Crash!
As Xia De placed the heavy object in his coat pocket on the table, all the items wrapped in the coat were revealed. Gold and silver coins, rings and earrings, plates and cups, stone statues and gems, all kinds of items flashed the color of wealth under the warm yellow gas light in the lounge. But for some reason, this package of priceless things had a strong smell of seafood.
It was seven o'clock on this Wednesday evening, and the location was the city estate of Earl Granger, which Shad had visited before.
Melodious music came from the banquet hall not far away, and outside the window covered by curtains was the quiet manor courtyard in the night.
"If I remember correctly, you said you were going to explore the Randall Valley today. This is..."
Miss Benannis, who claimed that she would not attend the banquet, asked hesitantly. Margaret sat on the single sofa to the right of the witch and looked at the pile of things curiously:
"Look, there's a piece of gold ore. It's really rare. This one is huge. I heard that some people like to collect ore instead of getting the gold out of it. But are there any gold mines in the Randall River Valley?"
"I spent two hours at the bottom of the river this afternoon."
Xia De complained softly:
"I was looking for the creature that was rumored to be a water monkey. But I didn't find the water monkey, but I found these instead."
"The Ailon River was originally a trade route, especially in the summer when there were a lot of ships coming and going. It would not be an exaggeration to say that you have found the remains of a shipwreck at the bottom of the river."
Benanis said as she looked through the pile of things that Shade had found:
"I heard about the discovery of gold mines in this area two years ago, but the direction of the veins has never been explored. I didn't expect you to find such a large ore. I have heard rumors before that there are gold reserves under the Randall River Valley that are enough to buy the entire kingdom, but no one seems to be able to find it."
"Oh, Shad, you should have told me what you were looking for. The rumors and stories about aquatic monkeys that like to pull people into the water are not unique to the Randall River Valley. There are similar stories throughout the southern country. They are stories made up by adults to warn children not to play in the river casually. This is definitely not your goal."
Her Royal Highness the Princess said, and Shade shook his head:
"But we must check it out. Maybe this is the most crucial story."
He had stayed at the bottom of the river for too long. Even though he had just gone home and taken a bath, he still felt a damp and fishy smell on his body:
"But it's not a waste of time to pick up this pile of 'junk'. I know a pawn shop owner in Tobesk who buys old items. He will be very interested in these things."
Miss Benanis raised her eyebrows. This was the first time that Shade officially admitted that he did travel between the two places at any time.
"Are you short of money? I can... look at this."
As she spoke, she pulled out a gem ring that Shade had picked up. The gem was a rare black color, and each cut surface was crystal clear. It was one of the more valuable jewelry that Shade had picked up. The rust marks on the metal ring were not particularly serious, and it must have fallen into the water recently. The witch noticed it, but she didn't like this ring. She saw the letters on the inside of the ring:
"Look what it says here - dedicated to Hela. I said this ring looked familiar. It belonged to the Oxenfurt family. If I remember correctly, when the male head of the Oxenfurt family got married two years ago, he gave the ring to the bride, Hela Oxenfurt."
"Why did it end up in the river?"
Xia De said doubtfully, but now that he knew who the owner was, he didn't intend to take it for himself:
"Ms. Benanis, please return it to the Oxenfurt family, anonymously or by any other means."
"Don't bother me with such trivial matters all the time. Pay it back yourself."
She gave the ring to Shad:
"Stone Oxenfurt must have been at the party. You can give it to him in person and say that he caught it... by fishing."
As she spoke, she also introduced the family to Xia De:
"This is a wealthy merchant family that has only emerged in recent years. Mr. Stone Oxenfurt is very lucky and always makes money from his business investments. Not only does he maintain close wine business relations with Huntington, but he also has quite frequent trade relations with the fleets traveling to the New World."
Of course, this is all she knew. After all, in this era, there are always many emerging wealthy families, but they always disappear very quickly. These are not worth the Great Witch's attention.
Shad did not stay in the lounge for long. Instead, Margaret made up her mind to stay with Miss Benaine tonight instead of attending social activities in the banqueting hall like her brother, Prince William of Anjou.
Of course, in the eyes of others, taking the initiative to get close to Lady Vanessa Benannis is also a very good social activity. Miss Benannis is quite famous in Carsenrick.
Shad did not return the ring first. He remembered that the most important thing for him tonight was to get more information from the Earl about Mr. Thomas Granger who disappeared seventy years ago.
As the host of the banquet, the Count had been chatting with the guests in the banquet hall. Of course, the most important thing was to accompany Prince William of Anjou.
It was easy for Shad to see them in the banquet hall. Earl Granger was still the same as before, and this was the second time Shad had seen His Royal Highness the Prince, who had the same hair color as Margaret, outside the train station.
After generations of bloodline optimization, the royal heirs all look quite good. There are three princes and two princesses in this generation of the Anjou royal family. Among them, Margaret is the youngest daughter, and William of Anjou is the second prince, younger than the eldest princess and the eldest prince.
At this time, His Royal Highness was chatting with several noble gentlemen who looked quite prestigious in a corner of the banquet hall where soothing music was playing. The group of people seemed to be talking about something very interesting, and the prince showed a surprised look.
He said something to his servant, who left in a hurry. After a while, he brought a man who was taller than Shade, of medium build but looked quite strong. His hairstyle was very distinctive, with thick black hair, shaved on both sides of his forehead with only stubble showing, and the hair on top of his head was slightly curled up.
This was also a guest at the banquet, and compared to the traditional nobles, his attire showed that he was an ordinary person without a title. Not only that, this person looked more like the leader of a vibrant social group active in the city than a guest at the banquet.
This doesn't mean that he looks like a bad guy, but his temperament is quite sharp, which is not the military temperament of Captain Rades, Shad's good friend. Coupled with his tall and well-proportioned figure, broad palms and muscles that look very strong... ... maybe the ladies will like him very much.
This kind of dress and appearance seemed to be the "Mr. Stone Oxenfurt" mentioned by Miss Benanis not long ago. He was brought to Prince William of Anjou by the butler, and he bowed to the prince respectfully with his right hand on his left shoulder.
He was then invited to sit down and took out his Rhodes deck.
At this time, Shad also naturally came forward and saw Margaret's brother check Mr. Stone Oxenfurt's deck, and then proposed to play a game with him.
Only then did Shad know why the prince was interested in this gentleman. Mr. Osenfurt's deck actually contained 12 special rule cards. And from the enthusiastic discussions of the people around him, Shad knew that all 12 special cards were won by Mr. Osenfurt in the local area in just two years through the game.
You know, Shad relied on his amazing luck, encountered various card games all over the Old Continent, and encountered major events such as the "Big City Players" that gathered card players from all over the world. At this time, he only had 21 special cards.
“It’s really amazing.”
He stood calmly in the crowd, watching His Royal Highness and Mr. Osenfurt playing cards. The two used their own special cards as a bet, using the more traditional "three rounds, two wins, three points in each round to win" rule. Of course, for fun, they also added the rule of "throwing a dice before each round, and the number of cards drawn cannot exceed the number on the dice", which is very popular locally.
If Shad Hamilton was a "legendary player" known throughout the world, then Mr. Oxenfurt was a legendary player in the Randall Valley. Perhaps Margaret's brother was also a good Rhodes player, but he was still easily defeated by this player who had both luck and strength.
The best-of-three game didn't even reach the third game, and Mr. Ossenfurt actually drew 5 special cards during the game, among which the Southern City Randall Valley, which was used as a bet, played a decisive role.
So, Mr. Osenfurt easily got the bet of His Royal Highness. William of Anjou was not discouraged, but praised the local card players to the people around him. This made the atmosphere even more lively, and everyone felt that His Royal Highness was approachable.
Since the Rhodes game had already begun, it was naturally not enough to just play one round. Prince William of Anjou enthusiastically invited people nearby to play a few more rounds with Mr. Osenfurt, and offered 5 crowns as a prize. Whoever defeated Mr. Osenfurt could take the money.
This was meant to liven up the atmosphere of the banquet, so the host, Earl Granger, announced that he would give out 5 crowns. The nobles who had originally surrounded the prince all contributed generously, and eventually the small prize amounted to 20 crowns, which was about 240 to 260 pounds.
Playing cards with Mr. Oxenfurt, the winner is determined in one round. A total of ten people can challenge each other. If none of them wins, Mr. Oxenfurt takes the money. This money is certainly not much for a wealthy businessman like Mr. Oxenfurt, but he attaches great importance to maintaining his relationship with the prince, so he confidently accepts the challenge of his guests.