Whispering Poems

Chapter 3204: What Happened in Time Wheel City

Turning my sight from the north to the west of the street, a few birds flew across the skyline, and a tall clock tower stood in the gray fog in the distance. The height of this clock tower is not as high as the "Belindel Big Ben" in Yuewan, but the clock tower itself seems to be clustered in the center of the city in this island city.

"The Clock Tower in Kalachakra City. Thanks to the maintenance of the local clockmaker, this clock tower is known to be the most standard and accurate clock in the world."

The temperature in the city in the bay is obviously much colder than that in the inland city of Tobysk. After taking in the city skyline, Shade adjusted his scarf, which was a year-end gift from Iluna two years ago, and then put his hands in his pockets and walked towards the direction of the city clock tower:
“New city, new adventure, new journey.”

【There is also a brand new witch. 】

She said with a smile, and Shade didn't refute it, but the pendant around his neck didn't get hot.

He didn't have anything urgent to deal with in the city, nor did he have any old acquaintances to visit, so in addition to familiarizing himself with the environment on the island, his only itinerary today was to take a look at the local black market, and the information about the black market was also provided by Sylvia.

Because it is far away from the two kingdoms, there are relatively more ring wizards in the Principality of Lagson. The safety of islands and port cities makes people who wander in the gray area feel at ease, so the local black market for ring wizards is quite prosperous.

The black market that Sylvia introduced to Shade was the largest and oldest black market in the area - the Clock Tower. This black market was located right below the city clock tower. According to Sylvia, she suspected that one of the operators of the black market was the local Orthodox Church.

The city of Fatumunster is located on the coastline in the south of the island. Due to the existence of snow-capped mountains in the center of the island, it is difficult for the city to expand in the north-south direction. Therefore, the city now presents a flat spindle shape running east-west.

Victoria Street is located in the northeast of the city, and it is actually a long way from here to the clock tower in the city center.

But Xia De came here today with the intention of sightseeing, so he did not take a carriage, but instead measured the structure of this strange city with his own legs.

Several rivers originating from the snow-capped mountains on the island run through the city from north to south, but the flow of these rivers is generally not large, so the rivers in the city do not divide the urban area into pieces.

The city of Fattomunster is roughly divided into five districts. The dock area in the south of the city was formed due to its geographical location, while the industrial area in the northwest of the city has expanded rapidly in recent years relying on high-quality iron ore.

The remaining three districts of the city are the core urban area and the East City and West City on the east and west wings. These places are the main places for citizens to gather. When Shad left St. Victoria Street in the East District, he determined that the use of black metal as a means of decoration and decoration in local buildings is a characteristic of the city, not just the style of Victoria Street.

The meaning of the name "Kalachakra City" became increasingly clear after Shad left the residential area.

All kinds of watch shops fill almost every street that Shard passes by. The huge black gear hanging with the sign is engraved with the name "Jimmy's Pocket Watch Shop"; a series of brass gears mesh with each other and continue to rotate, forming the letters of "Old Henry's Clock Shop".

Xia De even saw a pocket watch as tall as a person placed in the window of a street shop. The dial of the pocket watch was made up of hundreds of metal pieces. It would flip inward at every hour, forming a new dial pattern.

Merchants from all over the world come to this island for the exquisite handmade clocks of "Whirl of Time City". Therefore, although the island is isolated in the bay, there are people from all over the Old World in the city.

Now that the year-end festival has just passed, it is the season for buying goods for the new year. Xia De came here at the busiest time of the city, but this also happened to cover up his northern appearance.

As he walked and looked around, Shad found that pocket watches seemed to be standard equipment for every respectable person in this city, and pocket watch chains could be seen on almost everyone. He even walked into a shop on the street, thinking of buying a few beautiful pocket watches to put at home, but then he gave up the idea because he felt that he was betraying Adele's pocket watch:

"The next time I see Adele will be next month."

When he finally arrived at the center of Fatumunster, it was lunchtime. Xia De found a nearby restaurant to eat. Before he got the menu, he guessed that most of the dishes on it were fish, and he was not surprised after seeing the menu.

It was still the dead of winter, and for a city located on an island dominated by snow-capped mountains, fresh meat and vegetables were unlikely to be too common.

As for the taste of food in the Principality of Lagsen, it was similar to but also a little different from the many cities in the United Kingdom of Carsenrick that Shade had visited. The food here was a little saltier, but the taste of fish food was more delicious because of the saltiness.

The local specialty that the waiter recommended to Xia De was a dish called "Golden Grilled Fish". This slightly expensive "specialty dish" is made by the chef cutting off parts of six kinds of fish, including cod, flounder, sea bass, salmon, sea bream and eel, and then putting them together to make a whole fish before cooking.

It is said that different chefs have different ideas about choosing fish species for cooking.

Xia De really ordered this dish out of curiosity, but after the dish appeared in front of him, he suspected that the fish on the plate was actually some new species that was mutated after being contaminated by supernatural powers.

The smell of "golden grilled fish" was not bad, but its appearance could even be compared to the "fish head pie" of Carsonrick. Xia De endured the nausea and in the spirit of not wasting, he tasted a few bites of different parts of the fish. Although the chef's cooking skills were indeed very good, he felt that he would definitely not order this kind of "delicacy" again in the future:

"It makes sense that Mia doesn't like fish. What kind of mentality did the chef have to create such a recipe?"

Then he thought about bringing his cat here next time to try the food here.

However, the drink called "Algae Tea" provided by the restaurant is very good. This tea beverage is brewed with a small amount of deep-sea blue algae and black tea mixed with pure snow water from the snow mountain. After adding lemon juice, the color turns light purple.

Therefore, not only does its taste suit the foreigner's taste, but the color is also very pleasing to him.

After lunch, Xia De officially went to the "Clock Tower Black Market". Although the black market was underground, the entrance was not in the sewer.

According to the information provided by Sylvia, Shad first walked around the "Clock Square" between the city clock tower and the town hall to familiarize himself with the environment, then left the square, went into the alley behind the clock tower, and found the "Trout Tavern" in the alley.

This pub is located in the core area of ​​the city and has three floors, so even though it is located in an alley, it seems to be doing good business.

The third floor of the tavern provides accommodation services, and the other two floors are filled with tables. After entering the door, Xia De walked directly to the counter, knocked on the table to signal the bartender to look over, and then said:

"Give me a glass of ale, chilled with snow mountain water."

"Sir, it's winter now. Are you sure you want iced beer?"

"Of course, although I am an outsider, when I traveled to the foot of the snow-capped mountains a few days ago, I heard the locals say that drinking iced beer is the best way to enjoy the winter."

The bartender confirmed:

"I am also from the tribe at the foot of the snowy mountains. I wonder which one you met?"

This was to confirm the introduction relationship after the secret code was agreed upon. Xia De then said:

"The other party calls himself 'Uncle Quitt who guides destiny'."

The bartender gave a 3 ole coin as a deposit for the first visit, and nodded:
"Well, come over here, please."

He signaled to other bartenders to take his place temporarily, and then led Shad to the second floor of the tavern, but after turning into a small private room, he came to the garbage alley behind the tavern from the stairs on the side of the tavern.

Two rough-looking men were guarding a warehouse in the alley. After both parties confirmed their identities, Shade got another mask. After entering the warehouse, the trap door was opened. Shade went down the stairs and soon arrived at an open underground circular hall.

The place was illuminated by gas lamps, but there was almost no sound of talking in the hall. The walls were covered with small blackboards with the names of items that could be traded on the black market written on them. About twenty people were standing by the wall, checking the contents on those blackboards.

However, Shade did not approach the blackboard immediately. The bartender who led the way took him to the counter on the left side of the entrance and turned away. There was a row of round stools outside the long counter. At this time, two ring magicians were sitting there and talking in low voices with different "bartenders" inside the counter.

Seeing Xia De also sat down, the man with five rings and wearing a black suit behind the counter received him.

Compared to a black market manager or bartender, this man with a well-tailored mustache and neatly combed black short hair looks more like a butler of a noble family:
"First time here, huh? The Clock Tower Black Market is a tower suspended upside down underground. The top floor is where we are, the first floor, where we do the relic business. The second floor sells books and knowledge, the third floor is for alchemy, potions, and material transactions, and the fourth floor is for hiring people, lending money, and commissioning events.

The fifth floor only receives important guests. If you have enough transactions here and behave trustworthy, you can become an important guest. "

He pointed to the staircase going down:
"Don't disturb others here. If you like something, go to the administrator on each floor and tell him. When you leave, just go the way you came. In addition, the local black market has unified rules. Any consignment business will take 100 out of 7. If it is a high-value item, we can discuss it separately."

These rules are not much different from the black markets in other cities, and the "Clock Tower Black Market" seems to be an integration of multiple single-functional black markets. A business of this scale is impossible without the participation of the church.

After Xia De heard the rules, he followed the procedure of arriving in a new city and asked:

"Can I place a long-term commission? I'm looking for relics like coins. Also, if there's stock available, I want to buy it now."

PS: Please vote! Today is the last day of this month!

There will be additional updates at the beginning of tomorrow. The author is currently looking for a job, revising his thesis, and preparing for his graduation defense, which will not affect the daily updates, but the updates may not be too frequent.