Whispering Verse

"Is there such a thing? Don't worry, I just want to return the ring."

He told about his search for the "Water Monkey" yesterday afternoon and ended up picking up a pile of rags. Miss Lassers didn't see Shad last night, so she didn't know about it:

"So Mr. Stone Oxenfurt, is he just an ordinary person?"

Before leaving, Miss Lassus nodded:

"Yes, at least I think so."

Riding horses without a license was not allowed in the core area of ​​the city near the Wilde Opera House, so Shade led the horse and left the neighborhood first, and then walked through the city to the northern suburbs of the city.

Once you get used to riding horses in the snow, walking alone in the snow is quite fun. During the trip, Shade suddenly had a whim and wanted to know if he could make the horse run faster if he used his [Puppetry] to control the horse. So Shade, who was very experimental, put his hand on the horse's head while it was galloping in the snow.

The spirit turned into threads to control the puppet, and the [Puppetry Technique] succeeded almost immediately. Then, the horse that couldn't control its limbs stopped suddenly, and then both the man and the horse fell into the snow.

Fortunately, the snow was very thick and the horse's limbs were not injured. This experiment told Shade that it was best not to use thaumaturgy indiscriminately.

Although he knew from the map in advance that Oxenfurt Manor was very remote, when he actually went there by himself, Shade found that the place was too remote.

After leaving the city, he first passed a small village attached to the city, and then passed through a large beekeeper's field on a snowy country road. Then we passed apple orchards that were bare in winter, and then passed a wasteland. After stopping the horse to avoid two rabbits that came out of nowhere, we crossed a short wooden bridge and entered the forest path. After leaving the forest, I saw the manor standing in the distance, but it took another ten minutes before I actually arrived outside the manor.

According to Miss Lassers, this large manor is the old home of the Oxenfurt family. After the family's decline a hundred years ago, it was transferred many times as a deduction for accounts, so when Shade got close to it, , and indeed found that although it has been repaired, it still looks old.

There is a forest outside the manor, and the manor itself is wrapped by a square white low wall. Some withered vines are clinging to the periphery of the low wall. On the low wall, barbed wire and broken glass can be seen shining in the sun.

But Xia De was not surprised by this. After all, this place is somewhat remote, and these measures are necessary for safety.

Oxenfurt Manor is adjacent to the Elrond River, and not far from the manor is the dock. It was still the ice age at this time, so there were no workers on the dock, only some stacked boxes. The entire manor looked very quiet. When Shade dismounted in front of the black iron gate of the manor, although he could see that the courtyard was well kept and could even see a small flower garden surrounded by white stones, There was no one in the entire courtyard.

He pulled the bell toward the door and waited with peace of mind. After a moment of hesitation, he reached into the fence again:

"There's no problem with Madlands."

He waited for a while, and then finally an old man in a black coat walked out of the mansion in the distance. He could tell he was the housekeeper at a glance.

When the old man approached the fence gate, Shade also introduced his identity and claimed that he wanted to talk about Rhodes cards with Mr. Oxenfurt. He didn't tell anything about the ring. After all, if the ring fell into the river, there must be a story behind it. Letting others know about it rashly might cause family conflicts.

Sure enough, Mr. Oxenfurt had already mentioned Shade in his home. The old housekeeper also knew the name of "John Watson", so he opened the fence gate and led Shade's horse away. Come in.

However, Mr. Stone Oxenfurt is not in the manor now, but in the city discussing business with people, but he will definitely be back before three o'clock in the afternoon, so Shade can wait, after all, it is almost two o'clock now .

Just as Shade thought, even though Oxenfurt Manor has been repaired in recent years, its appearance is still very worrying. This place was completely different from the noble manors he had visited before. It was clearly being used but looked very dilapidated. Shade had never seen it elsewhere.

Not only was the courtyard dilapidated, but after entering the mansion, it was clear that the floor was clean, the walls were well painted, and the oil paintings and ancient armor decorations were consistent with the status of a wealthy businessman, but Shade still felt that this place was a bit too old.

The mansion was also very deserted. When the old housekeeper took Sha De all the way to the reception room on the second floor, they did not meet a third person, and there was not even the sound of other servants moving. This made Sha De think that this There were only two of them in the house.

But this idea was soon overturned, because Mrs. Oxenfurt, the owner of the ring, Helena Oxenfurt, brought her maid to the reception room to temporarily entertain the guests for her husband.

The maid prepared tea for the two of them while pushing a trolley. She was not old, and Shade even glanced at the maid's skirt. Because of his familiarity with Tifa, Shade has a deep understanding of the shape, color and way of untying the upper body of maid skirts. However, Mrs. Oxenfurt's maid, although the style of maid skirt is a bit older, , but it’s not a big problem. It's just that the white part of the skirt and hairband looked a little yellow. Shade wasn't sure whether it was because they hadn't been washed properly.

As for Mrs. Helena Oxenfurt, she is a very typical housewife who looks to be in her thirties. She has beautiful curly long black hair and blue eyes. She has a high nose and three-dimensional facial features. She wears a black veil when receiving guests and a red and black high-neck floral dress at home. She is very tall, only inferior to most of the witches Sha De knows. Except for Miss Troy, whom Xueshan knows, her skin is surprisingly white. Although her face behind the veil looks a little melancholy, she still maintains the dignity of a hostess and receives Sha De. .

After the maid brought the black tea, she exited the study, leaving Shade and Mrs. Oxenfurt to talk. In Shade's opinion, this was completely against the rules. A stranger like himself came to visit and was able to be alone in a room with the hostess. This was a treatment that only an "affair" could have.

Probably seeing Shade's doubts, Mrs. Oxenfurt said softly:

"Something happened some time ago. My husband fired his previous servants and we haven't had time to find new servants. There are a few people at home. I'm sorry."

"It doesn't matter."

Shade sat on the small sofa beside the coffee table, opposite the window. While he was talking, he saw it was snowing outside. When he came in just now, the weather was quite good:

"This time I said I came to visit Mr. Oxenfurt, but actually it wasn't just for the Rhodes cards."

He took out the ring box from his pocket. The box was prepared by himself. The girls around him said many times that jewelry should not be placed directly in the pocket:

"When I was fishing on the ice a few days ago, I found this from the belly of the fish. This should belong to you, right?"

He opened the box and handed it to the tall woman in front of him. The latter looked at the ring and was slightly surprised. She looked at Sha De again before taking it:

"Yes."

[Her body temperature is a little low, but it is still within the normal range. 】

The voice of "her" came to his ears. Shade did not have direct contact with the woman in front of him, but he was close enough when he handed over the ring just now.

"Although I don't know why it ended up in the belly of the fish, I can consider it returning to its original owner. After a while, Mr. Oxenfurt will come back. Can I mention this to him?"

Shade asked again, then picked up the teacup in front of him.

The pale-looking black-haired woman held the box and shook her head slightly:

"No need to mention it. I can offer you a reward, Mr. Watson."

"No, no, you don't need to pay me anything, I just have nothing to do. If my 'date time' with that young and beautiful seventeen-year-old girl was in the afternoon instead of in the evening, I wouldn't have sent it back."

Shade said with a smile, then took a sip of black tea.

【no problem. 】

Since he entered the manor, he has always been vigilant, and this manor is also full of weirdness. But at least so far, he has not noticed any traces of the elements. Of course, this does not mean that it is definitely normal here. After all, Shade is not arrogant enough to think that his perception is completely correct.

If his perception was omnipotent, the problems at No. 6 Saint Teresa Square would not pop up every few months.

He wanted to talk to the woman in front of him about her marital problems and find out why the ring fell into the river, but it seemed that Helena Oxenfurt was unwilling to speak, which made Shade unable to bring up the topic.

So Shade changed the topic:

"This manor is really remote. I might not have been able to find it on my way here if I hadn't been directed by someone from Offee Village."

"Yes, but this is the ancestral home, and we cannot move it away easily. Although it is a bit more empty, and the gas and steam pipes are not convenient, it will not have a big impact on our lives."

The woman spoke softly again, her voice ever so soft.

Shade nodded. Because it was far away from the city, the mansion didn't even have gas pipes installed. But there are steam pipes here, and large estates are equipped with steam engines and even underground steam boilers. When I was in the corridor just now, I felt that the interior of the building was a little dark, also because there were kerosene lamps hanging on the walls instead of new gas lamps:

"Does Mr. Oxenfurt like Rhodes very much? I am a foreigner, and I just heard about Mr. Oxenfurt not long ago. He is really a very powerful local player."

"Yes, he likes Rhodes very much. Before losing to you, he hadn't lost for a long time."

This topic finally made Haela Oxenfurt willing to take the initiative to say a few more words:

"Not only at Rhodes, but in other areas, my husband rarely loses. In business, in relationships, in bets, he always wins, and he wins completely."