Chapter 829: Pantanal Great Swamp

Because the harm from low-frequency use of the 【Wisdom Coin】 is minimal, some Ringed Shushi use these coins as auxiliary items when seeking inspiration or breakthroughs. Some ordinary people who discover their use have the chance to leap into becoming celebrities like pianists, writers, or famous detectives.

This leads to the coins being slightly more expensive despite being only at the Poet level; Xia De spent 28 pounds to buy one.

"Additionally, the matter of time perception you asked me about a few days ago also has a lead."

The old man finished boiling the hot water and poured a cup of tea for Xia De. Although the lighthouse was very dilapidated, the black tea leaves were quite high-end:

"I don't know where you heard that our Ringed Society has knowledge of the cult of the Old God 【Gray-Robed Sage】, but you are indeed correct; it does exist. I wrote to the Keeper who manages the library and asked him to help look it up; it took two weeks to find what you wanted."

Xia De looked at him with great anticipation. Mr. Edmund shook his head:

"It is a stone tablet with the holy emblem of the Old God 【Gray-Robed Sage】. It was brought by the cult that joined the Ringed Society back then, but no one knows how to use it."

Xia De believed he probably knew. Judging from his experience in the Gadis Library, that Old God likely set the stone tablet so that one could see the knowledge within by speaking the name of the tablet.

"Additionally, this stone tablet only records one-third of the content—this is what is recorded in our Great Library, so you will have to find the other parts yourself. But the stone tablet cannot be given to you directly; you know, this is a quite precious item. In the past, more than one Ringed Shushi has obtained Spirit Runes related to libraries and books by touching that stone tablet."

"So what must I pay?"

Xia De sat upright:

"Do you want gold pounds?"

"Of course not. It requires you to do some things for the Ringed Society."

The old man said.

Xia De immediately revealed a smile:

"I am very familiar with this kind of work. Completing a special mission to obtain a certain item is very fair. What does the Ringed Society need me to do? I can do most legal work... and I can do some illegal work as well."

The old gentleman smiled and shook his head:

"We do not do illegal things, at least not for now. It is like this: you often operate in Tobesk, don't you? Recently, Princess Margaret Anjou of Casenrik will be visiting that city..."

It seems everyone is paying attention to this political event.

"We investigated and learned that the princess is a student of the Schluch Lake Higher Medical Academy, and only switched from regular to correspondence studies because of some matters. Her talent is quite good, and she is appreciated by Mr. Tadis, the Vice Dean of Schluch Lake, and can borrow some books from the Schluch Lake Higher Medical Academy that are generally not allowed to be borrowed by correspondence students. Now, that princess has an ancient document, 'Secret Art of Immortality', in her hands."

Mr. Edmund took out a yellowed old photograph. Because it was black and white, the large book placed on the corner of the table in the photo was not particularly clear:

"It is this one."

"How ancient is it? The Fourth Era? Or even earlier?"

"No, no, no. It comes from the previous era and is an old book left behind by the last Witch Empress. And what you need to do is to transcribe the content from page five to page eight completely, following the layout in that book."

Mr. Edmund said, and Xia De frowned slightly:

"It doesn't sound like a simple task, but it's not difficult for me. Left behind by a Witch Empress... that wouldn't be..."

He suddenly looked up, and the old man had an expression of "you guessed it":

"I didn't say it had anything to do with the 'Whispering Chapter'."

Mr. Edmund even knew that Xia De was suspected to be related to the "God-Caller" who beheaded the giant mermaid corpse by the sea, so naturally, he knew that he also understood the "Whispering Chapter".

The old man held the teacup and took a sip of tea, just as if the two were chatting about easy topics like fishing harvests:

"Right now, the Success Sect has not yet realized the value of that book, and it took us a great deal of effort to investigate that the princess is also a Ringed Shushi. You need to act as quickly as possible. Once you obtain the transcript, the stone slab will naturally belong to you; you do not need to worry about that."

Xia De nodded:

"No problem, I accept this mission."

If there really are fragments of the Chapter in that book, then the 【Light-Guiding Ringed Society】 paying with a stone tablet related to an Old God is naturally a fair trade. It's just that the stone tablet is not necessarily what Xia De is looking for, and even if it is, the stone tablet is incomplete.

But this is still a very good trade. By transcribing the text on the "Secret Art of Immortality", Xia De can also know what the new fragments of the Chapter are. Even if the stone tablet provided by the Ringed Society has no value to him, just the fragments of the Chapter are worth Xia De approaching that princess.

Not to mention, the tasks he had on him—"Shadow the Princess to Find the Gray-Headed Eagle" and "Approach the Princess to Get to Know the 'Guiding Moon'"—were all related to Margaret Anjou.

"Mr. Edmund, I really don't know how to thank you for your help."

Xia De said very sincerely, and the old man shook his head:

"Young man, I appreciate you. You are different from almost everyone I know. This is hard to explain clearly, but you might become our fellow traveler. Speaking of which, there is another thing to tell you. Don't you often ask me about legends and myths from all over the Old Continent, as if you are looking for something?"

"Yes, is there a lead on this?"

"I checked some information based on the three clues you provided, and recently, when corresponding with an old friend, I heard an interesting thing. This should be helpful to you."

He sat up straight, moistened his fingers with tea, and flicked them lightly. A thin mist of water emerged and projected into a huge map of the Old Continent between the two.

"Meow?"

The cat was very interested in this, and Xia De also widened his eyes slightly. This was a sophisticated control technique for "water". Even with "Flame Shaping", Xia De could not achieve similar fine control over flames.

"Do you know the Pantanal region?"

"Of course I do."

Xia De pointed to the depressed area in the mid-west of the Old Continent:

"The Pantanal region refers to the large swamp area on the west side of the border between Deraerion and Casenrik (Note). Its area is two-thirds of the Rommel mountain range. In the old era before the steam age, because it was extremely unsuitable for human life, the development of that area was relatively lagging. Even in our current era, although the swamp has shrunk significantly due to the climate, the Pantanal region remains rainy all year round and is full of mud everywhere. However, this region is politically important, and both countries have deployed large numbers of troops in the swamp area."

He paused and added:

"A captain friend of mine said that serving in Pantanal is the worst choice, second only to serving in the Extreme North."

The captain naturally refers to Captain Lades. Xia De recently heard that because he made contributions in the Battle of Midhillburg, he is preparing to return to Tobesk to report for duty. The kingdom has promotions for officers at the end of every year. If Captain Lades can "maneuver" during his duty report in Tobesk, he might really be able to go from captain to the rank of major, just like Xia De currently has.

This is a qualitative leap.

Mr. Edmund nodded:

"Yes, most of the sovereignty of the Pantanal region is in the hands of Casenrik in the south. There are no large cities within the entire region, only isolated small villages and market towns. I have never been there, but I have heard that it is covered in silt, full of mosquitoes, insects, and snakes everywhere, and it is rainy all year round, with all kinds of strange creatures lurking in the depths of the swamp."

The old gentleman pointed to the water mist map:

"And on the north and south sides of the great swamp are the capitals of the two countries, Tobesk and Willendale."

"I have heard many legends about that place."

Xia De leaned back slightly against the back of the old sofa:

"Because it was inaccessible in the old era, many rare animals lived there. It is said that many wanted Ringed Shushi would also hide in the depths of the swamp, but after the New Continent was discovered, they all ran to the New Continent."

He hesitated for a moment:

"It is said that a long time ago, many unicorns and chocobos lived there. I don't know if it's true."

"It is true, but that was a matter of the last era."

Mr. Edmund said:

"Moreover, the beliefs of the local natives are also very strange. They worship the Pantanal itself and believe that the Pantanal is indeed the heart of the entire Old Continent, and they have even organized an obscure Ringed Shushi organization. However, this has nothing to do with our topic today. There are not many large cities within the Pantanal region, but in the Casenrik-administered area in the south of the great swamp, besides the capital city of Willondale, there is another very important large city."

Xia De squinted at the map. The location of Willendale had already been lit up by Mr. Edmund. He pointed to the north of Willendale, the southeast of Pantanal:

"City of Red Wine, Guardian of the Royal Capital - Huntington?"

A red butterfly flew out of Xia De's hand and landed on the water mist map. Mr. Edmund smiled and nodded:

"Yes, it is there."

Huntington is called the "Guardian of the Royal Capital" because it is almost impossible to cross the Pantanal Great Swamp to attack Willendale directly from Delarion. The terrible environment of the swamp area and the huge lake in the center of the swamp together hinder large-scale marching... unless it is a light-equipped small squad of infantry.

Therefore, if one wants to attack Willendale from the north, one can only advance along the western or eastern edge of the great swamp.

This resulted in Huntington City effectively taking on the responsibility of guarding the royal capital in the eastern part of the Pantanal. In the currently relatively peaceful steam age, that city has also achieved tremendous development. Relying on its status as a transportation hub in northern Casenrik, it has become the most important cargo distribution center in Casenrik, and most of the bulk goods traveling north, south, east, and west across the Old Continent must pass through Huntington City.

As for the title "City of Red Wine," it is because there are a large number of vineyards around Huntington, especially in the south and east. The soil and climate here are extremely suitable for grape cultivation and red wine brewing. Among the well-known wineries on the Old Continent, except for those like the Russell Winery located in the southern duchies of Casenrik, almost all northern wineries are concentrated near Huntington City.

Even the vineyard and winery of the vampire Armand Bernhard's family are near Huntington. The letter left by the captured vampire when he left the Cassandra Auction House also invited Xia De to visit his manor in Huntington.

"The rumor of the 'Lady of the Lake' seems to be in Huntington."

Xia De understood what the old man was going to say.

"Specifically, it is not that city, but west of Huntington, near the great swamp area. The rumor of the Lady of the Lake is a story passed down from generation to generation locally. It is rumored that people with kind hearts and noble character can meet the Lady of the Lake and obtain the power they hope for after passing the test."

"Have noble character?"

Xia De repeated suspiciously, and then began to think about whether he met the requirements. But immediately, the content of the list of great sins in the 【Sin Mansion】 appeared before his eyes. The outsider currently entangled between girls does not seem to meet such strict requirements. And the scale of his 【Promiscuity】 great sin has probably increased again.

But regardless, Xia De still decided to go to the vicinity of Huntington to take a look. Obtaining divinity is the most urgent matter at present. The afterglow of divinity has gradually weakened, and he must act as soon as possible. ===== CHAPTER 830 =====