Chapter 2578 Destroyed the Podium’s Top <TOC> Chapter 2580 Suspicion
Translator: SumTLMan
After entering the magical cottage, the Traveling Merchant stood still, silently waiting for his memory to be altered.
For others, the idea of having their memories modified was terrifying and unacceptable. However, for the Traveling Merchant, as long as he could stay alive, what did it matter if his memories were altered? Besides, the memories being modified were of no consequence.
As for the deep-seated secrets in his memories… everyone has secrets, and the Traveling Merchant was no exception. But he was confident that even if the memories concerning his secrets were examined, they would not draw the attention of a formal wizard.
Thus, he had no fears, even a bit of anticipation.
His expectant look proved useful. After noticing it, Angel thought for a moment and then said: “You go first. I will modify your memories of today, and you might faint for a while afterward.”
The Traveling Merchant nodded in understanding. If he did not faint, and upon waking up saw Angel and the others, doubts might arise in his mind. Once doubts surfaced, the memory modification could be easily revealed. Therefore, they needed to be unconscious, and upon awakening, they would forget the people they met today.
As for feeling discomfort after the memory modification, the Traveling Merchant was not worried. Since the opposite wizard was confident in modifying memories, when they woke up, there would certainly be no discomfort, and the reasons for their fainting and being there would logically make sense. He trusted in the wizards’ ability to tidy things up.
The Traveling Merchant took a deep breath, walked up to Angel, and closed his eyes, ready to have his memories altered.
However, just as the Traveling Merchant had prepared himself for everything, Angel said: “Your memories will be modified by this esteemed lord here.”
Before the Traveling Merchant could react to whether “this esteemed lord” was a term of respect, he saw a stone slab slowly rise, its prominent nose pointing at him.
“Come here, stop dilly-dallying. Do I need to come find you?”
A cold voice emanated from the stone slab.
Puzzled, the Traveling Merchant looked over and felt his heart almost leap out of his chest.
On the stone slab, even though there was only a nose and no imposing aura was being emitted, he couldn’t help but feel palpitations. This was not a wizard’s intuition or spiritual perception, but rather a primal and instinctive nature etched deep within his bloodline——an awe for the powerful.
Undoubtedly, the owner of this unknown nose was a terrifying and powerful transcendent.
He had completely misjudged the situation, thinking that among those who had arrived, there were only two formal wizards.
He had not expected that hidden among them was an even more formidable presence.
With such a lineup, even if the Traveling Merchants organization mobilized its entire force, they would not be able to exert much pressure on them.
With this realization, the Traveling Merchant felt nothing but relief and gratitude: fortunately, he had been completely open from the start and had not harbored any other thoughts. Otherwise, the outcome today might have been unpredictable.
Hurriedly, the Traveling Merchant trotted to the front of the stone slab: “Esteemed, esteemed lord…”
“Stop the nonsense, close your eyes; I’m starting now.”
The Traveling Merchant immediately shut his eyes, but as he did, the nose on the stone slab seemed to turn towards Angel.
Angel seemed to perceive something, nodding slightly towards the stone slab.
The next second, the Traveling Merchant felt a sharp, irresistible mental power burst into the center of his forehead. As the mental power entered, his thoughts stalled, and he fainted…
On the other side, the Magic Craftsman was also looking at the floating stone slab in mid-air, speculating various possibilities.
But before he could formulate any theories, he heard Angel’s voice next to his ear: “Stop looking, it’s your turn.”
The Magic Craftsman paused for a moment, then plunged into chaos and soon lost consciousness.
Two minutes later, the Black Count was the first to exit the Traveling Merchant’s memory.
And ten minutes later, Angel, with a frown, emerged from the Magic Craftsman’s memory.
“Is the modification done?” Daus asked.
Seeing Angel nod, Daus didn’t pursue the matter of memory modification further. Modifying memories was simple for a formal wizard, and devising a self-consistent logic was not difficult.
Daus: “Then, did you find anything?”
Angel didn’t answer immediately but glanced at the Black Count, who merely flared his nostrils, and Angel seemed to understand something.
Angel: “We’ll talk about that later. Have the aftermath for the ordinary people been handled?”
Daus: “Kael took care of it, and earlier, the Magic Craftsman also made most people forget the related memories with a forgetfulness trick. Don’t worry.”
“That’s good, let’s go.”
As soon as Angel finished speaking, Speedling immediately cast a Wind Blessing on everyone. Seconds later, the place was empty, leaving only two unconscious people sitting on chairs. And soon, they would wake up with no suspicions, continuing their previous argument.
Yes, the argument. In their memories, there was no fainting, only an ongoing dispute that seemed merely to blink from one second to the next.
And the subject of the argument was Miss Red, whose memories had been altered by the forgetfulness trick.
…
Under the Wind Blessing, the group quickly returned to the original cellar, with even Marsha not lagging behind.
Upon re-entering the cellar, the first person they saw was Colo, dressed in his tiny “Lightning” outfit, curled up in a corner, somewhat drowsy. Clearly, Little Colo had been waiting here all this time for his mother’s return.
Hearing the disturbance outside, Colo immediately opened his eyes wide, his gaze shifting from wary to delighted.
The scene of the mother and son reuniting and embracing was truly heartwarming.
If only Daus hadn’t interrupted, commenting: “The child waits here for his mother. What about his father? Neither caring for his son nor here to greet his wife, tsk tsk, now I understand why Colo is dressed like this.”
Daus made no effort to hide his disdain, and both Marsha and Little Colo were within earshot. Little Colo dared not speak, while Marsha awkwardly said: “You misunderstand, lord. Raven is very fond of Colo and loves me too; he’s just not good at showing it.”
“If you believe that, then I have nothing more to say,” Daus shrugged.
Marsha offered a dry laugh: “Lord, now that you’ve returned, I suppose there’s nothing more for me to do? Should my memory be erased?”
Angel pondered for a moment before responding: “I will block this segment of your memory, but not erase it completely.”
With that, Angel extended his index finger and made a motion in the air.
Nightmare Aura entered Marsha’s brain, directly blocking the memories of her outing with them today.
Marsha also realized that she had forgotten the recent memories, but unlike the Magic Craftsman and Traveling Merchant, she was aware that her memories had been blocked by the wizard before her.
Without delving into why Angel chose only to block and not erase her memories, Marsha bowed deeply and said: “Colo has been waiting and is tired; I’ll take him back to rest now.”
After saying this, Marsha took Colo by the hand and headed toward the underground passage.
Angel and the others did not immediately leave the cellar but exchanged looks, and in the next moment, a mental connection connected them all.
Undoubtedly, Angel was planning to share the memories he had gathered about the Magic Craftsman here.
However, before discussing the Magic Craftsman’s situation, Angel first asked the Black Count through the mental connection: “Lord Black Count, have you made any discoveries?”
The Black Count replied: “I have investigated all memories related to the death oath with the Traveling Merchant without violating the oath itself, and indeed, I found something valuable.”
The Black Count’s plain words, however, held a level of sophistication others could not match.
The ability to distinguish memories related to the death oath without violating it was something no one else present could manage.
It required a wealth of experience and incredibly precise techniques.
Although the Black Count’s nose was not particularly strong, he still inherited the memories and experiences of the original Black Count. Only he could perform such a daunting task.
Knowing that the Black Count was capable of this, Angel had tasked him with investigating the Traveling Merchant’s memories to see if any useful information could be uncovered.
“There are two key findings related to our current mission,” continued the Black Count: “First, the Traveling Merchants organization has set up a ritual in the Garden Labyrinth to detect high-energy fluctuations.”
Angel asked: “A large-scale ritual? Covering the entire Garden Labyrinth?”
The Black Count replied: “Not a large-scale ritual, the Bylron family’s resources couldn’t manage that. It’s a medium-sized ritual based on an octagonal formation. Moreover, the eight points of the ritual are not within the Garden Labyrinth but are positioned outside, loosely encompassing the labyrinth.”
“Although the ritual is mediocre, and its effects average, the Bylron family will definitely know if high-energy fluctuations are generated in the Garden Labyrinth.”
Daus stroked his chin: “Is that so? What qualifies as a high-energy fluctuation?”
The Black Count: “The kind your sandworm would achieve if it exhibited exceptional behavior, that would meet the criteria for high-energy fluctuations.”
Angel: “So, we’re talking about destruction on the level of wizard spells?”
The Black Count: “That’s one way to put it, but it’s not just about destructive power. If it triggers an underground magic formation, that would also result in significant high-energy fluctuations.”
This meant that their actions had to be extremely cautious.
While they weren’t afraid of being detected by the Bylron family, they didn’t want to be harassed during their exploration.
“What’s the second point?” Angel asked.
The Black Count: “The second point concerns the real entrance to the underground labyrinth. The Traveling Merchant’s memory has it that the organization does know several entrance locations, but only core members are privy to the exact spots, and this Traveling Merchant isn’t a core member.”
Not to say anything of core members; the Traveling Merchant had a significant rebellious streak. However, the Black Count didn’t mention this as it was irrelevant here.
Angel: “As expected, the Traveling Merchants organization does know the entrances.”
That made sense, considering these ruins were practically the Bylron family’s backyard, it’s only natural that after so many years of exploration, they’d know about the entrances.
And it wasn’t just the Bylron family; other wizards who had explored the Garden Labyrinth might know some too.
However, knowing the entrances didn’t really matter because the valuable items in the underground labyrinth had been emptied by wizards thousands of years ago.
Now, the underground labyrinth likely only contained magical materials that had grown afterwards, and monsters.
“However, this information is also good news; it could serve as a backup plan,” Angel mused.
What he meant by a backup plan was understood by everyone, if one entrance was inaccessible, they could simply capture a core member of the Traveling Merchants organization to find another.
But it would be best if they didn’t have to resort to that step, as the entrances controlled by the Traveling Merchants organization were undoubtedly guarded, and they would likely have to force their way in, amounting to a direct confrontation with the Traveling Merchants organization.
And confronting them prematurely could disadvantage their exploration.
The Black Count: “I don’t have other news on this end. Or, perhaps you’d like to hear some secrets about the Traveling Merchants, or their quirks?”
Daus’s eyes lit up: “What kind of quirks?”
The Black Count: “Probably not too far from what you’re thinking.”
Daus revealed a rather bizarre smile, looking at Angel: “Do you know what I’m thinking about right now? Hint, something we’ve both experienced.”
Angel knew that Daus was referring to their shared experience in Princess Mordiya’s boudoir, but he had no desire to respond to such trivial questions.
“Let me share from my side, I haven’t explored other memories of the Magic Craftsman, fearing to trigger the death oath. I only delved into the memories concerning that podium top.”
“The Magic Craftsman actually told a small lie, he had thoroughly researched the patterns and symbols on the podium top. However, he ended up fruitless and eventually used the podium top as a material for crafting.”
“But this lie did me a favor, allowing me to more clearly and directly investigate all the details of the podium top in the Magic Craftsman’s memory.”
Because Angel examined all the details, the speed at which he modified memories was much slower than that of the Black Count.
“As for the specifics, you can see for yourselves.”
Angel did not describe the podium top in detail but instead, used illusion magic to materialize the podium top before everyone’s eyes.
The entire podium top, as they had guessed, served as a “podium.”
It had a three-sided face about five centimeters high, with a central area that was relatively spacious and could be slightly inclined, where scriptures or lecture notes would be placed. This was also where the “patterns” were located.
As for the “symbols,” they were positioned above, invisible to the “congregation” below, seen only by the speaker.
Angel speculated that these symbols might serve a similar purpose to students who cheat on exams by scribbling answers on the podium top beforehand.
These symbols were messy and complex, presumably used as cues for the speaker if they forgot their lines.
But whether his guess was accurate, Angel himself did not know.
Because he did not recognize any of these symbols.
He had never even seen such characters before.
He had previously tried to translate them using “Language Comprehension,” but there was no response. This indicated that these characters belonged to a writing system Angel had never encountered before.
“Language Comprehension” is a second level trick. Don’t think that mastering this trick means you can read all writing; it also requires the accumulation of knowledge and learning more writing systems for faster and more accurate translations.
In plain terms, it involves the collection, calculation, and application of big data, testing a wizard’s insight, mental acuity, and computational power.
Unable to translate, Angel could only look to Daus and the Black Count, perhaps their “Language Comprehension” included this type of writing system?
Chapter 2578 Destroyed the Podium’s Top <TOC> Chapter 2580 Suspicion