After leaving the club, Xia De returned to the House of the Blind and inquired about the location of the local black market from Ms. Michelle. Then, holding the travel map of Middlesburg, he strolled through the City while heading in the direction of the black market.
It is conceivable that Xia De would need to undertake many more adventures in this City before truly rescuing Priest Augustus. Therefore, he wanted to familiarize himself with the area as quickly as possible, at least to know which paths would facilitate his escape.
Unlike Tobesk and Coldwater Port, which Xia De was more familiar with, Middlesburg, as an inland City of the Old Continent near the mountains, had a more modern and industrialized urban style. It did not have the long history and political significance of the Capital, nor was it constrained by maritime trade like Coldwater Port, so the City's development leaned towards the docks.
After the advent of the steam industry, Middlesburg was able to wholeheartedly develop industrialization. Relying on its important transportation position and the abundant mineral resources on the northern foothills of Sicar Mountain, this mountain City's urban area has expanded and its economy has improved in recent years. However, correspondingly, despite being close to the mountains, the air pollution is only slightly better than Tobesk.
Most of the tall yellow-walled buildings facing the street are no more than a hundred years old, and the further one moves north, away from the mountainous area, the newer the municipal infrastructure appears. This is prominently displayed by the uniform steam and gas meters at street corners, and most of the metal pipes climbing the walls are not rusted.
After all, Middlesburg City does not have the conditions to expand south towards the Rommel Mountains. Therefore, although the steam factories and the traditional City center are in the South City, the living conditions in the North City are actually better.
Black smoke billowed into the sky, making the noisy City appear hazy, but this was the norm for this era. As one of the most important transportation hub cities in the central and eastern Old Continent, besides hearing various languages being spoken on the streets, there are also many Ring術士 residing locally and passing through, which has given rise to a large underground black market.
Similar to the situation in Coldwater Port, among the various black markets, some have a good reputation due to their credibility. The one Ms. Michelle introduced to Xia De was one of them.
The black markets in Xia De's impression were usually taverns or inns, used to conceal the strange phenomenon of strangers frequently entering and exiting. However, the one Ms. Michelle introduced to Xia De was located inside the Middlesburg Railway Station.
Xia De followed the map, turning at the intersection of Hank Wood Street. At this point, he could already hear train whistles coming from inside the station. The Middlesburg Steam Railway Station has an extremely large capacity, with trains constantly traveling south through the Rommel Mountains into the Carson Rick United Kingdom on the southern plains of the Old Continent, and north through the interior of the Delarion Kingdom in the northern Old Continent.
When the Outsider appeared at the station entrance, head down, holding a newspaper, no one paid attention to his unremarkable presence.
“It's even bigger than Tobesk Railway Station!”
Xia De murmured softly, then entered the station with the passengers carrying suitcases or backpacks beside him.
Middlesburg Railway Station is located in the southeastern part of the City and handles both freight and passenger transport. The interior of the station is extremely noisy and crowded, with a buzzing sound that is particularly irritating, and the air has a strong, choking smell of burning coal.
Amidst the clamor, Xia De first found the ticket counter and, according to the information provided by Ms. Michelle, bought a second-class carriage ticket for steam train number B823.
After waiting twenty minutes, Xia De, who was reading the Great City Player 1853 championship news in the newspaper, boarded the train at the station entrance.
His ticket was for carriage No. 2, but once the train started moving, Xia De walked towards the front of the train. The first three carriages of the entire train were for freight, and only the ones behind them were for passengers. Between the freight and passenger sections, there was a metal barred gate and a wooden door to prevent passengers from wandering off.
Xia De, holding his ticket, newspaper, and map, tapped on the wooden door through the gaps in the iron bars. Three short, one long, then three long, one short.
Then the wooden door was opened a crack:
“Who introduced you?”
The voice from behind the door asked.
This was a short-distance train, making a one-hour round trip between Middlesburg and a small town in the countryside. Only trustworthy Ring術士 and organizations within the City could obtain information, so the introducer had to be named:
“A nun from the House of the Blind. She also told me to tell you not to forget to deliver the goods you ordered last time to her.”
“We won't forget.”
The voice behind the door replied, then handed out a mask.
After Xia De put it on, a key was handed out from behind the door. Xia De used the key to open the barred gate, pushing it aside with a somewhat grating metallic sound. After returning the key to the doorkeeper, he officially entered the station's black market.
The first three carriages were all part of the station's black market area. The first carriage, closest to the engine, was for large transactions and required permission to enter. Carriages two and three were arranged like taverns, with one bartender per carriage, responsible for maintaining order and updating the transaction details on small blackboards hung on both sides of the carriage.
Of course, if one did not want to publicize transaction details, they could pay a large sum of money for the bartender to privately hold the transaction information and wait for a suitable trading partner to appear.
Xia De walked around the carriages once, not seeing anyone selling coin-type relics, and he wasn't interested in other information. So, he first found the bartender in carriage No. 3, explained his long-term request for coin-type relics, and then asked him if there had been any other unusual incidents in the local area during the half-month since autumn began.
The bald bartender charged Xia De 3 shillings for the information, then said:
“Does the Orthodox Church's anomaly count? They seem to be planning some major operation in autumn or winter, and they've been preparing since last year. If you're an Outsider Ring術士, don't provoke the Church here recently, or you'll definitely have bad luck.”
“I've also heard about the Church's anomaly here. What exactly do they want to do?”
But the bartender just shook his head:
“Besides the Church's anomaly, strange disappearance cases have suddenly increased here since late summer this year. No one knows why, and they can't be investigated at all, just like urban legends in tabloids.”
“Did this kind of thing happen here before?”
The bartender glanced at Xia De:
“Yes, but the frequency was very low, and it didn't attract much attention. These things mostly happen to ordinary people; I haven't heard of them happening to Ring術士.”
It seemed Priest Augustus had run into bad luck this time.
“Also, do you have any commissions for selling special coins here? They're not on the blackboard over there.”
“Indeed there are.”
The bartender nodded, and a smile appeared on Xia De's face behind his mask. As expected, in a City he hadn't visited before, the possibility of finding special coins was higher:
“Where is the trader?”
He suddenly remembered that when he bought a coin at the Seven Broomsticks Tavern in Coldwater Port, it was his first encounter with Darkness, and they even played a game of rhode cards. Therefore, Xia De suddenly felt nervous:
“Wait, the trader isn't here, is he?”
“Yes, the trader is me.”
The bartender lazily pointed to himself:
“Besides being brokers, we also acquire some less dangerous relics for sale. I only have this one here. If you want to buy it, we can trade now.”
As the train swayed, he pulled out a stack of documents from under the counter, rummaged through them for a long time, and finally pulled out one to hand to Xia De.
After thanking him, Xia De took the paper and found a round table by the window to sit down, carefully reading the introduction of the new relic:
【Poet Grade relic - Standing Coin, its appearance is a copper coin slightly larger than a one-shilling coin. One side has a pansy pattern, considered the reverse; the other side has the letter
written in what appears to be fourth epoch script, considered the obverse.
Characteristics: No matter the circumstances, when this coin is tossed, it always lands upright. If the space it is in has no concept of
the tossed coin will flip infinitely; the holder of the coin, when tossing other coins, will greatly increase the probability of the coin landing upright.】
“What kind of characteristic is this?”
Xia De thought suspiciously from behind his mask, then noticed two strangers sitting down at the table opposite him, whispering to each other.
【Containment Method: Place the coin upright on a flat surface with an angle to the ground not exceeding 12 degrees. Slight Vibration will not cause the coin to fall.
Negative Characteristics: If one side of the coin is pressed against a flat surface with an angle to the ground not exceeding 12 degrees, or if the above problem is caused by strong Vibration, then if the obverse side is facing up, the coin must be transferred through trade within 24 hours. The trader who acquires the coin will inevitably fall from a height to their death within 8 hours of touching the coin; if the trade is not completed, the holder of the coin will be forced to vomit one-third of their internal organs after 24 hours.
If the reverse side of the coin is facing up, one must consume at least 10 pounds of dried pansy petals (approximately 4.53 kg) within 4 hours, and then the coin must be transferred to another person through trade. If neither of these conditions is met, the coin holder will walk into a pansy field and disappear within 24 hours.】
“This is probably the relic with the weakest characteristics I've encountered.”
Xia De flipped through the document in his hand, then looked at the final price:
“15 pounds 3 shillings?”
Although it was a bit higher than he expected, it was just below his maximum acceptable price:
“It should be fine.”
He stood up and returned to the counter, telling the bartender he wanted to buy the coin. The bartender needed to go to the frontmost carriage to retrieve the item, so he told Xia De to find a place to rest first.
It so happened that someone was discussing the Great City Player 1853 in Tobesk City, so Xia De joined in. Afterward, even after obtaining the coin, he played two games of rhode cards with strangers to pass the time before the train returned to Middlesburg City.
Although they didn't know each other, playing cards was still very interesting, and Xia De was also able to learn more about the City from their conversations.
By the time Xia De had passed through the dense forest of Sicar Mountain and returned to Saint Delan Square Six via the ruined tower, it was already dark outside. Dorothy and Luvia were still there; the former was writing in the study, and the latter was calibrating her stargazing equipment on the third floor.
