Beneath a gigantic bat symbol was a decaying, dilapidated bar adorned with various evil skull and blood patterns. It seemed not many customers were inside. Ryan had the two demon hunters and the half-elf stay outside while he and Gerard entered the bar.
"This place always makes me feel uncomfortable," Gerard whispered to Ryan with a serious look on his face.
"Sooner or later, we will level this place, completely destroying this cursed city," Ryan whispered back. "But not now. What we need to do now is to find a way to thwart the vampires' invasion."
"Yes, one day, we will come back here and bring destruction to the undead," Gerard's goatee trembled as if he was rolling with anger. "But not now."
Ryan nodded. Gerard was not originally part of Ryan's plan, but after discussing it with Francois, Gerard volunteered to participate, believing he could contribute.
Unlike many, Gerard was not a naive and overly dramatic knight. Being Francois's cousin, he was quite intelligent and strategic, flexible, and of course, his devout faith in the Lady of the Lake was a key reason. Ryan now understood why Morgiana was so hostile and wary towards Amelia while he was recovering.
The corruption of Chaos was everywhere. Only faith and ignorance could combat it. Either ignorance isolates corruption, or one must have firm faith while possessing wisdom and knowledge; otherwise, corruption is inevitable.
Entering the bar, the dim light, numerous cobwebs, and the smell of rotting wood assailed Ryan's senses. He scanned the interior, spotting a bartender in his fifties playing cards at the bar.
"Hello, I'm looking for Old Dyke," Ryan tried to appear as friendly as possible.
"I'm Old Dyke, but I never talk to anyone other than customers," the bartender seemed bored, engrossed in his solitary card game.
"Alright, two drinks then," Ryan and Gerard exchanged looks, and Gerard showed two fingers.
"What'll it be, ale? Butterbeer? Bretonnian brandy? Empire stout? Empire whiskey? Mead? Or Kislev vodka?" Old Dyke listed the drinks like a connoisseur.
"We'll have two glasses of 1467 Chateau Obeyron Bordeaux wine," Ryan boldly placed a large sum of gold coins on the counter.
Chateau Obeyron, a first-grade wine from Bordeaux, was Duke Bordreaux's favorite and pride.
"We have it," Old Dyke glanced at Ryan's gold coins, confirming they were genuine Imperial gold marks, then nodded. He stood up, motioned for Ryan and Gerard to sit down, and headed into the bar.
"I think Duke Bordreaux needs to keep a closer watch on his vineyard," Gerard joked seriously to Ryan. "Maybe there's a tunnel leading straight to Bordreaux?"
"Perhaps one of Duke Bordreaux's servants is a vampire, or one of the appointed vineyard managers is greedy. But that's not important to us. What's important is, we got Duke Bordreaux's treasured Obeyron wine for just twenty gold marks," Ryan too raised two fingers, a mysterious smile on the merchant's face.
If it wasn't the real deal, he and Gerard would have a reason to act.
After a while, Old Dyke brought over two glasses of wine, pouring the dark red liquid into oak cups. The aroma of the wine was pleasant, and it tasted silky smooth. Ryan and Gerard immediately confirmed it was genuine Obeyron wine.
"This is on the house," Old Dyke brought over a plate of horse meat sausage, then sat behind the bar.
Unlike the wine, the horse meat sausage was terrible, barely edible. Indeed, nothing good comes for free.
"...I don't have what you're looking for here," Old Dyke said suddenly, cleaning a wooden cup without Ryan having to say anything.
"How do you know what I came here for?" Ryan asked curiously.
"An Imperial merchant, in my shop, obviously wants to inquire about goods. But unfortunately, I've got nothing, not a thing," Old Dyke shook his head. "Finish your drink and leave, Imperial merchant, if you value your life."
"Can't you reveal a little? Or perhaps you could sell some wine to me?" Ryan continued trying, "Would you be willing to sell more Obeyron wine to me?"
"A hundred gold kroner... or gold marks," Old Dyke pulled out two bottles of wine from under the table. "Leave quickly, it'll be troublesome after a while, I need to go out too."
Ryan and Gerard left the bar with two bottles of wine. Albert whispered, "Did you find anything?"
"A bit, but not much," Ryan whispered back to his companions. "The rest depends on Estelle and Dace. Listen, Estelle, Dace, in a moment..."
Ryan suddenly stopped because Matthew Bard was approaching them from around the corner. The young knight, with arrogance and prejudice on his face, surrounded Ryan with a bunch of Grave Guards: "Mr. Gab-Newell?"
"Hello, and you are...?" The fat merchant appeared puzzled by the situation, scratching his head with a smile.
"I'm Matthew Bard, pleased to meet you, Imperial merchant." Matthew Bard also forced a smile as they shook hands.
After a brief handshake, Gab-Newell wanted to withdraw his hand, but Matthew Bard held on firmly, surprising the merchant from Marimburg. His face showed astonishment, "Ah? You're the Matthew Bard who lost to Sulia in the knight's tournament? The first female champion in two hundred years, the first runner-up defeated by a woman in two hundred years? What are you doing here? Hehehe~ I heard Miss Sulia is very beautiful~ Hehe~ Ah!!!"
Gab-Newell, disguised as Ryan, suddenly screamed like a pig being slaughtered, clutching his hand as if stabbed, and fell to the ground. The merchant's hefty body almost pulled Matthew Bard down with him.
The young knight pulled the merchant up, veins bulging on Matthew Bard's face. This incident was a lifelong shame for Matthew Bard; every time he dreamed back to his defeat by Sulia, he wanted to tear everything apart.
"Mr. Matthew Bard?! Please respect a merchant and your trading partner!" Ryan struggled to catch his breath, appearing very angry: "Your behavior is outrageous! I protest! Protest!"
Incompetent, weak dogs, the merchant's personality indeed matched those of Marimburg merchants. Seeing the fat merchant angry yet fearful, hastily signaling his guards not to act while protesting and smiling, Matthew Bard felt disgusted.
Thinking this, Matthew Bard subconsciously frowned, feeling something was off.
"A half-elf? A butler skilled in swordsmanship? And your guards? Mr. Gab? I apologize for my earlier rudeness, but could you explain how you found such skilled guards? And a half-elf?"
"Many people are willing to fight, as long as the price is right. I bring goods from Marimburg here, then pay to ensure my safety. What's wrong with that, Mr. Matthew Bard?" The merchant became indignant, his tone harsh: "Maybe you don't understand this, but why can't I hire a half-elf? Or a butler skilled in swordsmanship?"
"If it was one or two, I might believe you, but all your guards are exceptionally skilled, which is suspicious," Matthew
Bard remained doubtful, his handsome face scanning Gerard before focusing on his hand: "My goodness, dear butler, could you explain the callus in the middle of your index finger? This kind of callus can only be formed by practicing knightly swordsmanship from the age of seven or eight, after more than fifteen years of accumulation. I need an explanation, you Brettonian knight!"
Towards the end, Matthew Bard nearly shouted, "No one can hire knights from the Knight Kingdom. You must be an undercover agent sent to sabotage!"
Trouble! Ryan's expression changed slightly.
In this mission, everyone's identity was carefully considered by Ryan. Estelle and Dace, being half-elves, had experienced enough of the world's coldness from a young age and could skillfully handle most situations. There was no need to say more about demon hunters Albert and Jules; for them, from assassinating vampire counts to slaughtering entire corrupted villages, to finding a dog for a farmer, they could do anything for money, making it hard for them to slip up.
Amelia and Sulia, who had met Matthew Bard, were not brought by Ryan at all. Considering Alfred and Teresa might not be good at this, he had already sent Veronica to take them back.
The only uncertain factor was Gerard! This kingdom knight joined Ryan's plan at the last minute. He needed an assistant, but Gerard's identity was not as reliable and scrutinized.
"Speak?" Matthew Bard's face twisted with madness. He signaled the Grave Guards to tightly surround Ryan and his group: "If you don't explain, I won't take your lives, provided you all accept the Blood Kiss and become true vampires!"
"..." Ryan was about to demand to see the vampire lord, but he immediately abandoned the idea. At this time, mentioning this would inevitably agitate Matthew Bard's tense nerves.
This madman could ruin everything! Ryan subtly signaled the demon hunters and half-elf: prepare to act.
Unnoticed by Matthew Bard, Albert had already quietly reached for the hand crossbow behind his back.
Just then, Gerard spoke up, "Have you heard of Ricole?"
"Ricole? Isn't that a small island in Marimburg?" Matthew Bard said, puzzled.
"Exactly. So do you understand?" Gerard's face seemed to carry shame and reluctance: "I need money, a lot of money, for my life... I don't want to say more, can we leave it at that?"
"Wait, you mean, you're a descendant of Louis de Galle, who was exiled fifty years ago?" Matthew Bard remembered. Brittany did indeed exile a knightly noble family that failed in war. This family was later employed by Marimburg and granted the small island of Ricole for their settlement.
"Mr. Mallobaude, you understand why I'm in this line of work. Is it fun to constantly rub salt in someone's wounds?" Gerard impatiently said, his goatee fluttering lightly, his words carrying a strange accent. It was clearly an unskilled Brettonian noble language, his tone odd, as if cursing.
Matthew Bard was now somewhat uncertain: "You came back to Brittany to visit your homeland?"
"If I said yes, would you believe me? If you don't believe me, what's the point of me saying anything?" Gerard appeared unwilling to explain his identity, brushing off Matthew Bard's hand, looking angry and offended by Matthew Bard's baseless speculation: "Just like before, if I kept calling you the runner-up of the knight's tournament, would you be happy?"
"..." Being exiled was a very shameful matter, something no one would want to bring up too often, just like Matthew Bard didn't want to talk about his defeat in the knight's tournament. Thinking this, the young ranger knight felt empathetic. His expression still harbored deep resentment, but his face relaxed slightly: "I apologize for my rudeness. And you are...?"
"I'm Ronald," Gerard lied blatantly: "Ronald de Galle."
"Mr. Ronald de Galle, would you consider my employment? I need someone as capable as you by my side," Matthew Bard suddenly felt something was amiss.
The entire conversation seemed to be controlled by the person before him. Having been deeply taught by the Lichemaster Arkhan since childhood, Matthew Bard sensitively realized he had been led into a trap.
The young knight began to doubt this group again: "Perhaps you'd like to join me for dinner?"
"You need a guarantor. I won't casually dine with others, especially someone who just suspected me of being an undercover agent. You don't even have basic trust, can arbitrarily detain trading partners, why would I want to dine with someone like you?" Gerard unhappily refused, appearing dignified and offended: "It's up to my employer if he wants to go, but I won't."
"Oh! I'd love to go!" The fat merchant raised his hand: "That way, I can save on dinner money."
"…Next time then," Matthew Bard noticed the vampire lord Harl appearing, obviously coming after hearing news. Matthew Bard knew he actually had no real power; his authority entirely came from his godfather, Lichemaster Arkhan. Arkhan wasn't opposed to trading with humans, and if it came to reasoning, he was bound to be at a disadvantage.
After whispering to vampire lord Harl for a while, Matthew Bard waved to let the Grave Guards stand down.
...
An hour and a half later, inside an inn.
"I was scared to death, nearly ruined our plan because of a madman, Gerard? I didn't expect you to be so flexible," Ryan thought back to the incident and still felt frightened. Without a doubt, Matthew Bard doubted their identities. Ryan initially tried to lead the conversation to make him angry and forget about it, but Matthew Bard, who appeared polite and righteous on the surface, turned out to be such a madman behind the scenes. Merely out of anger, he intended to kill, nearly ruining Ryan's plan.
"Lying is a sin. I will confess to the Lady. But in the face of greater righteousness, in the task of protecting the country, these minor details are secondary," Gerard leaned back on the cushion, his clothes soaked through, also feeling relieved: "In the face of greater righteousness, my personal honor and disgrace are not important."
"Indeed! I believe the Lady will forgive you," Ryan nodded continuously.
At that moment, Estelle and Dace returned: "My lord, there's new information."
"What is it?" Ryan stood up.
"We followed Old Dyke and discovered he's still collecting hardwood and stone. Tonight, his transport team will leave the city and transport the materials to a location outside the city," Dace whispered.
"Good! Prepare for action!"
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