247: Chapter 13 A Book in the Bookstore_1 247: Chapter 13 A Book in the Bookstore_1 The City of Knowledge takes on a different flavor at midnight on New Year’s Day.
The city is brightly lit, even the most remote corners are illuminated.
The crowd on the streets is no longer as crowded as at night, but still maintains a considerable number, most people are wearing clothes in accordance with their hotown customs to celebrate the new year, wandering the streets.
Even the cold wind of the deep winter night can’t extinguish people’s fiery passion.
“Happy New Year.” A goblin dressed in a purple suit ran past them.
Goblins, with their tenacious vitality, have already dwindled to dangerously low numbers for a species after experiencing the Divine Punishnt of the Second Epoch, and the cataclysim of the Third Epoch.
But even so, you can still often see these naturally-born researchers and craftsn in the City of Knowledge.
As the goblin in the purple dress passed by, he extended his hand for a high-five while greeting, and Catherine naturally extended her hand to greet him back.
This is a customary goblin greeting and is an expected reciprocal action.
“Happy New Year,” a lizardman, who walked upright, greeted the group, extending his tail.
Lizardn are residents of the Whispering Swamp.
They are not nurous, and are rarely seen outside of the swamp.
Because they stand upright, their hind legs have beco quite developed, with sowhat subtle changes in their joints to assist in their posture, but for the most part, their bodies are not much different from lizards.
There was so scholarly debate over whether they should be classified as Beastn or as a branch of the Beastn, but both sides vehently disagreed because they were created by different deities, and therefore could not belong to the sa race.
Catherine watched the lizardman awkwardly.
When lizardn greet each other, they entwine their tails, but clearly, this was a bit too difficult for Catherine.
Pannis stepped in, reaching out with both hands to shake the lizardman’s thick tail, and greeted him with a “Happy New Year.”
“Is this how humans respond to lizardn?” Catherine quietly questioned: “By holding their tail and shaking it?”
“Yes, exactly, those races without tails usually respond to lizardn this way.” Pannis explained: “Races with tails would just use their tails in response.”
“What an interesting race,” Catherine said, clearly intrigued.
“Roar.” An unpleasant howl sounded as a group of Beastn appeared arm in arm from another street.
Wolves, Bear Clan, Tiger Clan, Deer Clan, Cow Clan – among the dozen or so Beastn, there are seven or eight different racial groups mixed together, wandering the streets dizzily drunk.
One of the Bear Clan caught sight of Pannis’ group and unsteadily approached them, extending an enormous fist towards them.
Catherine also extended her fist with a smile, and the two fists, one noticeably larger than the other, t in mid-air, making a dull thud.
“Strong power,” the Bearman grunted in broken Common and went back to his friends, nursing his fist and accepting their teasing.
Those from the Bear Clan often tested strength to make friends.
As they walked along the road, they t countless people, and regardless of whether their race was the sa or whether they knew each other or not, they all reciprocated with sincere smiles, a “Happy New Year.” At this ti, in the City of Knowledge, there was a scene of warm harmony everywhere.
“It’s so lively,” the outgoing Michelle exclaid enthusiastically, “I wish every day was New Year’s.”
“Not , that would an I could only live for seven or eight hundred days, horrifying,” ca a sonorous response from a corner.
Although they couldn’t see the responder, from the context, it was clearly a dwarf with a lifespan of around seven hundred years.
The tily response from the dwarf elicited good natured laughter from the surrounding crowd, causing Michelle to blush and hide behind Lina.
Not only were the streets filled with people, there was also an endless number of shops.
Even at midnight, most of the shops remained open.
On this special day, no businessman would want to give up this once-a-year money-making opportunity, thus, they displayed all the items in their shops, and if space on their counters wasn’t enough, items were arranged on the floor – the objective was to be eye-catching.
After all, you never knew whether a certain custor had an interest in so odd item that had been neglected for a long ti.
“HaHa, it’s really fun.” After just passing a group of oddly dressed people, the group dressed up like evil demons from fairy tales who captured a princess, and the heroic knights going to subdue the demons.
The two opposing groups were now crowding around the girl dressed as a princess, running haphazardly in the streets, occasionally shouting a few lines in character and brandishing their weapons in practiced gestures, stirring up applause from the spectators.
“You guys are really in high spirits,” an alluring voice abruptly ca out of nowhere.
Two won who had been standing under a lamppost appeared from the shadows: “Still not tired yet?”
“Happy New Year,” Catherine greeted as she approached them: “You haven’t left yet.
I thought you had already gone.”
“We had sothing to do, got delayed for a few days.” Indulgence shot a flirtatious glance at Pannis and then said, “We didn’t expect to run into you guys.”
“That’s great, I was actually hoping to find you guys,” Catherine said: “I have sothing to apologise for, I’m sorry.”
Indulgence was taken aback by Catherine’s formal apology and asked in confusion, “What happened?”
“A good friend of mine is getting married, and her father asked us to escort her to the City of Freedom.
So we might be a few days late to the City of Innocence.” Catherine explained to Indulgence: “The commission we agreed on, I wonder if it could be postponed for a few days?”
“I thought it was sothing big.” Indulgence scoffed, curling her lips in a dismissive smile: “This also warrants such a formal apology from you?
It doesn’t matter if you’re a few days late, the murderer isn’t out there killing every day, and even if you leave early, there may not be anything for you to do.
As long as you get there within a month, that’s fine.
New year is always a busy ti, we had already factored in that you might need so ti to deal with so things before leaving.”
“Thank you so much,” Catherine said gratefully: “Thank you for understanding.”
“Alright, alright, the last thing I like about you knights is this stiffness,” Indulgence waved her hands impatiently, “We’ll leave first then, see you in the City of Innocence.”
“They’re really easy-going, coming and going as they please.” Seeing the two ladies arm in arm, blending into the shadow against the wall and disappearing, Lina muttered, “But that’s good, now we have plenty of ti to take Freya to the City of Freedom.”
“I hope so,” Catherine was not as optimistic as Lina, “I estimated it, from here to the City of Freedom along the main roads, the caravan will take fourteen days.
From the City of Freedom to the City of Innocence, even if we march light, it will still take at least six days.
We’re actually a bit pressed for ti.
And don’t forget about the threatening letter.
If we run into any troubles, we really might be short of ti.”
“Don’t worry, big sis, what could go wrong?
It seems like it’s just so people jealous that Wesker is marrying a beauty and they intentionally want to create chaos and prevent the wedding from happening,” Lina echoed nonchalantly, “We’ll have no problem.
After all, we’re setting off tomorrow morning, so we’ll definitely make it in ti.
Oh, Vivian, what you saw earlier was here, right?”
“What?” Vivian asked in confusion, “What did I see just now?”
“The bookstore,” Lina pointed to a shop nearby, “Did you not say you saw a bookstore on our way to the performance?”
“Oh, you an that,” Vivian glanced around, “Yes, it’s this one.
Almost all shops are open for New Year’s, but bookstores are the exception, so it’s quite noticeable when this one is open.”
Vivian was correct, bookstores, libraries, and places selling scrolls usually don’t open during the New Year’s days.
These places share a common characteristic of being quiet, a complete contrast to the lively atmosphere of the New Year, so the owners simply choose to close their doors to avoid disrupting the ambiance.
Stepping into the bookstore, it was clear that it was newly opened.
The entrance and interior decorations clearly gave the impression that they were new.
The owner was a middle-aged man in his forties, who gave away his lack of experience in this line of business during conversation, thus he opened the shop today following the practice of other businesses.
Fortunately, although the bookstore was open, no one ca in to create a ruckus, and the occasional custors maintained the quiet atmosphere.
Upon entering the bookstore, Lina’s eyes lit up with tender affection, akin to reuniting with a long-lost lover.
She gently caressed the covers of each book.
“Is that lady okay?” The bookstore owner looked at Lina, evidently puzzled, and asked Pannis, “She seems a bit off.”
“It’s alright, she’s just browsing, don’t worry about it,” Pannis glanced around and said, “Just pretend she’s not here.”
Unfortunately, the owner could not ignore Lina for she promptly tugged at his clothes and pulled him to a locked display case, “Open this for , I need to take a look at this book.”
“That cannot be done,” the owner refused adamantly, “This book is not like the others.
It was handed down by my great-great-grandfather.
It is said to be three hundred years old, serving now as an antique.
If it is to be sold, it will be as an antique.”
“I must see it first to confirm it’s authentic,” Lina insisted, “What if the cover and contents don’t match?
There were rchants who have cheated people like this before.”
“I’m a mber of the Business Federation, that’s the guarantee of my credibility,” The owner proudly stated, “I would never use deceptive asures towards my custors.”
“So tell , how much?” Lina asked, “I can pay first, but I need to see the book imdiately.”
“Of course, no problem,” the owner unlocked the display case, gingerly put on gloves, took out the book, and wrapped it carefully in velvet, “Five hundred gold coins, and no haggling.
This is a rare book.
There may only be this one left in all of Yarra.
The price is not unreasonable.”
“You…” Lina clenched her teeth in anger, “Fine.
I’ll buy it.
Big sis, lend so money.
I’ll pay you back when we get ho.”
“Isabella, I finally found you, hehehe.” After the transaction, Lina took the book, unbundled it eagerly, and flipping a few pages under the pained gaze of the owner, she walked out while clutching the book, her journey punctuated by bouts of eerie laughter.
“How foolish to let out,” Lina suddenly stopped as soon as she stepped out of the door.
Her foolish smile disappeared and her face beca cold and numb.
Her eyes were filled with mocking as she looked at the people standing around her, “But that’s fine.
I’ve been hungry for over a decade.
Although the soul in this body is stupefyingly foolish, it will still satiate my hunger.
Thanks for the hospitality”.
(To be continued.
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