"You guys came quite early."
In the luxurious study room, the two players who had not recovered yet received some kind of ridicule from the NPC: "But it's still not as fast as me."
"Hey, hey, we're here to do something for you." Duan Qing said in a genuine voice: "It's good to be able to sneak in, and...it seems like we entered this place first."
"Don't just look at the surface of things, adventurer."
Kima, who changed clothes in a moment, walked to Duan Qing and picked up the list in his hand: "Just like what is written on this piece of paper, these superficial things..."
"There must be other clues that can give us some clues."
"What do you know?" Duan Qing asked back: "You must know more information about the Shadow Society than us adventurers. Since Stanford himself is not a magician, these things... must have other uses?"
"Smart, guy."
Kima, who was dressed in black, walked slowly to the window sill. He first held the page up to the light and illuminated it for a while. After confirming that there was no hidden information on it, he turned and walked to the bookshelf nearby: "The Stanford family is an old aristocracy.
, their family lineage has been passed down for hundreds of years. It seems to have existed before the birth of the principality. Since the establishment of the principality, it has always stood at the center of power and has never fallen... Yes, they are a very powerful family.
, the heads of each generation of families are experienced politicians, rulers, and... qualified warriors."
After inspecting the bookshelf, he turned back to Duan Qing and said, "Yes, their family does not have magician blood, at least... it has never been mentioned in the intelligence."
"That means..." Duan Qing continued what he said: "Now he is interested in magic?"
"Perhaps there is such a reason, because the Stanford family has gone downhill." Kima whispered: "The decline of the principality and the emergence of various internal conflicts have begun to push the nobles who have stood for thousands of years to the edge of the cliff.
, even within these old aristocrats, the Stanford family has already retreated to the second line and became the pawns of the Fords family, cheering for their momentum all day long. Although on the surface, they still maintain the status of aristocrats.
However, judging from their contact with more and more people at the bottom, it seems that the family heads of this generation of Stanford do not want to sit back and watch their family decline."
"The head of every family hopes that his family can prosper." Duan Qing said gloomily, not knowing what he thought of, "It's a common problem among nobles."
"You're good, and Stanford must be the same." Kima shook the paper in his hand: "I admit that as a powerful force, magic is indeed very attractive in the entire Free Continent, even in
The same is true in aristocratic circles, but... I don't think this is the reason why Stanford is learning magic."
"Why?"
"Learning magic requires talent."
Kima sighed, as if lamenting the unfairness of fate: "The Magic Empire thousands of years ago has proven this to the world, so there is a distinction between high and low based on talent, and the last Magic Empire
The collapse. But even the great magicians of that era, who were like geniuses, could not make any breakthroughs on this."
"Talent is talent, no matter how hard you try, you can't change it."
The members of the Shadow Society here glanced at Duan Qing and Qian Zhihe intentionally or unintentionally: "Except... you adventurers."
Duan Qing touched his nose.
"In all these years in the free world, I have only seen you adventurers who can practice magic through hard work." Kima laughed: "I have to, you greedy and courageous guys
, is indeed favored by fate in this regard.”
"Ah hahaha, you deserve it, you deserve it." Duan Qing also laughed, and at the same time looked at the red girl who was holding back her laughter, because they knew that the so-called acquired learning is just because they can add attributes by themselves: "This way
There are only a very small number of cases, so please don’t care, don’t care…”
"Stanford is definitely not as lucky as you." After withdrawing his doubtful gaze from Duan Qing, Kima brought the topic back: "So he must still be unable to practice magic."
"The only thing we can suspect is that besides his subordinates raising other magicians, the only thing left is..." He raised the list in his hand: "These things have other uses... this is a possibility.
"
"Really?" The red girl bit her finger and thought: "I have only seen these things in the Mages Council, and there is no way to determine what they are used for..."
"You don't need to be sure, because I don't know the mystery." Kima waved his hand: "Only professional magicians can understand such things, and even ordinary magic apprentices may not be able to come up with it.
"
"So... we need to find a magician to ask?" Duan Qing said helplessly: "Or an alchemist?"
"unnecessary."
To Duan Qing's surprise, Kima blinked with a rather cute expression: "I have a better place where we can figure it out now."
"Oh? Where?"
"follow me."
After saying this, the man in black put down the paper in his hand and walked to the window, then turned over and jumped out: "By the way..."
"Remember to restore the status quo."
"Hey, where are you taking us?"
"Have you forgotten what I told you before?" A subtle voice came from a distance. Although in Duan Qing's rationality, the source of the voice should be far away from him, the voice seemed to be whispering in his ear:
"you……"
"But he didn't come earlier than me."
"whispering sound……"
A disdainful sigh came out of his mouth. Just as Duan Qing was about to turn around and check the situation on the desk, the white robe belonging to the red girl jumped from the window sill with the sound of breaking through the air next to him: "Huh, just follow me.
Follow...what are you waiting for, follow quickly!"
"Hey, isn't your foot healed yet?"
"It's okay! Let's go quickly..."
Alas, so women...
With a helpless sigh, Duan Qing hurriedly put everything back in place, then jumped off the window sill. Paying attention to the sight of the guard in the distance, he followed the red figure in the white robe unhurriedly.
Soon after, he returned to the side of the garden that he had passed on the way he came. There, the panting Thousand-Zinger Crane was standing opposite Kima, waiting with wide eyes by a pond surrounded by stones.
With.
"What's going on here?"
So Duan Qing hurriedly interrupted the confrontation between the two sides: "Is there any problem?"
"I found this place before you came."
Looking away from the girl with some humor, Kima pointed to a corner of the garden and said: "There, behind the stone, there is a secret door."
"oh?"
Paying careful attention to the surrounding movements, Duan Qing slowly walked around the rock pointed by the other party. Sure enough, below there, beside the somewhat dry pool, he saw a gap belonging to the door: "Well, there is actually a gap in the door.
There is such a thing hidden in the house, as expected..."
"It's so bloody."
"What?"
"No, I am..." Duan Qing waved his hand: "How should we get in?"
"There are three magic alarms on it, as well as old-fashioned mechanical locks and new-style magic locks." With these words in his mouth, Kima walked slowly to the door: "But I have lifted them all before.
.”
"Uh...we know you are very powerful."
Secretly pouting again, Duan Qing stepped forward helplessly, and then with Kima's hand, he easily walked in: "Then..."
"You checked it out once? Right before we broke in?"
"That's probably it."
The latter shrugged, then pointed to the darkroom and said, "Now I just want you to confirm."
Dim lights lit up as they entered, looking like sensor lights in the real world. The magic lights slowly illuminated everything here, presenting the messy tables and chairs to Duan Qing.
In front of the others, various bottles, cans, and strange containers and devices were placed chaotically above, below and around the tables and chairs. On the wooden shelves near the corners, each floor was also filled with various items.
All kinds of books and scrolls, everything gave people the feeling of a magic laboratory. Frowning and fanning his nose, Duan Qing touched the table closest to him, and then
Under the gaze of the two people behind, they reached out and touched a container bottle above: "The things here... aren't dangerous, are they?"
"I've checked it all. It's just an ordinary laboratory." Kima's voice sounded behind him: "So in terms of confidentiality, this place is not hidden too deeply."
"I can tell. But..." Duan Qing raised his head and looked at the chaotic layout of the entire house price: "You didn't seem to be very careful about your previous search."
"Oh... there's a shadow, I didn't do this."
As Qian Zhihe closed the door cautiously, Kima raised his hands and said, "When I came here before, these tables and chairs... were just like this."
"That is..." Duan Qing turned around and said, "Did Stanford himself create this place?"
"I don't know, but as far as I know...Stanford is a person who pursues perfection and likes to maintain a noble demeanor." Kima replied: "You can see from his study that that person...is not a person who likes to make a mess.
Guy in his own room.”
"Um...is that so?" Duan Qing suddenly straightened up, then took two steps backwards: "Then what do you want us to see? These furnishings that you can't even understand?"
"Just because I can't understand it doesn't mean you can't understand it either." Kima smiled and said, "For example, the girl behind me..."
"Ah? That, that..."
"Please don't get excited, sister." The man in black made a courtesy, and then motioned Qian Zhihe to step forward: "Look at that place..."
He pointed to the table in the corner and said, "That thing...is it a lizard horn?"
"Ah, it seems so."
Qian Zhihe exclaimed: "It's very similar to the thing I saw when I was in the Mages Council."
"So... that one over there is the Cormarin potion?"
"Well, I haven't seen that before...but if it's that kind of dissolving potion, there should be a yellow mark on the bottle..."
"Very good, we can check it out."
Stepping forward and raising the bottle thoughtfully, Kima slowly returned to the girl's side: "Is this the sign?"
"Yes, yes." Qian Zhihe took a careful look: "Although it took a long time, I remember it should be like this..."
"It seems that we did find the things on that list here." Smiling with some understanding, Kima held the bottle and said: "This can prove many things, such as our Lord Stanford, is indeed doing something.
What the experiment looks like..."
"No, that's not right."
Duan Qing, who had retreated to the door, suddenly said: "This proves a bigger problem."
"oh?"
"Time." Duan Qing, who had been staring at the entire room, said without moving his eyes at all: "The time on the list is the 8th of Huoyue."
"So what...uh."
"Yes, you should have noticed."
Carefully observing the direction of the messed up tables and chairs in the laboratory, Duan Qing had an inexplicable smile on his face: "According to what you just said, our Lord Stanford... is not here now."
"He hasn't even been here for several days."
With understanding in the eyes of the other two, Duan Qing began to move along a certain route: "Why would a family head who has not been here for a long time leave such a shopping list? Do you have to buy the materials early, and then
Do you want to wait until he comes back?"
"Maybe this is his experimental plan, so he wants to hoard materials..."
"Impossible." Qian Zhihe immediately retorted: "Some of the things inside cannot be preserved for a long time, such as the magic powder placed there. If they are not used for a long time, they will gradually lose their magical effect.
The magic gems over there are stored in the wrong way..."
"That is, someone used this place when the owner was not at home." Duan Qing interrupted the girl's explanation: "And... that person doesn't seem to like cleanliness and tidiness."
"Is this...the reason why this place has become such a mess?" Kima whispered: "The real reason?"
"Maybe." With these words on his lips, Duan Qing had already walked to the corner of the room, in front of a bookshelf: "Maybe he doesn't understand magic at all..."
"This is impossible." Kima said immediately: "If you don't understand magic, why would you buy so many materials..."
"There is a way of using magic that does not require knowing its internal principles." Duan Qing shook his head and looked up and down at the dazzling array of books on the bookshelf in front of him: "When I was in the fortress, I once saw
Use it that way.”
Kima's pupils shrank.
"People who don't understand magic can still use magic. As long as there is someone who understands magic and teaches them in advance according to the established procedures." Duan Qing seemed to have confirmed something suspicious, and stretched his hand towards the corner of the bookshelf.
Touched it: "It's like a doctor giving medicine to a patient."
"And..."
With a strong force, he pulled down a book from the bookshelf.
"Who knows how many people have been to this place?" (To be continued.)
This chapter has been completed!