On New Year's Day, the capital of knowledge at midnight has a special flavor. The city is brightly lit, and even the most remote corners are illuminated. The crowds on the streets are no longer as crowded as they are at night, but they still maintain a significant number, and most of the people roam the streets in the costumes of their homeland to celebrate the New Year, and even the cold winds of the winter night cannot quench the enthusiasm of the people.

"Happy New Year. A goblin in a purple jumpsuit ran past several people. The number of tenacious goblins has been reduced to a dangerous number for a race after the divine punishment of the Second Age and the shattering of the earth in the Third Age, but even so, it is still common to see these small men who are born researchers and mechanics in the City of Knowledge. The purple-clad goblin ran past and stretched out her hand while greeting, and Catherine naturally reached out to high-five him, which is the etiquette of the goblins, and they should act when greeting each other.

"Happy New Year. A lizardman walking upright approached him and held out his tail at the group. Lizardfolk are inhabitants of the Whispering Swamp, and are few in number, and it is rare to see them outside of the swamp. As a result of walking upright, their hind limbs are more developed, and their joints have undergone some subtle changes to adapt to their body posture, but other than that, most of their bodies are indistinguishable from lizards. There were once scholars who believed that the lizardmen should be classified as orcs and belonged to a branch of the orcs, but both orcs and lizardmen strongly objected, because they were created by different gods and could not belong to the same race.

Catherine looked at the lizardmen in embarrassment, and the lizardmen greeted each other by tangling their tails with each other. But apparently this move was slightly more difficult for Catherine. Just when Catherine didn't know what to do, Pannis walked up. Stretching out his hands to hold the lizardman's thick tail, he shook it vigorously, and greeted him in the same way, "Happy New Year." ”

"Is this how humans respond to the lizardmen?" said the lizardmen as they grinned and happily left. Catherine asked quietly, "How many times do you hold each other's tails?"

"Yes, to be exact, this is how tailless races greet lizardmen. Pannis explained: "Races with tails can just do the same with their tails. ”

"What an interesting race. Catherine said, "It's very interesting. ”

"Whew. There was an unpleasant howl, and several orcs spun out of the other street. The wolf clan, the bear clan, the tiger clan, the deer clan, the cow clan, there were seven or eight different groups of orcs mixed together, drunkenly wandering the streets. One of the bears happened to see Pannis's group, staggered over, and stretched out a huge fist at a few people. Catherine smiled and swung her fist in the same way, and the two fists met in the air with a double difference. There was a dull crashing sound.

"It's a lot of work. The bear man shouted out in a stiff lingua franca, hugged his fist and ran back to his friend, very pitiful while rubbing his fist while accepting the ridicule of his friends, the orcs of the bear clan are often like this, meet first compare strength, strength enough is good friends.

Along the way, meet countless people head-on, each of whom they meet, regardless of race. Whether you know each other or not, they will show a sincere smile and greet each other with a happy new year. At this time, in the capital of knowledge. Everywhere there was a scene of harmony and warmth.

"It's so hilarious. The extroverted Mao'er shouted: "I really wish every day was the New Year." ”

"I don't want that, that means I only have seven or eight hundred days to live, it's terrible. I don't know from which corner came an sound and an angry response. I can't see the respondent, but I listen to the meaning. Apparently a dwarf with a lifespan of about seven hundred years. The dwarf's timely response provoked a good-natured laugh from the people around him, and the laughter made Mao'er's face redden. Hide behind Lina and don't dare to show her head.

There are not only people on the street, but also countless shops, most of which are still open even at midnight. On this special day, no businessman is willing to give up this once-a-year opportunity to make money, the shopkeepers have put out all the styles of goods in their stores, and the counters are not enough to put on the ground, anyway, people must be able to see at a glance, after all, no one knows, whether there will be any customers who will take a fancy to those strange goods that have not been cared for for a long time.

"Haha, that's fun. "Everyone has just passed by a group of strangely dressed tourists, who are dressed as the evil devil who took the princess from the fairy tale, and the heroic knight who went to crusade against the devil, the two camps that should be incompatible are surrounded by a girl dressed as a princess, giggling and running around the street, occasionally reciting a few lines aloud, pulling out a weapon and making a few movements, which attracted a round of applause.

"You're really interested. The charming voice suddenly appeared in everyone's ears, and two women who had been standing in the shadow of the light, but seemed to have been inadvertently ignored by everyone, poked their heads out of the shadows: "I haven't had enough fun." ”

"Happy New Year. Catherine greeted her: "You haven't left yet, I thought you'd already gone back." ”

"I had to do something, and I delayed it for a few days. Indulgence gave Pannis a charming look, and then replied, "I didn't expect to run into you." ”

"That's right, I'm still looking for you. Catherine said, "I'm sorry for something I want to apologize to you." ”

Indulgence was taken aback by Catherine's formal apology, and asked puzzledly, "What's wrong?"

"I have a good friend who is getting married, and her father has asked us to take her to Free City, so we may have to go to the City of Innocence a few days later. Catherine explained to the indulgence: "I promise your commission, I wonder if it can be postponed for a few days?"

"I thought what was the matter? Indulgent sneered, pouted and said: "This is also worth your formal apology? A few days later, a few days later, that murderer doesn't commit murder every day, you may not be able to do anything if you go a few days earlier, it doesn't matter, as long as you can go within a month." There are a lot of things going on in the New Year, and we were expecting to give you some time to take care of the things at hand. ”

"That's so much appreciated. Catherine said embarrassedly, "Thank you for your understanding." ”

"Well, that's what I don't like the most about you knights. It's too rigid to do things and talk. Indulgently waved his hand: "It's okay, let's go first, see you in the city of innocence." ”

"They're so carefree. Just go. "I saw two ladies holding hands, leaning against the wall and disappearing into the shadows. Lina muttered, "But now it's okay, there's plenty of time to send Freya to Free City." ”

"I hope it's a qiē shun lì. Catherine is not as optimistic as Lina: "I calculated, if you take the big road from here to the Free City, it will take fourteen days for the convoy to go, and from the Free City to the City of Innocence, it will take six days for us to travel lightly at the earliest, and the time is actually quite tight." And don't forget to threaten the letter, in case you get into trouble, you don't have enough time. ”

"Sister, you don't have to worry, what can happen. It seems that someone is jealous of that Wesker marrying a beautiful woman, and deliberately wants to make trouble so that the wedding can't be done. Lina said nonchalantly: "Don't worry, there won't be a big problem, anyway, the day after tomorrow, no, it should already be said that it will be tomorrow, and we will leave early tomorrow morning, it will definitely be in time." Hey, Vivien. That's what you just saw. ”

"What?" Vivien asked, confused, "What did I just see?"

"The bookstore. Lina pointed to a nearby shop, "Didn't you say you saw a bookstore on the way to the show?"

"Oh, you said that. Vivien looked around, "That's right, this is it." Almost all shops are open on New Year's Day, with the exception of bookstores. So this one with the door open is very conspicuous. ”

Vivien was right, bookstores and library scroll spots tend to be closed these days. Because these establishments have a common feature. It's quiet, and the New Year is characterized by a warm atmosphere. The two are completely incompatible, so the business owners simply avoid these days. So as not to disturb the atmosphere of the store.

Walking into the bookstore, you can find that the bookstore has obviously opened a new time, the door and the interior decoration look new, the owner is a middle-aged man in his forties, and the conversation reveals that he is not familiar with this industry, so he chose to open today according to the experience of other stores. But fortunately, although the bookstore is open, no one comes in and makes noise, and occasionally there are a few customers, and it is very quiet to keep it quiet.

As soon as Lina entered the bookstore, it was as if she had seen her long-lost lover, her eyes shining with warmth, and she gently stroked the cover of each book.

"Is that young lady okay?" The bookstore owner saw Lina's watch and asked Pannis, a little confused, "Why does it seem that something is wrong?" ”

"It's okay, she'll just take a look, don't worry. Pannis looked around and said, "It's good if she doesn't save zài." ”

But unfortunately, the boss apparently couldn't treat Lina as a non-existent zài, because she didn't have long to walk around the store before pulling him to a locked display case by the boss's clothes: "Help me open this, I want to read the book." ”

"That's not going to work. The boss resolutely refused: "This book is different from other books, it was handed down by my great-great-grandfather, it is said to have a history of three hundred years, it is considered an antique, and if you want to sell it, you will sell it at the price of an antique." ”

"I had to look at it first to make sure it was genuine. Lina insisted, "What if the cover and the contents are not the same book? ”

"I am a member of the Chamber of Commerce, which is a guarantee of integrity. The boss proudly said, "It is absolutely impossible to treat customers by deception." ”

"How much do you say?" asked Lina, "I can pay first, but I want to see the book right away." ”

"Absolutely. The boss opened the display case, carefully took out the book with gloves and wrapped it in flannel: "Five hundred gold coins, don't bargain, this is an out-of-print book, maybe there is only this one left in the whole Yala, this price is really not expensive." ”

"You ......" Lina gritted her teeth hatefully: "Okay, I'll buy it." Eldest sister, lend me some money first, and pay you back when I get home. ”

"Isabella, I've finally found you, hehehehehe. As soon as she took the book after the transaction was completed, Lina immediately couldn't wait to open the cloth bag, opened it directly in the distressed eyes of the boss, flipped a few pages casually, and immediately walked out with the book in her hand, letting out bursts of weird laughter as she walked.

"It's stupid to dare to let me out. As soon as she walked out of the door, Lina's footsteps suddenly stopped, the smirk on her face disappeared instantly, her expression became indifferent and numb, and her eyes were full of mockery and looked around at the people around her: "But it's okay, I've been hungry for more than ten years, although the soul in this body is stupid enough, but I can still fill my stomach if I eat it, thank you for your hospitality." ”