Universe Infinite Canteen

Ma Lu, having heard the contents of the note, understood why Li Wei had assigned this secret mission to him.

The Shrike was slain by the combined efforts of Li Wei and himself. With this feat, Li Wei had reached the pinnacle of prestige within the Sacred Order of Knights, overshadowing the Master, Martin, and Ma Lu himself had transformed from a novice knight into a master.

Now, if any discrepancies were to arise, those affected would naturally include not only Li Wei but also Ma Lu.

Both being in the same boat, it made sense for Li Wei to arrange for him to secretly investigate the matter.

Unfortunately, Ma Lu didn't care about his master status as much as Li Wei had imagined, and Li Wei was somewhat inconsiderate for making him investigate the case without allowing him to bring a witch.

Although in the city, without the threat of the Energized Plants, a witch wasn't absolutely necessary, knight's armor was sufficient to deal with most enemies; if really needed, assistance could be sought from the Order of Knights. Moreover, from the perspective of secrecy, acting alone undoubtedly created less disturbance.

However, Ma Lu was still very annoyed and planned to neglect it.

But he still had to go through the motions; he randomly picked a few lucky pedestrians on the street and pretended to inquire about the Drinkers' Assembly.

As expected, all of them said they had never heard of it.

Just as Ma Lu was thinking he had done enough to honor the cultivation Li Wei had invested in him, he suddenly heard a voice behind him.

"Drinkers' Assembly? I know, I know, that's a place where a bunch of uncles drink."

"Who said that? There are also big sisters there," another voice said, "pretty big sisters."

"How could you talk about this? Didn't Uncle Hal say not to spread it around?

"But he is Sir Knight, Sir Knight represents justice, there should definitely be no problem."

"Hmm, that's also true…"

Ma Lu turned around and found, to his surprise, they were acquaintances, the group of children who had chased him for autographs on the street before.

Ma Lu had once let them sit on his shoulders, but now he was wearing new armor, the children probably couldn't recognize him. Experience more on empire

But their admiration in their eyes was undiminished; in fact, most boys in this city dreamed of one day becoming handsome knights, wearing armor, and defending Holy Temple City alongside their witches, guarding the last civilization of mankind.

Ma Lu turned and asked, "Do you know where the Drinkers' Assembly is?"

"Of course," one boy, who seemed to be the leader, boasted proudly, "They always change locations, one of our games is to find their new gathering spots, hehehe."

Another boy next to him, slightly slim and acting like the strategist, also put his hands on his hips and said, "Nothing that happens around here escapes the eyes of our Future Knights."

"Not bad, not bad, you guys definitely have the makings of knights."

Ma Lu gave a thumbs-up, which delighted the group of kids even more, with one shouting, "I'll lead the way for you, Sir Knight."

With no easy way out, Ma Lu could only follow them to a cobbler's shop on the adjacent street.

Before Ma Lu could speak, one of the kids rushed forward and knocked on the door, saying, "Uncle Hal, hurry and open up, we've brought a Sir Knight!"

"What?" An astonished shout came from inside, followed by the sound of shuffling footsteps, objects being knocked over, and the smashing of wine bottles. Yet at that moment, a voice suddenly said.

"Everyone relax, today is a celebration day, we can drink."

"Oh right." The others then caught on, and after a while, the house door was finally opened.

A man with a face flushed from drinking poked his head out from behind the door, glared fiercely at the group of kids outside, and then looked up at Ma Lu.

"Sir Knight, what brings you to my shop today? It's a celebration day, and I've had quite a bit more to drink with friends. If you're looking for shoes, it'd be better to return tomorrow."

"No, I'm here looking for someone."

"Looking for whom?" The person became vigilant upon hearing this.

"Do you know Goethe?"

"I… I haven't heard of that name." The man's eyes darted away, and he subconsciously twisted his neck to look behind him, although he soon realized that was incorrect and stopped.

This poor performance left Ma Lu speechless.

If only he could have acted a little more convincingly, Ma Lu could have taken the hint, ended the investigation, and left. However, intoxicated as the fellow was, his reactions were slow.

In front of so many people, Ma Lu could only say, "I need to go in and talk to Goethe."

"Uh…" Hal was still frantically spinning his brains, trying to come up with a reason to stop Ma Lu from entering the cobbler's shop.

But Ma Lu had already pushed him aside and walked straight in.

There were about a dozen people in the cobbler's shop, mostly men like Hal, with flushed faces. The only woman, who was in her thirties and full-figured, was playing cards with two men.

They all reeked of alcohol, yet there was no drink in the place.

Ma Lu looked around the room, "Who is Goethe?"

No one responded.

After about half a minute, Ma Lu nodded and said, "No matter… I have plenty of time."

After speaking, he turned, shut the door, pulled up a chair, and sat at the entrance.

This was Ma Lu's new way of idling about while appearing to be diligently working on a case; in reality, he was just killing time, waiting to wrap up when it seemed appropriate.

However, Ma Lu didn't get to relax for long before he heard another voice, "I am Goethe. I wonder, Sir Knight, what you want with me?"

The speaker was a gaunt-faced man wearing a wide-brimmed hat.

"No, you're not! Sit down." Ma Lu did not want the investigation to progress so quickly and directly contradicted him.

Upon hearing this, a look of surprise appeared on the man's face. He seemed about to say something more, but at that moment, the room's only woman suddenly put down her cards, stood up, and said,

"Since Sir Knight already knows I am Goethe, why ask knowingly?"

Ma Lu sighed, wondering if it was some international case-solving day. Why was everyone here so eager to confess?

Goethe continued, "I know why you're here, and I can answer your questions, but I need a promise from you."

"What promise?"

"After I confess everything, ensure my safety and not pursue my crimes," Goethe said. "I'm just a small-time information dealer and never wanted to get involved in major disputes."

"Agreed," Ma Lu nodded.

"Then let's go upstairs to talk," Goethe said, leading the way upstairs.

There were no traps upstairs; Ma Lu could tell this from the Chessboard Map so he followed.