October, Frost Moon.
Although the east coast is close to the ocean and has an overall oceanic climate, the temperature has begun to drop under the influence of sunlight. The air became colder, and the night wind penetrated people's clothes, which was as painful as a knife cutting flesh.
The Hague.
This is a port city on the east coast. It is medium-sized and medium-sized. It is named because the land extending towards the ocean resembles two huge beasts' teeth.
There are about a few thousand people living here, and the numerous buildings are arranged unevenly. It seems at first glance that they have not been well planned. There are no drainage ditches on the streets, and sewage flows across them. Most of the streets are dirt, and it becomes muddy when it rains. It is extremely bad.
At this time, the sky in The Hague was gray, and the extremely cold rain fell down like broken beads, soaking the ground and the roof. There were no pedestrians on the street because of the cold air, and it was extremely deserted. The tavern was very lively. Many people had no place to go, so they all gathered here, asking for one or two glasses of the cheapest drinks. While tasting them, they shouted and boasted about various things.
Guevara's Tavern is the busiest pub in The Hague.
The reason for this is not because of its excellent service or delicious food, but simply because its drinks are almost 10% lower than those of other pubs.
This is enough!
At this time, many people were sitting around the wooden table in Guevara's tavern, talking loudly.
"Hey, Duke, have you heard? Last month, a ship called the 'Black Thorn' went out to sea and encountered the legendary ghost ship. As a result, no one came back." A man said, his whole body because of the frequent Exposure to the sun gives it a bronze color.
"Tch, Hal, your news has expired and is not as good as mine." The man named Duke is a thin man with dark skin. After listening to his companion's words, he said with a bit of disdain, "I and I You said that just over half a month ago, a ship called the Nautilus also encountered a ghost ship, but no one came back.
You don’t know, but there is the captain’s daughter on the ship, her name is Eliza, and she is just eighteen years old this year. That Bai You, especially those hands, are as white as if they were soaked in milk, soft and smooth, tsk tsk. Alas, what a pity. "
At this time, the third person at the table spoke up. He was a guy with close eyes, and his voice was a bit bitter: "I say, Duke and Hal, are you two bothered by discussing ghost ships all day long? Are you serious? Have you seen it before, or something like that, can you tell me something practical?"
The two people discussing the ghost ship looked at the third person, and Duke said: "Pister, we don't like hearing what you said. Whether you believe it or not, what we say is true."
"Yes, it is." Hal agreed.
Pister rolled his eyes and continued in a harsh voice: "It's weird to believe it. According to what you said, the Black Thorn and the Nautilus encountered ghost ships and neither came back. So how do you know?" What happened? Are you people on the two ships? Or are you people on the ghost ship? Huh, it’s just a rumor I heard from others, it’s not credible at all. You guys are really naive."
"You!" Duke and Hal were at a loss for words. Hal had a bad temper and couldn't help but stand up, wanting to teach the talkative Pister a lesson.
At this time, with a "squeak", the door of the tavern opened, and the cold wind from outside poured in together with the icy rain.
The place where Hal and the others were sitting was relatively close to the door. When they were caught in the rain, Hal couldn't help but shudder. With a dissatisfied curse in his mouth, Hal subconsciously looked towards the door, forgetting about teaching Pister a lesson.
Hal saw the door open and two figures in raincoats, one big and one small, come in. The two took off their raincoats, revealing their true faces. They were a young-looking man in black and a half-year-old little girl.
Seeing this combination, Hal couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. Out of habit, he subconsciously looked at the young man's waist, looking for the money bag. But... I didn't see the money bag. What I saw was a bright long sword hanging on the waist. It didn't look like anything.
"Well, you're not a rookie..." Hal said in his heart, quickly looking away.
…
The perspective from the other side.
Richard took Pandora into the tavern called "Che Guevara". After taking off his raincoat, he soon felt that a lot of eyes were on him.
Part of it is curious, part of it is inquiring, and part of it is malicious.
Fortunately, these gazes did not stay long. After discovering the long sword at his waist, most of them took it back rationally. A few of them were still watching, but he didn't care and pulled Pandora towards the counter.
This is the fifth day since leaving White Rock Tower.
After he left the White Stone Tower with Pandora, he took a carriage to the seaside. However, he did not go to the port where he first landed on the east coast. Instead, he chose a slightly ordinary place like The Hague.
The reason was simple. The seaport where he first landed was one of the largest on the entire east coast. He highly suspected that there might be people from mysterious organizations or other wizards. In order to minimize trouble, he avoided it.
I hope you can reach Moore smoothly all the way.
Richard thought to himself and walked to the counter.
The tavern owner standing behind the counter, a fat man with a shiny face, came up to him with a very sincere smile, rubbed his hands and said: "This guest, welcome to the 'Guevara' tavern, what can I do for you?" Is it for you?"
"Snapped!"
Richard flipped his hand, slapped a silver coin on the table, and said directly: "Get me a glass of water, and... I want to ask you some news."
The tavern owner's eyes lit up, he stretched out his hand to quickly put away the silver coins, and continued to smile sincerely: "Easy to talk about, water is easy to talk about. I just don't know what kind of news you are asking about? If it is something illegal, I can't guarantee it. I can tell you, of course... the silver coins are non-refundable, please forgive me."
"Is that so?" Richard said, "Then you don't have to worry too much. The news I asked is very simple. When will the ship go to sea?"
"Well, this is really simple." The tavern owner said, waving to the people sitting in the tavern, "I can tell you that at least half of the people here are people on the boat. That is because it rained and was They will stay here only when they come back from the rain. When the weather gets better, they will all take the boat out to sea."
"You may have misunderstood me. When I said going to sea, I meant going to the distant sea." Richard was not angry because the tavern owner pretended to be dumbfounded, but pointedly stated without expression, "I want to know if you have gone north recently. It’s a big ship, and I want to go to the north with it.”
"Going north? Big ship?" The tavern owner scratched his head and frowned, "Then I have to think about it, think about it..."
"Snapped!"
Richard slapped the second silver coin on the table.
"Ha! I remembered." The tavern owner said quickly, and then put away the silver coins even faster.
"There should be ships going north," the tavern owner said, "But... Guest, you should also know that ours is only a small port here, so many ships going north will not dock.
In addition, in recent times, the "ghost ship" has made people panic. Many large ships are going around and even fewer are docked. Three days ago, a 'Lord Bailey' docked to replenish fresh water and food. I really don't know about the rest... "
"really do not know?"
"I really don't know..." The tavern owner looked sincere.
"Snapped!"
Richard slapped the coin on the table for the third time. This time it was not a silver coin, but a golden gold coin!
One gold coin is worth dozens of silver coins!
The tavern owner's eyes widened instantly, and he reached out to take it, but did not move it, because Richard was "gently" pressing it with one finger - after getting the White Stone Tower and the Black Spirit King's treasure, Richard was usually too lazy to do so. He cares about money, but that doesn't mean he is willing to be taken advantage of. The tavern owner in front of him is obviously very greedy. He can satisfy the other person's greed, but only if his needs are met.
"Kakaka!"
The tavern owner stretched out his hand and tried several times, but found that he really couldn't pick up the gold coin that Richard was "gently" pressing with one finger. He had no choice but to give up and realized something at the same time. He raised his head, looked at Richard, and asked carefully: "Guest, I really don't know the news about the big ship going north, at least not now. After all, the big ships are all heading at sea, and there will be no contact unless they dock. I can’t just fly over and ask them, right?”
"I understand this, so I have a request."
"Request? You say it!"
"Send someone to keep an eye on the port. When a big ship from the north docks, go and negotiate and ask if two more people can be added. If you help me handle this matter, the gold coins will be yours. Now It’s temporarily stored here with me.”
"this-"
"Also, get me a better room, and don't forget the water I just ordered. The two silver coins I gave you before should be more than enough to pay for it." Richard said, after finishing his words He put away the gold coins, turned around and pulled Pandora towards an unoccupied table in the tavern, walked to the table and sat down.
Soon, the tavern owner came after him and carefully put a glass of water on the table. Still thinking about the gold coins, he said with some persistence: "Guest, I promise that I will help you as soon as a ship heading north docks. Contact. Look, that gold coin..."
"I'll keep it safe for you."
"This... okay." The tavern owner was completely helpless and left with his head hanging. "I... I'll prepare a room for you."
Richard watched the tavern owner leave, looked back, picked up the water on the table and was about to drink it, when suddenly a voice from next to him said, "My child, you seem a little confused, do you want me to help you divine your destiny?"
"Huh?" Richard turned his head and looked over, his eyes slightly narrowed.
I saw that the person speaking was a woman sitting at a table next to me.
This woman was wrapped very tightly. I don't know whether it was because of the cold or some kind of wariness. There was almost no exposed part of her body, which was covered by a black burqa. There was a black cloth hanging on his face, and only a pair of eyes were exposed. The eyeballs were a little cloudy, and he looked quite young. Considering the voice of the other person speaking, he was estimated to be around forty or fifty years old.
What made Richard wary was that this woman was one of the owners who had been looking at him since he entered the door. It was obvious that the other party had been interested in him or had a purpose from the beginning.
Are you ready to take action now
Divination
interesting…
Richard was thinking in his mind, looked at the woman, and asked seriously: "How are you going to tell me a divination? Using copper coins? Or, using a crystal ball?"
"No, those things are all lies. My divination is real divination, so I use real divination props - something you have never seen before." The woman said.
As she spoke, the woman walked over and sat down at the table where Richard was sitting. Then she took out a stack of cards from her robe, shook it and placed it on the table: "Hey, this is it!"
Richard briefly glanced at the card suddenly, raised his eyebrows, and found that the card in the woman's hand was the famous tarot card in the modern Western world.
Yes, tarot cards!
On modern earth, Tarot cards first appeared in the mid-15th century to the end of the Middle Ages.
At that time, Tarot appeared as a card game, originating from Tarocchi, a court card game in Italy.
Later, until the 18th century, tarot cards began to be used for divination by mystics and occultists.
Now, in this medieval-like world, Tarot cards appeared a little early. Of course, even bulbous bows appeared in the 20th century, and Tarot cards were completely acceptable. After all, the technological content of Tarot cards was approximately zero.
Generally speaking, tarot cards are a kind of card that is very similar to playing cards. There are usually 78 playing cards and are composed of two different decks. The first type is called the Major Arcana, which consists of 22 cards without a suit, which is equivalent to the so-called "ace". The second type is called the Minor Arcana, which consists of 56 cards. These 56 cards are divided into 4 suits. Each suit has cards from 2 to 10, plus an Ace and four Court cards. Then by interpreting the meanings of different card patterns, we try to predict a person's fate or the outcome of an event.
Whether science is scientific or not is a matter of opinion.
At least, Richard didn't believe it.
Of course, Richard didn't show much personal inclination. He simply took a look at the cards and said, "Tarot cards?"
After hearing what Richard said, the divination woman's eyes flashed with embarrassment and surprise, and she said, "Tarot cards? Have you seen such cards before?"
"You can say that."
"Is that so? But Tarot cards are what you call them. I prefer to call them destiny cards." The woman took a deep breath and looked at Richard. "How about it, kid? Let me help you divine your fortune." A confused fate, right?”