Chapter 2337 Black Mist Tower <TOC> Chapter 2339 Delicate Crimson Night Butterfly
Translator: SumTLMan
The envelope was a thick stack.
Sealed with silver wax, it bore the emblem of the Silver Heron Royal Family.
Upon breaking the seal, Angel extracted a stack of thin vellum from the leather envelope. Though termed thin, it was significantly thicker than pulp paper.
“Truly in the style of royalty,” Angel remarked, raising an eyebrow.
Freud, seeing the stack of vellum, understood why Angel had made such a comment.
The choice to use a more prestigious leather envelope necessitated the inclusion of vellum sheets. The combination of a leather envelope and vellum sheets was precisely why the letter was so bulky.
This was a typical display of traditional nobility, where formality took precedence over everything else.
Freud knew Angel well. Although Angel was born into nobility, he had little regard for the formalities of the aristocratic class. The noble pretensions of such, rather than pleasing Angel, did the opposite.
Had it been Angel’s mentor, Sanders, he might have been more receptive to this arrangement.
Angel unfolded the soft, skin-friendly vellum, and a mass of text immediately caught his eye.
After spending a few minutes reading it.
Angel pondered for a few seconds before handing the vellum to Freud.
Freud skimmed through it and realized that the content of the letter was mostly trivial, with the majority detailing how the Royal Knights had verified their information, consulted numerous individuals, and eventually “coincidentally” obtained a clue from a sea merchant.
This too was a typical formality.
However, setting aside the trivialities, the clue itself was of value.
The clue pointed to the emblem on the boots of the person behind the first scene shown by Totoro.
According to information obtained by a frontline knight from a sea merchant, the emblem on the boots was likely that of a family from the Night Lily Kingdom on the Firon Continent, known as the Mandevil Family.
Given the frequent maritime exchanges between the Firon Continent and the Revelation Continent, the Central Empire had some records of the Firon Continent.
However, given the vast distance across the sea, the information was limited. Eniya had to sift through a vast amount of data to find a few references to the Mandevil Family. Eventually, it was confirmed that the Mandevil Family was a local nobility in the Wind Chime County of the Ruito Province in the Night Lily Kingdom, with a hereditary title of viscount.
Whether the emblem truly belonged to the Mandevil Family was yet to be confirmed, but Eniya had already expedited a request for the Knights to head to the neighboring Peaceful Sea Duchy, which had trade relations with Ruito Province, in hopes that someone might recognize the Mandevil Family’s emblem.
Generally, sea merchants, for the sake of convenience in local trade, would not deliberately lie to the royal nobility, making it highly probable that the boots bore the Mandevil Family’s emblem.
“In accordance with the practices of nobility, clothing and leather boots bearing the family crest are generally exclusive to blood relatives.” Freud remarked, “If it can indeed be confirmed that it’s the Mandevil Family crest, then it’s highly likely that the individual is from the Mandevil Family.”
Angel nodded in agreement, being a noble himself, he was well-acquainted with this custom. Such attire, if engraved with a family crest, could only be worn by members of the family. Just like the Lion Heart Fire crest of the Pat Family, after Old Pat passed away, only Angel and Leon were entitled to wear it.
The presence of the Mandevil Family crest on the individual’s boots significantly increases the likelihood that they belong to the Mandevil Family.
Freud then speculated, “This suggests that the Mandevil Family might very well be a family of extraordinary lineage.”
Angel considered another possibility, “It’s also possible that one of the family members possessed a talent that caught the attention of a guide, leading them into the Wizarding World.”
Freud added, “Regardless of the scenario, as long as there are records, it should be possible to trace.”
Angel nodded, acknowledging that although this was the only clue they had at the moment, following this lead should swiftly enable them to identify the man with the boots. Identifying him, one of the masterminds behind the cavern altar, would make investigating the altar much easier.
“Let me know immediately if there are any further developments.”
After concluding this discussion, Angel checked the time and realized it was almost time to meet with Nisi in the Wilderness of Dreams, so he prepared to leave for their meeting.
Just then, Freud interjected, “My lord, there’s one more thing…”
Angel paused his preparation for the Dream Entry spell and turned to Freud.
“It’s about Dangros. Drew brought a message regarding it.”
“Dangros? Didn’t it go to Saint Seim City? What happened?” Since leaving the Tidal Realm, Dangros had been full of curiosity about human affairs, constantly clamoring to visit human cities. Angel had been mainly focused on researching mirror spaces these past few days and hadn’t had the time to accompany it, so he had Drew take Dangros to Saint Seim City for a bit of exposure.
“Did it cause some kind of trouble?” Angel asked, frowning.
Freud’s expression was slightly odd as he replied, “It didn’t cause any major trouble, per se, but it managed to burn down half of the Silver Heron Royal Palace; and since the palace is close to Cypress Street, it ended up burning that street as well…”
Burning down a palace and a street didn’t count as major trouble?
“Fortunately, it happened during the Sculpture Art Festival, so most residents of Cypress Street were out watching the sculptures in the plaza. The remaining residents managed to escape with the help of the knight’s guard, and only a few pets were killed.”
Angel was baffled, “I had reminded it to keep its flames in check, what happened?”
Freud sighed and began to explain the situation.
The incident wasn’t entirely Dangros’s fault but rather involved a wizard apprentice named Fritz.
Fritz was a member of the Silver Heron Royal Wizard Group, similar to Drew in that he was a scholarly type who loved to delve into research. In fact, he was even more of a recluse than Drew, often staying within the palace to conduct various studies.
In the days of his apprenticeship at Hurricane Tower, Fritz was one of the many alchemy assistants to the renowned “Mithril Shaper” Jailall. During this period, Fritz acquired a wealth of alchemical knowledge. However, his passion leaned more towards potionology than the study of transmutation, leading him to dedicate his research in that direction thereafter.
His talent, unfortunately, was not exceptional, which ultimately led to his downfall to his current predicament.
Upon arriving in the Central Empire, Fritz continued his research into potions without faltering, even “developing” numerous new potion formulas. These so-called new formulas, however, were merely theoretical concoctions that never progressed to the experimental phase due to Fritz’s limited technical skills and inability to afford the necessary materials.
The closest Fritz came to actual potion experimentation was with a concoction he named “Boiling Blood Red Water.” He gathered many materials for this new formula but was stymied in the creation of “Rockborn Liquid Gel,” a component of the potion.
The rockborn liquid gel was Fritz’s concept for a novel auxiliary transmutant, created by adding special magical minerals to a levitation gel. While not difficult to produce, the challenge lay in its melting process, which required extremely high temperatures.
This necessitated the aid of flame capabilities.
Fritz had a method to achieve the temperatures necessary to melt these magical minerals, but maintaining control after melting was beyond his capabilities.
Despite numerous attempts, being in a foreign land with no access to powerful elemental wizards for assistance, Fritz was unable to overcome this hurdle.
That was until he encountered Dangros, a creature of flame with the intelligence and the requisite flame temperature.
Seizing the opportunity, Fritz approached Dangros alone and requested its assistance, which Dangros agreed to without much thought.
“As it turned out, Dangros did manage to melt the substance, but Fritz had overestimated his research capabilities. The melted rockborn liquid gel ignited explosively, quickly consuming the palace in flames,” Freud sighed. “The fire was fierce, and even the Royal Wizard Group, who were deployed en masse, couldn’t contain it.”
“Was Eniya unable to help?” Angel inquired.
“Nea was not present at the time, but even if she were, it’s doubtful she could have controlled it, given its classification as a special type of flame,” Freud responded.
“How was the fire eventually contained?”
“By Dangros itself. Initially stunned by the explosion during the creation of the rockborn liquid gel, it took Dangros five minutes to recover. By then, the fire had already spread to Cypress Street.”
“Still, it was fortunate that no lives were lost.”
Hearing Freud’s account, Angel breathed a sigh of relief, having initially thought Dangros was the one at fault. Clearly, Fritz was more to blame for the incident.
“What’s the current situation with Dangros?”
“Dangros wasn’t punished, but Fritz was confined to a dark cell by Eniya,” Freud explained. “However, according to Drew, Dangros has been quite despondent lately, presumably due to the palace fire incident.”
“Drew discussed the matter, saying it was to inform about Dangros’s recent situation.” Freud commented, “But in my view, it’s probably because the Royal Wizard Goup is afraid of Dangros, that’s why they had Drew convey the message.”
In plain terms, they hoped Angel would take Dangros away soon.
Angel nodded in understanding: “I see, I’ll go check on Dangros later.”
Dangros’s ability to create flames that could melt rockborn liquid gel into a solution surprised Angel. Before this, Angel had seen Dangros more as a social master, with a character setting of having useless flame abilities. But now, it seemed his flame abilities were not bad?
When going to pick up Dangros later, it would be a good opportunity to closely observe his abilities.
For the first time, Angel felt curious about the flames Dangros possessed.
…
Before going to find Dangros, Angel decided to first keep the appointment with Nisi.
Upon entering the Wilderness of Dreams, Angel appeared in the attic where Nisi lived, just as before.
Nodding gently to Tulas and Mandara, Angel went upstairs.
Surprisingly, this time the second floor was quite clean; the previously messy piles of books thrown on the floor had all been neatly arranged by the wall.
The side window and skylight, which had been obscured by heaps of draft papers last time, had been cleaned, and the walls and ceiling windows were opened, letting natural light flood in, making the place bright and airy. This made the originally cramped second floor seem a bit more spacious.
Angel was wondering why Nisi had suddenly become diligent until he walked around the bookshelf to the desk area and then understood.
Near Nisi’s desk, there was a delicately set tea table where a kind old lady with silver hair was sitting, elegantly stirring her tea with a spoon.
Seeing this person, Angel understood the reason for Nisi’s diligence: Iron Armor Granny was here.
“Granny,” Angel greeted respectfully.
Iron Armor Granny smiled and waved at Angel, signaling him to sit opposite her at the tea table. She personally brewed a cup of silver thread herbal tea for him and placed it in front of Angel.
Most importantly, Iron Armor Granny also took out a cup of milk and poured it all into the tea, indicating Angel to taste it.
Angel thought: So, now everyone knows his preferences…
“Granny, did you come here because of the matter with the cavern altar?” Angel came here to discuss with Nisi the clues seen in Totoro’s ** images.
Angel knew that Nisi had gone to ask Iron Armor Granny for related information. However, at that time, Angel had just listened and hadn’t expected Iron Armor Granny to come here personally.
After all, the matter of the cavern altar wasn’t really a big deal.
“Yes,” Iron Armor Granny sipped her tea and nodded.
“Are you interested in the cavern altar as well?”
Iron Armor Granny: “I wasn’t interested before, but after seeing the scenes depicted by Totoro, I’ve become somewhat intrigued.”
“What in Totoro’s depictions could pique your interest?” Angel asked curiously.
Iron Armor Granny gently lowered her eyebrows and after a moment of silence, said, “In the scenes, I saw someone… a person from my past.”
Chapter 2337 Black Mist Tower <TOC> Chapter 2339 Delicate Crimson Night Butterfly