"Captain, are you here with your superior for the banquet?"
"Yes, but we are not doing this just for pleasure."
The captain glanced in the direction of Brigadier General Carter and the mayor:
"The Church of Nature wants to hold a blessing event on Mount Xikar in the near future, so they hope that the Royal Army troops stationed on Mount Xikar can block the forest at an appropriate time to prevent others from entering by mistake. This matter has been approved by the kingdom. Brigadier General Carter is communicating with local administrative officials about the details. If there is a shortage of manpower at that time, the police will be involved."
"Seal off Mount Xikar? Isn't it autumn hunting time now? It's really strange to seal off the mountain now."
Xia De said, but it is not necessary to guess that this is related to the large-scale ceremony prepared by the Five Gods Church:
"Then you guys really worked hard."
"It's nothing. We are soldiers and we just have to obey our superiors' orders. But look at this."
As he spoke, Captain Rades mysteriously took out a Rhodes card from his pocket. After Shad took it, he found that it was actually the special rule card Legend of the Brave: Swordsman Sebaron.
"Oh, isn't this Commodore Carter's playing card?"
Shade asked in surprise.
"The day you came to visit me at the Traveler's Camp, I had a bet with my colleagues on how to fight with a spear, and I hit all eight shots. I was really lucky..."
Captain Rades smiled:
"The Brigadier General already admired me because of the murder case that happened here a few weeks ago. When he saw my marksmanship that day and learned that I was also a Rhodes player, he gave me this card."
"All eight shots hit the target? Captain, from now on when people mention 'Captain of Eight Guns', it won't be a sarcastic remark. You have a bright future ahead of you."
Shade also smiled and returned the cards to the captain:
"Want to play Rhodes later?"
"Okay, but it has to be after nine o'clock. I have something else to do. However, you can play cards, but I won't gamble with you."
The captain smiled and said:
"You are the champion of Big City Players 1853. I don't have the confidence to beat you."
Saying goodbye to the captain beside the crackling bonfire, Shad was truly happy for his friend's situation. Compared to other friends that he, a stranger, had met in this world in the past six months, Shad had witnessed the whole process of Captain Rades's life from being in a difficult situation to getting back on track.
Even in this dangerous and strange world, if a normal person maintains his passion for life, with the help of a little luck, he can also step onto the upward path of life. This is also a small consolation for outsiders who have already seen all kinds of terrible things here.
He smiled and sighed, planning to go find a place to play Rhodes. But at this moment, a young man holding a wine glass came over on his own initiative. This was not anyone Xia De knew.
"Hello sir, are you interested in making friends?"
The other person was also wearing a black suit, and his brown short hair was meticulously groomed. He held a red wine glass and asked Xia De with a smile. Xia De was stunned, his eyes moved away from the cute little bat pattern on the other person's head, and then shook his head violently:
"Sorry, I'm not interested in loan sharking."
"No, no, I'm not a loan shark."
Xia De looked at him again and raised his eyebrows:
"Sorry, I'm only interested in young girls."
"Don't worry, I feel the same way."
The young vampire replied with a smile, then lowered his voice:
"I have never seen a handsome man like you in this area before. Are you from outside?"
"Yes, I came from far away. My friend invited me to this party."
"So, are you interested in trying something... new?"
He lowered his voice, looked around, and used his left hand, which was not holding the wine glass, to take out a rather delicate small metal box from his pocket. There was a bat pattern on the lid of the box.
The finger touched the lid button, and the lid opened with a click, revealing three glass containers only half the size of a little finger embedded in it, with dark red liquid inside:
"This is going to be fun, sir."
"What's this?"
Xia De took the box handed to him, but after touching the three test tubes, he didn't feel any elements.
"Blood brew."
When Xia De heard the answer, he almost threw the thing in his hand out like a steam bomb:
"Sorry, what?"
The young man was not surprised by his surprised expression:
"You are an outsider and you may not know about this kind of wine containing blood. It is quite popular here. Do you want to try it?"
He instigated, and Xia De looked at him in even greater surprise:
"What kind of blood is this?"
“Human blood.”
The young man smiled:
"But don't worry, the blood was obtained through legal means. After all, who would commit a crime if money can solve the problem?"
"this... ... "
Xia De had heard that some people would sell illegal drugs during banquets, and even in Tobesk, the pearl of the north, this kind of thing happened. But he didn't expect that the local "illegal drugs" would be so strong.
"In addition to human blood, we also added some hallucinogenic ingredients to the blood brew. It will be very interesting to drink."
The young man continued to instigate:
"Of course, if you drink it while you're having sex with your girlfriend, the effect will be even better. How about this, this tube is my treat. If you're interested, I have more."
Xia De was completely sure that this strange blood-sucking species was a traditional drug dealer. He came to chat with him because he saw that he was a stranger.
"This... Sorry, I'm not interested in human blood. If it's animal blood, I might consider it."
Xia De returned the golden box in his hand to the other party.
"It's okay, it's okay. I also have animal blood wine."
The young man seemed to have guessed what Xia De was thinking. He took out another box from his pocket, identified the label and handed it to Xia De.
There were still three identical test tubes in the golden box, and there was still no sign of the elements:
"This is crow blood. Don't worry, we sterilize the blood. This batch of goods is very effective. For a handsome young gentleman like you, when facing a passionate female companion, having this to help you make life more... sweet."
Shade hesitated:
"We finally came to a new city, it's nice to try some new things. I want all of these, but if it's just ordinary drinks, I won't let you go."
The young vampire smiled and said:
"Don't worry, I'm a businessman and I won't do anything to ruin my reputation. And you can ask around. Baron Blood and many gentlemen in the city hall use our products. Especially for older gentlemen, they always feel powerless when doing exercise. The first tube is a gift to you, and the other two tubes are 8 shillings and 5 pence each."
This was not particularly expensive, so Xia De paid the money. The young man gave Xia De a business card and told him that if he needed more goods, he could go here to order more goods.
"Is this a means of survival for the local poor blood-sucking species, or is it part of some damn ritual?"
After the other party left, Xia De held the golden box and wondered in his heart. But he was more inclined to the first view. Judging from the other party's tone and skillful sales methods, he should have been doing this kind of business for a long time.
"Let's ask Grandma Cassandra later."
He put the small golden box into his pocket and lamented the corruption of the local nobles.
In fact, the nobles were corrupt no matter where they were. He had learned about the secrets of the nobles when he attended Resia's class every Saturday. If Resia had not grown up in such an environment, she would probably not have accepted Shade's "all-inclusive" behavior so easily.
Thinking of this, he looked at the moon in the starry sky with a melancholy look. The moon was still so bright above the field filled with bonfires.
"Look! Who is this? Watson, you are here after all."
While he was in a daze, he heard another voice behind him. Shade turned around immediately. This time it was from Priest Augustus. The old priest was still wearing his priest robes. His face was rosy under the firelight and he seemed to be in a good mood:
"Since you are here for the party, why are you here alone looking at the moon? I don't think the young ladies in Middleburg will fail to appreciate your looks."
Priest Augustus held up the wine glass and clinked it with Shad's casually. He knew that the drink in Shad's glass that looked like wine was most likely just juice.
"I won't meet strange girls out of town."
"Are you worried that Anat or Louisa might be angry?"
The old priest really understood everything. Xia De smiled awkwardly:
"I've been thinking of something bothering me. Father Augustus, do you know about the local blood brew?"
"Know."
The priest nodded without hesitation:
"There is a group of down-and-out blood-sucking species in Middleburg. They immigrated here a long time ago. They run a red wine winery, but some of them make a living by making blood-brewed wine. They sell cheap or expensive blood-brewed wine to the poor and nobles."
At this point, the priest did not hide the disgust on his face:
"It's called blood brew, but it's actually a banned drug diluted with blood. The church knew about this before, but since it didn't involve the extraordinary, it would only get involved when the police arrested them. The kingdom is very averse to the church intervening in ordinary criminal cases. But if there's no blood brew, there'll be fruit wine, and if there's no fruit wine, there'll be other ways. It's impossible to catch all the people who sell banned drugs."
This also reminded Shad of Mr. Bernhardt's evaluation of the local blood-sucking species, which was that they "have forgotten what decency is."
"The local blood-sucking species are just a group of drug dealers?"
Shad found this funny.
"Yes, they are not members of the same clan, and are said to be the losers in the internal struggle of the race. In fact, I hope they can cause trouble, so that the church will have sufficient reason to intervene directly and then catch them all in one fell swoop."
Priest Augustus sighed, and Shade became more and more curious about what the uncle and nephew Bernhard were doing here. These poor blood-sucking creatures now had three sage-level relics in their hands.
He handed one of the test tubes to the priest, asking him to analyze it to see if there was anything wrong with it. The priest naturally agreed and changed the subject:
"Well, let's not talk about this annoying thing. Watson, why are you here? Don't you want to come?"
"I'm going to meet a friend in a while."
"You have so many friends. If you have time, you can go to Auction Room No. 3 and take a look. I heard there are some good things in there, but I'm not sure if the information is accurate."
"Understood. I'll go check it out later. Oh, by the way, are there any special Rhodes cards in this auction?"
Shade asked casually.
"Of course."
Father Augustus answered, then raised his eyebrows:
"I know you are the champion of the big city players, but you can't be too addicted to this kind of game. In my opinion, the harm of Rhodes cards is only slightly less than that of banned drugs."
Priest Augustus believed that human nature was evil, so he had always hated the Rhodes cards. This was also the reason why other people in the same group repeatedly told Shade not to tell the priest about their gambling during their stay in the Big City Players.