Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 6 "Wild Heart" Bar

When he woke up, Angel found that the sun had already set outside the window, and the setting sun was slanting down, covering the entire bedroom in a piece of gold.

After the "Tarot Club" was over, Angel, who felt that it was not time for dinner, was going to catch up on another night's sleep. She tidied up Lily Granger's room, and after removing the dust cover, the bed underneath was unexpectedly clean, so she took it as her own bedroom and fell asleep.

She looked up at the wall clock, the short hand had passed five o'clock in the afternoon.

Resisting the tempting proposal of "I still want to sleep" in his mind, Angel came to the kitchen, used the marinated mutton, chopped and washed potatoes and onions, and made his first meal in this world.

"Isn't this simpler than breakfast?" Looking at the stewed lamb with potatoes and sliced ​​white bread in front of her, she couldn't help but recall the sour, salty and delicious Fenbo noodles and the rich creamy mushroom soup in the Silver Crown Restaurant.

I have to keep the money to buy fake identities and meet other possible needs. I have no income at present, so I can save a little bit.

Having figured this out, Angel took a bite of the white bread, then picked up the soup spoon, regardless of the fact that the soup had not cooled down, scooped up a spoonful of mutton soup, blew on it symbolically, and opened his mouth to drink it.

There is too much salt... It may also be that the mutton has been marinated for too long. The mutton soup has a salty taste, mixed with the smell of mutton, but Angel, who has not eaten lunch, still gulps down the hot soup, and even the unfermented bread becomes delicious.

Sure enough, when people are hungry, everything they eat feels delicious.

After eating the mutton soup and bread in twos and twos, Angel squinted her eyes contentedly due to the strong feeling of fullness. If she hadn't had to go out at night, she even wanted to go back to her comfortable bedroom and continue lying down.

"Well, even if you change the world and your identity, you'll still be working hard..." Angel secretly sighed, and began to prepare for the night's action.

She first went to the bedroom belonging to Cole Granger on the second floor, and found out a set of clothes that were easy to move and put on. Although the size was a bit big, it was still far better than a skirt.

Then go back to the study, take out the revolver, withdraw all the bullets, disassemble the gun into parts, and start the maintenance before use.

The tools came from Cole Granger's collection, bought on the recommendation of the clerk when he bought the pistol, and he had a full range of them, but he never used them.

"Sure enough, the rifling is worn out..." After carefully checking the condition of the revolver, Angel curled his lips. The material of the barrel is not good, the bullet is too hard, and the lack of maintenance is an inevitable result.This kind of damage has a great impact on shooting accuracy, and the tools at hand cannot be repaired. She can only clean the remaining gunpowder on the barrel, runner and hammer, lubricate the receiver, polish the wooden grip, and try to restore the weapon to the best condition.

The bullets wrapped in oiled paper and neatly placed in the box are 0.45 inches. The huge recoil will sharply reduce the accuracy of bursts, but for a pistol that is essentially a "melee weapon", greater lethality and stopping effect are its unique advantages.

After picking twenty of them and inspecting them one by one, Angel loaded the revolver with bullets, and loaded the rest into the quick loader, in groups of five.

Then came the actual melee weapon, the dagger that Cole Grant preferred as an "assassin".

It is a short steel dagger with bloodletting grooves on both sides, a coating to reduce reflections on the surface, and a leather dagger sheath.As a former Templar Knight, Angel was not proficient in daggers. She just tried to swing it a few times, remembering the weight and length of the dagger, then retracted the sheath and tied it to her left thigh.

Putting on a cloak to hide his face and the weapons on his body, Angel counted out fifty pounds in the desk drawer where the money was placed, thought about it, and added another twenty pounds for emergencies.

After fully armed, Angel stood quietly in the living room until the hands of the wall clock approached nine o'clock. Then she opened the back door, faced the red moon, and stepped into the brightly lit streets of Tingen City.

……

There was no use of the ubiquitous hired horses, nor of the cheaper and more crowded tracked stagecoaches.Angel walked along Daffodil Street to the adjacent Iron Cross Street.

As its name suggests, Iron Cross Street is not just one street, but two vertically intersecting streets. It is divided into Upper Street, Lower Street, Left Street, and Right Street. Daffodil Street and Iron Cross Left Street intersect, and Angel’s goal——"Wild Heart" bar is located on Iron Cross Lower Street.

Slowly walking through the municipal square at the intersection of the streets, avoiding the circus clowns who were distributing leaflets, and walking along Iron Cross Left Street where six carriages could pass at the same time, Angel came to Iron Cross Lower Street.

It is indeed reasonable to divide Iron Cross Street according to "upper, lower, left, right". Lower Street is obviously much more dilapidated than the Left Street we passed just now. Not only is the street narrower due to the many hawkers occupying the road, the paving stones are also uneven due to long-term lack of maintenance. Even the clothing and spirit of pedestrians are obviously different from Left Street, let alone compared with Narcissus Street.

There are almost three or four-story apartment buildings along the street. There are no independent balconies. Clothes hanging to dry are messy outside the windows. Sewage flows at the door and debris is thrown around. As the main street, it is dirtier than the back alley of Narcissus Street.

Walking here, Angel even had the illusion that garbage would be thrown on his head at any time.

Iron Cross Street at night is no longer as lively as it was during the day, but there are still many vendors trying to attract the last business, and there are no fewer pedestrians passing by than other places.Angel clutched his pockets tightly, guarding against possible pickpockets in the crowd, walked around the mobile stalls that were buzzing with hawkers, smelled the air mixed with fragrance and stench, and walked with difficulty in the stagnant water and garbage.

After going through hardships, she came to the slightly flamboyant roaring wolf head logo of "Wild Heart", greedily took a breath of the alcohol-rich air, and she felt reborn.

In Angel’s memory, Cole has also been to the “Wild Heart” bar several times, sometimes to meet with the entrusting person, and sometimes to inquire about news. In his mind, this place is a news distribution center and a paradise for drunks, but it is not a dangerous place.

But in Angel's eyes, "Wild Heart" hides far more dangers than it appears on the surface.

She just walked around the outer wall of the bar, and she caught the attention of the strong man standing guard at the door. The shirtless, muscular gatekeeper stared at the "hooded man of unknown origin", as if he was ready to call for help at any time.

The window on the second floor of the apartment across the street was kept open, but there was no light inside. Angel could feel a faint sight sweeping past her from the window, which should be the secret whistle of the bar.

There was a carriage parked by the back door of the bar. The coachman was dozing off in the driver's seat, and the horses had put on the bridle. As long as the owner got on the carriage, they could start immediately.

It could be a car parked at the back door by some powerful person for privacy, or it could be a way for important people in the bar to flee the scene, Angel believes it is the latter.

The street in front of the bar is also more flooded than other places. After careful observation, it can be found that several drains near the bar have lost their function. If the municipal workers were not lazy and blocked the drains, the sewers facing the street should have been repurposed for other purposes.

Back at the entrance of the bar, Angel had a deeper understanding of this unremarkable bar. She hesitated whether to take the risk for an identity card, but finally decided to believe in the "Hanged Man" of the Tarot Society.

"If I get tricked, I hope Mister Fool can punish him."

After complaining secretly, Angel stepped into the bar.

It was almost late at night, but there were still many customers in the bar. Most of them were nearby residents who came here for a drink after get off work, and there were also unemployed workers who had nothing to do and used alcohol to numb themselves.In the dark corners, sneaky chatters are brewing new plots.A group of excited drinkers surrounded the hall, sometimes yelling, sometimes bowing their heads in remorse, and a game of "dog taking a mouse" was being staged in the two half-slumped cages.

The bartender who was wiping the wooden wine glasses behind the bar had already set his sights on Angel who entered the door. She was wearing a cloak that didn't fit in with the environment here. Even if it was a schemer in the corner, it was basic etiquette to show her face and hands.

Looking across the chaotic and noisy bar, Angel finally turned her attention to the bartender. She walked around the dog cage and came to the front of the bar.

"What would you like to drink? Rye beer 1p, Southwell beer 4p, newly arrived butter beer 7p, ice cold!" Seeing the approaching person, the bartender was proficiently selling.

"The 'captain' introduced me, and he said that you can help people to apply for identity certificates." Angel didn't order any wine, and explained the purpose of coming directly.

The bartender stopped wiping the wine glass. He looked up at the clock hanging high with a broken outer glass. It showed that it was 5 minutes before ten o'clock in the evening: "It's not time yet, you came early."

"I can wait."

The bartender put down the wine glass and rag, and said, "That's fine. I'll call you when the time comes. Would you like a drink?"

"Then let's have a cup of 'half and half', add more sugar." Angel then remembered "The Hanged Man" and confessed a secret code.

The bartender who received the signal nodded and turned back to mix the wine. After a while, a glass of "half and half" made of beer and wine was served on the bar.

"Isn't it a sign? Are you really serving wine?" Angel frowned and looked at the bartender.

"Anyway, make some money, this cup is 1 soli."

Angel counted out 12 pence and threw it on the bar, took the glass and sat down at an empty table.

She thought that the bartender would come to call her as soon as ten o'clock arrived, but she didn't expect to sit there until a quarter past ten and there was no news.

Seeing that the bartender started chatting with other guests, she finally couldn't help it. When she was about to get up and ask, the bartender pointed at her location. The "guest" turned around, and Angel realized that this was the person she was looking for.

"New here?" The visitor was wearing a black windbreaker, his figure was invisible, his messy black hair was full of grease, and his face looked like it hadn't been washed for half a month.Holding a huge wooden cup, he sat down opposite Angel. Without waiting for her to answer, he continued, "I'm Hagrid. Everyone knows that I'm always late. I usually come around at 10:30. Only a novice like you will come early."

Angel ignored the self-introduction of the other party's implicit sarcasm, but directly put forward his own request: "I need an identity card, all the information is provided by me, and there must be a verifiable file."

Hagrid took a gulp of beer, let out a contented "huh" before replying, "Forty pounds, I'll get it in a week."

"That's not what the 'captain' said, thirty pounds." Angel didn't feel sorry for the extra ten pounds, but based on experience, such a concession would only make the other party more unscrupulous.

"Hmph, tell that guy 'Captain' to stop fooling a rookie like you with the price a few years ago to take advantage of me. It won't do if he saved my life." Hearing Angel's offer, Hagrid was very angry. "Every time the kingdom's party changes, we have to buy back people from Backlund again. The asking price for these moths is getting higher and higher. How much do you think we can earn? Besides, Tingen is not peaceful recently. Many students disappeared from the university. I heard that there were a few suicides yesterday. The police are looking for people from other places. You You don't want to be caught as a black household, do you?"

"Thirty pounds."

"You can't do business like this... 35 pounds, this is the lowest price, and I will fix it for you in three days." Hagrid backed down.

"I can give you forty pounds, but I'll get it tonight." Seeing that the other party had given in, Angel changed his needs in due course, and handed out a diary paper full of words, "The identity information I requested is on this, and you can make up other vacancies as you like, but don't go too far."

Hagrid was obviously surprised by the extra five pounds of "lost and found". He subconsciously took the paper handed to him, pondered for a while, nodded and said, "Okay, I'll help you get in line. You wait here for two hours and drink some wine." He pointed to the untouched wine glass in front of Angel, "Or go and watch the dog catch the mouse."

Angel shook his head: "I'll just wait here."

Although she doesn't dislike alcohol, ingesting alcohol is not a good choice in this kind of place where a fight may be needed at any time.

And she couldn't even arouse any interest in such a boring game as "a dog takes a mouse".

(End of this chapter)