Chapter 833: Huntington

"No, no, I didn't want to pull out a gun."

Seeing that the old vampire and the vampire dressed as a carriage driver were both panicked, Xia De explained quickly, so the old man became even more panicked:

"You really are carrying a gun!"

While speaking, a third person walked in from outside. He wore brown leather boots on his feet, a stiff formal suit on his body, and a top hat on his head, with gold silk decoration on the hat. This was a very high-class gentleman. He frowned and appeared at the door, examining the situation in the warehouse corridor:

"Thief? What are you stealing here?"

Then he saw Xia De wearing a mask, who looked like he was not a normal person at a glance, so he immediately pulled a black pistol from his waist:

"Don't move!"

The muzzle of the bright pistol was aimed at Xia De. The other party stood in the sunlight of the early winter morning, making Xia De, whose eyes had not yet adapted to the light, fail to see his appearance clearly for the first time.

"Oh, your courage is really big! This is the royal vineyard. Do you know whose property you are stealing?"

The middle-aged man wearing a black coat and dressed very decently scolded:

"Surrender immediately, otherwise..."

Xia De's eyes gradually adapted to the light outside, so he also saw who the person holding the gun was. He was stunned. He didn't expect that he actually had an acquaintance here:

"Mr. Bernhard?"

"You know who I am? Then, raise your hands quickly and hand over your weapon, sir, be decent! None of us want a conflict to break out."

"I am..."

Xia De wanted to raise his hand to take off his mask, but Armand Bernhard misunderstood this action and immediately said:

"Don't move! You have the right to defend everything you have done, but everything you say..."

"I am..."

"Daring to covet the royal property, you are really bold. Now raise your hands immediately... Honestly, there is actually nothing here. What exactly are you here to steal?"

Seeing that he ignored his defense, Xia De, who had prepared the spell materials in advance, took a light step forward, and then the three vampires in the corridor were surprised to find that Xia De had disappeared.

"It's me, Mr. Bernhard."

Xia De's helpless voice came from the door of the corridor. Mr. Bernhard turned his head and found that the stranger was leaning against the door standing in the sunlight.

Xia De took off the mask on his face. Although he applied the witch's eyeshadow, familiar people were not affected by this eyeshadow:

"It's me."

The high-class gentleman with a small bat symbol floating on his head squinted his eyes and saw Xia De's face clearly in the sunlight. He opened his mouth in surprise, and then immediately lowered the muzzle and stuffed it into the leather holster at his waist:

"Ham... Mr. Watson? Long time no see, you seem to have become more handsome!"

The surprised expression turned into a smile. He waved his hand to signal his companions not to be cautious, and then walked up to give Xia De a warm hug:

"Before I left Midhillburg, I left a letter for you at that auction house, inviting you to visit me here. I didn't expect that in less than half a month, we would meet again! Why did you appear here? Oh, you don't have to explain to me, there must be something to deal with again."

The viscount who had been saved by Xia De more than once was very excited.

White River Valley Vineyard indeed belongs to the Casenrik royal family, that is, the Anjou family. But the royal family has many properties within the United Kingdom, and it is impossible to manage every one of them personally. The Bernhardt family is a distant relative of the royal family, and Mr. Bernhardt, who has a family vineyard business in Huntington City, also manages the vineyard for the royal family.

The old man who just walked out of the warehouse is the caretaker sent by Mr. Bernhard, and the carriage driver is Mr. Bernhard's own carriage driver. Surrounding the Bernhard family, there is a small vampire clan, and these people are Mr. Bernhard's confidants.

The Anjou royal family entrusted the vineyard to Mr. Bernhard, giving him a sum of money every year, while the output of the vineyard is sent directly to Willendale, the royal capital.

As a relative of the royal family, Mr. Bernhard naturally would not take the output of grapes and red wine produced here as his own, but taking some small advantages is still possible. And what Xia De just bumped into was Mr. Bernhard wanting to stack the fresh meat for the winter of his own manor in the warehouse of the vineyard.

To prevent Xia De from not believing it, he even invited Xia De to the warehouse to take a look. It was indeed fresh dead cows and dead sheep:

"This is not me taking advantage, but the warehouse is empty and has no other use, isn't it? And, it is very troublesome to take blood at home. In the royal vineyard, it will never be suspected."

Mr. Bernhard tried his best to explain, not wanting to lose face in front of his friend. For a decent person like him, this is even harder to accept than being pointed at by a gun.

Xia De's acquaintance with Mr. Bernhard started in the autumn of this year. Although this gentleman went to Midhillburg with the divine descent vessel prepared for the God of Vampires, he himself did not know too many things.

On the night of the Battle of Midhillburg, he broke into the Cassandra Auction House with high-ring vampires and was captured alive. If Xia De hadn't visited by accident that night, I'm afraid Miss Swift, the witch's apprentice, wouldn't have let him live until dawn.

Mr. Bernhard no longer remembered what questions Xia De had asked him that night, but he still remembered that Xia De had saved him in the Sin Mansion and the auction house. Meeting again unexpectedly here, this gentleman was unusually happy:

"I didn't have a chance to repay you in Mibao, Mr. Watson. Please, you must let me treat you to a meal, right now. But not here; this place is too undignified. Let's go into the city now, to Huntington City. I know a very good club, and you will definitely like the scenery of Casenrik."

He did not ask the reason for Xia De's appearance, but issued an invitation very enthusiastically.

Xia De was not familiar with this city, but he felt relieved when he heard "Huntington":

"Mr. Bernhard, are you very familiar with this place?"

The two left the dilapidated warehouse corridor together. The old man in charge of guarding the manor locked the warehouse door, and the carriage driver went to prepare the carriage.

Leaving the corridor and officially walking into the early winter of Casenrik, Xia De saw that behind him was a small manor that looked dilapidated, and the corridor just now was below the front of the manor. To enter the manor, one had to pass through the stairs on the left and right sides.

"Of course I am familiar with this place. Eight months of the year, I spend in this city, and only return to Willendale in midsummer. After all, Huntington's summer is really too hot."

Mr. Bernhard introduced enthusiastically. Seeing Xia De observing the surroundings, he said again:

"Although the White River Valley Vineyard belongs to the royal family, because the previous manager did not manage it well, this vineyard has long been dilapidated. The annual output is only... I won't say crowns, converted into gold pounds, it is about 500 pounds, but the cost of hiring workers and maintaining the manor is more than 400 pounds, plus other expenses, it is actually losing money every year. But since the Anjou family is willing to give me money to manage this place, I have no reason to refuse."

He shrugged:

"The royal family has many properties, and they don't care about this kind of deficit at all."

"Then what is the possibility of me buying this place?"

Xia De asked, looking around against the sunlight. The weather here is very good. The small manor has dilapidated houses, abandoned flower fields, small hills towering behind the houses, and large vineyards outside the manor. The sky is blue, the large clouds are like, the sunlight is dazzling, but this is undoubtedly a good weather.

"I can help you ask, but without a Casenrik identity, it is very difficult."

Mr. Bernhard said while pointing to the carriage outside:

"Please this way."

"It doesn't matter if I can't buy it, I just want to ask."

Xia De followed Mr. Bernhard, stepped on the uneven muddy ground of the manor, walked through the manor, and stood in front of the shabby wooden gate, only to find that the White River Valley Vineyard itself was on a higher hill.

Looking out into the distance, looking at the blue sky, the boundless plains, and the city located on the horizon in the distance. This is a scenery that the outsider has never seen before. In the world of the Steam Era, such primitive but natural scenery is something he never thought of.

Xia De smiled unconsciously, and his mood was as bright as the sun above his head:

"The most important thing today is that I want to ask you about the situation in this city."

"No problem, let's talk when we get to the city. I still have some influence locally."

Unlike Midhillburg, which has many mountains, Huntington is located on the great plains in the center of the Old Continent, producing grain and various economic crops, especially grapes. When taking Mr. Bernhard's carriage to the city, Xia De could see endless grape plantations from the carriage window, see women wearing headscarves working by the beehives under the blue sky, and even more see merchants carrying cargo boxes walking on the country roads.

Clearly, they are all cities of the Old Continent, but Huntington, located in the south, is completely different from the late autumn scenery of Coldwater Port, Tobesk, and Midhillburg.

The young ladies around Xia De were always envious of the vineyards in southern Casenrik. Even Doctor Shi Nai De, who had been to Casenrik for academic conferences, praised the scenery here highly. Although it was not the best season in midsummer, the scenery in late autumn already made the outsider understand why people always praised the southern vineyards so much.

The White River Valley Vineyard where Xia De appeared is in the east of Huntington, only a twenty-minute carriage ride from the city. And if riding a horse alone, the time to enter the city can be shortened.

On the carriage, Mr. Bernhard introduced this city to Xia De enthusiastically, and as they gradually approached the urban area of Huntington from the countryside, the large plains of vineyards disappeared, the dazzling sunlight slowed down, and replaced by the scenery of a big city in the Steam Era that Xia De was very familiar with. ===== CHAPTER 834 =====