"Push hard, put it over here, don't hit the bottle in the corner." It was already the third trip of the afternoon as the messenger instructed the delivery staff to avoid the bits and pieces at their feet and carry the heavy large boxes upstairs.

Lucius, who picked a box against the wall and sat down, held a glass of water and blew hot air. This was given to him by Kraft, a notoriously clean man who was also uneasy about the well in Elm Street, insisting on boiling it before handing it to him.

Even if he explained at the well that his throat hurt for a long time, he could only sip it in small sips, and it was hard to say whether he drank more water or dried his saliva more.

Today's trip was not difficult, a nobleman with a sword, using his family's reputation as a guarantee, to build two new wells nearby, and all they had to do was to walk a little more for the time being, and then go elsewhere to fetch water.

In addition, the strange "sleeping sickness" has caused panic in the hearts of the people, and all kinds of rumors have spread, more pervasive than the salty breeze, more barnacles growing on the reef, including many claims related to well water.

At this time, a person from an aristocratic academy could come and tell them that there was a problem with the well water, which somewhat alleviated the fear of the unpredictable unknown in his heart.

In fact, the people who live here certainly don't know what goes wrong with the well water that can make people sleep for a long time, they don't know what the academy is studying, and they don't know the difference between different nobles.

But at least the people of Wendeng Hong Kong have more or less heard of such an academy, and they also know that this identity is very powerful. If you really don't know, you can take a look at the sword, which may be effective in helping to understand this problem.

As long as Lucius took over from work after Kraft's mouth was dry, and explained it to those who came after him, mixed with explicit or implicit hints about his identity, it was not too difficult work, at least it was much better than he had imagined.

Sighing that some identities are really useful, he inhaled again, and the warm water slid down his esophagus, and the warmth flowed through his stomach. In the cold season, it is indeed good to hold a cup of hot water.

They were in a small three-story building that Kraft had just rented on Elm Street, not including the attic.

The builders of this house were obviously not well thought out in terms of location, stuck in a narrow plot between the two old houses, and the walls on both sides were attached to the next house, forcing them to develop upwards, resulting in a rare flat and elongated structure. Excluding stairs, there is only one room and narrow aisles on each floor.

The cramped space leads to the fact that there are no windows on both sides on the first and second floors below, and only the windows are opened to the rooms at the front of the house, which has very poor lighting, and it is necessary to go up the stairs in the dark during the day.

At the same time, still due to space constraints, the stairs are made quite steep, and you don't have to bend down when you go upstairs.

Combining these factors, coupled with the fact that it happened to be next to the salt tide area, the rent of the house was pressed to the point where those who saw it were sad and those who heard it wept.

The original owner on crutches swore to them that there would be no other place in Wendeng Harbor that was so cheap except in the salt tide area. If he could find it, he immediately lowered the price to a lower price than there.

Referring to his experience of almost rolling down the stairs and the image of the owner, Lucius wanted to turn around and leave, but Kraft was unexpectedly satisfied with the house, and rented it for a month on the spot, and he even thought that Kraft had the idea of buying it directly.

In his usual knowledge of Kraft, price was not the reason, but he could think of no other reason to choose a residence that might have a serious adverse effect on the upper limb bones, lower limb bones, skull, ribs, all bones and the soft tissues they protected when he went downstairs.

"Let's let it go, borrow it."

Lucius gathered his feet and let the hired men squeeze past him. He didn't see the list that Kraft had given to Liston, but it wasn't too much, and it didn't look like what was hoarding household items for a permanent stay.

The fourth group of hired workers carried the box up, their shoulders slightly sunk by the weight, and the sound of a slight metal crash came from inside the wooden box.

Out of the curiosity of an idler, Lucius followed and patted the box, and a more obvious metallic sound came from inside, "What's in here?" ”

The hired man, apparently taking him for the man in charge here, unloaded the box and leaned against the wall, assuming a chattering posture to take a break in answer to his questions.

"There are not many people who buy some stock clips, and this time it is rare for someone to want so much, so they simply sold them cheaply together." He wiped the sweat from his head, it was not easy to dig out a bunch of old things and carry them to the place designated by the buyer.

"Clips?"

The hired man's answer was beyond any of Lucius's guesses, and in his impression, the largest clip was no bigger than the palm of his hand, so how many clips should be in a box?

"Yes, clips." He shook the box so that Lucius could hear the large iron items rattling inside, "I'll tell you the truth, it's not a good material, it's ugly, it's ugly, but it's better to use enough of it." ”

"Doesn't that sound small?"

"Of course, the trap can't be small. I heard that there are bears taller than people in the mountains, and this is not the biggest. ”

The hired man continued upstairs with the box on his shoulder, and Lucius looked at the box in shock, unable to imagine what Kraft was going to do with the murder weapons.

Heavy footsteps rang upstairs, and there were more people on the upper floors who had placed various items according to their employers' wishes, and about ten of such large boxes had been carried up, to say the least.

A faint voice of conversation came from the attic: "Yes, I asked for this, there should be ...... Will it be there in a while? No problem, just deliver it before the sun goes down. ”

Lucius couldn't sit still. He opened the box that had been underneath his buttocks, and a smell of grease wafted out, with a salty smell and fishy smell. Neatly lined up in small jars, sealed with wooden stoppers.

Picking up one of the cans and uncorking it, the strong smell of the overflow reminded Lucius of what it was.

A whole case of fish oil.

The oil made from a fatty fish called "sunfish" has a terrible taste because it is too rich in fat and has a heavy fishy smell. In the port of Wenden, where there is no shortage of food, it has reached the point of being hated by people, so this use was developed.

It turns out that the oil made from the unpalatable fish is not popular, and even when used as lamp oil, it tastes pungent when burning.

Once, when he had the misfortune to taste a dish cooked with this oil, it was like some slippery, fishy film covering his tongue, and he rinsed his mouth several times but did not wash away the bad feeling it caused.

The only advantage of this kind of thing may be that it can be easily ignited, it can be soaked in a small amount of ignition, and it only takes a little spark to burn. There is a joke circulating in the harbor that the whole boat was burned because the sunfish were placed too close to the brazier, although the authenticity is questionable.

Closing the box, Lucius prepared to go upstairs to see what kind of project needed these things. Just as he set off to walk up the stairs, a somewhat weak voice came from behind him.

"Is Kraft here?"

"Yes, come in yourself!"

Turning to look at the door, a child in a hard-wearing linen shirt and pants poked his head out from behind the door, as if some hired man had come out to help. Probably frightened by a somewhat impatient tone, he flinched when Lucius looked over.

Despite a slight irritability, he calmed down and adjusted his expression as he walked down the stairs so that he would not look too intimidating to the child.

"That's right, congratulations on finding the right place, doing a great job. Can I help you? Lucius asked with a barely passable smile and in the gentler tone possible.

The experience of dealing with children with intussusception with Kraft has taught him some things, such as how to communicate with children correctly and effectively.

"Somebody gave me this, and told me to come here and find someone named Kraft and tell him to go to a place right away." The child spread out his palm, and inside was a copper coin, "And he said Kraft would give me one." ”

"Where?"

The little face looked up and looked at him without speaking.

"Okay, okay, pretty smart." Lucius found a new copper coin and handed it to him, "Look, this is enough, okay?" Tell me what the man said. ”

The child happily took the money and stuffed it into his pocket, and the interesting behavior of the man in front of him won his trust, and he even forgot to ask if it was Kraft himself.

"He said to go and find him at the third gate on the other side of the tree on Pelican Street, and that's it."

The smile faded from Lucius's face, "Did that person say what his name was?" ”

"Ah, by the way, I almost forgot about it, and he told me that Liston had asked me to come. That's all. Probably because he was paid but didn't get things done, the child turned his face away in embarrassment.

"Thank you, you did a great job."

The messenger ran away happily, and Lucius looked at him with a solemn face, silently reciting the location, "Pelican Street, the other end of the tree, the third gate?" ”

It's not that he hasn't heard of this address, on the contrary, he knows this place so well that it is impossible to forget it, and he goes to it more or less several times a year, but it has become the last place he wants to hear at this time.

The residence of Professor Kallman.

Looking up, the dim, steep staircase zigzagged upward, and the noise of moving heavy objects was still loud, with occasional banging and talking. It didn't seem like anyone was paying attention to the little conversation going on here, everyone was busy and didn't have time to distract from anything else.

In the attic on the top floor, Kraft should be arranging his unintended purchases, arranging this new foothold.

Lucius walked out of the main door, closed the door behind his back, picked up his glass, and took a sip of the boiled water, which was already cold.

Elm Street wasn't long, and if you looked to the side, you could see the baker Bryde's house that they had visited last time. Beyond these houses, not far behind is the salt tide area, and the imperceptible peculiar salty smell wafts from that direction, and you don't need to see it to know that it exists.

It's a wonderful feeling, just across the street, and the completely different environment that you can't see is there. Like the salty smell wafting in, it's easy to ignore it in your consciousness if you don't pay attention, yet you know it's real, and so are its inhabitants.

Lucius took another sip of water, sipped it in his mouth for a while, and then swallowed, the cool liquid moistening his lips and tongue and dry vocal cords. Shouting towards the window of the attic on the top floor:

"Kraft, there's something urgent!"