Chapter 1764: Helpers

Hearing Xia De's question, the doctor holding the fishing rod looked at him suspiciously:

"Do not make deals with demons; that is common sense. Why would you even think of actually exchanging with them? More importantly, how do you know for sure you cannot defeat them?"

"Because I don't have it..."

Halfway through speaking, Xia De finally grasped the meaning of the doctor's words and couldn't help but laugh.

The doctor shook his head:

"I hate it most when demons steal souls. Since you say I definitely won't encounter one, then I shall assume you have no helpers around you."

Actually, there was also the High-Ring Witch Miss Higgins, but she was suppressed by the Black Fog Camp; if a real fight broke out, she might not even be able to defeat Xia De, so Xia De did not mention her.

"A Greed Demon can incite the greed of mortals, but it is greedy itself. You find a way to get it to agree to a wager with you, then use that soul as the stake; perhaps you won't even need to fight."

The doctor reminded him, and Xia De nodded; this method was indeed not bad:

"But in a wager, I might not necessarily win."

"That is true, so you must cheat. This is a righteous cause; you need not speak morality to a demon. You wager with it on guessing heads or tails on a coin; since it is composed of coins itself, it will surely agree. I will give you a coin I made in advance, allowing you to deceive it, thus ensuring victory. Of course, if you cannot win, you find a way to make the other party absorb that coin... and then you need not worry."

The doctor thus easily resolved the problem Xia De thought would be troublesome.

"Detective, when do you need the coin? Although making that thing is not difficult, the required cycle is very long; it will take about one week to one and a half weeks before I can give you the finished product."

"It doesn't matter. Let us handle the labyrinth matter first; I am not in a hurry over there."

"Very well."

The doctor nodded, just about to discuss the anomalies of this lake area with Xia De, when suddenly the fishing rod in his hand shook; he had actually caught a fish:

"You have finally arrived!"

The doctor paid no heed to speaking, leaped down from the coffin, and turned the reel to retrieve the fishing line. But the power in the water was immense; the doctor was pulled off balance and nearly fell into the lake himself:

"Detective, help!"

"Coming!"

Xia De also reached out and grabbed the fishing rod, then felt the immense power in the lake. Whatever that was, it absolutely could not be a fish, unless there were whales in Green Lake.

But regardless, seeing black gas emerge from the doctor's hands, clearly indicating he was already using thaumaturgy, Xia De activated the 【Power of the Red Dragon】. Thus, under the combined power of dragon and demon, the thing hooked in the water finally moved toward the shore as the two of them stepped back step by step. The two sides struggled for a full ten minutes; after repeated tugs and pulls, the glass bottle containing the seven-colored mist was finally pulled ashore by the hook.

As it flew out of the lake with water droplets clinging to it, Xia De could even see the expression of shock on the face of the blue "Giant" inside the bottle.

"Oh~"

Now Xia De understood exactly what the doctor had been doing here since early morning.

The glass bottle hanging on the hook was grabbed by Doctor Shi Nai De. He deftly popped the cork; as the seven-colored mist rose, that blue Giant appeared before Xia De once again.

The Sage-level Relic 【Reward of Greed】, within which is sealed the "Wish Demon - Zatanar". Counting the meeting during the "Seven-Day Journey" in the Fifth Era, this was the third time Xia De had seen it.

This time, after the blue "Giant" revealed itself, it did not immediately speak of the three wishes, but instead questioned Xia De with considerable dissatisfaction:

"We agreed back then: I give you clues, you let me go. Why are you breaking your word now?"

Being questioned by a demon about lacking integrity was likely a rare experience.

Thus, Xia De, who considered himself very honest, still defended himself:

"Look at what you said. What does that have to do with me? I didn't hook you up! Besides, you actually stayed in Green Lake and didn't leave? What were you thinking?"

"Detective, I said yesterday that the chaos and suppression in the Green Lake region are very attractive to demons. Although it has become a Relic, the demon's nature has not changed. Since it came, how could it leave? When we departed from our city, I thought of coming to find it. Look, the plan went smoothly."

The doctor said with a smile, a dark red light flashing briefly in his eyes:

"Do you know me?"

The Giant then turned its head to look at the doctor, hesitated for a moment, and shook its head slightly:

"Perhaps I know you. But since you ask this way, I certainly do not know you."

"Very well. I need to handle some troublesome matters in Green Lake. I need your help. After I leave Green Lake, I will let you go; I can sign a contract to guarantee this."

Having finished speaking, he explained to Xia De:

"Although Arlu is not powerful, you said there are many dangers on the island. For safety's sake, it is better for us to find a helper."

Xia De also felt the doctor's arrangement was very appropriate; indeed, he was the kind of person who had prepared three plans before leaving Tobesque.

As for the Wish Demon - Zatanar, seeing Xia De and the doctor conversing, it suddenly shook its bottle, trying to escape, but the bottle was firmly gripped in the doctor's hand. Seeing the middle-aged man with blue eyes look at it suspiciously again, it could only sigh:

"I knew it; I should have left here directly back then. Very well, I can help you. But helping me is not free."

"We can discuss that later."

The doctor was very satisfied with this result, so he asked Xia De again:

"I need to walk around the lakeside, and in a while I will enter the lake to investigate the situation. Do you want to come? Introduce me to this place?"

Xia De regretfully shook his head:

"I have other matters; I am going to the suburbs in a while to investigate a circus. That circus is involved in many things and is related to the Gray Gloves."

This was a mission given to Xia De by Margaret.

"It is also suspected to be related to a Relic."

This was an item listed on the Witch's mission list. Since both matters were in the same place, Xia De would solve them along the way. The mushroom samples obtained from the previous mission involving the Count and the Poison Mushroom were very useful; he was curious to see what he would encounter this time.

"Very well, go attend to your matters. Once I am ready over here, I will leave a message for you at the inn. Currently, things are progressing very smoothly; I originally thought I would have to fish for a whole day... I also remember the matter of the coin; rest assured on that."

The doctor said with a smile. Xia De waved goodbye to him and left the area.

Only after confirming Xia De had gone far away did the doctor look at the Giant still floating in the air; the latter was also looking at the doctor. The human and the demon stared at each other for a long time before the "Giant" crossed its arms and asked:

"Your friend once asked me some interesting questions... Demon's..."

"Do you really want to say it out loud?"

The psychiatrist asked. The "Giant" nodded:

"What do you intend to do? I warn you, the folks on the island are not that easy to deal with."

The circus Xia De was to investigate today was not a local performance organization. They were a troupe wandering and touring the Old Continent, making a living through performances. The reason they chose to come to Green Lake City was naturally because, due to the negotiations between the two nations, the number of outsiders in the Green Lake region had recently surged; coming here now meant business would be quite good.

The group known as the "Blue Star Circus" is currently stationed in the southern suburbs outside Green Lake City, camping and performing in a small village adjacent to the city. Although it is a village outside the city, it is a major transportation hub, the essential route from the southwest of Green Lake City to the City of Glass; therefore, people entering and leaving the city can all see them.

Moreover, this location allows for easy entry into the city to perform, making it a very convenient campsite.

Margaret's mission is to have "Gray-Headed Eagle" investigate what her brother, Prince Samuel of Anjou, has actually sent the Gray Glove agents to do in Green Lake City. Meanwhile, on the witches' mission list, the Great Witch of Time suspects that a relic with cognitive alteration effects is hidden within the circus, and she does not recommend Misses below the Inner Ring investigating it alone.

When he went out of the city earlier to find a doctor, Xia De had already asked the carriage driver about that circus, so he found their location quite smoothly.

The village with the somewhat hard-to-remember name "Kozwoltz" is actually right up against the city, with no moat or city walls, separated from the urban area by only a dirt road. The Blue Star Circus's camp is located in the threshing floor outside the village.

In spring, when villagers have no frequent need to use this place, they rent the ground to the circus. The circus then surrounds the area with more than ten carriages to form a large circle and sets up several stalls selling various souvenirs, creating a small camp.

However, it is now Thursday morning, and the circus clearly has no performances. The animals are all locked inside the tents, while the troupe members gather in small groups, either playing cards or hanging out laundry.

Three police officers from the city are questioning a man wearing a black silk top hat about circus members' information; on the open-air wooden stage at the southeast corner of the camp, a middle-aged man holding a dagger is practicing against a target ten paces away; a middle-aged bald man guarding the souvenir stall sits in a chair, arms crossed over his chest, yawning; in the temporary stables nearby, a groom brushes the back of a red horse with a large brush; the liveliest spot is the open ground on the west side of the camp, where a young juggler stands on a wooden high stool, surrounded by village children, performing a routine of tossing three red balls.

While tossing the balls, he would occasionally deliberately create the illusion that he was about to miss a catch, and whenever this happened, the chil

dren would all exclaim "Oh~" together, and applaud together once the young man caught the balls.

The weather outside the city is fine; looking at this camp, one can detect an extremely faint elemental response, but upon closer inspection, nothing abnormal is visible. No one stopped Xia De as he walked over, after all, even if the circus isn't performing, they can still sell souvenirs.