Hearing Jenny's words, Mark seemed to be in a daze for a moment, as if he hadn't been able to understand the situation in front of him yet - it could also be that the heavily armed Cecil soldiers made this timid young man too nervous. She was so nervous that she forgot what to say for a moment, but Jenny was not angry because of it, but patiently repeated it again: "Go tell the instructor that I am back."
This time , Mark finally reacted: "Ah, ah, okay...but..."
He suddenly hesitated a little, and organized the following words several times before saying: "But the tutor is not in a very good condition now. ..."
"Just take me to see him."
"Okay... Jenny."
Mark looked up with some fear. He glanced at the soldiers behind Jenny, and then stepped aside, leaving a doorway to the inside of the magic tower.
Jenny stepped inside, followed closely by the escorting soldiers. The uniform metal collision of the magic armor made the young man standing at the door shrink his neck. He seemed to want to say something. What, but still swallowed the words.
In the mage tower, the classical and solemn furnishings are as remembered. A fireplace made with long-lasting illusion is burning in the hall on the first floor, but the flame is a pale color reminiscent of ice and snow. The refreshing breeze created by the constant temperature barrier swirls in the hall, dissipating the heat of this season. Shelves made of black grained wood stand quietly by the wall, and two slaves are cleaning the dust on the shelves.
A planetarium is placed in the center of the hall. Driven by magic power, this lightweight and expensive instrument is operating automatically, simulating many star projections that are invisible during the day in a small area.
A curved staircase is located opposite the hall, extending upward along the wall. At the same time, there is a half-moon-shaped platform with railings floating on the inside of the staircase, moving back and forth driven by magic power.
"...The tutor finally finished the floating platform device?" Jenny turned her head slightly and asked Mark who followed.
"Yes," Mark finally seemed to get used to it and spoke more fluently, "It was done last year and it took a lot of precious materials."
Jenny nodded, But he didn't say anything more.
She just remembered that at this time Rebecca should still be leading her research team to try to reconstruct the anti-gravity spell based on elf technology - using a steel plate for that expensive and sophisticated spell It was realized with a few kilograms of cheap copper and artificial magic crystal, and allowed to operate independently on a small-scale energy supply device. Last time, Rebecca said in the Magic Network communication that she accidentally embedded the test object in the ceiling, But they've managed to get that device flying.
Although it seemed that the "flying" was not so stable...
She shook her head and ignored the elevator that was running automatically. Instead, she followed the familiar memory and headed towards the familiar road. Go up the stairs.
There were many equally familiar faces, respectful as she passed by.The ground lowered his head.
These people may not necessarily know Jenny’s current identity, or even know this slave apprentice who had a low presence back then and was casually thrown out to deal with royal errands, but they at least know Seth. With regard to the soldiers and their equipment of the Sear Corps, anyone with a little judgment can tell that a person who is closely protected by a whole team of soldiers and can come and go at will in this area must be a big shot in the empire.
Mark followed Jenny. After climbing to the third floor of the Mage Tower, the young man whispered: "The mentor is at the magic hub..."
"Yeah." Jenny Nodding slightly, he walked towards the secret room where the magic hub was located.
She hesitated for a few seconds in front of the familiar black wooden door, but finally pushed it open.
In the spacious secret room, the shimmering light of magic rippled between the walls, condensing into a material texture like water, and pouring into the sunken magic pool in the center of the room, a faint magic The array covered the floor of the entire room. Densely arranged runes extended from the edge of the magic array, extending from the walls to the ceiling. In the center of the entire room, at the focus of the magic array, a withered body was leaning against On the edge of the magic pool, half of the body was soaked in the water, and half of the body was lying on the ground.
It was almost a mummy, as if thin skin covered a skeleton. A piece of pale hair was messy and disheveled. The face exposed under the hair was completely unfamiliar to Jenny—— Only the raised eyes were familiar.
Jenny slowly walked towards the withered body.
Human beings are really complex creatures.
The knights who guarded the city wall also exploited the serfs on weekdays;
The Earls and Viscounts who refused to retreat also deducted the last bit of grain and land from the farmers;
p>
Those who donated all their belongings to support the front line, those who sent all their children to the city wall, those who ran out of oil and died at the shield node...
They are also the land Master of serfs, master of wealth, and... master of slave apprentices.
William Boken, a member of the Wang Family Mage Group, was responsible for guarding the shield node of the western wall fortress. On the fifth day of the city defense battle, he drove all the lower-level mages out of the node hall and tied himself up. On the node crystal.
Now, he is dying.
Jenny stopped next to the body, slowly bent down, squatted down, and sat on the ground - the ground in this mage tower had been like this for many years in her life. It has always been her seat and bed.
The withered head felt the breath, and he moved slightly. During a tremor, he slowly opened his eyes and made a hoarse and low voice: "Ah... Jenny... you are here... ”
Jenny looked at him quietly: “Teacher, long time no see”
The hoarse voice sounded again, calmer than Jenny expected:"Yeah, long time no see... What are you doing now?"
"The chief rune master of the empire."
"...Ah, that sounds really good."
"You're going to die." Jenny looked into her mentor's eyes and said slowly and clearly.
The shriveled body moved on the ground, its head raised slightly, and then quickly lowered: "It looks like this... So are you here to enjoy this scene?"
Jenny shook her head slightly and said word by word: "What breaks through the defense line of the Crystal Legion is the magic equipment. They are all based on Ravencase constants and runic logic."
She had rehearsed this sentence countless times in her mind to ensure that she would not say a word wrong, and similar words were brewing in her heart as early as a year ago - but when she really When she had the chance to say these words, she found that she didn't feel any pleasure at all, and all she felt was emptiness.
The old mage, whose vitality was almost exhausted, was silent for several seconds before responding in a low voice: "I know, I guessed it when I saw the 'Magic Network'."
p>"I'm not here today to see your end," Jenny stared at the old mage and said in a low tone, "You owe us an apology—from me and Mr. Ravencase."
The room fell into silence. After a minute of silence, the old mage's voice sounded hoarsely: "It seems that I was indeed wrong..."
He suddenly coughed violently He got up. After half a minute of coughing, more vitality left his body, making his voice hoarse and deeper: "...but I won't apologize."
Jenny was a little surprised. Looking at this man who was approaching death every second, his lips twitched twice: "You..."
"Extraordinary people...cannot apologize to slaves..." the voice said intermittently. , "This is...the principle..."
The surprise in Jenny's eyes gradually faded away. She looked at her mentor up and down again, and then the room once again fell into a long silence.
After a few minutes, the chief rune master of the empire breathed a sigh of relief. As if she had let go of some heavy burden, she put her hand on the ground and stood up slowly——
The ground here is still as cold as in memory.
She lowered her head and looked at William Boken: "I know."
Then she turned around, as if ready to leave just like that.
“Aren’t you going to do something?” A hoarse and low voice came from behind, “This is not a difficult task for you today.”
Jenny did not look back: “ You are already dying."
"But you may feel better this way."
Jenny took a deep breath and exhaled slowly: "This is my principle. "
"...Oh, it sounds so good."
"Farewell, mentor, thank you for the two.Bags of wheat. "
Jenny walked out of the secret room, and the soldier who served as a personal guard immediately stepped forward: "Master? "
"Let's go and report to Silver Castle. In addition, after William Boken's death, the Master's Tower was nationalized. "
"Yes! ”
The soldiers responded quickly to the order, while Jenny glanced at Mark, who looked nervous and confused, as well as several apprentices and assistants who were equally nervous and confused not far behind Mark.< /p>
After talking to the soldiers, they finally understood the situation completely, and some of them are now almost waiting for Jenny to speak with the mentality of waiting for trial.
"After that. Go to the Government Affairs Office and report that the era of classical mages is over - whether you can survive in the new era depends on your own abilities. ”
Jenny just left these words, then turned around and left the place with the soldiers.
In the secret room where the magic hub is located, the dense magic flow gradually Becoming dim and gentle.
In the gradually dissipating light, the shriveled body immersed in the pool trembled slightly and began to crack and turn into debris.
< p>When all the debris fell into the pool, a hoarse and distorted voice sounded in the deserted room: "I'm...sorry..."In the Silver Castle, Gawain was in the study He met Jenny who came from the south.
“I thought you would choose revenge,” he was quite surprised after hearing the soldier’s report, and said to Jenny in surprise, “ Or at least... let off some steam. "
"I once thought about it, but I found that I really don't have such a character," Jenny smiled slightly and shook her head. "For Mr. Ravencase, these are meaningless. , only the roaring magic machines and the formula numbers printed in the textbooks are the best memorials to the deceased. ”
Gawain took a serious look at Jenny. On the face of the white-haired girl with scars on her cheeks, he saw only calmness and indifference. Apparently, some kind of haze had left her.
"Since this is your choice, that's fine. William Boken was a lucky man. He died in the old era, which is much luckier than many die-hard nobles who survived the battle to defend the city." He shook his head, "Let's not talk about this anymore, sit down. , we have a lot to do in this city, and I want to explain it to you. "
Jenny sat down on the high-backed chair next to the desk with a smile on her face: "I'm ready - Rebecca told me before coming here that she wants me to do as much as possible. Bring back some books on classic spell models. "
Gawain thought for a while, recalling the spectacular scene he saw when he walked into the Wang Family Library and the Mage Association's library. He smiled and spread his hands: "Then you will definitely You get what you want - this is a treasure trove. ”
……
Silver Castle is indeed a treasure house. In every sense, hundreds of Moen royal familyYears of accumulation have accumulated unimaginable heritage in this castle - any storage room in it is enough to dazzle a half-elf from the south in an instant.
But Amber relied on her strong willpower to resist the attraction of those jewelry storage rooms (of course, Gawain's intimidation also helped her resist the temptation), and her entire attention is now immersed in Moen. Inside the royal family’s piles of heavy and numerous palace books.
In a room deep in Silver Castle, Amber was rummaging through a large pile of books and scrolls. Several Military Intelligence agents and several palace scholars were busy with her.
"This is the internal library of the Morn royal family, which includes the royal family's secret files and the private collections of previous kings," a white-haired court scholar followed Amber and said babbled. "If you can't find what you're looking for outside, it's probably here, but if you can't find it here... then it probably doesn't exist..."
" That only proves that the collection in this poor place is incomplete." Amber raised his head and glanced at the old scholar, waving his hands impatiently, "For someone as old as you, please stop busy and find a place to rest, in case you are like this. The great scholar passed away with a bang, and someone had to slap me against the wall..."
The scholar stepped aside with a look of helplessness, while Amber continued to rummage among the bookshelves, but just now Less than half a minute later, she suddenly stopped, turned to stare at the empty space between the bookshelves, raised her leg and was about to take a flying kick——
Before she kicked out, a The figure quickly emerged from the air and hurriedly stepped aside.
"If you dodge a little later, I will kick you out." Amber glanced at Dark Crow, "What are you here for?"
"I'm here to report the situation. "Dark Crow stood at a safe distance and reported to the new boss in front of him, "The list of all Royal Shadow Guards has been compiled, including each person's areas of expertise and service experience."
"Okay, just send it to my office. I will study it slowly when I get back - both the Military Intelligence Agency and the Steel Rangers are short of personnel. As long as they are retrained, you can all come in handy."
Dark Crow He breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his head: "I am willing to obey the order."
Then he looked at the busy scene around him and couldn't help but ask: "You haven't found what you are looking for yet?"< /p>
"Of course, why would I still be here?" Amber rolled her eyes, "There are so many, God knows when I will find..."
Dark Crow thought Thinking: "What exactly are you looking for?"
"An unrecorded surname, a nobleman that no one knows...probably a nobleman," Amber said casually, "His name is Sally Lun. Daofu, a transcendent person, but there is no information mentioning this surname."
As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly stopped and touched her chin, staring at Dark Crow: "You shouldn't listen. Did you say that in the story? It’s all about drama...."
"I'm sorry, I haven't heard of this name and surname either..." Dark Crow shook his head, but before Amber rolled her eyes, he continued, "But if the one you're looking for If someone is a 'Secret Knight'...then maybe there will be clues in the secret files of the Royal Shadow Guard. ”