- The beginning of each plot is always the most difficult to write, this chapter is full of more than four hours to write, the evening 2850 plus more may be late, and the next plus will probably have to be made up tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, but it will definitely not be unadded.

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Aalto, in a room on the lowest floor of the monastery.

It was dark, and there was no movement except for its own sounds.

Natasha, who was sitting in the room, seemed to have adjusted to the place, and the fiery blood bulging on her hands and face had faded a lot.

With dark vision, she looked at the stack of thick letters in her hand, humming the melody silently from time to time, even if there was no sound, she seemed light and lively.

Seeing the last page of the envelope, Natasha suddenly laughed, and slapped her right hand: "Hmph, blessings in advance? Lucien, you must be learning from me, I'm waiting for the July 30th "Music Review". ”

"It's nice to have a friend, or I'd be going crazy. ”

............

The slightly fishy cool breeze on the sea blows away the sultry heat of October, the waves hit the causeway from time to time, splashing countless snow-white foam, the sea and the sky in the distance, the birds wandering, the sharp boats passing through the near, and the arched bridge seats.

The "Pearl of the Sea" Sturk is partly similar to the Venice that Lucien had seen in the film in his previous life, built on the basis of more than 100 small islands gathered in the sea, countless canals are dense like spider webs, and only a long seawall is connected to the mainland.

Sitting on top of Stuck's characteristic pointed boat, Lucien watched the various buildings on both sides of the canal slowly move back, and had the feeling of shopping.

"Oh, dear guest, in fact, every canal in Steulk is equivalent to the streets of other cities. The half-old boatman in the boat, seeing that Lucien had been looking from side to side, understood that he was a new traveler to Sturk, and enthusiastically introduced: "This is the church of St. Mayor." There's the Church of the Holy Spirit in Sturke, there's the Bell Tower of Truth, there's the Minaret of Prayer......"

Lucien leisurely blows the sea breeze. I was very satisfied with the boatman's introduction: "This should be Sturk's temple area?"

Although in every district, in every town, the church, no matter how big or small, has a church. But there will always be an area with a concentration of church buildings, such as the area near the Golden Cathedral to the east of the Aalto aristocratic quarter.

"Yes. So it's not crowded. Once you enter the business district, you will see countless boats and businessmen and travelers from different countries. The boatman replied with a smile as he steered the boat across a magnificent stone-arched bridge.

Suddenly. The surroundings became noisy, with boats either docked next to a building or directly on the ground floor of a large building with a waterway entrance.

The lingua franca of different accents echoed in the air, and the words "copper fell", "silver narr", "quintal", "bank", "loan", "ten grams", "sturgeon", "sea carp", "orange fish", "steel", "timber", "slave", "delivery" and other words were heard in Lucian's ears from time to time, and the scenes of bargaining came into view, many times more lively than Aalto's market district.

The whole city is beating with vigorous vitality, and it seems that even the sea breeze that blows has the smell of money.

"More bustling than I thought Stulk would be. More business-oriented. Lucien sincerely admired that he from the modern city of the earth seemed to prefer such a warm scene, and seemed to enjoy the quiet against the background of the hustle and bustle.

The boatman said with great pride: "We in Stulk City are on the edge of the Storm Channel, connecting the north and the south and the east and west. There is also a natural deep-water port, so it is the best transit point for countless goods, it is the most ideal free city, and we Steulks are naturally business-minded, and it is here that the first goldsmiths' guilds, the first banks, and the first voucher transactions were born. ”

"Communicate something?" Lucien could tell that something was wrong with the boatman's introduction. When Stulk mentions the East, it is obvious that he is referring to countries such as Holm across the Storm Channel. Can you communicate directly?

The boatman, who often dealt with travelers and merchants, wondered Lucian's doubts, and talked eloquently: "Guest, you must have heard of the 'nightingale' yarn and unique jewelry of the Kingdom of Holm, the 'gold' porcelain of the Kingdom of Camelot, the spices of the Duchy of Calais, and the top-quality tobacco of the Kingdom of Briana, right?"

"Of course, they are things that can only be enjoyed by the true aristocracy. Lucien echoed the boatman's statement, though the information from the mouth of a man of his profession was not even half true and half false, but it was better than nothing.

The boatman received Lucian's response, and the nature of the discussion was even stronger: "These four nations are just across the Channel, but because these goods are very profitable, they are monopolized by the Church, and only the nine noble merchants authorized by the Church can organize fleets to go. Tsk, so the wealth of the nine of them can be combined to buy Stulk. ”

"Uh, what are the nine?" asked Lucien curiously, could it be that Granneuve would be one of the nine, able to openly use trade as an excuse to send mages across the Storm Channel.

"Viscount Wright's house, Baron Cap, Baron Monkács......" the boatman counted one by one, but unfortunately there was no name of Granneuve.

Lucian's interest faded and he smiled, "Why don't you continue to introduce me to the buildings on both sides?"

"Well, that's Wright Bank, that's Monkage-Hawthorne Bank. The boatman pointed to the golden buildings on the left, "That's the 'Epic Gallery', that's the 'Mitchell Sculpture Gallery', that's the 'Bright Gold' Bank......"

Lucien kept looking in the direction the boatman was pointing, and managed to see the three-story building that looked like it was studded with gold leaf. Quite a few boats come and go at its gates.

So close to Granneuve's bank, Lucien didn't say a word, quietly watched the crowds and buildings near it, and let the sharp boat pass in front of the building with the sign of the word "Canjin Bank".

Lucien is cautious, since he already knows the identity of the liaison in Steulk City, there is no need to rush and take risks, it is better to observe Granneuve and his bank first, and see how other magicians come to the door, so as to prevent the possibility that he has been identified by the church and fished through him to catch people.

Moreover, during his three-month trip, through the meditation method of a formal magician, his soul and spiritual power have become significantly stronger. Seven spells have been constructed in the soul, including "Panic Technique", "Silent Phantom", "Burning Hand", "Mage Armor", "Iron Body", "Endurance of Elemental Damage", and "Runaway Circle", and they are preparing to build the escape magic of "Anointing the Soles of the Feet", so there is no need to rush.

But Lucien found that even there was a formal meditation method. With his own spiritual talent, it is estimated that it will take a year to advance to the second ring, even if he can already analyze the magic of the second ring, as for wanting to become an intermediate level. At least ten years!This made Lucien yearn for the Council of Magic, especially the effective meditation methods that Felipe had mentioned.

Amid the chatter of the boatmen, the boats sailed away from the business district.

............

More than half a month later. Inside a seafood restaurant "Shark" that Sturk is very famous for.

Lucien was led by the waiter to a table covered with a white dining cloth, and while ordering, he watched the fat man with sparse brown hair and a thick black cigarette in his mouth, under the personal protection of several guards and the personal greeting of the restaurant manager, slowly ascend the stairs to the small dining room on the second floor.

He was exactly Lucien's target, Granneuve.

After a long period of covert observation, Lucien was basically sure that he was not exposed, and now the only question was how to contact him.

Granneuve is always accompanied by guards, and there may even be a Dark Knight. His own strength seems to be very strong, and a character like him will definitely guard against the night watchman of the church pretending to be a magician to test himself, a guy like Lucian who is full of secrets does have a bit of a headache how to win his trust, and it is impossible to use the identity of a professor anymore!

So when he accidentally heard that Granneuve was going to have a banquet on the second floor of the "Shark" restaurant tonight, Lucien's heart moved. Come in advance and wait to see if you can find your chance. Because a tycoon and underground magnate like Granneuve, the best and most convenient way to entertain guests is always in the lobby of his villa, and even if the guests like seafood, they can invite the chef of the "Shark" restaurant back, and there is no need to come here directly. This made Lucien smell a little weird.

Listening to the creaking of the stairs under Granneuve's heavy body, Lucien saw the waiter of the restaurant come over with a stack of newspapers: "Dear guests, this is a well-known newspaper such as today's Stucker Daily and past issues of the Music Review. Next, our pianist will perform the famous musician Lucien Evans' "Moonlight Sonata" and "Canon in D major" to wish you a wonderful enjoyment before the start of dinner. ”

Lucien smiled and nodded, it was one of the top restaurants in Stulk, the atmosphere and service were very good, and these newspapers were not something that could be bought casually. After not using his identity as a musician, he could not buy money in a country that was getting farther and farther away from Aalto.

The familiar soothing melody resounded as the pianist played, and the whole restaurant became elegant and serene.

Lucien opened the newspaper and read the "Music Review" first, and learned from the above article that Victor was touring the Holy Heltz Empire, and Phyllis finally wrote a barely good piano piece.

However, since the beginning of August, Natasha has commented on the latter part of "Moonlight", which makes Lucien a little worried: "Her blood incineration should be over, is there any other problem? ”

After reading a few newspapers of value to him, Lucien saw that dinner had not yet come up, and the guests of Granneuve's banquet had not yet arrived, so he casually opened the "Sturk Daily" and looked at the contents to pass the time:

"A batch of timber from the Principality of Djibouti needs to be processed urgently, if you are interested, please contact ......" The newspaper was full of similar news, except for some anecdotes.

As he watched, Lucien suddenly saw a report: "Ms. Grace, a student of the famous musician Lucian Evans, will hold a recital with her friends at the Stuart Crystal Concert Hall."

"My students?" Lucien looked at inexplicably, presumably the "musicians" met him at the Aalto Festival, received his own guidance, and then created a number of fantasia works, and Grace among them also received his own private piano professor and became his student.

With such fame, they quickly became sought-after musicians and businessmen after returning to Sturke, and became popular.

Lucian, who has a good memory, thought back a little about these names and corresponded to specific characters, and was a little amused for a while: "I did communicate with them about the creation of fantasias, but they are too good at taking advantage of them, right?!"

It's funny, and Lucien didn't think about revealing his identity to expose them. But at this time, the waiter at the door brought in a plump and beautiful girl in a black evening dress, she had a good appearance and a faint taste of maturity.

"Grace...... What a coincidence. Lucien covered his face with a newspaper upright, and then saw Grace walking towards the small dining room on the second floor, "Sure enough, it was a coincidence...... Is she the guest invited by Granneuve?" )