Unknown Knight

After dinner, James, accompanied by the old mayor Alan Meier, came to the room where Velen lived.

This is a room with windows on the second floor. After opening the window, the room becomes brighter. Through the window, you can see the crisscrossing fields outside the village wall and most of the town of Granmel is in sight.

The furnishings in the room were very simple, with only a bed, a wooden box, a desk with a bookshelf and a chair.

In order to avoid Alan Meier's suspicion, James went straight to the desk. It seemed that his goal was clear, but after searching for a while, he found nothing except a few common books, not even any extra notes, letters or even the previous notebooks.

It was just that on a rolled-up map of the continent, James saw a location marked by Velen in the Sarand Emirate. He was deeply impressed by that location, as it was the location of the altar he had seen in the book.

It seems that Velen has also found the approximate location of the altar, which further verifies that the dark artifact does have magical powers. However, Velen is missing now, and the whereabouts of the artifact are even unknown. For a moment, James felt annoyed and couldn't help but slap the table.

The sound startled Alan Meier who was standing nearby. Perhaps he felt unworthy of the generous gift, so he asked with concern:

"Didn't you find it, sir?"

James came back to his senses and saw Alan Meier's expression, and asked him hurriedly:

"Mr. Velen has an object similar to a black pottery jar. Does the old mayor have any impression of it?"

James roughly gestured the size of the artifact and asked Alan Meier.

Alan Meier scratched his head, then suddenly remembered that there seemed to be such an object, and said to James:

"I remember this thing. It was wrapped in a piece of earth-gray cloth. I don't know if it was black. It was taken away by Brother Weilun when he left last time."

"Oh, that's just one of them. There's another one left here. Mr. Velen asked me to retrieve this jar."

James was afraid of being exposed, so he made up a lie.

"I don't know. This room has been locked since Brother Velen left."

Alan Meier said thoughtfully, as if he was defending himself.

"Have you heard of the Island of If near the coast of Aaron City?"

Although Granmel is remote, it belongs to the city of Aaron. Perhaps he could get something out of the old mayor. James asked casually tentatively, also with the intention of diverting attention.

“I really don’t know about this. Foreign caravans visit our town regularly. Our town is rich in products and most of the materials are self-sufficient. Don’t be afraid of you laughing at me. I have lived for most of my life and have only been to Aaron City a few times.

But, oh, by the way, the carpenter in our town used to repair ships at Aaron Wharf. Later, the shipping in this area was basically monopolized by the Nords, and he lost his job, so he came to our town to make a living. He must know the Island of If you mentioned. Please wait, I will have someone call him over. "

Soon, a dishevelled carpenter with sawdust stuck in his hair was brought over. James asked him about the Isle of If, and he immediately became excited:

"I know, it's not a good place to go. Sir, what do you want to do there?"

"I'm helping a friend find out. You can tell me any information you know about that island. If it's useful, I'll thank you."

James took out a dozen copper coins from his waist and handed them to the carpenter. After the carpenter took the coins, his eyes lit up and he began to describe them vividly:

"Let me tell you, it's not a good place. It was said that it was a place where death row prisoners were imprisoned in the early years, and then it was abandoned. I heard that it was abandoned because the island was haunted.

You don't know that the waters around here are rich in pearls, but due to excessive pearl harvesting in recent years, there are very few good pearls shipped.

A friend of mine is an experienced pearl diver. He believes that the only island where few people go is If. The pearl oysters in the waters there must be huge. There is also a bay on the island with relatively calm waters, which is a good place to grow pearls. He believes that there must be top-quality large pearls that can be shipped there.

So he ignored everyone's advice and insisted on going there to collect pearls. Guess what happened?"

The carpenter looked around as if he was telling a shocking secret. After finding that there was no fourth person present, he supported his mouth with his hand and whispered:

"He went crazy when he came back!"

Although James was a dull man, he was also very experienced. When he heard the carpenter say this, he deliberately opened his eyes wide, as if he was shocked.

The carpenter saw James' exaggerated expression, as if he had received dozens of copper coins from him. He was so proud and happy that he swallowed his saliva and continued:

"He wasn't completely crazy, he was sometimes lucid and sometimes crazy. And he never dared to go into the sea again. He was afraid of water and even dared not take a bath. He stank so much!"

The carpenter pinched his nose and fanned himself with his hands, as if the stench was still bothering him, but his eyes were slyly looking at James, as if with expectation.

James took out a few more copper coins from his pocket and handed them to the carpenter, then asked casually:

"Didn't you ask him what was going on?"

"Yes! One time, when he was sober, I asked him why he didn't dare to go to the sea again and what he saw on the Isle of If. What do you think he said?"

James was made to laugh and cry by the carpenter. If this person was in the territory, he would definitely be discovered by Niza and sent to the theater for training. He had to pretend to be interested and followed his rhythm with eyes wide open:

"How to say?"

"He said that the water under the bay of the Island of If was covered with human skulls and skeletons. It felt like hell! It was so horrible that he would think of those skeletons whenever he saw the sea."

After hearing what the carpenter said, James leaned back in his chair and squinted at him, obviously expressing his doubt.

"Sir, don't disbelieve me. It's not just him. Fishermen who fish for squid at night on the seashore never dare to approach the waters where the island is located. They all say that as long as they get close to the island, they can see ghost lights floating on the walls of the fortress where the death row prisoners are held.

Not only them, even the fierce Nords did not dare to sail near the island, saying that demons lived there.

Everyone says that Isla If is the lair of evil spirits, a ghost island connected to hell. Any living person who approaches the island will be captured and eaten. Not only that, people disappear from nearby villages from time to time. It is said that they are all captured and eaten by evil spirits. "

James squinted at the carpenter, and it was obvious that he was deeply skeptical of what the carpenter said. He had seen many cases of exaggeration and rumors. Unless there was an evil ghost standing in front of him to prove that there were evil ghosts in this world, he would not believe the carpenter's nonsense.

He took out five or six copper coins from his pocket and gave them to the carpenter, then said to him:

"Okay, go ahead and do your work. I'll leave here and return to Aaron City tomorrow morning. If you remember any information about If Island, come and tell me. Forget about the ghosts and monsters. As long as it's useful, I will definitely reward you."