Chapter 743

After saying goodbye to Luvia, Xia De took advantage of the morning time to take the cat to Coldwater Port again, to see if there were any results from the commission to acquire coins and items related to the power of the sun.

The Seven Brooms in the black market of the dock area still had nothing to show for it. Instead, the bartender recommended to Xia De a specialty of the New Continent in autumn, a disgusting plant called "Sheep Tail Grass." That thing was white, long like a sausage, and would sway left and right when touched. It could be used as a material for some basic healing potions, but unfortunately, the Old Continent itself had substitutes like mouse-ear grass, so it was not very popular.

And when Xia De went to the lighthouse outside the city, he actually encountered an attack by fishmen by the sea.

This matter was also interesting. He was originally taking a carriage out of the city, but because he wanted to see what the autumn beach looked like, he got off the carriage 1 mile (about 1.6 km) ahead of the sea cliff where the lighthouse was located and walked on the beach with the cat in his arms.

The port of Coldwater Port was busy, and the scenery of the shallow beach outside the city was also very beautiful. Xia De even picked up a very beautiful conch, intending to take it home and put it in the living room as a souvenir.

Just as he was picking up the conch, a faint sound of a horn came from the sea. Subsequently, amidst Mia's panicked cries, three shriveled, bald heads emerged from the water.

Xia De, who didn't know what was going on, reacted by retreating first, only to find that what crawled out of the sea were ugly fishmen. But they were not fishman divine servants who possessed spiritual pollution abilities themselves—even leaving a portrait in a painting could affect the viewer; this time, only half-breeds appeared.

One of them was fat and short, leaning on a rotten wooden staff hanging with seaweed and topped with a pearl. The other two were tall and held large iron forks rusted by seawater corrosion. After the short and fat fishman chanted softly, some blue water patterns immediately appeared on the two weapons that didn't look very easy to use; this was a spell to strengthen weapons.

"One spellcaster and two melee professionals? The fishmen of Coldwater Port really know how to cooperate with each other."

The three fishmen clearly had their eyes on Xia De and Mia. After the fat fishman finished casting the spell, they rushed toward Xia De while making "ulu ulu" sounds from their mouths.

These were the ordinary monsters lurking in the coastal waters of Coldwater Port, with the weakest strength but also the largest number. Even if the three were added together, the challenge difficulty was about equivalent to a three-ring or four-ring human Ringed Sorcerer.

So the following battle had no suspense. Xia De drew the 【Moonlight Greatsword】 and met them. A horizontal slash directly cut off the head of the fishman who ran the fastest. Subsequently, the moonlight drawn from his fingertips forced the other fishman to dodge sideways. Taking this opportunity to get close again, he punched out with his left fist wearing the 【Mind Crystal Ring】, causing it to fall with blood flowing from its seven orifices.

Looking at the fat fishman spellcaster again, it had retreated to the beach, speaking un-translatable profanities in fishman language. Then, waving the rotten wooden staff embedded with pearls, while the ring of life appeared, dense schools of fish suddenly rushed out of the seawater. These fish schools fell on the beach, piled together, and formed a terrifying humanoid figure enough to trigger trypophobia.

"Summoned creature?"

Xia De took a step back to avoid the fishy smell and reached out to press down Mia, who was showing her little head from his arms—this cat was twitching her nose, and then he took out the moonstone ring and kissed it gently:

"Confusion!"

Under the hazy yellow moonlight, the fish school monster turned and rushed toward its summoner, leaving a string of strange footprints on the beach. The fat fishman shrieked and immediately dived into the sea, and the fish school monster also chased after it.

Xia De didn't chase, because he didn't want to get his clothes wet. He stood on the beach looking at the two corpses:

"After the Coldwater Port incident ends, the fishmen here have become the only trouble. If the Midhillburg matter can be successfully solved, perhaps 'ghosts' will also become a specialty there. Every city really has its own characteristics."

He turned the canvas toys back into canvas, used them to turn the two fishman corpses into toys, and intended to sell them to Mr. Edmond, who guarded the lighthouse. Mr. Edmond, of course, didn't want to study the corpses, but the local church recycled these corpses. Xia De didn't want to go back into the city to the black market, so selling them to the old tower keeper and letting him earn the price difference was fine.

But unfortunately, the tower keeper didn't have any new coins either. As for items containing solar power, Mr. Edmond sold Xia De a gray parchment scroll and a circular metal badge with a sun pattern drawn on it for 5 pounds 3 shillings and 21 pounds 14 shillings.

There were many ways to draw the sun pattern, and the sun pattern on the badge was not the holy emblem of the True God 【Old Man with the Lantern】.

"This parchment scroll is said to have been found in the ruins of an ancient temple of the Old God in the New Continent. Although there is nothing on it except for the brand representing the sun's rune, when it was found, it was placed under a statue of a god with only the base left. As for this badge, it is an antique I recently collected. It has very faint miraculous elements on it, which can slightly amplify most miracles and spells related to the sun."

The old man explained, and Xia De tested his "Sunlight Ray," finding that the degree of enhancement was almost negligible.

"Are these two items really related to the power of the sun?"

Xia De was very suspicious.

"What do you want to do with them?"

Mr. Edmond asked while packing up his fishing gear.

"To open an ancient seal, I need five different items related to the power of the sun. Now I have found three, and I am still missing two."

"Then find a few more, try them all, and you will always find something that meets the requirements."

The old man gave his own suggestion and recommended that if Xia De really couldn't find them, he should sneak into the sun church in the countryside and wait for an opportunity to steal the holy emblem hanging in the main auditorium.

He was, of course, joking; the only outcome of doing so would be being hunted down by the sun believers of the whole world together.

He first returned to the Coldwater Port city area, tasted the delicious food of the coastal city with Little Mia in a restaurant, and then returned to St. Deran Square, taking a carriage out of the city to visit the witch's manor, asking if the witch had obtained any items related to the sun.

Xia De hoped that he could be promoted to the fourth ring before the Midhillburg matter ended, to have more power in the troubles he was involved in. Therefore, he had to enter the year 3024 of the Fifth Era for the third time as soon as possible to complete the unfinished story. And assisting the witches to obtain the "Book of Nameless Sacrifice" was also something that needed to be done.

Unfortunately, when Xia De arrived at the manor at 2:00 PM, Miss Galina and Tifa were not there.

But they hadn't gone into the city; they were accompanying Wang Hou Diana to watch horse racing at a racecourse in the suburbs.

"Ma Pi racing?"

"Yes."

The old butler of the witch manor smiled kindly in the foyer:

"Now is the last season suitable for horse racing before winter comes. There are many well-known racecourses in the southern suburbs of the city. There will be one or two races every week. Local well-known jockeys can sign up to participate, and there are even official gambling games. The young lady is not keen on this kind of sport, but Wang Hou Diana likes it very much, so she often gathers noble ladies and royal members in the city to go outside the city to watch horse racing together."

"Then I will wait here for Miss Galina to come back; since they are all noble ladies, it is not appropriate for me to go."

Xia De said, but the old butler shook his head again:

"It's not just noble ladies. The racecourse they went to today belongs to the Lemaire family, and the racecourse is right next to the Hou Jue of Lemaire's large manor. It allows nobles to go there at will, and there are many nobles who like horse racing. Moreover, there are quite a few busybodies attracted by Her Majesty the Wang Hou. You can go there now. Do you need to prepare a carriage? Or do you want to ride a horse yourself? The weather is nice today, and the country roads in autumn are worth appreciating."

Xia De didn't know how to ride a horse; Tifa only let him learn simple mounting for the time being. And he was also carrying Little Mia, so naturally, he wouldn't engage in such a "high-risk" sport:

"Help me prepare a carriage; I have never seen horse racing before."

The Lemaire racecourse was located about 2.3 miles (about 3.7 km) from the edge of the city. When the carriage carried Xia De further south, he felt that the road in front of him was somewhat familiar.

After asking, he learned that the Hou Jue of Lemaire's large manor and the racecourse were connected to another noble's manor, which was called Lake View Manor. In fact, the racecourse and the surrounding pastures were sandwiched between the two manors, and Schluch Lake, adjacent to Lake View Manor, strictly speaking, had half of its area belonging to the Hou Jue of Lemaire.

And thinking of the special location of Lake View Manor, Xia De couldn't help but think of the Tarot cards under the grapevines on a midsummer night, the bloody god on the third floor of the manor, and the kick he made under the moon.

It was clearly only half a year ago, but it really felt like it happened many years ago.

Entering the racecourse required first entering the Lemaire manor. Although this manor also had an amazing area and the sculptures and gardening in the courtyard were exquisite, it was not as luxurious as Miss Galina's manor.

The carriage bearing the emblem of the Duchess of Saladir entered the manor without any obstruction. It was just that the manor courtyard was divided into inner and outer layers. The carriage did not drive toward the inner layer where the three-story mansion was located, but drove along the carriage road of the outer courtyard toward the side gate of the manor.

Servants had been waiting here for a long time. After the carriage stopped slightly, the servant respectfully asked for the name of the guest in the carriage. After the coachman reported the name "Hamilton of Lei Jiede," the location of Miss Galina was immediately known.

There was a special driveway connecting the side gate and the racecourse, and wooden fences were used on both sides to separate the manor from the adjacent pastures. Not long after, he heard the noisy sound, and then he saw from the carriage window the racecourse surrounded by high fences made of wood and iron, and the audience seats rising level by level on the edge of the racecourse.

The carriage stopped. After Xia De jumped off the carriage, he could see the dust raised by the running horses through the gaps in the fence, and he could also hear the sounds of cheering and roaring.

Ribbons were pulled above the racecourse, and busybodies excitedly waved their hats at the jockeys. The jockeys rode happily on the horses, and the heavy sound of hooves even frightened Little Mia in Xia De's arms.

Led by the servant, Xia De bent over and walked up the audience seats from the back stairs, while Miss Galina and Wang Hou Diana sat in the shaded area south of the racecourse. The gorgeously dressed noble ladies all wore sun hats with colorful feathers, either holding porcelain teacups, holding small binoculars, or holding feather fans, enjoying this dull and boring autumn afternoon.

The shadow of the sunshade stopped on the ground illuminated by the sun. In the air that was sultry but somewhat cool, there was no wind at all. Everyone was so at ease; the activities of the nobles had always been like this.

The tense mood brought by adventuring in the city of Midhillburg, where ghosts haunted, fog filled the air, and cold winds blew, all dissipated at this moment.

The racecourse looked like it was covered in golden yellow, and the warm sunlight made his body feel warm. Xia De's mouth revealed a smile unconsciously. He raised his hand above his eyes and looked at Miss Galina, who seemed to sense something and looked over.

This autumn in Tobesk is truly peaceful.