novelonline Chapter 3906 The Investigation of Grey Eagle II
Chapter 3906 The Investigation of Grey Eagle II
Chapter 3906 The Investigation of Grey Eagle II
After explaining her arrangements for Shad, Sylvia handed him the house keys and then left.
However, Shad did have something to do in Willendale. Baron Samir, who was entangled with the "Eros," gave him a house in Willendale along with the land before his soul departed, as a token of gratitude for his help.
The deed and land deed were both obtained by the Baron using a false identity, solely so that he could abandon the past and start a new life with "The Lustful One" Halonin in the future (Chapter 3733).
So on that day, Shad took the vault key he had found in the baron’s mansion, went to the Central Bank of Carsonrick with an umbrella, and successfully found the house deeds, land deeds, and house keys in the vault.
The addresses of the houses were on those deeds, and when Shad saw the addresses in the bank vault, he was taken aback:
"No. 4 Royal Pharmacist Alley. This address looks familiar."
Yes, you just came from there.
Sylvia's private residence is located at number 3 Royal Pharmacist Lane.
"Number 4 must be the house that Sylvia mentioned has been empty all this time. Is this just a coincidence of fate? Or did the snake actually notice Sylvia a long time ago?"
Shad thought to himself, but quickly shook his head indifferently. After all, no matter what, the Doomsday Serpent had already died at Sylvia's hands.
There was nothing wrong with the house at number four Royal Pharmacist Alley. Although Baron Samir had never been there in person, he had arranged for a domestic servant named Four Seasons to clean it through an anonymous lawyer. So, although the house looked a bit old, it was fully furnished and quite clean.
Although the Baron said he bought the property before the last housing price surge in Willendale, Shad estimated that he had spent a considerable amount of crowns at the time, making the Baron's "gift" quite substantial.
"I've finally found a place to stay in this area."
Outsiders never complain about having too many houses. Although this two-story apartment building has no attic and its ground area is far smaller than that of No. 6 St. Teresa's Place, its location is still quite good.
Cold Spring Palace, the administrative center of the southern kingdom, is located in the southwest of Willendale, not in the center. "Royal Apothecary Alley" is only two blocks away from Cold Spring Palace, and not far from the exit on the side with the larger house number is the Sun Church of the Willendale parish.
Shad was pleased with this place to stay, and then thought that Sylvia could use it when he was not around.
"It's just a pity that neither of the basements of these two houses has an entrance to the [Spatial Maze], so we can't be too greedy."
She whispered gently in Shad's ear:
So what to do next? Stay home and read, visit Professor Drake who moved here from Huntington, or surprise your vampire friend Bernhardt?
She presented three options, which surprised and puzzled Xia De:
“Every time you give me a choice, it means something bad is going to happen. Do you foresee something? It can't be that someone is trying to assassinate the king again today, and I just happened to catch them in the act, can it?”
She continued to smile gently, without giving a reply.
The rain outside the window grew heavier, and the dark clouds, combined with polluting gases, made the city look like night even at 10 a.m.
Shad ultimately chose not to go out, but instead returned to Sylvia's house and casually picked up a book from the study to read.
Sylvia's bookshelf was filled with books accessible to the average person, mostly works on number theory and advanced mathematics. Although Shad also enjoyed mathematics, he didn't choose to strain his mind during his vacation. His fingers traced the spines of the books, and finally, in a corner of the shelf, he found a copy of *The Hamilton Detective Stories* in Carsonrick's language.
"Then it's you."
At 11 a.m., a knock came at the door amidst the sound of rain. Xia De put down the book and went downstairs to open the door, only to find that it was a food box delivered by someone from a restaurant a street away.
"Sir, someone has ordered lunch for you. Please enjoy your meal. The guest who made the order left you a message: Please enjoy your lunch by yourself."
"Isn't Margaret coming at noon?"
Shad pondered this, but still ate lunch first. Shortly after lunch, there was another knock on the downstairs door. This time, however, when Shad opened the door, he didn't see the person knocking, but only a letter placed on the steps of the apartment building.
The envelope had no sender's name or stamp, but it clearly read "To Grey Eagle II".
Shad raised an eyebrow and returned to the foyer before opening the letter. The letter was actually only one page, covered with densely packed numbers written in pencil, grouped in sets of eight.
Shad nodded, and after returning to the living room, he took out Gray Eagle's three codebooks from the [Moon Library]: "The Queen and Her Lovers," "The Silver Knight," and "Western Front Gleanings."
He then deciphered the ciphertext by referring to the codebook; the ciphertext was not long.
"Grey Hawk, your sworn wife, Margaret Anjou, has been kidnapped by me. To rescue her, you must pay us a ransom. Now go to Mrs. Villefort's tailor shop; you will receive further instructions."
Don't try to call the police; otherwise, you'll only end up hurting yourself.
Mrs. Villefort's tailor shop is located between Cold Spring Palace and this apartment building. Although it sounds like an ordinary street shop, Sylvia and Shad mentioned that many famous dressmakers who designed gowns for the royal family have come from this tailor shop.
This is how Sylvia described the old lady Villefort:
“Older people don’t know how to adapt. Just because of the fabrics I invented, she actually tried to publish a message in the newspaper to scold me for being shameless.”
Of course, the old lady's letter was never published in the newspaper.
So Shade left the house with an umbrella. The streets were muddy from the rain, carriages splashed water as they passed by on the cobblestones, ladies hurried by, lifting their skirts, while gentlemen carefully avoided the puddles, canes in hand. The magnificent spires of Cold Spring Palace and the distant city clock tower appeared and disappeared in the rain and mist, making the city itself seem like a phantom in this spring rain.
However, Shad actually quite liked the scenery. Strolling through the oldest and most central district of Willendale, he felt the same excitement he had when he first arrived in this world.
However, the city stroll didn't last long. After successfully finding the tailor shop, the silver-haired old woman merely glanced at Shad before gesturing for him to follow her into the inner room:
"The clothes I prepared for you are inside, go try them on."
How did you know it was prepared for me?
"Of course, it's determined based on your height and weight; clothing sizes don't lie."
The old lady clearly didn't want to say much to Shad, and returned to her rocking chair to continue looking at what she was holding. If Shad wasn't mistaken, the magazine featured original designs of avant-garde clothing that Sylvia had drawn inspiration from his "Weakly Effective Cinderella."
"It seems that this old lady is not as old-fashioned as Sylvia said."
The kidnapper prepared a casual outfit for Shad, not a formal suit.
The ivory-white cotton shirt had a subtle white stitch along the collar edge and two small mother-of-pearl buttons sewn inside the cuffs. Next was a dark blue twill hunting jacket, knee-length, with a clean and sleek cut, featuring concealed patch pockets on both sides for storing a notebook or a certain orange and white cat. The trousers were gray flannel trousers, straight-legged with crisp lines and no unnecessary embellishments.
The waist was secured with a narrow black leather belt with a simple brass square buckle that had a matte finish. In addition to the shirt and jacket, a dark grey bowler hat and round-toed black Oxford shoes were worn.
Although this wasn't the kind of dirt-resistant black clothing that Shad usually wore, when he looked in the mirror after putting it on, he still felt that this old-fashioned yet modernly designed outfit suited him quite well.
"very nice."
Mrs. Villefort nodded in satisfaction, and after Shad had changed his clothes, she went to his side and helped him tidy up.
"While I've never been a fan of designing clothes based solely on a few measurements without meeting the wearer, your figure is simply that of a perfect clothing model. Very good, very good. However, it's raining outside, so you'd better call a carriage before you leave."
Clearly, the "kidnappers" had already paid for the expensive outfit, but Shad was there for a clue:
"Excuse me, did the person who ordered the clothes for me leave me a message?"
The old lady shook her head as the rain tapped against the shop window.
"No, but she has a strange request: no one else is allowed to enter the changing room prepared for you for the next three days."
Xia De suddenly realized what was going on, claimed he was going to collect the old clothes, and returned to the room located inside the tailor shop:
"Since no one has come in the past three days—an echo of the past!"
Then, a deliberately disguised, clear sound entered my ears—
“Grey Hawk, you’re clever. Since you thought of using sound to find clues, then the next step is to go to Mr. Thornley’s flower greenhouse. There you will find the next instructions.”
"Mr. Thornley's Flower Greenhouse" is a rather large flower shop located in the south of Willendale. When Shad got off the carriage and looked at the flower shop, which was completely like a glass greenhouse on the street, he was quite curious about which noble family owned it.
Just like at the tailor shop, as soon as Xia De entered the flower shop, the middle-aged man behind the counter spoke to him quite politely:
"Good afternoon. The flowers you requested have been prepared. Please sit here for a moment, and we will bring them to you shortly."
Xia De was puzzled:
"you know me?"
“Dear guest, this is our first meeting. But I recognize your outfit; it was purchased from Mrs. Villefort, wasn't it? It suits you very well.”
The middle-aged man behind the counter was Mr. Thornley, the owner of the greenhouse flower shop. He had his apprentice lead Shad to the rest area in the greenhouse, and soon he came over himself carrying a package of roses.
"Guest, these are the roses you ordered. Also, here's this for you. It's raining and the air is humid right now, so these flowers don't need extra water. But if you plan to keep these flowers indoors for an extended period, please remember to water them daily with this nutrient solution."
The bouquet of roses was all red, while the nutrient solution was sealed in a small, silver-plated, pewter-carved flask.
Based on his previous two experiences, Xia De already had a guess about what to do next. So he took the roses, boarded the carriage in front of the flower shop, gave the driver a random address, then threw out a card to seal the roses, and finally opened the nutrient solution, pointing an empty wine bottle at it:
"Miraculous Technique - Blood Wine Brewing!"
This magical technique only works on blood or blood-like substances, and this time, there were actually a small amount of blood in the liquid in the pot that responded to the power of the technique.
So the blood brew entered the bottle, and then Shad dripped it into his eyes. [Echo of Blood] saw a hazy blood-red shadow outside the car window on this rainy day.
"Just as I thought. It seems my skills as a secret agent are indeed quite comprehensive."
Xia De smiled and instructed the driver to follow his directions and chase after the trail of blood-red figures.
So the carriage traveled through the streets and alleys of Velendale in the rain, finally stopping on the banks of the Dorn River that flows through the city. The coachman saw the flowers created by the illusion and didn't notice that Shad was missing a large bouquet of roses.
After paying the fare, Shad continued following the crimson light and shadow to the warehouse along the riverside street. The Dorn River was the largest river in the southern capital city, so there were warehouses along its banks that provided temporary storage for goods.
As soon as Xia De entered, the warehouse owner, like the tailor shop owner and the florist, recognized him immediately. However, this time there was no particular reason. The middle-aged man bowed to Xia De and then, as if reciting lines from a stage play, said:
"Spy, you've finally found this place. Yes, this was indeed our base, but the noble lady you're looking for has long been moved. Even if you defeat me now, don't expect to get any clues out of me."
"So this time I need to find a way to interrogate you, right?"
Xia De asked, and the warehouse owner hurriedly shook his head:
"No, no, I haven't finished yet, cough cough—but our game isn't over yet. I've kindly left you a clue in the warehouse. Go and find it; your princess is still waiting for you."
After he finished speaking, he led Xia De towards the backyard of the warehouse, handed Xia De a key, and pointed to a tightly closed door in the backyard:
"His Highness left the things here."
The warehouse owner whispered something and then left. Shad guessed the man was one of Margaret's henchmen and didn't give him any further trouble. When Shad opened the door, he saw strange things displayed inside.
A red walnut carved sideboard, a white mahogany dining table and chairs, dark green velvet cushions with gold tassels, a neatly folded tablecloth embroidered with white irises, multi-tiered silver candelabra, silver cups and gold plates, beeswax candles, decorative porcelain vases, sterling silver knives and forks, and various silver-plated glass goblets.
These things were piled up haphazardly. In addition, on the shelf next to them were crystal bottles of sea salt, black pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, lobsters and fish stored with ice, fresh vegetables and fruits that had been rinsed with water, and meat that had been slaughtered and cut up.
The things piled up here could easily be used to host a small dinner party. Shad blinked in the sound of rain, then reached out and grabbed the huge canvas hanging on the wall, and with a sudden flick of his wrist, covered everything in front of him with the canvas.
After removing the canvas, he saw toys scattered all over the floor. He then threw out blank cards one by one, accurately hitting the toys. Thus, the clutter and ingredients piled up in the warehouse were all transformed into a thin stack of cards in Shad's hand.
After the warehouse was "emptied" by Xia De, he noticed that there were actually some scraps of paper scattered on the deliberately cleaned floor. After collecting the scraps, the number of pieces was close to three digits.
"A jigsaw puzzle? It seems this test will assess the ability to recover information quickly."
As he pondered this, Shad retrieved the [Ring of Immortality], put it on his hand, and began to turn it:
"Miraculous Technique - Breath of Time".
Time reversed, and all the scraps of paper flew to one place, eventually transforming into a hard card. But this wasn't a Rhodes Card; it was a boat ticket, addressed to a small dock on the River Dorne not far from here, with departure time specified as before four o'clock this afternoon.
It's only 2:30 now, so it seems that Xia De acted quite quickly.
Shade then left the warehouse again, holding his umbrella, and strolled alone along the riverside street in the rain. In early spring, only a few small boats floated on the Dorn River; although the river had thawed, it was not yet the high-water season, and large cargo ships could not pass.
He was thinking about what might happen later, and soon he walked along the riverbank to the pier of the small dock, where he saw a lone boat moored to one side of the pier.
The boat was almost identical in design to Shad's, meaning it was not only smaller but also required oars. A compass lay on the boat, and Shad immediately recognized it as a "treasure-hunting compass" made by Sylvia.
So he untied the rope, picked up the oar, and rowed forward in the direction the pointer indicated.
The thin fog obscured the view ahead of the river. As he rowed alone, Xia De would occasionally check the compass needle for any changes, but before he knew it, the fog had thickened to the point that he could no longer see the riverbanks on either side of the river.
"No, it's not fog, it's a spatial anomaly. This compass has led me to a spatial anomaly zone. So this is what the test is all about."
He stopped rowing, then placed his hand above his pocket, and the card containing bone meal flew automatically from the deck into his hand. Shad held the card up to the water's edge a few times, and the bone meal pattered into the water.
"Miracle - Summon a small wooden boat".
Shad's small boat emerged from the water beside this ordinary boat, as if it had always been there waiting for him. Shad then jumped onto his own boat next to it, and then chained his original small boat to the other boat so that both boats could continue moving forward together.
However, he didn't look at the compass with its pointer spinning wildly. Instead, he used his [Powerful Spatial Perception] to investigate the abnormal space that was clearly man-made. After finding the direction, he sent his small boat, which could penetrate spatial barriers, deeper into the fog.
The patter of rain continued all around, but in the fog, it seemed as if only Xia De, rowing the boat, remained in the world. However, he was certain he hadn't gone the wrong way. About ten minutes later, a dark shape, symbolizing land, appeared ahead in the fog. Continuing forward, the small boat gently touched the pier at the edge of the island.
After his own small boat disappeared and the ordinary boat was moored, Xia De officially arrived on the island. There was no thick fog on the island, and the visibility was very clear. The island was not very large, with a four-story white building standing in the center. Herbs were planted in front of the house, and there was a garden. A grape trellis was also built on one side of the building.
This is the entire landscape of this small island.
Standing on the island and looking out, there was no longer the wide expanse of water that Shad had just sailed over; only the Dorne River and the city scenery on both sides, with rain falling.
Moreover, it doesn't rain on this island.
"Is this an island in the middle of the Dorne River?"
"Of course not. This is a spatial fold, an abnormal spatial zone that I artificially created by utilizing the tiny spatial cracks that already existed in the middle of the river. It took me a full year to maintain its stability. Although it cannot compare to Green Lake Island, it is sufficient for me and a few others to use."
This island is one of my safe houses in Willendale; I'm only lending it to Margaret temporarily.
Sylvia, who appeared beside Shad, said that she had changed her clothes since morning and was now wearing a black, fitted long dress. Seeing Shad looking at her, the young, black-haired witch coughed:
"Oh~ the spy known as Grey Eagle II, I didn't expect you to actually find the place where we hid the kidnapped princess. You deciphered the coded message, listened to the clues, discovered the red trail, pieced together the destroyed ticket, and finally broke through the fog, sailed across the rapids, and arrived here."
I acknowledge that you are a loyal spy for the princess, but if you wish to see that beautiful princess, you will face another test.
"You're the kidnapper? Sylvia, you don't mean to make me fight you, do you?"
Shad asked hesitantly, and the smiling witch shook her head:
"Of course not. This is a romantic occasion, so we can't be too violent. Didn't we say from the beginning that if you want the princess, you have to pay a ransom? So, did you bring the ransom?"
As she spoke, she winked at Shad, and Shad winked back:
"You really need money?"
Sylvia shook her head:
"Of course not. Shad, aren't you usually very smart? Think about it again."
She pointed to Shad's pocket, and Shad suddenly realized:
“I understand. Yes, of course I brought the ransom. I’ve also made some discoveries along the way while searching for the princess. So let me use these discoveries as ransom to win the heart of that beautiful blonde princess.”
P.S.: This part of the story is a single, continuous narrative and doesn't really need to be divided into chapters, so it's been made into one chapter.
This counts as an extra chapter, since the word count has doubled.