A strange feeling of dizziness made Shade want to blurt out his origins, but it was just an impulse. He was very familiar with this feeling. At the dinner party at Lakeview Manor, the captain of Iluna's team had used a similar method on him.
"I... ... "
He took a step back and frowned:
"Ma'am, your behavior is not at all polite to a friendly stranger."
The young girl also frowned, as if complaining:
"What bad luck! I didn't expect to run into someone on the street who is also a ring wizard. Sir, I'm sorry for my behavior, but I bet you must have peeked at my things."
"Yes."
Xia De did not deny it and looked at her expression:
"Are you a ring sorcerer from the Zaras School of Spellcraft?"
"Are you going to report me?"
The blonde asked, also looking at Shade. Her eyes were beautiful and bright.
"Of course not. What good would it do me to report you?"
Shade said, then pointed at himself and added, deciding to take a risk:
"Ma'am, I didn't expect to meet you by chance. I'm a ring wizard from out of town and I know nothing about the local situation. To be precise, I'm a student of Saint Byrons."
"St. Byrons?"
The young girl frowned and nodded slightly, neither agreeing nor doubting.
"My name is John Watson. By the way, last week was the exam week for the three major colleges. I came to the local area after the exam week."
He introduced himself and used the exam week as a time to prove his identity.
He extended his right hand to the strange girl, who hesitated for a moment:
"Nobela Princess."
The girl with the ruby earrings also reached out her hand to Xia De. Their palms touched, and a voice sounded in his ear at the right time:
Five rings.
"So, Mr. Watson, what do you want to do here?"
"I just came to visit a friend, but unfortunately he left early. I have to stay here for a while and wait for him to come back."
Shade knew that Miss Princess probably hadn't let down her guard at all, so she simply introduced herself and took out the note with the address from her pocket and shook it:
"I do have something urgent to do. Since you are a local, you should know about the mermaid statues. Unfortunately, I came across one of them. I was just about to report it to the church and ask them to take away this dangerous thing as soon as possible. I wonder if Miss Princess has any safe way to tell the church the news?"
He can use this incident to observe whether the other party can be trusted.
"You mean the sage-level relic?"
Miss Princess frowned slightly.
"Yes, I saw the academy bounty in your bag. If you want to give the statue to the Zalaas Academy of Literature, I can sell you the information at a lower price."
If the origin of the statue could be explained, it would be best for Shad to sell it to St. Byrons.
Miss Princess obviously didn't expect Shade to say this. She was stunned for a moment before shaking her head:
"Sage-level relics are too dangerous. Even if you sell them to me, I can't store them. But if you just want to pass the information to the church, I do have some ideas. Come with me. Since you just helped me, it's okay for me to help you."
Then he called Xia De to leave together.
After a simple conversation, the two of them established the simplest trust. When they were walking on the street to find a four-wheeled horse-drawn taxi, Xia De looked at her and felt as if he had seen her before.
But if Shad had really seen Miss Princess, a beautiful girl with outstanding temperament, he would never forget her. When he asked the "other me" in his heart, the woman's voice also believed that Shad had never seen her.
"That's really strange."
But the sense of familiarity doesn't seem to be an illusion.
Finally, they found a carriage at the intersection of the next street. The girl with the earrings said something to the driver, and the driver took them to the nearest Creation Church.
The church is located on St. John's Avenue, the busiest street in the dock area. Two streets away, you can see the spire of the church stretching into the sky over the surrounding buildings. After getting off the bus at the bustling church gate, Miss Princess did not take Shad into the church, but walked east along St. John's Avenue and stopped at the door of an antique shop not far from the church.
"Wait me a moment."
As she spoke, she walked into the antique shop. Not long after, a middle-aged man dressed as the shop owner followed her out. He was also a ring sorcerer, but only had one ring. He shook hands with Xia De enthusiastically, and after confirming the information with Xia De, he locked the shop door and walked towards the alley not far away.
"This is a local black market broker who specializes in intelligence business. He will pass the news on, and the church will know about it in about half an hour."
Miss Princess said, looking very familiar with the local situation. Seeing that Shade was still standing on the cobblestone road and looking at the church not far away, she asked:
"I have completed what I promised to do for you. If there is nothing else, I think I should leave."
As she said this, she pretended to leave. Of course, her shoes did not leave the ground and she did not even lift her feet.
"Oh, wait a minute, Miss Princess."
Shade immediately said that the other party was really familiar with Coldwater Harbor, so no matter whether he was a correspondence ring sorcerer from Zalaas or not, the other party should be able to help him.
"I'm from another place. Since I just arrived here, I naturally want to familiarize myself with the local situation. Miss Princess, I wonder if you have time today."
"what are you up to?"
the young girl asked with a smile.
"I want to hire you as my tour guide for a day. Take me around Coldwater Harbor. It would be even better if you could take me to the black market where I can trade special items or knowledge."
It's almost noon now. If Xia De really hired him, strictly speaking, it should be half a day.
Miss Princess seemed to be trying to suppress her smile, but she nodded.
"I really don't have anything else to do today. It's fine if you want to hire me as a tour guide, but can you afford the price?"
The pretty girl twirled her fingers.
"How much?"
In order to facilitate spending, Shad left Tobesk with a lot of cash in his suitcase.
"We can discuss the compensation later. It's already noon, sir. Won't you treat me to lunch?"
She spoke in standard Draarionese in a relaxed tone.
Xia De looked up at the sun above his head, calculated the thickness of his wallet, and considered whether it was worth treating someone to a meal:
“Okay, do you have any restaurant recommendations nearby?”
The two turned and walked along the street, joining the bustling crowd at noon, in the direction of the church.
Miss Princess was probably of noble birth, so Shad originally thought that she would choose a high-end restaurant in the center of Coldwater Harbor, but in the end she only chose a slightly more expensive restaurant in the neighborhood where the Creation Church was located.
The girl with a nice figure probably wanted to go on a diet, so she only chose some exquisite vegetarian dishes when ordering. After the waiter left and while waiting for the dishes to be served, Xia De tried to ask the other party about his true identity in such a city, but was blocked by Miss Princess.
She was very familiar with the local situation. Although she always avoided talking to Shade about the local ring warlocks, she was very enthusiastic about talking to Shade about the latest big news in the local area.
In addition to the sage-level relic Mermaid Dream, which triggered the police department to collect mermaid-shaped statues throughout the city, causing the prices of similar-shaped statues throughout the city to plummet, the most important news in recent weeks was the visit of the "noble, beautiful, kind and elegant" Princess Leia Cavendish.
The adjective was added by Miss Princess.
"Has the princess not left yet? I remember the newspaper saying that after Princess Leisia finished her visit to Carsenrick, she would only stay here for a week before returning to Tobesk. Is she still here now?"
Xia De was quite surprised by this.
"Yes, he is still here. It is said that he suddenly contracted a serious illness and cannot travel long distances, so he will stay in Lengshui Port for a while."
Miss Princess said with a smile.
"But why didn't I see this news in the newspaper?"
"This is not a good thing. The royal family put pressure on the newspaper not to publish it. And..."
She lowered her voice:
"You must know what happened in Tobesk a week and a half ago. That was the evil god... The common people don't know the truth, but the royal family must have known it from the church. There are rumors among the local ring sorcerers that the princess was frightened by what happened in Tobesk, so she pretended to be sick and didn't want to go back. She wanted to wait until it was safe before leaving."
This statement was somewhat slanderous. Shade had heard bits and pieces about Princess Leisa from Miss Louisa and knew that the five-ring sorceress was not a timid person. Therefore, it was more likely that she had suddenly fallen seriously ill than being frightened.
"Maybe I should carry some fruit and visit her on behalf of Miss Louisa... But the princess doesn't seem to recognize me at all."
He thought to himself.
"By the way, Mr. Watson, I haven't asked you what your occupation is. If I remember correctly, the three major thaumaturgical schools all require correspondence students to try not to leave their permanent cities for long periods of time. Since you came to Coldwater Harbor from another place, I guess you should be engaged in a relatively free profession that is convenient for traveling between the two places, right?"
Miss Princess seemed to want to test Shade's identity, but Shade was prepared and pulled his thoughts back from the direction of the princess:
"I'm kind of a writer, and I'm also a detective assistant, and I live with a very troublesome detective."
While thinking about what kind of lunch Mia would get from Miss Louisa at noon, Shade said:
"My daily work includes organizing detective records and meeting clients with my roommate. Of course, I also have to help prepare food for the detective who is almost a complete loser in life, and... ahem, go for walks with him. Occasionally, we have to argue about midnight snacks. But it is undeniable that although he is troublesome, my roommate, the detective who likes to wear orange pajamas, meets my needs for a roommate very well."
"It's really nice to have a roommate like this. Is he a ring wizard?"
The young girl who was dining with Shade asked.
"Of course not, but he knows that I am a ring sorcerer, and I even tested the power of magic and relics on him. However..."
Xia De thought of the cat that had become smarter recently, and a smile appeared on his face involuntarily:
"If he can awaken his talent one day, I think that would be great."