Chapter 593: Chapter 593: Standing Coin Chapter 593: Chapter 593: Standing Coin Having left the club, Shard returned to the House of the Blind and inquired of Ms. Michelle for the location of the local black market. Then, taking the travel map of Midshire Fort, he strolled around the city while making his way toward the black market. It was foreseeable that Shard would have to engage in many adventures within this city before truly rescuing Priest Augustus. Therefore, he wanted to familiarize himself with the place quickly, at the very least, to know which routes would facilitate his escape. Unlike Tobesk and Coldwater Port, with which Shard was more familiar, Midshire Fort, as an inland city near the mountains in the Old Continent, leaned more towards modernization and industrialization in its city style. Lacking the long history and political roles of the Royal Capital, or the constraints of ocean trade like Coldwater Port which oriented the city towards the docks, Midshire Fort could fully devote itself to industrialization after the coming of steam industry, relying on its significant transportation status and the rich mineral resources from the Northern Slope of Sicarl Mountain. The mountain city had seen its urban area expand and economy improve over the years, but correspondingly, despite being close to the mountains, its air pollution was only slightly better than that of Tobesk. The yellow-wall buildings lining the streets had mostly not seen more than a century of history, and the further one moved from the mountains to the north, the newer city infrastructure could be observed. This was evident from the uniform steam and gas meters at the street corners, and the fact that the metal pipes clinging to the walls were mostly rust-free. After all, Midshire Fort City did not have the capacity to expand towards the South and the Rommel Mountains, so even though the steam factories and the traditional city center were in the South City, the living conditions in North City were actually somewhat better. Black smoke billowed into the sky, making the noisy city appear enshrouded in grey, but this was a norm for the era. As one of the most important transportation hubs in the central Old Continent, the city did not only resonate with a variety of languages in the streets, but also housed many resident and passing Circle Sorcerers, giving birth to a vast underground black market. Similar to Coldwater Port, among the various black markets, some were well-reputed due to good credibility, and Ms. Michelle had referred Shard to one of these. Shard remembered that black markets were usually pubs or hostels, which concealed the strange phenomenon of strangers entering and leaving frequently. But the one introduced to him by Ms. Michelle was located inside the Midshire Fort Train Station. Shard followed the map and turned a corner at Hankwood Street, where he could already hear the train whistles from inside the station. Midshire Fort Steam Train Station had an immense throughput, with trains coming and going constantly, heading south through the Rommel Mountains to the United Kingdom of Carsonrick on the great plains of the southern Old Continent, and heading north through the interior of Draleon Kingdom. When the Outlander, head bowed and holding a newspaper, appeared at the station entrance, no one paid any mind to his completely unremarkable presence. “It’s actually bigger than Tobesk Train Station…” Shard murmured softly, and then joined the passengers carrying suitcases or backpacks as he entered the station. Midshire Fort Train Station, located in the southeastern part of the city, handled both freight and passenger traffic. Inside, it was extremely noisy and crowded, the buzzing sound especially irritating, and the air was heavy with the pungent smell of coal combustion. Amidst the din, Shard first found the ticket counter, and following the information provided by Ms. Michelle, he purchased a second-class carriage ticket for the B823 steam train. After a twenty-minute wait, Shard boarded the train at the station gate, still reading the Big City Player championship news on the newspaper. His ticket was for carriage number 2, but once the train started moving, Shard walked towards the front of the train. The first three carriages were for freight, with passenger seating behind them. There was a metal gate and a wooden door between the freight and passenger sections to prevent passengers from wandering. Shard, holding his ticket, newspaper, and map, reached through the gaps in the iron railing to knock on the wooden door. Three short knocks followed by a long one, then three long knocks followed by a short one. The wooden door then opened a crack: “Who referred you here?” Asked a voice from behind the door. This was a short-distance train, an hourly round trip between Midshire Fort and a small rural town. Only the local trusted Circle Sorcerers and organizations could get the information, so it was necessary to mention the referrer: “The nun from the House of the Blind—also, she asked me to remind you not to forget to deliver the goods you ordered last time.” “We won’t forget.” Replied the voice from behind the door. Then a mask was passed through. After putting on the mask, another key was passed out from behind the door. Shard used the key to unlock the gate, pushed the iron gate aside with an unpleasant metallic screech, returned the key to the gatekeeper, and then formally entered the black market of the station. The first three carriages were entirely the black market area of the station, with the first carriage nearest the train engine designated for large transactions which required permission to enter. The second and third carriages had been made to look like a tavern, each with a bartender responsible for maintaining order and updating the transaction details on small blackboards on both sides of the carriage. Of course, if one did not want to make the transaction details public, they could pay a considerable sum to have the bartender securely hold onto the transaction information, waiting for the right trader to show up. Shard walked around the carriage and did not see anyone selling relics of coins, nor was he interested in any other information. He first approached the bartender in carriage number three to explain his long-term reward offer for acquiring coin-class relics, and then inquired about any unusual incidents in the area since the start of late summer. The bald bartender charged Shard three shillings for the information fee before saying: “Does the odd behavior of the True God Church count? They seem to be planning some major action for the autumn or winter, having started preparations last year. If you’re an Outlander magician, it’s best not to provoke the church locally lately, or you’re bound to have bad luck.” “I’ve also heard about the church’s anomalies here—what exactly are they planning to do?” But the bartender just shook his head: “Aside from the anomalies of the church, since late summer this year, there has been a sudden increase in strange disappearances locally. The cause is unknown, and it’s virtually impossible to investigate, just like the urban legends in the tabloids,” “Did such things happen here before?” The bartender glanced at Shard: “They did, but the frequency was low, and they didn’t attract much attention. Such events mostly happened to ordinary people; I haven’t heard of them occurring to Circle Sorcerers.” It seemed that Priest Augustus had run into some bad luck this time. “Also, do you have any commissions for selling special coins here? I didn’t see any on that blackboard over there.” “Indeed, we do.” The bartender nodded, and a smile appeared on Shard’s face behind his mask. As expected, in a city he had never visited before, the likelihood of finding special coins was greater: “Where is the trader…” He suddenly recalled when he bought the coins at the Seven Brooms Tavern in Coldwater Port, which was his first encounter with Daknis, and they even played a round of Roder Card. Therefore, Shard suddenly became nervous: “Wait, the trader isn’t here, is he?” “Yes, the trader is me.” The bartender lazily pointed to himself: “Besides acting as a broker, we also purchase some relics with low risk to sell. This is all I have. If you want to buy, we can trade now.” Amid the rocking of the train, he pulled out a stack of document papers from under the counter, rummaged for a while, and finally handed one to Shard. After thanking him, Shard took the paper to a round table by the window, sat down, and carefully read the introduction of the brand-new relic: “[Poet-Level Relic – Standing Coin, which appears as a copper coin slightly larger than a shilling. One side bears the pattern of the Purple Iris, considered the reverse; the other side is inscribed with the alphabet letter ‘I’ in a script resembling that of the Fourth Era, considered the front.] Trait: Under any circumstances, when the coin is flipped, it always lands standing up. If the space it occupies lacks the concept of ‘below,’ the flipped coin will flip indefinitely; the holder of the coin will significantly increase the chances of other tossed coins landing upright.” “What kind of trait is this?” Behind his mask, Shard pondered with suspicion and then noticed two strangers sitting down across the table, whispering among themselves. [Containment method: Place the coin standing on a flat surface at an angle not exceeding 12 degrees from the ground; a slight vibration will not cause the coin to tip over. Negative trait: If one side of the coin is pressed on a flat surface at an angle not exceeding 12 degrees from the ground, or a strong vibration causes the above issue, then—if the front side is up, it must be passed on through a transaction within 24 hours. The trader who receives the coin will inevitably fall from a high place to their death within 8 hours of touching the coin; if the transaction is not completed, the holder of the coin is compelled to vomit a third of their internal organs after 24 hours. If the reverse side is up, at least 10 pounds (about 4.53kg) of dry Purple Iris petals must be ingested within 4 hours, and afterward, the coin must be passed on to another person through a transaction. If either of these conditions is not met, the holder of the coin will disappear into a field of Purple Iris within 24 hours.]” “This is probably the weakest trait I’ve encountered in a relic,” Shard flipped through the document in his hands, then looked at the last price: “15 pounds and 3 shillings?” Although it was higher than he had expected, it just fell below his maximum psychological limit: “Should be fine.” He stood up and returned to the counter, informing the bartender that he wanted to buy the coin. The bartender went to fetch the item from the leading carriage, so he told Shard to find a place to rest for a while. As it happened, someone was talking about the “Big City Player 1853” of Tobesk City, and Shard joined in. Later, after getting the coin, he even played a couple of games of Roder Card with the strangers to pass the time before the train returned to Midshire Fort City. Although they were strangers to each other, the card game was enjoyable, and through conversation, Shard also learned more about the city. By the time Shard made his way through the dense forest of Sicarl Mountain and returned to No. 6, Saint Delan Square via the Ruined Tower, it had already grown dark outside. Both Dorothy and Luviya were still there, the former writing in the study and the latter adjusting her stargazing equipment on the third floor. Source: Webnovel.com, updated on Novlove.com