Serinda was wearing the green dress that Li Jia had given her, walking in the courtyard of the small castle. A statue of Guanyin, clad in red string, hung around her fair neck, which matched the emerald earrings perfectly. A belt dotted with sapphires was tied around her waist, which made her curvy figure even more upright. This somewhat plain dress, after her own matching, coupled with her long dark red hair, added nobility to her youth, making her look very charming.
But her expression was not good. She held a book in her hand and walked towards the main building where the count was without saying a word. The maid Nina followed closely behind her.
Nina seemed to be hesitant to speak. When she was about to approach the main building, she took two quick steps, leaned close to Serinda's ear, and whispered, "Miss, you... you are wearing the clothes that Li Jia gave you to meet the master. Isn't it inappropriate? Oh, and the chain that your mother left for you..."
Serinda stopped and turned to look at Nina. Her eyes seemed calm, but they contained some strange emotions. She said with a stern face, "You don't need to remind me what kind of clothes I wear, and I don't need to conform to his wishes."
Nina lowered her head and took a step back. "But, I heard that the master was very angry after he woke up and kept cursing the people in the magician's castle. If he saw you wearing their clothes..."
Serinda snorted, tossed her skirt, and stepped onto the wide stairs in front of the main building. "My status is not obtained by playing the role of a good girl, but from the power I have. That man... He has no right to dislike me."
"You are his daughter after all, otherwise you wouldn't be so anxious to find out the details of the magic castle."
"You are becoming more and more lawless. Don't squander my kindness." Serinda said in a deep voice, "Never try to guess what I'm thinking, let alone say it out loud."
"Yes, yes, miss." Nina was so scared that her face turned pale.
"Also, remember, everything I did was not for that guy who lived a life of debauchery, but for the benefit of my family for hundreds of years."
When Serinda reached the door of the Earl's room, she met Pinto who was guarding the door. When Pinto saw her, he knocked on the door several times and said loudly, "Mr. Earl, Miss Serinda is here."
Seeing that Pinto had no intention of opening the door for her immediately, and instead stood in front of the door and smiled at her, Serinda gently pushed him aside with her hand, opened the door and walked in.
Count Carlos was leaning against the back of the bed, holding a wine glass in his hand, and a maid was serving him breakfast. She glanced at the maid's crooked buttons and said sarcastically, "You haven't even had time to open the bottle of wine, why are you holding the empty glass so high?"
"Ha, my little Serinda is back. You look really nice in this outfit today. How about I ask Pinto to make a batch of replicas and sell them in the store in the capital?"
"What else do you have in mind besides women and gold coins?" Serinda said angrily.
"And you, my child. And you are the most important part! I heard the news that you returned safely last night. If it weren't for my inconvenient legs and feet, I would definitely come to greet you." The count did not feel embarrassed at all. He put the cup on the tray at the head of the bed and slapped the maid on the butt. The maid giggled and retreated.
"I see you are full of life." Serinda didn't want to get entangled with him on these trivial matters. She drove Nina out, closed the door, threw the book in her hand on his bed, and said, "Look, this is what I took from those people."
"Magic runes?" The Count was a little surprised after receiving the book. He flipped through a few pages and raised his eyebrows and said, "It's nothing big. It's just handwriting, without any magic power. Don't great nobles and great magicians like to collect books written in magic runes? Well, I recognize these words: "Advanced Mathematics". I understand what advanced means, which means very advanced things. But what does mathematics mean? Well, although I can't understand the things in the book, there is no need to worry too much, right?"
Serinda lowered her voice and said, "I know every word in it, but when they are put together, I have no idea what it means. I have never seen such a magic book. Moreover, these words don't look like they were copied. They are the same word, and each one is exactly the same! Have you ever seen a book made so well? More importantly, they have a house that is bigger than the main building of this castle, and it is full of books!"
This time the Count sat up. "How many?"
"According to the people I have contacted, there are more than three million copies..."
"Selinda, don't joke with your father!" The count was so shocked by the number that he jumped off the bed, walked quickly to her, and said, "There are not so many books in the entire capital!"
"I was also surprised at the time, and felt that the background of this place was too terrifying. However, there must not be so many now. Before I came back, I used the scroll to set a fire... I saw it on the road, and it burned so much that the sky was illuminated red."
"What? These are priceless treasures! We should not destroy them, but take them away! You are too reckless!" The count grabbed her arm, but she shook him off with a slight push.
"While I was snooping around, you were still sleeping! If they were really powerful, we wouldn't have a chance to seize these books. I just took advantage of their laxity and struck a potential enemy, or friend?"
"You set fire without even knowing the difference between your enemies and your friends?" the count said unhappily.
"Isn't it equally important to weaken friends and enemies? Besides, they don't know who I am, so we, the Arias Family, can still contact them. Maybe they are worried about being attacked but lacking eyes and ears, and they are eager to become our friends!"
"No, no, no, you are still too young, Serinda." The Earl rested his chin on his hand and paced around the room. After a while, he said, "If those people are strong enough, your little trick will be useless and will cause us trouble. If those people are actually paper tigers, then it will not be too difficult to take away the remaining books."
“I… don’t think I did anything wrong,” Serinda argued.
"Nothing, you're just scared, that's all. Like a screaming little girl throwing slippers at spiders."
This time, Serinda didn't say anything. She still didn't understand why she got so angry at that time. She also didn't know why her heart felt blocked when she thought of Li Jia now.
"Don't worry about this matter. Let's go back to the capital first. I will send someone to give a message to Cadiz." The count said decisively.
Serinda didn't know why her father, who usually only knew how to spend his days drinking and partying, suddenly became serious. This calmed her down a little. She said with some disdain, "Caddis has degenerated into a savage horse thief over the years. Aren't you afraid that he will really mess things up?"
"Kadis has nothing to do with me. I have never and will not directly instruct him to conflict with the magician. However, a horse thief has the nature of a horse thief. What Kadis will eventually do is clearly written in his fate. What's more, he is more sensible than you. He is a sinister wolf. And you, haha, are just a reckless little bear." The count shook his head and laughed.
Serinda was immediately furious. She picked up the book on the bed and ran out. The earl laughed behind her, "Little Serinda, I think your dress doesn't look good again. Maybe you should sew a few bows on the back! Haha!"
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There was an inconspicuous little village deep in a valley some distance from the school. A man stood motionless in front of a stone house. If Xiao Chen and his friends were here, they would definitely recognize him as Scarface Pas who had troubled them more than once.
Paz, who was very arrogant and aggressive at that time, now looked very nervous and embarrassed. He had changed his farmer's clothes in Floro Town and wore a simple black robe. The robe just contrasted his pale face. There were big drops of sweat on his forehead, and the long scar was twisted because of the slight twitching of muscles. His eyes were closed and he silently recited an unknown scripture.
The door of the stone house in front suddenly opened, and a middle-aged man with a very burly figure, wearing the same black robe, walked out. He said to Pas in a calm voice: "The high priest wants to see you, come with me."
Pas's face turned even paler, and he saluted nervously, then followed the middle-aged man into the house.
The room was just the entrance to an underground palace, with a long and complicated passage inside. People wearing the same black robes would pass by them from time to time, but Pas didn't look sideways and just kept his head down. They walked lower and lower, deeper and deeper, and after a long time, they finally came to the door of a larger stone house. Before the middle-aged man could say anything, the door opened by itself, and a strong and deep voice came from inside: "Pas, come in."
Pas hurried into the room. It was a meeting room. The room was very empty, with only a long table and chairs in the middle. A young man in black was sitting at the farthest point, looking indifferently at Pas, who was standing at the end of the table and trembling slightly.
The young man had silver hair and silver eyes, just like the black clothes with silver edges, calm and majestic. He looked very handsome, but handsomeness was hard to describe his temperament. There was an inexplicable power emanating from him, making people want to bow down to him. He asked seriously: "As for the anti-tax riot, we were just trying to stir up some conflicts, and we could accept any result. But what about those outsiders who fell from the sky?"
Pas did not dare to neglect and poured out everything he knew. After he finished speaking, he found himself dizzy and suddenly realized that what he said before was like a dream, completely out of his control, and all his thoughts were revealed. The young man nodded and said, "Very good, you are telling the truth. These people are very interesting, maybe they are the opportunities mentioned in the ancient oracle."
Seeing that Pas was standing there in confusion, he said, "Many years have passed since the true gods fell from the world and the false gods sat on the throne of the sky. We, the followers of the true gods, have made countless efforts to make the true gods return to the throne, but all have failed. This is because the power of the false gods is too strong, and it is not something that we 'humans' can resist. However, before the fall of the true gods, it seems that they foresaw the opportunity for their revival and made arrangements. We are too ignorant to understand their true meaning, so we must seize every possibility that we can try."
Pas had never heard of such a secret and stood there in a daze, completely at a loss.
The young man smiled and said, "It seems that I have said too much. Then just forget it."
Pas's eyes suddenly became confused for a moment, then he said yes.
"Go! I'll keep an eye on them." The young man touched his left shoulder with his right fist, performed a salute, and chanted: "Wherever the sword points, the journey begins."
"The order continues, and the fight continues!" Pas responded loudly, hitting his shoulder with his fist.