— — The beginning of every plot is always the hardest to write. It took me more than four hours to write this chapter. I'll probably be late with the 2850 update tonight, and I'll probably have to do it tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. But I'll definitely do it.
…
Aalto, in a room at the bottom floor of the monastery.
It was dark here. Except for the sound made by Lucien himself, there was no other sound.
Natasha, who was sitting in the room, seemed to have adapted to the environment. The hot veins on her hands and face had faded a lot.
She looked at the thick stack of letters in her hand with her dark vision, and hummed a melody silently from time to time. Even though there was no sound, she still looked lively.
Reading the last page of the letter, Natasha suddenly laughed and clapped her right hand, "Well, early blessing? Lucien, you must be learning from me. I'm waiting for the July 30th issue of Music Criticism. "
"It's nice to have a friend. Otherwise, I'd go crazy from boredom."
… …
The cool wind from the sea blew away the sultry heat of October. The waves hit the long embankment from time to time, splashing countless snow-white foam. In the distance, the sky was vast, and birds were flying. Nearby, sharp boats were sailing.
The "Pearl of the Sea" Sturk was similar to Venice, which Lucien had seen in a movie in his previous life. It was built on more than a hundred small islands in the sea. Numerous canals were densely packed like a spider's web, and only a long sea embankment was connected to the mainland.
Sitting on the sharp boat unique to Sturk, Lucien looked at the various buildings on both sides of the canal slowly moving backward. He felt like he was shopping.
"Haha, dear guest, in fact, every canal in Sturk is equivalent to a street in other cities." The old boatman saw that Lucien kept looking around and knew that he was a traveler who had just arrived in Sturk. So he enthusiastically introduced, "That's the St. Maio Church, that's the Sturk Monastery of the Holy Spirit, that's the Bell Tower of Truth, that's the Prayer Spire …"
Lucien leisurely enjoyed the sea breeze and was very satisfied with the boatman's introduction, "This should be the temple area of Sturk?"
Although in every city district, every town, no matter the size of the church, there was a church. However, there would always be an area where churches were concentrated, such as the area near the Golden Cathedral in the east of Aalto's noble district.
"Yes, so it's not crowded here. When you enter the business district, you will see countless pointed boats and merchants and travelers from different countries, "the boatman replied with a smile as he steered the pointed boat across a magnificent stone arch bridge.
Suddenly, the surrounding environment became noisy and noisy. Pointed boats either stopped beside a certain building or sailed directly into the ground floor of a large building with a waterway entrance.
Different accents of the lingua franca reverberated in the air. "Copper Fells", "Silver Nars", "Quintal", "Bank", "Loan", "Ten Grams", "Sturgeon", "Sea Carp", "Orange Fish", "Steel", "Wood", "Slave", "Delivery", and other words entered Lucien's ears from time to time. Scenes of haggling came into view. It was many times more lively than the market in Aalto.
The whole city was full of vitality, and it seemed that even the sea breeze carried the smell of money.
"Sturk is much more prosperous than I thought. It's more commercial than I thought." Lucien complimented from the bottom of his heart. As someone from a modern city on Earth, he seemed to prefer such a lively scene, and he seemed to enjoy the quietness in contrast to the hustle and bustle.
The boatman said with strong pride, "Sturk City is located at the edge of the Storm Strait. It connects the north, south, east, and west. It also has a natural deep-water port, so it's the best transit point for countless goods. It's the most ideal free city. Also, we Sturk people are born with a business mind. The first Goldsmiths Association, the first bank, and the first voucher transaction were all born here."
"Connect things?" Lucien sensed that something was wrong when the boatman introduced the city. When Sturk mentioned the east, it was obviously referring to Holm and other countries on the other side of the Storm Strait. They could communicate with each other directly?
The boatman, who often dealt with travelers and merchants, was not surprised by Lucien's question. He continued, "Sir, you must have heard of the 'Nightingale' yarn and the unique jewelry from the Kingdom of Holm, the 'Gold' porcelain from the Kingdom of Colette, the spices from the Duchy of Calais, and the top-grade tobacco from the Kingdom of Brianne, right?"
"Of course, only the real nobles can enjoy them." Lucien agreed with the boatman. Although the information he got from the boatman was not half true, it was still better than nothing.
Hearing Lucien's response, the boatman became more interested in the topic, "The four countries are right on the other side of the Storm Strait. However, due to the high profit of the goods, the Church has monopolized the trade. Only the nine noble merchants who are authorized by the Church can organize a fleet to go there. So, the combined wealth of the nine noble families is enough to buy Sturk City. "
"Well, which nine noble families?" Asked Lucien curiously. Was it possible that Granneuve was one of the nine noble families that could send sorcerers to the other side of the Storm Strait under the pretext of trade?
"Viscount Wright's family, Baron Capt, Baron Moncache …" The boatman named Granneuve's name one by one.
Lucien's interest gradually disappeared, and he smiled, "Why don't you introduce the buildings on both sides to me?"
"Sure, that's the Wright Bank, and that's the Moncache Hawthorne Bank." The boatman pointed at the magnificent buildings on the left and said, "That's the Epic Gallery, that's the Mitchell Sculpture Museum, and that's the Radiant Gold Bank …"
Lucien kept looking at the direction the boatman was pointing at, and he successfully saw the three-story building that seemed to be inlaid with gold leaf. Many pointed boats were coming and going in front of the building.
Lucien was so close to Granneuve's bank, but he did not ask anything. Instead, he just watched the crowd and the buildings around the building quietly, and let the pointed boat pass by the building with a signboard that read "Radiant Gold Bank".
Since he already knew the identity of the messenger in Sturk, there was no need for him to take the risk. Therefore, it was better for him to observe Granneuve and his bank and see if other sorcerers would come to him, in case Granneuve had already been found out by the Church and they were using him as bait to catch Granneuve.
During the three-month trip, Lucien's soul and spiritual power had been significantly strengthened by the meditation method of a formal sorcerer. In his soul, he had constructed seven spells, namely Panic, Silent Phantom, Burning Hand, Mage Armor, Iron Lung, Elemental Damage Tolerance, and Runaway Circle. Lucien was also preparing to construct the escape spell, Slip Away, so there was no need for him to be in a hurry.
However, Lucien realized that even with the help of a formal meditation method, it would still take him at least a year to reach the second circle, and it would take him at least ten years to become a middle-rank sorcerer. This made Lucien yearn for the Congress of Magic even more, especially the efficient meditation method that Felipe had mentioned.
In the chatter of the boatman, the pointed boat left the commercial district.
…
Half a month later, in Shark, a famous seafood restaurant in Sturk City.
Under the guidance of the waiter, Lucien sat down at a table covered with a white tablecloth. While he was ordering, he watched the fat man, who had thin brown hair and a thick black cigarette in his mouth, slowly walk up the stairs to the VIP restaurant on the second floor under the protection of several guards and the restaurant manager.
The fat man was Granneuve, Lucien's target.
After observing Granneuve for a long time, Lucien was sure that Granneuve had not been exposed. The only problem now was how to get in touch with him.
Granneuve always had guards around him, and there might even be a dark Knight among them. Also, Granneuve seemed to be very powerful himself. Also, Granneuve would definitely take precautions against the night watchers from the Church who pretended to be a sorcerer to test him. Therefore, Lucien knew that he could not use the identity of a professor to gain Granneuve's trust.
Therefore, when Lucien heard that Granneuve was going to have a banquet on the second floor of Shark, he decided to come here in advance to see if he could find a chance to do so. For a tycoon like Granneuve, the best and most convenient way to have a banquet was always in the hall of his villa. Even if Granneuve's guests liked seafood, they could always ask the chef of Shark to go back home. There was no need for them to come here directly. Lucien sensed that something was wrong.
The stairs were squeaking under Granneuve's heavy body, and the waiter came to them with a stack of newspapers, "My dear guest, these are today's Sturk Daily and the past few issues of Music Criticism," said Lucien to Granneuve, "Dear guest, these are today's Sturk Daily and the past few issues of Music Criticism. Now, our pianist will play Moonlight Sonata and Kanon in D major by the famous musician, Mr. Lucien Evans. I hope you can enjoy yourself before dinner. "
Lucien nodded with a smile. The restaurant was indeed one of the best restaurants in Sturk. The atmosphere and the service were very good, and the newspaper was not something that could be bought easily. Since Lucien did not use his identity as a musician, he could not buy them even if he had the money in the country that was further and further away from Aalto.
The familiar soothing and beautiful melody sounded as the pianist played, and the whole restaurant became elegant and quiet.
Lucien opened the newspapers and read Music Criticism first. From the articles, he learned that Victor was performing in the Holy Helvetic Empire, and that Phyllis had finally written a piano piece that was not bad.
However, since Natasha commented on the latter part of Moonlight at the beginning of August, she had not made any comments, which made Lucien a bit worried, "Her Blood Burning Disease should have been cured by now. Is there anything else wrong with her? When I arrive in Allyn, I should send a letter back to ask about it through the secret channel. "
After reading the several newspapers that were valuable to him, Lucien saw that the dinner was not served yet, and the guests invited by Granneuve had not arrived yet. Therefore, he opened Sturk Daily to kill time.
"A batch of wood from the Duchy of Djibouti is in urgent need of processing. If you are interested, please contact …" Except for some anecdotes, the whole newspaper was about the same thing.
While reading, Lucien suddenly saw an article: "Ms. Grace, a student of the famous musician Lucien Evans, will hold a concert with her friends in the Crystal Music Hall of Sturk."
"My students?" Lucien read the article in confusion. According to the article, these "musicians" met him at the Aalto Music Festival and were taught by him. After that, they created many Fantasia works. Also, Grace was taught by him personally and became his student.
After returning to Sturk, they quickly became popular musicians that were sought after by the nobles and merchants, thus becoming the most popular musicians in Sturk.
As Lucien had a good memory, it only took him a few seconds to figure out who these people were. He was a bit amused, "I did talk with them about the creation of Fantasia, but they are so good at taking advantage of my influence!"
Although it was funny, Lucien did not intend to expose his identity and expose them. However, at this time, the waiter at the door led in a curvaceous girl in a black evening dress. She was quite pretty, and she had a faint sense of maturity.
"Grace … What a coincidence!" Lucien covered his face with the newspaper and saw Grace walking to the VIP dining room on the second floor. "What a coincidence … She is the guest invited by Granneuve?" If you like this work, you are welcome to come to qidian.com to vote for me. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
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