"The Multi-Eyed Tribe is a rare subspecies of humans that is said to have lived in the Fourth Epoch. Most of them have more than two eyes. Of course, they are now considered to be alien creatures."
The bartender introduced to Shade:
"In addition to the eyes in the normal position, the extra eyes of the Multi-Eyed Tribe may grow anywhere on the body, and there is a one in ten chance that they have special abilities. This alien race has created a peculiar method that allows the tribe members to exchange their eyes at will. This coin is the medium they use for exchange."
"So, the characteristic of this relic is to increase the number of eyes?"
Shade asked, and the bartender nodded:
"Put the coin in water and swallow it. About 24 to 48 hours later, one or two new eyes will grow on your body. Each eye has a 1 in 10 chance of having special abilities. If you press this relic directly into your own eye, there is a 1 in 5 chance that your eye will become a special magic eye... You can imagine the negative effects. In mysticism, the eye is the window of the body that is closest to the soul. So although it sounds good, no one will use this thing to give themselves an extra eye except for crazy people and those doing experiments."
Seeing Shade looking at him, the bartender shrugged:
"If a ring sorcerer who uses this relic does not remove the new eye as soon as possible, there is a near-100% chance that he will lose control within three months."
Shade nodded, thinking it was good and interesting. The bartender thought of something interesting and continued to introduce it in a slangy way:
"More than 20 years ago, I heard that someone learned special eye magic to cooperate with the ritual, and used this relic to add a new eye to himself... Guess where that eye was?"
Xia De thought about it and shook his head slightly:
"If the answer is too disgusting, please don't tell me. Name your price. I want both coins."
"Five crowns a piece, no bargaining. Actually, the answer is not disgusting, just a little strange."
He sighed as Shade took out the banknotes:
"In short, no girl will sleep with that guy anymore. No one wants to have their insides seen."
Shade tried not to imagine what had happened:
"Besides that, I'm a ring sorcerer from out of town, and I'll probably be living here for a while. May I ask if there's anything unusual in this city recently? Since last spring, the entire Old Continent has been restless, and I don't want to end up in a place like Fort Delarian-Midhill."
The reason why it is called Timi Castle is that only that incident caused the most exaggerated noise. To this day, the giant tree on the top of Mount Xikar is still green in the snow, becoming the subject of a new local legend.
"Oh, sir, I think you are thinking too much. The Randall Valley has always been a peaceful place."
The bartender must be a local and he praised his hometown very much.
"As long as it's safe... Are there any local legends about keys?"
Xia De asked again, and then tactfully handed over a coin. The bartender took it and put it in his pocket:
"If you're looking for relics like the Time Key or the Master Key, we can buy them here, but there are no local legends about keys... but there are many rumors about stone men, underground kingdoms, Titans, elves, and the like."
Xia De nodded without comment. It seemed that finding that special time key was not that easy.
"Okay, I'll take another commission to acquire special keys. I'm not looking for the keys themselves, but I hope you can help me record the appearance and types of special keys."
"That won't do. We can't pry into our guests' secrets."
The bartender shrugged.
"Then just record the information that can be recorded. Just name a figure for the cost of intelligence... In addition..."
Shade hesitated for a moment. Since he had no more clues, he might as well try to do something else first. Luvia and he appeared in the same strange city at the same time. This was not a good sign. Shade suspected that a new legend of the chosen one was about to unfold, so there were some things he had to be careful of:
"I'm good at purifying polluted land. I'm a bit short on money lately. I'll leave you a message. If anyone needs help with similar things, you can contact me. I'll come here every day at noon."
The bartender nodded again, but after thinking for a moment, he asked again:
"Purify the earth, what exactly can be purified?"
"It's definitely not possible to deal with the evil forces in the Pantanal Swamp as rumored. But if it's just a small matter like black mud flowing out of the ground and evil spirits breeding, I think it shouldn't be a problem for me."
"That's a great coincidence. Someone really needs your help."
The bartender said, flipping two pages forward in the account book in front of him:
"The other party's offer is very high, and it is indeed a problem of evil spirits. A rare problem of undeadization has occurred on a small piece of land. The soil spontaneously attracts undead spirits and slowly transforms them into evil spirits. Even if all the evil spirits are defeated, the problem of the land itself cannot be reversed. It is somewhat similar to a curse, but it is more like the soil itself is contaminated by something. Do you have time to discuss it with the client today?"
Xia De didn't expect that he would actually ask this question. He nodded immediately:
"We can meet any time today."
"Then please sit here for a while. I'll contact that lady. Also, the seller of the echo grass I mentioned earlier is her. You can talk to her. Maybe she'll agree to lower the price of the herb."
After buying a copy of today's Randall's Morning Post and ordering a glass of butter beer, Shad sat down under the gas lamp by the wall and read the news that Margaret and her brother would arrive in the local area tomorrow, Friday evening.
The client didn't let Xia De wait for long before rushing over. He was not wearing a mask or a hood, but Xia De knew that what he saw was definitely not his real face.
She was a young lady who looked to be in her twenties. Knowing that it was a fake face, Shade did not pay too much attention to her appearance. However, when shaking hands, Shade discovered that she was a seventh-ring warlock. Direct contact meant that the next time Shade met her, no matter what she looked like, he would be able to recognize her.
"The bartender should have told you the specific problem."
The woman seemed to be resolute and said after sitting down across the table:
"I have asked for help to solve my problems more than once, but it didn't work. If I wasn't worried about being in trouble with the church, I would have even thought about asking the Church of Nature or the Church of the Sun for help."
Xia De expressed his understanding:
"We don't want to waste time, so we can go and see what the problem is. If it can't be solved, I won't ask for your commission. However, you have to pay for the carriage."
"Of course, no problem. Before that, I want to confirm, sir, what level are you in?"
"Five rings."
Shad did not lie:
"Although my strength is a little weaker than yours, I think I can give it a try."
The woman hesitated for a moment and nodded:
"Let's go now. If you can solve this problem, I will not be stingy in rewarding you. As for the Echo Grass, we can discuss the price later."
The problem lies on the edge of the city, specifically, in a small manor in the north of the city, near the upper reaches of the Yin'ao River.
The strange lady called herself "Miss Grande". She and Shad took a rented carriage to their destination. Along the way, the lady simply described the situation to Shad, but she did not seem to be very talkative.
The small manor on the upper reaches of the Yinsuo River is located on the edge of the Innas Forest. After getting off the car, Shade realized that this was not a manor where nobles lived. Judging from the style of the fence, the layout of the courtyard seen from afar, and the architectural style of the mansion, this was a new building built within 20 years, and the owner of the manor had a good taste in art.
"Can you tell me who this place belongs to?"
Miss Grande paid the coachman extra money and asked him to wait at a crossroads some distance from the manor, and then the young lady and Shad walked to the manor gate on foot.
Hearing Xia De's question, the woman nodded:
"The owner of this place is the Golden Dawn Opera Troupe. The manor was their original residence. Later, as the number of members of the opera troupe increased and this place was too far from the core area of the city, the residence was moved to the city. But this place was not sold, but kept as it was, used as a vacation and for other purposes. It was also because of the help of my friends in the opera troupe that I was looking for a ring sorcerer in the city who could purify the land."
Shade had also heard of the Golden Dawn Opera Company. Dr. Schneider had mentioned it when he heard that he was going to the Randall Valley during the exam week. This was the most famous opera company in the entire civilized world in the current era. The head of the company, Miss Vanessa Benanis, became famous about twenty years ago and was hailed as the most outstanding opera singer in the world so far.
She is a true artist.
Legends, stories and gossip about this unmarried lady are still circulating everywhere. It's a pity that Miss Benanis has rarely participated in public performances in recent years, but she has indeed taught many excellent actors.
The Golden Dawn Opera Company is mainly composed of women. They perform outside for half of the year and stay in the Randall River Valley for the rest of the year. Now is winter, which is the annual rest time, so the entire opera company should be in this city.
When Margaret and the prince come to this city, the opera company will certainly perform for these two distinguished members of the royal family.
"Maybe, I can invite Luvia to watch the opera. But I don't know if it's easy to buy tickets for that opera company..."
Shade was thinking in his heart. At this time, the two of them had already come to the gate of the manor along the snowy dirt road. Behind the manor was a seemingly boundless bare forest covered with snow, and in the distance were the mountains in the east of the Randall River Valley.
The Yin'ao River is not far away. When the water flow is abundant, taking a boat downstream back to the city is much more convenient than taking a horse-drawn carriage.