Chapter 154: “Slaughterer”

Chapter 154: “Slaughterer”

Admiral of Stars Cattleya thought for a moment and answered, “Eight o’clock tonight. Pier Six.”

Excellent. No delay at all… Klein nodded with the smallest of movements.

“Good.”

No sooner had he spoken than the light within the crystal ball suddenly withdrew. The figure in the black classical robe grew dimmer and more blurred, and soon vanished completely.

Holding the crystal ball, now entirely ordinary, Klein turned, opened the door, and walked out.

After glancing at the owner leaning against the wall and gulping down liquor, he casually tossed the crystal ball back to him.

While the owner caught it in a fluster, Klein descended the stairs at an unhurried pace and left the warehouse.

After walking out of Frenzied Whale Dance, he took out his gold-cased pocket watch, snapped it open, and checked the time.

It’s almost noon. Most bars should already be open… Klein stopped a rental carriage and told the driver in Feysac that he wanted to go to Lodar Bar—in the local language, that meant Dawn Bar. It was a place where adventurers of the Gargas Islands gathered in relatively large numbers.

For Klein, gathering different intelligence and obtaining various pieces of news held considerable significance. At some critical moment, it might help him make the most accurate judgment and thereby escape the misfortune of losing his life. Therefore, even though he did not especially enjoy bars, he still had no choice but to visit them often, order a mug of beer rich with malt aroma, sit quietly in a corner near the counter, and listen to the people around him exchange interesting and important matters from the sea.

In addition, he wanted to figure out whether Roy King, who had been imprisoned inside the Governor-General’s Residence in the City of Generosity, Bayam, had been rescued. Over the past two months, the Mercury Snake Will Auceptin had not entered his dreams again, and Ricciardo, the Councilor of Fate, had likewise not summoned his messenger or provided clues about powerful mystical items.

More than twenty minutes later, the carriage stopped. Lodar Bar, with an enormous signboard standing outside, appeared before Klein.

Out of habit, he took out two one-soli notes and paid the driver.

Only when he clearly saw the driver’s rough-featured face did he suddenly remember something.

This was a foreign country. This was a Feysac colony. It had its own common currency!

The smallest unit was the kopek, followed by the Fersilver, and above that the gold horn. They used the very humane decimal system, making conversion extremely easy.

I forgot to go to the bank to exchange for kopeks and Fersilvers… I used up what little I had at the hotel and restaurants… Just as Klein was about to look around for a bank, the driver happily accepted the two one-soli notes, checking them over several times. The rough skin on his face seemed to glow with delight.

“Thank you! Thank you for your generosity!”

Gold pounds, soli, and pence are hard currency here too? Mm, the Gargas Islands aren’t too far from Toscarter and Olavi. Many goods are sold to those two places, and quite a few Loen adventurers like running to this White Whale Sea. It’s indeed normal for the Loen Kingdom’s currency to circulate privately here… Heh, Loen’s industrial and economic strength is greater than Feysac’s, and by quite a margin. The gold pound is much stronger than the gold horn… Wait! After getting off the carriage, Klein walked toward Lodar Bar while recalling the driver’s delighted expression.

Suddenly, he remembered something. One gold pound could be exchanged for 5.5 gold horns.

In other words, two soli were worth 5.5 Fersilvers.

And in the White City, a rental carriage cost four Fersilvers per hour. Anything under an hour was still counted as one hour.

No wonder the driver was so happy! Klein turned to look back, but the carriage had already vanished.

Phew… He exhaled lightly, pressed down his hat, pushed open the heavy wooden door, and entered Lodar Bar.

In this world, bars near the docks or factory districts often also sold lunch and dinner. Therefore, they opened around eleven. At this hour, quite a few idle adventurers had already gathered before the bar counter, ordering strong liquor, smoked fish, and oily soups, eating with bread in great satisfaction.

Drinking Lie Lanzi and Nipos at noon? Are they planning to stay drunk the entire day? This Feysac custom is really hard to accept… Klein muttered a few words inwardly, then walked expressionlessly to the counter and sat in a corner. He lightly knocked on the wood.

“Two slices of toast with red sausage, one serving of smoked whale meat, one thick vegetable soup, and one glass of Grass beer.”

Grass beer was popular along Feysac’s eastern coast and was also common on Sonia Island, the Gargas Islands, and similar places.

“New here?” The bartender looked up at Klein. “Four Fersilvers and six kopeks in total.”

Not drinking hard liquor means I’m new? Klein ignored the question and directly tossed over two soli notes.

That was worth five Fersilvers and five kopeks.

Considering that he was currently Gehrman Sparrow, Klein forcibly restrained the impulse to ask for change and treated the remainder as a tip.

Of course, in a Backlund bar, this much food would cost roughly two soli as well.

Having received a tip, the bartender asked no more. He swiftly poured a glass of Grass beer and pushed it before Klein.

This beer was dark in color and topped with thick foam. Its flavor carried a roasted fragrance, mellow while hiding a degree of stimulation. Klein felt its alcohol content was somewhat high and suspected strong liquor had been mixed in.

While waiting for his food, he sipped the beer and quietly listened to the adventurers chatting nearby.

Most of their topics revolved around who had made a fortune, who had been killed by pirates, who had taken over a pirate crew after killing its captain without claiming the bounty, who had fathered an illegitimate child with a woman in Nas, and who had become a laughingstock for poor performance at a brothel.

When the Gargas-style thick vegetable soup—made from beetroot, onions, cabbage, carrots, fish, cream, and other ingredients—was served before Klein, he finally heard something interesting.

An adventurer lowered his voice and said to his companions around him, “Have you heard? East of Gargas, there’s a Fourth Epoch ruin.”

“No! Who found it?” one of his companions asked, both surprised and curious.

The adventurer looked left and right, then said without paying much attention, “Gales found it. You know him. He’s a Navigator skilled at diving.

“He got drunk, was blown off the deck by a storm, and sank into the sea. Who would’ve thought he’d discover the remains of some steel structures down there? Steel buildings made by humans, no doubt about it!”

“And then?” his companion urged.

The adventurer gave a low laugh.

“Gales followed those remains and found an abandoned giant underwater well. No one knows how deep it is. It’s already filled with seawater, but it still gave him a very deep, very terrifying feeling. Storms above, maybe it leads to the center of the earth.

“He said something inside seemed to be calling him. He didn’t dare explore it. He was so frightened he swam back to the surface.”

A giant deep-sea well… A strange sense of “attraction”… This might not necessarily be a Fourth Epoch ruin. It could be from the Third or even the Second Epoch. Little Sun once said that, during that dark age, sea monsters submitted to the Elf King Soniathrym, helping Him rule the seabed… Sweet, salty, and slightly sour… Klein drank a mouthful of the thick vegetable soup and picked up some smoked white whale meat with his fork.

The adventurers did not discuss Gales’s experience for long, as no heart-stirring gold, jewels, mystical items, or Beyonder ingredients had appeared for the time being.

They soon turned to several adventurers with whom they had poor relationships, mocking the fact that the local beautiful girls those men had married had, after three to five years, all become robust, fat women whose strength could rival low-Sequence Beyonders.

In the end, they concluded that perhaps it was the small amount of Giant blood flowing within Feysacians at work.

Until Klein finished his lunch and focused on drinking, they brought up nothing else of value. However, more and more people were gathering inside Lodar Bar.

Suddenly, the heavy door flew open and struck the wall with a bang.

A young gentleman in a top hat, with obvious Loen ancestry, rushed in and shouted nervously, “Are there any members of the Adventurers’ Mutual Aid Society here?”

There are. Bilt still owes me one item crafting service… Klein saw the young man nervously looking back again and again, and his intuition told him that the man was being pursued.

Before he could decide whether to help, three adventurers had already stood up in different corners. One of them was more than two meters tall, broad-shouldered and heavily muscled, with pale blond hair and deeply set blue eyes. He was exceedingly eye-catching.

A sense of strength as tangible as substance… This is a Beyonder of no low Sequence… Klein withdrew his gaze, once again becoming a spectator, and looked toward the bar entrance.

A man in a linen shirt and brown jacket soon appeared there. He was of medium height, with purple lips, and his brown eyes concealed a strong malice that he was doing his best to suppress but could not hide.

Him… Klein instantly connected the man to a portrait on a wanted poster!

It belonged to the second mate of the Undying King Agalito, “Slaughterer” Gilchies, with a bounty of 9,500 pounds!

A pirate with a truly infamous reputation… Klein’s mind instantly tensed. His gaze locked on the other party. His left hand naturally hung down, and his body was ready to pounce at any moment.

Gilchies swept his gaze over the two-meter-tall “giant,” then looked at Klein. Suddenly, he withdrew his gaze, turned, and left the entrance of Lodar Bar without the slightest hesitation.

Very decisive. Very vigilant… Klein frowned slightly. He was certain he had not leaked even the faintest trace of killing intent just now. Even his gaze had been controlled very well.

Was he wary of that “giant,” or was his intuition truly sharp to that extent? Like… like a Devil’s premonition of danger? Klein gulped down the rest of his Grass beer. He did not join the private exchange between the Adventurers’ Mutual Aid Society members, but directly left the bar and returned to the street.

At present, he did not want to create any new problems beyond his search for mermaids.

Looking around, Klein discovered that “Slaughterer” Gilchies had long since left and vanished without a trace. Thus, he quietly returned to his hotel.

…

Silver City, inside the round tower.

Derrick Berg once again met Chief Colin Iliad of the Council of Six.

He clearly remembered that nearly seventy “days” earlier, the Chief had told him that in about two months, he would have an exploration mission and needed to make preparations.