night.
After dealing with the neighbor who came to borrow the oven, Lumian went up to the second floor and entered the room that served as a study.
—In Koldu Village, many poor families do not have ovens or large stoves. When they need to bake bread or smoke meat, they can only borrow one from other families and use it on the spot.
Aurore has always been open-minded and tolerant in this matter. Anyone can borrow it, but they have to pay the corresponding fuel costs, or bring their own coal, wood, etc.
At this time, she had changed into her white silk nightgown and was curled up in an armchair, concentrating on reading the book in her hand under the bright battery-powered desk lamp on the desk.
Lumian didn't disturb her. He casually pulled out a thin book from the bookshelf and sat on a chair in the corner.
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"The Veil of Secrets"... What kind of magazine is this? Lumian glanced at the cover full of strange symbols and was puzzled.
He flipped through it quickly and became more shocked the more he read.
This magazine talks about the existence of human souls, about the animism of all things, about communicating with different spirits in secret ways and getting different kinds of help...
Even though he was not devout in his faith, even though he just followed the crowd and went to the church of the Eternal Sun to pray and occasionally attend mass, two words flashed through Lumian's mind uncontrollably:
“Blasphemy!
“Taboo!”
Although it was normal for Aurore, a wizard who would be caught and burned at the stake by the Inquisition if exposed, to have similar books at home, Lumian clearly saw that this magazine was printed with a government publishing license!
Can this kind of thing be published openly
Isn’t it said that publication censorship has always been very strict
Or maybe this is a forged license... Lumian raised his head, looked at Aurore, and asked:
"Is this a banned magazine?"
Aurore turned her eyes away from the book, glanced at her brother, and said nonchalantly:
"It used to be underground literature, but somehow it passed the censorship and was officially published. The Church of the Eternal Sun didn't even care and acquiesced to it."
"Literature?" Lumian didn't quite understand his sister's choice of words.
"Of course this is literature. You don't take it seriously, do you?" Aurore laughed. "If what is written is true, do you think it can be published? If you follow the above method, you will not gain anything except making yourself mentally weak and neurotic. Well... Occasionally there will be something real, but without the corresponding ritual language, it will be a waste of effort no matter how you try."
This is the evaluation of a professional wizard.
“Well…” Lumian couldn’t hide his disappointment, “I’m just surprised this could be published.”
Aurore puffed up her cheeks, as if she was thinking seriously:
"I don't know why. It may be that in recent years, there have been more and more supernatural phenomena in various places. It is impossible to conceal them all, which has brought about certain trends. The government wants everyone to know a little bit more, so it has relaxed the control over similar books. In Trier, the more popular magazines are "Psychic", "Lotus" and "Utopia". I have them on my bookshelf. If you are interested, you can take a look at them. In the future, when you go to the tavern to make up stories, you can make them more realistic."
“Hmm.” Lumian was indeed interested.
At the same time, he once again sighed in his heart:
Aurore’s collection of books is so rich and varied!
It is through these books and Aurore's occasional explanations that this out-of-school youth has a sufficient understanding of the world, continent and country he lives in:
This world has two continents, the North and the South, separated by a raging sea ravaged by hurricanes and making navigation difficult. As for the legendary East Continent and West Continent, no one has yet arrived there and no one can be sure whether they exist or not.
The Republic of Intis where Lumian and Aurore lived was located in the middle of the northern continent, bordering the Misty Sea to the west, the Feysac Empire to the north, the Kingdom of Loen across the Hornachis Mountains to the east, and the Feyneport Kingdom, Lenburg, and Masi to the south.
Between the Kingdom of Feynaport and the Kingdom of Loen, there are small countries such as Segar. Together with Lunburg and Masi, they are known as the Central and Southern Countries. What they have in common is that they all believe in the "God of Knowledge and Wisdom".
The Southern Continent has become a colony of the Northern Continent countries. Whether it is the Balam Empire, the Pers Kingdom, the Hagati Kingdom, or other countries, they have all lost most of their autonomy. Of course, the wave of resistance to colonization has never stopped.
In addition to the Violent Sea between the North and South Continents, the Misty Sea to the west of the Intis Republic, there is also the Sonia Sea to the east of the Kingdom of Loen, the North Sea to the north of the Feysac Empire, and the Polar Sea to the south of the South Continent. They are collectively known as the "Five Seas".
Among the countries in the northern continent, the Kingdom of Loen has the strongest overall strength, followed by the Republic of Intis. The Feysac Empire, which lost the last war, fell to fourth, and the Kingdom of Feynaport rose to third. Among the countries in central and southern China, Lenburg is the most powerful.
Compared to the villagers of Cordu who only knew about the Republic of Intis, the Kingdom of Feynaport, and Lenburg, Lumian was a geographer.
Of course, this is because the shepherds of Cordu Village need to move to the neighboring Kingdom of Feynaport and Lenburg, so they have a certain understanding of these two countries. For the people in the northern countryside of the Daliège area, in addition to the surrounding villages, towns and cities, they can only name Trier, Suchit and other major cities in their own country.
Sometimes, Lumian was really confused. How could Aurore master so much knowledge
All the textbooks he studied were compiled by Aurore, all the practice papers were made by Aurore, and Aurore could answer any questions he had about the books he read!
More importantly, she also masters various fighting techniques.
This is simply not something a girl in her twenties can do. Some people cannot accumulate so much knowledge even after living for fifty or sixty years.
Are these the basic requirements for being a real wizard? Lumian raised his head again and looked at Aurore.
Aurore patted her cheeks lightly with her fingers while reading, not looking like a scholar or wizard at all.
"What are you looking at?" Aurora noticed his gaze.
“You said last time that I had the knowledge required to take the college entrance examination?” Lumian changed the subject.
Aurore thought for a moment and said:
“In theory, you can get into any university, but I haven’t taken the entrance exam, so I’m not sure about the specific range of questions.
"Roselle has done a lot of harm to others. Hey, this is also a good thing..."
There is no doubt that the unified college entrance examination was created during the reign of Emperor Roselle and has continued to this day.
Aurore suddenly remembered something, looked at Lumian, and asked with a smile:
"Why didn't you go to the pub and make up a story today?"
“I’m not really an alcoholic.” Lumian shook the magazine in his hand. “Reading at home is also a good way to entertain myself.”
It can also calm me down and relax me... He added silently in his mind.
Aurore nodded and looked at Lumian's corner and said:
"Why are you sitting so far away? Are you trying to act pathetic, weak, and helpless
"Come here. You need good light to read at night, otherwise it will hurt your eyes."
Aurore said so many strange things... I understand what the three words "pitiful", "weak" and "helpless" mean respectively, but when they are put together it sounds weird, not like normal usage... Lumian was already used to Aurore's behavior, so he picked up a chair and came to the desk.
In front of the bright desk lamp, he and Aurora sat on either side, reading quietly and chatting from time to time.
The sound of breathing, the sound of pages turning, and the night breeze blowing outside the window from time to time are soothing and peaceful.
… …
After saying goodnight to Aurore, Lumian returned to his room.
He took off his coat, leaving it hanging on the back of the chair, and made no attempt to take the Wands to the bed.
This was because she was afraid of arousing Aurora's suspicion. After all, her sister said she would always look after him.
Lumian was about to take a step towards the bed, but suddenly something moved him and he stopped.
He rolled his eyes and adjusted the chair that was usually placed diagonally to face the window.
Then he got into bed and turned off the kerosene lamp on the cabinet next to him.
After falling asleep normally, Lumian suddenly woke up after an unknown amount of time.
He once again saw the bedroom filled with a faint gray mist.
Lumian was mentally prepared and calmly looked around, and noticed something:
The chair that I had carefully placed straight before going to bed was still tilted in my dream, maintaining its previous appearance.
In other words, the bedroom in the dream does not strictly correspond to reality. It may come from the deepest impression of my subconscious mind... Although it is not clear what this means, Lumian thinks it is a point that needs to be remembered.
He came to the window, put his hands on the table, and looked outside.
The mountain made up of reddish-brown stones and reddish-brown soil, as well as the circles of collapsed buildings surrounding it, came into his sight again.
It's dead quiet here.
Time passed quickly. After Lumian hesitated for a while, he finally made up his mind:
Do some preliminary, certain exploration tonight!
His previous wandering life made him ruthless.
Instead of going downstairs and into the ruins immediately, he opened the closet and began to add clothes.
It's not that he feels cold, but this way he improves his "defense ability" a little.
After putting on a cotton coat, cotton pants, and a leather jacket, Lumian stretched his body and felt that he couldn't add any more as it would obviously affect his flexibility.
This is more important.
While adapting to the current situation, a thought suddenly flashed through Lumian's mind:
This is my dream. Can't I get whatever I want
With the intention of trying, he began to whisper to himself:
"I want a breastplate and a pistol..."
The room filled with a faint gray mist remained unchanged.
It seems that this won’t work. This dream is indeed special... Lumian calmed down his disappointment, opened the bedroom door, and stepped into the corridor.
There is no light here, it is dim and gloomy.
Lumian opened the doors of Aurore's bedroom and study one after another. The layout inside was slightly different from reality, but basically the same. The biggest difference was that Aurore was not in those two scenes, as if they were frozen in a gray.
The same is true for the first floor.
Lumian began to search for weapons for self-defense. With his familiarity with his home, he soon came up with two options:
First, the front end is made of steel and is nearly two meters long. In Auror's words, as long as the target does not have long-range weapons, this thing is absolutely easy to use and the effect is absolutely outstanding.
The second is a sharper iron-black hand axe.
The answer from adults is to take them all... Lumian was reminded of something Aurore often said, but he didn't do it in the end.
Because he was doing preliminary exploration today, he needed to be stealthy, careful, and almost stealthy.
Carrying such a long weapon would definitely slow down his movements and make him easily exposed.
Lumian exhaled slowly, bent his back, and picked up the axe.
He then straightened up and walked towards the door step by step in the light gray mist.
Silently, he opened the door.