OBS Chapter 4227 The Invitation from the Apuna Library
Chapter 4227 The Invitation from the Apuna Library
Chapter 4227 The Invitation from the Apuna Library
Yesterday, Jialina spoiled Weige's mood, and on this rainy Thursday, no one in Fragrance Mansion dared to casually push open the door on the first floor.
Around noon, Miss Rowling still risked knocking on the door to remind her master that lunch was ready, but Viggo, engrossed in some kind of pleasure, replied:
"You, Eve, and Adelina go have lunch. Bring our lunch here."
The maids were supposed to bring the meal, but Eve was among the last person to push the cart in. The tall girl didn't explain why she had come in too; she lowered her head and, along with the other maids, set out the lunch outside the bathtub in the steamy atmosphere before leaving with her head down.
During this time, they only saw the back of Shad sitting by the bathtub, and did not see where their mistress had gone.
If she could, Vige wouldn't mind spending the whole day in the bath; she'd suffered through so many years of illness and deserved to enjoy life. But Xia De wouldn't agree to the suggestion, and at his urging, Vige left the bath with him at 1:30 PM.
Vige almost couldn't resist; her self-control was clearly much weaker than that of the outsider. However, they did do other less important things. The perfect witch was perfect in every way, and Vige could tell that Shade really liked her.
Vige even considered that perhaps she could pursue further activities next time. Although she was forbidden from losing her identity as someone beloved by unicorns, there were other things she could utilize besides...
She gave Shad this hint, and Shad, who claimed to be very self-disciplined, pretended to think for a while before nodding:
"But we can't get carried away with this. It's still a crucial time for the chosen ones, and we need to use our limited time to do something worthwhile."
"Yes Yes."
In fact, Wei Ge believes this is the important thing.
[Rain Man] Being banished did not improve the local weather. Although the rain in the afternoon was not as heavy as when Xia Degang came this morning, it was still considered a heavy rain.
After changing his clothes, Shad planned to go outside the city to find Mr. Bernhardt as planned. The vampires had been hunting and exploring the sewers of the outer city day and night, and their significant achievement was that they were gradually drawing up a sewer map that no one knew about before.
They have now thoroughly explored the shallow areas of the sewers, and with the tacit understanding of the church's outer city survey team, they plan to move towards the deeper areas of the sewers.
That area is the site of an ancient sewer system in the original Delinor region, and it's even said that the tombs of ancient nobles lie deep underground. Mr. Bernhardt believes that the Blood Spirit School's important experimental base is likely located in that area, and the evidence is that the ancient vampires from the Delinor Kingdom era may have been revived from those noble tombs.
Therefore, Xia Decai thought that working with the vampires would help him understand some of the local history, even if it didn't yield much.
Viggo wanted to persuade Shad, who had been busy all morning and "working hard" at noon, to stay home and rest—referring to the witch's own home—but Shad, who had already rested enough in the first few days of the week, thought he couldn't continue to be so idle:
"I will come back to say goodbye before I leave this evening, I promise."
He said this, but what he was really thinking was that he still needed to go to the academy that night to wait for the stars to arrive at the right moment to open the tree hole. Viggo reluctantly saw Xia De off to his doorstep, and only closed the door after the carriage had descended the gentle slope.
“Eve”.
She turned to her students and said:
Why did you go with us when you brought us lunch at noon?
Adelina, also in the foyer, remained expressionless, but in her heart she was thinking that she had finally witnessed this scene.
The tall girl's expression remained unchanged.
“I heard from Adelina that most of the other witches’ apprentices also have a good relationship with Shad, so I want him to get used to my presence, after all, witches and apprentices are one.”
Wei Ge looked at her suspiciously, and after a moment nodded:
“Alright then. Adelina, come with me to the lab to check on the fermentation of those materials from a few days ago. Eve, go and seal the frog skin that Shad left behind in the warehouse on the second floor of the dungeon. We’ll decide what to do with this relic derivative when we have time.”
"Yes, teacher."
Arcadia's urban infrastructure was excellent, and the carriage traveled along the main roads largely unaffected by the rain. However, considering that the dirt roads outside the city might be very muddy, Shad discussed with the girl driving the carriage that she could drop him off at the edge of the outer city, and he would fly over the rest of the way himself.
The young woman driving didn't object and even kindly asked Xia De where he should wait for her in the evening, but Xia De declined.
"I'll go back by myself this evening, so don't wait for me in this weather."
As the carriage passed through the outer city, Shad vaguely heard bursts of gunfire amidst the rumbling rain, but he didn't want to get involved in everything, so he didn't bother to check what was happening.
And when Shad arrived at the cave outside the Greyrock Pass fortress, Mr. Bernhardt was indeed just about to take action.
The cave ceiling is hollow, allowing sunlight and moonlight to shine in during the day and night on sunny days. On rainy days, the vampires use magic to create a one-way transparent luminous glass that can both block rain and provide light.
The cave was somewhat stuffy. A kerosene lamp was lit on the table in front of Mr. Bernhardt. He shook his head at Shad:
"I'm not planning to go to the sewers this afternoon; I have more important things to do. You can come with me if you have time, but there shouldn't be any fighting involved."
"I have time, but what is it?"
"The Ringed Sorcerer Organization contacted us, claiming they could provide information on the native vampires from the Delineor era. You know I'm investigating this, and if the information is genuine, it should be a great help in our subsequent investigations."
"The Ring Warlocks? Who are they? How did they know what you're looking for?"
Shad assumed another outsider had appeared in the area, but Mr. Bernhardt uttered a familiar name:
“The Apuna Library. A few days ago, I sent people to the Candlehold Library to look through the old records, and that's probably how they found out. The Apuna Library is one of the most important members of the ‘Candlehold Society,’ so they probably do know something.”
The Apuna Library is one of the three major neutral organizations in the region. Like the Academy, they train their own Ring Sorcerers, and many black markets across the Old World that sell and exchange knowledge are associated with them, such as the Black Raven Library in Tobesk.
In the autumn of 1853, they joined the Chosen Ones event in an attempt to gain enlightenment through the Chosen Ones ritual and find the "Library that records everything." Sir Priscilla was later proven to be one of them, and the library even ventured into some cooperation with the Pantanal Voodoo Society.
As a result, the Apuna Library was severely punished by the Church of the Five Gods, and only recently resumed its activities.
Because of the severe punishment, even though the story of the tenth chosen one happened right on their doorstep, and various local and foreign organizations were fighting over life energy, Shad had not seen any members of the Apuna Library in the area, except for Mr. Muñoz, Mr. Finch's friend.
"If it's them, they could indeed provide useful intelligence. Are these people finally trying to get involved in the current situation? But Mr. Bernhardt, vampires and the Apuna Library have connections, don't they?"
Vampire Seed Lord shook his head:
"No."
"Then why did they, who have never cared about outside affairs, suddenly contact you?"
“I’m also very curious, but they have given me a time and place to meet, and they probably don’t have any conflict of interest with us, so I still plan to meet with them.”
Because he had been attacked shortly after arriving in the area, Mr. Bernhardt was being very cautious. He originally planned to bring two of his companions from the High Rings and have another team lie in ambush around the meeting point to provide support.
But since Shad is willing to go along, the safety is greatly improved.
To show their sincerity, the Apuna Library arranged to meet the vampires in a public place, namely the shady inn called "Lady Rose's Caress" in the Grayrock Pass fortress. It was also here that Shad and Viggo last met with the alchemists.
Mr. Bernhardt still arranged for people to meet them outside, but his only companion was Shad. As the two proceeded along the secret passage connecting the cave to the herbalist shop in the Grayrock Pass fortress, Mr. Bernhardt also told Shad about the relics and magical items they had obtained from Velendale.
He suspected that the Apuna Library had its eye on something they possessed; otherwise, he couldn't understand why they would proactively contact them and provide intelligence.
Despite the rain, "Lady Rose's Caress" was still bustling with people seeking amusement. Or rather, the rainy weather made the building seem even more lively and decadent.
The gentlemen at the Apuna Library also chose a secluded room on the third floor, but it wasn't the one Shad had visited last time.
When Mr. Shad and Mr. Bernhardt pushed open the door, they saw three men. The older one was short and stout, wearing a brown robe and with an unlit pipe in his mouth. The other two were middle-aged men dressed in well-tailored black suits.
The elderly man was at least a 12-ring grade, while the two middle-aged men were at 9 and 10 rings respectively.
Neither Mr. Shad nor Mr. Bernhardt had ever seen these three people before, but Mr. Shad looked at the high-ranking old man, thought for a moment, and then hesitantly asked:
"Are you Mr. Higgins, the librarian of the Apuna Library?"
The old man, who was about to greet the two people who entered, was somewhat surprised:
"Yes, young man, do you recognize me?"