After a dozen seconds of silence, Hu Po broke the silence once again. The half-elf lowered his head, and his voice was so soft that it sounded like he was whispering, "... So that means I don't have to look for the whereabouts of my birth parents anymore, old man?"
"We just want you to live like a normal child, and normal children have parents. After realizing that you would soon forget your early memories, Surry Randolph and I lied to you. We said that we found you in the forest and your parents were missing," Pitman said in a low voice and shook his head slightly. "Sigh, maybe we should have told you more about this lie so that you wouldn't care about your parents for so many years."
"You have always known the name 'Android No. 36'?"
"After Surry Randolph died, I found a scholar who studied ancient languages and asked him to help me translate the meaning of these letters …" Pitman sighed and said slowly, "But it was meaningless. After reading his notes, even if I couldn't understand the letters, I could guess your origin … So, I wanted to bring this secret to my grave."
Amber pursed her lips and said, "Fortunately, you didn't bring it to my grave. Otherwise, even if I had to dig you out, I would still find trouble with you."
Pitman spread out his hands and said helplessly, "I don't know where you learned this temper from."
Amber's lips moved but no sound came out. She just looked down at the yellowed and tattered diary. After a long time, she muttered, "At least this is an answer …"
Gwen reached out and gently stroked her head. "Are you okay?"
"I'm not crying."
"I didn't say you were crying …"
"… I'm okay." Amber shook her head but still did not avoid Gwen's hand. "But … this answer is different from all the answers I have imagined."
"As an outsider, I can't plan your life or decide your thoughts, but from my point of view … it's all in the past." Gwen looked at Amber. "Whether it's the people who created you or the things mentioned in Surry Randolph's diary, it's all in the past. These people and things have shaped you today. Since you are still alive, you should look forward."
Amber suddenly took a deep breath and exhaled. Then she looked up and rolled her eyes at Gwen. "You don't know how to comfort people at all, do you know that?"
Then, before Gwen could say anything, she shook her head with a self-deprecating smile. "But I'm an android … So, maybe I'll fall for your trick."
She seemed to have adjusted her mood very quickly. Although she still looked a little different from her usual cheerful self, she still laughed with relief. "You're right. I should look forward. Whether it's an android or something else, at least I've finally found the answer. I also know the secret that my adoptive father has been hiding for so many years. No matter how you look at it, it's a good thing."
Gwen glanced at the half-elf. "But there are still a lot of mysteries about you. Are you still going to look for it?"
"Of course, I'm going to look for it." Amber shook her head hard. Her ears trembled slightly in the air. "The truth may be scary, but I'm more afraid of the unknown. To put it bluntly, even if I'm going to die in the future, I have to find a way to know the truth."
"This doesn't sound like what you usually say," Gwen could not help but say. "Based on your style, even if you're going to die in the future, you'll find a way to escape. What if you survive?"
"So, to put it bluntly, it's definitely a situation where I can't escape," Amber said with her arms akimbo. Then she looked at the diary on the table thoughtfully. "And after reading this, I really want to know something, especially the thing that caused my adoptive father to take the risk and lose his life …"
The thing that caused Sari Randolph to take the risk and lose his life.
Of course, Gwen knew what Amber was referring to. Sari Randolph, who had successfully lived in anonymity for decades, took the risk to steal a book that was kept in a cathedral in the Southern Territory. As a result, he was captured by the Extraordinary of the Vatican and was sentenced to death by the local nobles and bishops.
What kind of book was it? Why was it so attractive to Sari Randolph?
Gwen and Amber's eyes fell on Pitman at the same time. "This old man is full of secrets. I'm afraid he knows something."
"Let's not hide any secrets anymore," Gwen said. "What did Sari Randolph want to steal from the cathedral? Is it really just a book? "
"It's really just a book," Pitman said with a wry smile. "It's an ancient book that can be traced back to five or six hundred years ago. I don't know its specific name and content, but it should be a notebook or a miscellany of information. The author mentioned a lot of mysterious places and ruins scattered around the world, including a place suspected to be the Shadow Fortress. Sari hoped to find Amber's origin and the secret behind the Shadow Fortress."
"Just for this? He sacrificed his life for this? "Amber's eyes widened." Why don't we just let it rot in history? What did he have to look for? "
"You're right. This is the stupidest thing he has ever done. I still scold him in my dreams today, but we didn't expect that this little thing would cost him his life." Pitman shook his head slightly. "The church where the book was kept was just an ordinary local church. But on that day, a few ascetics from Louen City came to visit. Sari failed. It was not as simple as' knocking over the lord's candles'. He was caught red-handed near the reliquary of the church."
Pitman shook his head and sighed. "His good luck came to an end on that day."
Gwen frowned. "Is the book still in the church?"
"It is said that after that incident, the priests of the local church offered most of the books to the Louen Cathedral to make up for their 'negligence'. I don't know if the book Sari was looking for is among them … Most probably."
After a moment of silence, Gwen said faintly, "Louen City now belongs to the empire. It is a training facility for the White Knight."
"It used to be the headquarters of the Southern Church. The books there are as vast as the sea," Pitman reminded. "Books have always been a precious property. The church is most keen on plundering this kind of property, especially after the decline of the Cecil family in the Southern Territory. More than half of the books in the Southern Territory in the past hundred years have been piled up in the library of the Louen Cathedral."
"It's okay. We can look for it slowly," Gwen said casually. "We need to sort out the books in the churches and academic facilities all over the country and summarize the knowledge in various fields. Now is the right time. We can start with the library of the Louen Cathedral. Leit said that the path of the holy light requires the mind and body to be as sound as the body. The White Knight who is trained in the cathedral can't just practice cross-country with weights and catch wild bears all over the mountains every day."
"But we don't know what the book looks like," Amber could not help but say. "We don't even know the name of the book …"
"Then let's sort out all the notes and records first. In a cathedral library that mainly contains religious classics and supernatural books, there should not be many 'miscellaneous books' that are qualified to be included."
Amber and Pitman nodded, agreeing with Gwen's idea.
After thinking for a moment, Gwen said, "Besides, about the Shadowy Fortress, there may be someone who can help us answer our questions."
"Who?"
Pitman didn't react for a moment and asked subconsciously, but next to him, Amber's eyes flashed and instantly thought of the answer. "That Ophelia?"
"If Sully Randolph's intelligence is correct, the Shadowy Fortress should be another base of the rebels, and Ophelia Norton happened to be in charge of more than one Shadowy Fortress." Gwen nodded with a smile. "Among the projects that the ancient rebel was in charge of … is Amber involved?"
…
On the first floor of the Castle of Silver, the largest banquet hall was ablaze with lights, and elegant palace music was floating in the air.
The great nobles who were qualified to enter the 'inner hall' to attend the banquet were walking through the magnificent castle hall. They wore the most gorgeous dresses, wore the most appropriate smiles, and dealt with the banquet that was destined to go down in history with their rich social experience. But compared with the usual banquets in the castle, the nobles who appeared in the hall today were much more reserved and nervous.
The establishment of the New Imperium had changed everything in this country. The noble system that had remained unchanged for hundreds of years was about to be overturned after the signing ceremony after the banquet. Although those who could come here at this moment were all "active progressives" who supported the reform and the new policy and had accepted the new order, it was an era that they had never been in before after all. Faced with the brand-new social pattern and the unpredictable future, those "new nobles of the Imperium" could not help but feel that they were treading on thin ice.
They were smiling in the banquet hall, but their muscles were tense. They invited their partners to dance, but every step they took was like stepping on a steel wire and on the tip of a knife. They talked as if they were talking easily, but in fact, every word they said had been brewed ten times in their stomachs. Every time they listened to a sentence, they would observe every face in the hall.
The three grand governors who were talking at the end of the hall were the focus of many nobles' attention. The nobles tried to pass by the 'three-man governor' as inadvertently as possible to try to eavesdrop on some useful information, but it was not easy. If they were really talking about important matters, the grand governors would naturally set up a soundproof barrier, and if they approached too insensibly, they would obviously incur the disdain of the grand governors, which was unacceptable for the nobles who had rich social experience.
Therefore, some of the nobles focused their attention on the 'little princess'. The princess did not seem to like the reserved atmosphere in the hall and spent most of her time outside. Some of the more well-informed people found out that the princess was an innocent and lively girl. Therefore, many of them wanted to get close to Rebecca. However, it turned out that it was much more difficult than getting close to the Council of Three.
A beautiful lady in a lavender palace dress had just returned to the inner banquet hall. With a frustrated look, the lady poured out her grievances to her acquaintances. "Her Royal Highness asked me if I could use a leaf to break a grasshopper, and then asked me if I knew how to solve the magic interference equation. I could barely answer a single question. It was so rude of me to the extreme."
A gentleman in a dark red suit looked at the lady sympathetically. "Countess Lentini, didn't you try to use your female sword style that you're good at to start a conversation? It is said that Her Royal Highness is a person who likes fighting skills. "
"Oh, don't mention that!" The countess' reaction was particularly intense. "Of course I tried it. Then Her Royal Highness pulled out a sword from the guard next to her and threw it at me. She asked me to give her … my evening dress!"
"Ah, that's a disaster." The gentleman in the dark red suit shrugged. "But at least you're luckier than Count Bahrain."
"Count Bahrain?"
Count Bahrain, who was standing next to them, looked pale. He seemed to have a lingering fear. "I heard that Her Royal Highness is good at fireball magic, so I wanted to start a conversation with her. She was very happy, and then she made a fireball as big as a door … My reaction was very disgraceful."
The Captical nobles suddenly had a common topic and sighed together. But their sighs were soon interrupted by a wailing voice. "Both of you are luckier than me!"
Lentini and Bahrain turned their heads at the same time and saw a young noble with short blond hair and a gentle face standing there with a stack of papers in his hand. He looked extremely depressed.
"Mr. Finley, what are you …"
"Who told me that Her Royal Highness likes math? My friendship with him has come to an end! " The young noble waved the papers in his hand. "I said that I'm good at math, and Her Royal Highness gave me a stack of papers! Who can tell me what's written on them?! "
…
Elegant court music fluttered in the hall, and the joyous music disguised the joy on the surface. Veronica Moen stood quietly in an inconspicuous corner, her eyes sweeping across the people walking, dancing, talking, and laughing in the hall. She was like an expressionless audience, watching a play that she had memorized.
But when the conversation about the failure of Princess Rebecca came to her ears, the expressionless audience's lips curled up a little.
"Today is probably the most exhausting banquet in their lives for them," Veronica turned her head and said with a smile to Gwen and Amber who were walking towards her. She nodded gently to Pitman who was walking behind them. "They met the most unpredictable member of the royal family."
"Nobles are always used to spending too much energy in useless areas, so they live a very tiring life," Gwen said casually. "Of course, Rebecca's education is also a problem."
Veronica smiled slightly. "I like that child's character … It's a bit like me."
"… I can't imagine it at all."
"Time has changed a lot of things. You should have a deep understanding of this," Veronica said. "So, Your Majesty didn't show up at the banquet, but came to see me, the princess of the former dynasty, in an awkward situation. What's the matter?"
Gwen went straight to the point. "Do you know Shadow Fortress?"
"… Yes, it's a project that I abandoned with my own hands."
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