In the incident that year, Tia was deceived into the monastery and finally successfully rescued. It only took a dozen days. During that period, the number of times she actually met the criminal leader who was probably the "mastermind" of the entire case was actually only a handful.
Among them, the one that impressed her most was definitely the first meeting after coming out of the "dark prison".
It was an old man, an old man in white robes who was slightly fat and looked very kind. At that time, the old man was sitting in a study room filled with books. When she was dragged in, the old man He didn't seem to notice it at the first moment, but he was looking through a very thick book silently through the frameless lenses on the bridge of his nose very seriously.
The old man's white beard was trimmed neatly, and his complexion was rosy and energetic. Even though he is only wearing a white nightgown, he does not look sloppy, but makes his image more friendly and natural.
"Master, the new little guy has been brought to—"
"I have said it many times, don't call me 'master'. There is no one here who is the master or the servant. I am just leading you for a few years as an elder in life for our common ideals. . I am already old. After I die, you will have to move on by yourself, right?"
When Tia was casually thrown on the carpeted floor, feeling the piercing pain in her heels, ankles, and calves, the other two people in the study were also having a simple conversation. Even if Tia didn't pay special attention, she could tell from the tone of the person who dragged her here that he had great respect for the old man in front of her.
But then, she discovered that the old man had walked out from behind the desk without knowing it, and came to her silently.
"Well, I've said this before, don't always be so rude - every child who comes to us is as unfortunate as we were, so we have to treat them like a family."
As he spoke, the old man leaned down and seemed to notice the scars on Tia's legs. He slowly stretched out his folded but still steady hands, as if he wanted to caress them with pity. Tia subconsciously shrank her legs that were dripping with blood. When the old man saw this, he immediately stopped.
"Your name is 'Tia', right? Don't worry, it'll be fine."
As he said this, the old man suddenly took out a magic wand from nowhere and moved it slightly in a certain direction. The next moment, a palm-sized medicine bottle flew out from the far corner and landed accurately in his hand.
Tia's eyes hidden behind her messy bangs blinked and she said nothing.
"This is medicine for healing wounds. It is very effective and won't hurt... It's just that there will be some itchiness during the healing process. It will be gone in a while."
The old man held up the medicine bottle and waved it in front of Tia's eyes, then pulled off the bottle cap, indicating that Tia could stretch her legs towards him further.
That's a bottle of white fresh essence, produced by St. Francis Hospital of Magic in the United States - it's printed on the label! Even Tia, who has only been in the wizarding world for a year and has not even studied hard, knows that this is currently the best brand of potions in the United States. Even the school hospital in Ilvermorny uses this brand.
Of course, what Tia doesn't know yet is that since St. Francis is still a hospital, most of the output of its subordinate Potion Research Institute is only internal supply. As the only magic school in the United States, it is not surprising that Ilvermorny has always had a share of the on-campus infirmary. However, it is not easy for outsiders to even make abnormal purchases.
So after a little hesitation, Tia chose to obey the other person's will and stretched out her legs again.
It has to be said that Bai Xian Essence is indeed a special agent for treating trauma. Although it is precious, the effect is amazing. With just one or two drops on the wound, Tia watched the bloody heel recover at a speed visible to the naked eye, and in the end not even a trace of scar was left.
"My child, you are very tolerant. Such injuries did not make you cry and cry out in pain. It can be seen that you may have been used to the feeling of pain... But this is actually not good. We are not destined to bear pain from birth. Yes, we should also be entitled to have our own happiness, what do you think?"
The old man's voice seemed to have a kind of magic, warm and peaceful, amiable and persuasive. However, it is obviously impossible to dissolve the hard shell in the heart of a child like Tia so easily with just a few words.
What's more, she was dragged out of the dark prison by the man next to her just now!
However, the old man obviously had no intention of gaining Tia's approval with just a few words. Soon, he changed his subject again and said warmly:
"Child, I know you must have a lot of doubts in your mind now. It doesn't matter, there is a lot of time, we can chat slowly for a while... I heard Britt say that you were brought here from the street by her new roommate Alyssa. Like them, I am also a homeless person who came from an orphanage - I know the feeling of being homeless because there are many people in the orphanage who have experienced similar experiences to you. But from now on, you can use this place as your home. Treat it as your own home, everyone is your family... I believe you have experienced this above... "
The old man just squatted in front of Tia and talked nonstop. When Tia heard the other party mentioning Britt and Alyssa, she actually wanted to ask for a few seconds, but after hesitating in her heart, she chose to remain silent.
On the opposite side, the old man seemed not to notice the flicker in her eyes at that moment, and continued to speak softly:
"...Child, you may have heard just now that I - or all of us here - have an ideal, that is, people like us who have experienced or are experiencing pain will one day be able to completely get rid of it. A constant misfortune.
For this reason, I have accepted many people like you, my child, to live together here... Unfortunately, it is easy to create temporary beauty, you know, just like in the monastery.
However, it is too difficult to make this kind of life last forever, and to make every unfortunate person of every generation live happily for the rest of their lives.
Tia, I can see that you are a smart child, and I believe you understand what I am talking about. "
At this point, the old man's face, which was already slightly sad, suddenly shone and turned into a sincere and confident smile.
"But it doesn't matter," he said, "I've found a way."