Sweeping both coins and banknotes under the counter, the bartender casually glanced around. Seeing that no one was paying attention, he opened the bar's partition to let them in.
Then, from inside the bar, he pushed open the back door, which was almost integrated with the wall. As they were about to enter, he handed each of them a mask:
"You know the rules here. Keep an eye on your new companion."
"Understood."
Princess whispered softly.
Behind the wall was also a tavern, and aside from the lack of prominent doors and windows, the decor and tables and chairs were almost identical to the outside, though the space was slightly smaller and there were very few customers.
Princess had introduced this place on the way. The back of the Seven Broomsticks Tavern was specifically for Ring Sorcerers and could only be entered through an introduction from an acquaintance.
Compared to the relatively single-function Old John's Pawnshop, Black Raven Library, and Corpus's Night Shop, the Seven Broomsticks Tavern had an extremely rich array of functions.
Transactions of Ring Sorcerer spell materials, exchange of books and Knowledge, sale of relics, and even Ring Sorcerer gatherings could all be realized here.
Tobesk, of course, also had similar places, but none were particularly safe.
Compared to the Northern Pearl, only in Coldwater Port, with its relatively strong atmosphere of freedom, could a Ring Sorcerer gathering place of this scale exist.
The "freedom" here not only referred to the relatively relaxed municipal management of Coldwater Port City's Wharf Area but also to the Wharf Area's chaos.
As the most important port on the Old Continent's West Coast for travel to the New World, Coldwater Port was completely different from Tobesk.
The owner behind this tavern was a local 9-Ring Sorcerer.
Although Princess could not recall his name, a High-Ring Sorcerer was enough to deter anyone who dared to cause trouble here, so if Xia De intended to have a fixed trading channel in Coldwater Port City, this tavern was quite good.
Most of the Ring Sorcerers in the tavern were wearing robes or relatively loose coats, gathered in groups of two or three, sitting at tables and talking in low voices.
There was also a bar here, with three men standing behind it.
Two of them were ordinary people, wearing bartender uniforms and wiping glasses, while the other was a bald strong man in a sailor's shirt with anchor tattoos on both arms; he was a Ring Sorcerer.
Princess led Xia De to the bar:
"I brought a newcomer; he wants to become a regular here."
"1 pounds."
The strong bartender said, looking up to appraise the masked Xia De.
It was another new expense, but this money could not be saved.
So, after paying, Xia De received a reddish coin.
The coin was an ordinary item, serving as a token to enter here, about two-thirds the size of a one-pounds alloy coin, with no patterns printed on either side.
With this coin, Xia De could freely enter and exit the Ring Sorcerer gathering place behind the tavern.
Although the fee was a bit expensive, he thought it was worth it.
"Any news today?"
Xia De was examining the coin, and the Golden-haired girl with ruby earrings tapped the bar counter and asked.
The bald strong man in the sailor's shirt shook his head and replied in very standard delarion common language.
His job was probably very boring, so he spoke weakly:
"Still the old news, that sage-level relic is making everyone uneasy, and now everyone is worried about accidentally touching the curse.
The Orthodox Church is still looking for that deep-sea Mermaid who can use firearms, but it is said there's no progress; she seems to be directly linked to an evil god."
It took Xia De a moment to realize that "deep-sea Mermaid" referred to him.
"Speaking of which, have you heard how many Mermaid statues the Orthodox Church has recovered now?"
This was the bartender asking Princess.
"As of yesterday, the news I received was about 13 statues, but the total number of those statues is 20.
I also remember hearing a few days ago that the Orthodox Church had already discovered at least 30 curse infectees."
"Your news is outdated."
The bartender shook his head:
"The number of recovered statues is 15, and the unlucky cursed individuals are 72.
The remaining five statues are missing, and now even here, we prohibit trading statue-like items.
Who knows if some lunatic, after being infected with the curse, might want to infect more people to force everyone to find a way to break the curse."
The bartender said, then carefully scrutinized their attire, as if worried they might be hiding a statue under their clothes and suddenly pull it out to surprise him.
"Last week, we were still here laughing at the Ring Sorcerers in Tobesk for their bad luck, but we didn't expect it to be our turn so soon.
But if you ask me, it's a good thing that what happened in Tobesk happened; otherwise, wouldn't Coldwater Port have become the unluckiest City in Delarion this summer?"
He said with some schadenfreude, then poured two glasses of ice water and pushed them to the two.
Like the "72 people" news just now, this ice water was also free, so it seemed the 1 shilling entrance fee was worth it.
"This kind of sage-level relic cannot have only the curse as its characteristic.
If this matter is not resolved immediately, something big will definitely happen later."
Xia De also joined the conversation; he didn't want to discuss how unlucky the Tobesk Ring Sorcerers were.
"Who's to say? But there's very little news about the relic; even the Orthodox Church can't find a solution for a while and can only try its best to contain the statues."
"However, I heard that the sage-level relic 【Mermaid's Dream】 is related to a ritual called 'Sea Return,' and the Orthodox Church is working in that direction."
Princess said unexpectedly, and the bartender's brows furrowed slightly:
"Are you sure? I remember 'Sea Return' is a local folk song in Coldwater Port."
"I just heard someone mention it; the Orthodox Church should know too."
The Golden-haired girl said, knowing that Xia De was not familiar with local folk songs, she softly hummed:
"The Mermaid's song drifts over the harbor,
Even the bleeding pirate ships lower their sails.
The red ocean ripples,
That beautiful girl walks into the deep sea."
Although it was just humming, Princess's singing voice was extremely pleasant; she must have received professional music training.
As for this nursery rhyme, it sounded like people describing the appearance of a Mermaid and the scene of her enchanting pirates.
It was not strange for such a nursery rhyme to appear in a port City like this.
But this reminded Xia De of the "pirate" matter he saw in Lemeir's safe house this morning.
The bartender sighed:
"Oh, I'd rather believe this is really a clue to solving the curse.
However, no matter how bad things get, there shouldn't be an evil—"
He suddenly paused, then raised a hand and slapped himself:
"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!"
He unhygienically spat several times into the bar, then explained:
"People of the sea believe that you must never casually mention dangerous things; the more you mention them, the more likely those dangerous things are to happen."
"Ridiculous superstition."
Princess scoffed indifferently, but Xia De greatly appreciated this view.
