Whispering Verse

The city of Randall Valley is located in the valley plain on the west side of the mountains in southwest Kasenlik. This is not a seaport city, but due to the extremely convenient water transportation, ships can enter the inland river directly from the estuary and then reach the city of Randall Valley. Coupled with the steam railway tracks running through the north and south directions, the city has become an important transportation hub city on the west coast of Kasenlik, the southernmost city.

Of course, the city is not famous for its river navigation, but rather for its views across the Randall Valley plains throughout the Old World.

Especially the scenery in spring is known as the most beautiful scenery in the South. Even Shade has heard of the many festivals celebrated every spring in the Randall Valley.

More than thirty years ago, Randall Valley was known as the most livable city in Carsonlik. Even the royal family would go here for vacation every summer.

But all this happened more than thirty years ago, and the arrival of the steam age also seriously affected the city. In order not to lag behind the development level of the United Kingdom, the construction of steam plants polluted the originally blue sky.

Although the pollution here is far inferior to Tobesk, known as the "Steam City", in the past ten years, it has been difficult to see a completely blue sky again.

But if you leave the city and walk toward the valley forests and mountains in the northeast of the city, you will find that the air is still fresh and natural. The big shots in Randall Valley try their best to limit pollution to this city. At least in recent years, it seems that the emission of pollutants here is much better than in other cities.

The weather was gloomy because it was snowing. The sky in winter is shrouded in gray fog, and the air pressure causes the polluted air to settle, causing the city to look foggy.

The Granger family is the most famous family in the area. Several generations of family business and the family's good reputation have made Granger a well-known noble surname in the Randall Valley. The thirty-nine-year-old Earl Heigl Granger is the contemporary title holder of the family. Of course, this Earl does not stay locally all year round.

In the age of steam, nobles were more accustomed than usual to staying in the royal capital, unlike their ancestors who lived mainly in manors. The rise of the emerging bourgeoisie means that if the aristocracy is absent from the center of political power for a long time, it will be marginalized, and the result of marginalization will be decline.

But fortunately, on this boring winter morning, Lord Granger was indeed in the city.

Cherry Leaf Street itself, where Shade appeared, is located in the eastern part of the city, and the Earl's manor in the city is to the west of Cherry Leaf Street, close to the core of the city.

Each city has its own architectural style and urban planning style. Walking in the City of Spring in winter, Shade found that it did not use a grid layout like the city of Tobesk, nor was it like the city of Kasenlik. Like Huntington, the wine capital of the city, there are many slopes due to the terrain.

The distribution of cities in the Randall Valley seems quite random, but walking among them, you can feel an inexplicable sense of order. This is somewhat like the difference between a strictly symmetrical aristocratic estate and a completely asymmetrical landscape garden. It feels a little confusing when looking at the map to find the way, but when you actually walk, you won't get lost at all.

If he could successfully find the key that "Luvia" mentioned here, Shade would be very interested in walking around the city and the famous river valley forest outside the city to see the scenery of the City of Spring. It's just that business is still important now, at least we must find a way to return to the abandoned church before the sun sets.

Although it is in the city, the Earl's manor covers a large area. After going uphill for a while, on the high ground at the end of the road, the building surrounded by white walls is the location of the Earl's Manor.

Visiting such a distinguished noble usually requires an appointment in advance. Although Shade, who had gone through disguise, had not made an appointment in advance, when he explained his intention to the manor's guards and showed one of the two medals, the guards hurriedly reported to the owner of the manor.

Not long after, the old butler wearing a black formal suit hurriedly appeared outside the manor's elegant gate:

"Sir, don't know what to call me?"

He asked Shade through the fence,

"John Watson, writer from Willondale."

Shade still goes by that name, and his accent sounds pretty good now:

"I don't know, is the Earl at home now? I hope to return these two medals to him with my own hands."

As he spoke, he did not forget to hand over John Watson's business card.

This was not printed by him in order to disguise his identity, but was sent by Margaret to Tobesk from Willondale not long ago. Her Royal Highness the Princess created a false identity for him, and now this identity is completely traceable.

"Okay, Mr. Watson, please come in. The Earl is working in the study. He would be happy to see you now."

The old butler wearing a white wig rubbed the surface of the business card with his fingertips. After roughly understanding the material, he bowed slightly and opened the fence door with his own hands, leading Shade into the courtyard.

The manor grounds were covered in snow, but the walking path leading to the mansion had been cleared. The study was on the second floor of the mansion. The old housekeeper was chatting with Shade while leading him inside.

Most of these noble manors have important figures in the noble family hanging on them. The old butler proudly introduced the ancestors of the Granger family, but unfortunately, Shade did not hear the name of the low-level warlock Mr. Thomas Granger.

The thirty-nine-year-old Earl Heigl Granger is in the prime of life. When Shade walked into the carpeted study and saw the earl, his first impression was that he was like a strong lion.

The curtains were drawn in the study, but the gas lamps on the left and right walls were very bright. The count sitting behind the long and imposing desk has slightly curly brown hair like the oil paintings in the corridor. He has big and bright eyes. He is wearing a red coat decorated with wheat ears. He puts it on his right hand on the table and wears a ring with a black gemstone.

When Shade entered, the Earl did not stand up to greet him, but he welcomed Shade very politely. After Shade sat down, the old butler whispered a few words in the Earl's ear. Earl Granger showed a somewhat surprised expression, and Shade vaguely heard the word "business card."

After the servants prepared tea for the two of them, the earl said to Shade:

"Mr. Watson, it's a pleasure to see you on this boring winter morning. If you hadn't come, I would probably have spent the morning among these boring tax documents."

It is necessary etiquette to start a conversation with meaningless politeness, and this is equally important whether in Delrayon or Carsonric.

"It is also an honor to meet you on this winter morning."

Shade also responded, and then took out the two ancient boxes:

"That's why I came here this time."

He opened the two boxes one after another, put them on the table and pushed them to the count. The count did not directly reach out to touch the medal, but put on gloves before taking it out of the box.

At the same time, the old butler knocked on the door again and brought some documents to the earl. There are both paper materials and yellowed old photos. The Earl checked the medal while looking through the documents. After a long time, he nodded and put the medal back into the box. Then he took off his gloves and said to Shade who was holding the tea cup:

"Mr. Watson, do you know what these two medals are?"

Shade put down his tea cup and nodded:

"When I was buying a wall clock in a second-hand shop in Willondale, I discovered them in the hidden compartment of the wall clock. Later, when I checked the information and found out that it belonged to the Granger family, I also learned about these two medals. 1 One is the Order of the Conqueror of Kasenlik, and one is the Order of the Order of the Golden Fleece."

In fact, these two names were mentioned in the letter left by Mr. Thomas Granger. Although Shade didn't know much about Kasenrick's medal system, he also knew that they were very remarkable:

"It's really a badge of honor."

"Yes, this is an honor achieved by our ancestors."

Mr. Granger nodded and said to the young man sitting there:

"Mr. Watson, I am very grateful to you for being able to send these two medals back. This is an indescribable thing for the Granger family. I don't want to insult you with money, but if I don't give you a generous reward for this , probably the ancestors won’t forgive me either.”

He blinked as he said it, as if he was waiting for Shade to make an offer.

Although Shade has received the reward from Mr. Heigl Granger, if he doesn't want anything at this time, he will look very strange:

"Ten crowns."

He offered a relatively "low" price - equivalent to 120 to 130 pounds, and said before the count spoke:

"Earl, I'm actually more interested in the story than Crown."

Shade smiled and said:

"I came all the way from Willondale to the Randall Valley not just for money. I like stories, so if you can, can you tell me the story of these two medals, especially before they were lost?" story."

He reached out to hold the handle of the teacup again, but did not lift it up immediately. Instead, he rubbed the bottom of the teacup against the saucer:

“Stories are worth more than money.”

The earl showed a look of deep approval. He nodded, clasped his hands together and placed them on the table:

"To be honest, this family history is not particularly glorious. Mr. Watson, you can probably understand that no matter how traditional an aristocratic family is, there will always be some members who are not very aristocratic."

Shade nodded slightly, while the earl squinted his eyes as if he was lost in memories:

"I am thirty-nine years old this year and was born in 1815 in the universal calendar. The loss of the medal probably happened more than thirty years before I was born. That was around 1780, when my father was not born yet. My grandfather was a teenager and the protagonist of the story is my great-grandfather’s brother, Thomas Jane Granger.”

PS: More updates will be added tomorrow.