Jinyin Town was an important town in the south of the Ebs Kingdom. It had one-third of the country's mineral resources. It used to be the center of the whole Ebs Kingdom, but now, it was just an independent town that had escaped from the power struggle of the royal family.
There was no doubt that this was a tragedy, but also a kind of irony. The dirty deals between the nobles of the Kingdom of Ebs never stopped, and the bards had enough creativity and material to write all kinds of stories.
Caesar walked through the bustling streets of Gold and Silver Town. Since half of the men in Gold and Silver Town were miners or blacksmiths, the people there were particularly valiant. They were even more valiant than the Northlanders, who loved to fight. There were burly men everywhere who wore simple furs that exposed their upper bodies.
Unlike most human cities, there were many halflings here.
The number of Airadia halflings was much more than any other human race, and there was no unified government. Halflings with amazing reproductive and survival abilities could be seen everywhere, but Jinyin Town was especially abundant. From the town to the south, around the Bramble Mountain, there was an endless prairie that was the territory of the halflings. They had been fighting with the Ebs for hundreds of years over mineral veins and territory, and the halflings' ability to mine and craft was also needed by humans. Therefore, in some border towns of the Ebs Kingdom, there was a strange situation where the two sides would attack each other when war broke out, and do business together when war broke out.
The Ebs and halflings in Jinyin Town had always maintained this strange tacit understanding, but recently, with a large number of adventurers entering the town, the town had become chaotic. The town was full of rumors of "Yukrasil", "Nine-Headed Demon" and so on.
Caesar kept a low profile, looking around like a fledgling adventurer. The mercenaries on the street roared as they hurriedly passed by. In the sound of the collision of leather armor, they stepped on a washbasin that was drying on the side of the road and knocked over the owner of the washbasin. They glanced at it and left without a care.
Caesar took a closer look. It was a female centaur who had been knocked down. Her upper body was basically the same as a normal human's. Her yellowish hair was combed to the back of her head, and she wore a cloth shirt with large patches on it. Her lower body was a well-tailored skirt.
She placed her hands on the ground and curled up her four hooves. She stood up with difficulty and patted the dust off her trousers. She looked at the newly dyed stain with a bitter expression.
Caesar bent down to pick up the washbasin that had been kicked to the side. He took two steps forward and handed it over.
The female centaur looked at him in surprise and thanked him in a low voice. Her voice was exactly the same as a human's. She took the basin and scooped a spoonful of water from the water tank beside the house and rinsed it again.
Caesar didn't lower his head. Looking at her slightly swaying tail, he took the initiative to say, "It seems that living here isn't easy."
"Natural disaster, sir."
Caesar's appearance was not that of an upper-class person. The centaur did not turn around and just whispered, "A sudden fire burned all our savings. My husband was forced to go into the mountains to be a guide for an outsider like you. They said they were looking for something called Eukera. Goddess above, that is an extremely dangerous life. There are Terror Wolves, Fiery Mane and Mountain Demons in the mountains …"
As she spoke, she choked with sobs. Her voice was filled with sadness and grief.
"What happened to him?"
The centaur turned around. "An earthquake, a sudden one.
Perhaps it wasn't an earthquake. People said it was caused by the Nine-Headed Serpent. "
"My husband was on the rugged mountain path when the earthquake brought rolling rocks." She sobbed. "Those outsiders didn't even bring his body back."
"I'm sorry."
Caesar sighed. This was indeed a sad story. When the centaur calmed down a little, he continued. "In a sense, I'm like them. I'm an explorer from the north. Can you tell me the latest news?
I heard the locals shouting about Eukera Hill and the Nine-Headed Serpent.
I'm sorry to remind you of the sad past. This is a small reward. "
As he spoke, he took out a silver coin from his pocket. After thinking for a while, he took out another one and placed it in the centaur's palm.
"That's too much, sir.
I don't have any secrets. The stories that everyone knows aren't worth that much. "The centaur glanced at it and declined.
The Kingdom of Ebs, which relied on mining and smelting, was not rich. The cost of living was not high. Two silver coins could only buy two meals of wine in the trading city, but here, it could last a week. In the centaur's eyes, this was a lot of money.
Caesar said a few words, but she still accepted it.
"Thank you for your generosity, sir.
Please come in and rest. I'll try to tell you everything I know. "
Under the centaur's invitation, Caesar walked into the small house by the street. The house was not big. There was a low window on the left and right. Next to the wall opposite the door was a wooden bed. Between the bed and the window was a cupboard. The top opened and the bottom had three drawers.
There was also a mirror in the corner. There were a few cracks on the edge. The pattern on the wooden base was so simple that it did not have any beauty. It looked like something that was casually drawn.
Caesar found a place to sit. There was a smell of sawdust in the house. It looked like it was newly built. In addition, there was a faint smell of mutton. That was the smell of the centaur.
"The nine-headed serpent is not a recent news. There were legends about it in the Kingdom of Ebs a long time ago. Some halfling clans living in the prairie would occasionally tell stories about it."
The centaur poured a glass of water for Caesar and then knelt down: "It is said that it swam in the dangerous peaks and crevices of the Thorn Mountain Range, swallowing all living things that could be swallowed. It is said that it has an immortal body. All of its heads must be cut off at the same time to kill it. It is a thousand meters long and has ninety-nine venomous teeth."
"Originally, this was just a legend. It was as baseless as the legend of the Black Dragon in the North. But it was said that a month and a half ago, the nine-headed serpent appeared together with Ukrahir. At that time, most of the miners and adventurers in the Thorn Mountain Range died. Only a few survivors ran back to bring back the news. Later, they also went crazy and soon died."
"The people in the town were in a panic. Some said that the nine-headed serpent would destroy everything. Some said that the nine-headed serpent was holding the branches of the World Tree in its mouth, waiting for warriors to challenge it. Many people planned to leave here and seek refuge in other parts of the kingdom. My husband and I also planned to leave.
But for some reason, this news attracted a lot of foreigners. These rich foreigners brought a lot of vitality to the town, so we stayed. Who knew … "
Caesar listened and nodded. He slowly thought about it. In his memory attic, he did not find any information about the nine-headed serpent. This basically proved that this creature did not exist before Airadia.
The nine-headed serpent was either a farce or an unknown creature that had yet to be discovered.
"Other than that." Caesar pondered for a moment and asked, "Has it appeared again?"
"No, but recently, there have been many people who have gone missing for unknown reasons. Most of them were adventurers who went to the Thorn Mountain Range. Without their loud voices, the people in the town would not have gotten any other information."
Caesar smiled and stood up. "Thank you for your information. This information is very useful to me."
"Thank you for your generosity, sir. May the Goddess bless you." The centaur stood up and bowed, thanking him again.
Caesar nodded and took two steps back. He turned and walked to the door. When he was about to leave, he suddenly lowered his head and said, "Madam.
I think if Abu's life is not easy, the North might be a good place to go. "
"The North …" The centaur repeated. It was the first time she heard such advice.
Caesar did not bother to explain. He walked out of the house and closed the wooden door behind him, acting like a normal human being. After that, he went to the shapeshifters who were hiding in Ebs and questioned them. The answer he got was similar to what the centaur said. There was no more inside information.