Krafft's Anomaly Notes

Chapter 20 The Afternoon Before Departure
Kraft returned to the hotel with the book in his arms.

The hotel was relatively quiet in the afternoon. There were no customers in the small restaurant on the first floor, and the boss was behind the counter wiping the wooden wine glasses.Seeing Kraft come back, he took the initiative to say hello: "You came back quite early, do you want something to eat? I recommend grilled fish with beer."

"Why do you say 'also'?"

"Oh, your companion just came back not long ago. You don't look like you are here for business, otherwise I can recommend some old acquaintances to you." The boss put down his glass.It's not good to be busy, but the afternoon when no one is there is too boring, and he can't leave the hotel and go out for a stroll, it's best to find someone who can chat.

Ryan came back so early?Kraft thought that he would at least spend a whole day wandering outside. After all, it was hard to find something that was “mysterious enough”.Other people's main business is to run a business to earn the difference, not to collect all kinds of gadgets, especially not such gadgets that look abnormal.

Many times, the captain or sailor is in a different place. In order to relieve the depression and torture caused by the long-term voyage, he drinks two more drinks in the bar. When he goes out, he may meet local people who sell various things.

Some of these unidentified people would fool around, such as bringing good luck and having special functions, and then the drunks bought something they hadn't seen before.

It doesn't rule out that when you go out in a place like the ice field, you see a tough man holding an ax to sell you, asking if you are interested in taking a look.It is difficult for the encounterer to tell whether the other party is really letting you see, or tactfully expressing to you "brother, my money is a little tight recently".

There are many specific reasons, and I don’t need to go into details. Most of them are similar to Kraft’s “local specialties” and “handmade products” being promoted by the locals when he travels.When I bought it, my brain got hot, but after I bought it, my eyes went dark, it was pure injustice.

Afterwards, traces of labels torn off were found in the corners more than once, or they were simply mass-produced products in the small commodity market with no labels torn off.

Kraft lost dozens at most hundreds of dollars to buy a souvenir. The captain and sailors found out afterwards that the blood loss might not be so simple. A few black silver coins are not so small, but more will be a bit painful.

At this time, they will be very willing to sell these things to pay back the money. Most of the gadgets found on the sailor's stalls come from this way.

"So boss, you know a lot of people in Wendeng Port?" Kraft found a seat near the counter and sat down. It was rare to come to Wendeng Port. The lunch just now made him feel unsatisfied. "Grilled fish is fine. No beer."

Many of the taverns and hotels in this type of port also function as a news distribution center, and the boss sometimes works part-time as an intermediary while talking to you, and some of them have their own stockpiles.

Regardless of whether they have the above functions or not, most bosses are pretty good at chatting, and the guests who come and go also give them enough content to talk about.It's a bit like a taxi driver in the impression of a soul from another world, a person who sits and works in one position for a long time, just passively developed talkative skills.

The boss called the back kitchen to bring up the grilled fish, poured himself a glass of beer, and lay down on the counter to clear his throat.

"How can there be a man who doesn't like beer?" He took a sip of beer, and the froth wet his wanton beard, "All I know are people who live at sea, and most of them don't see each other a few times a year. Sometimes I will help them sell the goods by the way, and also recommend the source of goods to them.

When I was in my twenties, I envied them. I wanted to save some money and sold the hotel, and then bought a boat. Then, like them, I took a group of sailors and ran Dunling and the ice field. "

Among the young people in Wendeng Port, at least nine out of ten have the same dream as the boss.Have a boat of your own, go out on rough seas, and come back with money and enough stories to brag about in taverns for days.

"Sounds good, so why didn't you go?" Kraft picked up in time so that the boss could continue the chat.It's a bit embarrassing to say that Kraft himself had such thoughts, and he always had some unrealistic romantic fantasies about the ocean.

"Oh, it's because I know more people." The boss sighed, as if thinking of his lost youth.

"What does it matter?"

"When I get to know more people, I realize that things are not as good as I imagined. Don't look at those people who run around as if they are very chic, but in fact they live a life of careful planning. They make money by news and contacts, and most of their net worth is in the On board. You can’t make a lot of money if you take the old route, and you have to look at the market on both sides.”

The boss is quite familiar with its operation, and should have really considered entering the industry.

Kraft also became interested. He really didn't know much about these things before: "What about the new route? I remember that there are always some captains who like to take routes that few people take, such as going from us to the ice field or something." .”

What the boss said reminded him of the story of Captain William, the captain who transported food and wine and exchanged furs from the icemen.

The story of Cousin Ryan made him have a great interest in strange overseas lands, and he even wanted to collect such stories, revise and publish them, and write a "Kraft's Fairy Tale" to pass on to future generations.

The boss forced a belch from his belly, and snorted disdainfully, "I thought so when I was young, and like many people, I always thought I was smart. There are a lot of smart people in this world, and someone must have thought of the new route long ago. , but either it is not easy to drive on the way, or there is a problem with the destination, so it has not been developed until now.

Let’s just talk about the ice field. It was not difficult in the past, but there were only a few tribes who could communicate, and they were hard-won by old captains.Now it is enough to trade with a few familiar captains, and others have to go further along the coastline to find other new tribes.

As for those new tribes who haven't had much contact with us, it's hard to say whether they can communicate. "

The boss took another sip and showed the expression of someone who has been here before: "So it's better to do some stable business. Every year, some people I know don't come back, even those who take the old route. Can be in the tavern A good story is one you listen to while drinking, and no one really wants to be the protagonist of an adventure story all the time."

"Indeed, only the living can come back to tell stories, and how many people will care about the fish feeders." Kraft agreed with the boss, even the Titanic will have accidents at sea, not to mention the current As for wooden sailboats, sea travel is not as stable as that of alien souls.If there is no rescue if the ship capsizes, it is basically waiting for death.

"Boss, do you know where there is a shop selling rare gadgets in Wendeng Port?" Kraft asked by the way, without much hope.

"No, you can only see this kind of thing at the street stalls. The shop here without a stable source of customers would have starved to death." The boss put down his glass and shook his head, "It's a pity that you won't see the street stalls these two days. Wait until the snow melts. Let’s talk again. Don’t charge those people high prices, I have never found anything more valuable than two silver coins.”

It is indeed a sincere statement. Buying things at a high price on the street stall is a big injustice. Kraft has a very clear understanding of this.

……

……

After eating the grilled fish, and the boss's talk was expressed, Kraft went upstairs and knocked on Ryan's door.

"Are you there, Ryan?"

"Come in, I've already bought something." Ryan opened the door and invited Kraft to watch his results.Fortunately for him, the stonemason happened to have a severed hand from a broken stone carving in his hand, allowing him to use his creativity.

When Kraft entered the door, he saw a very presentable ornament placed on the table. It was a stone-carved palm cut off from the wrist so that it could be cut down and stand on the table.

There is also a crooked rune engraved on the palm, a bit like a squid's tentacles.There are no bells and whistles such as polishing, and it looks like it was picked up from some old ruins.Of course, Kraft has no ability to identify cultural relics, but his intuition tells him where he has seen this style.

When he was thinking a little more seriously, a large memory flashed quickly, and his inhuman consciousness told him that this was very similar to a certain rune on the rune eyeball that Ryan bought.It seems to be slightly upgraded, and it is smoother than the original version on the eyeballs, and there is no stuttering or chipping at the joints of strokes.

"Where did you buy it? The same place as last time?" Kraft pressed his temple.

He has no symptoms of dizziness and headache, but he is just not used to this feeling, as if he is divided into two parts, one part is an ordinary person, and the other part expands infinitely, and he fishes out the piece he wants from the vast sea of ​​information. .

This gave him a subtle illusion, that there was a living thing surging in the skull, and that the brain had its own independent ability, and he was dissatisfied with this small living space.

"How do you know that it's the same one as last time...the captain bought it." Ryan almost thought that the fact that he went to the same stonemason to buy things had been exposed, but fortunately, he realized in time that what Kraft said was not what he meant, and promptly changed his words to the stonemason. became the captain.

Ryan wiped his sweat and added to his own words: "He said he bought it at the same place as last time, and it is indeed related to the pair of stone eyeballs last time, right? He knew I would buy these things, so he just bought them. Leave it to me. I think grandpa will like this." The language here is similar to English, and there is no distinction between grandpa and grandfather, so Ryan calls old Wood the same as Kraft.

People who don't know the inside story can easily mistake them for brothers, but in fact they are more or less the same.

"By the way, I'll return your money to you. I have a good relationship with him. If he sells it cheaply, he won't use your money." Ryan took out the purse that Kraft handed over to him in the morning, and returned it intact. Kraft.

"So, how much is it, why don't you share it together?" Kraft took the money bag without doubting Ryan's meaning at all.

"It's okay, it's just a silver coin. I'm going to have my own fief soon, so don't worry about it." Speaking of this, Ryan was full of pride.

Considering that he was almost 20 years old, Old Wood also felt that it would not be a problem to let him run around. He had already planned to officially confer the title of knight on this guy, and give him a piece of land for the family to spread out.At that time, he will be assigned two good horses, a set of full armor and weapons, and he can recruit his own followers.

"At that time, I'm willing to come and testify to your generosity." Kraft smiled. "I'll go back to sleep first, and hope to be refreshed when I leave tomorrow morning."

(End of this chapter)