Volume I: The Golden Pocket Watch Chapter 72: The Chapel of Serenity
After getting out of the public carriage, Venason walked down the historic Silver Cross Street, a main road where the public and private areas are not strictly separated, but are intertwined and lined up one after another.
Most of the buildings in Silver Cross Street are mainly in the Ghent trend, which is also mixed with various Gothic-style buildings, so the appearance is like veins and blood vessels, cluttered, crowded and disorderly.
I still prefer Mink Street to this one, and even though the sewers stink and there are many thieves, at least it's not as cluttered and the river under the bridge isn't so muddy.
Vinason walked as he walked, and soon a tinkling sound sounded in his ears, and he looked up to see the Moonlight Tavern with a ghost sign painted in front of him.
Moonlight bar? I seem to have heard Mies say it before, but the original owner at that time was still a good student, or a melancholy little handsome guy who listened to his brother and sister?
As his thoughts turned, Wienerson curled the corners of his mouth slightly, glanced up at the fiery red sun hanging in the distant eastern sky, and he held his half-height hat with his hand in accordance with the gentleman's appearance, then straightened his back and walked over, pushing open the heavy door, and the heat from the fireplace rushed in.
Although it was still morning, there were already quite a few customers in the tavern, some of them bounty hunters in gray waistcoats and pistols with pistols under their armpits, some of them temporary porters looking for opportunities, and some of them were idle vagabonds, who used the only money left on them to buy alcohol and numb themselves with alcohol.
This is not the same as the bar I imagined, huh?
Shouldn't a bar in another world be full of mystery and legends?
Sorcerers, magicians, clergy, and all sorts of adventurers? They come in groups, or team up or trade..... And in fact, why does it give me a sense of ordinariness?
Venason looked around, and suddenly he saw a young bartender standing inside the bar, wearing a white shirt, black pants, and hair combed back, staring at him, as if looking at something.
The smell of wine mixed with the smell of sweat came, and Venason staggered his gaze, pinched his nose, and walked all the way to the innermost hall while protecting his belongings.
The tavern was dimly lit, and in the middle of the hall he saw a large round table with a group of undrunk people holding wine glasses, gathered around, sometimes laughing loudly, sometimes cursing in whispers.
Venason took a curious look at the box and found a large yellowed ceramic disc on the table, and a small porcelain cup on the left and right, with two strangely shaped insects inside.
One of the bugs is sturdy, covered in barbs, especially with a protruding horn on its head, like an enlarged version of a unicorn, while the other is long, narrow, mantis-like, and has a pair of silver-white sickle feet, which gives people a very aggressive feeling.
"Do you want to bet? Don't look at the slight flaws in the appearance of these two little guys, they are the insect kings who have won in a row in the past few days, you are very lucky, and you bumped into the double insect king competition! ”
A middle-aged man dressed in clothes similar to that of a cleaner had unconsciously appeared behind Venasson, pointing to two small insects and said.
He had slightly curly blond hair, a broad, thin face, and a black thorn flower embroidered on the placket of his coat, which showed a strange beauty in the dim light of the chandelier of the bar.
Betting?
Vinason was stunned for a moment, then looked at the disc, and as the slightly vague memory fragments jumped out of his mind, he immediately realized:
"Human flesh fighting insects?"
In the first art class, those down-and-out aristocratic students who can't afford to hire a private painting teacher will always put on a high-minded posture, and ask students of lower status than themselves in a contemptuous and mocking tone, what is the usual entertainment program, do you know such a cruel gambling project as human flesh fighting insects?
After hearing this, the middle-aged man smiled and said:
"Sir, you must be a decent gentleman in your dress, don't you know that human flesh fighting worms have long been banned? The binding of human life to insects was explicitly forbidden five years ago, and we will not play such a savage and bloody game as worm death. ”
Speaking of this, he muttered quietly: "Although this kind of play is very profitable, it is also very fatal......"
"So what are you betting?"
Venason was momentarily curious, or "look at the excitement".
After all, it's human nature, and people naturally like to join in the fun, and get pleasure and satisfaction from it, whether it's in another world or on Earth.
"Of course, it depends on whose insect king is the most attacking, in addition to the main family of the two sides, you can choose to bet, a bit similar to Pai Gow, the loser only needs to provide a considerable amount of compensation." As soon as the middle-aged man finished speaking, the people around him immediately made a sensation.
He turned his head to look at it, waved his hand excitedly, and said:
"It's going to start, if you want to bet, hurry up, and when the insect king starts the duel, you can't bet, you have to wait for the next one."
When Venason heard this, he squeezed forward with more and more curiosity, but there were too many rugged men in front of him to squeeze in, so he had to stand on tiptoe, raise his head in a top hat, and look carefully.
A middle-aged man wearing a tuxedo, wearing white gloves and a mustache raised a gesture, and the big man standing next to the two insect kings each held the porcelain cup containing the small insects like a baby, and then followed the gesture of the middle-aged man in the tuxedo, put the two small insects in the big disc in the middle, and immediately tore each other.
"Bite it! it! Hurry up! ”
"Come on, Bakar, you are the best, glory is made for you!"
"Ozma, my hero, use your sharp blade to give the other a little color!"
The people around them raised their wine glasses, or stared intently at the bite of the two small insects, or shouted loudly, cheering and shouting.
At this moment, the long, narrow insect suddenly jumped out of the disc, flew into the air, and flew out of the blinds in the blink of an eye.
The people next to the entire round table stopped sounding, everyone looked at each other in confusion, and with a whistle blown by the male protagonist in a tuxedo, the crowd standing on the side of the unicorn instantly boiled, on the other hand, the people who flew away from the bugs were all hanging their heads, as if they had just experienced despair.
…… Fight a bug, and TM has a dealer whistle online?
Vinason came to his senses, his expression instantly collapsed, and the corners of his mouth twitched.
He really didn't understand that the gambling items in the bars here turned out to be the hottest fighting insects, even solitaire and Texas Hold'em, and what was even funnier was that the insects flew away in the end......
It's no wonder that there have been people on Atisian Street who have been buying strange insects, including some travelers who also carry small insects, and their feelings are used for gambling......
Life in another world is really distinctive......
Venason shook his head, laughingly back, and walked past the crowded drinkers to the front of the bar.
"New faces?" The bartender glanced up at him as he wiped his glass, "1p a glass of black ginger beer, 2p of Ghent puree beer, 4p of Hutton Maar beer, huh...... Or do you want a glass of Florentine depth charges? ”
"Just give me a black ginger beer." Venason spoke bluntly.
The bartender laughed suddenly, and he glanced at the black suitcase:
"Ready to leave Fasranka? Seeing that you are not very old, are you going to Huttonmar, the capital of hope, to find opportunities? ”
"University! If I'm guessing correctly, he's a college student. The middle-aged man in the cleaning suit smiled at Venasson, then turned his head to look at the bartender, "Two glasses of black ginger beer, I'll ask for his one!" ”
"Thank you." Venason bowed in thanks.
"Is it Ghent University? Or Polytechnic University? ”
"No, I'm an art student and I'm interested in drawing." Venason replied with some embarrassment.
"Well, I knew a painter before, and she... The temper is not very good, and the habits are a little weird, but the drawing is great. The middle-aged man took a sip of black ginger beer and said casually.
"Ordinary masters are a little different, they are talented, and they are naturally different from ordinary people."
"Perhaps......"
Venason chatted with the middle-aged man, and after taking his last sip of beer, he bowed again and left the bar.
Before he went out of the door, the drinkers gathered around a group of fighting insects suddenly fell silent, and the next second let out a burst of inhalation.
"Shhh...... Lai Fu actually brought a new Worm King......"
"Eight wings, eight wings, still golden ......"
Venason shook his head amusedly, and walked away quickly, stepping into the path of tranquility.
This road is arguably the quietest section of the Northern Cross District, and is made up of gravel, red stone bricks, and white sheathstones, and every evening, when the crimson moonlight hangs high, the quiet road will shimmer with a cold white and quiet shimmer.
"The principle of illuminating darkness without the need for street lamps should be one of the powers of the god of light, not the stone itself."
"It's amazing, the power of light ......"
Wienerson carried his suitcase, just like a sightseeing tour, stopping along the way and enjoying the scenery.
Although his destination is indeed a steam train platform, it is indeed to catch a train, but he is not afraid of delays, according to the description on the admission letter, 9643 station is an extraordinary station established by St. Hornavich University, no matter what time it is, the steam train will always arrive within 3 minutes.
"It must have been caused by distorting the forces of time and space."
It didn't take long for him to come to a huge square, where the Church of Tranquility stood tall, the most magnificent building of Tranquility Road, which radiated pure and peaceful power in the direct sunlight.
"I don't seem to have seen any other churches except Hornavich Church, do you want to go in and have a look? Isn't that a blasphemy against the sleeping and crimson gods? Venason hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward to the main entrance of the church.
No priests? It's not a day off, but it's not like there isn't even a priest, is it?
In a flash of thought, Venason stepped through the heavy dome door and entered the hall of the church.
The Church of Tranquility, which belongs to the Holy See of Light, is not quite the same as the Church of St. Gagord, which belongs to the Church of Honavich.
Compared with the ancient, sublime and mysterious St. Gagote, the Church of Serenity is full of the grandeur of modern art, inlaid with precious metals and precious stones, and even the hanging platform of the dome is made of pure gold.
"Good...... How expensive? Didn't expect the Holy See of Light to be so rich? It is worthy of being one of the four orthodox churches in the Kingdom of Ghent. ”
Venason's eyes widened and he couldn't help but let out a sound of admiration, and he carefully examined the details of the church's architecture, every place was so beautiful, the various gems inlaid seemed to cost nothing, and even the candles on the altar were twice as large as ordinary churches.
Sighing as he walked through the rows of wooden chairs, he suddenly saw a pattern of vertical lines on either side of the Holy See.
An abstract symbol surrounded by garlands, white doves, female vanilla, and bright flowers is carved into the vertical line, and on either side stand the knights of light, dressed in heavy armor and wielding huge broadswords, like guardian princesses, guarding the sides.
"God of Light...... Is it a goddess? ”
Jason once wrote down the names of herbs and their uses in his diary, and I remember one of them was the female vanilla, which represented the holy and immaculate woman.
It turns out that the god of light is a goddess, no wonder Mies said that in the kingdom of Ghent, the god of light is the belief of many noble ladies, and only men believe in the god of sleep and crimson, the god of the sea, and the iron sun.