"You can't find such a delicious mud in the whole of Stonebug!" Wrigley glared at Naria angrily, as if it was even more unforgivable to find fault with his food than to say that he was a nuisance.

"That's after I improved your puff recipe!" Narya unceremoniously pointed a spoon at him, "Until then, this thing was a pile of!"

Wrigley frowned for a moment before he suddenly realized, "Oh...... That's you. ”

Naria gave him a roll of the eyes, took a moment to observe the noisy customers in the store, shook her head, and put on a more serious look: "Seriously, Wrigley...... If you continue to sell alcohol here, it won't help these people at all. ”

"I never forced them to buy my wine. Wrigley smiled through his nose, "And who said I was going to 'help' them? What does it matter to me if they just clump there and become sludge in a stinking gutter? This is not a temple, and I am not a god...... Or something like a Sage. ”

Ed's heart shuddered involuntarily.

He's trying to eat his "mud" - after spending half a year on the ice field, it's not too hard to put what is really more like in his mouth, and it tastes even better than his own roasted rabbit...... It's just that the taste is a little indescribable.

But he really didn't have much of an appetite.

This place made him nervous...... Or rather, the overcrowded people around him made him nervous.

A few years ago, when he had followed his father around on business, and even when he had gone north in search of Is, he had no choice but to live in such a noisy place. Dirty, dilapidated inns with even worse food on the table. There are even more unfriendly guests sitting next to you...... But at that time, he liked to observe everyone with great interest, guessing their stories, and he was willing to strike up a few words with strangers he met, even if most of them did not get a friendly response. But now, when he occasionally looked up, he only unconsciously looked for some shadow hidden in the shadows. Or a pair of eyes that peer into them in silence. When he accidentally makes eye contact, he will no longer smile and say hello, but will only look away in a hurry......

He became vigilant...... and suspicious.

The former was what he needed. And the latter...... He didn't know if he would ever be able to get rid of it.

“...... Would you like some wine?" Wrigley pushed the flask in front of him, "You look like you need a little ...... Although the quality of our wine has dropped a bit since Lange ran away, it is still much more genuine than more than half of the pubs in Ston Butch City. ”

"I need a little bit too -- a lot of it. ”

A strange ...... But the voice that seemed to have been heard somewhere, came from behind Ed.

He hadn't had time to turn his head yet. A dark shadow flickered past him. The visitor was already sitting beside him with a big grin, and even crossed his legs to the only chair that was still empty.

It was a tall man, with messy blonde hair and an equally messy beard, a very pale face, an unhealthy flush on his cheekbones and the tip of his nose, and a pair of eyes that had not awakened all the time, and the smell of alcohol all over his body.

An alcoholic.

Wrigley stared sullenly at him, dragging the flask over and pouring himself a full glass and pouring it down in one gulp.

"That's my cup. He said through gritted teeth. "And you have to pay first!"

"Really?" the man raised his glass in surprise and sniffed. "I'm pretty sure this is the wine I gave you. ”

"But if I pay, you'll have to pay for it again!" Wrigley snatched his cup and flask, obviously disgusted by the man in front of him, but did not chase him away - judging by their conversation, this man was probably the moonshiner who supplied the Nautilus with water after running to Neo to "take refuge".

"If it weren't for my wine, these people wouldn't be here. The man shrugged nonchalantly, "I think our relationship should be okay...... Be a little more intimate. ”

Wrigley glared at him gloomily for a few moments, then turned his head away from him.

“...... Hey!" the man turned his attention to Ed and Naria, "Where are these clean-cut young men coming from? You're not local, are you? I haven't seen you here yet." ”

"Where are you coming from?" Naria asked bluntly, keeping her distance in an unkind tone, but not so aggressive as to anger the other party, "It doesn't sound like you're a local." ”

The man's Stonebuge accent was not standard, but it was not clear where the tone was mixed. Ed looked at him several times with some surprise, and felt as if he had seen him somewhere—he didn't look anything special, and he bore some resemblance to many of the northerners he knew in Anktan......

As if sensing his gaze, the man grinned at him, and a strange light flashed through his eyes in the light of the candlelight...... Then Ed snapped into it.

He blinked in confusion, not knowing what the hell was going on. This man probably wouldn't have been in front of him in this way out of amusement - he wasn't Tess.

He could only hide his surprise by bowing his head and silently dealing with his dinner.

The man didn't answer Naria's question—his attention seemed to have shifted rapidly. He lazily half-slumped in his chair, squinting as if drunk at the customers coming and going in the shop, suddenly burst out laughing out loud.

"Do you see that guy?" he leaned over and put his arm around Ed's shoulder, affectionately like an old friend who had known him for many years, "that guy with shoulders as wide as a cow...... A month ago he was chasing my ship and yelling, and almost shot through my favorite cloak, and now he can only sit here and drink my wine—life is wonderful, isn't it?"

Ed glanced in the direction of his finger—and then was surprised to find that he knew the guy who was as strong as a cow.

That's not another smuggler. On the contrary, Dawson Vosbaca is a Ston Butch ...... He used to be the natural enemy of all the smugglers in Stonebuch, and even the serious businessmen complained about him. Because the inspection team he led, in addition to being accustomed to taking the smuggled goods confiscated as their own, would also "mistakenly detain" ordinary caravan goods from time to time, but few people could get their goods back 100%.

For the Singer family, it was a simple matter to give such a person a little favor to avoid trouble, and even Ed never thought that such a bribe was a big deal, not to mention that this knight from a civilian background had a tough background, and it was not worth the loss to provoke him...... How did he end up here?.

(To be continued.) )