Above the mage!

Chapter 343 Similar People
The total straight-line distance from Don to Lagos is 361 kilometers.

For an airship, this is not a very long distance.

So the airship soon arrived at its destination and landed smoothly at the airship base in Lagos City.

Compared with Don City, the landscape of Lagos City seems much more backward.

Not only are the buildings and streets shabby, but the number of airships flying in the sky is also very small, less than one-fifth of that in Dorne City, and most of them are old-fashioned.

Gao De got off the airship with his luggage in one hand and Anna in the other.

There are corresponding inspections when boarding the airship, but there is no such process when getting off the airship.

He followed the passage and left the airship base.

Gao De also wanted to ask about the specific situation of Anna's family, but Anna couldn't tell him anything specific. He didn't know whether she was intentionally hiding it or really couldn't tell him.

He also wanted to hand Anna over to the airship crew and ask them to send Anna back.

But every time he had this thought, Anna looked at him pitifully, with tears about to fall.

Although there is some element of showmanship in it, the emotions of [grievance] and [sadness] do exist.

The key point is that there are only these two emotions, and no negative emotions such as "complaint" or "anger" arise.

This makes it difficult for Gaode to be ruthless.

"What's your sister's name? What is she good at?" At the entrance of the airship base, Gao De hesitated for a long time, and finally asked.

Anna was slightly stunned, and then she cleverly understood the meaning of Goder's question. She smiled happily, and her big eyes narrowed together, like a crescent moon.

"My sister's name is Elsa, and she knows everything!" Anna said loudly and proudly.

"You're saying nothing."

"That's all Anna knows."

Gao De was even more helpless, but he had always been a decisive person. Once he had decided on something, he would not change his mind easily.

Besides, the little girl's full trust did benefit him a lot.

"But I'm here for a mission, so I have to finish the mission first before I can help you find your sister. Before that, you have to stay by yourself and don't run around, okay?"

"Of course, brother, your own business is more important. I'm very good." Anna acted very "well-behaved"
If you are really well behaved, you won’t sneak out by yourself.

Despite all the complaints, Gaode still put on a gentle smile.

Anna is very talkative, and seems to know that "acting" is useless in Gaode, so she quickly exposed her "naughty child nature".

But to be honest, a child who dares to sneak onto an airship alone must have a bit of a "bear" character and is absolutely a tough guy.

In Anna's trivial narration, which was as chirping as a bird, Gao De gradually learned some information about Anna.

The little girl, like him, was not a native of the Plantagenet dynasty, but came from another country.

She must have been born in a wealthy family, but for some unknown reason, her family fell into decline and her parents died. She was brought by her sister to flee to the Plantagenet dynasty and live with a good friend of her father who lived here.

However, because she still owed a large debt and the creditor might come to collect the debt at any time, after settling down, Anna's sister immediately went to Lagos to make a living.

According to Anna, her sister knows everything and is good at everything, so she can work in any industry in Lagos.

And she is only good at drawing and playing with toys.

Yes, the little girl called drawing runes "painting" and called the alchemical machine "toys".

However, a family that has access to a large number of alchemical machines might not be simply described as "rich"?
Of course, this doesn’t matter. No matter how profound Anna’s family was in the past, it has declined now.

When a Sea Sentinel apprentice mage goes out on a mission, the daily accommodation allowance is 3 silver dragons, in addition to 1 silver dragon's meal allowance and 1 silver dragon's city transportation allowance.

If you exceed this standard, you will have to pay for it yourself.

In general, this subsidy standard is sufficient.

After all, even in Dorne, where prices are the highest, 3 silver dragon coins can buy you a nice hotel.

In Lagos, where the economy has been severely depressed, 3 Silver Dragon Coins can even buy a night's stay in a hotel in the city center.

But it can only be the lowest grade single room.

Walking on the streets of Lagos, there are far fewer pedestrians on the road than in Dorne, and their clothing is obviously of a lower grade.

The humid sea breeze brought with it a foul smell, proving that the sanitation in Lagos city was not satisfactory.

The setting sun cut the landmark clock tower standing in the center of Lagos into two halves, and homeless people huddled among the peeling pillars.

Barefoot children with dark complexion were running in the streets.

Gao De walked along the street towards the town hall square, and all the hotels he saw along the way had iron signs saying "Vacant" and "Today's Special Offer" hanging on their doors.

The hotels in Lagos City, which had briefly prospered during the spiritual marrow fever, have now entered a more deserted phase.

Gao De counted all the way until he stopped in front of the eighth hotel with a sign saying "Vacant" on it.

A faded brass sign reads the name of the hotel:
Palm Tree Hotel.

A few clusters of ferns poked out from the gaps between the porch pillars. As I walked into the door, I saw the proprietress behind the counter applying palm oil to her curly hair for maintenance. An old handwritten parchment was placed on the table.

The parchment contained some wanted criminal information and a simple portrait hand-drawn by Lagos city officials.

Although the lines of those portraits are simple, they outline the features of the wanted criminals very clearly, and the names, places of origin, crimes committed and reward amounts of the wanted criminals are also marked in detail next to them.

Some important news would also be written on the last page of the parchment, such as the dynasty's laws and policies and some important war news.

However, the focus is still on the wanted criminal information, which makes it easier for hotel owners and customers to report suspicious persons in a timely manner.

The hotel room price list was hung high above the counter, written in black ink on a wooden board, with the prices clearly visible.

Gao De took a quick look and said, "Please book me a single room facing the street for three nights. I need a receipt."

There is no such thing as "invoice" in this world as in the previous life, but most regular hotels will provide handwritten receipts.

Receipts are usually made on special hotel stationery with the hotel's logo on it. The date of stay, room number, and detailed charges will also be noted on the receipt. Finally, the hotel staff will sign and stamp the receipt.

Hearing Gao De's request, the proprietress uttered an indistinct dove-like murmur in her throat, and her purple-red fingertips quickly took out a blank receipt from the drawer and began to write on it.

While waiting for the proprietress to write the receipt, Gao De flipped through the handwritten parchment on the table.

"A war broke out between the Principality of Ovoga and the Principality of Sidian, and the Principality of Sidian was destroyed." Finally, his eyes fell on a short brief on the last page.

The Principality of Ovoga and the Principality of Sidian had long been resentful of each other over territorial disputes and resource allocation issues. This time the conflict was completely intensified and broke out.

The Principality of Ovoga assembled its elite troops and used clever tactics to get around the rear of the Principality of Xidian and raid its supply lines, causing a shortage of supplies and great morale chaos in the army of Xidian.

Later, in the crucial decisive battle on the plains, the alchemical weapons of the Ovoga Principality exerted tremendous power, causing the defense line of the Sidian Principality to completely collapse.

Eventually, the capital of the Principality of Sidian was captured by the army of the Principality of Ovoga and the kingdom was declared destroyed. All members of the royal family were beheaded.

The reason why Gode noticed this briefing was that these two duchies, like the Duchy of Sean, were located between the Plantagenet Dynasty and the Holy Empire, and were located in the land where many duchies were located.

The Principality of Ovoga even has a small border with the Principality of Sien.

But that was all. Now, he was a true Plantagenet, a Sea Sentinel Mage.

"A single room facing the street, hot water available 3 hours a day, free breakfast, 9 silver royals a night, for a total of three days, I'll charge you silver royals." The proprietress said as she wrote the receipt.

Godard put down the parchment, took out a shiny gorse coin and pushed it over.

The proprietress skillfully swept the Plantagenet coins into the drawer with her fingertips and returned a silver royal to Gao De. She also wrote a receipt and handed it to Gao De.

"Sir, your receipt."

——Except for those official personnel who need to be reimbursed, generally no one will ask for receipts.

But she couldn't help but look at Anna, who was held in Goder's left hand, twice more, feeling somewhat puzzled.

The officer in front of me looked too young. It was impossible for him to have a child this old, but why did he bring the child with him when he went out on official business?
It's rare.

In the messy shed, dim light struggled to squeeze in through the gaps between the worn wooden boards, distorting the shadows of several men in the house.

They were sitting together, with a few glasses of beer on the table in front of them. Everyone had a bored look on their face and took a sip from time to time.

Da da da.

The sound of hurried footsteps came from far away.

The men immediately put down their wine glasses and looked towards the door vigilantly.

The door of the shed was pushed open, and a gust of wind carrying a foul smell blew in.

"We've received news from above that the mission to expel the water beasts from Lagos City has been issued by the Sea Sentinel. According to the news, the mission was issued yesterday, and the people should be here in the next two days. Everyone, please stop for a few days." The person who came in said loudly.

"Close the door first." shouted the man inside the house who had already covered his nose.

"It's been so long, and you're still being pretentious." The man who came in later cursed while quickly closing the door.

"It's the same again. The higher-ups want to force these untouchables to leave, but they don't dare to do anything ruthless. So they make us do these little tricks all day long, releasing some bugs and octopuses to disgust people." One of the men muttered in dissatisfaction, with a look of annoyance on his face.

"How dare the higher-ups take ruthless action? Once there are large-scale casualties, the sea sentinels won't send a wizard to drive away the water beasts, but will come down to conduct a thorough investigation. Harming civilians is a serious crime!" Another man took over the conversation and waved his hands as he spoke, as if to emphasize the seriousness of the matter.

"So we have to stay in this kind of place all day long. Damn it, if I stay here any longer, I'll be pickled. It's too smelly here. How can these untouchables survive here?" Another man complained.

"If they had a choice, why would they be willing to stay here?"

"Just bear with it. When we're done here, the reward won't be small."

"Well, even if we don't want to endure it, what can we do? It would be good if someone from the Sea Sentinel came. At least we can have a good rest for a few days."

"Take a break for a few days, and then come back to work again. It's bad enough if it smells, but it will be very painful if you get bitten by these bugs accidentally." One of them said, his eyes unconsciously falling on a huge bucket in the shed.

In the bucket, groups of larvae were swimming freely.

These larvae are strangely shaped, with slender bodies about the thickness of an adult's finger. They are a disgusting dark green in color, and covered with a layer of sticky, foul-smelling mucus.

Their heads are extremely small, with a pair of almost invisible black eyes on them. Their tails are wide and flat, swaying in the water, causing circles of turbid ripples in the surrounding sewage, and their bodies emit a strong stench similar to that of a rotting corpse.

"Let's release these larvae tonight, and then we'll withdraw."

Finally, the man who seemed to be the leader in the room made the final decision.

I used the key to open the slightly mottled wooden door, and a stale smell hit me in the face.

Godard carried Anna into the room, put away the luggage, put the little girl down, and left the Palm Tree Hotel holding Anna's little hand.

After a long journey, it was already time for lunch.

Not to mention Anna, children are more likely to get hungry.

It's time to experience some local food.

It's not hard to find, just any small restaurant will do.

Anna tore off a piece of fish with her hands, put it into her mouth and chewed it hard, making a "shashasha" sound, obviously not used to the food in front of her.

In front of them was a strange grilled fish covered with red spices.

This is a kind of catfish grilled on banana leaves, which is a local specialty of Lagos. It is wrapped in a banana leaf that is extremely heat-resistant, sprinkled with a special dipping sauce, and then grilled on a fire.

Next to it were five or six smoked fish connected head to tail, looking like squid rings.

Gao De looked at the serious expression on Anna's little face and couldn't help but smile: "If you don't like it, don't force it, just change another dish."

"My sister said that things are different now and we can't be as picky about food as before." Anna sighed, shaking her head, like a worried little adult.

Gao De smiled as he lowered his head and took a bite of fish. The taste was indeed strange, but he was taught to cherish food, so unless it was really hard to swallow, he would not waste food.

Two smoked fish that looked like squid rings were stuffed in, and the taste of this one was much better than the grilled catfish.

"I'll take you to eat something good when I have the chance. I'm not familiar with this place."

"Thank you, brother." Anna nodded her head seriously. Although she had tasted almost all delicious food when her father and mother were still alive and no longer had much expectation for food, she was still happy about Goder's casual promise and felt that he was a really good person.

After eating the local specialties, Godard took Anna back to the hotel.

It was already late today, and he was not a hard worker, so naturally he would have a good night's rest before setting out to carry out the mission tomorrow.

However, before resting, daily practice and rune training cannot be neglected.

This is the basic skill.

Gao De did not avoid Anna. After casting [Divine Guidance +] on himself, he took out the lacquered jade paper and rune pen and began to practice attentively.

Anna sat obediently on the bed, quietly watching Goder's every move.

After a long time, Gode came back to his senses from the rune in his hand. He looked up and found that Anna was still looking at him seriously as she did at the beginning.

This seems to be an incredible thing for a little child.

"Brother, are you okay?"

"Okay." Gao De put down the rune pen in his hand.

"Brother, are you a rune constructor?" Anna asked again.

"I guess so, although I haven't made a set of rune construction yet." God suddenly realized and looked at Anna in surprise: "How did you know?"

"I've seen my teacher practice this," Anna pointed at the lacquered jade paper on which Gode had just drawn runes, "He said he would teach me this in the future, after I become a formal mage."

At this point, Anna scratched her head cutely and said in a childish voice, "I already know everything the teacher can teach me. The rest can only be taught after I become a formal magician, so I can only play with those big toys."

"But." The little girl tilted her head and looked at Gao De, innocently and puzzled: "Brother, your rune range system has reached the second level, but you haven't made a set of rune construction yet?"

Gao De looked at Anna's big eyes full of doubt, and his heart was full of surprise.

He never expected that a five-year-old girl would know so much.

It seems that her previous family environment should be much better than she had previously imagined.

(End of this chapter)