Chapter 835: Princess and Red Wine

"Lady of the Lake?"

The vampire frowned slightly and nodded slowly:

"This is a local folk legend. I heard similar stories when I was a child. Such as heroes seeking power, then pulling out a sword after passing the test, and wise men seeking wisdom, then obtaining ancient treasures after passing the test. These stories are similar, and they have been circulating locally for a long time."

He paused:

"Before I left locally in early autumn, news came out in the black market that someone really encountered the Lady of the Lake. If you need more detailed information, I can help you collect it. Tomorrow, I will give you the information I can collect at present."

"That is really too much trouble for you."

Xia De raised his glass and clinked it lightly with Mr. Bernhard:

"Additionally, since I have come to a new city, can you introduce the local black market to me? I really want to see the local specialties."

"No problem, the number of Ringed Shushi in Huntington is no less than in Midhillburg."

"Then, besides the True God Church, are there any Ringed Shushi organizations here that need attention?"

Xia De asked, and Mr. Bernhard thought for a while:

"There are none within the urban area. To the east are large vineyards and farms, and the resident population is not large. But in the Pantanal Great Swamp area to the west, there is the 'Pantanal Voodoo Society' composed of swamp indigenous people. These people are strange, good at using toxins and epidemic-type sorcery, and their beliefs are not unified, and some even believe in the Pantanal region itself. Because they polluted the groundwater near Huntington in the early years, they were put on the wanted list by the Nature Church. Of course, there are also many good guys among them, but when dealing with such people, don't eat the water and food they hand over casually."

"Is that 'Pantanal Voodoo Society' very powerful?"

Xia De asked again, and the vampire thought for a while:

"The organization members are all over the Pantanal Great Swamp area, relying on selling rare herbs and animal products in the swamp area to make profits. They are indeed good at this. If you are interested in going deep into that swamp area and wetlands, most of the small houses seen in the uninhabited mountains or the herbalists seen on the outskirts of remote villages are members of the Pantanal Voodoo Society. However, this organization only operates in this area, and they are almost invisible in other parts of the Old Continent and the New Continent."

Xia De had indeed not heard the name of this organization before:

"The Voodoo Society should have high-ring Ringed Shushi, right?"

"Of course there are, but the highest is only nine rings. The organizational structure of the Voodoo Society is very loose, so the organization itself is also full of contradictions and is not as tightly structured as most organizations we know."

Mr. Bernhard shrugged:

"You know, where there are people, there will be disputes. This is normal."

The two communicated enthusiastically about the local situation. Mr. Bernhard, who had lived here for many years, was very talkative and even wanted to invite Xia De to be a guest at his manor outside the city tonight.

Today is Thursday, and Xia De had nothing to do, so he originally wanted to agree immediately, but at this time, the club waiter who walked in a hurry walked over, leaned over and whispered a few words in Mr. Bernhard's ear, and the latter revealed a surprised expression:

"Oh, I see, this is my honor, I will go immediately."

He put down his wine glass, hurriedly wiped his mouth with a napkin, and while smoothing his hair, he said to Xia De embarrassedly:

"A distinguished guest upstairs wants to see me, Mr. Watson. You eat here first, the cost of this meal is on me, I will be back as soon as possible. Yes, it is that one... is my hair messy now?"

"Not messy, very good, do you need a comb?"

Xia De understood that "that one" referred to the princess, and while saying this, he took out a wooden comb from his pocket and handed it over:

"Then you go up quickly."

He expressed understanding of this and was very curious about what Princess Margaret Anjou wanted to do with this vampire viscount.

Mr. Bernhard combed his hair while leaving with the servant, leaving Xia De to continue eating. Although he is a distant relative of the Anjou royal family, in fact, he does not often meet with members of the royal family.

Originally thought that Mr. Bernhard would leave for a long time, but Xia De had not finished the Huntington Secret Honey Grape Steak in front of him, and this gentleman returned with a worried expression, even more worried than just now.

He handed the comb back to Xia De, took the napkin handed by his servant and wrapped it around again. Xia De believed that his expression now was simply to write "I am very curious" on his face, and Mr. Bernhard also understood Xia De's expression and said with some annoyance:

"It's still related to this matter."

He pointed to the news about Princess Margaret Anjou's visit to Tobesk in the newspaper on the dinner table, and Xia De nodded:

"Although this kind of diplomatic mutual visit is very important for the two countries in peacetime, it shouldn't be enough for you to go together, right?"

"No, no, what does this have to do with me? It is Princess Margaret who is visiting Tobesk and wants to prepare gifts in a private capacity, so..."

Mr. Bernhard shook his head:

"Just now someone mentioned to the princess that I have some good famous wines here, and I manage the White River Valley Vineyard on behalf of the royal family, so the princess asked me to take out some of this year's wine from the wine cellar."

Although Xia De saw that they were all fermenting wine, in fact, there was still wine left from previous years in the warehouse. The mutual gift between the Anjou royal family and the Cavendish royal family does not need the princess to prepare it herself, but she plans to prepare gifts for important nobles and officials in Tobesk in a private capacity, which needs her to handle it herself.

"What is the difficulty of this? Isn't there a lot of wine in the wine cellar?"

Xia De asked, and Mr. Bernhard shook his head:

"There is, but the quality... is very poor."

This very decent gentleman pondered his words:

"Because of the climate in recent years, the quality of grapes grown in the White River Valley Vineyard has declined year after year, which is also the reason why profits have been shrinking. So, every summer, when I send the wine from the vineyard to Willendale..."

He pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows at Xia De. Xia De knew that this involved some private topics, and immediately said:

"I won't say it out."

"The vineyard can lose money, but sending that kind of terrible red wine is too indecent. The wine sent in the summer of these years is actually produced by my own winery."

Mr. Bernhard leaned down and said, speaking very fast, and looked around after finishing.

This is actually a small matter. Mr. Bernhard's practice is not very correct, but at least it is not wrong. He maintained his decency, received the subsidy for managing the vineyard, and the royal family also received good red wine.

"So, that princess thinks the wine from the winery is very good?"

Xia De asked with a smile, and the middle-aged noble sighed:

"Yes, and the problem is, this summer, the batch of wine from my own manor has been sold out, and there is not even a bottle of stock."

This is a very embarrassing thing. Mr. Bernhard can admit the source of the red wine he sends every year, but this will make him lose face. So, this gentleman intends to buy some good red wine at a high price so that Margaret Anjou can take it to Tobesk.

Of course, the second princess of the royal family is very good at tasting wine, so Mr. Bernhard must find the kind of good wine that the princess has not come into contact with, otherwise the princess will immediately discover that the source of the wine is wrong.

This matter is not complicated, but it is not easy to do, so Mr. Bernhard was a bit embarrassed at this time.

Xia De didn't expect that this gentleman, who even participated in the divine descent event, would be troubled by such a small matter, so he suggested:

"Good wine? I think you don't have to look for it, I have good red wine here."

Helping this gentleman is just a matter of raising his hand. He signaled the vampire servant on the side to take two new goblets, and then reached into his pocket. Looking around and seeing no one paying attention here, he "pulled" two red wine bottles from the inside of his clothes and placed them on the table.

Mr. Bernhard raised his eyebrows:

"You carry wine bottles when you go out?"

"No, no, I rarely drink. But when traveling, how can you not carry wine with you?"

Xia De joked, distinguishing between the two wine bottles:

"Not this one, this is apple wine, this bottle is red wine."

He handed the apple wine to the vampire servant who came back, signaling him to pour wine for the two:

"Viscount, I know the appearance of these two bottles of wine is not very good."

After all, even the wine bottles are recycled.

"But please taste this apple wine."

Xia De said with confidence. Mr. Bernhard sat on the chair, tilting his body:

"That's good, I rarely drink fruit wine brewed from apples, I hope it can bring me surprises."

The fruit wine made by 【Blood Wine Brewing】 does not have extraordinary characteristics, but regardless of any kind of wine, it will have the same scarlet luster as red wine.

Mr. Bernhard looked at the wine in the glass, which was like liquid ruby, with great surprise, picked up the goblet and observed the color carefully under the light, and couldn't help but praise:

"This color, it's really surprising, this is a noble color."

Xia De had already taken a sip of apple wine. He was actually very sorry that 【Blood Wine Brewing】 could only brew wine and could not make non-alcoholic fruit juice:

"Please taste it."

"Just looking at the color, I can be sure it... why is apple wine this color?"

He stretched out his nose hesitantly and sniffed lightly. The powerful sense of smell of the vampire allowed his nose to fully smell the rich high-end wine aroma. For a moment, it felt like the world was spinning. Mr. Bernhard breathed heavily and leaned his head back, his eyes wide open:

"Oh, my god, this is really strong!"

"Oh, my god, this is really powerful!"

"This is not a contraband like blood brew from Midhillburg, your performance is too exaggerated."

Although he knew there would be such an effect, Xia De still revealed a smile, and he could not avoid being a bit proud at this moment. ===== CHAPTER 836 =====

Although he knew there would be such an effect, Xia De still showed a smile, and he could not avoid feeling a bit proud at this moment.