Above the mage!

Chapter 354 The Princess in Distress
As the port is an area with frequent personnel exchanges, there are many small restaurants or taverns serving crew members, dock workers, fishermen, passengers, etc.

Diagonally opposite the Harland Shipyard, there is such a small restaurant that opens early and provides simple and affordable breakfast, including bread, butter, jam, ham, eggs, sausages, tea or wine.

Although the environment is simple, it is full of life.

At the table in the small restaurant, Anna was unconsciously chewing a piece of bread covered with butter, while staring at the restaurant door.

Just then, a figure appeared there.

The little girl's eyes lit up and she put down the bread in her hand.

The figure came straight to the table and sat down. He picked up a piece of sliced ​​bread from the plate and stuffed it into his mouth. After swallowing it in two or three bites, he smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'll get it done."

"Have you found your sister?"

"Not yet, but your sister did come to the Harland Shipyard to purchase a ship, but she didn't have enough money, so she left to prepare, and she didn't leave any contact address."

"What should we do? If we can't find my sister, the bad guys will find this place too." Although Anna is young, she is very smart and aware of the danger.

"You don't have to worry about that." Gao De smiled slightly.

"Because I have signed a letter of intent with the owner of the Harland Shipyard to acquire his shipyard and ask him to take back all the relevant information about the transfer of the shipyard and the sale of ships."

"So, even if that bad guy knew your sister was planning to buy a ship, he would definitely not go to Harland Shipyard."

"Then I also told the shipyard owner that if your sister comes to buy a ship again, let her go to the Palm Tree Hotel to discuss with Miss Anna." Goder smiled slightly.

"My sister will definitely come when she hears my name. We just need to wait for her in the hotel!" Anna said excitedly.

"That's right," Godard rubbed Anna's head, which was shaking with joy, "Besides, we shouldn't have to wait too long."

After all, Haaland had already laid the groundwork in advance: "It has to be as soon as possible, the boat won't be kept if there are other guests."

With the price of the ship so favorable and Haaland offering conditions that are exactly what Elsa wants, Elsa will definitely raise the money in the shortest possible time and visit again to avoid missing out.

After stuffing all the bread on the plate into his stomach to fill his early stomach and drinking a large cup of tea, Gode picked up the little girl and left the restaurant.

"Brother, where are we going now?" Anna asked.

"The library." said Gao De.

"Oh, by the way, brother, why did you want to acquire the Harland Shipyard?" Anna was curious.

"Because it is very useful for some of the things I want to do," Gao De said truthfully.

"Brother, are you rich?" The little girl in his arms raised her head and looked at Gao De with her eyes twinkling.

With the girl's knowledge, she naturally understood the huge amount of money required to acquire a shipyard.

Even if it is just a small or medium-sized shipyard that is going bankrupt.

"No, I'm also worried about how to raise the money." Gao De said with a smile.

In Gaode's previous life, most cities had large public libraries.

The collections of these libraries often number tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of books, covering every field of human knowledge, from ancient historical texts to classic literary masterpieces to modern art albums. All are open to the public free of charge.

But in this world, this is something that is simply unimaginable.

It is a consensus among everyone that knowledge is expensive, and acquiring knowledge requires an extremely high price.

For many common people, books are almost equivalent to luxury goods - expensive but "useless".

This situation also results in all libraries in the world being privately owned, and all the books in them being extremely valuable assets of the library owners.

It’s just that some private libraries are like mysterious treasure houses, accessible only to a small number of people.

Some private libraries are open to the public, just like a potion shop or a grocery store. They are industries where people can pay a hefty fee to enter and browse precious books.

There are three such libraries in Lagos city.

The library that Gaode was looking for was the Lagos Library, which is officially run by the city of Lagos.

It is the largest of the three libraries, with the largest collection of books and the most comprehensive coverage.

The Lagos Library is located in a wide square in the city center, surrounded by ancient buildings and streets.

When Gode walked into the door of the Lagos Library, he saw a spacious hall with smooth marble floors and exquisite paintings hanging on the walls.

There is a huge spiral staircase in the center of the hall. The handrails of the stairs are made of carved oak, which looks simple and elegant.

Going up the stairs, you will find the library's various book rooms.

The library is neatly arranged with tall bookshelves, which are filled with a variety of books. Each book is carefully protected and exudes a faint book fragrance.

A waitress had come up to greet them and handed over a stack of cumbersome index parchment.

Reading books here is charged by the book or volume, so you need to search the catalog in advance to determine the title of the book you want to read, and the staff will deliver the book you selected later.

This stack of search catalogs is divided according to the fields covered by the books.

Gao De quickly turned to the geography parchment, then quickly scanned the titles of the books and quickly determined what he wanted.

The waitress brought Gao De to the front desk and handed the book selected by Gao De to the old man at the front desk.

The old man flipped through the large book on the counter, then raised his head and said, "Sir, you have selected four books, namely "Changes in the Royal Family of the Principality of Xidian", "Classification of Nobles and Royal Secrets of the Principality of Xidian", "Geography and Humanities of the Principality of Ovoga", and "Geography and Humanities of the Principality of Xidian". All of them are available for borrowing.

These four books are all from the second floor of this library. According to the regulations, the borrowing fee for the second floor is 5 silver royals per book. Four books cost 2 Plantagenet coins. You can freely choose to read in the reading area on the second floor or the first floor. There is no limit on the length of time until you leave the library. "

Even though he was mentally prepared, Gao De still had the urge to curse.
Four books, just for reading, and they were the kind that he couldn't take home, he could only read in the library. But he had to pay him 2 Plantagenet coins just for reading them once.

Calculated based on purchasing power equivalence, this is equivalent to one year's tuition for compulsory education in his previous life.

Despite the curses, Gao De still handed over the two Plantagenet coins obediently.

"On the second floor."

"Well, sir, please follow me."

"It's free," the waitress took Gao De to the reading area on the second floor and served him a pot of black tea. She then reminded him, "Sir, you are not allowed to copy, smudge, or damage the book while reading. Otherwise, you will have to pay double the original price."

Afterwards, another staff member brought over the four books selected by Gaode.

Gao De opened the book fiercely and vowed to read it back to its original cost.

Godard guessed that Elsa might come to him soon, but he never expected it to be so early and so sudden.

That night, Anna had just finished taking a bath, and God was wrapping the little girl's head with a towel, which was shaking constantly because of happiness, and drying her hair.

"Don't move. You need to dry your hair first, otherwise you will catch a cold easily." Gao De said while "rubbing" Anna's little head with a towel.

"Hehe." The little girl wrapped in the towel let out an indistinct laugh.

Suddenly, Gao De's hand movements stopped abruptly.

At some point, a woman appeared at the head of the bed.

His whole body was buried in his robe, with a hood covering his head, and his face was hidden in the shadows, so his true appearance could not be seen.

"Brother, what's wrong?" Anna asked in confusion when she noticed that Godard had stopped.

Gao De didn't know who the other person was, how he appeared in their room quietly, and what his origins were, but he knew he had to stay calm.

He held Anna, who was sitting on the bed with her head wrapped in a towel, behind his back with one hand, while keeping the towel wrapped around her head to prevent Anna from seeing this sudden uninvited guest and getting scared, and also to prevent the uninvited guest from seeing Anna's face.

At the same time, Gao De looked at the other party with a vigilant look, and his other hand was ready to cast a spell at any time.

The other person looked at Godd deeply, then said, "Anna, it's me." The next moment, Anna screamed "Wow", and her joy flew out through the towel.

She lifted the towel from her head.

The towel fluttered in the air.

"Sister!" Anna trotted in two or three steps and threw herself directly into the woman's arms.

The woman reluctantly caught Anna who threw herself into her arms, and the hood on her head fell down, revealing a beautiful face that was very familiar to Gao De.

"Elsa?" Goder asked the woman in front of him.

This is a very beautiful woman, with golden curly hair like a waterfall, casting golden spots under the light in the room.

She has a high nose bridge and golden eyes, and her facial features exude a mature charm.

After a slight hesitation, the woman with one arm around Anna nodded.

"Is it invisibility?" Goder asked again.

He was referring to the reason behind Aisha's sudden appearance.

Elsa nodded again.

That means Elsa is at least a second-ring mage.

Because [Invisibility] is a second-level illusion spell, its effect is to make a creature invisible and maintain the invisible state until the spell ends. The target's clothing and belongings will also remain invisible as long as they remain on their body. If the target launches an attack or casts a spell, the invisibility effect will disappear directly.

It was with this spell that Elsa just performed a magic trick.

In fact, it is just a second-level illusion spell, and it is very likely that the illusion-breaking ability of God's third-level Mandorla Magic Eye can see through it.

But under normal circumstances, how could God open the Mandorla's Magic Eye?

"Who are you?" Aisha asked back.

"God, the Sea Sentinel Mage, met Anna on the airship from Dorne to Lagos. She asked me to help her find you."

"Sister, brother is a good man. I sneaked onto the airship and the lady on the airship wanted to catch me. Fortunately, brother survived." Anna chattered in support of Gao De and briefly introduced her experiences over the past few days.

After hearing Anna's words, Elsa looked at God as if he were a monster. After a long silence, she said in disbelief: "You are a sea sentinel mage, how could you agree to the request of a five-year-old girl?"

This does sound ridiculous.

If an ordinary person met Anna on the airship, the first thing he would do was to hand Anna over to the airship staff.

Even if he did not expose Anna out of soft-heartedness, he should have handed Anna over to the local officials as soon as possible after getting off the airship, instead of taking unknown risks by keeping Anna with him, let alone helping Anna find himself.

"Why not? She asked me for help, and I could and would help her, so I agreed, even though she was just a little girl."

"You are indeed a good person." Aisha was slightly stunned, then praised sincerely.

"Don't give me the nice guy card. I don't think I'm a nice person." Gao De shook his head and said, "Besides, nice guy is not a nice word."

Elsa didn't understand why "good person" was not a good word, but since the other party didn't like it, she naturally didn't say it.

"Then you approached Harland Shipyard with a portrait of Anna, and even wanted to acquire Harland Shipyard?"

"The first half is correct, but the second half is not," Goder corrected him seriously, "I want to acquire the Harland Shipyard because I need it myself."

"How did you do it?" Elsa asked curiously.

"It's not complicated actually." Gaode briefly introduced his approach and ideas.

"You are such a wise person." Elsa exclaimed again.

"You're welcome." Gao De expressed modesty.

"Anyway, I would like to express my gratitude to you, Master Gode, for taking care of my sister these days." Elsa put Anna on the bed, then pulled up the corner of her robe, knelt down in front of Gode, and performed a standard noble salute.

Gao De accepted it calmly.

"Are you going to take Anna away?" he then asked.

"Of course." Elsa was stunned for a moment before answering.

"Where are you planning to take Anna? According to what Anna said, there are bad guys following you." Gao De said again.

"My original idea was to buy a boat and then take it to get rid of those bad guys." Elsa was silent for a moment before she spoke.

"If I'm not mistaken, you don't have a clear destination at the moment, Princess Elsa."

Elsa's face changed, and she subconsciously hugged Anna, took a step back, and looked at Godard with a wary face.

"If I were your enemy, you would have fallen into a trap when you entered the room, and the people who were lying in ambush would have rushed over and captured you." Facing Elsa's stress reaction, Gode was very calm and said slowly.

Elsa was stunned for a moment, then thought about it carefully and realized that it was indeed the case, and then she returned to normal.

"How did you know that? Did Anna tell you?"

"No, Anna didn't tell my brother!" Before Gao De could answer, Anna immediately raised her hand to prove her innocence.

"Yes, brother, how did you know?" After proving her innocence, the little girl couldn't resist her curiosity and stared at Gao De with wide eyes.

Gao De smiled slightly and slowly explained his analysis process.

After discovering Anna's extraordinary insight and talent, he could indeed guess that Anna's background was not simply "favorable conditions", and he also doubted her background.

But he could never have inexplicably connected Anna's identity with the recently destroyed Principality of Sidian mentioned in the handwritten parchment, and he would never have thought that Anna was a "runaway princess."

When did this speculation begin?
In fact, it was just last night when I met the "bad guy" who was looking for Elsa at the hotel front desk.

He found that there was something very unique about that man: his ears were different from the usual rounded outline, but were abnormally long and slightly curved at the tips.

The instructor mentioned this in the geography class at Ceres College.

The territory of the Principality of Ovoga is full of undulating hills, crisscrossing valleys, and dense forests covering large tracts of land. In ancient times, elves once lived there.

Although there was no trace of the elves here later, the people living here, that is, the people of the Principality of Ovoga, all had long and curved ears like elves, which may mean they have a certain elven bloodline.

This is the distinctive physical feature that distinguishes the people of the Ovoga Principality from those of other regions, it is scorpion poop.

So, the "bad guy" was undoubtedly from the Principality of Ovoga.

With this as an introduction, Gao De naturally thought of the brief report he saw on the handwritten parchment in the foreground about the destruction of the Principality of Xidian by the Principality of Evoga.

The fact that the Ovolga people went through so much trouble to track her down all the way to the Plantagenet dynasty, coupled with the various peculiarities displayed by Anna, makes it almost certain that Anna must be from an aristocratic family in the Principality of Sidian.

"That only proves that we are nobles. How can we conclude that we are members of the royal family?"

"It's like this. The current conditions don't allow me to confirm your specific identities." Gao De nodded and continued.

“So, today I went to the Lagos Library again to borrow books about the Principality of Sidian and the Principality of Ovoga.”

"In the book 'Classification of Nobles and Royal Secrets of the Principality of Xidian', I saw a very interesting introduction: During the weaning period of infants, the royal family of Xidian would use Xidian lavender honey, a specialty of the Principality of Xidian, to smear silver spoons. This honey has a mellow taste and can help newly weaned infants eat better."

"It's just that this Xidian lavender has a special fragrance and the ability to retain its fragrance is very strong, so this habit will cause the thumb and index finger of the baby's right hand holding the silver spoon to carry a special fragrance."

"Of course, as babies get older and no longer need this method to wean them off the milk, the scent on their fingers will gradually fade until it disappears completely."

"But." Gao De looked down at Anna. Anna was listening to him attentively and seriously. When she saw Gao De looking at her, she immediately gave him a sweet smile.

Godard smiled back and finally said, "Anna is only five years old."

(End of this chapter)