Chapter 86

September 2nd, Holier City, Cambé District.

For a typical medieval city, the noble district where the lord resided was often the quietest, while the trade district where the market was located was the busiest. Apart from the residential area where most of the commoners and merchants lived, the Cambé District, which ran along the north city wall and was always in the shade, was the so-called darkest "slum."

The buildings in the Cambé District were extremely simple. If the Duke of Luxifron's residence exuded a sense of deep heritage and restrained luxury, then what could be smelled here was only fading, withering, and decay.

Rodi always thought of that phrase he had seen everywhere before — "Where there are people, there is a江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to a world of martial arts and chivalry)."

Even in the slums, there were their own rules and "jianghu." There were always three or four gangs, mostly brutish and unreasonable, and the rest were mostly lazy, uneducated, and unemployed youths. The place they often gathered was the bar in the Cambé District — because it was the hub of information for the "Thieves' Guild."

Of course, the "Thieves' Guild" sounded like a pretty impressive organization, but in reality, it was just a loose group of petty thieves sharing information. It had no physical presence, was nowhere to be found, yet... it was everywhere.

Sitting at the bar of the "Pig's Head Inn," holding a cup of cheap barley wine mixed with water, Rodi felt that the name of this bar, which he had never visited before, seemed familiar. After thinking for a long time, he realized it was the same as a bar in the literary masterpiece "Harry Potter." Thinking about how the wizarding world of people's imagination had almost become a reality before his eyes, he felt a bit nostalgic. He shook his head, took a sip of the barley wine, and made a face.

It really tasted awful.

He had thought about collaborating with the wood elves to make wine, but after meeting Nata, he temporarily put this idea aside. The concept of "high-end luxury" was too distant for commoners, and it was not easy to persuade a group of nobles to buy elven wine with his current status. Although it wasn't impossible to make money, the timing was not ripe, so he decided to let it go.

Holding the wine glass, he was about to ponder the Duke of Angmar when his dazed appearance caught the attention of the bar owner, who teased him a few times.

"Hey... Raphael, aren't you planning to sing a few songs today? I've been listening to your stories for days, but I prefer a more lively atmosphere in the bar!"

Huk, the bearded owner of the inn, was quite relaxed at this time in the morning, as the bar was almost empty. The bars in the slums naturally couldn't compare to the bright and clean taverns on the main streets. The lighting was dim, the floor was dirty, the wine was cheap but watered down, and a dried pig's head always hung at the door, its fierce expression symbolizing the darkness and cruelty of the area.

"Singing? That's not my forte. If I were to sing those songs, I doubt your business would be good."

Rodi, under the alias "Raphael," smiled and responded to the local boss, his words full of courtesy. "I'll continue telling stories in the evening, don't worry. Although the hall is always a bit dark, the service here is really warm, and I'm considering staying for a few more days."

"God bless, if you can stay longer, that would be great." Huk drank a cup of watered-down barley wine as if it were water. Seeing Rodi about to pay, he waved his hand. "Put it away, put it away, it's on me."

Rodi didn't refuse this kindness, thanked him a few times, and returned to his room on the second floor.

This was the fourth day Rodi had stayed in Holier City. During these days, he had stayed at this inn under the identity of a "minstrel," ostensibly a wanderer who earned his living by telling stories, but his real purpose was to casually gather information about the various members of the Luxifron family.

As an experienced player, Rodi knew that the method of buying information with gold coins, as seen in novels, was not reliable in "Rift." His past solitary life had taught him that only when trust was gained and there were no conflicts of interest, the information casually mentioned was the most genuine and reliable.

Throwing gold coins to ask for information would likely result in being taken advantage of. Rodi wasn't that foolish. Causing others to be wary would lead to a terrible outcome. When he sat down at his desk, he realized that he had already been "inspected."

Reaching out to organize the stack of parchment written in regular Chinese characters, Rodi could see the traces of someone having flipped through them.

In such a mixed place, the fact that the other party had only flipped through the parchment without taking anything else from the room was clearly for surveillance and investigation. However, Rodi had anticipated this — because he was confident he had not revealed any flaws.

"If you can read Chinese, then you're pretty impressive..."

Rodi muttered, pondered for a moment, and then carefully examined one of the papers.

This paper contained all the information he had gathered from Huk about the old Duke of Angmar in recent years. The hotel owner's disordered narration had been reorganized by Rodi into a neat timeline. After several days of information gathering, Rodi had confirmed that the Duke of Angmar, Luxifron, was seriously ill due to the "Soul Extraction Potion."

The Duke's personality had drastically changed five years ago, and he had suddenly burst into a fit of rage on the hunting grounds. Four years ago, his body had become so weak that he could only stay in the Duke's residence, and the priests of the "Rose Cross" had performed holy rituals, but to no avail. Three years ago, he had begun to seclude himself, even ceasing to issue orders...

The most critical and convincing evidence that the old Duke was ill was the secret information Huk had obtained from a certain source: "The old Duke had once shed blue blood from the corner of his eye."

Such a detail was something ordinary people couldn't even make up — although gossip news was often unreliable, Rodi clearly remembered that the "Soul Extraction Potion" indeed caused such an effect after consumption!

This was not a coincidence but a solid fact. All the details matched Rodi's memory perfectly, and now he was confident that his judgment was correct.

In Rodi's original plan, the immediate priority was to find an opportunity to kill Francis. Otherwise, the other party would eventually trace back to him, and if he were to be caught, he might even lose his basic class. So, assassinating Francis was the top priority.

However, after some investigation, Rodi discovered that the man was hiding in a heavily guarded estate outside the city, with no plans to go out, leaving Rodi with no way to act. After much consideration, he chose the second method to deal with the situation —

Directly waking up the old Duke Angmar and using his hand to resolve Sally's current crisis.

This was a "clumsy method," but it had some additional benefits. If he could successfully wake up the old Duke and let him know his name, having a Duke as a backer would be more reliable than relying on a young girl like Sally. After all, Rodi understood that in the entire Eifel territory, only a powerful Duke like Angmar was the "boss."

If he could really wake him up, the reputation and experience he would gain would be invaluable. Most importantly, he could then find suitable positions for Soderlor and others to carry out the next plan, which was the most critical part.

"Francis, Francis... enjoy a few more good meals."

Saying this, he took out another piece of parchment — it contained the patrol times and routes of the Duke's residence guards, written in Chinese. He touched his pocket, where several vials of the "Soul Extraction Potion" antidote were wrapped in cloth, which he had manufactured.

Initially, the players had described two methods to create the "Soul Extraction Potion" antidote: one required a complex mixture of herbs to be prepared and boiled, and a single dose would cure the patient immediately, but Rodi clearly didn't know how to prepare it, so he had to use the simpler method...

Soak the "Blasphemy Root" in boiling water and use the resulting liquid as the antidote — this was indeed effective, but the downside was that it required multiple large doses to work, and from memory, at least three doses were needed.

By today, Rodi had already prepared to go and "administer the medicine" to the old Duke tonight. However, with nothing to do during the day, he remembered that he had not yet met Sally since coming to Holier City. After some thought, he decided to find her and understand the current situation.

Rodi didn't know what Sally had been doing in the convent for the past few months. In his mind, the fact that this girl had managed to survive so far was already quite impressive.

Dressed in ordinary civilian clothes, Rodi left the inn and disappeared around the corner.

"Hey, Huk, who's that guy?"

At the bar, someone pointed at Rodi's back and asked.

"Who? Hey — you haven't been here for a while. He's the most popular minstrel in the bar these days. To be honest, his stories make me so excited, I wish I could go to the front lines and cut down a few orcs myself!"

"Forget it, Huk, your belly is probably bigger than a wolf's!"

The interruption from the side immediately filled the bar with laughter, but the middle-aged man sitting in front of Huk didn't laugh. He maintained a serious expression and asked in a low voice, "I don't want any nonsense, Huk. Is this guy's identity clean?"

"Clean, not a spy sent by any lord. I had someone check his room, and most of the letters were about poetry and verses, and some... I think they are new musical scores, but I can't read them."

Huk responded in a low voice. Although the man in front of him looked unremarkable, Huk knew that he was someone with status within the "Thieves' Guild" and was working for Count Francis, so he couldn't be careless.

Hearing his words, the middle-aged man nodded, placed a silver coin on the bar, and gently pushed it to Huk. "If you hear anything else, remember to let me know."

"Sure, sure..."

Huk quickly responded. After watching the man's back disappear, he wiped the bar and muttered, "Tsk... looking for some archer scout, I don't know what he's afraid of, even checking a minstrel... as if that guy could assassinate Francis or something."