Xia Yibing felt helpless when talking about this.
If it were any other time, she would think it was nothing, but now that she could finally be so close to the girl again, she really wished time could go slower.
"Go and do your thing."
Hitzfeld turned around, wiped his hands on his apron, and moved over very quickly and nimbly, tiptoeing past the woman before she could react.
"We're going to Elsa's together. We don't mind spending time together."
She's right.
Xia Yibing raised her eyebrows as she looked at her back.
The last few days before departure... I worked hard, solved what needed to be solved, and finished what needed to be finished... Finally, I moved into the ship together.
I can't possibly bother her with trivial matters at that time, right?
Although this trip was also official business - or a mission! But at least before landing, they still had a long period of leisure time.
So when Hitzfeld came back with the towel, she found, as expected, that Xia Yibing was gone.
Without saying anything, he continued to run the faucet to wash the dishes and put away the tableware. He then went to the bathroom to run hot water and scrubbed the dirty clothes that had accumulated over the past few days. Hitzfeld took the key to open the iron door in the corridor and took the wooden basin to the rooftop to dry them.
It's a sunny day today, and it looks like I should be able to do it when I come back in the afternoon.
After standing on the rooftop for a while with great satisfaction and gazing out, Hitzfeld went downstairs and went home. When he changed his slippers, he found a note on the table.
Pick it up and take a look:
[You can go back to last year to learn about the story of the seafaring hero 'Mar-Bakinsa'. That old man knows a lot.]
In just one sentence, there is a lot of information.
"Marpa Gyatsa, Vespa Gyatsa..."
Hitzfeld stared at the note and shook his head.
Does she have a team leader under her named Madeline Baginsa?
She remembered that Xia Yibing seemed to have mentioned it to her.
"Write it down first..."
After folding the note and putting it away, Hitzfeld went into the house in his slippers.
The gate was never opened again, but soon, an agile figure emerged from the inner courtyard of the archway.
Wearing a black windbreaker with a stand-up collar, a brown felt hat, and even using suspenders to pad his shoulders... the returning detective swaggered into the crowd and disappeared from the camera in front of some people.
Xia has her own things to do, and she has hers too.
have to say.
This feeling of "doing something big before leaving" is quite exciting.
Chapter 20: The Hero's Fate
"The surname Bajinsa originated from the ancient city of Xixinna. It is one of the surnames passed down by the remnants of Seran on the west coast."
In the library, facing the visit of the disguised detective, Ruth-Annual Rings calmly picked up the teacup and took a sip.
"It means 'Sunset Chaser', for the reason you can imagine, the sun always sets in the west."
The girl in the black windbreaker was sitting opposite her, recording in detail what she had described during this period of time, looking very serious.
"Come to me in disguise...do you really need to do this?"
Nian Lun couldn't help but ask this question.
"Of course, I don't rule out the possibility that someone is still watching you and monitoring you, but that should be for self-protection rather than to continue targeting you. You should know this yourself - you are not the same person you were in the past."
"I just want to handle this case before I leave and minimize all unexpected factors." Hitzfeld nodded. "For example, this Weiss-Bakinssa is actually kept by a minor noble, and because they found out that I went out in this outfit, they guessed what I was investigating through the fact that 'Ternitzer came to see me'... I don't want anything to happen to her because of this."
"…You have considered everything very thoroughly."
Now Nian Lun had nothing to say. After all, it involved a living life, and she couldn't say that the girl was making a fuss out of nothing.
The two chatted casually about some other topics, during which Hitzfeld could clearly feel the difference in Nian Lun's attitude towards him.
In the past, she had a more frivolous attitude towards herself... Frivolous here is not a derogatory term, it just means that Nian Lun was leisurely at that time, as if she was in control of everything about herself.
Baliu did tell her that the material of the collar around her neck should theoretically be able to reveal the problem at first glance based on the growth rings.
But now this feeling no longer exists. Although Nianlun's attitude still seems a little casual, from her sitting posture, conversation, tone of voice, and the look in her eyes, Hitzfeld can feel that she respects him very much.
This is reality.
Considering that she didn't need to say a word in the past period of time, and someone would punish or kill anyone who provoked her, she couldn't help but sigh from the bottom of her heart that this world is so realistic.
She finally realized that she was indeed different from the past. Not just as simple as being the founder of "modern mysticism", but also because of her importance and power, for the first time she got something that she should have gotten long ago.
This is not to say that Tree Rings is snobbish.
Hitzfeld thought from another perspective: If she were in power, facing a little detective who had a magical eye but had a low ability to interfere with reality, physics, and especially humans, and might not even be able to defeat an ordinary Flintstone Knight in terms of force...
She might sincerely make friends with her, admire her courage, have kindness and good feelings towards her, and help her in every way she can; but she is indeed unlikely to give her what the years show her at this moment.
Who can blame it?
There's no need to overthink it.
"Is there... any deeper information?" Hitzfeld asked Nianlun. "According to what you said, Malpakinsa is just a branch of this family name. The family he founded is called 'Hanging Malpakinsa'... Well, this title was even conferred posthumously."
Mar-Bakinsa's family was not large, only a few people before he sailed. His parents died early, and he spent most of his life with some distant relatives and neighbors.
How could such a small number of members be named a family? The only thing that can be said is that the country at that time gave him special care because of his contributions. It is impossible for her to take this "family" seriously.
"And you said this was a posthumous title..." The girl stretched out her tone, "How did he die?"
"Poisoned." Nian Lun answered quickly, "Someone poisoned him, and he couldn't escape."
"Who poisoned you?"
"One of his distant cousins, his brother I guess. He felt that he had taken away an opportunity that should have belonged to him, so he held a grudge and came to seek revenge."
"Do you believe it?" Hitzfeld narrowed his eyes slightly. "Then he gave the two children to you in advance? Could he foresee that someone was going to target him?"
"So you think there might be some conspiracy here." Nian Lun looked at her seriously. "You think... there was a net set for Marpa Kinsa before he set out. He arranged a way out for his child in advance, but he himself didn't escape it in the end."
"Is there any other explanation?"
“No more.” Nian Lun shook his head. “It’s true that the old royal party had not been eradicated at that time. They had the ability and motivation to do so because they probably didn’t want anyone to explore the overseas world.”
"But there is no evidence." She changed the subject. "Without evidence, these speculations are meaningless. You know what I mean, Aisuen. You will be going out to sea soon, so don't waste your time on this kind of thing."
"No, I want to check." Hitzfeld insisted on his own opinion and continued to spit out two names: "Kevin Yusilian... Boruno Feldman..."
"Tell me what happened to other seafaring heroes."
This section is a blank in modern history. She has tried to look it up herself, but all the sources only record a vague outline of who they were and what achievements they ultimately made. As for the details, there is no mention of them.
“……” The annual rings fell into a brief silence.
"Annual rings?" Hitzfeld asked again tentatively.
"…Ruth?"
"Don't learn from His Majesty!" This time she got a cold look. Nian Lun snorted unhappily and leaned forward slightly: "The people you are talking about died earlier than Bajinsa..."
"How could this be?"
"It's not the reason you think, but - you know how dangerous the sea was at that time, right?"
"know."
"So these people set out on an expedition with their fleets, and they all came back safe and sound - do you think this should happen?"
"It should be—but the chances are low."
“That’s what happened.” Nian Lun tapped his fingers on the table. “You see, they died outside… they were shipwrecked, and you don’t even know how they died. In the end, only Bajinsa came back.”
It turned out to be the case.
Hitzfeld understood.
The Voyager Program was actually implemented in 1836, and several fleets had to be prepared. These people drifted outside for three years, on and off, until 3, when a Bakinsa returned.
It is true that he brought back the sacred stone tablet, but he was soon poisoned, and most of the sailing heroes who were vigorously promoted at the time also died. This was actually not a glorious thing for the country, and it is impossible to record too many details.
"What's the point of you checking this?" Nian Lun didn't understand.
"Bakinsa is not a particularly precious or rare surname. Do you want to link the girl with the seafaring hero?"
This was the only explanation she could think of.
Because - the descendants of the seafaring hero Mal did grow up under the care of the cult and the tree people. They later spread out in Wayne Port and reproduced. How they developed and who were there... no one knows this better than them.
In this way, she could point out Madeline's background earlier than Xia Yibing.
...Xia Yibing couldn't possibly look into the details of someone's background, otherwise she would be exhausted as a director.
"There is a reason for this, so can you tell me?"
"All I can tell you is that, as far as I can remember, there is no one named Vespakinsa among the two descendants of Mal."
Annual Rings said.
"At least in my eyes, she has nothing to do with the seafaring hero family."
"It must have been brought here from the West Coast or somewhere else."
After bidding farewell to the annual rings, Hitzfeld walked alone on the street, thinking.
She was wearing a mask, which didn't look out of place in the early spring when diseases usually raged in Wayne, except that her body proportions looked odd - her shoulders were padded too much.
Not only was it exaggerated but also uncomfortable, so she simply found an opportunity to sneak into a clothing store, and when she came out she was already dressed like a gentleman.
He was wearing a black suit, a white shirt, a hat, trousers, leather shoes, and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses on his nose.
Such a handsome young man was rare even on the streets of Port Vien. Several people who saw her face clearly turned around and watched her hail a taxi.
"To Mermaid Avenue."
State the place name directly after getting on the bus.
"I have an opera to catch."
Chapter 21 The Indiscreet Detective
The lianxiang flower is a flower found in Sara, and comes in three colors: white, purple and blue.
Because of its pure appearance and rich fragrance, this flower has been loved by nobles and commoners for a long time. After the market was opened, some people monopolized the cultivation and sales channels of Lianxiang flowers, causing this originally popular flower to become expensive and only the rich and powerful could afford it.
Later, the monopolist was imprisoned, but the mess he left behind was not cleaned up. To this day, pure white lily flowers are still expensive, and perfumes made from pure white lily flowers can be sold at sky-high prices in the socialite circle.
Hitzfeld had learned this before, and it was common sense to her. She suddenly remembered that Lian Xianghua was not interested in perfume, but the key person she was looking for on this trip - Weiss Bakinsa, who worked in a theater called Lian Xianghua before she disappeared.
Time was tight, so she did not forget to talk to the driver on the way, asking him if he knew the latest situation of the troupe.
The driver was also a talkative person, thanks to the fact that taxis appeared early in Port Wein, which gave the opportunity to accumulate people like him.
"You may get no results if you ask others, but you are the right person to ask if you ask me."
The driver spoke to her seriously.
"Mermaid Avenue is a high-end place to listen to opera... The Lianxianghua Opera Company was particularly famous last September. I was deeply impressed."
"How do you become famous?"
"Simple... I was driving someone there, and as soon as I turned the corner I saw that the archway was covered with portraits of a woman!"
The driver became more and more excited as he spoke, his hands still stretching and grasping the steering wheel: "It's tight, but it does look good! The car in front of me was probably so fascinated by it that it crashed into the road pier. Fortunately, I reacted quickly and had strong self-control! I stepped on the brakes and didn't hit it..."
He was talkative, but he also talked a lot of nonsense. Hitzfeld did not interrupt him, but listened to his description patiently, occasionally interrupting to ask a question.
"So they were only famous last September?"
"Probably... I don't know what's here, but when I took people there again last October, all the paintings upstairs had been replaced."
"Does that mean they are out of fashion?"
"You can't describe the troupe as outdated, sir." The driver also gave Hitzfeld some pointers. "It's the people they promoted in September who are outdated. How can a troupe be outdated? They employ so many people... They have trainers and training classes. They will probably be back in a while."
The driver was not an expert in the field of opera, but he was well-informed and what he said was indeed the case.
