While passing by the hall where Gilles Arnald was entertaining guests, Dalton heard singers singing a piece in praise of Otto. This is a singer specially found by Steward Giles for his distinguished guests. He came to Knight's Bay with the fleet of the Oath Keepers Alliance. The Vampires are members of the Oath Keepers Alliance. No matter how much Dalton hates these half-undead who drink blood for a living, he must deal with these guys to protect the safety of Lord DeWitt. The only thing that pleased him was that the other person's expression when he saw him was no different from his own.
Outside Chaosheng Castle, a group of carriages passed through the neighborhood in a mighty manner. Dalton mounted his horse, and the knight who passed by last turned his head warily, and when he saw him, he pressed the hilt of his sword. Maybe he thought I was a robber? Dalton thought interestingly that the night elves should be assassins.
He followed the caravan into the city, and the smell of seaweed from the port hit his face. Even on the streets that are not close to the seaside, the mud on the ground makes people reluctant to dismount for fear of soiling their boots. Dalton's race is a night elf, and people often think that his habits have the mysophobia of a fog elf. He certainly didn't mind a bit of mud or stain, but he never bothered to explain it to anyone. As the captain of the prince's bodyguard, many people will clean his room and tidy up his appearance, and Dalton is happy to see this happen. After all, who doesn’t like to be clean and tidy everywhere they go?
He dismounted and turned into a grocery store. A few days ago DeWitt ordered him to find out the source of the Arnald family's tobacco business. The lord suspected that the vampires were not interested in hoeing. From the time when Sovero's potion began to flow out in the Four Leaf City to now, the efficiency of the blood clan's new tobacco leaf introduction is somewhat astonishing. DeWitt thought these guys might have picked up a bargain—from an alchemist or some organization that researched potions, or even the Oath Keepers. Especially the Oath Keepers. He hopes to have their support, like his aunt's.
And Dalton was appointed to dispense justice. Of course justice has its price and is more time-sensitive. The captain of the guard had no choice but to assign his men to secretly investigate each business firm, but the results were still far away. If he hadn't known that he couldn't do the job of conducting overt and covert investigations, he would have wanted to do it himself.
Fortunately, although the progress of the task still has to wait, not everything was gained in the process. Dalton discovered this night elf shop last night, when a seagull brought him the news. If the castle hadn't been closed at that time, he would have even wanted to come last night. Eastman is a human country, with few foreigners settling there. Dalton couldn't remember how many years he hadn't seen his kind.
The ancestral land of the night elves is very far away, and the journey to Eastman is as difficult and dangerous as a mortal's journey to the cloud city of Brumnot. To be honest, Dalton doesn't even know if he can go back in this life.
The shop was very hot and smelled of smoke. "This store sells mysterious items." A woman said in a generic voice from deep inside, her voice as ethereal as smoke. "Mortals, please leave on your own."
Behind the rows of shelves, Dalton found the night elf. She was leaning on a velvet rocking chair, draped in emerald brocade, with a large pot of unknown herbs at hand. She has short hair that reaches her ears, wears half-rimmed glasses, and is a slim lady with a long pipe that keeps blowing out smoke. She also has smooth purple skin - but not dark purple, and her eyes have the same pupils as Dalton.
This was not a pure elf, he realized, she was a half-elf, but she did have night elf blood. Maybe there were real night elves among her elders, who were Dalton's people.
The woman was startled when she saw his face. "Who are you?"
"Dalton Shadowfang Nathanael," the guard captain replied meticulously, "a mysterious creature from Tinudal in the Darkhorn. Am I lucky enough to know your clan name?"
"Kunjing." The woman put down her cigarette, "My name is Ingrid Kumojing Barsintasis." Her fingers had wonderful lines, and her nails were stained with stripes of color. "That being said, I have never been to Yunjing."
She knew that the name of the clan was actually the name of the place, Dalton thought, and that Shadowfang meant the Horn of Darkness. She said she had never been to Yunjing, which was obvious. The night elves of Cloudwell hate half-breeds, and if Ingrid went there, she would be killed. "You can see that." said the captain of the guard.
Ingrid stared at him for a few seconds. "It's so rare to meet a night elf." She inserted the pipe between her whitened lips. They were also sexy in Dalton's eyes. "My mother would be willing to talk to you, if she were still alive. What do you want to buy? For the sake of my own kind, I can give you a discount. Mr. Dark Elementalist."
Her bloodline comes from her mother. Dalton could guarantee that no one would regret her mother's death more than he did at this moment. Cloud Well and Dark Corner...are no further apart than Eastman. "Perhaps I wish to have a chat with you, Miss Ingrid."
"It seems you haven't been to Knight's Bay for long." Ingrid smiled.
"What? Are there other night elves here?" The information given to him by his subordinates did not mention the second night elf grocery store.
"No, I mean, everyone who's heard of this place doesn't want to talk to me about much. I'll make them pay for it - without even realizing it. People tend to buy a lot of useless stuff. When I got my things back, I realized that my shopping list didn’t work at all.”
The shopping list has nothing to do with me. "I don't buy anything." Dalton said bluntly, "I just arrived here not long ago, and I just want to chat with you." He felt that Ingrid didn't understand what he meant.
Maybe she didn't care what he meant. When the guard captain finished speaking, Ingrid chuckled. Dalton could sense her amusement, but he didn't understand why she was smiling. "Have I offended you?"
"No one ever said you were candid?"
If straightforwardness and slowness are synonymous with each other, then the Lord of the Bay would often say this about his captain of the bodyguard. He didn't always speak when DeWitt was in a good mood, so the latter often drove him away in anger. "I have." Dalton had to admit, "That's what happened."
"That must be someone you have a good relationship with."
"That's right. He's the one I swore allegiance to."
"Are you a knight?"
Dalton took out the cursed sword. "Without a doubt. I swore an oath in the temple of Noctura, the god of war, and burned my hair. I bathed in the ashes...but now they grow back."
"They grow faster than mine," Ingrid said. Her short hair is very smooth, not inferior to Dalton's.
"Maybe it's because my mystique has grown."
"I'm not asking you why." She shook her head, "Well, even if you tell me, you don't understand." As soon as she finished speaking, Dalton didn't know what to say. He didn't expect Ingrid to be a half-elf, let alone a woman. When he left home, several girls who liked to be close to him stayed away from this strange boy with an adventurous spirit. Dalton came into contact with many human girls, and he was allowed to follow DeWitt when he selected beautiful maids. But in comparison, the number of adult female night elves that the guard captain had seen praised him for being able to speak was less often than DeWitt's.
He was also very frank about his embarrassment, and Ingrid could see it right away. "Me instead?" she teased, "Then for the sake of my fellow countrymen, please take care of your wallet, Mr. Knight. I don't want your master to end up causing trouble for me."
"Your Excellency will not do this." DeWitt Hearn is very busy now and has no time to care about how many gold coins the captain of the guard was defrauded by the black shop, but he can't say for sure when he is free.
Ingrid laughed again, "To get your allegiance, he must be a hero. I know that this kind of person has extraordinary qualities, and being tolerant of his subordinates must be one of them. Mr. Dalton, are you willing to serve the master Give your life and loyalty, right?”
"I would give everything for him, including my honor," Dalton told her.
"I think so. Many new faces have come to Knight's Bay recently, so you have to be wary."
"I've always done this," Dalton said, "and those were just merchants. Oath Keepers merchants. They've been doing business with Eastman for a long time, but I don't think they should come at this time."
"Why?"
Because the messenger from the Sky Tower is visiting Chaosheng Castle. "Pulin's caravan is a few weeks late and has arrived recently. Their business will not be good." The captain of the guard never revealed anything about truly important matters.
"It seems that the most casualties in the next few days will be the merchants." Ingrid commented, "Their fights are more terrifying than real swords and guns. Just keep an eye on the prices of goods in Beacon Town. They The ups and downs are like the waves of the Flame Moon. The large amount of merchandise from the Oath Keepers Alliance will impact the value of the mysterious items in the bay... Soon, adventurers will no longer have discounted equipment to wear."
"How do you say this?" Dalton became interested.
"They can buy it directly from the foreigners in the Oath Keepers Alliance, without asking the local professional mystics. I have heard that there are so many armors made by dwarves in the alliance that they can't use them all. Even if they are a bit expensive, Their craftsmanship is definitely much better than that of Eastman's craftsmen." Ingrid said, "Adventurers who have survived to this day basically never skimp on armor and weapons, so I'm afraid the original shops will be deserted."
"Then the seller should lower the price."
"On the contrary. The original store would increase the price of the equipment." Half-elf Ingrid told him, "Don't forget that the dwarves' craftsmanship is indeed excellent, but it is expensive. Adventurers who can afford it will choose to replace it with sophisticated equipment. But adventurers who couldn't afford it could only use the original ones. However, the Gulf Craftsmen's customers were diverted away, and the store's life became difficult... They had no choice but to make more profits from the remaining adventurers. These people were fine anyway. It’s worth buying, isn’t it?”
"That makes sense." The captain of the guard couldn't help but say. Fortunately I can buy good quality stuff.
"There is another reason. The merchant ships from the Oath Keepers Alliance have a fixed cargo capacity. No matter how profitable the armor is, it cannot be compared to luxury goods such as mysterious gems and alchemical potions. Its quantity is very limited."
