After sweeping the coins and banknotes under the counter, the bartender casually looked around and saw that no one was paying attention to this place, so he opened the bar baffle and let the two people in. Then, he pushed open the back door that was almost integrated with the wall from the bar, and when the two people were about to enter, he gave each of them a mask:
"You know the rules here. Keep an eye on your new companion."
"clear."
Miss Princess said quietly.
Behind the wall is also a pub. Except for the lack of conspicuous doors and windows, the decoration and tables and chairs are almost exactly the same as those outside, except that the space is slightly smaller and there are fewer customers.
Miss Princess introduced this place on the way here. The back of the Seven Broomsticks is used to entertain ring wizards, and can only be entered by an acquaintance. Compared with the relatively single-function Old John's Pawn Shop, Black Raven Library and Mr. Copps's Night Shop, the Seven Broomsticks Bar has extremely rich functions.
The trading of ring warlock spell materials, the exchange of book knowledge, the sale of relics and even the gathering of ring warlocks can all be done here.
Of course, there are similar places in Tobesk, but they are not particularly safe. Compared with the Northern Pearl, the cold water port with a relatively strong atmosphere of freedom is likely to have such a large gathering place for ring sorcerers.
The "freedom" here refers not only to the relatively loose municipal management of the dock area of Coldwater Port, but also to the chaos in the dock area. As the most important port on the west coast of the Old World to the New World, Coldwater Port is completely different from Tobesk.
The owner behind this tavern is a local 9th ring warlock. Although Miss Princess couldn't tell his name, a high-ring warlock was enough to deter people who dared to cause trouble here, so if Shade wanted to have a fixed trading channel in Coldwater Harbor City, this tavern would be quite good.
Most of the ring wizards in the tavern wore robes or relatively loose coats, and gathered in groups of two or three sitting at the table and talking in low voices. There was also a bar counter, and three men stood behind it. Two of them were ordinary people, wearing bartender uniforms and washing cups, and the other was a bald strong man wearing a sailor shirt, with anchors tattooed on both arms. He was a ring wizard.
Miss Princess brought Shade to the bar:
“I brought in a new guy and he wants to be a regular here.”
"One pound."
The burly bartender said, looking up at Shad in his mask.
It was another new expense, but this money could not be saved. So after paying, Xia De received a red coin. The coin was an ordinary item, a token of entry, about two-thirds the size of a gold pound alloy coin, and there was no pattern printed on both sides.
With this coin, Shad can freely enter and exit the ring magician gathering place behind the bar. Although the fee is a bit expensive, he thinks it is worth it.
"What's the news today?"
As Shad was examining the coin, the blonde girl with ruby earrings tapped on the bar counter and asked.
The bald man in the sailor shirt shook his head and answered in standard Delarian's common language. His job was probably boring, so he spoke weakly:
"It's the same old news. The sage-level relic has caused panic among the people. Now everyone is worried that they might accidentally trigger the curse. The church is still looking for the deep-sea mermaid who can use guns, but it is said that there is no progress. The other party seems to be directly related to the evil god."
It took Xia De a moment to realize that "deep-sea mermaid" was referring to himself.
"By the way, have you heard how many mermaid statues the church has recycled?"
This is what the bartender asked Miss Princess.
"As of yesterday, I received news that there were about 13 statues, but the total number of statues in that batch was 20. I also remember hearing a few days ago that the church had discovered at least 30 cursed infected people."
"You are out of date."
The bartender shook his head:
"15 statues were recovered, and 72 unlucky guys were cursed. The remaining five statues are nowhere to be found. Now even here we are forbidden to trade statues. Who knows if there will be some madman who, after being infected with the curse, wants to infect more people so as to force everyone to work together to find a way to break the curse."
The bartender said, and then carefully looked at the two people's clothes, as if he was worried that there was a statue hidden under their clothes, and then suddenly took it out to give him a surprise:
"Last week we were laughing at the bad luck of the ring wizards in Tobesk, but we didn't expect it would be our turn. But if you ask me, it's a good thing that Tobesk is doing this, otherwise Coldwater Port would have become the most unfortunate city in Draerion this summer, right?"
He said with a gloating look, and then poured two glasses of ice water and pushed them to the two people. Just like the news about the "72 people" just now, this glass of ice water was also free, so it seemed that the 1 shilling entrance fee was worth it.
"This kind of sage-level relic cannot have only one characteristic, which is a curse. If we don't find a way to solve this problem immediately, something serious will happen later."
Shade joined in the conversation, not wanting to talk about how unlucky the ring wizards of Tobesk were.
"Who says it's not? But there is very little information about the relics. Even the True God Church can't find a way to deal with it for the time being. They can only contain the statue as much as possible."
"However, I heard that the Mermaid Dream, a sage-level relic, is related to a ritual called 'Sea Return', and the church is working in this direction."
Miss Princess said unexpectedly, and the bartender frowned slightly:
"Are you sure? I remember 'Sea Return' is a local folk song in Coldwater Harbor."
"I just heard someone mention it. The church should know about it too."
The blonde girl said, knowing that Shade didn't know the local folk song, she hummed softly:
"The mermaids' songs float across the harbor,
Even the bleeding pirate ship lowered its sails.
The red ocean is surging,
The beautiful girl walked towards the deep sea. "
Although she was just humming, Miss Princess's voice was extremely pleasant. She must have received professional music theory training.
As for this nursery rhyme, it sounded like people were describing the scene of mermaids appearing and confusing pirates. It was not surprising to see such nursery rhymes in such a port city. But it reminded Shad of what he saw this morning in Lemaire's safe house about "pirates".
The bartender sighed:
"Oh, I'd rather believe that this is really the clue to solve the curse. However, no matter how bad things are, it shouldn't be like Tobesk..."
He paused suddenly, then raised his hand and slapped himself:
"Pah, pah, pah!"
He spit several times into the bar in a very unhygienic manner, and then explained:
"People at sea believe that dangerous things should never be mentioned casually. The more you mention them, the more likely they are to happen."
"A ridiculous superstition."
Miss Princess scoffed disapprovingly, but Shad appreciated the view.