After another ten seconds of silence, Amber broke the silence again. The half-elf lowered his head, and his voice seemed to be whispering softly: "... So, I don't have to look for the whereabouts of my biological parents anymore, right, old man?" .”
“We just want you to be able to live like a normal kid, and normal kids have parents—Surrey Randolph and I said to you after realizing that you’d soon lose all your early memories Lie, saying that I picked you up from the forest, and your parents’ whereabouts are unknown,” Pittman said in a low voice, shaking his head slightly, “Hey, maybe we should tell this lie more thoroughly, so that you won’t be in the same place for so many years. I care about my biological parents."
"You always knew the name 'Android Thirty-Six'?"
"After the death of Surrey Randolph, I found scholars of ancient characters and asked them to help translate the meaning of these letters..." Pittman sighed, and said slowly, "But it doesn't make sense anymore, see After reading his notes, even if I can't understand these letters, I can guess your origin... That's why I once wanted to take this secret into the coffin."
Amber pursed her lips: "It's a good thing you didn't bring it in, otherwise, even if I dig you out again, I will still trouble you."
Pittman spread his hands, showing a helpless look: "I don't know who you learned your temper from."
Amber's lips moved, but she didn't make any sound. She just looked down at the old and yellowed diary, and after a long time, she muttered: "This is at least an answer..."
Gao Wen stretched out his hand and brushed lightly on top of her head: "Are you okay?"
"I didn't cry."
"I didn't say you were crying..."
"...fortunately," Amber shook her head, but still did not avoid Gao Wen's hand, "it's just... this answer is different from all the answers I've imagined."
"As an outsider, I can't plan your life for you or decide your thoughts, but from my point of view... it's all over," Gao Wen looked at Amber, "whether it's the people who created you, or Sarah The things mentioned in Ray Randolph's diary are all in the past tense, these people and things together shaped you today, since you are still alive now, you should look forward."
Amber suddenly took a deep breath and let it out again, then she raised her head and rolled her eyes at Gawain: "You don't really know how to comfort people at all, do you know?"
Then before Gao Wen could speak, she laughed at herself and shook her head again: "But I'm a cyborg... so maybe I'm just right for you."
She seemed to adjust her mood very quickly. Although she looked a little different from her usual giggling state, she still smiled with a certain relief: "You are right, we should look forward, whether it is Artificial man or something else, at least I finally found the answer, and I also know the secret that my adoptive father has hidden for so many years, no matter how you look at it, it is quite profitable."
Gawain glanced at the half-elf: "But you still have a lot of mysteries, do you still plan to find them?"
"Look for it, of course I'll keep looking." Amber shook her head vigorously, her ears trembling slightly in the air, "The truth may be scary, but I am more afraid of the unknown. To put it bluntly, even if I am going to die in the future, I have to Find a way to die, understand?"
"This is not like what you usually say," Gao Wen couldn't help but said, "According to your style, even if you die in the future, you should find a way to escape, just in case you survive."
"So to put it bluntly, it must be a situation where you can't run," Amber said plausibly with her hands on her hips, and then she looked at the diary on the table again, with a thoughtful expression on her face, "And when I saw After this, I really want to understand some things, especially the incident that caused my adoptive father to take a risk and lose his life... "
The events that led to Surrey Randolph's desperate attempt and his death.
Of course Gao Wen knew what amber was referring to—in order to steal a book stored in the cathedral in the South, Surrey Randolph, who had successfully survived incognito for decades, took a risky action and was captured by the supernatural beings of the Holy See , was sentenced to death jointly by local nobles and bishops.
What kind of book would that be, to have such an appeal to Surrey Randolph
Gao Wen's and Amber's eyes fell on Pittman at the same time: this old man who hides a secret, probably knows something.
"Nowadays, don't hide any secrets," Gawain said. "What did Sally Randolph want to go to the church to steal? Was it really just a book?"
"It's really just a book," Pittman said with a wry smile and spread his hands, "It's an ancient book that dates back almost five or six hundred years ago. I don't know its specific name and content, but it should be a Notes or miscellaneous notes, its author mentioned many secret places and ruins scattered in the world, including a place suspected of being the Shadow Fortress—Sari hoped to find Amber’s life experience and the secret behind the Shadow Fortress.”
"Just for this? Did he risk his life for this?" Amber's eyes widened. "Isn't it enough to let this kind of thing rot in history? What is he going to find!"
"You're right, it was the stupidest thing he'd ever done, and I still yell at him in my dreams to this day, but neither of us thought at the time that this little thing would kill him Fate," Pittman shook his head slightly, "The church where that book is stored is just an ordinary regional church, but there were a few ascetic monks from Luan City who visited that day. Surrey missed it, it wasn't at all' As simple as knocking over the lord's offering candle', he was caught red-handed near the church reliquary."
Pittman shook his head and sighed: "On that day, his luck was over."
Gawain frowned: "Is that book still in that church?"
"It is said that after that incident, the priest of the local church dedicated most of the books to the Cathedral of Lowan to make up for its 'negligence'. I don't know if the book Surrey was looking for was also in the Among them... most of them are there."
After a moment of silence, Gao Wen said lightly: "The city of Luan now belongs to the empire and is a training facility for the white knights."
"It used to be the headquarters of the Southern Church, and the collection of books there is vast," Pittman reminded, "Books have always been valuable property, and the Church is most keen to search for such property, especially after the decline of the Cecil family in the Southern Territory—the Southern Territory More than half of the books in a hundred years have been piled up in the library of the Cathedral of Lowan."
"It doesn't matter, we can look for it slowly," Gao Wen said casually, "We need to sort out the collections of churches and academic facilities all over the country, and summarize and gather knowledge in various fields. Now it's just right, we can start with the books of Luan Cathedral At the beginning of the hall—Wright said that the way of the Holy Light requires the same soundness of mind and body, and those white knights who are trained in the cathedral can’t just practice cross-country with weights and catch wild bears all over the mountains and plains every day.”
"But we don't know what the book looks like," Amber couldn't help but said, "I don't even know the title of the book..."
"Then sort out all the notes and records first. In a church library that is dominated by religious classics and books in the supernatural field, there should not be many 'miscellaneous books' that are eligible to be included."
Both Amber and Pittman nodded, approving Gao Wen's idea.
After thinking about it for a while, Gawain said again: "In addition, about that 'Shadow Fortress', there may be another person who can help us answer our questions."
"who?"
Pittman didn't react for a while, and asked subconsciously, but Amber's eyes flashed, and he instantly thought of the answer: "That Ophelia?"
"If Surrey Randolph's information is correct, Shadow Fortress should be another base of rebels, and Ophelia Norton happened to be in charge of more than one Rebellious Fortress." Gawain nodded with a smile, "Who Among the projects that the ancient rebels are responsible for... will there be amber?"
…
On the first floor of Silver Castle, in the largest banquet hall, the lights were brilliant, and elegant palace music was flying in the air.
The aristocrats who are eligible to enter the "infield" to participate in the dinner walk through the gorgeous castle hall. They wear the most gorgeous dresses, wear the most appropriate smiles, and use the richest experience in the social field to deal with this event that is destined to be rejected. The banquet recorded in the annals of history, but compared with the castle banquets in the past, the nobles who appeared in the venue today seemed more restrained and nervous——
The establishment of the new empire has changed everything in this country, and the aristocratic system that has not changed for hundreds of years will also be turned upside down with the signing ceremony after the banquet. The "progressives" who have accepted the new order, but after all, this is an era they have never been in contact with before. Facing a brand-new social structure and elusive future trends, these "new imperial nobles" will inevitably bring With the mentality of walking on eggshells.
They smile in the banquet hall, but tense their muscles. They invite their partners to dance, but every step seems to be on a steel wire and the tip of a knife. They talk with ease, and in fact every word is in their stomach It has been brewed ten times, and every time I listen to a sentence, I will observe every face in the hall.
The three grand consuls talking at the end of the hall are the focus of attention of many nobles. The nobles passed by the "triumvirate" as casually as possible in order to try to hear some useful information, but it is not easy—if it is true When it comes to important matters, the grand consuls will naturally deploy a sound-proof barrier, and if they get too close without interest, it will obviously arouse the disgust of the grand consuls, which is unacceptable for nobles with rich social experience.
Therefore, some nobles focused their attention on the "little princess". Her Royal Highness seemed to dislike the formal atmosphere in the inner court, and spent most of her time outside. Some well-informed people found out who The princess is a naive and lively girl, so many people want to get close to Rebecca—however, it turns out that this seems to be much more difficult than getting close to the Triumvirate.
A beautiful lady wearing a lavender court gown has just returned to the inner banquet hall. With a frustrated look, this lady poured out bitterness on her acquaintances: "Her Royal Highness asked me if I would use leaves to break grasshoppers, and then Ask me again if I know how to solve the magic power interference equation—I can hardly answer any questions, it is really rude to the extreme."
A gentleman in a dark red dress gave the lady a sympathetic look: "Countess Lentini, haven't you tried to use your female sword stabbing skills to open up the conversation? It is said that Her Royal Highness is a warrior who loves fighting skills." people."
"Oh, don't mention this!" The countess reacted extremely fiercely, "Of course I tried—then Her Royal Highness pulled a sword from the guard next to her and threw it over, asking me to give her one—I wore it late Dress!"
"Ah, that was a disaster," the gentleman in the dark red dress shrugged, "but at least you are luckier than the Earl of Balin."
"Earl of Balin?"
The Earl of Bahrain standing beside him turned blue, as if he had lingering fear: "I heard that Her Royal Highness is good at fireball spells, so I wanted to start the conversation with this—she was very happy, and then made a fireball the size of a door... My reaction Disgraceful."
The two nobles of the royal capital suddenly had a common topic, and they sighed together, but their sighs were soon interrupted by a voice almost wailing: "You are all luckier than me!"
Lentini and Bahrain turned their heads at the same time, and saw a young nobleman with short blond hair and a gentle face standing there holding a stack of papers with a broken face, looking extremely depressed.
"Mr. Finley, are you..."
"Who told me that Her Royal Highness likes mathematics and science? My friendship with him has come to an end!" The young nobleman waved the paper in his hand, "I said I am good at mathematics and science, and Her Royal Highness gave me a stack of papers! Who can tell me what is written on it?" What the hell is it?!"
…
Elegant court music was fluttering in the hall, and the joyful music whitewashed the superficial joy. Veronica Moen stood quietly in an inconspicuous corner, and glanced at the people walking, dancing, and talking in the hall. , the laughing crowd, like a blank-faced spectator, watched a scene of a drama that she had recited by heart.
But the corners of the deadpan viewer's lips curled up a bit when those conversations about coming home in front of Princess Rebecca came through.
"To them today is probably the most exhausting banquet in their lives," Veronica turned her head and said with a smile to Gawain and Amber who were walking towards her, and to Pittman who was walking behind them He nodded slightly and said hello, "They have met the most unreasonable royal family members."
"Nobles are always used to expending too much energy in useless fields, so they live very tiredly," Gao Wen said casually, "Of course, Rebecca's education is also a problem."
Veronica smiled slightly: "I really like that kid's character... a bit like me back then."
"… completely unimaginable."
"Time has changed a lot of things, and you should have a deep understanding of this," Veronica said, "Then, the emperor of the empire didn't show up at the banquet, but instead came to see me, the former princess who was in an embarrassing situation. What's the matter?"
Gao Wen got straight to the point: "Do you know the Shadow Fortress?"
"... know, that is a project that was abandoned by myself."