The 9th arrondissement is one of the areas with fewer shops in the City of Innocence, and the urban area is relatively small. Although the area is relatively small, it does not mean that it is deserted, on the contrary, it is one of the three most densely populated urban areas in the city of innocence during the tourist season. Each shop here is small, and the interior of the store is relatively narrow, looking quite inconspicuous, and it is easy to be overlooked, and only the truly knowledgeable insiders can discover the magic hidden under the ordinary storefront.

In front of a dusty shop, the carriage slowly stopped. Pansy and mimosa jumped out of the carriage and half-bowed and raised their hands to lead them. Catherine and Vivien took the hands of the two waiters and slowly got out of the car, and while looking at the recommended shops in front of them, they said to the two waitresses, "Don't you think it's a little disagreeable?"

The two waitresses blinked suspiciously, completely incomprehensible to what Catherine was saying.

"What I did just now was very inconsistent. Catherine explained, "If you stretch out your hand, it's normal for someone to come out dressed in a gorgeous and luxurious manner, but if you bring out someone in armor and robes, won't you feel awkward?"

"Well, we've hosted professional adults before. Mimosa smiled politely and said, "The situation just now is often seen in the City of Innocence, don't worry, no one will find it strange." ”

"But I think it's weird. Catherine pouted and said, "Well, when we go out in the future, if we are wearing battle clothes, you don't need to be led when you get out of the car, just wait in front of the door, and if we are wearing a dress, then everything will be according to your habits." ”

Although in the capital of knowledge, they are accustomed to taking care of everything in their own lives, and they are not used to having someone to serve by their side, Catherine and Vivien tacitly did not refuse the service of the Pansy sisters. The two adventurers knew very well that for the Pansy Sisters, this was their job, and that it would be the greatest help to them as a guest to cooperate with them in their work, rather than trying to refuse the service of others like some young people with excessive sympathy. That kind of behavior does nothing but satisfy one's own cheap compassion, but can cause countless problems for the other person. Therefore, Catherine, who has long been cultivated by an aristocratic education and has a deep understanding of interpersonal communication, will never make such a low-level mistake. Only a few appropriate requests will be made.

"Yes. Sure enough, the waitresses did not resist this small request within the acceptable range, and bent down together to show compliance: "As you wish." ”

Walking into the shop, the walls block out the sunlight outside. Only the one near the door has two small windows in the wall, and the rest of the way is airtight. This left the overall environment of the store in a gloomy environment, and the store could only rely on dim low-brightness crystal lamps for lighting, as if the owner of the store liked this gloom.

"The shopkeeper should be a mage, and his rank is not low. Vivien glanced at the situation in the shop and said, "The environment here is only enjoyed by mages and thieves, and the mage must also have a deep understanding of dark magic. Combined with the layout of the store, you can basically determine the occupation of the owner. ”

"You guessed it right. Pansy complimented, "The owner here is the best appraiser of magical items and experts in the city of innocence, and this shop is also one of the best magic item shops. There are only a handful of shops in the entire City of Innocence that don't belong to any organization, and this one is one of them. ”

"Not affiliated with any organization?" Catherine asked in surprise, "According to what you said before, unless you are the leader of an organization yourself." Otherwise, it would be difficult for such a shop to survive, and it would be difficult for the owner to survive, why would there be something special here?"

"Because the owner of this shop was specially brought back by the Shadow Hand thirty years ago to provide him with any support in any way. Mimosa lowered her voice and said, "There are only a few cases of this kind in the City of Innocence, and they are all special elites in their respective fields like the shopkeepers here. The Shadow Hand will do everything in its power to maintain the safety and autonomy of these individuals, and anyone who dares to attack them will be attacked with all the power of the Shadow Hand. Therefore, the other organizations in this district not only did not dare to harass the shop, but also joined forces to carefully protect all the efforts of the shopkeeper, lest they be suspected of being implicated in case something really happened. ”

"It's interesting how the thieves' guild runs the city. Vivien crouched in front of a display case, rubbing her fingers lightly on the floor, and said, "This mage's skills are quite powerful, and these enchantment circles have been streamlined and improved. The idea is quite novel, and there are some aspects that I haven't thought about before. It seems that even if there is no gain today, just seeing this magic circle is worth it. ”

"Oh?" asked Catherine, "the shopkeeper here is still a master magician?"

"Of course, any master who is proficient in the identification of magical items. They can only be experts in magic. Vivien explained, "Maybe it's not good at it in practice, but at least you have to be knowledgeable in theory and circle science, otherwise you won't be able to secure magic items at all." ”

"I'm curious what you're doing with identifying magical items. Catherine asked, "I often see that you can see the purpose of things at a glance, but there are some things that you will turn over and over again and study for a long time and cannot be identified." ”

"If you want to identify a magic item, you must first determine whether the item relies on the inscription of the magic circle or the erosion of magic power to achieve the enchantment effect. Vivien's eyebrows fluttered as she talked about magic, and she pointed to a ring in the display case and said, "This one, for example." Generally, the enchantment of the ring will use magic erosion to change the arrangement of the magic sequence inside the ring, from disorder to direction, so as to achieve the effect of enchantment. But this ring is different, if you look closely, you can find that there are some very fine patterns on the surface of the ring, which is actually an engraved circle, and this ring is enchanted using the principle of inscription. After distinguishing the different ways, it is to use your own knowledge of the magic circle, theoretically split the magic circle, and break them into the most basic magic formulas, knowing these formulas, you can summarize the effect of this enchantment. ”

"Oh, I see. Catherine looked at Vivien's excited explanation with a blank expression, until she was reluctant to stop to explain, and then nodded: "It's so interesting." ”

"Actually, you don't understand it at all. Vivien rolled her eyes and said, "I didn't understand it from the first sentence." ”

"Hahaha, the weather is so nice today. Catherine looked up at the roof and nodded solemnly: "It's such a good weather, let's hurry up and have a good look in the store." ”

"That's Pannis's line. Vivien puffed and poked Catherine's foot with the end of her staff. Turn your head and walk around in front of the display case.

In the gloomy store, in the centerpiece are twenty-five small display tables scattered with transparent crystal surfaces that allow the contents of the cabinets to be clearly displayed in front of customers. On the walls on both sides, there are also vertical display stands made of transparent crystal. However, there are more large items on display, such as weapons or armor. In the deepest part of the store there is a nondescript counter, where a young employee sits and dozes off. There is a small door behind the counter that leads to the workshop in the backyard.

There were five employees in the store combined, except for the one who dozed off. There were four other employees swaying back and forth in the store, but the four had been in for a while, and there were no thousands of greetings from anyone. This kind of snubbing of customers is rare for the shops of the City of Innocence, who are accustomed to seeing everything aimed at satisfying customers, but the two waitresses next to them look like they are used to it.

"These people are actually apprentices to the shopkeeper. Pansy explained in a whisper, "They are not professional clerks, but magically gifted apprentices selected by the owner among the children of the City of Innocence, who have been taught by the owner since childhood, and who have not been tainted with many vices here. Since they have not been trained as professional store assistants, many times they don't know how to communicate with customers at all, and they are always immersed in the research of some products. I don't know how to serve customers. The shopkeeper here also allowed them, not only did not stop them, but secretly encouraged their research behavior, so that this special situation will occur. ”

"Of course they can. Although Mimosa was blaming the clerk, her words were full of envy that anyone could hear: "They can leave here in a few years, take the owner's recommendation to go to the mage guild in some small cities for certification, and then they can live outside with peace of mind and never return here." ”

"Can't you?" Catherine was stunned for a moment, then turned to ask, "Someone won't let you go?" I thought you were here of your own free will. It stands to reason that you children who were born here have not committed any crimes outside. It's okay to leave, right?"

"If it were possible, who would want to be on the highest alert at such a moment, to be killed if they were not careful, and to worry about whether they would be able to return home alive when they went shopping. Mimosa touched her right ear. The breath that had been exhaled in her ears in the morning had given her an illusion of tingling until now.

"Weeds, shut up. Pansy glared at Mimosa viciously, and her sister-like majesty made Mimosa take a step back. After drinking his sister, Pansy smiled bitterly and said to Catherine: "Actually, we don't want to leave, there have been people who left before, but most of them have come back later." The outside world is actually no different from here. We all have to work and live, and who wants us in the outside world? Everything on our bodies bears the special mark of the city of innocence, and every move on the outside is different from everyone else, and experienced people can see it at a glance. So we can't live outside, and in the end we just steal and rob as before, until we commit a felony and escape back here. So leaving or not leaving, it makes no difference to us anymore. ”

"They were right. An unfamiliar voice sounded from nearby, startling the two sisters again. The voice was made by the person who walked slowly, wrapped in a robe like Vivien, with only two eyes reflecting a glimmer under the hood: "It is difficult for the children here to live in the outside world, so I can only choose a few unpolluted children as apprentices." ”

"Elves?" Vivien said in surprise, pointing at the stranger, "This is the accent of the elves, I didn't expect that there would be elves in the city of innocence." ”

"I'm just an unlucky guy who lost a bet for fifty years. The stranger laughed at himself and said, "I'm the owner here, what do the guests want to buy?" (To be continued.) )