Chapter 2342 Babitt of the Hundred Eyes <TOC> Chapter 2344 Quenching Fluid
Translator: SumTLMan
A figure glided across the boundless night sky, standing above the thin clouds.
Beneath him, a bustling city glowed with lights.
Even from hundreds of meters in the air, one could still faintly catch the scent of string music and fragrant breezes.
“Saint Seim City, truly deserving of its fame as the Capital of Art.” The atmosphere of art, it could be said, soared to the skies.
The person above sighed deeply as he looked down, his gaze sweeping across before finally settling on the only dimly lit street in the city below.
The shadow plunged down, landing silently in a deserted and dark alley.
With the sound of footsteps, he emerged from the alley, where a pile of burning firewood at the corner provided light, revealing the face of the newcomer.
With red hair and golden eyes, his appearance was lazily handsome.
It was Angel, after having used a shape-shifting spell.
Angel looked around; this was a long street that had been scorched by fire.
Everywhere was in disarray, not only was there burning firewood at the street corner, but the houses on both sides also had rekindled fire spots, as well as various burnt remains and charcoal. Even the air was filled with flickering sparks.
The pungent smell permeated the entire street.
A stone brick house on the left was relatively intact, and from the wall plaque stained with black ash, one could see a few characters with burn marks: “Cypress Street West Alley 1-349.”
This was Cypress Street, adjacent to the palace complex of the Silver Heron Royal Family, once a corridor of art, but now reduced to ruins.
Angel sighed almost imperceptibly and walked towards a fire pile not far away.
This pile of firewood was blocking the road, and upon closer inspection, it was a pile of completely burned street-side oil wood.
Angel crouched down, slowly extending his hand, attempting to sense the blazing flames through touch.
“Young man, don’t do anything foolish!” A voice, urgent, suddenly came from behind.
Angel shook off the sparks on his hand, stood up, and turned around.
He saw a middle-aged woman, clad in a fireproof cloth, her figure plump, rushing over, urging Angel to move away from the fire pile as she approached.
“Young man, you must think positively. Even if your house is burned down, as long as you’re safe, everything can start over.” The middle-aged woman was clearly well-educated. Although her attire was obscured by the ugly black fireproof cloth, her designed hairstyle suggested she came from a relatively affluent family.
However, beneath those beautiful curls, her face was smeared with black ash, likely stained by the dust floating around Cypress Street.
When Angel’s face came into view, the middle-aged woman was visibly taken aback. His lightly handsome features, coupled with the clearly expensive gentleman’s attire, did not at all seem like someone on the brink of suicide due to his house burning down.
Moreover, the polite smile playing at the corners of his mouth, along with his standard noble attire, starkly contrasted with the surrounding ruins, which were still drifting with the smell of smoke.
“You… let me think, could it be that a beloved painting of yours was burned? Is that why you momentarily lost hope?” The middle-aged woman seemed to think this guess might be close to the truth and immediately muttered, “You must have been influenced by that young man yesterday, right? Ah, that young man was just foolish, how could a painting be more important than a life? He had to rush into the fire, and as a result, he almost got himself burned.”
“The youth of today are really bewitched. Everyone is chasing after trends, treating art as their life.”
“Actually, this path has gone astray.”
“Oh, why has it gone astray?” The speaker was Angel, who had initially just wanted to clarify things with the middle-aged woman out of kindness, to avoid any misunderstanding; but her subsequent words, stemming from her misunderstanding, piqued Angel’s interest.
“Come over here, and I’ll tell you. This fire, it’s not ordinary, it’s very strange. It burns in such a way that even water can’t extinguish it. You better not get close to these fires.”
“I think you’ve misunderstood, madam. I have no intention of taking my own life; I was just wandering around this area.” Angel walked past the fire piles to a spot the flames couldn’t reach.
“What is there to wander around here for?”
Angel smiled without answering.
Seeing this, the middle-aged woman realized that he did not wish to respond and thought it best to let it be. As long as he wasn’t seeking death, everything else was inconsequential.
“Even if you want to wander around here, you should still stay away from these fires. Moreover, this place reignites from time to time. If there was anything of value, it’s probably been burned by now.”
From her words, Angel roughly understood that she had concocted a scenario in her mind, probably mistaking him for someone looking to salvage what remained.
“Why would a lady come here in the middle of the night?” Angel asked in return.
“You’re asking me? I was going to Cypress Lake over there to check on the fish… I used to feed them every night, but I couldn’t come these past two days because of the big fire. Now that the fire is mostly extinguished, I wanted to go see them.” She was quite open about her itinerary, explaining her situation in just a few words and even shook the leather pouch she was holding, which was heavy with bread crumbs.
Cypress Lake. Angel remembered from his earlier overview that Cypress Lake was not far from the vicinity of the Silver Heron Palace. He was actually planning to visit the Silver Heron Royal Family, so he said, “I was actually planning to go that way myself. If the lady doesn’t mind, perhaps we could go together? I would also like to hear more about what you meant by the path being astray.”
“Sure, sure.” The middle-aged woman smiled.
On their way to Cypress Lake, Angel learned that the middle-aged woman’s name was Connelly. She used to live on Cypress Street and had a son who was obsessed with art, to the point where he nearly sacrificed his life for it.
“What I meant by their path going astray, I actually realized it through my son.”
“Why did my son become obsessed with art, do you know?”
Angel speculated, “Because of love?”
Lady Connelly shook her head, “I wish it were for love, but it’s not. He doesn’t truly love art in his heart. His obsession with art is due to environmental influences.”
Lady Connelly sighed, gazing at the bustling night scene of Saint Seim City, and softly said, “The Central Empire is also known as the Country of Art, and Saint Seim City is the center of this country of art, naturally dubbed the Capital of Art. The artistic atmosphere here is very strong; most people grow up immersed in art from a young age, painting, music, drama, sculpture, architecture…”
Despite Lady Connelly’s current wealth and carefree life, her background was not so grand. She was once a peasant woman, her daily interactions were with the peasant class, so her son naturally wouldn’t pursue art. However, after her son started school, his classmates would talk about art every day. To fit in, he began to study art.
As a mother, Lady Connelly understood her son too well. She knew that her son didn’t actually like art, but his later fanaticism was a kind of madness. In such a rich artistic atmosphere, he deluded himself.
Such examples are actually not rare in Saint Seim City.
The outcome of art is naturally elegant, but the process of achieving art is inherently tedious and dull. How could every person have the patience to love art? It’s all due to environmental factors, a reluctant choice.
In a conformist society, if you don’t conform, you will inevitably be abandoned and ostracized.
Lady Connelly used to be indifferent to this, until her son almost sacrificed his precious life for art. That’s when she started to take it seriously.
“Initially, Queen Lorraine advocated for the love of art because she had experienced a painful war. After the war, the majority of people were immersed in the pain of ‘loss.’ She hoped to reignite the people’s hope through art.”
“She could never have imagined that, in the end, the art of Saint Seim City would become distorted. Art for the sake of art is not true art.”
As Lady Connelly said this, they happened to walk up to Cypress Lake.
The glistening lake surface, under the starry sky, looked cold and inviting.
“Dear person, I’ve arrived. I’m going to feed the fish now. Remember, never get close to fire, and don’t sacrifice yourself for art like my son did. That’s foolish behavior.”
Lady Connelly waved to Angel, then carrying a bag of feed, walked towards the lake.
Watching Lady Connelly’s somewhat bulky and not particularly attractive figure from behind, Angel lowered his head and smiled softly: Compared to most people in this city, Lady Connelly, born a peasant woman, seemed to understand life better.
It’s because of the existence of people like Lady Connelly…
“That’s why I love humanity.”
Angel, with a smile, turned and walked towards the palace of the Silver Heron Royal Family.
His brief companionship with Connelly, listening to the values of an ordinary person, was but a minor episode. Yet, this episode still occupied a certain weight in his memories. If Angel were to write a book about his travels as a wizard, he might include her story when he writes about the city of art.
After setting aside this brief interlude, Angel stretched out his left hand, slowly unclenching his fist that had been holding onto something tightly, releasing a few sparks.
The sparks rose into the air, transforming into a small flame in front of Angel.
“Indeed, it contains a trace of special flame power. Although it’s very faint, it still carries the aura of Dangros.”
Angel observed the flame, his eyes flickering with thought. Although it was just a tiny spark, its residual warmth was impressive. If it were to burn fully, its temperature might only be slightly less than that of Kolokcro.
Moreover, the special significance within the flame was not mixed; it was quite pure, suitable for smelting many magical ores that required pure fire. It was no wonder Fritz took an interest in Dangros.
“I haven’t seen Dangros release his flames at full strength before. I didn’t expect it to be quite impressive,” Angel murmured to himself. With a single grasp, he extinguished the floating flame.
Then, without further pause, he strode towards the palace.
His visit to Saint Seim City was specifically to bring Dangros back. And Dangros was currently deep within the Silver Heron Palace.
The guards and knights stationed along the way seemed to completely overlook Angel’s presence, allowing him to move as if he were entering an uninhabited land.
After passing through a series of palaces full of design, Angel arrived in front of a tall wall.
He could sense that Dangros was in a corner inside the wall.
This gray wall had no obvious doors. To enter, one had to either input magical power to find a hidden passage or simply fly over.
Ordinary people obviously couldn’t do it.
Inside the wall was actually the location of the Silver Heron Royal Family’s Wizard Order.
Angel chose not to fly over because he was standing in front of a hidden passage. If he could walk through, there was no need to waste energy.
When Angel’s body touched the wall, the originally flawless surface suddenly rippled like water, swallowing Angel’s figure.
When Angel reappeared, he was already inside the wall.
And directly in front of him stood a person wearing a light red wizard’s robe.
“Eniya,” Angel softly called out the name of the person in front of him.
“Lord Pat,” Eniya hurriedly bowed in greeting. She had rushed over immediately upon sensing unfamiliar energy entering the wall, thinking it was an enemy intrusion, only to find that the visitor was Angel.
“No need for formalities, I’ve come this time prepared to take Dangros away,” Angel said.
A flicker of embarrassment crossed Eniya’s face when she returned and learned that Drew had sent a message to Freud about Dangros setting fire to Cypress Street. At that moment, she realized that Drew had informed Angel, probably out of fear of Dangros, hoping Angel would quickly take this troublesome figure away.
Although Eniya was somewhat fearful of the flames created by Dangros, the idea of using this implication to have Angel take Dangros away made her feel dishonored.
Moreover, she was worried about offending Angel.
“Actually, Dangros has been living quite a fulfilling life here, recently even studying the art of pottery. Perhaps you could consider letting him stay a bit longer?” Eniya said somewhat dryly.
Angel replied, “Let’s not, I’ve seen the situation on Cypress Street, and it was extremely dire.”
Eniya said, “It’s okay, Cypress Street burned down, but it can be rebuilt, and no one died.”
Angel expressed his concern, “I’m afraid if it continues to stay, it might burn down half of Saint Seim City due to its unrestrained nature.”
After a pause, Angel said, “Let’s go, since you’re here, you can lead the way.”
Eniya sighed softly in her heart and nodded, “Please follow me, Lord.”
Soon, Angel found himself in a backyard paved with rubies, where he saw Dangros rolling on the ground.
Dangros was seen closing its eyes, flipping over on the refined rubies with its entire hand, a look of enjoyment on its face. Beside it, an old apprentice dressed in a fiery red wizard’s robe was sitting on a stone bench, flipping through a notebook. From time to time, he would gently point in the direction of Dangros with a red feather pen, and some fiery red liquid would sprinkle over.
Dangros did not dodge or avoid, letting the liquid soak into its skin, then continued to roll on the gems, enjoying itself while mumbling, much like a junkie.
This scene was rather unsightly, and Eniya could no longer maintain her composure, coughing twice in embarrassment.
“Cough, cough.”
The old apprentice, immersed in his notebook, looked up puzzled. When he saw Eniya and the man behind her, he instantly stood up with a start.
“My lord, l-lord…” the old apprentice lowered his head, his voice trembling.
“Is he Fritz?” Angel asked this because he saw a title on the notebook that the old apprentice was holding open——Boiling Blood Red Water.
The reason Cypress Street was burned was due to an accident that occurred when Fritz was trying to procure one of the materials for making Boiling Blood Red Water.
Eniya nodded, “Yes. Fritz was originally confined by me, but Dangros came over this morning to plead on his behalf, so I let him out, only ordering him to stay by Dangros’ side.”
Chapter 2342 Babitt of the Hundred Eyes <TOC> Chapter 2344 Quenching Fluid