Your Majesty's money, why don't you engrave my name on it?

"Not being able to learn is not necessarily a bad thing. If something can be done in a roundabout way, then other methods may also be possible." Leslaufer naturally came into contact with many more people than Angelita, but he usually had no tricks to learn from those people.

"When the empire was first established, there were 4,600 knight lords. Now that's at least double that," the girl laughed. "Luckily I'm not going back, otherwise you'd probably have me beating them up!"

"Just leave this little thing to me. Don't worry, it might be a little tiring at first, but the smartest ones will learn to avoid getting beaten a second or third time. Then you can relax."

"That's not what I said, but I actually think it makes sense. Uncle Leslaufer, I just heard someone say they're going to the tavern tonight. Is that where we're going to dock?"

Upon hearing this, Reslaufer pulled out a map and compared it with other maps before arriving at his answer. "It's the town of Diaogou in the Fika Kingdom. There's a large lake and a river nearby. They say the perch is delicious, and the wine brewed from the lake water is considered a local specialty. The locals make a living from it."

"The Kingdom of Fika...those Dragonborns really ran quite far." Angelita's thoughts seemed to have not yet gotten rid of the Dragonborn, and she couldn't help muttering.

"It can't be helped. According to what they said, the ritual required for the Dragon Finger is quite demanding. Besides, it's unlikely that he would dig up and place the body on a truly important main road. He was lucky to find such a suitable location in West Inassus."

As Leslaufer spoke, the carriage had already stopped. The mercenary opened the door and looked out. "Come on, we need to get off. There seems to be a checkpoint ahead."

Reslaufer's words were true. Three wooden fences, filled with deer antlers in the middle, blocked the road ahead, creating a formidable posture. Atop the fences were notices of people who had recently gone missing. Among them were adventurers, road maintenance workers, scouts, and even ordinary villagers.

While Philip and the caravan leader were negotiating, Reslaufer took a quick look. About 30% of them were local people near Diaogou Town, another 50% were missing persons from other areas of Fika, and a few were foreigners, mainly from the Kingdom of Latour.

"I never knew the kingdoms of Western Inassus had such good relations with each other," Leslaufer curled his lips. "They even have to help other families find their children?"

"What a good relationship!" A soldier muttered after hearing Reslaufer's words. "May there be no place for those Latour apes in the Nine Hells! They killed my uncle, and now I have to help them find someone else!"

The Kingdom of Latour and Fika are actually quite far apart from each other. There is no geographical friction between the two sides, and they even had a good relationship. However, a palace scandal occurred many years ago, which led to a blood feud between the two kingdoms.

At that time, the Kingdom of Latour had formed a marriage alliance with another kingdom, marrying a widow who had inherited her husband's fiefdom. Originally, as long as the fruit of their love was born, the Kingdom of Latour would naturally take over everything.

But who would have thought that the marriage between the female lord and her second husband was really not smooth. At a banquet, she and the king of the Fika Kingdom, who was still a prince at the time, fell in love with each other. After several romantic encounters, the queen of the Latour Kingdom eloped with the prince of another country with the help of her family knights!

Naturally, no one could tolerate such a scandal. The king of Latour led his troops to seize the prisoners, but Prince Fika brought a much larger force. A fierce battle ensued in the wilderness, ultimately resulting in both sides suffering heavy casualties. The Fika still often refer to the Latour people as "Latour apes," to which the latter respond with "Fika pigs."

This was also one of the reasons why Philip and Witte arranged this route: Fika was unlikely to extradite people to Latour.

"If that's the case, why are these hanging here?" Reslaufer pointed at a few on the fence. "You couldn't have just put them there casually, did you?"

"It's said those monkeys suspect we've kidnapped them. Tsk," the officer who had just questioned Philip walked over as he spoke. "Although I think they're just looking for revenge, we can't give them any excuses, right?"

"That makes sense," the mercenary nodded in understanding. The Fika Kingdom would indeed leave no evidence. If these people were also the unfortunate ones kidnapped by Fidel as ritual sacrifices, they would now be nothing more than a pile of ashes, and no one would be able to bring them back to the Latour Kingdom.

"I heard that the Dragonborn in the wilderness have been making moves recently. They're already swamped with lawsuits themselves, and yet they're planning to take advantage of us. It's really..."

"But a lot of people have gone missing recently. Since you're a soldier, I'd like to remind you: don't wander around if you have nothing to do, especially at night. Most of the missing people here go missing at night. Civilians say they were taken away by lake monsters. Although we don't believe it, it's still best to be careful."

Chapter 205 The Strange Man in the Tavern

"Lake monster?"

"It's a lake monster, that's what they say anyway. No one's ever seen one alive," the officer sneered. "If everything said about it was true, we wouldn't have even caught a single fish from the lake."

"Boss, you can't say that. My aunt's third uncle saw the lake monster a while ago. It was shocking! Two big, shiny eyes!"

"That old man is just a drunkard, get out!" The officer kicked the soldier and turned to shout at Reslaufer, "Get over it quickly. Don't worry about lake monsters or not. Just don't cause trouble for us."

"Then you can rest assured, Boss," the mercenary said as he left with a smile, "I promise I won't cause you any trouble."

"I always feel uneasy when you say that..." Daisy happened to come over and immediately muttered when she heard the words.

Although it was an inspection, Qingzun City still had considerable influence in West Inassas. Everything was settled just by Philip's appearance. Angelita did not get out of the car, and even Black Claw was still hiding in the box and was not discovered by anyone.

The name of Diaogou Town comes from the statue at the entrance of the town, which shows a man carrying a fishing rod in one hand and holding twenty or thirty sea bass in the other. On the man's chest, there is a large letter "J" twisted into the shape of a fishing hook.

Fly Fishing Jeff is said to be the earliest settler of Fishhook Town. This man, who truly loves fishing, immediately settled down after discovering this treasure land with beautiful water and juicy fish. The statue shows his best catch of the year: 26 bass caught in one day.

"Wow, a fisherman with no air force!" Daisy exclaimed as she took out her guitar. "This is definitely worth writing a song about! Wait a minute, let me think about how to tune it..."

The caravan had its own things to do, and Philip also needed to use this place to report his itinerary to his family. Leslough and the others were free, strolling towards the tavern to the sound of Daisy's unstructured notes.

"You guys want to come too?" Reslaufer suddenly stopped. Behind him, the five dragonborn of different colors had obviously attracted too many people's attention. "We're going to have a couple of drinks. Why are you kids joining in the fun?"

"The kid is as tall as you!" Jinmai bared his fangs in a protesting manner, "We want to drink too, and you don't have to pay for it!"

"Well, Little Wing, let's..." Edward retreated and cautiously tried to win Poison Wing's support. Dragonborns were not prohibited from drinking after the age of three, but he was really only twelve.

"Sister Jin said so, so let's go together," Du Yi shook his head firmly, "We should act together."

"This... well, okay." Looking at Shanli and Shuangsui, and realizing that he couldn't leave the team, Edward had no choice but to follow them resignedly, thinking in his mind how to avoid the drinking and clinking activities.

It was still daytime, and most of the residents of Fishhook Town were gathered by the water, so the tavern wasn't crowded yet. The stream of people arriving like Leslaufer had made the owner incredibly happy, and he couldn't stop smiling. He was grateful to the god of wine for unexpectedly securing such a large business.

And they certainly didn't disappoint him. In a matter of moments, with the jingling of gold and silver coins on the table, nearly every item on the tavern menu worthy of outsiders' curiosity had been ordered. Many of them even had more than one portion. The tavern owner didn't even have time to pick up the money before trotting to the back, ordering his staff to collect the fish from the water outside—hoping they'd at least have enough to fill a large table today.

"It's a pity they don't have any sweets here." Angelita took out a small bag of rose candy that she had kept close to her body, picked up one and put it in her mouth.

This small package was very different from the usual kind that was packed in a jar and eaten with a spoon. Witt Lovalou had specially used molds to press these small pieces of candy that could be taken anytime and anywhere. In this way, he "bribed" Angelita and obtained the last batch of imperial food recipes that the girl knew.

"You have what he doesn't, you have more and he has less. That's why there are the premises of transactions and business." Vondahl took a rag from the front desk and began to help wipe the tables, chairs and benches in the store, and invited everyone to sit down.

Daisy, on the other hand, moved a high stool to the front center of the hall and sat on it to continue her "improvisation".

When the boss came back, he also noticed this scene, but Daisy's excellent appearance and skills were indeed impressive. Even though no one could hear what she was playing or singing at this moment, he still had no intention of driving her away.

"Dear guests, the other dishes should be served soon, but I don't know when the 'fresh water pancake' will be ready. Please bear with me."

"Freshwater biscuits?" Everyone was stunned when they heard this. It was understandable that they couldn't catch any fish, but why wasn't there a set time for a snack?

Speaking of this, even the tavern owner couldn't help but reveal an embarrassed expression, and at this moment, a gloating snicker suddenly came from the corner of the tavern.

"Of course they don't know when! You need to add watercress to the freshwater biscuits. Those idiots couldn't even catch a single fish with their nets the other day, and they pulled all the grass along the water's edge bare!"

The voice sounded neither male nor female. Before anyone could react, the tall guy in the long dark blue coat came up to the table in a familiar manner.

"I ordered a small freshwater pancake this morning, but it hasn't been served yet! By the way, since there are so many of you here, would you mind adding me to the fun?"

The man wore a wide-brimmed hat and the collar of his coat was turned up. Although his shoulders were incredibly broad, they began to narrow rapidly at the chest, which was indescribably strange.

The strangest thing is that although he or she is dressed like a spy or something similar, he or she is neither aloof nor cold. On the contrary, he or she is so cheerful that he or she can make the people around him or her relax.

"Oh, thank you. You are a follower of Aidas. It must be very hard to serve that goddess?" Bella made way for him and immediately received a series of words.

"I'm just a mortal who wishes to practice the Water Mother's Creed. Why would I say 'hardship'?"

The wide-brimmed hat swung comically. "It seems you haven't heard her oracle yet. Your god is so nagging! She's always giving me instructions. Yes, that's it! Maybe you'll know later - what is this? Candy? Can I have some?"

"It's rose candy, you..." Angelita handed it over, but she didn't expect the other party to lift up his sleeve without any courtesy. After the sleeve was moved away, there were immediately a lot fewer candies in the bag.

"This is too little, it's not enough!"

This guy actually complained!

Chapter 206 Fishing Notes

"Cough cough!"

Angelita couldn't get angry, but the dragonborns next to her were not as well-mannered. They were about to grab the man by the collar and have a good talk with him. But before they could move, Daisy in front of them suddenly plucked the strings of her harp, attracting everyone's attention.

"I've finished writing it! Please listen to it. Don't laugh at me if I forget the words halfway." The bard said, and then hummed a tune happily along with the sound of the matzither.

"When the story begins at the lake, the only things that record time are rocks, until the man comes, oh fly-fishing Jeff, who is obsessed with fishing."

"The fishing rod dances lightly in the water, patience brings the gift of harvest, twenty-six bass jump into the basket, oh fly fishing Jeff, exclamations rise and fall all around."

"As the legend of the Air Force spread, this precious land became bustling, and a new chapter began with the establishment of a town. Oh, fly-fishing Jeff, it was he who brought hope to people..."

“La la la la la la la—”

Daisy stopped singing after three verses because she noticed another clear voice singing from the audience. The oversized coat swayed rhythmically on the chair, and under the wide-brimmed hat came a song that, although without any lyrics, was no less impressive than her own performance.

"...Huh? Why aren't you singing?" The strange man noticed something was wrong and quickly stopped talking. He raised the brim of his hat curiously and looked towards the stage.

"Well, I was thinking that a solo is not as good as a chorus. You have such a beautiful singing voice, why don't you come up and perform with me?" Daisy smiled widely and made an invitation to the other party.

The weirdo seemed taken aback. "No, no, no, I love singing, but I can't remember the lyrics! I'm sure I'll mess things up... I won't mess up."

"Hey, bye, it's okay. We were just having fun, so what if we can't remember the words?"

"Well... well," Daisy's sweet smile and voice were hard to resist. Even this weirdo couldn't help but give in in the end. "But I really can't sing... I have an idea! Miss, please continue. I'll show you something else interesting!"

The strange man quickly ran to Daisy's side, waving his overly long sleeves high into the air. The poet suddenly felt a slight chill beneath her, as if she were no longer sitting on a stool but a mossy rock. She looked around again, but there was no tavern anymore! She had clearly reached the shore of a clear lake!

"How... did they do that?" Everyone quickly stood up and reached out to the tables, chairs, and benches around them that had transformed into various scenes. Although the texture was somewhat the same at first, the shape had not changed much.

"It's an illusion, an illusion, or you can call it a magic trick—" The weirdo appeared somewhere at this moment, but the voice was still beside them, "Don't touch around. If you realize your true location, you will be thrown out!"

"Look over there, who's coming?"

A rustling sound came from the nearby "brush." Looking up, he saw a man carrying a large bag and a fishing rod, peering out to explore his surroundings. He bore a striking resemblance to the statue they had seen outside. Seeing the shimmering waters of the nearby lake, with small fish occasionally leaping from the surface, the illusion of fly-fishing Jeff was overjoyed and ready to dash out.

However, before he could do that, he stopped in his tracks, because not far from him, a gigantic, half-man, half-snake monster was coiled up by the water, resting. Seeing this, Jeff seemed to think for a moment, then resolutely put down his package and pulled out a pair of gleaming daggers!

"Ka--" Daisy's scream immediately tore through the entire illusion. "This is wrong, this is wrong! This is terrible! Is the next scene going to be a bloody battle between a fisherman and a snakeman? What's the point of that!"

The eccentric, his illusion exposed, was about to explode, but upon hearing this, he froze in his tracks. "Is there something wrong? Aren't all stories like this? When I hear other poets tell their stories, they always add this paragraph, and sometimes they even throw in three or five princesses and two or three princes—"

"What the hell is a prince?!" "There are male and female bards..."

Daisy slapped her forehead. "They are them, and I am me! Fishing should be a fishing story—come here, I'll tell you a new version."

"Brand new." "No, no, no, the latest version, from over eighty years ago. It tells the story between the cat and old...Jeff, the snake man, the fish, and the elf that serves as bait."

"As bait?" For some reason, the weirdo seemed particularly interested in the latter.

Daisy spoke very quickly, but the other party immediately understood the key points and laughed continuously at the classic but ingenious idea. After a while, as his laughter stopped, the scene by the lake appeared in everyone's sight again.

Jeff was still Jeff, and the snake-man was still the snake-man. But this time, Jeff didn't try to confront the snake-man head-on, but tried to slip away quietly. Unfortunately, the snake-man happened to be dreaming, and subconsciously wrapped around Jeff, treating him as a delicious meal...

Jeff tried to fish secretly under the snakeman's nose, the snakeman wanted to protect his hunting grounds, the elf didn't want to be bait and played a trick on Jeff... all kinds of exaggerated scenes that were both dramatic and reasonable appeared one after another, accompanied by Daisy's light and cheerful background music. Even Rathloff inadvertently let down his guard and immersed himself in it. Only when the scenery dimmed and finally returned to the appearance of a tavern did everyone slowly come back to their senses.

"It's amazing! I swear this is one of the most wonderful performances I've ever seen!" Angelita couldn't help but applaud. "Those so-called masters of drama or illusion are nothing compared to this! Sister Daisy, if I can return to Magparess in the future, I will definitely recommend you--"

"No, no, no, Anne, this is not my talent," Daisy interrupted Angelita with a smile, "I'm just copying what others have said. The one who really created these is the real master!"

"Where are they now?" Angelita felt that she was desperate to see other stories. She really wanted to see other stories - there must be other stories! Those dull plays could be performed for several hours or even half a day, so this should be able to do the same!

"Well..." Daisy spread her hands regretfully. "Like I said, this is a version from over 80 years ago."

"That's such a shame," the eccentric, still lost in the scene he had recreated with his own hands, sighed deeply. "What a shame! Human lifespan is so short. No matter how exceptional a talent is, it will vanish like a shooting star. While shooting stars return one day, those geniuses never return. What a shame, what a shame."

"But they always leave behind immortal wealth, enough to continue to shine even after the immortal species pass away..." The strange man put his hands behind his back, muttering to himself as he walked out the door. "Thank you for your creativity and memory, Miss Daisy, these are equally precious. If you have time after dinner, why not come and sit by the lake - don't worry, there are no snake people anymore."

With that, the man disappeared like a bubble in the sunlight, leaving the people in the room staring at each other in bewilderment. It wasn't until a moment later that the tavern owner received some good news:

"Too bad that customer didn't get the chance to enjoy it. The watercress was finally picked, a whole bunch! It's incredible that it hadn't been discovered before!"

Chapter 207 Pixar

The food in Diaohook Town certainly has its own unique features, but after that weirdo disappeared outside the tavern, no one was willing to focus on the food anymore.

As the day wore on, and as the locals began to trickle into the tavern, the rest of Reslaufer and the others' rest drew to a close. The tavern owner joyfully accepted another ten "valu" and escorted them to the door with a courtesy far exceeding that of the ordinary residents of Fishhook Town.

"Wow, are you Imperials really that rich?" After walking a few dozen steps, Cinder Crown turned around and could still see the boss waving at her with a smile. The Red Dragonborn couldn't help but turn around and look at Angelita, saying somewhat unwillingly, "That's a full ten valluannes! And you gave it to him without even blinking an eye?"

"It's less than an Imperial gold coin, just consider it a tip and a table fee," Angelita said casually, changing the subject. Those valus were, of course, exchanged with the caravan. Although the exchange rate between valus and Imperial gold coins typically fluctuated between 12 and 16, considering the current chaos within the empire, the caravan offered a high price of twenty valus for one Imperial gold coin.

After all, if the chaos in the empire continues, it will become increasingly impossible to exchange at the rate of 20 valruses.

But this figure didn't matter to Angrita. She was just exchanging some pocket money. When she really needed gold, Imperial gold coins were more practical. Even this alone was enough to shock the Dragonborn, who spent most of their time in the Wilderness Clan.

"One vallu is worth a hundred sous - you are so rich, can you help us a little?" Just by listening to Jinmian's tone, one could feel her resentment, and Angelita could only smile at it.

If she really took out her wallet at this moment, this new friendship would probably be over.

"That's good, at least I'm with you and I don't have to worry about food." Jinman muttered, "I still remember how embarrassing it was when the four of us first entered the city a while ago - four spellcasters, but we couldn't even find a single Valu in our pockets!"

"The clan still primarily uses Su or similar silver and copper coins. Only the clan leaders have some gold reserves," Frostbone explained with a slight smile. "But I'm guessing, Sister Jin, you're not planning on being a currency expert tonight, are you? We still have an appointment to attend."

"Just letting off some steam..." the Red Dragonborn muttered in his throat, "But are we really going? I know that weirdo probably has no ill intentions, but when we first entered the town, that officer said—"

"A lake monster, huh? I'm kind of hoping that's the lake monster," Daisy said, having already walked to the front of the group and led them towards the lake. "Wouldn't it be nice if the lake monster the residents feared turned out to be a good guy?"

"Don't hold your hopes too high, Daisy. The opposite is quite common in Haidong," Feng Daer's beard twitched. "Sometimes someone might announce they've found their life partner and invite all their friends to the wedding, but when you get there, you discover their so-called true love is actually a ghost."

But even so, the dwarves agreed to go and take a look - they were now truly outnumbered, with more spellcasters than the fingers on one hand! Even if it was a hag, what was there to be afraid of?

It was already past midsummer, and the cold arrived earlier in Western Inassus, further north than the empire. When the crowd arrived noisily at the lakeside, there were almost no anglers left, either on the lakeside or along the riverbank. Only two or three anglers, who had likely been unsuccessful since yesterday or even earlier, remained, still waiting in what they considered a "good spot," waiting for a bite.

"What stubborn guys, tsk tsk." A familiar voice appeared among the crowd without warning. Sparkling dust was scattered along with the fluttering of gauze-like butterfly wings, and Shanli, who was caught off guard, inhaled some of it and sneezed loudly.

That was not the weirdo during the day, but it was her again, only this time, she was as tiny as a firefly, and her appearance was like a miniature elf, wearing a long silk dress, dancing happily and friendly between her shoulders and face.

"But we have to thank them. If it weren't for these kind people feeding the fish every day, I'm afraid not even the shrimps here would be caught."

"Wow!" Daisy was the first to exclaim in surprise, "It's the Pixie!"