The Book of Hibernation

One afternoon, after finishing the work at hand, Dongji suddenly wanted to visit the dock area.

It's been a long time since the incident at the pier, and everything is calm now, but he still wants to see it.So he called a carriage and set off.

He found the Blackfish Boat Tavern, which he had visited only once.It was afternoon, and there was no one inside or outside the tavern. A small worker was standing on the wine barrel, wiping the sign hanging on the iron rod.

Dong Ji noticed that the signboard had changed, and now it was not called "Black Fish Boat", but changed its name to "Good Wine Wharf".

After the little worker wiped the signboard, he entered the house.Just as Dong Ji was about to follow in, she suddenly saw an old man standing at the entrance of an alley not far away.

The old man was hunched over and dressed in ragged clothes, leaning against the wall to bask in the sun.When Winter Thistle looked at him, his eyes met Winter Thistle's.Then, the old man beckoned lightly and walked into the alley with a cane, as if signaling Winter Thistle to follow him in.

Winter Thistle followed.The old man walked very slowly, and Dongji chased him within a few steps. Just as he was about to ask, the old man took out an envelope from his clothes.

He handed the letter to Winter Ji, and looked at Dong Ji carefully, then nodded with his mouth curled up.

"A letter from the Knight of the Day. I saw that it was you... a bit like him, but also a half-elf."

Winter Thistle felt sour.He took the letter and asked the old man where the knight was now.

The old man shook his head and pointed to his ears: "I can't hear you, I can't hear you. I, an old deaf man, can only speak by myself, and I can't hear what you say."

After speaking, the old man will leave.Winter Ji took out her purse, and handed the old man a handful of coins, but the old man didn't even look at it, but kept walking.

Winter Ji refused to give up, and followed him all the time, spotted a pocket on the hem of his torn coat, stuffed the whole purse into it, then turned and left quickly.

The old man immediately refused, but Dong Ji didn't turn around and kept walking.The old man had bad legs and feet, so he couldn't catch up with him.

After walking out of the alley, Dong Ji looked back, but the old man did not continue to follow.

He breathed a sigh of relief, walked into the tavern, and sat where he and Ryan had been.

Winter Thistle was well-dressed, obviously not an ordinary fisherman, so the reception at the tavern was very warm at first.But the winter thistle didn't cost much. I only ordered a cup of lime tea and nothing else.The waiter reluctantly walked away, muttering a few unpleasant words in his mouth.

When the waiter walked to the cash register, the shopkeeper immediately stopped him and gave him a lesson in a low voice.Dong Ji watched from a distance, only heard a sentence, "Look at that attire, it must be a mage from the Chamber of Commerce, pay attention."

Winter Ji sighed and could only smile wryly.

Winter Ji took a few sips of water, took out the envelope, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

He thought, this should be a farewell letter written by Ryan, and it will definitely include Ryan's whereabouts, next thoughts and so on.

Although they were unhappy when they parted, it would be a relief to Winter Thistle to see her brother's handwriting.

After opening the envelope, Winter Thistle was stunned.

Inside is the luminous necklace he gave to Ryan, two short-term enchantment runes, and a coin ticket.The denomination of the currency note is actually not high, but it is still a lot of money for Ryan.

There was also a piece of paper that was torn off randomly along with the coin ticket, and it was indeed Ryan's handwriting.

Ryan said that Winter Thistle had given him too many things, and he would try to return what he could to Winter Thistle.

At present, he has not received the standard weapon from the temple, so he still needs the sword for the time being, and he will return the sword when he becomes an official knight.

There were no greetings in the letter, nor did they talk about where they were going, what they were going to do, when they would meet again, and so on.

Winter Ji stared at his younger brother's handwriting, tears welled up in his eyes.

Before he could calm down, he was startled by a loud noise.

The door of the tavern was kicked open, and two warriors in leather armor rushed into the tavern, looking around fiercely, and finally locked their eyes on Winter Thistle.

They are Aldin's subordinates. Recently, Winter Thistle often needs to go to various workshops, and they are often responsible for accompanying guards.

The two came to Winter Thistle in a hurry, and the red-haired soldier just said loudly "It's not good", the black-haired soldier immediately patted his head, then bent down and whispered to Winter Thistle:

"Something happened in the poorhouse, do you want to go and have a look?"

Winter Thistle frowned.He didn't realize that there were still tears on his face, and he didn't have time to wipe them away.Being seen by the two young men, I don't know what they think in private.

While they were talking, the shopkeeper and the waiter skillfully hid behind the counter, and the other guests in the tavern were too scared to move.

These two warriors acted violently, and Winter Ji felt a little guilty.He whispered to the two of them to go out, and when he got up to leave, he left an extra silver coin on the table.

After leaving the tavern, Winter Thistle returned to the carriage, and the two warriors went to fetch their horses.

They gave a brief description of the situation. It seemed that someone died in the almshouse. The city hall sent people to check, and then somehow surrounded the underground market.

Someone had already reported to Aldin, but Aldin was not in the mansion and could not arrive in time to deal with it.

It is said that the chief executive of the chamber of commerce came to Harbor City at noon today, and Aldin went to greet him, and was holding a reception banquet for the chief at the inn.

At this moment, they should also notify Kanai, but Kanai is far away from Hilda Academy, and he cannot be contacted.

So they thought of Winter Ji, after all Winter Ji is the current owner of the market.

Winter Thistle hesitated at first, thinking about whether to go home directly... This kind of thing has to be handled carefully, and it is best to wait for Aldin to deal with it.

But he changed his mind, the underground market involves many magic items, he is an expert in this area, he should go and have a look first.In case there is any risk factor at the scene, he should handle it.

So, under the escort of two soldiers, the carriage galloped and rushed directly to the outskirts of the almshouse.

=====================

Today was the first time Winter Thistle came to the poorhouse during the day.Usually, this area is quiet no matter whether it is day or night, but today there are many horses and carriages parked outside the stone castle.

Winter Thistle walked into the gate of the stone castle, and a familiar person happened to walk over.She was a widow who worked here, taking care of the elderly in the workhouse.She is not from the market, but she also knows what the market is all about.

She came up and said quickly: "A person came from the city hall, very polite. The patriarch and three knights came from the Temple of Daylight. There are also two strange mages, five people from the chamber of commerce, one of them They are also mages. They have not appeared before. The reason is that one of our patients died, and he was over 80 years old. The city hall came to investigate first, and then other people came. They didn’t see the patients much, and went directly to the ground. "

She babbled and walked away without another word of nonsense.

Dongji stood there in a daze, not knowing how to react for a while.

He had quickly pieced together all the information the widow had said, but he didn't know what it meant or what to do.

The general situation is that a patient died, the city hall sent someone to check, and probably "discovered" the underground market from this.

The town hall and the temple should be pretty easy to talk about.What puzzled Winter Ji the most were other people: five people from the chamber of commerce, and two strange mages.

"People from the chamber of commerce" probably didn't refer to Aldin's subordinates, and the mage certainly wasn't a mage who came to do business.

The most worrying thing is the mage.They may find traces of forbidden schools in the bazaar.

It's daytime, and most spellcasters are out of the underground bazaar.There is no room for people in this place, and the mages have to leave in the early morning.When they leave, they definitely take valuable merchandise with them, but leave behind tables, chairs, tarpaulins and the like.

If these people are really here to check the contraband, I wonder if the city hall can calm down the matter and protect the market?

Dong Ji's heart was in a mess, and the two warriors with one red and one black hair stood around him and exchanged glances, obviously a little worried for him.

If it were Aldin or Kanai, they wouldn't just stand in a daze like this.

Just when the red-haired warrior was eager to say something, Winter Thistle walked towards the direction the widow had gone just now.

"That's not the way the market goes!" said the red-haired warrior.

"I know," Winter Thistle said, "I'm going to find that lady just now."

"What are you looking for her for?"

Winter Thistle said, "I want to ask her where the dead body is. I must go and see."

The red hair opened his mouth to ask another question, the black hair glared at him, the red hair quickly shut his mouth, and followed Winter Thistle obediently and silently.

The widow just happened to walk over with a basin of clothes, and after hearing Dongji's question, she immediately pointed him in the direction.

The body has not been taken away, and it is still in the room where the old man slept before his death.

Winter Thistle went up to the second floor and saw the room without looking for it.

A few old people who lived here gathered at the door, pointing towards the room, and there were four strange men with weapons standing by the wall.

All four were wearing traveling cloaks, under which the shapes of weapons at their waists showed.They should be the "people from the Chamber of Commerce" the widow mentioned just now, and there should be another person with them.

Winter Thistle walked over, and his two guards volunteered to reveal their identities.

The attitude of the four strangers was indifferent. They knew that they were Aldin's people, but they didn't say anything.

Just as Winter Thistle was about to open the door to enter the house, the eldest of the four reached out and stopped him.

Winter Thistle said, "I want to go and see the dead, and the person in charge of the poorhouse has agreed."

The middle-aged man shook his head: "I didn't let you go, but I have to wait a while."

"why?"

"Lord Bellos' emissary is inside. She told me that no one else is allowed to enter now."

Bellows?Chamber of Commerce Chief?Winter Thistle was secretly surprised.

Whatever happens in the poorhouse should only be dealt with by City Hall.Why did the chief of the Chamber of Commerce send envoys to care about these?

Winter Ji was about to say something more, when footsteps came from the closed door.

The people in the room took a few steps closer to the door and said softly: "Let the mage come in, and the others stay outside."

It's a female voice, and it sounds familiar...

The door opened a crack, and Dongji pushed the door open and walked in.The room was small, with two wooden beds side by side, and a dead body covered with a white cloth lay on the bed by the window.

A petite woman in a black cloak stood in front of the bed with her back to him.

Winter Thistle closed the door and was about to step forward when she noticed a silencing spell rune on the floor.

The range of the rune is very small, it can only cover a few steps around the deceased, and the door is outside the range.

Winter thistles step into the silent range.When he raised his head, the female mage also turned her head.

Winter Thistle was taken aback: "March?"

"Irene," said the female mage.

"what?"

"Irene, my name. It doesn't hurt to tell you now."

Today's March is completely different from the past.Her black robe was of good texture and exquisite tailoring, and the lining of the cloak was embroidered with various protective runes.Her hair was coiled in a docile and dignified style, and a hair accessory inlaid with tiny pearls was clipped on the side.

"You... look different," said Winter Thistle.

San Yue also looked at Dong Ji, and said with a smile: "Aren't you too? I heard that you are the manager of the market."

Winter Thistle asked: "You have already returned to your hometown? Where is that dead hunter? What is your status now? How could you be the chief envoy of the Chamber of Commerce..."

In the middle of Dong Ji's speech, March made a silent gesture and interrupted him: "We'll talk about this later. I'll tell you everything, but let's leave it alone now, let's hurry up and get down to business."

She pointed to the dead body on the bed: "This person is called Rosa, aged around 82 to [-] years old, has no relatives, is seriously ill, and cannot take care of herself. She died at noon today, and the cause of death was the purple sage juice mixed in the tranquilizer. "

Winter Thistle asked, "How do you know this?"

"Because I poisoned her." March said.

Winter Thistle opened her eyes wide in surprise.March approached him, and he subconsciously took a step back.Sanyue smiled and said, "No way, are you afraid of me?"

"What do you mean by these...?" Winter Thistle asked.

March approached and said in a lower voice: "I just killed her early this morning, and then someone found the body. There will be many people to investigate this matter, and I am one of the people who came to investigate. Now I am Bellos The envoy. Next, everyone found some necromancer spell fluctuations in the almshouse, so the special envoy of the Arcane Federation and the people from the temple found the source of the fluctuations and found the underground area where the market is located."

Dong Ji was stunned for a moment, looking at her, speechless for a long time.

March said again: "What I said are the most straightforward and intuitive facts. As for the deeper things... I am still investigating some, and I haven't figured it out yet, so I won't use it to mislead you."

Winter Thistle asked, "Why are you telling me this?"

"No reason. These things have already happened. The more you know, the sooner you can start planning. You don't have to take the initiative to participate, but you should also know and protect yourself."

Winter Thistle was silent for a moment, then nodded: "Okay. I understand what you mean."

March pointed at the door, and brought Winter Thistle out of the silent range.

They stood outside the silent range and chatted casually before opening/the door and going out.In the corridor, the red-haired soldier was introducing Harbor City to everyone, while the others looked serious and ignored him.

Winter Ji said that he had to go back first and report the unexpected situation here.

Before leaving, he looked at March: "Can we meet again soon?"

March said: "You don't necessarily need to see me, but you may see Lord Bellows soon. He specifically mentioned that he would like to see you."