Year 823 of the Saint Calendar, at the end of the Month of Dormancy (February), Renstadt, Sardni District.
This district used to be outside of the city, where ordinary merchants who sold fish from the Storm Strait lived. Later, more and more citizens who made a living by salting, processing, sorting, and brokering fish gradually gathered in this district. Due to the influence of the Congress of Magic in the Kingdom of Holm, this district was included in the city when the city of Renstadt was expanded for the second time. It was named after the Storm Strait bream "Sardni".
However, as the magic steam train traveled between Padre Harbor and Renstadt, the fishing industry was monopolized by the big merchants who had abundant funds, cheap prices, and fresh products. Ordinary merchants either went bankrupt or changed their jobs. Some of the citizens started to work for the big merchants, while some of them fell into the miserable situation of unemployment.
Fortunately, at this time, the popularization of alchemical products and the increase of alchemical workshops allowed the unemployed citizens to find a way to make a living. It only took a few years for the Sardni District to become a district of half workers and half fishermen.
It was dark at night. Because the houses could not afford magic crystal lamps, the dim candlelight was still flickering in the houses. However, the street lamps on both sides of the street were connected by many black lines that looked like spider webs. The light and shadow were swaying, mixed with the darkness, sparse and dense.
"Bah, bitch!" A teenager around fourteen or fifteen years old looked at the couple leaning against each other in the shadow of the street lamp and spat. Although the style of the Kingdom of Holm was conservative, and the couple did not kiss or touch each other except for whispering to each other, the teenager's eyes were still glittering with envy and jealousy.
"Andy, stop looking. It's about to start." A slight voice came from behind the trees on both sides of the street.
Andy jumped in fright and hurriedly turned around, only to see his three companions poking their heads out from behind a thick tree and waving their hands imperceptibly.
"What, that …" Andy came back to his senses, and his expression immediately changed. A look of nervousness and excitement appeared on his face, as if he was about to do something very dangerous and exciting.
He quietly moved closer to the tree and complained in a low voice, "William, Mitch, Martin, why didn't you come to me earlier?"
The brown-haired Martin chuckled in a low voice, "How dare we come to you? You must be peeping on someone else's date. "
"Yes." The blonde William cleared his throat and said, "Spring is here, and all living things are thriving. It's time for Andy to go into heat again."
"Do you want to die?" Andy gritted his teeth and glared at them. His blue eyes were filled with anger.
"Lower your voice! Do you really want to die?! "Mickey, who was the shortest but had a straight face, pressed his right palm down fiercely.
Andy took a deep breath and shut his mouth tightly. He pointed to the distance and used his eyes to signal that they should leave now.
"Yes, otherwise we'll be late and won't be able to hear Miss Nightingale's voice at the beginning." William's face was filled with fascination.
"This guy is also in heat …" Martin looked as if he didn't know them.
His friends chatted and laughed in a low voice as they crept forward timidly like thieves.
After turning around a dozen houses and passing through two sparse woods, their voices gradually quieted down. It was abnormally quiet, and their breathing also became heavy.
In front of them was a row of civilian houses in a remote corner of the "Sardni" district. They walked to the third to last ordinary two-story building.
After pulling up the collar of his clothes to cover half of his face, Andy repeatedly knocked on the door six times in a rhythm of two fast and three slow.
The door opened silently. A middle-aged man with a serious expression quickly looked around and used his eyes to signal Andy and the others to come in quickly.
Andy, Martin, Mickey, and William skillfully flashed into the room. They saw that the hall was crowded with people, either sitting or standing in the center. The curtains were drawn, and the room was dim and swaying under the light of a candlestick. It reminded them of the ghost stories they had heard before.
In the hall, there were strong men, girls, old people, children, young men in heat like Andy, and a few young girls in the prime of their youth.
They looked at each other, and Andy, William, and the others made use of their advantage of being short to squeeze through the crowd. Finally, they managed to reach the girls' side, and with bashful smiles, they said, "Scarlet, Saroma, you're here too?"
The beautiful blonde girl glanced at them and put her slender white finger to her mouth. "Shh, quiet, it's about to start."
Hearing this, Andy and the others suddenly trembled. For the time being, they didn't have any thoughts of getting close to the girls. Instead, they listened attentively.
The owner of the house, the serious-looking middle-aged man in an old white shirt, squeezed to the center and fiddled with the strange head-sized object on the coffee table.
The object was gray in color and was engraved with strange patterns. There was a row of black buttons and two round knobs. Two long lines that shone with a metallic luster grew out of the knobs like goat horns. They were about half a meter long and were also engraved with strange patterns and symbols.
Seeing that the serious-looking middle-aged man was fiddling with the weird object, Andy and the rest of them held their breath and waited as if they were in a church, as if it were a sacred object.
Zi, zi, zi. The familiar sound of electric current echoed. Andy immediately straightened his back, and everybody around him did the same thing.
A fuzzy, noisy female voice came out of the weird object. As the middle-aged man fiddled with it, the voice gradually became clear.
"Hello, everybody. This is' Arcana Voice 'on FM 592.6M. Thank you for listening. It's now ten o' clock in the evening in Allyn. Your friend 'Nightingale' will accompany you for the next four hours."
The sweet and touching voice made William, Andy, and the rest of them wonder how beautiful Miss Nightingale was.
"The first program is' General Knowledge '. I'm going to bring you a healthier and more reasonable way of life so that you can avoid all kinds of dangers in your life."
"In recent months, many illegal merchants have been selling toothpaste, body wash, and other products under the name of 'radioactive' in Renstadt and other cities in the Kingdom of Holm. They claim that these products are more fashionable, effective, and can prolong one's life. But what is the truth?"
"Let's start from five months ago. Lucien Evans, member of the Arcana Review Board, senior-rank arcanist, winner of three Holm Crown prizes, one Immortal Throne prize, one Arcana Scepter prize, and one Ice & Snow Medal, published the paper that he had kept for three years. It was the paper that won him the Ice & Snow Medal: A New Element That Can Radiate Electron Stream and Two Other Kinds of Rays. In this paper, he first proposed the concept of 'natural radioactivity'. He believed that the structure of some elements was unstable and they would radiate new elements and electron streams."
"Amazing! Selma, many of the works in 'Music Corridor' were created by him. Our favorite works are all his works! He also has a long list of titles! And he has the same name as that great musician! " After more than a year of "science popularization", Scarlett, who had basically understood the meaning of those titles, exclaimed in surprise. Everyone in the hall exclaimed one after another.
Andy was very conflicted. On one hand, he was the girl he loved, and on the other hand, he was the musician and sorcerer he liked very much. How should he treat this Lucien Evans?
As for the description of natural radioactivity that was a little difficult to understand, after a few months of exhaustive bombardment from the merchants, they could roughly figure out what was going on. In the words of those merchants, "This is the best toothpaste that can radiate new elements and electron currents. The electron currents can effectively remove the dirt on your teeth and restore them to their original whiteness, while the new elements can make your body healthy. Currently, only the great nobles often use it."
"Regarding this question, we interviewed Mr. Lucien Evans. He explained in detail about 'natural radioactivity'. When the new elements and electron streams are radiated, these materials will also radiate 'curses'. The curses will change your body, make your hair fall off, your teeth become loose, your blood become abnormal, and your body deteriorate. In a certain range, the new elements and electron streams will also cause serious damage to your body."
What? Frightened voices broke the oppressive atmosphere.
"And this kind of damage will not only affect you, but it will also pass through your body to your children, causing them to be deformed at birth. So, everyone, please don't be misled by illegal vendors. Radioactivity is only bad for you, not good. You can't buy it just because it's fashionable."
"Finally, in the words of Mr. Evans, religion will destroy a lifetime, and radiation will destroy three generations!"
"I … I have to throw away the toothpaste as soon as possible! Fortunately, I came to listen to Arcana Voice! " Similar voices echoed one after another, with fear and relief. They were not in the mood to object to "religion will destroy one's life".
Suddenly, Scarlett said in a sobbing tone, "I … I've been using it for a month. Will it …" Destroy three generations …
Nightingale's sweet voice continued, "The toothpaste, shower gel, and other products of the illegal merchants have too little or no additives. Stop using them immediately. There won't be any sequelae."
When she exhaled, a strong wind was raised in the hall. It was good that she was fine!
"After a short and beautiful melody, we will begin the program 'Revealing the Church' hosted by Mr. Sage. He will talk about his thirty-eight years of dealings with pastors and bishops as a municipal official. He will remove the halos of holiness from the pastors and bishops and restore the emotions that they should have as real people."
"Wow, cheating with a nun again?" Andy was excited.
A strong man next to him, whose arms were as thick as Andy's thighs, looked back at him and teased, "Maybe it's with a little boy like you …"
When Andy was about to refute, a beautiful melody came from the weird radio. It was peaceful and soothing.
"It's Mr. Evans' soft music, 'City in the Sky'," Scarlett said in a low voice, fearing that she would interrupt the beautiful music.
After "Revealing the Church", "Into Arcana", and "Magic Lecture", Nightingale's sweet voice came, "Next is' Body Mysteries', which is your favorite program. We invite Mr. Felipe, the authority in the field of human body, as our guest."
"Well, I like Mr. Felipe. I like his cold and arrogant attitude so much …" Selma said in delight.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Felipe."
"Good evening, Nightingale."
"Mr. Felipe, as we all know, when the human body reaches the age of twelve, there will be a period of rapid growth, which will bring great changes to the body. Boys and girls will feel depressed because of this. Mr. Felipe, I wonder if you can tell us more about this in detail and let them know that this is a natural phenomenon of the body."
"…"
"Mr. Felipe?"
"…"
"Mr. Felipe, please, please calm down …"
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