Blade and Poetry

I also don't know how I got off the red leather at the correct stop.I tossed and turned in that seat in the car; the black box in my arms was too hot to touch.I kept guessing what it contained, never been so curious.I couldn't help but want to pry into the deep secret behind it, wondering whether it was also searched by my father, whether it was related to that password string.Shatton's warning still ringing in my ears, he told me to leave it all.

Filled with resentment and injustice, I hope that people like my father and Shatton can get what they deserve, instead of letting their names be buried in a disgraceful history and become a dry blood behind it .Is the secret contained in that box still attracting more people to go for it?So, was it the right decision for me to join the Vanguard?

I thought that if Vicente really died in Puguo and let the box be buried under a piece of loess that no one knew about, it might symbolize the end of certain things.Maybe I should really consider it to have happened, take what my grandfather left me and run away quietly, for the sake of my safety, for Shatton's heart, and for this end.But I can't move.

I know that my father needs someone to fulfill his last loyalty—even if his country failed him once, even if he died alone at the stake, gallows or guillotine.

I got off the car in the town of Hoftas and found the branch of the magic society established in the town.I should have transferred to the capital at this time, but I was in such a mess at this time that I didn't even have a spare coin; I first revealed my current situation politely, hoping to obtain their assistance.

The person in charge only asked for my name, not the content of my mission.She said that she would help me contact the people at the headquarters of the capital, and arranged a room for me inside the building, allowing me to take a rest here.I took a shower in it, changed into the simple clothes they provided, and fell into bed exhausted.

I have packed up my few remaining little things, and the black box is still lightly attached to my chest.

I've waited longer than I thought.In the early morning of the second day, I was woken up by several people dressed in magic society. Among them was a familiar face. It was the man who took notes during the interrogation of Hoftas.A group of them showed me their documents and handed over the flat box to me.

The leading man asked me: "Can you guarantee that from the time you obtained it to handing it over, no one has ever opened it and peeked at its contents, including yourself?"

"I can assure you," I said, "that the runes I made on the box have never been broken. I don't know how to open it myself."

"Swear on your name?" he said.

"Swear on my name," I said.

He nodded, took the box away, and told me to wait for the magic meeting to make arrangements.He hopes that I will stay here first and not leave. There is also a follow-up process record to be done in collaboration with them, and it won't take long.So I had to be confined in this room for a whole morning. On the way, I sent a butterfly letter to Odd first, to the effect that I did not die on the way-but I am not sure whether he can receive it. Whether he was in Columdunam or in Ward—he saw them go and come back.

"Let's go." Someone said to me.They kept serious faces, and none of them said anything funny.I walked among the cloaks and found us heading in the direction of the Hoftas Academy.

It's the end of July, the weather is very warm, and it's not yet time for school to start.The trees full of flowers in the college have already bloomed, and only a few people pass under the trees occasionally.I was taken all the way to the main building of the West Courtyard. They were quite polite and forced me into a door in the restricted area on the eighth floor.They told me someone else would come and I just had to wait, and then they filed out and closed the door behind them.

I went over and turned the doorknob, only to find that the door was locked.

This is a suite with a nice environment.The place where I was standing was like an ordinary reception room, with a small window to see the scenery below the eighth floor, but the window was also locked.There is a glass round table under the window, two transparent chairs are placed on both sides of the table, and a thin-necked vase is placed on the table.The flowers in the vase were withered, and the blue petals were shriveled into a ball. I leaned over and smelled it, and I could still smell a faint fragrance.The decoration on the wall is very elegant, leaning against a three-story empty bookshelf, and there is dust in the bookshelf.Apart from this, there is no other arrangement in the outer room.

The furnishings in the inner room are all available, like a bedroom with a bathroom.Towels are hung in the bathroom, there are quilts, pillows, and lamps on the bed, but the bedside cabinet is also empty.I went to the outer door again and tried to work the lock with my magic.I shook my hands repeatedly, only to find the most strange thing:

All my magical powers are still hidden in my body, but they seem to have fallen asleep together at the moment, and they are no longer at my disposal.

I figured it was the effect of the room—maybe it was the reason they had to take me all the way here.

I had nothing to do, so I sat on one of the chairs, took out the little book in my arms, and flipped through the pages, walking around the room from time to time.When I saw halfway, the door was knocked symbolically, and there was a sound of a key; then the door was opened.

"Mr. Ryan?" I couldn't help standing up when I saw someone coming.

Lane motioned for me to sit down, draped his coat over the chair opposite me, and sat down as well.

"Good afternoon." He said to me, looking tired.

"I don't think it's fair," I said to Lane. "I've done my job, escaped a prison in Pu, only to be restricted again in my own country. What's this for? I don't know what the next steps will be. Records need to do this.

"It was originally just a follow-up record, but things changed." Ryan said, "I don't want to tell you this news, Vicente, but the box has been inspected by the Magic Council." He put his hands on the table, "I Need to get your version of the outcome."

"I don't know," I said, "I don't think I have permission to know what's in the box?"

"It's not a matter of hiding the contents." He shook his head, looked straight at me, and said with a heavy tone, "The problem is—there's nothing in it."

"That's impossible." I retorted subconsciously, "I can swear, I took it back intact."

"People from the Medicine and Stone Department spent the whole morning opening the box," Ryan said.

"I never—" I said, "maybe something went wrong with it after I handed it over? I—I've had a protective mageon on it since I got it. I buried it in the ground In the depths, I escaped for a long time by myself, and when I dug it out at the end, the magic pattern on it was still the same. It didn't travel as far as I did. Its weight didn't change. I used to protect it very carefully...I even I can't even find the gap for it to open and close."

"Many pairs of eyes were on the box as it was being transported, so there was no mistake," Lane said, sighing silently.He took out a notebook and read the first question on it.

"Tell me about all your experiences in Pu, Vicente?"

So I started from the moment I got off the car in Ninth City, and kept talking about how I got on the red leather car again.I try not to rush it too much and not to play up my emotions as much as possible.I spoke of the Bishop, Lindsay, the White House, Dormition, and the jailer named Gian, leaving out only the chance encounter with Karajan and the reunion with my father's old friend.Ryan has been taking notes with a pen, sometimes pausing a little.

"It's hard work." He said after listening to the whole process I told.

"My duty," I said.I thought of Ryan's advice to me before he left-maybe he was right, and seemed to be confirming my bitter fruit in front of me.I have mixed feelings in my heart at this time, but I don't regret this trip at all.

Ryan was silent for a moment, then continued: "The rest of the question is about your father, Redmonton Sean."

I said, "So the relationship between Xiao En and Xiao is no longer a secret?"

"Before the magic meeting, there are only secrets that have been solved, and the secrets that will be solved." He said.

"I wonder why," I said, "because I haven't seen my father for a long time."

"Sorry I had to mention him," Ryan said, "but you can't ask me any questions right now."

Our ensuing conversation was long and dry, with questions about my father about little details, down to the presents he had given me, who had been in and out of his study.If I never knew the real cause of my father's death, I might be able to treat these inquiries as normal.However, as an insider, after the anger subsided, my answer was only a touch of disgust and perfunctory.

"Sharton Imani," I thought to myself, "you have been isolated in the dark for 15 years...how can you guess the current wishes of these people?"

Ryan probably noticed this.He recorded to the end and stopped his pen.

"It seems that I have to give you a choice." He rubbed the space between his brows, took out a piece of paper from the folder, and put it in front of me, "The upper management said, you can have this choice."

I looked at the title on the page; it said "Interactive Protocol".

Ryan said: "I know you are wondering, or feel aggrieved by this treatment. But my suggestion is that you'd better read the terms of the agreement before you decide to sign."

I glanced from top to bottom.Those clauses filled up a whole sheet of paper, leaving only a short line at the end of the page, which was a space marked with "Name" and "Date".It begins as follows:

"Signatories are required to answer exhaustively and truthfully every question posed by their regulators.

"Correspondingly, the signatories also have the right to ask questions to their supervisors, and the content and scope of the answers to the questions are controlled by the supervisors. The supervisors will promise the authenticity of their answers.

"The undersigned shall not pass on to third parties all information obtained during the inquiry.

"..."

Finally wrote: "If the signatories of the above treaties violated, the Magic Association has the right to hold them accountable and make them bear the corresponding legal consequences."

"That's not a treaty of equality," I read to the end, and said, "Mr. Lane, can I have a pen?"

He paused, and pulled out a quill: "Have you made your decision?"

"Yes." I said.

I signed my name below and handed the agreement back to him.He didn't read the words on it, and put the paper away.

"My questions for today are over," he said. "I only come here for half an hour at a time, and I still have some time. If you have any questions, please tell me now."

"I wonder how long I'll be under house arrest?" I said, "but I guess there's no answer to that."

"Well," Lane said, "I don't know the answer to it either. Maybe when they're satisfied with the information you've given, you'll be free right away."

"I still want to know the reason why my magic power disappeared?"

"I can answer these two questions for you before signing the agreement." He said, "The room you are in is a special room on the eighth floor, called the 'sleep room', which means 'let the magic sleep'. The walls and floors here are very special, which can produce a magic field that inhibits the flow of magic power in the human body and really takes effect. I will be fine-I will take a little resistance medicine before coming here, which can act on my blood."

"Like a magic class," I whispered.

He finally smiled too and said to me, "Go on."

"Why my father?" I asked.

"I can't answer that," he said. "Next question."

I asked a few more questions about my father one after another, but he chose not to answer them all.Later, I tentatively proposed the concept of fusion, which was very vague, but he did not skip it and gave the only response.

"The term 'fusion' is itself a false proposition."

"And what about the 'password string'?" I asked him.

"Where did you hear that term?"

"In Puguo," I said, "that's the only word I've heard."

He pondered, as if weighing something.Then he said:

"Okay. I can tell you this. As far as we know, the 'password string' was placed in the black box you took in recent years--the black box is sealed very cleverly, and it is also a valuable thing — but it's gone now."

"What is it?" My doubts in my heart were confirmed, and I asked, "A password sequence? A piece of paper?"

"I'm not sure," Ryan said. "It could be anything. A piece of paper, a word, a voice, a magweave. I can't tell you anything deeper."

I should have asked a few more insinuating words; but at this moment, a possibility suddenly occurred to me, and I couldn't help but fall back on the back of the chair, and was instantly dazed by it: If I hadn't left the black box on the way What is wrong, but there is nothing in it, can this explain that the bishop only pursued and executed me, instead of continuing to investigate its whereabouts?

But the black box, if it has been vacant for a long time and has lost its meaning of storage, but is still placed in the corner of the cabinet by Galenno—then who should it belong to?

"I still want to ask someone," I suppressed the eagerness in my voice, and said, "Is there someone named Freud in the scientific research department of the Magic Society?"

The warm air in the afternoon seemed to be quiet.I heard Ryan say, "You know a lot, Vicente,"

Startled, I looked up at him.But Ryan's gaze could be called gentle, without any malicious questions in it.

"Floyd," Lane said, "I have indeed heard his name. But he was not of my time, about Goa's time. He joined the Magic Society about 60 years ago. He made a lot of achievements, short but brilliant. The reason why I have a clear impression of him is because there was no scientific research department in the Magic Society at that time, and he was one of the founders of the scientific research department."

"Can you tell me what he looks like?"

"Disc glasses," Ryan said, "there are not many records about his appearance. I only saw this one. I later thought that he should be one of the most outstanding contributors at that time, but it's not in our textbooks." Mention. He doesn’t know magic, he just does theoretical research—it’s amazing. Many of his achievements are very advanced now.”

"That's really great." And selfless, I thought, but didn't say it.I didn't expect the written corner of Columbus' history to look like this. "So what happened next? You just said 'briefly but brilliantly'."

Lane replied, "Death does it."

When I thought of his youthful appearance in my memory, I couldn't believe it.The wise and peaceful Pu country wise man whose face seems to be forever untouched by the years——

"Is he dead?" I asked.

"Yes." Ryan said, "Natural death, without any external cause; undoubtedly a great loss to the scientific research community. At that time, he had only served in the Magic Society for three years."

I was silent, feeling extremely sorry.

At this time, about half an hour passed the time limit.Ryan begged for my key ring, put it in a file bag with the record book, put on his coat, walked to the door, and said goodbye to me.

"Three meals will appear on the bedside table regularly, and they have a channel to deliver it, and everything can be used with confidence." He told me before opening the door of the room, "Don't worry about the magic invalidation, and don't try to force it out. Sooner or later, this matter will be resolved."

"I swear on my honor," I repeated, "that I never opened that box."

"I know." Ryan said, "but magic will require more information. The task you have completed is more important than you think, and the person in charge cannot trust isolated evidence."

I know now that I can't justify myself.I stared at the person in front of the door, the door was about to be locked again—staring at the senator of the magic society, the professor of magic who I have known for five years as the contact person of the reserve vanguard.

I said, "Do you trust me, Mr. Lane?"

"I believe in you," he said.

He left immediately, and the door closed behind him quickly, with only a soft sound, and everything returned to the calm of the afternoon.

I sat outside for a while, then went back inside, threw myself on the bed, and guessed when the door would ring again.Although I still have another night to spend, I feel at this time that all I can wait is after the dawn of the next day.