Chapter 2142 Little Seim <TOC> Chapter 2144 The Castle
Translator: SumTLMan
Little Seim was feeling uneasy.
He didn’t know why he blurted out the incident about killing the farmer.
Perhaps it was because this matter was weighing heavily on his heart, desperately needing an outlet to relieve the pressure; or maybe, the other person’s rescue made him see a glimmer of light in the despairing darkness, drawing him close involuntarily?
Little Seim didn’t know which it was, or maybe, it was both.
While confiding, Little Seim didn’t think too much, but after the story was told, he became anxious again. He feared that his stain of murder would become a thorn in the other’s eyes.
If that thorn truly angered the other, with their legendary extraordinary abilities, it might not just be a curse of a growing nose, but he could be erased from this world.
Thus, in a state of unease and anxiety, Little Seim spent the longest ten minutes of his life.
During these ten minutes, Little Seim kept his head down, not daring to make eye contact with Mr. Pat, fearing to see displeasure in his eyes.
He waited silently, waiting for the other to speak, waiting for Mr. Pat’s judgment of his actions.
But it never came.
After ten minutes, in his torment, Little Seim stealthily raised his head to gauge Mr. Pat’s mood, to discern if he was pleased or angry.
But this glance left Little Seim stunned.
Mr. Pat’s expression was calm, his eyes flickering, seemingly in deep thought.
However, Little Seim was certain Mr. Pat was not pondering about him, as he was engrossed in a strange image projected from a stone.
His attention was all on the void image, naturally not thinking about him.
Little Seim recalled Mr. Pat’s previous words, his focus was never on the killing, but rather realizing why the deep forest under the night sky was so lively because of a farmer’s death.
Could it be that Mr. Pat really didn’t care that he had killed someone?
Little Seim, unsure where he gathered the courage from, hesitated for a moment before directly voicing his doubt: “Mr. Pat, I killed the farmer, do you think I’m a bad person?”
Angel, immersed in the Shadow Stone’s image, looked up at Little Seim and shook his head: “Good and bad are not determined by one act, and should not be judged by an act filled with malice itself.”
“So, I’m not a bad person?” Little Seim murmured to himself.
“At least in my eyes, you’re not a bad kid.” Angel curled his lips, his eyes narrowing slightly: “Compared to the bad kids I’ve encountered, you’re far from their level.”
Little Seim: “The bad kids you’ve met? What bad things did they do?”
Images of Guina flashed in Angel’s mind, who could kill a friend who showed her kindness for a small piece of bread; or command her companions to destroy an innocent family without a care.
In his standards, Guina was a bad kid.
However, Angel shook his head, not sharing Guina’s story. Although she was a bad kid, her wickedness was a creation of the cruel war environment. She was just trying her best to survive, and from that perspective, she wasn’t wrong.
Angel didn’t care about good or bad, nor did he judge morality by worldly standards. As a wizard, he had transcended secular constraints, which enabled him to make more rational judgments. But Little Seim was still living in and would continue to live in a mundane society. Therefore, Angel wouldn’t impart such a viewpoint to him, nor would he use Guina’s example as a demonstration.
In the brief life of Little Seim, he had experienced both the life of nobility and slavery. These drastic changes allowed him to witness the cold and warm facets of humanity, endowing him with a keen ability to read people and situations. It was because of this ability that he deduced the farm owner’s intention to sacrifice him.
Upon realizing that Mr. Pat was unwilling to speak, Little Seim promptly fell silent.
To him, knowing the story of the “bad kid” was not important. What mattered most was his understanding that Mr. Pat did not care about him killing the farm owner.
This kind of tolerance was comforting to Little Seim. He knew that if the news of him killing the farm owner spread to the town, even if he had his reasons, others would still see him as evil and in the wrong. It was this understanding of his situation that prompted Little Seim to flee.
Now, having found someone who understood him, Little Seim felt a warmth in his heart that had long been absent.
Little Seim did not inquire further, and Angel was content with the silence, continuing to watch the images in the Shadow Stones.
These were precious Shadow Stones he had purchased from the Profane Wings Station. Such stones, containing valuable recorded images, were typically included only with the collectors’ edition of magazines, reserved for formal wizards. Angel had seen these magazines before but had never had access to the Shadow Stones of the magazine publishers.
Finding these Shadow Stones at the Profane Wings Station was a rare opportunity. The seller claimed they captured significant historical events, prompting Angel to spend a considerable amount of magic crystals to buy a box of them.
However, after viewing about five or six, Angel realized that these “significant events” were not what he had imagined.
He expected events that would have a major impact on the overall scheme and leave a significant mark in the annals of history.
Yet, the events recorded on the Shadow Stones were different——
A man dressed in a gray wizard robe, hidden in a muddy swamp, quietly pointed towards the depths of a nearby forest, whispering, “According to the information we’ve gathered, there is an astrological tower hidden in an alternate dimension ahead, belonging to a trapped Star Wizard. Now, Mumin, known as the ‘Serene Spirit’ and a representative of the Novastar apprentices, is leading several prophecy apprentices from the Crown Star Church into it. Let’s see what they bring back… or if they will stay there forever.”
After a while, a commotion erupted deep in the forest. A tall puppet, carved with constellations on its mask, was chasing a group of maimed apprentices through the swamp’s edge.
Once everyone had left, the man in the swamp slowly emerged, saying, “The star power puppet, most famous of the trapped Star Wizard, seems to have been left in the astrological tower, anticipating thieves. It seems this time Mumin will return disappointed.”
As his voice faded, the image in the void ended.
After watching, Angel was bewildered. Were these magazine reporters? Were these significant events? Were such occurrences worth recording?
Wasn’t this just a somewhat failed ruin adventure? And judging by the timeline, it was a record of an adventure from hundreds of years ago.
What baffled Angel the most was——Mumin, the drama king from the Torch Institute, who had made a deep impression on him. His nickname was “Serene Spirit”? Angel thought “Noisy Parrot” was more fitting for Mumin.
Although these Shadow Stones were different from what Angel had imagined, and he watched them with a frown, they were not without merit.
Understanding the past of currently powerful wizards was a pleasure in itself.
Moreover, some Shadow Stones offered learning opportunities. For instance, Angel had seen a recording of the ‘Holy Light Wanderer’ concocting a high-level potion in the wild.
Although the technique was unclear, certain details were highly beneficial to Angel.
Now, Angel took out another Shadow Stone, reportedly a secretly recorded alchemical process.
As the Shadow Stone was activated, an image appeared before Angel.
As Angel focused on the content of the image, his pupils constricted and he closed it without hesitation.
“Mr. Pat, was that ship in the image just now the Gondola?” Little Seim, sitting opposite Angel, had been sneakily watching the scenes in the Shadow Stone. He couldn’t understand the previous images, but in that one, although the main focus was a blond, blue-eyed youth, he noticed a dreamlike flying boat parked beside him, identical to the Gondola they were riding.
A stiffness crossed Angel’s lips as he thought: He closed it so quickly, yet this little one still caught a glimpse of the Gondola.
Indeed, the protagonist in that previous image was Angel, from when he first crafted the Rhythm of the Ocean.
Angel knew that this image, because of Jiebo’s involvement, had caused a stir in the Vast Continent, but he never expected… to see this Shadow Stone at this time.
Fortunately, because of the Bud, he still maintained the appearance of red hair and golden eyes. Otherwise, Little Seim’s question would not have been about the Gondola, but about him.
Angel didn’t wish to explain further and simply replied calmly and briefly: “Yes.”
“I thought such a beautiful flying boat was unique in the world, but I didn’t expect there to be a second one,” Little Seim’s eyes sparkled: “Is this the world you come from?”
Angel: “The world I come from, and the world you come from, are the same world.”
Little Seim: “But I’ve never seen a flying boat before, nor did I know that the legends in the books were true. Even the tall star power puppets and half-human, half-fish creatures in the image just now are things I’ve never heard of.”
Little Seim looked down a bit disheartened: “My world seems different from yours.”
Angel: “The world is the same, it’s just the perspective that’s different.”
A different perspective? Little Seim was somewhat puzzled.
“Then, can I achieve a perspective like yours?” Hope filled Little Seim’s eyes.
Angel pondered for a moment: “It won’t be easy.”
Angel’s straightforwardness caused a flash of disappointment in Little Seim’s eyes, who then lowered his head in deep thought.
Angel could sense Little Seim’s yearning for a transcendent world, but he didn’t plan to say more. Although he hadn’t tested it, with his current realm, he could tell that Little Seim’s spirituality was not bad, but his mental power definitely didn’t meet the standard.
Since he wasn’t a natural talent, it wasn’t necessary to give him too much hope.
Seeing himself performing alchemy on the Shadow Stone had made Angel momentarily lose interest in it. Instead, he looked up at the starry sky, enjoying a moment of peace.
Time slowly passed.
Little Seim was a mortal, even weaker than Drew originally was, so Angel drove the Gondola very slowly. It wasn’t until the early morning of the next day that they entered the heartland of the Central Empire.
They were now not far from Saint Seim City.
…
Meanwhile, on the Paramjit Plateau, Rhine arrived outside the ruins where Angel had temporarily stayed.
He gently knocked on the large tree at the entrance.
After a while, Tree Spirit’s avatar came out from the ruins.
“Has Angel already left?” Rhine asked.
Tree Spirit yawned and leaned against the tree: “Yes, he returned from the Profane Wings Station, met Totoro, and then took Toby overseas. However, I saw him opening the planar passage awkwardly; he’s likely to stray off course.”
“However, detours are not a problem, as he has prepared plenty of spell materials and opening a few more planar passages is no issue.”
Rhine: “He didn’t take Totoro with him?”
Tree Spirit shook its head: “Totoro did want to go, but Totoro just made a name for himself on the Star Observing Day, attracting a lot of attention. Until he becomes a wizard or has the ability to protect himself, Angel decided to leave him behind.”
Rhine nodded: “That’s good. Pay more attention to Totoro; his strategic significance is extremely high. I met with Maya once, and she told me, in terms of prophecies about secret matters, Totoro might even be stronger than her.”
As an apprentice, Totoro’s prophecy ability has, in some aspects, already surpassed Maya, the veteran prophecy witch. Tree Spirit naturally understood what this meant.
After discussing Totoro, Rhine inquired about Regina’s research progress.
Mentioning Regina, Tree Spirit sighed deeply.
Previously, when Angel handed over the task to Regina, Tree Spirit thought she seemed easy to talk to. But upon personal contact, he realized she was just like Liana.
It’s not that Regina’s personality resembled Liana’s, but rather her persistence in obtaining the mushrooms, perfectly mimicking Liana’s essence.
Knowing that Angel had handed all the mushrooms to Tree Spirit, Regina would come out to pester him periodically, just to get the mushrooms early.
This persistence reminded Tree Spirit of the time when Liana asked him to open the interior space of the Eternal Tree.
Moreover, Regina’s pestering wasn’t done in person, but through a mushroom clone. This made Tree Spirit feel troubled and slightly undervalued.
Tree Spirit: “Apart from always pestering me for mushrooms, everything else is fine. According to her, the cultivation progress of Mystlight is also proceeding in an orderly manner.”
Rhine patted Tree Spirit, silently comforting him.
Then, Rhine asked if there were any anomalies in the ruins——mainly concerned about whether the Light of Nightmare might escape and whether Culuoli might suddenly return.
After confirming everything was normal, Rhine bid farewell to Tree Spirit and flew towards the Star Pool Ruins.
Tree Spirit returned to the ruins, planning to continue reading the books left by Culuoli.
However, just as Tree Spirit returned to the study, he noticed a flicker of light on the knight’s suit of armor at the desk.
Tree Spirit walked over to the knight armor, sensing the magic formation engraved on it.
There were no signs it had been activated.
“Is it an illusion?” Hesitating for a moment, Tree Spirit decided to check it out, not believing he was mistaken.
Tree Spirit activated the short-range teleportation formation on the armor, and the next second, he arrived in a deep, secluded corridor. At the end of the corridor was Culuoli’s bedroom, filled with the Light of Nightmare.
Tree Spirit walked back and forth in the corridor but found nothing unusual.
As for the bedroom… without Angel, he couldn’t enter.
“Maybe it really was an illusion?” Tree Spirit shook his head and left the corridor, returning to the study.
Not long after Tree Spirit left, a faint sound echoed in the empty corridor: “He’s gone…”