Under a giant bat symbol was a dilapidated bar. There were all sorts of images of evil skulls and blood hanging on the walls. It seemed like there were not many customers. Laing had the two demon hunters and the half-elf stand outside while he and Jerrold walked into the bar.
"This place makes me feel uncomfortable," Jerrold whispered to Laing. The Royal Knight's face was solemn.
"Sooner or later, we will raze this place to the ground and completely destroy this cursed city." Laing said softly, "But not now. What we need to do now is to find a way to stop the invasion of the vampires."
"Yes, one day, we will return here and destroy the undead," Jerrold's goatee trembled as if he was angry, "but not now."
Laing nodded. Jerrold was not part of his plan, but after discussing the plan with François, Jerrold volunteered to participate. He believed that he could help.
What was rare was that Jerrold was not a pedantic and chuunibyou knight. As François's cousin, he was quite intelligent and resourceful. He also knew how to be flexible. Of course, his devout faith in the Lake Fairy was also an important reason. Laing now understood why Morgiana was so wary of Emilia when he was recuperating.
The corruption of Chaos was everywhere. Only faith and ignorance could fight against it. Either ignorance could isolate the corruption, or with wisdom and knowledge, one had a firm faith. Otherwise, corruption was only a matter of time.
Walking into the interior of the bar, the dim lighting, the many cobwebs in the bar, and the smell of rotting wood stimulated Ryan's five senses. He frowned and looked around the interior of the bar. A bartender who looked to be about fifty years old was playing cards at the bar counter.
"Hello, I'm looking for Old Deckard." Laing tried to make himself seem more amiable.
"I'm Old Deckard, but I never talk to anyone other than my customers." The bartender seemed to be bored out of his mind as he played his cards. He seemed to be having a lot of fun playing alone.
"Alright, two glasses." Laing and Jerrold looked at each other. Jerrold then extended two fingers.
"What will it be, Ale?" he asked. Butter beer? Brittany brandy? Empire stout? Empire whiskey? Honey wine? Kislöw vodka? "Old Deckard listed the names of the drinks as if he knew his family's treasures.
"We want two glasses of 1467 Bordeaux Aubion wine." Laing took out a large amount of gold coins and said arrogantly.
Bordelot's first-class winery, Aubriand wine, Duke Baudrick's favorite and proudest creation.
"Yes." Old Deckard raised his head and looked at Laing's gold coins. After confirming that they were genuine Empire gold marks, he nodded. He stood up and walked into the bar, motioning for Laing and Jerrold to sit down.
"I think Duke Aubion will have to keep a close eye on his winery." Jerrold joked with Laing with a serious expression, "Perhaps there's a tunnel here that leads directly to Bordeaux?"
"Perhaps there are vampires among His Excellency Bodrick's henchmen, or there are greedy people among the managers of the winery he appointed. But that's not important to us. What's important is that we only spent 20 gold marks to buy the Aubian red wine that Bodrick treasures." Ryan also stretched out two fingers. The fat businessman's face was filled with a mysterious smile.
If it wasn't genuine, then he and Jerrold would have a reason to flare up.
After a while, Old Deckard served two glasses of red wine and placed them in front of Laing. The oak glasses were filled with dark red wine. The wine had a pleasant aroma and was as smooth as silk when it entered the mouth. When the wine flowed down the esophagus and entered the stomach, Laing and Jerrold immediately confirmed that it was genuine Aubion wine.
"This is on the house." Old Deckard served up a plate of horse meat sausages and sat behind the bar counter.
Unlike the wine, the plate of horse meat sausages tasted terrible. It was so bad that it was hard to swallow. As expected, nothing good came for free.
"I don't have what you want." Before Laing could speak, Old Deckard, who was washing the wooden wine glasses, suddenly spoke.
"How did you know what I came here for?" Laing asked curiously.
"A merchant from the Empire came to my shop to ask me about my goods. Unfortunately, I don't have any goods here. None at all." Old Deckard shook his head. "Finish this glass and leave, merchant from the Empire. If you still value your life."
"Can't you reveal a little? Or can you sell me some wine? "Laing continued to try." Are you willing to sell me some Aubion wine? "
"A total of a hundred crowns … or gold marks." Old Deckard took out two bottles of red wine from under the table. "Let's go. It'll be troublesome if we stay here any longer. I have to go out too."
Laing and Jerrold came out of the bar with the two bottles of wine. Jerrold whispered, "Any gains?"
"A little, but not much." Laing whispered to the others, "The rest will depend on Astell and Dyce. Astell, Dyce, listen to me. Wait a moment …"
Laing suddenly stopped talking because Matthew Bard was walking towards them from the corner of the street. The young knight's face was filled with arrogance and prejudice. He surrounded Laing with a group of graveyard guards. "Mister Gabe Newell?"
"Hello. How should I address you?" The fat merchant didn't seem to understand the situation he was in. He scratched the back of his head with a smile on his face.
"I am Matthew Bard. Nice to meet you, merchant from the Empire." Matthew Bard also had a fake smile on his face. The two shook hands.
The fat merchant, Gabe Newell, shook his hand and wanted to pull it back, but Matthew Bard held on to his hand tightly. The merchant of Marlinburg looked very surprised. He said with a look of surprise, "Ah? You are Matthew Bard, the one who lost to the champion Suria in the Knight Tournament? The first female champion of the Knight Tournament in 200 years, the first runner-up defeated by a woman in 200 years? Why are you here? Hehehe … I heard that Miss Suria is very beautiful … Hehehe … Ah!!! "
Laing, who was disguised as Gabe Newell, suddenly screamed like a pig being slaughtered. He covered his hand as if he had been stabbed and fell to the ground. The fat merchant was very heavy and almost knocked Matthew Bard down when he fell.
The young knight pulled the fat merchant up. The veins on Matthew Bard's face were bulging. This matter was the greatest humiliation of Matthew Bard's life. Every time he dreamed about losing to Sulia in the finals, he wanted to tear everything apart.
"Mister Matthew Bard?! Please respect a merchant and your trading partner! " Laing took a long time to calm his breathing. He looked very angry. "You are too much! I want to protest! Protest! "
Incompetent, weak lackey, this merchant's character was very much in line with the style of the merchants of Marlin Castle. Seeing how the fat merchant was angry and scared, but hurriedly signaled the guards to stop, protesting while smiling apologetically, Matthew Bard felt a wave of disgust.
Thinking of this, Matthew Bard subconsciously frowned. He still felt that something was amiss.
"Half-elves? A butler with good swordsmanship? What's more, your guards? Mister Gabe? I'm sorry for my rudeness, but can you explain? How did you find such a skilled bodyguard? And half-elves? "
"Many people are willing to fight. As long as the price is right, I will sell the goods from Marlin Castle here and take the money to protect my safety. Is there anything wrong with that? Mister Matthew Bard? " The fat merchant was angry and his tone was unpleasant. "Maybe you don't understand this, but why can't I hire a half-elven? And a butler with good swordsmanship? "
"If you could hire one or two of them, I would still believe you. But all of your guards are extraordinary. It really makes people suspicious." Matthew Bard was still full of doubt. His handsome face looked up and down at Gerrod's body before focusing on his hand. "Oh my god, my dear butler, can you explain to me what that callus in the middle of your index finger is? This kind of callus can only be formed after practicing knight swordsmanship since the age of seven or eight and after more than fifteen years of accumulation. I need an explanation, you Brittany knight! "
Towards the end, Matthew Bard was almost shouting, "No one can hire the knights of the Knight Kingdom. You must be a spy who has infiltrated here to cause trouble!"
Oh no! Laing's face changed slightly.
In this mission, everyone's identity had been carefully considered by Laing. As half-elves, Astaire and Dace had experienced the fickleness of human nature since they were young. They could deal with most situations skillfully. Needless to say, the demon hunters, Eber and Jules, were even more so. For demon hunters, they could assassinate a vampire count, slaughter a corrupted village, or find a puppy for a farmer. As long as there was money, they could do anything. It was difficult for such people to be exposed.
Laing did not bring Emilia and Suria, who had met with Matthew Bard. Considering that Al- Frey and Teresa might not be good at this, he had asked Veronica to bring them back.
The only uncertain factor was Jerrold! The Royal Knight had joined Laing's plan temporarily. He needed a helper, but Jerrold's identity was not so reliable and worthy of consideration.
"Speak!" Matthew Bard's face was twisted with madness. He motioned for the graveyard guards to surround Laing and the rest. "If you don't give me an explanation, I won't take your lives. The premise is that all of you have to accept the Embrace of Blood and become real vampires!"
"…" Laing was about to say that he wanted to see the Vampire Lord, but he immediately gave up the idea. At this time, if he brought it up, it would definitely trigger Matthew Bard's nervous system.
This lunatic could ruin everything! Laing quietly signaled to the demon hunters and half-elves: Get ready.
When Matthew Bard was not paying attention, Eber had quietly reached for the crossbow on his back.
At this time, Jerrold spoke. "Have you heard of Rickor?"
"Rickor? Isn't that a small island in Fort Marlin? "Matthew Bard asked doubtfully.
"That's right, so do you understand?" Jerrold's face seemed to be filled with shame and unwillingness. "I need money, I need a lot of money, to let my life … I don't want to say anymore. Let's stop here, okay?"
"Wait, you're saying that you're a descendant of Louis de Calais who was exiled fifty years ago?" Matthew Bard remembered that Brittany did indeed exile a noble family of knights who had lost the war. This family was later hired by Fort Marlin and then given the island of Rickor to settle them down.
"Mr. Malebaz, you know why I'm in this line of work. What's the point of rubbing salt on people's wounds?" Jerrold said impatiently. His goatee fluttered gently in the wind. There was a strange intonation in his words. It was obviously not the Brittany noble language. His accent was very strange, and it sounded like he was cursing.
Matthew Bard was a little uncertain now. "You came back to Brittany because you wanted to go back to your hometown?"
"Would you believe me if I said it? If you don't believe me, is there a need to say it? " Jerrold looked like he was too lazy to explain his identity. He slapped Matthew Bard's hand away, and seemed to be angry because of Matthew Bard's presumptuous words. "Just like just now, if I kept saying that you were the runner-up of the knight conference, would you be happy?"
"…" Being exiled was a very shameful thing. No one would want to talk about it too much, just like how Matthew Bard did not want to talk about his failure in the Knights' Assembly. Thinking of this, the young ranger could empathize with Matthew Bard. His face was still filled with hostility, but his expression eased a little. "I'm sorry for my rudeness. Sir … how should I address you?"
"My name is Ronald." Jerrold lied through his teeth. "Ronald de Calais."
"Mr. Ronald de Calais, are you willing to be hired by me? I need an excellent person like you to assist me. "Matthew Bard suddenly felt that something was wrong.
The rhythm of the conversation seemed to be controlled by the person in front of him. Matthew Bard had been taught by the Lich King Akhan since he was a child, and he was sensitive to the fact that he was being led astray.
The young knight began to suspect this group of people again. "Perhaps you would like to have dinner with me?"
"You need a guarantor. I won't have lunch with just anyone, especially someone who suspected me of being a spy. You don't even have the basic trust in me. You can even detain a trading partner at will. Why would I have dinner with someone like you?" Jerrold refused unhappily. He seemed to have been offended. "If my employer wants to go, that's his business. I won't go."
"Oh! I'm willing to go! "The fat merchant raised his hand." Then I'll save the money for dinner. "
"… Next time." Matthew Bard noticed that the Vampire Lord Howl had appeared. He had obviously come after hearing the news. Matthew Bard knew that he had no real power. His power came entirely from his Godfather, the Lich King Akhan. Akhan was not opposed to trading with humans. Logically speaking, he was bound to be in the wrong.
After whispering to the Vampire Lord Howl for a while, Matthew Bard waved his hand to signal the grave guards to move aside.
… …
An hour and a half later, in the hotel.
"That scared me to death. We almost ruined our plan because of a lunatic. Jerrold? I didn't expect you to be so flexible. " Laing thought about what had happened and felt a little scared. There was no doubt that Matthew Bard was suspicious of their identities. He had tried to make Matthew Bard forget about it out of humiliation and anger. In the end, Matthew Bard, who appeared to be a gentleman, was actually a crazy lunatic behind his back. Just because he was angry, he wanted to kill them and almost ruined Laing's plan.
"Lying is an immoral thing. I will repent to the Lady. But in the face of righteousness and the mission of protecting the country, these little things are secondary." Jerrold leaned on the cushion. His clothes were soaked. He felt relieved. "In the face of righteousness, my personal honor is not important."
"Yes! I believe the Lady will forgive you. "Laing nodded.
At this time, Astor and Dace returned. "My Baron, there's a new situation."
"What do you mean?" Laing stood up.
"We followed Old Deckard and found that he was still collecting hardwood and stone. Tonight, his transport team will leave the city and transport the materials to somewhere outside the city," Dace said in a low voice.
"Good! Get ready to move! "
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