"Does Uncle Phil want a son?" Jesse was taken aback at first, but then he nodded, "It seems so. I have heard him complain that he has no son and that there is no one to take care of him when he is sick."
Liszt looked at Jesse.
Suddenly, he asked: "Jesse, if I remember correctly, you seem to be an orphan?"
"Yes, Master. I grew up in the Coral City's orphanage. Thank you for the generosity of the Tulip family for letting us orphans live." Said Jesse piously.
Orphanages were institutions for aristocrats to take in orphans. Accidents were always happening to commoners, leaving a few children unattended. In order to show their benevolence, some wealthy aristocrats would set up orphanages in their family's fiefs and take in orphans. After they grew up, they would directly work for the castle.
Jesse was such an orphan.
"Is the old leathersmith in the leathersmith shop?"
"Yes, Master. I had wanted to invite Uncle Phil to go shopping with me, but he was unwilling."
"In that case, Jesse, come with me to see the old leathersmith. I have something to discuss with him."
"Alright, I will prepare a horse for you, Master."
On the horse field outside the castle, there was a crudely constructed lounge. Philip and Xavier had been standing guard here. As retainer Knight, they did not enjoy the benefits of a holiday.
Seeing Liszt mount Fierydragon, they each mounted a horse and followed Liszt.
Together, they went to the leathersmith shop.
In every small town, there were leathersmith shops. Leathersmiths were craftsmen who made leather, sewed fur coats, and mended leather shoes. Subdivided, there were leathersmiths, leathersmiths, saddlers, drummers, leathersmiths, leathersmiths, shoemakers, and so on. Generally speaking, shoemakers were the majority.
The Flower Town's old leathersmith, Phil, was a shoemaker.
In big cities, shoemakers were often wealthy freedmen, as a pair of leather shoes cost a lot of money. But in small towns, shoemakers were treated poorly. Few people could afford to wear leather shoes. Therefore, the leathersmith shop could only make ends meet. Most serfs and freedmen wore wooden and straw sandals.
Of course, even more people did not wear shoes.
"Is that Jesse?" The old leathersmith's somewhat hoarse voice came from the table. He was currently repairing a pair of leather shoes. Even though he was blind, his hands were still nimble.
Jesse hurriedly said: "Uncle Phil, Sir Lord is here. Sir Lord is looking for you."
"Ah, Sir Lord, Old Phil sends his regards to Sir Lord." The old leathersmith hurriedly stood up from his chair and bowed in greeting. Just like any other commoner who saw their lord, he was so nervous that his hands trembled.
Liszt sized up the narrow and dark leathersmith shop. He could see that the shop had been in disrepair for many years. The sun in the sky could be seen from the roof.
Like the old leathersmith, he showed signs of old age and decay.
"Old Phil, don't be nervous. I'm just here to chat with you."
The old leathersmith's turbid eyes did not reveal any change in his emotions.
However, Liszt sensed that the other party's hands had quickly stopped trembling. This was not a sign that the nervousness had subsided. It looked more like the performance had stopped. Perhaps the nervousness from before was just an act. This was easy to understand. After all, aristocrats liked to see commoners trembling in front of them.
The old man had long since learned to deal with life: "Sir Lord, it is Old Phil's honor to chat with the noble you."
"You begged ten years ago and settled in the Flower Town. Then, where are you originally from?"
"I was born on the Dodo Island, Sir Lord."
"Dodo Island?"
"It is a deserted island without a lord to govern it. It is further north of the Coral Island. There's a kind of dodo bird living on the island. It can't fly, and it sounds like 'dodo'. There's also a particularly tall tree with a scary name. It's called Human Skull Tree, and its fruit is called Human Skull Fruit. "
"Skull tree?"
"Yes, Sir Lord. The fruit is white. From a distance, it looks like a human skull. However, it tastes delicious. The island's natives eat skull fruit to alleviate their hunger. Dodos also eat skull fruit. However, dodo bird meat is particularly unpalatable. Life on the island is very difficult. "
The dodo bird that sounds like a dodo.
It reminded Liszt of the extinct dodo bird on Earth.
He didn't know if the Dodos here were the same species as the ones on Earth.
"So, how did you come to the Coral Island from the dodo bird? Since you were born on the Dodo Island, you should be a native. Then, where do the natives of the Dodo Island come from? "Liszt asked.
There were still many undeveloped deserted islands in the periphery of the Grand Duchy of Sapphire. The Dodo Island should be one of them.
"I am a native of the Dodo Island. I don't know where we came from. As far as I can remember, we all lived on the Dodo Island. Later on, the Dodo Volcano erupted and a large number of skull trees were destroyed. Without food, we had to cut down trees to make canoes and drift along the sea … At that time, I drifted to the Hot Spring Island and became a leathersmith's apprentice. "
Subsequently, the Hot Spring Island suffered from the chaos of war and he was sold as a slave to the Coral Island. At that time, he was bought by a Baron on the island. Later on, the Baron followed the count to the battlefield, never to return. All of the fief's sprite worms died. Fearing punishment, the serfs began to flee.
The old leathersmith also fled.
After many twists and turns, he arrived at the Flower Town.
"At that time, the serfs all spread a rumor that the Baron died in battle because his retainer Knight, who was a serf, betrayed him. His followers were very angry and decided to slaughter all the serfs in the fief to avenge the Baron … "As the old leathersmith spoke of the past, he sighed endlessly. Perhaps, he was lamenting his own ignorance at that time.
This was a low-level rumor. Aristocrats attached great importance to serfs.
The correct explanation should be – the Baron died in battle and had no heir. The lord he followed, namely, the Earl Of Coral Island, reclaimed his fief, including the serfs.
In short, the old leathersmith's life was not full of ups and downs, nor was he a person with a 'story'. Even his blindness had naturally happened while he was in the Flower Town.
The only thing that could barely be regarded as a story was his identity as a native of the Dodo Island.
Liszt carefully inquired about the Dodo Island's situation and found out that it was only a very small island with no more than three hundred natives. In the end, it was destroyed by a volcanic eruption. Apart from the few skull trees that remained, there was probably no development value.
He was somewhat disappointed.
He had thought that the person specifically mentioned by the smoke mission should be somewhat mysterious. He did not expect that it would be just an ordinary native.
He still intended to complete the mission and obtain the book as a reward. He had brought Jesse with him in order to give him to the old leathersmith as a son. An orphan without parents, a widower without children, the two of them hit it off very well. It should be easy for them to form a father and son contract.
But suddenly, he had a bold idea.
"Why should I follow in the smoke mission's footsteps? I am not its puppet. I can directly ask the old leathersmith for the book, instead of relying on missions to obtain it!"
Liszt did not think that the old leathersmith had a lot of books.
Therefore.
He went straight to the point: "Old Phil, I heard that you have a collection of books. I hope that you can sell them to me."
Since the sir lord had spoken, the old leathersmith did not dare to disobey. He immediately agreed: "Yes, Sir Lord. I have a collection of books, but only one. I will offer it to Sir Lord." After saying that, he stooped and, with Jesse's help, fished out a wooden box from the cabinet filled with leather shoes.
"Jesse, the book is in the box, take it to Sir Lord."
Jesse opened the box, took out a very thick book, and handed it to Liszt. Liszt swept it with a glance and found that the book was not printed, but handwritten notes. The cover was written in Serpentines and another foreign language.
He did not understand the foreign language.
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