well.
Although this person is a bit neurotic, at least he is reasonable.
So next, with Frick's presence, Kak went into the room and sat at the table. He and Darent drafted an employment contract and both signed it.
Hitzfeld stood by and shook his head repeatedly.
She still couldn't figure out how things turned out like this.
Xia Yibing stood next to her, and seeing her conflicted expression, she couldn't help but reach out and pinch her shoulders a few times.
It's rare to see Hitzfeld get humiliated.
This expression of being troubled by an accident is particularly cute when made by her.
"This is the right choice."
But she still had to comfort the girl. She leaned close to her ear and whispered, "There's an archaeologist in this team... He's a full professor at Minglun University. Don't you think he can help our work?"
"……really."
Hitzfeld narrowed his eyes, then nodded heavily after a while.
Archaeologists are not like mercenary rangers, you can see a group of them in any remote place.
This profession is very rare, even rarer than undertakers. Onsin is not likely to attract more than two archaeologists to visit, so if nothing unexpected happens, their companions will include Bojin-Welensel, the old man who bought the ring that they met in the inn that morning.
The main goal of her trip was the seven-eyed stone tablet. In this regard, a knowledgeable archaeologist could be of more help than Frick, the Golden Knight.
"Knight Frick is staying here temporarily..."
"Are you sure the girl was wearing something prohibited and walked in?"
Just then, another noise came from the corridor.
Everyone turned around and saw that the door, which was not closed tightly, was pushed open from the outside. A tall and strong white-haired man stepped in, followed by Bogin-Welensel.
He was very excited when he saw Hitzfeld, and he whispered something and pointed at her with his hand.
The girl with the hat stood behind him with her head down, her hands and feet together, as if she was unwilling to get involved.
interesting.
Hitzfeld first glanced at the two men, then fixed his eyes on the white-haired man's face.
If she guessed correctly, this person was Knight Smail.
Chapter 21 Team Prototype
The Torch Bar is one of the most famous bars in the living area of Wengsain City, so the hall here is very spacious and can accommodate hundreds of people for fun at the same time.
At this moment, at night, a large group of people gathered in the hall of the Torch Bar, making loud noises around a round table and playing the game of finger-guessing and drinking.
In the spacious open space near the bar, there is a row of scantily clad young dancers. They are only wearing light veils and are desperately twisting their slender waists amid the shouts and cheers of a group of men. Any revealing movement can cause the bar to shake.
It was in such a noisy atmosphere, which was completely opposite to the word serious, that Hitzfeld and the other two sat in the corner of the bar, and across the round table sat Frick, Smail, Kak, Professor Willensel, his student Leah, and a tall fat man.
"Don't be so serious~" the fat man raised a glass of beer and shouted, "Since you are all about to become companions of the team - even if it's only temporary, shouldn't we celebrate it properly!?"
"I agree!" Kak raised his glass and toasted to the white-haired knight at the table: "I'll have to trouble Knight Smail... and Knight Frick... our safety is in your hands!"
"Gulp...Gulp..." After saying that, he drank the whole glass of beer without waiting for others to react.
"I can't drink..." The white-haired knight, Smail, showed a helpless smile, "This time I mainly arranged for you to meet each other. After all, this is the first time that so many teams have come together. Many things need to be made clear in advance to avoid any more twists and turns after entering the red soil."
"Of course..."
"Knight Smail doesn't need to drink, we can just drink it..."
During the greetings and exchanges, Hitzfeld and Xia Yibing hardly participated.
Firstly, they had the advantage of gender, and they couldn't force the two ladies to drink. Secondly, their identities were sensitive after all, and many people at the table were wary of her detective identity.
This is understandable, because military control does not mean zero crime. The military only maintains basic public order, and usually does not care about some acts of buying low and selling high, or even smuggling, as long as the connections are in place and the money is enough.
The tall fat man, the caravan leader named Hughes, had been treating them with caution. The few times he spoke to them were mostly tentative. It was obvious that he did not want to reveal too much about himself at this banquet.
On the other hand, Professor Pogin-Welensere seemed a little unhappy...
Archaeologists actually have a nickname for certain parts of Sara: mud rats.
This is an absolutely derogatory name, because these people always rely on their own knowledge to act privately. They often hire locals to dig up relics and tombs, just to be the first to achieve their own fame, and naturally they will break the law in the process.
Willensel is no exception.
Although he is a serious professor at Minglun University, he does not hesitate to use his reputation when taking people out to dig graves.
What remote mountain village or remote town...the other party wouldn't recognize his name even if he said it, so why should he follow the rules?
In his opinion, those village women and farmers were stupid people. They didn't understand the true value of the half-opened jars, half-books, and rough broken bowls dug out from the ground. Some of them were even used to hold drinking water!
So of course he had to use some special means... whether it was coaxing or buying... or hiring people to steal, he felt that he was doing the right thing - he was rescuing history from a mob.
It was true that he had committed crimes before, so he usually avoided police officers, detectives, and the like.
But he failed today.
He fell into the hands of a group of detectives, but he brought it upon himself.
"Miss Hitzfeld..." A group of people over there were drinking enthusiastically. The girl in hunting suit and hat suddenly took off her hat, revealing her light yellow hair tied into a ponytail, and leaned over here with a cup of tea.
"I'm sorry for causing this misunderstanding...but the teacher is definitely not the kind of person who would use any means to force you to buy. He just cares about you and is afraid that you will be murdered by evil creatures~"
Hitzfeld raised his eyebrows.
This statement basically clears the old man of any responsibility.
But he was still a child, too young to understand the truth that “shirking responsibility can sometimes make people hate you more.”
"Are you ashamed to ask your student to apologize for you?" Xia Yibing would not forgive this master and apprentice. She stared at Wei Lunsel and said, "If we don't know Frick and we are civilians, what do you want to do? Should we ask Smail to force us to buy the ring?"
"I..." Weilencel opened his mouth to defend himself, but he couldn't utter a word for a long time.
Although his intention was good, assuming that the other party was an ordinary person and he was saving people by doing this, but from another perspective, his methods were indeed not glorious.
"I admit it, okay?" He decided to just go for broke, poured himself half a glass of wine, drank it all, and then started coughing violently.
"Ahem, ahem - it's all my fault! I broke the law! If you want to arrest someone, just arrest me! Leah wasn't involved!"
"That depends on your performance." Hitzfeld raised his lips and stopped him from pouring the wine. "Don't try that... It doesn't matter how many glasses of wine you drink. Whether we hold you accountable after this trip is not about this, but whether you can play a role."
"I'm just a digger. What role can I play?"
"Can you first tell me why you came into the red clay?"
"What else can we do!" Weirensel sneered, "Don't you know how many treasures are buried in that land?"
"It's in an area a little deeper than the plain... Just dig wherever you want! It can be said that there are cultural relics and antiques everywhere!"
"The Worm Plains didn't look like this before," Leah added softly. "Even the Burro Canyon... this entire section of terrain was formed abruptly. The teacher has been studying various artifacts unearthed from the plains in recent years. He believes that there must be a prehistoric city buried in that red soil."
"Leah!" Weilencel blew his beard angrily.
"You even told them this?"
"What does it matter?" Leah pouted.
"Anyway, you can't hide it after entering the red soil."
Hitzfeld looked amused.
The cooperation between this teacher and student can be said to be seamless, like an old fox leading a young fox... In just a few words, they created a strange atmosphere of "you'll be lucky to know this".
Glancing at Darent.
Mu Ren had gone drinking with Kak's group. The two of them were chatting with their arms around each other, and burst into laughter from time to time.
"Leah." Hitzfeld decided to make the question clearer. "How old are you?"
"I'm seventeen." Leah answered obediently, "But I skipped a grade... so I can go to Minglun University. My teacher has always said that I have a talent for this!"
"A talent for archaeology?"
"Hmm~!"
"Isn't it a talent for digging holes?"
"Uh...I don't quite understand what Miss Hitzfeld means."
"It's simple. He can sense it himself. His perception should be very strong... He can recognize this ring from such a distance, which is no problem for him to find bones and artifacts through several layers of soil. So I thought that if such an archaeological team is equipped with someone who is good at digging holes - or good at fighting and solving problems... it must be more suitable than having overlapping functions."
Her tone was very light, but the content made the teacher and student change their expressions.
"Oh, Miss Hitzfeld..."
"I don't want to embarrass you."
Hitzfeld interrupted Leah, pulled out a stack of photos and threw them on the table.
"Look at these things, do you have any idea?"
Leah and Willensel looked at each other and each picked up some photos.
This was naturally a photo of the Seven-Eyed Slate. Leah had a confused expression when she saw the photo, but Weilencel immediately frowned, and the pupils of his blue-gray eyes shrank slightly.
"Where did you get these photos?" he asked the girl.
"Never mind. Tell me first whether you recognize the carvings inside."
"Is this what you mean by watching my performance? Did you enter the red clay for this thing?"
"Yes."
"Is this a deal? If I can help you, you won't hold me responsible?"
"You can think so."
"Okay then." Willensel took a deep breath.
"We have a deal."
Chapter 22: The Legend of the Monarch Insect
After making a verbal agreement with Hitzfeld, Pogin-Wellensel changed his attitude and began to stare at the photo more seriously.
"What did you find?" Hitzfeld asked him.
"These seven eyes...are you sure they are really eyes?" Wei Lunsel glanced at her and frowned slightly.
"What do you mean?" Xia Yibing didn't understand. She felt that it was something very obvious. Anyone who saw those symbols would think they were eyes.
"No... I mean you think this is an eye because you have a preconceived notion that this thing is a sculpture left by humans..." Willensel shook his head slowly, "But think about it carefully, would humans leave something like this?"
"Let's ignore the carvings on it for now and talk about the stone slab itself." He put the photo on the table and pointed to the shadows outside the stone carvings. "Look here... the traces of weathering are very obvious. This is surface rock, which means it was not brought out from deep underground by some movement."
"You mean it was on the surface a long time ago."
"Apparently so."
Hitzfeld also began to frown.
She understood what the other party meant... If this inference is correct, then it can be said that the history of these carvings is not very long.
Because if it's too old, even just a few months or even dozens of days, it might have been blown away beyond recognition by the wind and rain on the plains - even now looking at the photos, many traces are blurred.
She originally thought it was a problem with the photography and angle, but now it seems there are more reasons than that.
This is a serious problem, because anything that could leave such a carving on the surface over a period of months or dozens of days could obviously not be human beings themselves.
After talking with Frick, she had a general understanding of the basic operation of the city of Onsayin.
The northwest third of the city is the fortress area, and the other two thirds are the living area. In the fortress area, there are no functional facilities except the armory. It is a cold prison, and ordinary people will feel depressed and desperate even if they walk in it.
The living area is where they enjoy themselves now. There are bars, brothels, restaurants, casinos... There is everything here, and most of them are run by veterans.
There is a strict defense line between these two areas.
It was easy to enter the city of Onsayin, but it was not easy to enter the Onsayin Fortress. There was no such thing as applying in advance - as long as you were not the garrison on duty that day and did not have the order from the commanders of the fortress, you could not enter even if you had an urgent matter.
It is already difficult to enter the fortress, let alone enter the red soil plain from the fortress area.
In most cases, the Red Dirt Patrol is the only one qualified to do this.
If a caravan wants to enter the Red Soil, it has to rely on the protection of the Red Soil Patrol - this is a matter of order. The caravan follows the patrol's duty schedule and follows them when they set off, rather than them driving the patrol to protect them.
