For the joint operation on Wednesday, Princess Leia had made ample preparations. She had arranged a special carriage and coachman in advance and created a convenient fake identity for herself.
Xia De was still an MI6 secret agent operating covertly in Coldwater Port, while Leia was a writer active in the Coldwater Port Wharf Area, contributing to the local "Tuna Literary Journal." She had a complete set of documents, and unless someone directly recognized her face, no one would be able to expose her identity.
"Do you often do this? I mean, do you also use fake identities to move around in Tobesk?"
Xia De asked curiously as they boarded the carriage.
"I used to do it often before I met Dorothy, because Father's discipline was very strict, and no one in the family dared to disobey his wishes. Even a princess like me, who is already an adult, or my brothers, who are princes with children, can't expect any freedom unless they give up their titles. But it's been much better since I met Dorothy. I occasionally ask her to let me use her body to act, which is really interesting."
It sounded like Delarion's current king was very strict with his children.
"Does this 'Tuna Literary Journal' really exist?"
Xia De became interested in her press credentials again.
"Of course."
The Princess said, and after the carriage started, she asked the maid in the carriage to help pour tea. The carriage looked ordinary from the outside, but it was fully equipped with various items inside. There was a fixed small table, tea sets, incense, and Xia De even found a rifle in a secret compartment under the carriage seat.
"This identity is real."
"You bribed the local newspaper?"
"Of course not, the 'Tuna Literary Journal' is my own property."
Xia De immediately showed an expression of sudden realization. The Outsider prided himself on being knowledgeable, but his imagination for rich people was still a bit too limited.
The destination of this visit was in the dilapidated Old Town bordering the southern district and the Wharf Area of Coldwater Port City. That was the old site of Coldwater Port City's urban area before the New World was discovered. However, as the exploration of the New World deepened, the center of Coldwater Port gradually moved to the northern part of the City, which was more suitable for building deep-water docks, causing large areas of the Old Town in the southern part of the City to be abandoned.
There were still residents there now, but most were elderly people who cherished old memories or poor people who couldn't afford to rent houses in the City.
The carriage carried the two, and at eleven o'clock in the morning, it brought them to the old street called Kazim Lane. This street was the dividing line between the coastal Wharf Area and the Old Town in southern Coldwater Port. Looking east along the alley, one could vaguely see the Peace Church with old-fashioned classical spires. That old church had a history of nine hundred years and had undergone multiple reconstructions, representing that the Peace Church was the first church among the Five Gods Church to take root in Coldwater Port.
Rain was still falling, moss covered the corners of the walls, and there was almost no one on the street. The desolation of the old alley was not only due to the rain; judging from the nearby boarded-up windows, the empty open shop doors, and the dilapidated, potholed gravel road surface due to disrepair, even on sunny days, there probably weren't many pedestrians on the streets of the Old Town.
It was best not to be too conspicuous when moving around in the nearby area, especially in the Old Town east of Kazim Lane. It wasn't that Xia De discriminated against the lower-class citizens who clung to old times, but in this port City, most of the residents who lived in such a gloomy and damp Old Town were gloomy and resentful, full of hostility towards Outsiders.
Leia had told Xia De on the way that the nearby area was one of the most concentrated areas for missing Outsider incidents in Coldwater Port.
The Ring術士 who claimed to have removed the Mermaid's curse lived on the ancient street in front of them. Xia De and Princess Leia got out of the carriage at the intersection of the street and walked onto the street, each holding an umbrella. They had skillfully applied makeup in the carriage, and in an era when photography technology was backward and there were no clever recording methods, such a disguise was sufficient.
Coincidentally, as the two got out of the carriage, another taxi carriage stopped at the intersection. Xia De and the red-haired girl both looked over curiously and found that two men, carrying notebooks and wearing glasses, got out.
The older one wore a white shirt with an old-fashioned brown double-breasted vest over it, and a black fountain pen clipped in his pocket. He was about fifty years old. The younger man looked about five or six years older than Xia De's appearance, his hair meticulously combed, and after getting out of the carriage, he curiously looked at the surrounding streetscape.
Both held umbrellas, and identical badges hung on their chests. The older one also held a cane. Xia De glanced at the Princess, who quietly explained to Xia De:
"That's the badge of a local university in Coldwater Port. I remember it's... Coldwater Port Third Mechanical Manufacturing Institute. These two men should be scholars from the school."
The scholars who got out also noticed Xia De and Leia, but since they had no interaction, seeing that both parties were dressed very decently, they nodded through the rain as a greeting.
However, as the four walked forward along the street, Xia De unexpectedly found that their route seemed to overlap with his own.
"Excuse me, are you also here to visit Mr. Jude, the antique collector?"
The young scholar asked quietly on the side of the street after getting a little closer. And seeing the strange man approach, Leia dodged away, while Xia De slowed down and chatted with the other party:
"Yes, this lady is a reporter from the 'Tuna Literary Journal,' and I am her assistant, also a bodyguard. May I ask who you are...?"
Although the social atmosphere in this era was relatively open, and it was normal for women to work outside, female reporters who acted alone usually had a male assistant when going out, also for safety.
Leia nodded rather coldly to the young scholar, who was attracted by the pretty girl's face and quietly explained:
"This is my teacher, Professor Katia, and I am Lim Scott. We are here to visit Mr. Jude for our research topic."
Professor Katia nodded kindly to the red-haired girl and Xia De, who both had outstanding temperaments.
"Are you scholars?"
Xia De asked again.
"Yes, folklorists."
Leia had no reaction, but Xia De blinked. According to the tropes of classic horror novels he had read, when visiting such a remote Old Town, with most of the information about the visiting object unknown, the appearance of three professions—reporter, Detective, and folklorist—among a group of four was a very ominous sign.
"My teacher and I are working on a project about the Old Town in southern Coldwater Port. Mr. Jude, who lives here, has some information that interests us, and we came here through an introduction."
The young scholar continued, and Xia De also explained that he and the lady beside him had come to collect information for a special topic on the renovation of the southern Old Town.
Since both parties wanted to visit the same person, the four walked together. With the cover of the two folklorists, Xia De and Princess Leia's visit could also appear more natural.
However, when the group arrived at the bottom of the centuries-old stone building, Xia De looked at the rainwater sliding down the wall and felt that this trip would not be so simple.
Most of the buildings in the Old Town in southern Coldwater Port were old houses from centuries ago, probably due to local customs. The houses were mostly gray stone buildings and were not painted.
After knocking on the somewhat rusty iron gate, it took a long time for someone to open it for them. Behind the door was a gloomy-looking middle-aged man with heavy eye bags and dull skin. He was wearing a leather apron with scattered white marks on it, which looked like flour:
"Good morning, sir. We are reporters from the 'Tuna Literary Journal,' and these two are folklorists from the Coldwater Port Third Mechanical Manufacturing Institute. We are all here to visit Mr. Jude."
Xia De and the young Mr. Scott handed over their business cards as reporter and professor respectively, representing the identities of the two teams.
The middle-aged man took the business cards, glanced at them with his slightly bulging eyes, and then looked at the four people standing at the door holding umbrellas. His complexion was very bad, and his accent was very strange, with a gurgling sound occasionally coming from his throat:
"Good morning, gentlemen and ladies. Please come in first and wait in the hallway. The master is reading in the study on the second floor. I will go and inform him. Please do not wander around."
The gentlemen let the reporter lady in first, then each wiped their feet clean on the doormat and placed their dripping umbrellas on the wooden umbrella stand at the door.
Without the owner's permission, the four temporarily stood in the hallway. Fortunately, this rather old building was even larger than Xia De's Saint Delan Square Six, and it was not an exaggeration to call it a mansion, so it did not feel crowded.
Probably because of today's heavy rain, the humidity inside the stone building was no lighter than outside.
For some reason, the lights were not on inside, and the entire house was very gloomy on this rainy morning. The hallway, of course, had no windows, and the rainy day sunlight projected from the living room created large shadows indoors.
On the wall of the hallway hung a cold-toned oil painting depicting the ocean on a stormy day, with even capsized fishing boats in the storm.
And the four guests in the hallway stood in the darkness, looking at this somewhat terrifying oil painting, listening to the increasingly violent rain outside the door. The strange atmosphere in the room made them all involuntarily imagine what kind of person Mr. Jude would be.
The walls were covered with old, yellowed wallpaper, and behind the peeling wallpaper were mold-stained walls. This house has stood from ancient times until now, witnessing the changes of Coldwater Port over countless days and nights. To study local folklore, the house itself is of the greatest value.
If Dorothy was interested in gathering material, a visit to the house would certainly give her more ideas. And the peculiar atmosphere inside the house also fit the identity of Ring術士s.
Xia De was just curious whether Mr. Jude, who had not yet appeared, would suffer from rheumatism from living in such a place for many years.
