Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 314 Nursery Rhyme and 'Sea Return

He swept both the coins and banknotes under the counter, and the bartender glanced around nonchalantly. Seeing that no one was paying attention to the area, he then opened the bar's hinged flap to let the two in. Subsequently, he pushed open a back door, almost blended into the wall, and handed them each a mask as they prepared to enter:

"You know the rules here, watch out for your new companion."

"Understood."

Miss Princess whispered.

Behind the wall was also a tavern, almost identical to the outside in terms of decor and furnishings, except for the lack of conspicuous doors and windows and a somewhat smaller space with fewer patrons.

On the way here, Miss Princess had already mentioned that the back of the Seven Brooms Tavern was specifically used to host Circle Sorcerers and could only be accessed through an introduction by an acquaintance. Compared to the more function-specific Old John's Pawnshop, Black Raven Library, and Mr. Copus's Night Shop, the Seven Brooms Bar offered a wealth of functions.

Here, transactions of Spellcasting Materials, exchanges of book knowledge, sales of relics, and even gatherings of Circle Sorcerers could all be facilitated.

There were similar places in Tobesk, but none were particularly safe. Compared to the Northern Pearl, only in the freer atmosphere of Coldwater Port within the Dock Area could such a scale of Circle Sorcerers' gathering point exist.

Here, "freedom" referred not only to the relatively loose municipal management of Coldwater Port City's Dock Area but also to the area's chaos. As the most important port from the Old Continent's West Coast to the New World, Coldwater Port was completely different from Tobesk.

The owner behind this tavern was a local High Ring Sorcerer. Although Miss Princess did not know his name, a High Ring Sorcerer was intimidating enough to deter troublemakers here, so if Shard intended to have a steady trading route in Coldwater Port City, this tavern was quite suitable.

The sorcerers in the tavern mostly wore robes or relatively loose coats, gathering in groups of two or three at tables, conversing in low voices. There was also a bar here, behind which stood three men. Two were ordinary people, dressed as bartenders and wiping glasses, while the third was a bald, burly man in a sailor shirt with anchors tattooed on both arms—he was a Circle Sorcerer.

Miss Princess led Shard to the bar:

"I've brought a newcomer, he wants to become a regular here."

"One Pound."

The burly bartender said, looking up to size up Shard in a mask.

It was yet another new expense, but it was unavoidable. After paying, Shard received a red coin. The coin was an ordinary item, serving as a token for entering the sorcerers' gathering spot behind the bar, approximately two-thirds the size of a Gold Pound alloy coin, with no designs stamped on either side.

With this coin, Shard could freely access the sorcerers' gathering area behind the bar. Although the fee was a bit expensive, he believed it was worthwhile.

"Any news today?"

While examining the coin, a blonde-haired girl with ruby earrings tapped on the bar counter and asked.

The sailor-shirt-wearing bald, burly man shook his head, replying in standard Draleonic common language. His job seemed rather boring, hence his lackluster response:

"Still the same old news, that Sage-Level Relic has everyone jittery, and now everyone's worried about accidentally triggering a curse. The church is still searching for that deep-sea mermaid who can wield firearms, but it seems there's no progress, apparently being directly associated with an Evil God."

It took Shard a moment to realize that "deep-sea mermaid" referred to himself.

"Speaking of which, do you know how many Mermaid Statues the church has collected now?"

This question was directed to Miss Princess by the bartender.

"As of yesterday, I heard it was about 13 statues, but the total number of that batch was 20. I also remember hearing a few days ago that the church had found at least 30 curse-infected individuals already."

"Your information is outdated."

The bartender shook his head:

"The number of statues recovered is 15, and there are 72 cursed unfortunate individuals. The remaining five statues have vanished without a trace, and now even here we've banned trading in statue-related items. Who knows if some madman, after being infected by the curse, would think to spread it to more people to force everyone to find a way to break the curse together."

The bartender said, then seriously sized up the two people's attire, as if he worried they were hiding a statue under their clothes, only to suddenly pull it out and surprise him:

"Just last week, we were here laughing about the magicians in Tobesk having bad luck, and now it's come to us. But if you ask me, it's good that happened in Tobesk, otherwise Coldwater Port would have become the most unfortunate city in Draleon this summer."

He said with a bit of schadenfreude, then poured two glasses of ice water and pushed them toward the two men. Like the "72 people" news, this ice water was also free, which made the one shilling admission fee seem worthwhile.

"A sage-level relic like this, it couldn't just have a curse as its only trait. If we don't find a way to solve this immediately, it will definitely lead to major trouble later."

Shard also joined the conversation; he didn't want to discuss how unlucky the magicians in Tobesk were.

"Isn't that the truth? But there's little information on the relic, and even the True God Church can't find a solution right away; they can only try their best to contain the statues."

"However, I heard the sage-level relic 'Mermaid's Dream' is related to a ritual called 'Sea Return,' and the Church is working on this lead," Miss Princess unexpectedly said, causing the bartender to frown slightly:

"Are you sure? I remember 'Sea Return' is a local nursery rhyme here in Coldwater Port."

"I just heard it mentioned, the Church should be aware of it too."

The blonde girl said, knowing Shard was not familiar with local nursery rhymes, she hummed softly:

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"The mermaid's song drifts over the harbor,

Even the blood-stained pirate ship lowers its sails.

Red waves rise in the ocean,

The beautiful girl walks towards the deep sea."

Although it was only a hum, Miss Princess's voice was exceedingly pleasant; she must have received professional musical training.

As for this nursery rhyme, it sounded like people describing mermaids appearing and beguiling pirates, a not uncommon type of rhyme in such a port city. But it reminded Shard of something he had seen this morning about "pirates" at Lemer's safe house.

The bartender sighed:

"Oh, I'd rather believe that this is truly a clue to resolving the curse. But, no matter how bad things get, it shouldn't reach the extent of evils like in Tobesk... "

He abruptly paused, then raised his hand to slap his own face:

"Ptui, ptui, ptui!"

Quite unhygienically, he spit several times into the bar counter, then he explained:

"People at sea believe that you absolutely shouldn't mention those dangerous things lightly. The more you talk about them, the more likely those dangerous things are to happen."

"Ridiculous superstition."

Miss Princess scoffed nonchalantly, but Shard quite appreciated this perspective.