OBS Chapter 3914 Manuscript Laborers and Photographs
Chapter 3914 Manuscript Laborers and Photographs
Chapter 3914 Manuscript Laborers and Photographs
Shad thought his suggestion was excellent, but Daniste shook her head:
"Don't waste your mission attempts. If you want that lady to help you look up information, you have to open the transfer station once to ask her a question, then let her return, and then open it again. This back and forth will consume 6 mission attempts, which is too much of a loss."
Furthermore, we're not certain that this is information the transit station can reveal. You also mentioned that if overly valuable information is disclosed, the transit station's duration will be shortened. I think even if the eggshell book contains the information we need, it certainly can't be explained in just a sentence or two.
Xia De then asked:
"The time transfer station can be used as a last resort. In the near future, I'll try my luck by activating the time key. Maybe I can run into Miss Felianana and Fiona from the middle of the Fifth Era."
"But even if they encounter it, they may not have that knowledge, and they will have to wait until your time mission is over before they can look it up. But you can't stay for a period of time every time your mission ends."
Daniste said she rejected Shad's two ideas because she already had her own:
"In fact, some of the books in the St. Byron's Library were copied by other organizations in the past. Don't open the transfer station yet. You can decide for yourself whether to use the time key. I want to try to find a way in the present era first."
Several organizations, including the Apuna Library which you've previously contacted, may hold copies of the book I'm looking for. I've already contacted various parties to search for it; the Academy has considerable influence. However, some organizations require a personal visit.
Only then did Xia De understand:
"You need me to go out? So, a brand new adventure is about to begin?"
Daniste smiled:
"I don't need you for now; I just wanted to let you know. I'll make a list of organizations I need to visit, and I won't bother you unless it's absolutely necessary. But if I do need you, I won't stand on ceremony."
Xia De nodded:
“For Ms. Helena Carter, this is not a problem. Since conventional incubation methods are not working, have you tried incubating the eggs with humans? After all, the soul belongs to a human.”
Her rose-red eyes glared reproachfully at Xia De:
"Of course I've tried. I've slept with that egg several times on the nights you weren't around, but nothing happened. You can't really expect me to sit on that egg, can you?"
Shad imagined the scene and immediately smiled. Then he was lightly hit by a pillow by Daniste, but she laughed too.
"There are other things I wanted to discuss with you. Although the egg hasn't hatched yet, we've made some progress on the other two directions we explored in the Karas Mountains."
After the joke, Daniste continued:
"First, there were the laborers from Stranglethorn Vale. Didn't we find a total of 23 people heading to Mount Karas, and the first 12 died in a digging accident, and the second 7 died from the plague?"
Xia De nodded:
"So, of the remaining four people, did any of them actually manage to return to their hometown alive?"
Daniste shook her head:
"Unfortunately, no. But correspondence students near Thorn Bay found that more than a hundred people were actually transported to Mount Karas in the entire bay area by similar means between the early winter and spring of 1853. It sounds like a lot of people, but because these people left over a period of four months, it did not cause much of a stir at the time."
Shad frowned:
"No one has returned? The Thorn Bay area is not large, just a small part of the entire Gulf of Tonkin. More than a hundred able-bodied men have gone missing in just one winter. Has the local government not reacted at all?"
"Although the [Truth Society] uses despicable methods, they do give money, and they are very generous in this regard."
The sorceress sighed:
“These more than 100 people are almost all from different villages, and it is quite difficult for the local correspondence students to find them. After a month, we have only been able to compile a list of suspected missing persons, since some of the people who were taken away do not even have any relatives in the local area.”
"But we only found the bodies of 19 people in the area. What about the remaining missing persons?"
“I have arranged for a professor who is an expert in necromancy to go to Mount Karas again to investigate. They set off last week, but they searched the entire Mount Karas without any results. Perhaps the remaining bodies were disposed of separately by the [Truth Society], or perhaps those bodies are in some place we cannot find.”
Shad recalled the memory of his "fall," how he had climbed the tower's steps, which were littered with corpses:
"Are the remaining corpses in that tower from my dream?"
Daniste shook her head:
"I don't know. To enter that tower again, we can only wait for the teacher to recover. Or perhaps, the [Truth Society] definitely possesses the most crucial information, but unfortunately, Miss Pavo refuses to speak."
“Miss Pavo, if I have another chance to see the Truth Society, I will try to get her to talk. I have some connections with her, and if those connections don’t work, then I’ll have to resort to some means.”
Denise nodded, picked up her teacup, and continued:
"The second direction of the investigation is the 'Big-Toothed Sparrow' you mentioned. No, he hasn't been to Mount Karas this year, but the necromancy professor I sent there conducted a deep memory excavation on the innkeeper, and he unexpectedly discovered that Leon Elwood—also known as the 'Big-Toothed Sparrow'—who visited the town of Karas two years ago, departed from the city of Escares, south of Mount Karas."
The hotel owner had seen the train ticket on the bedside table while cleaning the room. Although it was just a fleeting glimpse, it left a faint memory.
"That city of golden ears of grain? We passed through there on our way to Mount Karas."
Shad raised an eyebrow, and Daniste nodded:
"It is there. But since the other party is a secret agent, I think it is very likely that it is just a transfer station for them. It is very unlikely that Big-Toothed Sparrow would buy a ticket directly from his place of residence to Karas Town."
"Besides, two years is too long. It's wartime now, and I don't want the academy to get involved in politics, so I didn't send anyone to Escaris City to investigate."
Shad took a deep breath:
“I understand. So, did you manage to retrieve the image of ‘Big-Toothed Sparrow’ Leon Elwood from the innkeeper’s memory?”
"We've found them. They don't wear a hat all the time, which would be very suspicious. But it's not certain whether the face they're showing is their real face. Ordinary people can also master disguise techniques, so the photos are for reference only."
As she spoke, Denise handed another photograph to Shad. The man in the photo looked just as unremarkable as Director Anlos; if this was his true appearance, it was immediately obvious that he was a skilled agent.
“Having a photo will make things much easier. I’ll have Luvia do a divination for me. If it really is just an ordinary person, Luvia should be able to find one with her current divination skills.”
Daniste didn't object to Shad investigating, but she still warned:
"Although you have the identity of a dual agent, it's better to stay away from politics during wartime. I know your power is enough to overthrow a country, but there are some things that, while they won't harm you, will disgust you."
Therefore, regarding the Great-billed Sparrow, if it's confirmed that its purpose in going to Mount Karas is truly unrelated to the tower, then avoid further contact.
Xia De said with a smile:
"I understand. I'm not the kind of person who likes to cause trouble; usually, trouble comes looking for me."
Denise agreed with this point. She paused, brushed a strand of hair behind her ear with her finger, and her rose-red eyes held a peculiar meaning:
"Now that we've finished discussing the important matter, would you like to stay for lunch? It's almost 10:30. Let me tell you more about the creation of flesh and blood. After we find Emilia and Ellie, how about we go eat with the elves?"
Since she had extended the invitation, Shad naturally wouldn't refuse. He got up and sat down directly next to Daniste. The sorceress laughed, kicked off her high heels, and put her legs on Shad's lap.
"Lunch is still an hour away, so we can talk a lot about the creation of flesh and blood."
"Yes, but I need to go home first and bring Mia over. Mia really likes the elves' cooking, hmm~"
Denise did not inform Aunt Kisara Shad of her upcoming visit, so they simply ate a home-cooked meal in the "Elf Kingdom" that noon.
It was clear that Ellie ate here often, because as lunch was coming to an end at the round table made from a huge wooden stake in the treehouse, steaming hot "baked apples" were served as dessert.
This is a dessert with a long history among the elves. The method of making it is also very simple: bake a whole apple with a little butter and sugar to caramelize the flesh, then add a little elven brandy, honey and a very small amount of cinnamon, and finally serve it with hot milk sauce. Ellie loves this dessert.
As the dessert appeared, Aunt Kisara was telling Shad about the recent population increase in the kingdom, and Ellie and Mia were immediately drawn to the dessert.
Ellie had eaten it, but Mia hadn't, yet they ate desserts in very similar ways afterwards.
After the meal, Granny Kisara warmly invited Shad and Danist to visit the heart of the present-day Elf Kingdom. This sizable territory was divided into four areas, with three larger elven towns surrounding the core "Royal City".
Numerous new treehouses have sprung up in the forest, and at the very center of the royal city is not a palace, but the sacred tree that once belonged to the Moonbrook clan. The World Tree sapling is still in the Vista Forest, so the elves use this sacred tree as a substitute for the World Tree in their sacrifices.
A small palace complex was built on the sacred tree for the Elf Queen Emilia to reside in, while the kingdom's council hall was located beneath the tree. Although Emilia spent most of her time in the school dormitory, the queen's maids, servants, and guards all operated from here.