Chapter 2549 Get Justice <TOC> Chapter 2551 Death Scent
Translator: SumTLMan
After patiently waiting for half a day, Kael finally returned to the cave.
His cloak was wrinkled and dirty, and his face showed signs of having been through a rough journey, suggesting that his latest outing extended beyond the confines of the Sandworm Market.
“Lord, thank you for waiting,” Kael said with a respectful bow before he began to recount his experience gathering materials.
“I visited several wizard markets in the area but still came up short on some items, especially the Illusory Spirit Diamond, which was nowhere to be found in the markets’ stores. These materials generally appear at wizard markets and only at auction. With no other choice, I made a trip to the city of Sinking Sands. Luckily, I met a friend of Mentor Aesop there who just happened to have a Illusory Spirit Diamond and sold it to me.”
After his explanation, Kael started to take out various materials from his spatial device, soon forming a small mountain of items.
Angel glanced over the pile and quickly verified its accuracy.
Still, he decided to inspect the materials himself to see if any were substandard. After a while, Angel withdrew his hand, confirming all materials were satisfactory, but then…
“You really bought these by the gram,” Angel raised an eyebrow: “Aren’t you worried at all about my failing the alchemy?”
Kael paused, struck by the thought. What if the alchemy did fail?
After pondering for a moment, he cautiously replied: “You surely won’t fail, right, Lord?”
As Kael awaited Angel’s response, his eyes filled with both hope and a hint of concern, fearing the worst outcome.
Angel looked at Kael, then stood up to start packing up the materials on the table, suggesting: “Why don’t you clean yourself up first?”
Kael looked himself over and, realizing his disheveled state, let out an “Oh” and promptly used a cleaning spell to thoroughly dust himself off.
However, this left his clothes soaking wet and his hair completely drenched.
Angel was taken aback; it was the first time he’d seen someone get wet from using a cleaning spell. This spell, a combination of water and wind magic, was a basic apprentice level trick that usually balanced the two elements perfectly. It seemed Kael had somehow botched this simple spell.
Embarrassed by Angel’s stare, Kael lowered his head and said: “Just a moment, I’ll use the Firebird Spell to dry it off.”
With that, Kael prepared to cast the Firebird Spell, his motions suggesting a familiarity that explained why Daus had so adeptly used the cleaning spell on Kael before, it appeared Kael’s own skills with the cleaning spell were lacking.
Angel thought for a moment and decided not to ask Kael to cast the Firebird Spell; it was uncertain whether the spell would dry things up or cook them instead.
Casually, Angel cast a cleaning spell on Kael, this time with less water and more wind, which perfectly dried Kael’s dampness.
Kael, a bit embarrassed, said: “Thank you, Lord… Actually, I know how to cast the cleaning spell, but it fails occasionally.”
Angel said nothing but silently criticized in his mind: Even a zero level trick can fail, you are indeed talented.
However, upon further reflection, Angel realized that Kael was not reliant on cleaning spells for his livelihood; his true talent lay in spatial research. Naturally, where one excels, another skill may falter. This, too, was a form of balance.
Just like Angel’s magic bread, this basic trick could also go awry, proving that no one is perfect… Of course, this was something Angel would never admit, as he believed there must be someone in the world who would appreciate his magic bread, though that person had yet to appear.
Once Kael had tidied himself up, he looked at Angel expectantly, the implication clear without words.
Angel returned to his desk and said calmly: “With any endeavor, there are successes and failures, alchemy included. What I can do is try to control the variables to avoid failure. Otherwise, you might have to make another trip.”
In reality, Angel had a very high probability of success in his alchemy endeavors, but this was something he kept to himself. If something unexpected did happen, at least he had left himself some leeway.
Kael, unaware of Angel’s thoughts, could only nod vigorously, saying with conviction: “Lord, you will surely succeed!”
Whether or not Kael could determine the outcome, his words were typical human nature, thinking he was offering encouragement when in fact he was just fooling himself and inadvertently adding pressure to others.
Of course, the concept of pressure was foreign to Angel, who casually waved his hand: “Go on out, I’m going to start the preparations for the alchemy. I’ll call you when it’s done, regardless of success or failure.”
Kael nodded and was ready to leave, but just as he was about to step out the door, he suddenly thought of something: “Lord, don’t you need an assistant?”
In Kael’s view, not just alchemists but even rune masters typically required assistants to handle peripheral tasks, yet Angel had chosen to go it alone this time.
“No need,” Angel replied indifferently.
Kael didn’t say anything further, nodded, and then left the cave.
After Kael had left, Angel didn’t immediately begin working with the materials but pondered the issue of an “alchemy assistant” for a moment.
In fact, not only Kael, but during his time in Sky Mechanical City, Master Midora and Director Muse had also suggested that Angel find an alchemy assistant at Achillea Comprehensive College, as it would be a mutually beneficial arrangement.
However, Angel was accustomed to working alone in his alchemy, and the thought of having an assistant felt more like a hassle.
Nonetheless, if in the future there was a need to craft large-scale alchemy items, projects that might take three to five months or even longer, he might need one or more assistants.
After returning from the Savage Grottoes, Angel decided to try finding a visually appealing… assistant, or maybe just give it a shot with David?
Angel did not dwell further on this thought. There was no rush to find an assistant; instead, he focused on crafting the alchemical blueprint he had in his hands.
With this thought in mind, Angel began his preparation for the alchemy.
The so-called preparation naturally did not involve analyzing materials or deciphering the blueprint, as he had already completed these tasks. The only preparation left was…
Angel turned his head and looked at Dangros, who was soaking in the quenching solution, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
…
While Angel was busily engaged in his alchemy, a significant event unfolded on the Paramjit Plateau.
This event involved many participants, with almost every wizard organization taking part, even Rosen Yada, the “Mechanical Beast King” from Sky Mechanical City, had secretly arrived at the Paramjit Plateau.
The gathering of so many high-ranking officials from various wizard organizations was certainly a significant affair. However, the entire matter was kept under wraps in public discourse.
Many wizard journals were aware of this event, but they chose not to publish any information about it.
The reason was simple: this time, they were uniting against a group of outsiders who were a headache even for the bigwigs of the Source World——the Bud Devotees.
These devotees were not particularly powerful, but the problems they caused were significant and widespread, their actions as unchecked as some evil cults.
The devotees were backed by a disorderly and unsolvable Mysterious Object: the Bud.
Of course, those pulled in by the Bud could also be non-devotees, even exploited by the other side, but no one wanted to mess with the misfortune of being pulled into the rhythm of the Bud. A slight mishap, and being sucked into the Bud meant doom.
Only the Bud Devotees, a gathering of fools, would chant the activation mantra of the Bud at the slightest disagreement.
They were not afraid of being absorbed by the Bud; in fact, they often entered it voluntarily, believing it to be their divine kingdom, their final destination. But others were fearful. No one knew what exactly was inside the Bud; it was definitely not any “divine kingdom.”
To date, whether they were devotees or others, no one who had been absorbed by the Bud had ever returned.
Even those above the Miracle realm were no exception.
Otherwise, the Bud would not have been labeled “unsolvable.”
Previously, when the Bud Devotees were active in other Wizarding Worlds, especially in the Source World, it was one thing. It didn’t concern the Southern Region; let other places deal with their own floods.
But now, the Bud Devotees had secretly extended their reach to the Southern Region and even targeted City Lord Rosen with the Arrow of the Vanquished.
This had caused a sensation across the entire Southern Region.
After communicating with each other, all organizations understood that the Bud Devotees were nothing but detrimental parasites. Furthermore, due to the complexity of human thought, it was incredibly difficult to completely discern their presence. No one could be sure if a seemingly normal person around them was actually a Bud Devotee.
The most important consensus was that matters concerning the Bud should never be publicized, as doing so would only benefit the Bud Devotees. After all, the world is not short of fools and madmen.
Under this consensus, the next step was to devise a way to expel the Bud from the Southern Region.
Utter eradication was challenging; if the Bud couldn’t be entirely eradicated from the Source World, then why would the Southern Region be any different?
However, the Southern Region had one advantage, it had no direct communication or teleportation formations with other Wizarding Worlds, which made it relatively isolated.
For the Bud Cult, sending a large number of devotees to the Southern Region was also a challenging task.
Thus, after discussions, the adopted strategy involved a combination of killing and releasing, controlling the magnitude, dividing internally, and balancing each other. Moreover, even if someone was “intentionally” let go, they had to be constantly monitored, and countermeasures were preferable.
This approach ensured that the Bud Cult would not receive messages from this side and continue sending people, and it also helped curb the development of the Bud in the Southern Region.
And this method also required an opportunity.
Since the last time the Arrow of the Vanquished was used against City Lord Rosen, the high-ranking members of the Bud in the Southern Region had not shown themselves. The Bud Devotees currently discovered were just engaging in minor disturbances, primarily composed of ordinary people.
The targets were not these ordinary devotees but the high-ranking devotees from the Bud Cult.
In anticipation of the right moment, all organizations lay low, mentioning nothing of the Bud, maintaining normal interactions, including both hostilities and alliances.
Finally, after a long wait, the whereabouts of the high-ranking devotees were detected by a prophecy wizard.
Their destination was the Paramjit Plateau!
Regardless of their intentions, the focus of nearly all the strong figures was now on this location… Who could rest easy while the Bud still existed?
…
The stirring situation on the Paramjit Plateau was known only among the wizards at the top of the pyramid and remained unknown to the outside world. Everywhere else, life went on as usual.
Sandworm Market, Cross Bar.
Everything was as usual, with wandering wizards embroidered with cross symbols on their garments, joyously raising their glasses in the bar, loudly proclaiming “Freedom.”
The noisy bar was the bragging ground for these adventurous apprentices, boasting stories from all corners of the world. Sometimes, however, some secret information would slip out from these adventure-loving apprentices. Therefore, it was quite common for people, including some who were not wandering apprentices, to frequent the bar to listen to stories.
Unlike the bustling atmosphere in the rest of the bar, the bar counter was much quieter, thanks to the soundproofing. The tall bartender, stirring a drink with a spoon, mentioned nonchalantly: “The apprentice dressed like a vampire at table eleven by the window is from the Candra family. The apprentice in the pale yellow dress at table eight is from the Watson family.”
As the bartender spoke, Daus, sitting at the bar, commented: “The Candra family, huh? Ever since their head died, they’ve been without a successor. Their strongest can’t even surpass the Great Barrier, pretending to be wandering wizards in their adventurer robes. They might as well be considered wandering wizards now.”
“The Watson family? It’s been a while since I’ve heard of them traveling abroad. Tsk, indeed, a family known for its beauties. I once saw a portrait of ‘Ginny, the Delicate Crimson Night Butterfly’; truly unforgettable.”
The bartender quietly added: “I heard the Night Butterfly Witch is dead.”
“Better dead, as beauty when alive, even if attained, eventually tires. But once lost in death, that beauty remains eternal.”
After all, what you cannot have always stirs the soul.
The bartender rolled his eyes, disagreeing with the bar owner’s morbid musings, and preferred not to continue this topic. He shifted the conversation back to the impersonating wandering apprentice.
“The cloaked man at table twenty-two, I didn’t see his face, and there were no crosses on him, strange. I wonder who let him in…”
“It was me who let him in, or rather, I invited him here,” Daus said lazily.
The bartender replied: “…Alright then.”
Daus: “Aren’t you going to ask who he is?”
Bartender: “Since the master allowed him entry, there must be a reason. It has nothing to do with a bartender like me.”
Daus, setting his glass down on the table with a thud, said: “You’re really dull. I was thinking, if you had asked, I would have answered——now I won’t tell you.”
“But since you didn’t ask who he is, I just might tell you.”
The bartender remained silent, finding it hard to articulate a response to Daus’ peculiar logic.
“I won’t say his name, but I can tell you about his background, he’s from.. The Noah Family.”
Hearing “the Noah family,” the bartender, who was mixing a drink, suddenly paused. After a moment, he recovered.
“No wonder, it’s that family.”
As the bartender looked up to say something, he found that Daus had already left the bar and was heading toward table twenty-two.