Under the dim light, Fang's eyes fell on the notebook.
It was only two palms long, less than fifteen centimeters wide, and had very few pages. Only one thin page was slightly curled, but it was well preserved, with no gaps visible on the edges. Fang made a 'squeak' sound with his hand.
When I opened the title page, I saw that the content on the next page was blank, and the paper was slightly burnt.
He rubbed it with his hands, and found that the surface was uneven and rough to the touch, just like the papyrus that can be seen everywhere in this area. But if this was the diary of a princess, it seemed too crude and incompatible with her status.
.
Fang noticed a detail. In Istania, which has a strong commercial atmosphere, most of the princes and nobles here were born into wealthy families, and they naturally pursued a sense of luxury in their lives.
The royal family of Istania is not short of money. In daily life, whether it is Her Royal Highness the Princess or her grandmother Ms. Farid, every utensil they use, regardless of size, is elegant and exquisite, and the materials are used.
Top quality, the workmanship must be extremely meticulous.
Even the box that the other party gave me to hold the note booklet was made of silk and satin, with a pearlescent surface. You could tell at a glance that it was made by a skilled craftsman.
Documents passed daily by the royal family are recorded on precious silk. As for the nobles, who are a little inferior, they will also use snow-white pulp paper from the north and rarely use papyrus documents, because this is a crude document used by common people.
thing.
Or it was just as he thought.
Is this a collection of books?
Why would a princess keep such a book with her?
Judging from the information the eldest princess told them, this is one of the few relics of Her Royal Highness the Princess during her lifetime. Judging from the attitude of carefully collecting it, it should not be an insignificant thing. Otherwise, the Princess's relatives are not fools.
In the past ten years, so much manpower and material resources have been spent on investigating clues related to it.
He couldn't help but look at the note again.
His eyes fell on the burnt yellow paper. In the middle of the blank page, there was only a line of small words written in Juan Xiu's handwriting.
Naturally, he still couldn't understand the crooked words. He could only vaguely feel that it was written by a woman, but he could not necessarily infer that it was the handwriting of the princess.
Tata had no clue about this. The elf lady knew many languages of Aitaria, but she knew nothing about shorthand and could not learn it now.
"Can the composition of this ink be analyzed?" Fang asked.
Tata sat on her knees and touched every word with her little hands. She raised her head to look at him and shook her head gently.
But after a moment, she spoke softly: "But there is a special smell in this ink. Even after such a long time, it still vaguely lingers between the pages. That is the smell of Bavarian fluorescent agave, the Oshur people
The magical scales of this flower are used to extract a type of characteristic acid used in color-fixing agents. This process has been mastered by local alchemists for more than three centuries."
Fang suddenly heard a snapping sound.
He turned around subconsciously.
Not far away, Nini's bare feet, which she got ink from somewhere, were proudly passing by the desk, leaving a series of small black footprints on the birch wood tabletop.
Fang stared at this scene:
"Fang Nini, what are you doing?!"
"Papa, hug!"
The little girl stretched out her hands for a hug, seeming to be in love with such pranks.
Fang had no choice but to carry her over and put her in the palm of his hand. He carefully wiped the ink on her feet with a handkerchief in his right hand. Then he found the open bottle of ink and tightened the cap. The only sound in the whole process was the little girl's voice.
He kept giggling.
Fang glared at her.
Nini didn't take it seriously and just sat obediently next to her sister, dangling her white feet.
But when Fang was putting the ink bottle back, something suddenly occurred to him. He turned the ink bottle back, letting the side with the trademark face its star gate history of nearly half a century. Aitaria learned a lot from the people on Earth.
, this trademark law is one of them.
The trademark on this bottle of ink also comes from the ink used by the alchemists and magicians of the Oshur Empire. It is not an ordinary ink. It has very high requirements for anti-fading, shelf life and high magic concentration.
Although this kind of ink can also be provided in some places in Corin Ithurion, the best quality comes from the Oshur Empire.
Among the inks provided by the Oshur Empire, the most important material is the scale leaves of the Bavarian fluorescent agave. This plant only grows in a long and narrow valley in the south of Bavalland. The kingdom once tried to let the selection
The caller stole flower seeds, but the introduction was unsuccessful.
Nowadays, Bavarian fluorescent agave has become an important strategic material in the trade between the two countries, and the high-quality magic potions made from it are also among the controlled materials of the Oshur Empire.
The source of this kind of thing is extremely limited. The Penelope royal family is extremely rich and can buy some through various channels. However, including the Corinthurian Artisans Association, Bavarian fluorescent agave is made of raw materials.
Ink is also a restricted supply item.
If this notebook was not written by the princess, then the person who copied it must not have been an unknown person.
Either from the Penelope royal family, or from the upper echelons of the Craftsmen's Guild, or from the Corrin Ithurion royal family, or the upper class nobility.
Of course, this range is still very large, and it may not necessarily be correct, but at least it is an idea. And when Fang thought of the Corin Ithurian royal family, he couldn't help but think of the royal spy they killed, and there was a faint movement in his heart.
He pondered for a moment, turning the pages back unconsciously.
There was a 'squeak' sound, and the last page of the attached page was already half of the main page of the note. A complex magic circle was drawn, but Fang couldn't figure out whether it was a magic array, an alchemy array, or an elemental array.
There seems to be some alchemical stuff inside, but if you look closely, there is a branched tree diagram inside.
It's more like a general outline of something.
And considering it appears on the first page, this possibility is not small.
Below is the main text, which is covered with words that look like ghost paintings. But when Fang looked at the winding words, he felt a sense of familiarity in his heart again. It was exactly the same as what he had seen in his uncle's study.
The notes are exactly the same.
The more carefully he looked, the stronger the feeling of familiarity became.
It's just that the notebook in his uncle's study looked much more ordinary than this. It was just a notebook with a leather cover that was very common on earth. The content inside was also written with blue and black ink of an ordinary fountain pen. He remembered it clearly.
Moreover, on the first page, there is no small text of the line of annotations, nor any pictures, it is directly the main text.
But the content of the text, especially the first sentence, gave him a strong sense of déjà vu. The only thing that made him feel uncertain was that it happened almost more than ten years ago, and he was not sure whether he was
I really remember everything I saw at that time.
He looked at it silently for a while, then turned back.
But because I couldn’t understand it, I could only flip through the pages as if I were just looking at them.
After a "squeaking" sound, he stopped on one of the pages.
The page he stopped on, the burnt yellow paper, was a full page of illustrations. As the eldest princess said, there were many illustrations in this notebook, but not every one of them could be understood by him, most of the abstract patterns.
It's completely confusing.
But this one is an exception.
On the rough paper, a series of twists and turns and weathered coastlines were outlined with concise pen and ink. This was obviously a map, with mountains, forests, and a bifurcated river on it; on one side were compasses and Kukai, and
The approximate directions, shorthand place names and some irregular numbers are marked.
The numbers use a notation native to Aitaria. Just like Arabic numerals, this notation method is also widely spread across the continents.
Therefore, although the numbers are easy to understand, they cannot further narrow down the origin of the person who copied this note.
He used this map to carefully compare Istania, San Juan, Eldron, the Coast of the Scepter and Talen, and even every coastline of Asuka, but he could not find any place that matched it.
The corresponding location. In addition, he also didn't let go of Oshu, Lotao, Giant Tree Hill and Gudasoke. He even carefully compared the shape of the First Continental Bridge, but there was no corresponding place.
In fact, this map is certainly not his unique discovery.
The King of Sand Babartan and the princess's relatives have spent far more energy than him in the past ten years to find out all the information contained on this map, but they have also found nothing, let alone him? The Seven Seas Brigade has this
How can a few resources be compared with the royal family of Istania? Therefore, Fang did not put much effort into this map. After comparing it a few times, he put it aside.
He only glanced at the sets of numbers a few more times.
It doesn't look like Kukai's coordinates, or did the other party deliberately mess up the order of the numbers and use a password to record the coordinates?
The coordinates of the sky and the sea in Aitaria were not invented by the people on earth. As early as the Numelin era, the elves used star finders to accurately measure the magic power and coordinate distribution of this world. Humans just improved it according to the habits of longitude and latitude on the earth.
This is just a method of coordinate recording.
The origin of this coordinate system has existed since ancient times.
After looking at it for a while, he confirmed that he couldn't understand it either, so he shook his head and continued to scroll down.
The second pattern is a figure pattern.
But when it comes to figures, they are a little different. The painting style of the pattern is typical of serious religious paintings in Aitalia. The indifferent figures are located in the center of the painting, standing under a huge niche, surrounded by
The stars, sun and moon, as well as some things with religious implications, such as winged angels and demons, each occupy half of the picture.
In addition, there are images of white bones, roses and thorns, griffons and unicorns, etc. These images are very common in religious paintings, but they appear a bit messy.
He didn't know much about Aitalia's religion. He had already sent this painting to his cousin for appraisal. The other party also called Aitalia. After some discussion, they came to the conclusion that this painting was the largest.
The problem is that there is a lack of true religious representation.
To put it simply, each of the gods of Orli has his or her own symbolic meaning, such as the oak leaf of Aimea, the anvil of the Lord of the Mountain, the white shield of Mallan, and the sun emblem of Orli.
Miss Elf told him: "If there are no symbols of God in the painting, this painting may be a metaphor for another type of existence, the Dark Saints."
Fang silently looked at the figure in the center of the picture.
It was a human girl. She didn't look dark or weird, but there seemed to be a layer of dense black mist behind her, from which some thorny thorns grew. Fang looked carefully and found that the girl had her eyes tightly closed.
However, he really couldn't understand this incomprehensible painting without annotations. Tang Xin promised him to look up relevant information, but it still took time.
He continued to scroll down.
The last pattern he could understand was naturally the silver butterfly-shaped relief they found on the royal spy's body, which was decorated on the dagger he carried with him.
This was also the only one among the three illustrations that he had a clue to. He couldn't help but take out the dagger and inspect it carefully under the light. But what did this mean? The two royal spies at the time
Only one person has such a dagger on his body, while the other person wears an ordinary dagger.
Fang was also unable to determine whether the dagger was the identity mark of the Corrin Ithurian royal spy or a token? But why did Her Royal Highness the Princess record such a pattern in her notes? What did it represent?
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but frown.
The attack on the princess of Sand King Babartan more than ten years ago was, as far as he knew, related to wandering warlocks, slave traders, and possibly even the descendants of Flor. Now it seemed to be related to Corinyi
The Thurian royal family was involved.
Moreover, the father of the Sand King Babartan, the previous generation of Sand King, according to Her Royal Highness the Princess, should be regarded as the spokesperson for the interests of the Corin Ithurian royal family in Istania. The other party has no reason to treat the Penelope royal family
Just take action.
These countless clues made Fang feel confused in his heart for a while.
He couldn't help but take a breath, thinking about why he was always involved in such endless incidents. The last commission that made him feel confused was the incident about the Dragon Witch.
Now, it can be said that the Nicol Bolas incident has finally come to light, but he did not expect that not long after, he would be involved in an equally complicated whirlpool of events in Istania. But fortunately, this matter was his own choice.
Yes, although I was a little confused for a moment, I was still calm.
Finish flipping through this booklet.
Fang also had some preliminary ideas in his mind.
He hesitated for a moment, then picked up his communication crystal and sent a message to Su Changfeng's number.
It only took a moment for someone to reply, but it was not Su Changfeng, but one of his team members. It was not the first time that the young man had dealt with Fang, so he smiled and asked: "Ed, what's wrong at this late hour?"
I didn’t sleep, what’s the matter?”
Fang also knew this young man named Zhang Cheng. Su Changfeng told him that if he was not around, he could trust him completely.
So he opened his mouth and said: "Brother Zhang, I have something to ask my uncle and aunt. Can you help me contact them there?"
The young man was slightly stunned.
Tang Sheng and Zhang Rou are currently living in Hengfeng Port. Since they are inside a military base, their external contacts are naturally restricted.
Of course, this restriction is not absolute. After all, the two of them are still citizens who enjoy personal freedom. They have just handed over their private communicators temporarily. If they want to contact Shang Shang and Tang Xin, they must use a public communicator.
Although you can apply at any time and anywhere, it is very troublesome, so under normal circumstances, the two parties will contact each other only once a week. Ms. Zhang Rou is obviously very worried about the other party. She will lecture a lot every time she contacts, causing the other party not to do it when necessary.
I will never take the initiative to appear in front of these two people.
This is the first time I have seen the charter and the other party has made this request.
However, he didn't ask much and just nodded. He didn't have the military's public communicator address and could only passively wait for contact from Hengfeng Port, so he made this request to him.
About a quarter of an hour later, I saw my communication crystal light up.
He opened the crystal and saw his uncle's face on the other side of the light page. He looked left and right, but Tang Sheng seemed to know what he was thinking and said, "Don't look, your aunt is not here.
"
Fang couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that under normal circumstances, his aunt Zhang Rou would definitely come. His absence was probably due to his uncle. He couldn't help but give his old uncle a thumbs up in his heart.
"Xiao," Tang Sheng finally said, "You came to me suddenly, you must have something serious to do, right?"
Fang nodded.
He asked: "Uncle, do you still remember the library in your study in the old house before we moved for the first time?"
Tang Sheng was startled and nodded immediately.
Fang asked again: "Uncle, I remember that there are many old books in the library. Did we take those books with us after we moved?"
Tang Sheng felt a little confused about this sudden question, frowned slightly and replied: "Part of it was dealt with at that time, but most of it is still there. What happened?"
"Then..." Fang thought for a moment: "Uncle, do you still remember the specific books in it, such as one of them?"
To be honest, Fang himself felt that his question was stupid enough. There were hundreds if not thousands of books in the library. Except for his uncle's own books, the rest accounted for at least three-quarters of the total. And
How many people can clearly remember what books they have in their collection among so many books, or even specify one of them?
Or if the book is relatively important, or is a particularly treasured collection, you may still be able to remember it clearly, but if it is anything else, you probably won’t have any memory at all.
But the reason why he asked this was because he happened to have this copy on hand. If he showed it to his uncle, it might help him remember the notebook. But before he had time to do so, he looked at it with some surprise.
The uncle frowned.
"Xiao," Tang Sheng asked, "Why do you suddenly ask about this?"
Fang couldn't help being slightly startled. Originally, he thought that given his uncle's character, he would probably smile dumbly, then shake his head and say, "Which book are you looking for? I'll go back and look for it for you." But he didn't expect that the other party's reaction was that he was surprised.
Unexpectedly serious.
And Tang Sheng seemed to feel that he was a little out of sorts, and quickly explained: "...The main reason is that the collection of books was collected in the early years, and this matter is a bit too long ago. Why did you suddenly think of asking this?"
Fang didn't think too much, and then he came back to his senses and replied: "That's right, uncle, do you remember that one time, I came to ask you about a notebook. It's just that I was in Aitaria recently,
I found something similar..."
When Tang Sheng heard this question, he couldn't help but be distracted.