Chapter 386: Pink Rose Hotel

For the past half-week, in the nights of Lengshuigang, police officers often broke out in gunfights with some monsters that could not be told to the citizens. Those fish-men with powerful self-healing abilities mostly mastered firearms, and before the ring warlocks arrived, the local police could only use firearms to contend with them.

Coupled with more and more ring warlock organizations entering here, this led to the nights of Lengshuigang becoming noisy.

The Fishbone Pirate Ship continued to appear in the offshore area of Lengshuigang, and among the eleven ring warlocks who escaped from the ship with Xia De and the princess, one more was found by the church. But it was a pity that the other party was a middle-aged woman, not Xia De's target.

Princess Princess Lei Qianya also relied on the intelligence department of the Lengshuigang City Hall, as well as the branch of the Military Intelligence Section 6 in Lengshuigang, to find a target. This one was male, but it was a pity that Princess Lei Qianya could find him, and other organizations could also find him.

Before the princess appeared, at least three middle-ring warlocks raided the police station at the Lengshuigang pier, causing that unlucky second-ring warlock and the ordinary police officers who were implicated for no reason to die on the spot.

This made both the church and the City Hall very annoyed, and even the King far away in Tobesk heard of the tragedy at the Lengshuigang pier and ordered the local officials to find the murderer as soon as possible.

And apart from this, there were also some messages that even Princess Lei Qianya couldn't judge the truth or falsehood of, which were gradually circulating in the increasingly dangerous Lengshuigang.

For example, it was rumored in the black market that someone was offering a high reward of 1000 pounds per message to find the ring warlocks who escaped from the Fishbone Pirate Ship; for example, traces of mermaids appeared in the offshore area of Lengshuigang, not the ugly fish-men of the evil god's kin, but a true alien species—mermaids; or for example, the professors sent by the three major academies to Lengshuigang to solve the "Lengshuigang Shadow" incident fought fiercely with unknown groups of ring warlocks in the offshore area on Sunday morning, directly affecting the weather of the past two days.

Excluding those uncertain messages, the current situation was that, excluding the outsider and the princess, among the eleven escaped ring warlocks, one died, the church found three, and the identities of the remaining seven were unknown.

The high-ring warlocks of the church had arrived, and the professors of the three major miracle academies had also settled locally. The bad news was that Xia De wanted to have greater uncertainty in finding the target ahead of them; the good news was that there should be no need to worry about the "Lengshuigang Shadow" incident.

"Is Miss Xivi Aurora in Lengshuigang now?"

Princess Lei Qianya was introducing the situation to Xia De, but Xia De suddenly asked.

The princess nodded in surprise:

"Why did you suddenly mention her? Yes, that businesswoman came to this city two days ago and even plans to hold a banquet at the Aurora Manor tomorrow night. She even gave me an invitation. Why, do you want to go too?"

"Of course not."

Xia De immediately shook his head. He was already hiding from the witches, so how could he take the initiative to bump into them:

"I have to attend classes both tonight and tomorrow night. It's Professor Garcia's 'Folded Space,' focusing on large-scale ritual Miracles. The class starts at six in the evening, two sessions totaling four academic hours, with no breaks. It won't end until around nine."

"It doesn't matter; at nine o'clock, the banquet should be in the middle of the excitement."

Princess Lei Qianya said with a smile again, but Xia De still shook his head. He wouldn't go to that kind of place no matter what.

Taking advantage of the time, Xia De also told Princess Lei Qianya about the 【Tree's Kiss】 he told Dorothy this morning. Even if the princess was one ring higher than Dorothy, she couldn't fully listen to Xia De tell his experience. But for the 【Tree's Kiss】 spirit rune, Princess Lei Qianya's view was similar to Dorothy's.

It was very difficult for Xia De to find a miracle corresponding to this spirit rune. He would likely have to rely on himself to create it, or try to transform the homologous spell 【Key of the Door】 into a miracle, but neither would be simple. Princess Lei Qianya also planned to help Xia De find information from the Zaras Literature Academy, which was proficient in spell and miracle research, but she didn't hold much hope for this either.

"Speaking of which, do you remember Professor Kajia?"

Princess Lei Qianya seemed to have deliberately left this matter for last.

"Of course I remember. After all, we rarely encounter folklore scholars who are good at using dual pistols."

Xia De nodded, looking at the steaming teacup in front of him:

"I remember the last time we returned to the Sophia Mansion, you mentioned that you would set them free after making them forget about the fish-men."

"Yes, but after you left that day, I asked some interesting things. I knew Mr. Jude because my spy received information that the other party deliberately released, but the two folklore scholars went to find Mr. Jude. Guess who introduced them?"

Princess Lei Qianya asked, supporting her face with one hand, looking at Xia De with beautiful eyes, the corners of her mouth curling up, revealing a smile.

Xia De thought for a moment and frowned. He had heard some things in Mr. Jude's mansion using 【Echo of the Past】. Mr. Jude clearly demanded that the fish-men stop abducting ordinary people, so the coincidence of the two scholars, who were ordinary people, appearing at that time was indeed a bit coincidental.

"Who was it?"

"A ring warlock, a ring warlock who was infected with a curse like me. The other party also heard the news released by Mr. Jude, but unlike us who went to see him directly, the person behind the scenes sent two ordinary people to scout the way first."

"Are they also among those who escaped from the Fishbone Pirate Ship? Or victims who touched the mermaid statue locally?"

"It is one of the remaining seven, and we have seen him."

Princess Lei Qianya said softly.

"Mr. Dacnisi? The guy who changed cards when I played cards with him!"

Xia De stood up at once, and the princess nodded with a serene smile:

"That's right. I knew you were focusing on finding him, so I spent a lot of effort these past few days to find Mr. Dacnisi along the clues provided by Professor Kajia. I received the news last night. The other party thought the professor hadn't gone to see Mr. Jude yet, so the old street occupied by the fish-men was wiped out by the church, so he hadn't suspected that the one who had been contacting him for the past half-week was actually my person."

"Where is he?"

Xia De spoke very fast.

"Oh, Xia De, don't be impatient. Father often tells me that being impatient in doing things will only increase the probability of bad results. I know you don't want the church to find him first, so I didn't alert the other party for the time being."

She signaled Xia De to sit down:

"The other party is deliberately hiding his identity, not because of the curse on his body, but because the other party seems very worried about being discovered by the church. That Mr. Dacnisi shouldn't be a good person."

"Whether he is a good person or not doesn't matter; I just want to see him."

Xia De said, so Princess Lei Qianya nodded:

"The other party has more than a dozen companions around him. It's uncertain whether they are ring warlocks, but the probability is very high, so my people didn't rashly investigate the information. If you want to see him, go to this address. Oh, I also know that this group of people is waiting for a ship to the New Continent."

The bartender at the Seven Brooms Tavern also mentioned this matter.

She handed the file bag to Xia De; this was the preliminary investigation conducted by the princess.

"I can't go on an adventure with you today, Xia De."

While Xia De was flipping through the file, the red-haired girl said somewhat melancholically:

"Father has already urged me to return to Tobesk. I will probably set off after the Sea Return. These few days, I have to meet with the nobles who are seeing me off in Lengshuigang, participate in local public gatherings to say goodbye to the citizens, and there are several banquets to attend."

"It doesn't matter; I can handle these things myself."

Xia De said while flipping through the file. He actually didn't want to drag Princess Lei Qianya into the matters of the chosen ones:

"I will probably be active in Lengshuigang for a day. I will come back in the evening to say goodbye to you before leaving."

"Okay, then I wish you a smooth operation today, Xia De. Oh, in a while, my maid will help you with some makeup, and then arrange for a servant to send you into the city."

"Okay, then I also wish you can be happy today..."

Xia De stood up, but paused, and looked at the princess wearing a silver crown behind the desk:

"Oh, I heard from Dorothy that you and Miss Miss Jia Lin Na have a conflict?"

"Why would you mention that woman?"

Princess Lei Qianya, who was in a good mood just now, shook her head:

"This is my family affair."

"Alright then."

Xia De didn't ask much more, took the file bag, and walked out of the room. Only the princess remained sitting behind the desk, looking at his back, and it was a long time before she sighed and looked back at the file on the table.

She didn't want to drag the simple and kind detective into the power struggle within the royal family.

The rain in Lengshuigang was still falling, and Xia De, holding an umbrella, strolled through the streets of the ancient port city. He didn't go to find Mr. Dacnisi first, but went to the Seven Brooms Tavern, buying some expensive alchemical materials in the tavern.

Xia De had heard of all the materials needed to make the witch-detecting badge, but it would be very troublesome to find them all in Tobesk, so he bought them in Lengshuigang. Of course, because he was very unconfident in his alchemical skills, Xia De bought enough materials to make three of each.

If he failed the first two times, then he would go to find Iluna, who was good at alchemy, for help. Although Old John and the doctor's friends might be more powerful, Xia De didn't want to leak the formula to others.

After paying the deposit, writing down the shopping list in the tavern, and making an appointment to pick it up in the afternoon, Xia De officially embarked on the journey to find Mr. Dacnisi.

On the way, he found that there were more police than usual today, and they were focused on looking at everyone's faces. When encountering passersby with unusual appearances, they would also step forward to question them for a few sentences, obviously looking for fish-men.

During this period, people with problematic appearances in Lengshuigang would probably live very uncomfortably.

Going deep into the slums of the pier area, Mr. Dacnisi and his friends lived in the Pink Rose Hotel in the deep alley.

Although the name was very similar, this hotel had nothing to do with the Golden Rose Hotel on Hogluntz Avenue where Xia De had stayed twice. This kind of hotel deep in the alley was usually to provide a place for those illegal stowaways with sensitive identities to stay. Of course, judging from the name of the hotel, it should still be that kind of illegal underground brothel.

Holding a black umbrella, Xia De followed the address provided by Princess Lei Qianya, drilling around in the alleys of the pier slums, and finally found the hotel with a row of faded pink silk scarves hanging outside the door.

This place was located at the corner of the alley and was three stories high. Because the alley was not spacious, passersby would definitely notice this place.

Unlike the stone buildings common in Lengshuigang, the Pink Rose Hotel used a wooden structure. The hotel didn't cover a large area. After Xia De lowered his hat and pushed the door to enter, he didn't see the girls wearing very little sitting around as he had imagined.

The first floor was like an ordinary tavern. On Monday morning, scattered guests had wine glasses in front of them, chatting with each other in front of wooden tables. Wooden tables, wooden chairs, plus wooden pillars—this was rare in Lengshuigang.

The information showed that Mr. Dacnisi and his group lived on the third floor, but Xia De certainly wouldn't go upstairs directly, but walked to the counter on the side.

The middle-aged woman wearing an apron was originally bookkeeping. She raised her eyes to look at the guest, and after discovering that it was a stranger, she asked suspiciously:

"May I ask what you need?"

Although she looked over forty, she looked very... charming. Xia De could only think of this adjective and reminded himself again what this place was actually doing.

"A glass of the cheapest rye beer, and also, do you have Luo De cards here?"

This was the experience Xia De learned from the grocery merchant in Saint Song Square. Hotels and merchants would mostly hoard some Luo De cards with special patterns.

"Of course I have."

The woman first bent down to prepare beer for Xia De. After placing the wine glass on the wooden tabletop, she took out a booklet from under the counter:

"Please choose for yourself; there are price tags here."

Two Luo De cards were clipped in the booklet, and it could be seen that they were carefully preserved.

Xia De was actually not interested in Luo De cards with special patterns; he preferred Luo De cards with special rules. So he just pretended to look for a while and then shook his head regretfully.

After paying for the beer, he carried the wine glass and sat down at an empty table. This kind of small hotel in the alley had no good conditions. Perhaps to prevent being peeped at, even the windows were sealed. There was only one gas lamp above the counter in the room. Apart from that, there was a kerosene lamp on each table, which would only be lit after guests sat down.

This was probably the living condition of the poor.

Xia De's original intention was to observe on the first floor first, trying to discover the traces of ring warlocks around Mr. Dacnisi. But he didn't expect that he pretended to hold a notebook and read for a full half-hour, and the foam of that suspicious inferior beer had disappeared, but no one came down from upstairs.

Perhaps that group of people wasn't there at all, or perhaps they were truly cautious to the point of not appearing easily even during the day.

Xia De was still thinking about things in his heart, but he didn't expect someone to carry a wine glass and sit opposite him. This was not a polite behavior.

That was a long-faced man with extremely short hair, only able to see fluffy hair stubble. His skin was a bit dark, and the degree of double eyelids of his two eyes was extremely severe.

He looked to be in his thirties and was very shrewd. After placing the wine glass on the table, he took the initiative to greet Xia De:

"Friend, are you interested in Luo De cards?"

Standard Delarion accent; probably the spokesperson of the Tobesk City Hall was at a similar level.

"Of course."

Xia De shrugged.

"Are you interested in special cards?"

The long-faced man asked with a smile across the kerosene lamp. ===== CHAPTER 387 =====