I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"This is not a place you should linger."

"For your safety's sake, you should go home as soon as possible."

After leaving his advice, Qingdeng intended to turn around and leave.

But to his surprise, the other person called out to him:

"Sir, judging from your accent, you're from Edo, aren't you?"

Aoto was born and raised in Edo, and bears an indelible "Edo mark" on him.

Putting everything else aside, their accent alone has a strong "Edo flavor".

His identity as an "Edo person" was impossible to hide, and there was no need to hide it.

Qingdeng nodded slightly.

"Yes, that's right, I'm from Edo. Is there a problem?"

"Edo...are you travelers?"

"Well, I'm sorry, I can't answer that."

The stranger looked ashamed.

"Ah, I'm sorry, my apologies. If you are a traveler who has journeyed far and wide, then I would like to ask you a question."

Qingdeng tilted his head:

"question?"

The stranger nodded vigorously:

"Have you ever seen a French girl named 'Alice de Orléans'? She has beautiful blonde hair, sky-blue eyes, and is around 15 years old!"

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PS: As we all know, in the world of anime, most girls with blonde hair are called "Alice"!

Chapter 786 The Abducted French Girl [4800]

Alice de Orléans – a very typical French name.

Moreover, it was the name of a French nobleman.

As far as Qingdeng knows, French people with "De" in their names are mostly nobles.

The French word "德" is similar to the English word "from," meaning "from where."

In order to distinguish themselves from ordinary people and to highlight their distinguished status, nobles used the name of their fiefdom as their surname, and added the prefix "De".

The character “德” is preceded by a person’s name and followed by the name of a fiefdom. “XX·德·YY” means “XX from YY”.

Take the name "Alice de Orléans" as an example; it means "Alice from Orléans".

Qingdeng did not know the noble lady named "Alice".

—I do know a girl named "Elodie Angoulême".

It's a pity that Qingdeng really doesn't understand French culture and history.

Therefore, he did not know what kind of place "Orléans" was.

In Europe, the size of a fiefdom and the level of economic development determined the rank of the nobility.

To my shame, when talking about "Orleans", Qingdeng only thinks of KFC's New Orleans roasted chicken burger.

The thought of this hamburger made him feel a strong craving, his mouth watered, and he almost drooled.

No matter how delicious the food was in feudal times, it can't compare to modern cuisine.

Putting everything else aside, the quality of the seasonings alone makes a world of difference.

The stranger looked expectantly at Aoto and Kinoshita Mai, awaiting their reply with hopeful eyes.

Qingdeng shook his head and replied:

"Sorry, we have never seen a girl like this before."

Even Qingdeng, who was not very familiar with Europe, knew that "Alice" was not a rare name.

Its popularity is similar to that of "X Ting" and "X Juan" in China.

Since Alice's Adventures in Wonderland became a sensation throughout Europe, "Alice" has become one of the most common and popular girl names in the Western world.

It even led to a widespread perception among artists that "a blonde girl should be called 'Alice'."

No sooner had Qing Deng finished speaking than Kinoshita Mai curiously followed up with:

"Doesn't this girl have any more obvious physical characteristics?"

It has to be said that the amount of information provided by the stranger was far too little—hair color, eye color, and age, that was it.

A Frenchman with blond hair and blue eyes... it's no different from finding a Chinese person with black hair and black eyes.

There are tons of blond-haired, blue-eyed French people; it's hardly a striking or memorable physical characteristic.

Ah! I have her picture!

As he spoke, the stranger hurriedly reached into his pocket and pulled out an old photograph, about the size of a palm.

"Look!"

Qingdeng carefully reached out and took it.

This photo is really old.

It was so old that it seemed as if a gentle breath could break it.

He was afraid that he might accidentally break it.

Therefore, he gently pinched a corner of the photograph with the tips of his thumb and forefinger to prevent any irreversible damage.

Kinoshita Mai leaned over and, together with Aoto, stared intently at the sight.

The photo shows two figures, one large and one small.

The larger figures stood straight, heads held high, chests out, their posture upright, much like soldiers.

As for the smaller figure, he sat upright in a chair with his knees together, his clothes neatly arranged.

The stranger kindly pointed to the petite figure in the photo.

"She is Alice."

His reminder was clearly unnecessary—if this short woman wasn't Alice, then was the tall woman Alice?

Cameras at that time were still very outdated.

Not only is it huge and complicated to operate, but the clarity of the photos it produces is also quite poor.

It's either overexposed or out of focus... lots of problems.

It's no exaggeration to say that even with the most advanced cameras available today, every photo taken looks like something out of a horror movie, truly "making people look like ghosts."

The photos were not very clear to begin with.

Furthermore, this photo is quite old, with some areas severely yellowed and faded.

And unfortunately, it was precisely that part of Alice's face that suffered considerable damage.

This makes it even harder to see their face clearly.

Qing Deng squinted and tried very hard to observe, but he could only barely make out the figure.

Apart from that, all you could see was a pitch-black mass.

In short, the purpose of this photo can't be described as better than nothing; it's simply completely useless.

As Qingdeng handed the photos back, he said with a wry smile:

"Your photo is too blurry; it's impossible to see anything clearly."

The other party seemed to have anticipated this situation and did not show any disappointment.

He silently put the photos away, then let out a heavy sigh:

"Sigh, this is the only picture of Alice left... If only this picture were clearer..."

Qing Deng raised an eyebrow dismissively—to be honest, even if the photo was very clear, he didn't think they could recognize Alice as an adult based on this old picture.

Children grow up very quickly, almost changing every year.

Judging from her figure in the photo, Alice was probably only around 6 years old when the photo was taken.

According to what the stranger just said, Alice is 15 years old this year.

Ages 6 to 15 – this age range is incredibly broad!

So much time has passed, his appearance must have changed drastically.

At that moment, Kinoshita Mai suddenly asked the stranger:

"Your Excellency, could this young lady be your daughter?"

The stranger nodded vigorously.

"Yes! She is my daughter!"

As he spoke, he took out the old photograph again and examined it carefully with a nostalgic expression.

"This is a family photo, and the man standing here is me."

"What a pity... Her mother passed away too early, so this photo only shows the two of us."

Qing Deng frowned slightly and pressed for an answer:

"Your Excellency, please forgive my impertinence, but what happened to your daughter?"

Although Qing Deng spoke subtly, everyone could understand his unspoken meaning—why are you looking for your daughter?

The stranger remained silent for a moment, then let out a long sigh.