The man in the old robe had lived in this shabby hotel for many days. He wanted to have lunch as usual, but when he went down the stairs, he unexpectedly saw a very familiar figure near the wall.
"Long time no see, Mr. Watson."
Xia De, who looked down at the news, heard someone greeting him in Kasenlik with a strange accent. As soon as he looked up, he saw the man pull over the wooden chair opposite the table, and sat down under the light of the kerosene lamp on the wall.
The eyelashes are extremely short, the black eyes are extremely energetic, the old brown robes in the desert area, and the stubble of the blue beard is probably longer than the hair.
"Mr Sean Asmond?"
Xia De was startled suddenly, unexpectedly meeting him again.
"Yes, Mr. Watson, I am very glad to meet you again in a strange city."
The demon scholar put down his notebook and showed Shad his trademark, weird smile.
Although this expression is very weird, it is not the first time that Shade has met, and he is very happy to meet his former friends in Kasenlik:
"Mr. Asmond, why are you here? It was Coldwater Harbor first, then went southeast to Fort Midhill, and then turned back to the southwest and came here."
"Of course it is to continue searching for the legend of the devil."
He still maintains the appearance of "smiling but not smiling", his scalp almost glowing under the dim kerosene lamp:
"Besides, Mr. Watson, didn't you appear here too?"
"Yes yes, to celebrate this unusual reunion, let me buy you a drink."
As he said that, he called the fat waiter who seemed to be a little absent-minded, and the latter was twice the size of Shad. Mr. Sean Asmond didn't make too much politeness with Shad. After ordering a glass of ale for himself, he put his left hand on his knees, tilted his body and stretched his head, and chatted with Shad again.
"Are there demons in Huntington? Oh, Mr. Asmon, I often hear urban legends about vampires in my local area."
Xia De said with a smile, and the voice of the demon scholar, like summer and autumn, has the slippery feeling of a snake crawling:
"Yes, the devil. But not Huntington, but the Great Swamp. I've heard many legends here, such as interconnected burrows, and snake-like vines that eat people."
While Xia De subconsciously looked towards the west, Mr. Asmond's pair of black eyes were still staring at him:
"There are some interesting lore, and there are quite a few demon relics inside the Everglades. I believe I can find something of value, which will make this journey interesting."
In fact, if he had gone to Tobesk some time ago, the probability of finding the devil would be greater.
"But in my opinion, it's not a good idea to go deep into the Everglades this season."
The two raised their wine glasses to drink, and the candlelight on the side of the table made their shadows shake slightly. This shabby hotel has no gas pipes, and of course no steam pipes, so even the heating is done by burning wood. The only fireplace was quite old, and it was the brightest light source in the room.
But on the contrary, this shabby little hotel has a surprisingly old and vicissitudes of life.
Xia De knew that something big would happen in the Pantanal Swamp, so he tried to persuade him. The demon scholar let out a weird laugh, but there was no smile in his eyes:
"I just want to go around the periphery and not go deep into the swamp. Those series of lakes are the target of my investigation."
But in this way, the probability of him finding an angel is far greater than that of finding a demon. After all, there really is an angel living in the lake.
"It's fun to say, though."
Xia De placed the wine glass on the wooden table with slight chopping marks and soaked in decades of wine stains:
"Mr. Asmond, it seems that every time we see you, we are in places with the name 'Rose'. The Pink Rose Tavern in Coldwater Harbor, the Blue Rose Inn on the Windy Trail in West Carl Mountain, and now in Huntington City. Bloody Rose Hotel."
"No, no, Mr. Watson, I didn't choose this kind of place to live on purpose. It's just that I don't have a lot of pockets."
He stretched his head forward slightly, but there was no sign of embarrassment on his expression.
Xia De smiled and nodded:
"Do you need me to sponsor your research? Maybe when we meet again in a corner of the city in the next strange city, you can tell me the story of your local encounter."
As he said that, he was about to take out his wallet. Although he had only met this demon scholar twice, Xia De had a pretty good impression of him.
[Probably because he gave you an old [Devil Soul Stealer Bishop] when he first met you. 】
"She" reminded Xia De softly, but Mr. Asmond sucked his lips and shook his head while making a "tsk tsk" sound:
"This is impossible. I study demonology. My knowledge tells me that it is not a good habit to accept other people's good intentions or make wishes at will. However, I have a good thing here."
He opened his notebook, which was turned up at the corners, and showed half a card in it.
The problem with that card was not only that there was only half of it, but the remaining half was also faded and severely damaged, but it could still be seen that it was the upper half of a Rhodes card.
"Some time ago, a group of people and I explored a field of unowned burials."
That is to say, a group of people teamed up to rob graves, and the demon scholar in front of him looked like someone who could do similar things.
"That place is very dangerous, but there are not many valuable burial objects. This is something I brought out from the tomb. It is lying in the mud of the tomb passage. I don't know if it is a burial object or the previous group of patrons left it. It's a pity that the mighty power of time has destroyed too many things.
I have investigated this card, and if I am not mistaken, it should be Star 8's [Natural Disaster·Blizzard] (Note). The rules recorded by the Prophet Association are: when this card is drawn, if the opponent does not suspend the card and the number of cards in his hand is even, he can remove the card with the smallest number among the opponent's revealed cards. Special effects still work. "
Mr. Asmond explained with a weird smile, while Xia De was a little surprised:
"The natural disaster series is very famous, and it has been reprinted many times. Looking at the appearance and printing technology of this card, it is probably the first edition. It is a pity that it has been damaged in this way, otherwise it must be quite valuable .”
"Yes, but as far as I know, the Prophet Association provides Rhode card owners with the service of exchanging old cards for new ones."
The demon scholar continued, and Shad nodded.
After all, except for the thirteen cards of the founding series, the other cards are just ordinary items, and they will be damaged sooner or later (Note). The Prophet Association, on the other hand, provides Rhode card holders with a thoughtful renewal service, that is, if they carry old cards and related documents with a integrity exceeding a certain level, they can exchange the old cards for Rhode cards by paying coins. new card.
Among them, there are complete regulations on the integrity of the old cards and the required related documents. But if the face in the Prophet Association is big enough, or if you can come up with a suitable reason to persuade the association, even if the necessary conditions are missing, you can increase the price and replace it with a new one.
"very funny."
Xia De commented, took out his notebook, and clipped the old cards in:
"Mr. Asmond, since you are unwilling to accept my kindness in vain, you might as well sell me this old card."
He rummaged through his wallet and handed out a 3-kroner note:
"This is what I paid for the goods."
This amount of money is actually too much. After all, 11 to 12 gold pounds can be exchanged for one kroner. Xia De purely wants to help the man in front of him, at least so that he does not have to live in such a shabby place.
"In this case."
Mr. Asmond accepted the three green notes:
"How about, let's continue to tell the story that we didn't finish last time."
"A demon story? Of course."
The demon scholar narrowed his eyes slightly, and Xia De felt that the light of the kerosene lamp and the candles dripping wax on the table was dim at this moment.
"Mr. Watson, do you still remember the content of the story we told the previous two times?"
"Yes Yes."
Shade held the handle of the wine glass and replied:
"A wonderful existence, because of people's cognition, it really has the power of the rumored demon. He traveled to many places and brought countless disasters, but he failed once until he met a person who had no wishes .
The devil hides in the soul of the desireless person, walks with him, and brings disaster, causing the desireless person to be expelled from friends, companions, and everyone. But when he was dying, the human said with a smile that he had sealed the demon with his whole life, and the demon said with a smile that men still have wishes after all. And so it devoured the men's souls, going where they came from. "
Xia De shook his head:
"It's also the hometown of men."
"Yes, and the story apparently continues."
The long-faced man picked up his wine glass~www.mtlnovel.com~ In the dilapidated tavern, talking about this kind of topic with occasional acquaintances under the dim light is very atmospheric.
"I have a hunch this is not going to be a story with a happy ending."
Xia De said softly, and then smiled self-deprecatingly:
"How can a story about demons have a happy ending?"
At this time, the demon scholar's greasy voice sounded:
"A man without wish spent his whole life traveling with the devil in his soul, just hoping that it would stay away from his family and friends. But the devil returned to the man's hometown in just one night. The starting point of the journey. This time the story happened there.”
"Tsk tsk."
Xia De sighed softly, but the sound of wine glasses being rudely placed on the table around him covered up his speechlessness.
－－－－－Off Topic－－－－－
ps1: Thank you reader @在南风里 for providing the inspiration for this Rhodes card.
ps2: The first thirteen cards have not been damaged all the year round, but have never attracted attention, because they have the characteristics of being undetectable and abnormal. For example, the great witch of the fifth era has [Vientiane Impermanence·Darkness] but did not study it out of anything. This point has been said once before.
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