“No, no, I didn’t want to shoot.”
Seeing that the old vampire and the vampire dressed as a coachman were both panicked, Shade quickly explained, and the old man became even more panicked:
“You really have a gun on you!”
While talking, a third person came in from outside. Wearing brown leather boots on his feet, a straight formal suit on his body, and a cylindrical hat on his head, there is gold decoration on the hat. This was for a very upper-class gentleman, who appeared from the doorway with a frown on his face and looked at the situation in the warehouse corridor:
“Thief? What are you here to steal?”
Then he saw Shade who was wearing a mask. He knew at a glance that he was not a normal person, so he immediately pulled out a black pistol from his waist:
“Don’t move!”
The bright muzzle of the pistol was pointed at Sha De, who stood in the autumn morning sunshine. Sha De, whose eyes had not yet adapted to the light, could not see his appearance clearly at the first time.
“Oh, you are so brave! This is the royal family’s vineyard, do you know whose property you are stealing?”
The well-dressed middle-aged man in a black coat scolded:
“Surrender quickly, or else.”
Shad’s eyes gradually adapted to the light outside the door, so he also saw who the person holding the gun was. He was stunned, but he didn’t expect that he actually had an acquaintance here:
“Mr. Bernhardt?”
“You know who I am? Then, raise your hands, hand over your weapons, sir, be decent! We don’t want a conflict to break out.”
“I am.”
As he spoke, Shade wanted to raise his hand to take off his mask, but Armand Bernhardt misunderstood this action and immediately said:
“Don’t move! You now have the power to defend everything you do, but everything you say.”
“I am.”
“You dare to covet the royal family’s property. You are so bold. Now raise your hands and tell the truth. There is actually nothing here. What are you here to steal?”
Seeing that he ignored his excuse, Shade, who had prepared the casting materials in advance, took a step forward gently, and then the three vampires in the corridor were surprised to find that Shade was missing.
“It’s me, Mr. Bernhardt.”
Shad’s helpless voice came from the corridor door. Mr. Bernhardt turned his head and found the stranger standing in the sun leaning against the door.
Shad took off the mask on his face. Although he wore witch eyeshadow, familiar people were not affected by this eyeshadow:
“It’s me.”
The upper-class gentleman with the little bat symbol floating above his head squinted his eyes and saw Shade’s face clearly in the sun. He opened his mouth in surprise, then immediately lowered the muzzle of the gun and stuffed it into the leather belt around his waist. In holster:
“Mr. Hammy Watson? Long time no see, you seem to have become more handsome!”
The surprised expression turned into a smile. He waved to indicate to his companions not to be cautious, then stepped forward and gave Shade a warm hug:
“Before I left Fort Midhill, I left you a letter at that auction house, inviting you to visit me. Unexpectedly, we met in less than half a month! Why did you show up here? Oh, no need to explain to me, there must be something else to deal with.”
The Viscount, who had been saved by Shade more than once, was very excited.
The Vineyards of the White River Valley do belong to the royal family of Carsenlique, that is, the Anjou family. However, the royal family has many properties within the United Kingdom, and it is impossible to manage every property personally. The Bernhardt family is a distant relative of the royal family. Mr. Bernhardt, who has a family vineyard business in Huntington, also looks after the vineyards for the royal family.
The old man who just walked out of the warehouse was the caretaker sent by Mr. Bernhardt, and the driver who drove the carriage was Mr. Bernhardt’s own driver. Surrounding the Bernhardt family, there is a small vampire clan, and these people are Mr. Bernhardt’s confidants.
The Anjou royal family entrusted the vineyard to Mr. Bernhardt, paying him an annual fee, and the output of the vineyard was transported directly to the royal capital Willendale.
As a relative of the royal family, Mr. Bernhardt will certainly not take the grapes and red wine produced here as his own, but it is still okay to take some small advantages. What Shade just encountered was that Mr. Bernhardt was trying to stack the fresh meat from his manor for the winter in the warehouse of the vineyard.
In case Shade didn’t believe it, he specially invited Shade to take a look at the warehouse. It turned out that they were fresh dead cows and dead sheep:
“It’s not that I’m taking advantage, but there’s no other use for an empty warehouse, right? Besides, it’s troublesome to get blood at home, but in the royal vineyard, no one will suspect it.”
Mr. Bernhardt explained as best he could, not wanting to embarrass himself in front of his friends. For a decent person like him, this is something even more difficult to accept than pointing a gun at him.
Shad’s acquaintance with Mr. Bernhardt will begin this fall. Although this gentleman went to Fort Midhill with the divine possession prepared for the vampire god, he himself did not know much about it.
On the night of the Battle of Middleburg, he followed the vampires of the High Ring to break into the Cassandra Auction House and was captured alive. If it hadn’t been for Shade’s unexpected visit that night, I’m afraid the witch’s apprentice, Miss Swift, wouldn’t have let him live until dawn.
Mr. Bernhardt no longer remembers what questions Shade asked him that night, but he still remembers that Shade saved him in the Sin Mansion and the Auction House. We unexpectedly reunited here, and this gentleman was extremely happy:
“There is no chance to repay you in Middleburg. Mr. Watson, please let me treat you to dinner, now. But not here, it is too shameful. Let’s go into the city now, to Huntingdon City. I know Very nice club, you will love the scenery in Carsonlick.”
He did not ask why Shade appeared here, but extended an invitation very enthusiastically.
Shad was not familiar with this city, but he felt relieved when he heard “Huntington”:
“Mr. Bernhardt, are you familiar with this place?”
The two of them left together from the dilapidated warehouse corridor. The old man in charge of guarding the manor locked the door of the warehouse, while the coachman went to prepare the carriage.
After leaving the corridor and officially entering Kasenlik in early winter, Shade saw that behind him was a small manor that seemed to have declined, and the corridor just now was directly below the front of the manor. If you want to enter the manor, you have to pass the stairs on the left and right sides.
“Of course I am familiar with this place. I spend eight months of the year in the city and only return to Willendale in midsummer. After all, the summer in Huntingdon is too hot.”
Mr. Bernhardt introduced it enthusiastically. Seeing Shade observing the surroundings, he added:
“Although the White River Valley Vineyard belongs to the royal family, due to poor management by the previous manager, the vineyard has long since declined, and the annual output is no more than 500 kroner. It’s more than 400 pounds, but the cost of hiring workers and maintaining the manor costs more than 400 pounds. Plus other expenses, we are actually losing money every year. But since the Anjou family is willing to pay me to look after this place, I have no reason to refuse.”
He shrugged:
“The royal family has a lot of property, and they don’t care at all about this shortfall.”
“So is it likely that I will buy this place?”
Xia De asked, looking around in the sunshine. The weather here is very good. There are dilapidated houses and abandoned flower fields in the small manor. Behind the house are towering hills, and outside the manor there are large tracts of vineyards. The sky is blue, with big clouds like cotton candy, and the sun is dazzling, but it is undoubtedly a good weather.
“I can ask for you, but it’s difficult without Kassenrik’s identity.”
As Mr. Bernhardt spoke, he pointed to the carriage outside:
“This way please.”
“It doesn’t matter if I can’t buy it, I just want to inquire about it.”
Shad followed Mr. Bernhardt on the uneven soil of the manor, walked through the manor and stood in front of the shabby wooden gate, only to discover that the White River Valley Vineyard itself was on a higher hill.
Looking out, towards the blue sky, the boundless plains, and the city sitting on the horizon in the distance. This is scenery that a foreigner has never seen before. In the world of the steam age, he could never have imagined such primitive yet natural scenery.
Xia De smiled unconsciously, and his mood was as bright as the sun above his head:
“The most important thing today is that I want to ask you something about this city.”
“No problem, we’ll talk about it when we get to the city. I still have some influence locally.”
Unlike the mountainous Fort Midhill, Huntington is located on the great plains in the middle of the Old World and is rich in food and various cash crops, especially grapes. As he rode Mr. Bernhardt’s carriage toward the city, Schad could see the endless grape plantations from the car window, and saw the women in headscarves working beside the beehives under the clear blue sky. Traders carrying cargo boxes walked on the country roads.
Obviously they are all cities in the Old World, but the city of Huntington in the south is completely different from the late autumn scenery of Coldwater Port, Torbesk and Fort Midhill.
The girls around Shade always admired the vineyards in Kasenlik in the south. Even Dr. Schneider, who came to Kasenlik for an academic conference, admired the scenery here. Although it is not the best time for the scenery in midsummer, the scenery in late autumn has made outsiders understand why people always praise the vineyards in the south so much.
The White River Valley Vineyard where Schade appeared is in the east of Huntington, only a twenty-minute drive from the city. And if you ride alone, the time you need to get into town can be shortened.
On the carriage, Mr. Bernhardt enthusiastically introduced the city to Shade. As he gradually approached the urban area of Huntington from the countryside, the vast tracts of wilderness vineyard scenery disappeared, and the dazzling sunlight softened. Instead, there was the scenery of a big city in the steam age that Shade was very familiar with.