Landis City was located at the intersection of two major rivers, with convenient transportation and developed trade. It was a prosperous, ever-bright city. As long as you had enough money, you could enjoy a luxurious life here.
In a corner of the city there was a peculiar tavern, Silver Stag.
The minimum charge of Silver Stag was high, and thus most citizens can’t afford this tavern. The main consumers here were the urban middle classes, petty nobles, knights and merchants.
In the Silver Stag Tavern, there was an urban legend that a fourth-order mercenary was beaten by a drunkard until his teeth were all over the floor, and some insisted they had witnessed a million-gold gambling game.
The Silver Stag owes its appeal to an event that has been around for many years.
Bragging Contest.
The Bragging Contest was held every six months, and everyone was welcome to participate. The only requirement was to brag about something.
The proprietress was a woman. She was good at divination and has the eye to distinguish truth from falsehood. She would decide who was the winner ---- whoever told the most shocking truth would be the winner.
This game was more exciting than gambling and had many participants.
On June 30, 1453 in the Oblivion Calendar, the summer restlessness did not disappear as night fell, but became even more intense in the hustle and bustle of the tavern.
In the crowd, a young man in his mask was bragging.
His voice was mellow and his words were pleasant, and the audience listened with gusto.
At the end of tonight's bragging performance, he suppressed his smile and said calmly: "I'm going to say something real next, so sit down."
After a moment of pause, he whispered mysteriously: "Believe it or not, I once bought a girl with stunning looks for a gold coin, and she was an elf."
The braggart said seriously.
The boos and jeers came in waves.
"Keep blowing, I almost believe it."
"Ah, yes, yes, I bought a Phoenix for one gold coin yesterday, but unfortunately it accidentally turned into a turkey when I woke up today."
"Hahaha, come down quickly, you lose your chance to win the championship tonight!"
If there hadn't been a tall female warrior standing behind the braggart who looked untouchable, someone might have greeted him with stinky shoes and rotten eggs.
Facing everyone's doubts, Roland didn't take it serious. He shrugged and sat down slowly.
He didn't care about these guys' suspicions. Anyway, they had no say in the outcome.
He turned his attention to the proprietress behind the bar.
This mysterious woman, whose face was covered with black gauze all day long, was said to be pretty good-looking, but it was only said that no one has seen her true appearance after all, so she could be a wrinkled old woman.
Some people said that she had been married, while others said that she was still single, but these were not important. What was important was that she had a special ability, and no lies could be hidden in front of her.
This was also the reason for her to hold a bragging contest.
She never showed up, and only visited the store during bragging contests.
Rolanda clicked here just to win the championship in the first half of the year, for the reward. The reward for the champion of the bragging contest was very simple: you could ask the proprietress to help you divine once.
He didn't want to wait any longer, he just wanted to know the outcome of the forces on which he had declared war as soon as possible.
After the performance, he returned to the corner, picked up his glass, and listened to the others bragging with a smile.
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He didn't notice that just as he was finishing his performance, the expressionless lady sitting behind the bar's eyes lit up.
The crystal ball under the bar became crystal clear and emitted soft light.
This meant that "bought an elf girl with a single gold coin" was true. The young man wasn't lying.
There were many people who told truths during the truth-telling Contest, but most people led a peaceful life, and the truth they could tell was not too surprising.
However, the mysterious contestant was different. The truth he told was so outrageous that even she thought it was fake.
It's actually true! One gold coin to buy the most beautiful elf girl?
Although she couldn't figure it out, she knew the game was over.
No matter how others brag, she found it boring.
After patiently listening to the nonsense of the last braggart, she slowly stood up and said softly: "Mr. elf-girl-for-one-gold, please come with me."
"Ah? Why was he the champion?"
Everyone was confused.
"How could this be!"
"Did the she make a mistake? I don't believe it!"
"It’s impossible that a gold coin could buy an elf girl!"
The other braggarts were a little confused, and the way they looked at Roland said it all.
There was shock and confusion, but mostly envy, jealousy and hatred.
That's an elf girl! An elf girl was a top-notch slave, since an elf slave could be passed down from generation to generation as a family heirloom.
Even for an elf girl of slightly inferior quality, the price on the market starts at thirty thousand gold coins (not divine gold coins). Even so, you could hardly see any elf girl for sale in the market.
One gold coin for an elf which was worthy of more than 30,000 gold coins. That was unbelievable!
In addition to envy and hatred, the spectators began to think about another question, who was this damn lucky man?
The man was wearing a full-covering mask, so they couldn't recognize him, but the proprietress definitely knew.
Just when someone was trying to find out Roland's identity, the lady had already led Roland into the secret room.
"Sir, congratulations on winning the championship. What do you want to divine?"
"I want to know the outcome of Baron Minhausen's declaration of war against other forces."
Roland asked with a smile.
He knew the question would give him away, but he didn't care.
The proprietress of Silver Stag Tavern never reveals the secrets of her customers. This was her professional ethics.
"So you were Baron Minhausen."
The proprietress realized who he was.
She smiled and nodded, and teased half-jokingly: "Although Minhausen was barren, it was rich in talents. The previous baron won the championship. I didn't expect you to be another winner."
"Oh, what did he say?"
"Sorry, this was the guest's secret." The proprietress didn't want to reveal more. She just smiled and took out the crystal ball and playing cards for divination and placed them on the table between the two of them.
When the divination began, her lazy expression disappeared instantly and was replaced by concentration. Seeing that the proprietress became serious, Roland stopped talking and just sipped coffee silently.
The divination process was not smooth. The proprietress's sweaty forehead did not lie. Sweat was rolling down drop by drop, and she didn't even bother to wipe it away.
Roland was also a little nervous when he saw more and more sweat on the proprietress's forehead, completely soaking her cheeks.
No, it's just a simple divination. Do you want to be so exaggerated?
Just when he was thinking about whether to ask the proprietress to stop, with a "pop", a large mouthful of blood spurted out of the proprietress's mouth.
Roland was startled.
He took out his handkerchief, tore off the proprietress's veil, and helped her wipe away the blood.
The handkerchief touched the proprietress's cheek, and Roland's hand froze in the air.
He had thought that the proprietress might be very beautiful, but he had never thought that she was so young.
The Silver Stag Tavern had a good reputation. The proprietress had been running this place for more than a hundred years. People thought that she was a mature woman who was charming still, but unexpectedly she had the face of a teen girl.
He was just stunned for a second and then relaxed.
The proprietress didn't expect Roland to lift her veil directly. She was stunned on the spot.
Realizing that she had witnessed her true appearance, she did not scream or cover her face, but said helplessly:
"Should I thank you for your enthusiasm or scold you? You were really a, a... a reckless guy!"
"Sorry, I thought you were hurt."
"You guessed it right, I was indeed injured. Failure in divination will cause backlash."
The proprietress said casually, wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with Roland's handkerchief, and said softly.
"I could vaguely see the results, but I can't clear away all the fog. Maybe someone doesn't want me to see it."
Roland shrugged, not too surprised.
The fate related to the time traveler was indeed not easy to predict.
There might also be gods involved here, so that would be even more difficult.
"I'm sorry, I didn't expect it would hurt that much. Was it serious?"
"Hard to tell."
The proprietress whispered, "If I could complete the divination, it will be a minor injury. If I cannot complete it, it will even affect my astrology."
"That serious?"
Roland looked at the proprietress and instinctively felt that she was telling the truth.
"If you want to help me, invite me to the castle. I might find inspiration there."
Roland did not expect the result to be like this. He nodded with a serious expression, "No problem, I, Baron Minhausen Roland Galaxia, sincerely invite..."
His words stopped short because he didn't know the proprietress' name.
"Egilina Xaki Stars. Just call me Egilina. Would you keep my secret?"
"Of course. I sincerely invite Miss Xaki to come to my castle as a guest."
"Just to correct you, I’m a young lady, not a madam." The proprietress nodded and continued: "I need to take a short rest, and I will go to your castle in three days at the latest."
Seeing that Egilina's spirit was a little weak, Roland said a few words of relief and left.
After holding on and watching Roland leave, Egilina's eyes darkened and she fell softly.
Before she lost consciousness, two voices still echoed in her mind.
"Don't go there, avoid any contact with Baron Minhausen!"
"You must go! Stargazers are destined to explore the unknown!"