Chapter 844: Pantanal Great Swamp
Because the harm of low-frequency use of the coin of wisdom is not great, some Ring術士 will use this coin as an auxiliary item when seeking inspiration and breakthroughs, and some ordinary people who have discovered its use have the opportunity to become famous people such as pianists, Writers, or famous Detectives.
This led to the coin, although only Poet Grade, being a bit more expensive, and Xia De spent 28 pounds to buy it.
“Also, the matter of Time Perception that you inquired about a few days ago has also come to light.”
The old man finished boiling the hot water and poured a cup of tea for Xia De. Although the lighthouse was dilapidated, the black tea leaves were quite high-grade:
“I don’t know where you heard that our Hermit Order has the Knowledge of the Old God Grey-Robed Sage’s cult, but you were right, we do. I wrote to the Keeper in charge of the Library and asked him to help me search, and it took two weeks to find what you wanted.”
Xia De looked at him expectantly, and Mr. Edmund shook his head:
“That’s a stone tablet with the Old God Grey-Robed Sage’s holy emblem on it. It was brought by the cult when they joined the Hermit Order, but no one knows how to use it.”
Xia De thought he probably knew. From his experience in Gaddis Library, that Old God should have set up the stone tablet so that one could see the Knowledge inside by speaking the stone tablet’s name.
“Also, this stone tablet only records one-third of the content—this is what is recorded in our Great Library, so you still have to find the other parts yourself. But the stone tablet cannot be given directly to you, you know, this is a quite precious item. More than one Ring術士 in the past has obtained Ling Runes related to libraries and books by touching that stone tablet.”
“So what do I have to pay?”
Xia De sat up straight:
“Do you want pounds?”
“Of course not, you need to do something for the Hermit Order.”
The old man said.
Xia De immediately smiled:
“I’m very familiar with this kind of work. It’s fair to complete a special mission to get a certain item. What does the Hermit Order need me to do? I can do most legitimate work... I can also do some illegal work.”
The old gentleman smiled and shook his head:
“We don’t do illegal things, at least not at the moment. It’s like this, don’t you often operate in Tobesk? Recently, Princess Margaret Anjou of Carson Rick will visit that City...”
It seemed that everyone was paying attention to this political event.
“We investigated and found that the Princess is a student of Success Higher Medical College, and due to some matters, she changed from formal to correspondence. Her talent is very good, and she is appreciated by Mr. Tadis, the vice-president of Cerces, and can borrow some books from Success Higher Medical College that are generally not allowed for correspondence students. Currently, that Princess has an ancient document, “The Secret of Immortality,” in her hand.”
Mr. Edmund took out a yellowed old photograph. Because it was black and white, the large book placed on the corner of the table in the photo was not particularly clear:
“It’s this one.”
“How old is it? fourth era? Or earlier?”
“No, no, no, it comes from the previous epoch, an old book left by the last Witch Emperor. And what you need to do is to copy the content from page five to page eight completely, according to the layout in that book.”
Mr. Edmund said, and Xia De frowned slightly:
“It doesn’t sound like a simple task, but it’s not difficult for me either. Left by the Witch Emperor... that wouldn’t be...”
He suddenly looked up, and the old man had an expression of “you guessed it”:
“I didn’t say it was related to whispering chapters.”
Mr. Edmund even knew that Xia De was suspected of being related to the Summoner who cut off the giant mermaid corpse by the sea, so he naturally knew that he also understood whispering chapters.
The old man held his teacup and took a sip of tea, as if they were chatting about relaxed topics like fishing harvests:
“Currently, Cerces has not realized the value of that book, and we also put in a lot of effort to find out that the Princess is also a Ring術士. You need to act quickly. Once you get the copy, the stone tablet will naturally be yours, you don’t need to worry about that.”
Xia De nodded:
“No problem, I’ll take this mission.”
If there really were fragments of the chapters in that book, then the Light Guidance Hermit Order giving a stone tablet related to an Old God would naturally be a fair trade. However, that stone tablet might not necessarily be what Xia De was looking for, and even if it was, the stone tablet was incomplete.
But this was still a very good deal. By copying the text from “The Secret of Immortality,” Xia De could also know what the new chapter fragments were. Even if the stone tablet given by the Hermit Order was of no value to him, just the chapter fragments alone were worth Xia De approaching that Princess.
Not to mention, his missions of “monitoring the Princess to find the Gray Headed Eagle” and “approaching the Princess to get to know the Guiding Moon” were all related to Margaret Anjou.
“Mr. Edmund, I really don’t know how to thank you for your help.”
Xia De said sincerely, and the old man shook his head:
“Young man, I admire you. You are different from almost everyone I know. It’s hard to explain, but you might become one of us. Speaking of which, there’s another thing I want to tell you. Don’t you often ask me about legends and myths from various parts of the Old Continent, as if you’re looking for something?”
“Yes, is there any clue about this?”
“I looked up some information based on the three clues you provided, and recently, while communicating with an old friend, I heard something interesting that might be helpful to you.”
He sat up straight, moistened his fingers with tea, and flicked them gently. A thin mist emerged, projecting a huge map of the Old Continent between them.
“Meow?”
The cat was very interested in this, and Xia De also widened his eyes slightly. This was a sophisticated technique of controlling “water.” Even with “Flame Shaping,” Xia De could not achieve similar precise control over fire.
“Do you know the Pantanal region?”
“Of course I do.”
Xia De pointed to the sunken area in the west-central part of the Old Continent:
“The Pantanal region refers to the Great Swamp area west of the border between Delarion and Carson Rick (Note), and its area is two-thirds of the Rommel Mountains. In the old era before the Steam Age, because it was extremely unsuitable for human life, the development of that area was relatively slow. Even in our era, due to climate reasons, the swamp has shrunk significantly, but the Pantanal region is still rainy all year round, and it’s muddy everywhere. However, this area is politically important, and both countries have deployed a large number of troops in the swamp area.”
He paused and added:
“A Captain friend of mine said that serving in Pantanal is the second worst choice, only after serving in the far north.”
The Captain naturally referred to Captain Lades. Xia De recently heard that he was about to return to Tobesk for a report due to his meritorious service in the Battle of Mi Fort. The Kingdom has officer promotions at the end of each year. If Captain Lades could “maneuver” during his report in Tobesk, he might really be able to go from Captain to the same rank as Xia De currently, Major.
This was a qualitative leap.
Mr. Edmund nodded:
“Yes, most of the Pantanal region’s sovereignty is in the hands of Carson Rick in the south. There are no large Cities within the entire region, only isolated small villages and market towns. I haven’t been there, but I’ve heard that it’s full of mud, mosquitoes, snakes, and ants everywhere, and it rains all year round, with various strange creatures appearing in the depths of the swamp.”
The old gentleman pointed to the misty map:
“And on the north and south sides of the Great Swamp are the capitals of the two countries, Tobesk and Weilandale City.”
“I’ve heard many legends about that place.”
Xia De leaned back slightly against the back of the old sofa:
“Because it was rarely visited in the old era, many rare animals live there. It is said that many wanted Ring術士 also hid in the depths of the swamp, but after the New World was discovered, they all ran to the New World.”
He hesitated for a moment:
“It is said that a long time ago, there were many Unicorns and Landfowls living there, I don’t know if it’s true.”
“It’s true, but that was in the last epoch.”
Mr. Edmund said:
“Moreover, the local natives’ beliefs are also very strange. They believe in Pantanal itself and that Pantanal is indeed the heart of the entire Old Continent, and they even organized an obscure Ring術士 organization. However, this is irrelevant to our topic today. There are not many large Cities within the Pantanal region, but in the Carson Rick jurisdiction south of the Great Swamp, besides Weilandale City, which is the capital, there is also a very important large City.”
Xia De squinted at the map. Weilandale’s location had already been lit up by Mr. Edmund. He pointed to the north of Weilandale City, in the southeast of Pantanal:
“City of Red Wine, Royal Capital Guard—Huntington City?”
A red butterfly flew out of Xia De’s hand and landed on the misty map. Mr. Edmund smiled and nodded:
“Yes, that’s the place.”
Huntington City is known as the “Royal Capital Guard” because it is almost impossible to cross the Pantanal Great Swamp and directly attack Weilandale from Delarion. The terrible environment of the swamp area and the huge lake in the center of the swamp together hinder large-scale troop movements, unless it’s a lightly equipped small team of infantry.
Therefore, to attack Weilandale from the north, one can only advance along the western or eastern edge of the Great Swamp.
This led to Huntington City effectively taking on the responsibility of guarding the royal capital in the eastern Pantanal. And in the relatively peaceful Steam Age, that City also saw tremendous development. Relying on its status as a northern transportation hub for Carson Rick, it became Carson Rick’s most important freight distribution center. Most large shipments traveling north, south, east, and west of the Old Continent had to pass through Huntington City.
As for the title “City of Red Wine,” it is because there are many vineyards around Huntington, especially in the south and east. The soil and climate here are extremely suitable for grape cultivation and red wine brewing. Famous wineries in the Old Continent, apart from those in the southern duchies of Carson Rick like Roselle Winery, almost all northern wineries are concentrated near Huntington City.
Even the vineyards and wineries of the Vampire Armand Bernhardt’s family are near Huntington. The letter left by the captured Vampire when he left Cassandra Auction House even invited Xia De to visit his manor in Huntington City.
“The legend of the Lake Goddess seems to be in Huntington City.”
Xia De understood what the old man was going to say.
“Specifically, it’s not that City, but west of Huntington, near the Great Swamp area. The legend of the Lake Goddess is an age-old local story. It is said that people with kind hearts and noble character can encounter the Lake Goddess and, after passing a test, gain the power they desire.”
“Possess noble character?”
Xia De repeated suspiciously, then began to ponder whether he met the requirements. But immediately, the content of the great sin list in Sin Mansion appeared before his eyes. The Outsider, currently entangled among the girls, did not seem to quite meet such strict requirements. And the scale of his great sin of “Promiscuity” probably increased again.
But no matter what, Xia De still decided to go and see near Huntington City. The acquisition of divinity was the most urgent matter at hand. The afterglow of divinity was gradually weakening, and he had to act quickly.
PS: Flip back, the bonus chapter has updated the Old Continent map.
