in the corner of his eye" from a certain source of information.
Such details are something ordinary people can't even make up. Although many gossip news are unreliable, Roddy clearly remembers that the "soul extraction potion" will indeed cause such an effect after taking it!
This would not be a coincidence, but an iron-clad fact. All the details are closely related to Roddy's memory. Now, he can confirm that his judgment is not wrong.
In Rody's original plan, it was a top priority to come directly to find an opportunity to kill Francis, otherwise the other party would find out about his head sooner or later, and if he fell into a passive position at that time, he might even be deprived of his basic job. So the assassination of Francis was originally a priority.
But after some investigation, Rody found out that this guy was huddled in a heavily guarded manor outside the city, with no plans or intentions to go out at all, making it impossible for Rody to start, so after thinking for a long time, he directly chose Second way to fuck this guy—
Go directly to rescue the old Duke Angmar, and use his hand to solve Sally's current crisis.
This is a "stupid way", but it also has some additional benefits, because if you can successfully wake up the old duke and let him know your name, then having a duke's backing behind you is definitely more important than having the little girl Sally as your backing Spectrum - After all, Rody understands that in the entire Efta territory, only the powerful faction like the Duke of Angmar is the "boss".
If he can really wake him up, the prestige and experience gained needless to say, the most important thing is that he can find a suitable position for Soderol and others to carry out the next plan. This is the most critical thing.
"Francis, Francis... eat a few more meals."
Having said that, he reached out and took out another piece of parchment—on it was the time and route map of the patrolling soldiers of the Duke’s Mansion written in Chinese characters. The antidote to the "Soul Extraction Potion" made by Di.
Regarding the "soul extraction potion", the player explained in the post two ways to make the "antidote": one requires a bunch of herbal medicines with complex proportions to be prepared and brewed together, and when the bottle is stuffy when taken, the medicine will be available immediately. The disease is cured, but obviously Rody doesn't know how to configure it at all, so he can only use the second simple method...
Soak the "Ginseng of Blasphemy" in boiling water and use the boiled water as a potion—this is indeed effective, but the disadvantage is that it needs to be taken in large doses many times to be effective, in my impression... at least three times.
And today, Rody is ready to "drug" the old duke at night—but there is nothing to do during the day. In the few days when he came to Houllier City, except for inquiring about news, Rody remembered that he hadn't done anything yet. Going to meet with Sally, after thinking about it, I decided to go to the other party to understand the current situation.
Rody didn't know what Sally had been doing in the monastery these past few months. In his mind, it was considered pretty good for this girl to survive until now.
Putting on an ordinary civilian attire, Rody left the tavern and disappeared into the corner of the street.
"Hey, Hook, who's that kid?"
In front of the bar, someone pointed to Rody's back and asked.
"Him? Hey—you haven't been here for a while. He is the hottest bard in the bar these days. To be honest, I am also excited by those stories. I wish I could go to the front line and kill a few orcs." go!"
"Forget it, Hook, your belly is probably bigger than a warg!"
The interruption next to him immediately filled the bar with laughter, but the middle-aged man sitting in front of Hook didn't laugh. He just kept a stern face as usual, and asked in a low voice: "I don't listen to nonsense, Hook. This guy Is your identity clean?"
"It's clean. It's not a spy sent by the lord. I have someone check his room. Most of the letters on it are poems and words, and some... probably are new-style music scores. Anyway, I can't read them."
Hook responded in a low voice. Although the person in front of him looked unattractive, he, who was considered to be a member of the "Thieves Guild", understood that the other party was a guy working for Earl Francis, and he must not be neglected.
After hearing what he said, the middle-aged man nodded, raised his hand and pressed a silver coin on the bar counter, and gently pushed it in front of Hook: "If there are any other rumors, remember to let me know."
"Okay ok..."
Hook responded quickly, and after watching the other party leave and his back disappeared, he wiped the bar and muttered in a low voice: "Cut... looking for a scout with a bow, I don't know what I'm afraid of, even the bards are looking for it." Drop... Could it be that that kid can still assassinate Francis?"