Whispering Poems

Chapter 1273 Randall Valley Stonemasons Guild

Elf girl Emilia does not intend to stay long in Randall Valley tonight:

"Tonight it's my turn to sort out the chocobo feed. If I sneak out, if I don't go back as soon as possible, I'm afraid I won't be able to go back to the dormitory until early in the morning. Then Aunt Susan in the sixth ring of the dormitory will scold me tomorrow morning." of"

With a worried expression on her beautiful face, she copied the ancient elf poetry, and Xia De and Luvia watched her leave again on a unicorn.The cold wind of the winter night passed through the branches, and the soft white figure gradually disappeared, and Luvia's whisper sounded:
"I have already contacted the local correspondence group, and learned from them that this Miss Elf has appeared three years ago, and she will appear once a month on average. I checked the local records, and nothing major happened here three years ago. She It should be the discovery of a 'channel' that existed from a long time ago."

"Give yourself a vacation every month?"

Xia De muttered, thinking about the impact that obtaining a "passage" to St. Byrence at any time would have on him, and subconsciously, he missed those people who still missed him in the Fifth Era. Ladies.

Starting this Tuesday, the next few days will be a little quieter.Miss Benanis's followers went to investigate the whereabouts of the three auction items. Luvia, who had obtained the clue of the sublimation language, was busy planning her own plan to obtain the spirit rune. so that Shade often could not find her at the Wilde Opera House.

Of course, Xia De did not completely relax during this period.He was invited by Queen Diana in Tobesk to attend a wedding ceremony for the duke's daughter on Wednesday night.Because Miss Galina and Shad have almost made their relationship clear, the queen hopes to strengthen her relationship with the increasingly independent Duchess Galina by wooing Shad.

There was also a little hiccup at the banquet on Wednesday night.At that time, Xia De was holding a wine glass, talking about his detective story with Queen Diana, three princesses including Rezia, and two ladies he didn't know.

Queen Diana put down the wine glass containing orange juice, suddenly smiled and said to several people:
"Speaking of which, there is a good thing I can tell you in private. I bet you would never have imagined that someone among us is giving birth to a new life."

"Ok?"

Xia De subconsciously wanted to see Rezia, but Rezia recalled in a panic whether it was his own or Dorothy's.Of course, no matter who it is, she will be responsible to Xia De.

But then Queen Diana pointed at herself again, and said with a smile:

"The next generation of the royal family will have a new heir."

"that is really good."

Adelina and their younger sister, Alice Cavendish, said together, as others sent their well wishes.Xia De secretly praised His Majesty the king's health in his heart. The Cavendish royal family had an already huge population, and there was actually another one. "Fire Leaper" Larus III is definitely the king who gave birth to the largest number of descendants since records were recorded in this era.

[Two, twins, two boys. 】

"Huh? You can even see that?"

On Thursday, Shad finally had time to visit the local stonemasons' association in the Randall Valley.Although it is no longer necessary to determine who the stone statue in the church is, he still wants to investigate the rumors about the "moving sculpture" of the Stonemasons Association.

Because this matter is not in a hurry, after breakfast, Xia De lingered at home for a while, waiting for a possible client to come to the door.He didn't go to the distant city alone until after ten o'clock, and it was already eleven o'clock in the morning when he arrived at the Stonemasons Association.

The full name of the association is "Randall Valley Stonemasons Guild", and its location is not in the urban area of ​​Randall Valley City, but in a slightly remote northeast of the city.Two blocks away from the association, there are train tracks connected to the quarry in the mountains, so that stonemasons can go to the quarry at any time, or transport suitable stone.

The northeast of the city is the old town of Randall Valley, where the buildings are quite old, and the alleys and streets are quite narrow.If the western city of Randall Valley is more like a big city booming in the steam age, then the time of the old city is still in the embryonic stage of the steam age.

And this style of the old city exists, no matter in Lengshuigang, Fort Midhill or even in Tobesk City. This is the memory of the city.

I got off the carriage at the entrance of the narrow street and looked at the tall and ancient stone buildings on both sides.Because the old city is closer to the factories and mining areas that emit exhaust gas outside the city, the fog is particularly thick.In addition, the streets are narrow, and the buildings on both sides block the sun. Walking on the streets, it seems to have entered a dark foggy world during the day.

The street on which the Stonemasons Guild is located is called "Mason Street" and is one of the oldest streets in the Randall Valley.Most of the merchants on the entire street are engaged in businesses related to sculpture and stone trading.Stone sculptures can be seen everywhere on both sides of the street, and the stone sculptures look a little scary in the thick fog that can't see clearly.

But here is not deserted at all, merchants from all over the old continent gather here to purchase works carved by local stonemasons. The name "City of Masons" is due to this street.In the old age of the Sixth Era before the beginning of the Steam Age, this street was the center of the Randall Valley.

But at this time, everything went downhill.

Because of the "Prince Assault Case" that happened last week, when Xia De came to the Stonemasons Association, he saw several local police officers, led by a detective with a star on his shoulder, recording at the front desk of the Stonemasons Association. wearing something.

Of course, this did not affect the normal business of the Stonemasons Association, and the association was still full of people coming and going.

To be precise, the Randall Valley Stonemasons Association itself is just a guild composed of local stonemasons, and the stonemasons jointly endow it with rights.The main functions of the association include but are not limited to coordinating conflicts in the industry, acting as a broker to introduce business to merchants from other places, unifying the price of stone materials in the city, and representing stonemasons throughout the Randall Valley to attend certain important occasions.Of course, when a large business requires the use of a large number of craftsmen, the association of stonemasons is also required to coordinate, such as the business of the royal family of Anjou decades ago.

Xia De still used the pseudonym of John Watson when he came here today, in name to select a batch of stone statues and give them to friends in Willowdale as gifts.The number proposed by Xia De was not too much, so the association did not send a special receptionist or manager to receive him.Xia De can take a walk inside the association, check the works of different stonemasons collected here, and then choose the craftsman he likes to place an order directly.

Today's weather is really bad. When Xia De entered the association, it was only foggy outside. After he confirmed the viewing area, it was still early in the morning, but it was completely dark outside.Snowflakes floated in the gloomy sky at this time.Considering that it is already a rare moon, this is very likely to be the last heavy snow this winter.

The Stonemasons Association is divided into four floors, and the left half of the hall on the entire first floor is displaying stone carvings, even somewhat like a stone statue museum.When Xia De walked in, he saw that the window in the middle of the red velvet curtain was completely dark, and snowflakes as big as goose feathers were falling down one after another.There are also quite a few people who come here to look at the goods, including ordinary people like Xia De who casually look around, as well as well-dressed wealthy businessmen or aristocratic butlers picking goods under the leadership of the receptionist.

Xia De didn't have a definite goal at first, so he wandered casually after entering the hall, even thinking that if he saw the statue he liked, he could buy it and give it to Princess Adelina as a birthday present on the weekend.

Various stone statues are densely placed in the hall, some are busts with bases, and some are full-length statues in one-to-one proportions.He even saw a young man setting up an easel in front of the stone statue for sketching, and he later heard that this was a project that could only be allowed after payment.

The merchants crowded shoulder to shoulder, and Xia De simply walked around and found no obvious traces of elements here, so he had the time to carefully observe the stone carvings.But soon, his attention was attracted by the row of oil paintings hanging on the wall.The oil paintings hanging in the stone carving hall, except for the portraits of the founders of the stonemason association at the door, are all heavy-colored oil paintings depicting stone statues, and most of them are statues of people.

The frames of these oil paintings are quite large, basically the height of adults, and what surprised Xia De the most is that most of the statues in these oil paintings do not contain clothing.In other words, most oil paintings fall into the category of nude/art.

"Long time no see, Mr. Watson. I have heard about the game between you and Mr. Oxenfurt. I knew when I was in the Prophet Association that the person who can beat me must be extraordinary."

Xia De was looking up at the oil painting when he suddenly heard a voice behind him.Turning around, he saw that Mr. Antonio, the playwright, had already walked by his side.This gentleman was met by Xia De when he was playing cards at the local Prophet Association. At that time, he lost to Xia De a Sun 1 [Tale in the Woods·Silver Snow Wolf].

"Oh, it's Mr. Antonio, are you also here to buy stone statues?"

"No, no, I just came here to find inspiration, for a new opera script."

The stylishly dressed writer in a brown leather jacket said, and Xia De also introduced his reason for coming.Afterwards, the two looked up at the stone oil painting of the woman on the wall who opened her arms, as if she was about to embrace someone outside the painting.

"Are you curious why there are only such statues in oil paintings, and the statues on display are all well-clothed?"

Mr. Antonio asked with a smile, explaining to the outsider "John Watson":
"On the one hand, it's because the city hall said that this kind of display is indecent. It's a regulation that started with the conflict between the stonemasons' association and the royal family. Oh, the conflict between the local stonemasons and the royal family is"

"I know, I've heard about it."

"That's easy to explain. On the other hand, it's also because the association found that stone statues without clothes are more likely to be stolen and damaged during display. Although the items displayed here are all worthless sales, frequent It would be very annoying to replace. Later, too many exposed stone statues were simply displayed in the form of oil paintings."

As he spoke, he lowered his voice and added:

"Mr. Watson, you are a foreigner, and it is difficult to find your way. If you are interested in this kind of vulgar, I mean this unique style of stone carving, I know artisans who specialize in this kind of stone carving."

(End of this chapter)