The luxurious villa of the Russell family. ·Bi? Qi￠Chinese\wen.徃/ ^Mian¨沸￠跃/黩,
When Bernadette found out the exact time when her father would go on a long sea voyage, her face had been tense for several days.
Dad is a big liar!
You clearly said a long time ago that you would take me out to sea to see the world, but now you're going back on your word!
She sat on her own bed, holding her chin with her hand and looking very angry.
Although... I can also ask Mr. Sparrow to take me out to sea, but that's different. Mr. Sparrow doesn't owe me anything, he can't always help me unconditionally.
It's all Dad's fault!
At this moment, the door creaked.
She caught sight of Roselle, who was tiptoeing towards her with his hands behind his back, and immediately turned her head away, snorting loudly.
"Baby~my angel~Bernadette~"
Russell came over with a playful smile, and ran to whichever direction her little face turned. When she became really impatient and even angry, Russell took out his hands from behind his back: they were full of various dolls.
"Dangdangdang!"
Bernadette looked calmly at the puppets in Roselle's hands, "Do you feel you owe me something and want to make up for it with these puppets?"
"…"
Oh, children are so smart, it really gives parents a headache.
Russell sat down next to her: "Actually, Dad wants to take you out more than anyone else."
She tilted her head and squinted her eyes: "But..."
"But... you also know that this is Dad's first time going out to sea. Everything is full of unknowns and uncertainties. I don't want you to take risks with me. \欣*丸_夲^神′栈` !已?发布~最!薪`咬_踕/"
Unexpectedly, when he said that, Bernadette shouted loudly: "This is what I'm really angry about!"
"Wha…what?"
"It's because of the danger that mom and I are worried about you! You left us at home and went out to take risks by yourself. If...something happens to you, what will mom and I do?"
"No... nothing will happen."
"Then take me and mom with you."
"It's too dangerous."
Bernadette pointed at him and said, "Look, you're contradicting yourself!"
"…"
Roselle stroked his forehead. He had never felt so powerless even when facing the evil god.
After a while, Bernadette suddenly sighed: "Forget it, I know that even a dragon can't pull back the decision you made."
Russell scratched his head and muttered, "The dragon... can really be pulled back."
Her tone suddenly became gentle, and she held Russell's big hand and said seriously: "Dad, you must promise me that you must pay attention to safety and come back early~"
"My mother and I are at home...waiting for you!"
She held out her little finger and said, "Pin it!"
Chapter 510: The Missing Arrodes
Russell's heart melted for a moment. He hugged his daughter and suddenly had the urge to cancel the voyage.
But he finally suppressed the impulse, took a deep breath, reached out and hooked his daughter's delicate fingers.
"Hook! Jing\wu-novel*king~' first release\"
Half an hour later, after telling Bernadette a bedtime story and coaxing her to sleep, Roselle tiptoed out of the bedroom and as soon as he opened the door he saw Matilda standing guard at the door.
He whispered, "Didn't you go to bed?"
Matilda shook her head.
Russell carefully closed the door, took his wife's hand and walked away, "Will you blame me, Matilda?"
"What?"
There was more doubt in her eyes.
"I blame myself for being willful and running out to sea alone for some inexplicable reasons, leaving you and your daughter at home."
She thought for a moment and said softly, "You've always been like this."
Russell patted his head and laughed at himself, "Yeah, I've always been this unreliable."
"No."
Matilda looked up at him and said seriously, "I want to say, this is you!"
"…"
Russell was stunned.
After a while, he gently touched his wife's cheek and said, "I'm going to church."
"Hmm~"
...
As soon as I returned to the bedroom, I heard Bernadette's prayer. As soon as I logged into Sephiroth Castle and connected, I heard the girl say crisply:
"Mr. Sparrow, can you find a way to prevent Dad from going out to sea?"
"…Huh? Why?"
"Because...I can't bear to leave him!"
"…"
"Please, Mr. Sparrow~ Mommy also misses Daddy so much. I, I even saw her crying secretly."
"…"
"I, I know we are not related, and you are not obligated to help me all the time, but I can swear that I can repay you when I grow up! Okay?"
Edward hesitated for a while: "Not good."
...
Early the next morning.
Edward and Dubois arrived at the door of Russell's house and saw from a distance that the servants were loading things onto the carriage.
Roselle's four "knights" were responsible for on-site command.
At around eight o'clock, Russell, wearing a neat windbreaker, came out with his wife and daughter.
Edward saw this and walked forward, "Good morning, Russell."
"Morning, Klein."
Roselle greeted him and walked forward. "I went to the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery last night. As you know, when it comes to good things, no one in this world has more than the Church."
"The Archbishop told me that there is indeed a sealed object in the church that is said to be able to know all kinds of things."
Edward's heart skipped a beat. He was so lucky that he got it right in one try?
"but..."
Russell raised an eyebrow, "That sealed object... disappeared not long ago."
"Missing?!"
Edward was startled, thinking he had heard it wrong.
Arrodes is missing?
How is that possible? !
Although everyone has been teasing that Steam Princess is the weakest among the Seven Gods, and her church is also slightly inferior, but no matter how weak she is, she is not so weak that people can just run into the church and steal the Sealed Artifacts casually, right? If you say that you can take advantage of the Mechanical Heart using the Sealed Artifact to steal it, then it is normal, but going deep into the church to steal...
Even though it seemed like Future Ince Zangwill stole the 0-08 Quill Pen easily, it was clearly a py transaction between the Goddess of Night and the Maozi Priest.
If Arrodes had disappeared long ago, then what had I been doing all this time?
etc!
That's not right. I had divined before that Arrodes was in Trier Cathedral.
"Who dares to steal from the church?"
This question silenced Russell.
It's me!
This period of time has seen two consecutive "stealings"!
Although some tricks were used, it was essentially stealing.
It's all because of that damn evil god.
Roselle coughed and said, "The archbishop means that it is still unclear how the sealed object disappeared. It is not ruled out that... it was simply misplaced and could not be found for the time being."
Well.
The church shouldn't be so careless.
"The main reason is that the negative effects of that seal are too severe. It has been a long time since it was used."
Edward wondered: "Negative effects?"
"The archbishop didn't say much about the details."
Roselle patted his shoulder and said, "But don't be discouraged, Klein. I have asked the Archbishop to help me look for it again. When I return from this voyage, there may be good news."
"Hey, thank you, Russell."
"Hahaha, alright, let's go, I'll take you to see the 'vehicle' I'm riding in this time!"
The group soon arrived at the port of Trier, which is an inland river that leads directly to the sea. All large and small ships entering and leaving Trier have to pass through this river, which is the main artery of Intis's foreign trade.
At the port, a large ship was docked, and the crew and sailors were constantly transporting things into it.
During this period, steam ironclad ships had not yet been invented, but some steam turbines had been installed on the basis of sailing ships.
Some nobles who had heard that Roselle was going to sea today had been waiting for a long time. They came forward to say hello and send the Son of Steam off on a long voyage.
"Dubois, what do you think? What I boasted about back then will come true today. I will take this ship to the Aradek Islands and exchange it for an ancient ghost ship - the 'Black Throne'. Hey, that ship is the reason why I dare to go out to sea."
Russell raised his chin and said proudly.
DuBois looked up at the ship and, instead of being sarcastic as usual, he said, as he had that night, "It's smooth sailing."
"…"
Russell felt that something was missing, so he said, "How about you come out with me? Remember what I told you at the beginning? This world is a ball. If you sail in one direction, you can return from the other direction. You insisted on talking nonsense at that time, so I will take you to see it with your own eyes."
After a pause, he looked at Edward and said, "Klein, do you believe what I said?"
"Well, I don't believe it."
"Hahaha, then let's wait for the great Russell Columbus, Magellan, and Gustav to return safely."
An hour later, everything was ready.
Russell stood on the deck, waving goodbye to the people on the shore with high spirits:
"Goodbye everyone!"
With a shake of the hull, the ship slowly left the port.
Very suddenly, the clear sky was covered with dark clouds, strong winds blew, and thunder rolled in the dark clouds.
For a moment, the waves of the Trier River were surging, shaking the large and small ships in the port. Roselle, who had waved goodbye with high spirits just a moment ago, now held the railing tightly with a pale face to prevent himself from being shaken away.,咸_鱼+墈.书,蛧. *無`错*內*内容/
This sudden situation surprised everyone, except Bernadette, who looked at Edward with surprise, her eyes shining.
Edward shushed her and winked.
"It's him indeed!"
Edward certainly didn't make trouble because of Bernadette's request last night. Since Arrodes might just be temporarily unavailable, then Russell would have to stay in Trier for another day...
Two days...
Three days...
Day 4
When Russell once again stood at the bow and announced that he was going on a long journey, he had completely lost the high spirits and excitement of the first day, and the number of people seeing him off at the port was only one-tenth of that on the first day.
They had been delivering the ship for four consecutive days. Every time, there was either a strong wind just after arriving at the port or a storm as soon as they set sail. It was as if the weather was specifically against Russell.
Many sailors were frightened and thought that Russell might be cursed by the sea. They resigned in a hurry, which made Russell furious:
"Cursed by the sea? Then I have to get to the sea first, right? I haven't even seen the sea yet?!"
So on the fourth day, Roselle directly invited the archbishop of the church to come and take charge of the situation, and personally sent him out to sea.
Of course, even if the archbishop had not come today, Edward had no intention of doing anything else.
The divination at Sefirah Castle confirmed that Arrodes was still in the church, but they couldn't find him after three days of searching. Excluding the very small possibility, it was that someone deliberately didn't want to lend Arrodes to Roselle.
But why?
Arrodes is only a Level 2 Sealed Artifact after all. Facing the request of Roselle, the "Son of Steam", the Church has no reason to hide it.
It can't be that they are targeting me on purpose and just don't want to give it to me?
That doesn't make sense.
"Goodbye, everyone!"
Roselle waved his hand unsurely, and Bernadette and others on the shore waved back lazily, as if they all expected another violent storm to come.
But this time,
Nothing happened.
As the ship sailed out of the port and turned into the waterway, it headed south quickly and soon disappeared from everyone's sight.
It was not until then that everyone reacted.
This time... Roselle finally set sail successfully?
We don't have to send him out to sea again and again?
Bernadette stared blankly into the distance, and for a moment she forgot to feel sad... No, she didn't know whether she should be sad or not. She was still thinking that maybe they were just going a little further this time, and would soon encounter a storm and have to return.
It wasn't until she saw the look in Mr. Sparrow's eyes that she really realized:
Dad, he's really gone!
"Wow…Wow!!!"
The little girl burst into tears: "Dad!!!"
Bernadette cried all the way back home from the port.
Matilda was trying to comfort the little girl all the way, but she didn't know what the little girl said to her, and suddenly Matilda started crying too.
Chapter 511 The Woman in the Black Dress
The mother and daughter hugged each other and cried.
Edward winked at Dubois repeatedly, and he waved his hands repeatedly: "Boss, I don't have any way to deal with the child."
"And Matilda?"
"...You also know how I deal with women. Although I hate that bastard Roselle, this kind of thing..."
"Okay, shut up."
Edward sighed and walked over, "Matilda, can I have a word with Bernadette?"
"sure."
Matilda rubbed her red eyes, forced a smile, and walked straight back to the villa.
Edward squatted down in front of Bernadette and wiped her tears. "How long will you keep crying?"
"Cry until dad comes back!"
"Then you'll have a lot to cry about. Russell's trip will take at least a month. Do you have that many tears?"
She pouted and sniffed, "Then I'll drink more water!"
"Okay, okay, have you forgotten?" Edward hooked her nose, "I can go wherever I want."
"Huh?"
Bernadette's eyes suddenly widened. That's right! Mr. Sparrow can take me out to sea to find mermaids, and he can also take me to find my father!
I had totally forgotten about this!
Edward smiled and said, "So, if you really miss your dad, instead of crying here, why don't you think about how to please me and let me take you to see him?"
She grabbed Edward's arm, "Really?"
"It depends on your performance."
Edward stood up and said, "Go back quickly. Your mother is already sad enough, and she has to comfort you now. How awful."
"I see!"
Watching the little girl running back to the house, Edward breathed a sigh of relief and walked back.
Dubois asked curiously, "Boss, what did you just say to her?"
"Do you want to listen to words to comfort children?"
"Well."
He scratched his head, "Now I really believe that you have a daughter."
...
When I returned to No. 28 Emerald Street and just jumped off the carriage, I saw a row of carriages parked at the door of seven or eight villas in the distance, and servants were moving furniture, decorations and other things into the house.
Edward was surprised: "Are there new tenants moving in? Isn't it said that noble houses are difficult to rent?"
Dubois shrugged. "I don't know about that. Anyway, most nobles value face very much. Unless they are really penniless, they really don't want to rent out or sell their ancestral homes."
"You also know the situation of our villa. For Marcia, there is no such concern."
At this time, a woman in a black dress got off the carriage. She seemed to feel the gazes of Edward and the others. She turned around and nodded and smiled slightly: This is a woman whose appearance is not stunning, but with a very good temperament.
After saying hello, she followed the maid into the villa.
"Hey? Boss, is she your type?"
After seeing Eduardo looking at him for a few times, Dubois felt like he had discovered a new world.
No wonder, after knowing each other for such a long time, he has never seen Edward show interest in anyone. Even Akasha, who has a very good figure and appearance, the boss seems to have no interest in her.
If Du Bois hadn't known that he had a daughter these days, he would have doubted his sexual orientation.
Edward shook his head: "No."
Mainly, ever since he knew that Marcia was what the witch turned into after she took on the extraordinary item, Edward couldn't help but feel a little suspicious of the relatively ordinary-looking women around him.
Who knows, could it be another witch in disguise?
As we all know, wherever witches appear, there will be no good things.
Ahem, except Lilith.
...
On the other side, the woman in the black dress entered the room, gave a few instructions to the maid, and went straight to the bedroom on the second floor.
She walked into the bathroom, looked at her reflection in the mirror, and whispered, "Why hasn't Marcia responded yet?"
After a few seconds, a blurry figure appeared in the mirror: "Don't worry."
The woman in the black dress stroked her hair and said, "Okay~"