Whispering Poems

Chapter 692 Oil Painting and Metal Coffin
The original tables and chairs in the meeting room have long been emptied, and now there are folding chairs with red cushions in the room. In front of the wall where the terrace is, there is a mahogany high platform with tables placed on the high platform. The auctioneer will need it later.

And those auction items were all placed around the room. Among them, the Rhodes card that Xia De was interested in was placed near the door, obviously it was not the main character.

"Let me see."

He stopped in front of the glass counter, looked at the cards on the red velvet cushion, and smiled:

"A special card in the queen's suit, really interesting."

[History of New World Exploitation · Pioneering Wind], queen of suits. (Note)
When this card is drawn, a card is randomly selected from the remaining decks, and if it is of the sun suit, [New World Exploitation History · Pioneering Wind] is regarded as the king.The effect of the drawn card is invalid and discarded, and it will not be re-added to the deck, and it will be regarded as a card that has been drawn normally.

"The queen's suit itself is only smaller than the king and blackjack. It doesn't make much sense for the queen to become a king."

Unlike other Rhodes cards with special rules, there is a line of small characters written in Delarion and Carsonric under the rules:

[To commemorate the great geographical discovery of the New World, this is the turning point of civilization, and may the wind of pioneering blow all over the world. 】

The "History of New World Exploration" series of cards was released about half a century ago, and will be reprinted every 5 years, but the special cards will be different each time, so it is also called "History of New World I" and "History of New World". II" and so on.The series of cards was produced to commemorate the discovery of the New World. The first edition of fifteen special cards was not released, but was given to the fleet that discovered the New World many years ago.

And the Queen's suit that Xia De is currently seeing, because of the commemorative significance, the normal price will definitely exceed 80 pounds.Because it is a charity auction, most of the reserve prices are at a premium. The current reserve price is 85 pounds and 12 shillings, but obviously, even if the final price breaks through three digits, it is still possible.

"Really good."

Xia De narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the silhouette of boats coming and going in Dagon Port, a famous port in the New World, on the card.He has always been economical, except for ring warlocks, he has never spent more than 100 pounds at a time.But this card looks really tempting.
[Then do you want to buy it?Indulge once in a while? 】

There was a whisper in her ear, and her tone was very gentle.

"Do not."

At least three seconds passed before Xia De firmly shook his head:
"You must restrain your desires. Even though I have saved a lot recently because of the blueprint of the difference machine in the spy case, the future expenses are still very high, so I can't just spend money randomly."

Even so, he still looked down at the card.

[Is this considered penance? 】

"No, it's just a plan for the future, and look, when have you ever seen me spend money for pleasure? Oh, the money spent on Mia is not counted, it is the remittance from Miss Gould."

He glanced at the card again, then turned away.But instead of leaving this room, he continued to stay here, wanting to see what the final transaction price would be.

Fifteen minutes before the auction started here, a small number of people had already taken their seats on the folding chairs, while Xia De paced to the easels in the southeast corner of the room.Under the light of the purpose-built floor-to-ceiling gas lamps, these works of art all look quite good.

This is not an antique painting, but a donation from well-known local painters.The reserve price of each pair is 10 pounds. As for whether it is worth the price, only the buyer himself knows.

Xia De stopped in front of the easel and saw that these oil paintings were themes of heroic epics and myths.The three paintings closest to him are "The Brave Slays the Devil", "The Girl Holding Fire" and "The Phoenix of the Sky".

The three paintings all use a large area of ​​red as the background color, but the first one is dark red, the second one is red and black, and the third one is bright crimson red.

"How does it look?"

A voice came from his ear, Xia De turned his head slightly, and saw a short, thin man wearing a red beret with two small beards.

"It portrays the epic feeling very well, but I don't understand. This one is a legend about a brave man defeating a demon. The other one is related to the local tradition of worshiping fire. What does the one in the middle mean?"

The oil painting in the middle is "Girl Holding Fire".Wearing a white robe, a little girl with gray hair sat barefoot by the campfire, with her eyes closed and her head tilted, holding a slender flame in her burned hands.The background was a very abstract red and black scene, and Shad couldn't see what the painting meant.

"This is a story I heard from my friend who is a professor of folklore, the original fire. It is the legendary flame, the first flame after the birth of the world, and the prosperity of the flame symbolizes the prosperity of the world. It is very interesting story, isn't it?"

The man in the red cap is holding his chest with his right hand and touching his chin with his left hand.

"Sir, are you the artist who created this painting?"

Xia De asked, and the latter nodded while controlling his proud expression:
"Yeah, so I made a point to see who would end up appreciating my artistry."

"But according to the locals, the local tradition of worshiping fire is related to the phoenix. Is the legend of the original fire also related to worshiping fire?"

Xia De was basically sure that the "primordial fire" the other party had heard about should be the flame in Sister Devlin's hand.

"No, no, the legend of the phoenix is ​​the origin of local customs, and the original fire is an ancient myth that has spread throughout the world."

The painter spoke eloquently:

"I have also traveled around the Old Continent because of the folklore, and I have heard many interesting stories. In those areas where there is a tradition of worshiping flames, most of them can hear the ancient myths related to the 'primordial fire', Midhill On the contrary, it is difficult to hear such a story in Fort, the custom of worshiping the phoenix has suppressed the myth of the 'primordial fire', which should be regarded as the victory of folklore over myth."

Xia De nodded, staring at the slender flame in the little girl's hand in the oil painting.If the "primordial fire" is really the so-called first flame, then this relic can also be regarded as an item from the first era.

In the end, the [History of New World Exploitation·Pioneering Wind], which Shad took a fancy to, was bought by a Carson Rick businessman at a sky-high price of 132 pounds, which made Shad completely give up.

After the auction was over, he thought about going to the Rhodes Card venue to play cards with the local players.But as soon as he came to the first floor from the second floor of the castle, he was called away by Miss Aurora's maid.

It was still the lounge where we met a few hours ago, and the two witches were also there.Seeing Xia De walk in, he motioned for him to sit down and talk:
"Have people from the Truth Church appeared here?"

The old witch spoke up.

"Huh? Oh, the church found out, right?"

Shad was not surprised at all.

"Yes, but it's not important. Let the Orthodox Church handle this kind of matter."

Miss Aurora said:

"I came to you because of another matter. About 10 minutes ago, someone bought an antique at a high price in the No. [-] auction hall."

Grandma Cassandra handed Shad a black and white photo, which turned out to be a metal coffin, covered with patterns of branches and vines, and a silver cross in the center of the coffin lid.

"According to the information provided by the seller, this is an antique excavated from the northern side of the Cameron Mountains in 1054 in the general calendar, at the current location of the Principality of Sete. Now it is put up for auction by the foreign antique dealer. The price was 1200 pounds. Then, someone directly raised the price to 6000 pounds to buy it."

"6000?"

Xia De was really taken aback. He was reluctant to buy a Rhodes card worth more than 100 pounds just now:
"Is there a problem with this deal?"

"I checked all the antiques at the auction in advance, and this is not a relic."

The old witch said with certainty:
"After the transaction just now was completed, I smelled a strange smell from that buyer. He didn't seem to be human."

Miss Galina said that Granny Cassandra is an expert in demons and alien species, so it is normal for her to notice this.

"Galina said that you have a perception of the relic beyond the normal ring warlock. The coffin has not been delivered yet, we hope you can take a look."

Miss Aurora looked at Shad:

"Although this has nothing to do with the parliament, all the anomalies in Fort Midhill are worth noting now. Especially the coffin, which has too much to do with death."

"No problem, I'll go now. But who is that buyer? Being able to pay 6000 pounds at one time should be very prestigious, right? Moreover, the money should be prepared in advance."

Xia De asked again.

"Not a local, but a Viscount of Carson Rico. He is a distant relative of the Anjou family of the Carson Rico royal family, very far away. He is famous for his family's southern vineyards and red wineries. This time he came to De La Rion , also for the wine business.”

Grandma Cassandra said.

Xia De nodded, then suddenly raised his head;

"Wait? Carson Riker? Red wine? The rich man who bought the coffin, isn't his name Armand Bernhardt?"

"Yes, Viscount Bernhardt."

Miss Aurora nodded in surprise:

"Detective, do you know him?"

"I"

Just about to say that he knew him, but he thought that he had pushed the crimson vision that appeared in the sky when he entered the narrow room to the vampire, and said that he only saw it from a distance and didn't know his name.

"After that, I should have met him once more."

Then I thought of meeting my uncle and nephew at the Xikar Hotel, but that time involved the grey-headed eagle.

So he shook his head immediately:

"I don't know him, I just met this gentleman when I was hanging out in the city and helping people solve their troubles."

"It seems that you have had a fulfilling time here this autumn."

Miss Aurora smiled and said:

"Galina also said that you are working hard."

"Then I'll go and have a look at the coffin first. As for Bernhardt, I'll talk about it later."

He stood up, hesitated and asked again:

"How is Viscount Armand Bernhardt's reputation in Kaserik?"

"A very nice gentleman."

Miss Aurora said.

"I understand."

Xia De pushed the door and went out, while the conversation between the two witches continued:
"I also met this Mr. Bernhardt in Carson Rik. He rented my ship to transport wine to the New World. This is also a poor man. His parents died young. Although he inherited the title, he has few people around him. A person who can be trusted. It is said that he was married, but his wife died very early."

"Is there no one else in the Bernhardt family?"

The old witch asked curiously, and the curly-haired young witch recalled:
"The Bernhardt family has never been prosperous. In modern times, Armand Bernhardt seems to have no other relatives with the same surname except two uncles and a niece who is underage."

　PS1: Thanks to the reader @比天势, the name of the Rhodes card was provided by him in the Rhodes card collection building.

PS2: Modify the details of the previous chapter, Iluna's dance invitation time is changed to 9 o'clock.

　
(End of this chapter)