��XI）

October 29, 1666

Phaseport East Port of the Republic of Intre (Xiazhou Prefecture)

"The one who rented the attic! Something happened to the magic you cast yesterday!"

She was awakened by shouts from downstairs.

The loud voice of the landlord downstairs was deafening, and the shouts of the middle-aged woman could penetrate almost all defensive magic and dreams.

She rushed to the window and pushed it open.

Looking west from her bedroom window, she can see the symbol of Phase Port.

The phase bridge that crosses the Pratunam Strait reflects a golden-green glow in the morning sun, and through the reflector at the top of the bridge, she sees it.

From here to the phase bridge, there are all jagged roofs, most of which are decades or even centuries old bricks and tiles or even wooden oriental buildings, which have fallen into disrepair. The messy attic is covered with roofs, and the clothesline weaves like a spider's web through the air above the streets and alleys, but there is a magical chaotic beauty.

Another roar from downstairs interrupted her gaze.

"Rats!

Like most ordinary people with yellow turban cultural backgrounds in the Twin Islands and Archipelago areas, the landlord, Aunt Chen, seems to be closer to white, but speaks a mixed lingua franca mixed with many oriental words. When you arrive near Qingniu Mansion, people will use an oriental dialect mixed with a large number of Koman words. Thankfully, with the help of simple translation magic, most people have no problem communicating with each other.

"Miss Bai, the girl of the Bai family, I saw you open the window, answer!"

In Donggang, people who don't know her well call her Miss Bai, or in the classical way of saying it in the Oriental language, "Bai's". In Donggang, most people don't ask about a lady's surname and maiden name.

Of course, this is also an important reason why she chose this oriental identity. If she chooses a Western name, she will inevitably be checked, but the Oriental ladies can use customs as a shield to avoid a lot of scrutiny.

"Got it, come down right now!"

"Miss Bai" replied with a loud roar, grabbing the small mirror on the side and examining her face in the mirror.

Although she had lost her long-term memory, she could tell that it was an unusually beautiful face.

With flawless straight blonde hair and transparent turquoise pupils, it is a face that is unforgettable to anyone who sees it, as if it should not exist in the world.

- So you can't use this face.

She sighed slightly, and with some regret, she applied the special mask to her face little by little, covering it with a thin layer of magic mask. This layer is so thin that its magical aura reaction can be confused with ordinary talisman magic aura, and even the most experienced high-level mages will only have a slight suspicion.

"The rats of the whole street have been caught by your magic last night, come and deal with it!"

The voice of the landlord downstairs sounded impatient.

"That's what I said......"

She hastily painted the rest of her bare skin a yellowish, dotted the corners of her eyes with freckles that changed the color and size of her eyes, and inserted a topaz hairpin bought from the East, which turned her shiny blonde hair black. Next, she pulled out the rouge and powder and applied a thick layer to her face.

After all the camouflage was done, she raised the mirror again.

Reappearing in the mirror is an inconspicuous oriental woman, who also wears ugly heavy makeup very elegantly. Although they have tried their best to make up for it with makeup techniques and disguise magic, they can only turn "ugly" into "mediocre appearance".

She put on a linen garment that had no cut at all, and even when she tied the belt, she looked baggy, and she looked quite similar to those Taiping monks. In Donggang, and even in the entire Oriental cultural circle, tailoring is not well known. The plebeian women of the East did not appreciate the revealing figure and well-fitting cut like the Cormans, which saved her the trouble of wrapping her breasts.

Of course, this inconspicuous linen garment also carried the simple defensive magic that a fifth-rate amateur novice mage would love, so as to hide the aura of the disguised magic items on her body.

No one could tell that this poor and ugly Oriental friar was the beautiful cadre of the old thieves' union of the vanished phase port, "White Silk" - of course, she no longer used that code name.

In fact, in the past few months in the Thieves' Guild, her blonde face has only been seen by three female thieves who have happened to meet her, and the people in the guild only know her code name as "White Silk", but do not know her true appearance.

After finishing the preparations needed to get out of the house, she ruffled her hair vigorously and rushed down the narrow attic stairs.

"Miss Bai! Look at these, these rats...... And a giant rat, oh my!"

The landlord's aunt was holding a wok, knocking in a panic, and summoned the neighbors in the street.

The history of Donggang is much longer than that of Xigang, and the population density of the small, crowded streets of Donggang is much higher than that of Westport, and dozens of people have long been downstairs watching the mousetrap set up by Miss Bai. The vast majority were women of all ages and those who had not yet reached adulthood, and most of the adult men went to work in the port early in the morning.

The mousetrap was actually a magic trap she had set last night - it was made of a broken jar of stoneware, half-buried outside the ruined temple door across the house, with a few planks hastily erected around it. The tank exudes the fatty aroma of barbecued animal fat, and the screeching cries of rats that have fallen into the trap. The children gathered around the tank, pointing at the rats struggling inside, and from time to time they were pulled away by the adults around them.

"The female mage is here! the female mage is here!"

I don't know who screamed, and the children followed suit.

She instinctively smiled at them, revealing two rows of crooked, uneven dentures in disguise, but scared away a few children. After clearing the crowd, she stepped onto the plank and walked to the side of the tank to look down.

Sure enough, there was a giant rat inside, and it was about twenty pounds to be seen, which was bigger than two or three ordinary cats combined. There were hundreds of other small mice, all of which were scratching in vain with their claws at the walls of the greasy tank.

"What should I do with these rats, and that giant rat! I paid you last night to just exterminate the rats in the rice barn, and I didn't say that I wanted to attract the rats from the whole street! Miss Bai, you are responsible, if you can't solve it, I will increase the rent!"

The landlord's aunt complained vigorously, but she revealed a faint shrewdness. She knew that it was the cunning of the petty citizens: as long as she spoke loudly to shirk her responsibility, she would be able to take advantage of her position and prevent her from demanding further rewards.

If she really was just a wandering poor female mage, she might argue with the landlord, but she wasn't. She used to be the cadre of the Phase Port Thieves Guild (which has been banned), and now she is creating a new legal identity for herself, and she doesn't want to make a fuss about these little things.

"Don't worry, there will be no problem, Aunt Chen. That's a little bit of caution on my part with the neighbors. She vaguely complied with the landlord's little greed, "After all, this is just superimposed on the animal seduction technique and the improved greasy technique that are now learned and sold from the magic web, and it doesn't take a few magic powers, and I didn't expect to receive such a miraculous effect......"

As she spoke, Miss Bai took out a piece of tissue paper filled with words. She gathered her magic, grabbed the corner of the paper with her thumb and forefinger, and with a gentle rub, the paper immediately burst into flames, turning into a fist-sized ball of fire.

She casually threw the fire into the clay jar, and the oil on the wall of the jar immediately burned rapidly, and the heat wave forced everyone around her back two steps back.

“...... Well, solved. ”

It's a little magic, but the effect is powerful with the help of the oil. The crowd looked at the sea of fire with a little fear and admiration, and automatically dispersed to empty a circle, for fear that the vat would explode.

"A real mage?" "I don't think that's what the mage of the Independent Gendarmerie is." ”

There are also hundreds of magicians of different schools in the East and the West, including army mages, guild registered mages, wandering mages like her, mercenary mages, and even swaggering fake mages. However, it is still rare for ordinary people to see attack magic, and they will not be able to distinguish the strength of these attack magic.

Sensing the tension in the air, she smiled and said, "It's just a little trick." If you have any needs, such as magic supplies, ink, paper, etc., you can come to me, and I can solve everyday problems like this. If I'm not at home, you can just find Aunt Chen. ”

"What if you want to learn spells? Auntie, will you teach us?"

A bold little boy suddenly spoke. Although she knew that her disguised age was around thirty or forty years old, the title of aunt still made her a little unhappy.

"Do you want to learn magic? If you want to learn magic, you want to study, and you have to pay a lot of money, do you have it? Do you know how to read?

After receiving a series of negative answers, she had no choice but to shake her head, take out a piece of tissue paper, and hand it to the child.

"On the front of this piece of paper is the 'Magic Net Basic Protocol Technique' written in the Coman language, and on the reverse side is the Oriental version. If you grow up literate and master these protocol spells, you can buy a mimeograph roller......"

"We want it too!"

Seeing that there was a advantage to take advantage of, the children around them didn't care to listen to what she was saying, and rushed up, and the adults around them also encouraged their children to take advantage of them with their eyes.

“...... Then you can use these magic papers to get free magic from the magic web. ”

The female mage sighed and pulled out a large stack of pre-printed protocol procedures, one for each child.

"Don't rob, don't rob. You remember, if you really become a magician in the future, you will come to take care of my business!"

The children who got the spell paper scattered in a hurry, and the adults around them also dispersed. In their opinion, it is not a bad thing to have a good-natured female mage on the street.

"You're really a mage. I thought you were the kind of fortune teller who sells fake talismans, and you really don't look like those mage aunts and grandmothers. Seeing that the crowd gradually dispersed, the landlord shook her head with her hands crossed and said, "Since you are really a mage, you can only deposit one month's rent in advance in the future, and you don't need to deposit it for three months." ”

Miss Bai frowned. She knew that the landlord meant "I've never seen a female mage as ugly as you." But in any case, it is good to be able to deposit only one month's rent.

"Actually, I've already used disguise magic. The little girl is really ashamed that she is not good at learning. ”

The mediocre-looking woman before the meeting readily admitted the truth, and the landlord's aunt was not good at squeezing her again. She waved her hand irritably and said, "Okay, when the three-month rent you pre-deposited is used up, you can pay it on a monthly basis in the future." Go back to the house, it's time for dinner!"

The cost of this loft includes two meals in the morning and evening. The poor people of Donggang could not eat bread made of wheat or rice from the East, and their staple food was scones made from a mixture of barley and corn, twice a day, and each meal was certainly not enough. There is also coarse grain porridge in the breakfast, although it is not thin enough to show the shadow of a person, but it is impossible to say that you can stand hungry.

Several of the other female tenants in the building were already sitting at the table and taking matters into their own hands. This, of course, drew a few more glances from the mean landlord. Taking advantage of the opportunity for both the landlord and tenant to sneer at each other with guns and sticks, Miss Bai sat down at the table with her own scones and said hello to the only acquaintance at the table.

"Morning, Xiao Yin. "Good morning, Cousin White. ”

The Oriental girl sitting at the table put down the wooden bowl and nodded in reply. This place was actually rented by "Silver Plate" at the earliest, and then she rented the attic to "White Silk" cheaply as a guarantor. Of course, she also used a common oriental surname: Yin, which is said to be the national surname of the oldest dynasties of the Eastern Empire.

"I'm going to Westport today, cousin?"

"Hmm. Bai Si nodded, "Shopkeeper Di has already rented a car." ”

The two nodded in accord and stopped talking.

The shopkeeper Di they mentioned was naturally another person in this small group, a mixed-race girl codenamed "Mink". Just as the half-elves served as directors of companies in the overseas colonies of St. Sen, the Oriental Lines also hired a large number of half-breeds as shopkeepers, and the three agreed that "Mink" was the best person to do the job, after the death of "Emerald Ring" half a month earlier.

Of course, a rented carriage could not enter such a remote slum. If you're in Westport, most roads can accommodate two-horse or even four-horse carriages, but not in Eastport, which has a much longer history. After breakfast, the two took their belongings and walked along the alley to the main road.

"This way, this way!"

As soon as they stepped onto the street where carriages could pass, the two of them heard the lively voice of "mink".

She rented a light one-horse carriage with no carriage and only two open-air seats, and the horses in front of her were not very good horses. She herself sat in the driver's seat.

"I've been waiting. "White Silk" jumped into the seat lightly, and pulled the "silver plate" up with him, "I have prepared the bridge toll, let's go directly to Westport." ”

"Mink" skillfully waved the whip, and the light carriage galloped. As soon as the car started, under the cover of the sound of horses' hooves, the petite former female thief spoke in a hurry.

"Are we really going, Sister Bai? When I was renting a car, I talked to the clerk there, and he also said that there are a lot of people renting cars today, and it seems that there are many big people coming to the port of Xigang. ”

"Of course I really want to go. Last night, the gendarmerie issued a notice through the magic net and the Independent Mage Association, and the first batch of tenders will be held today to sell part of the warehouse, management rights and ship equity of the Oriental Company, which is why so many people rent cars. That's what we're going to do with this – I remember telling you that last night, huh?"

"White Silk" looked a little surprised, and she thought that it might be necessary to retell the purpose of the day to her two companions in case she made a mistake.

"Not really. It's one thing to talk about what you planned last night, it's another thing to really go......" "Mink" waved his whip irritably, "I mean, it's too dangerous for us to gather together so obviously and go to Westport, Sister Bai." That's a gendarme's lair, isn't it? The relationship between us and the Thieves' Guild is simply not clear, not to mention that we have withheld so much of the goods we handle. Those gendarmes burned, killed, looted, and did all kinds of evil, and they won't let us go, Sister Bai!"

"I've heard that, too. The news had spread that the young governor seemed to be a traitor, and had appointed a young and beautiful blonde woman to pay him tribute. The previous branches of the guild that were engaged in the leather and meat business had already paid tribute to the blonde beauties, and those who did not pay tribute were all banned by the gendarmes one by one. ”

The "silver plate" said and gently held the forearm of the "white silk". Feeling the concern of her companion, the girl was a little moved, but the disguise on her face masked her expression.

"I know what you say. The gendarmerie could have pinched us all to death with a little finger - but hiding is even more dangerous! All the old bigwigs of the guild are finished, and even the mayor and the speaker have been taken down by the thugs. The entire Donggang is the Zhang family's sphere of influence, can a few of us avoid it?"

"You can also go to the outer port, to the mainland, or even to a foreign country. They all said that life on the mainland is better than ours, like Sister Bai, don't you also escape from the mainland......"

At this point, "Mink" realized that he had said the wrong thing and hurriedly bit his tongue.

"Then what should we do if we intercept these guild properties? Can you two really give it up?"

The other two girls fell silent, and for a moment all they could hear was the noise of the wheels. Even a small fraction of the guild's underground trade assets is a huge amount for an individual. No one wants to give up so much property and flee to a foreign place to risk their lives to re-engage in theft.

"White Silk" struck while the iron was hot, and continued: "I don't think we can find a ship that will be kind enough to carry us out with so much cargo. Therefore, we must have a legal identity, an identity that can be directly related to the gendarmerie, so that we can ensure our safety to the greatest extent. ”

"I understand. "Mink" whispered as he drove the car, "I understand." However, Sister Bai, I am still unwilling to give so much money to the enemy of 'Cui Jie'. ”

"Although those guys are the enemies of the 'Emerald Ring', they are now the rulers of Phase Port. As long as we successfully establish a relationship with them or the Zhang family, there will be a chance one day. ”

The "silver plate" listened silently, and hugged the package containing the gold and silver coins in his hand a little tighter. That's all their property that won't be traced.

"But is that really possible, cousin. Why should the gendarmerie cooperate with us people of unknown origin?"

She asked the question from another direction. "White Silk" thought for a moment and took out two pieces of paper. The two sheets of paper were very similar to the ones she used in the morning, with a faint magical reaction and words printed on them with magic ink.

"This is the notice issued by the military police mage to all magic users in Phase Port yesterday on the magic web, as long as you master the basic magic net spells, you can get it. They made no secret of their intention to launch a large-scale military operation, selling bonds and purchasing munitions to local merchants in Phase Port. I won't go into details about the conditions, but they are quite favorable. Merchants who subscribe to bonds will receive the right to purchase shares in the original Elven Merchant Fleet, as well as contracts for the supply of military supplies. ”

"But our identities really don't stand up to verification—"

"It seems that the Governor of Soleton is a doer. It has only been half a month since I arrived at Phase Port, and I have done everything that should be done. As long as we preemptively say that the goods we got were imported from overseas and mixed with the munitions before the news leaked, he would not be too much about it. ”

Seeing that the look of "Yinpan" was still suspicious, "Bai Si" added: "Don't worry." No matter how strong his independent gendarme is, even if he can expand his army tenfold, it will only be 20,000 or 30,000 soldiers and horses. There are 500,000 or 600,000 people in this twin city alone, and the population of the whole of Interre is at least ten times that, and the population of the entire Narrow Sea and Qianlong Sea is fifty times and a hundred times that of the whole Narrow Sea. He can't do all the business by himself, right? He wants to collect taxes, he wants to issue debts, he wants to buy grain, he wants to import and export goods...... He needs people like us. As long as we get past the time when he killed people and established power, not to mention getting a legal identity, it is not impossible to rebuild a thief guild. ”

The carriage turned onto the Oriental Boulevard, the road conditions improved, the speed increased, and the sound of the wheels became less noisy. Seeing that the number of pedestrians and vehicles on the road began to increase, the three stopped talking.

Soon, the carriage finished its journey in the territory of Donggang and stopped in front of the phase bridge.

To cross the Watergate Strait, which separates the phase port, a few decades ago, it was only possible to rely on ferries, which not only cost a small half a day and considerable money, but also bear the risk of the ferry being hit by galleons, and the entire ship capsizes every year. But since the construction of the phase bridge, there have been heavy passenger carriages towed by four or even six horses to connect the east and west ports, and they can run back and forth every half an hour. Private carriages can also be taxed, and the tax collected is used to repay the principal and interest of the bridge bond and the cost of daily maintenance. The bridge alone is maintained by seventy or eighty mages and priests every day, strengthening weakened magic and checking the strength of materials for replacement...... The running costs of the Independent Mage Guild are almost entirely divided from the bridge's toll tax.

There is a tax card at the head of the bridge that collects the bridge tax. No matter how the management of the port changes, the tax card here will always remain the same, except for one or two more people in red uniforms, replacing the original overseers assigned by the city council. Sure enough, dozens of carriages were crowded in front of the bridge, all looking like they were going to Westport for the morning ceremony. The speed of release was very slow, and it took more than ten minutes to line up in front of the carriage of the white silk.

"One horse-riding carriage! three men! three pounds and three shillings!"

The tax collector shouted out the tax due. In terms of tolls, it is quite high, which is about equivalent to the three of them having a whole day's rent and food, and if it is on the mainland, it may be so expensive that no one uses it. But this is the central port of trade, and there are merchants who can afford this price - who can trust to do business with someone who can't even pay the bridge toll?

The "silver platter" took out gold and silver coins and placed them on the tax collector's plate, making a crisp clanging sound. A sophisticated accountant or bookkeeper can know how much money there is when he hears this voice, which eliminates the possibility of corruption. After checking the authenticity of the coin, the tax collector waved his hand and let it go.

As soon as the carriage stepped onto the phase bridge, the surroundings immediately seemed empty. The pavement under the horses' hooves is made of pure magic, with almost zero dead weight, and only such a material can cross such a long length of the Watergate Strait. Although he has traveled back and forth to the East and West Ports many times in a public carriage, this is the first time that "White Silk" has crossed the bridge by a vehicle without a carriage.

Looking down from the bridge, you can see more fleets moving slowly than ever on the sea level in the distance, and the ships are covered with dense flags.

"That's right. There is one more thing that must be done before we get to Westport. We can't use a code name to sign a contract with the gendarmerie or the Donggang Zhang family, everyone has to have an official name badge like a big businessman. The day before yesterday you all said there were no kana available, right?"

"After all, only sister, you can read. We don't want to use nicknames, but if we don't use code names, we don't even have a name. ”

"Mink" said with a wry smile, and "Silver Plate" nodded along with it.

"Time is a bit tight, the fake name is not good, don't be angry. ”

"White Silk" took out an inconspicuous cloth bag from his bosom and poured a few seals into his hand.

"Well, this is the name badge I carved for you, and this thing is the same as the family coat of arms of the Koman people in the commercial customs of the East. The production time is rushed, and the things are a bit rough - but it's not good to be too beautiful, and it will cause suspicion. You may not know the words on it, but you must memorize them, and these will be our names in the future. ”

She picked up the first seal and handed it to the petite female thief, codenamed "Mink". The "mink" who was driving took it back, looked at the three intricate square words on it, and gently "tsk".

"Your name is pronounced 'Di Meiyi'. You're a half-breed, so it's better to have a name that doesn't use allusions. Identity is the shopkeeper of our firm. They don't know that there are only three of us, and they will pay more attention to the shopkeeper when they hear it, after all, only a regular business house will have a semicolon shopkeeper. ”

"Beautiful clothes...... It's pretty much like my code name, 'Mink', right?"

"Well, but in the future, when people call you in public, you'll have to call yourself Miss Di. According to the custom of the East, women's names do not need to be told to ordinary people. ”

While "Mink" was reciting her new name, she took out the second seal and handed it to the "silver plate" beside her.

"In the setting, if you're my distant cousin and bookkeeper, and you're a serious Oriental, you'll have to have a slightly more elegant name. On this seal of yours, it is written Yin Rujing. ”

"Yin ...... Like a mirror. ”

The thin, yellow-skinned girl took the seal and repeatedly stroked the protruding text with her fingers, the tips of which were stained with the red of the ink.

"This one is like a mirror, a little more elegant than the beautiful dress she used-"

The girl driving the car suddenly interjected: "Can't I use a more elegant one, Sister Bai?"

"Do you think you're suitable, Xiao Di, even if it's a pseudonym, don't make people suspicious!"

Hearing the word "kana", "Yinpan" suddenly frowned.

"Cousin, can I use it as my real name......? Like a mirror. Like a mirror. ”

"Uh, if you will...... Of course. ”

"Bai Si" watched the girl next to her stroke the name badge, suddenly her nose was sore, and she hurriedly turned her head in the direction of the sea.

"Then I want it too. Di Meiyi at least sounds better than mink or something. ”

"White Silk" can understand why they are so keen on "names". However, even they did not know, and even she herself did not have a name. Can't remember the name, can't remember anyway.

Because she has no memory. All her life and memories are just the months she spent with her companions in Phase Port. She felt her nose sour again, and hurriedly changed the subject.

"Finally, the name of our firm. Line number...... It's this seal. You take it, silver...... Cousin Yin. The six words on it are not difficult to remember, it is 'phase port Huaicui line'. It would be nice to transliterate them directly with the pronunciation of the East. ”

Yin Rujing, who had just received a new name, took the slightly larger seal and carefully studied the magic circuit on it. As far as the workmanship of this thing is concerned, it does look like the seal used by a regular trading firm in the phase port branch.

"Huaicui...... Does that mean 'remember the emerald ring'?"

"Of course. She nodded.

"If only Miss Cui had a name. ”

"There will be. She sniffled, "When we settle down and have an identity, she'll have a name on her tombstone." ”

This heavy topic silenced the girls again, and Di Meiyi mechanically shook the whip in her hand.

The carriage crossed the phase bridge, and after being checked by several layers of guard guards, it gradually approached the noisy port area.

At the designated parking lot, Di Meiyi stopped the carriage. It was already full of wagons of all kinds, and many civilians came on foot, but there was order under the pressure of the gendarmerie.

"By the way, Sister Bai, what is the name written on your 'Dao Law Advisor' seal? It shouldn't be 'Bai Si', right?"

"Of course not. She burst out laughing, "How stupid parents can name their young lady Baisi?" As for mine, the name on my seal is 'Briss'. ”

"White ...... Is Ress a textile?"

"Of course not. Brith laughed again, "Res means 'wise mind' in written Oriental language. Since I came from Haidong, I should have a more classical name. Sounds like a good sound, doesn't it?"

"It's really good, Sister Reissy. ”

"Don't call me that outside, it's not in line with Eastern etiquette......"

A cannon salute rang out as the harbor and the fleet resonated. The military band finished playing the national anthems of the Free Nations, and the marches of the two Republics, Interre and Phatez.

The trio stopped at the outskirts of the crowd. Seeing this formation, both "Mink" and "Silver Plate" couldn't help but express their surprise.

"And the welcome ceremony, when can we start talking about business?"

"Wait until the ceremony is over. There should also be merchants from the outer harbor on board. ”

"With so many people, I really want to work......"

"Shhhh ”

Britz didn't participate in their conversation. She stood on tiptoe, squinted her eyes, and looked in the direction of the harbor.

She was one of the tallest women in the world, and her eyesight was so good that she could see from that distance without the help of a telescope or magic.

Soon, she found what she was looking for - the young man in the red one-sleeved military uniform. Behind him stood a large line of dignitaries and officers, both men and women, who were greeting another group of officers who had just disembarked from the ship.

"That's the new master of Phase Port...... It's so young. Isn't it very deceptive on the outside?,I really can't see that it's a guy who has been quietly busy collecting beautiful women for two days after the occupation.。 ”

The female leader of the former thieves' union muttered to herself.

P.S. Celebrating the renewal of the Higgs Boson Discovery - it's not the Independence Day of a certain country or something, huh!

P.S.2. Actually, this is a large section, which is so long that it has to be broken into two paragraphs...... Maybe find another holiday update in the near future, huh.

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