The Book of Hibernation

Winter Ji originally wanted to visit the underground market, but after careful consideration, she gave up.

There should be quite a few people in the underground market now, such as city hall staff, temple priests and knights, and two mages from the Arcane Federation... They are obviously not investigating the "bizarre" death of the old woman, their goal must be underground bazaar.

If Winter Ji went down at this time, he would have to face these unknown people alone...and he was not good at dealing with people.

Whether he shows up or not, those people will definitely finish what they want to do.If he showed up, if he said something wrong, it might make things worse.

After leaving the almshouse, Dongji had been restless in the carriage, but when he reached the gate of the mansion, he suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

He thought that although these things were complicated, as long as he told Aldin, Aldin would have a solution.

The guards went to settle the horses and carriages, and Winter Thistle walked into the deep courtyard alone.

I heard that Aldin went to see the head of the chamber of commerce, and he probably hasn’t come back yet, so Dong Ji plans to go to the laboratory first, check the pickling status of several medicinal materials, and then go to Kanai’s desk to look at the market related records.

Walking to the door of the laboratory, Dongji was about to touch the doorknob when she suddenly found someone in the room.

There is a protective spell on the door of the laboratory, and the mage can tell whether someone is coming in or out from the change of the rune.

Kanai hasn't come back yet, is it Aldin in the room?No one in the mansion could open the door except Winter Thistle, Kanai, and Aldin.

But Aldin didn't understand magic, what would he do in the laboratory alone?

Out of a wonderful intuition, Winter Thistle did not touch the door.He crept around the house and came to the wall in the back area.

Ryan used to come here often, because he couldn't enter the laboratory, so he used the teleportation spell to chat with Winter Thistle through the wall.

When Lion comes, he taps on the walls, and Winter Thistle casts the spell from inside.Now Winter Thistle is outside the house, he doesn't need to knock on the wall, he can directly activate the spell he set.

Then, he heard someone talking in the room.One is Aldin and the other is Stranger.

The stranger muttered something, as if looking at Winter Thistle's instruments.He was able to name some things, and commented a few words, and there were some things he didn't know, so he asked Aldin casually, and of course Aldin didn't know either.The two joked a few words with each other, and they seemed to be quite familiar with each other.

It seems that Aldin brought someone to visit this laboratory.Judging from the stranger's tone, Winter Thistle suspects that he is the head of the chamber of commerce, Bellos Jr.

Winter Thistle thought his voice was a bit familiar, but couldn't recall where he heard it.

At this time the stranger said: "I thought he would have a better laboratory, but now it looks... well, it's still too shabby."

Aldin said: "Yes, we plan to give him the workshop in West Street, and let him pick some apprentices himself."

"I'm really touched. With these simple gadgets, so many things can be changed... Aldin, you have done a good job, and this will bring huge benefits to the chamber of commerce. I'm not just talking about monetary benefits, but more importantly respect and prestige."

Winter Thistle thinks outside: a refiner's laboratory is usually quite unremarkable, and might even look a bit like a kitchen.It is not as fancy as a magic item shop, nor is it full of scary items like a necromancer's house. Such a laboratory will indeed look a bit shabby to a businessman.

There was the sound of pulling a chair from inside the room, probably the stranger sat down with Aldin.

The stranger suddenly said: "If Haman is still alive, I don't know who is better, he or your refiner."

Aldin said: "It's hard to guess. After all, I don't know magic. By the way, did Haman leave any personal apprentices? His apprentices should not be bad."

"He doesn't seem to have a personal apprentice. I heard that his skills are not easy to spread," said the stranger. "How much do you know about Haman's most prosperous period?"

"Have heard of some, but not much. All I know is that he's famous and rich."

The stranger said, "I've heard a lot. My father talked a lot, and other people around me talked to me too."

Aldin asked: "Haman was killed... Could it be that the old man ordered it to be done?"

This question was so direct that Dong Ji, who was overhearing, was startled.

However, the person being asked didn't seem angry, and just replied calmly: "He didn't say it directly. But I guess it should be."

Aldin asked: "I really don't understand why Harman was unwilling to cooperate with the chamber of commerce? Did the old man tell you the reason?"

Judging by their tone, the other party must be Bellos Jr. without a doubt.The person they called the old man was of course the old Bellos who had died of illness.

Talking about this, Bellows Jr. began to sigh about the past.

After being taken to his father, he often overheard Haman's death being discussed in private.There is still no conclusion to this matter, but everyone can vaguely guess the reason: the murderer is either to steal Haman's spell book, or to take revenge on Haman.

I heard from older people in the chamber of commerce that Harman had to receive guests every day when it was at its peak, and every guest was there to discuss cooperation.Compared with a mage, he is more like a celebrity in the social world, and he is too busy to enter the laboratory.

Some customers are magic item merchants and hope to buy his services at a high price; some come forward to recommend themselves and want to learn from him; Want to recruit him as a counselor...

Among the people he came into contact with, the Ten Sail Street Chamber of Commerce was the one he had the most pleasant conversation with.They came close to reaching a cooperation, but later, Harman still rejected the chamber of commerce.

The Chamber of Commerce hopes to monopolize Harman's knowledge and let him serve only for himself, and of course the reward is extremely considerable.

Harman disagrees, having access to people from all walks of life, he says his knowledge is by no means exclusive.

The chamber of commerce has conducted many long-term negotiations with Harman, and the results became more and more unpleasant.

Gradually, the relationship between the two became very tense. Harman put aside all cooperation from the chamber of commerce, and the chamber of commerce deliberately interfered with the business under Haman's name, threatening and retaliating against each other.

One day, Harman's mansion was broken into in the middle of the night.Haman was killed and his pregnant wife was missing.

After Haman died, all his books and research notes were sent to the academy.The academy recruited a group of mages to carry out an inventory, but nothing of value was found in the end.

Haman did leave a lot of valuable relics, but his collection of books and research notes are very ordinary, and there is nothing unusual about it.

But Harman was indeed better than the average person during his lifetime, and he should be able to leave behind many groundbreaking research results.

So people speculated that he must have a private spell book, either hidden somewhere in the world, or buried forever with his death.

Therefore, some people suspected that the murder had something to do with the chamber of commerce. It might be that the chamber of commerce stole his spell book.

When Bellos Jr. said this, Aldin sighed: "It's a pity that we didn't get this book. If there was, the Chamber of Commerce would have trained excellent refiners long ago."

It was only then that the Winter Thistle outside heard it. It seems that Aldin didn't reveal his identity, and probably only said that he was a capable refiner.

Although there are few refiners, there will not be only one or two.There are many such people in the magic item workshop.

Bellows Jr. said: "We don't really have that book. In fact, I asked the old man on the sidelines, and the old man didn't want to talk about it."

"Why? It's been such a long time, and no one dares to blame anything."

Bellows Jr. sighed: "He was very reluctant to mention Harman, probably because of personal reasons. I heard that their relationship was pretty good at first, and Harman was much older than him, so his posture was relaxed back then. Very low, I have always respected Haman as a good teacher. As a result, the two of them got into that kind of quarrel...Maybe he also felt a little bit offended."

It turned out that Harman and Old Bellos used to be friends... This was the first time Winter Thistle had heard of this.

At this time, Little Bellos asked half-jokingly: "Aldin, if one day we find Harman's spell book, how much do you think it will cost to buy it?"

Aldin said: "The amount of money is secondary. First of all, you have to judge whether the book is genuine. If someone really got the book, he would have sold it if he wanted to sell it. Since there has been no movement for so many years, the manual has never been Found. Maybe it's buried deep somewhere, rotten."

Bellos smiled: "I think so too. However, there is actually another possibility."

"what?"

Bellows said: "The book is either hidden somewhere no one can find it, or it has been deliberately protected. If it is the latter, then the person who holds the book must know its value. After all these years, this person You should have already studied the content of the book. If there is such a person, then what we need to buy is not the book, but the person himself."

Winter Thistle listened outside almost holding his breath.Although some details are different, this speculation is very close to the truth.

Aldin paused for a moment and sighed: "It makes sense. It would be great if I could find it... But what if this person is as unwilling to cooperate with the chamber of commerce as Harman?"

Bellos said: "It's normal to be unwilling, mages all have personalities and have their own ideas. No matter what, I will never do like the old man. I can't kill people in a moment of confusion. The harm outweighs the benefits. "

After hearing this, Winter Thistle felt a little relieved.Bellows Jr.'s attitude towards his father is quite surprising.

Bellos continued: "If the other party is unwilling to cooperate, it is actually not difficult to deal with. You can buy it with money, you can do various things for him in exchange, see what he wants, fulfill his wish for him, and do what he likes. If The other party is a woman, we can even pursue her, marry her, tempt her, and make her willing. If none of these things work, we can hold him hostage with things he loves... Anyway, it varies from person to person, as long as you are patient And sincerity, there will always be a way. On the contrary, there is another situation worthy of vigilance..."

"Which situation?" Aldin asked.

"If this person shows up to you and is willing to cooperate, that's something to worry about."

"Oh why?"

Bellows said: "The person who cooperates proactively appears to be very friendly, so you lose your vigilance against him. You think you have got what you want, but in fact the initiative is not in your hands, but in his hands. Today he Dedicated to you knowledge and loyalty, tomorrow he can offer all these to your enemies."

Aldin didn't answer immediately, but paused for a moment before saying, "That makes sense. It applies to everything."

Winter Thistle felt a little nervous when she heard this, and subconsciously clasped her hands tightly.

At this time, someone approached from the corridor in the distance, Dongji hurriedly stood up, pretending to be just wandering nearby.

The people who came were all unfamiliar faces, not from the mansion, maybe the subordinates brought by Bellos Jr.These people had never seen Winter Thistle before, so they thought this half-elf was quite suspicious. Even the servants in the house couldn't stick to the wall and eavesdrop stealthily.

By the time they question Winter Thistle's identity, Aldine and the guest have left the lab.As soon as the two came out, they heard a voice behind the house, so they immediately walked around.

Seeing Winter Thistle here, Aldin frowned slightly.Winter Ji found out, and felt even more uneasy.

He panicked secretly, all his attention was focused on Aldin, and he didn't see the people behind Aldin at first glance.

In addition, the sun was setting now, and when that person walked over, he happened to be standing under the mottled tree shadow.

When Winter Ji finally raised his head and saw the guest's face, he was so surprised that he gave a soft "ah".

Tall, with a young face, but with long gray hair... Isn't this the mage from the underground market?

He claimed to study the elements of purgatory, and his nickname was "Dark Cloud".Now he is no longer wearing a dusty traveling cloak, but a simple yet delicate long gown, with a decorative rapier hanging from his waist, he doesn't look like a spellcaster at all.

"Are you the new refiner?" Little Bellos stepped forward, making no secret that he had seen Winter Thistle before, "I guessed it at the market last time, and I guessed it right."

As he spoke, he bowed slightly to Dong Ji.The head of the chamber of commerce doesn't have to be so respectful to his subordinates at all, but Dongji doesn't know how to respond.

Dong Ji was flustered, although she greeted him politely, she was clearly out of her mind.

Aldin walked over and shook Winter Thistle's hand.Winter Thistle wanted to withdraw his hand subconsciously, but Aldin grabbed him tightly on purpose, holding his whole hand in his own.

"So you're back," Aldin smiled at Winter Thistle, "It's rare for the chief lord to come and sit down, and I was about to send someone to find you."

Winter Thistle doesn't know what to do with Aldin's intimacy.Aldin was so close and kept holding his hand, I'm afraid others could see the subtle relationship between them at a glance.

There was no wave on Aldin's face, as if doing so was a very normal thing.He approached Bellos with Winter Thistle, introduced them to each other, and talked naturally, only Winter Thistle was there at a loss.

Winter Thistle didn't know what to say.In fact, he has a lot to say, but he can't say it in front of Bellows and a group of strangers.

Aldine offered to invite Bellows to stay for dinner, but Bellows refused.He said that he has not woken up from the wine he drank at noon, and now he wants to go back to rest early.

Hearing that Bellos was leaving, Winter Thistle secretly let out a sigh of relief.

When Bellos said goodbye to Aldine, for a moment, Winter Thistle's eyes met Bellos'.

Dong Ji hurriedly lowered her head, pretending to be respectful, hoping that the other party would not notice the emotion on his face.

For some reason, he always felt that there was a weird aura about Bellos.

Obviously a kind attitude, but it makes people feel very uncomfortable.

Moreover, this is by no means because of Bellows' status.When Winter Thistle communicated with "Mage Dark Cloud", he didn't know that the other party was the head of the Chamber of Commerce, but he still had the same feeling.

Winter Thistle stayed silently in the courtyard, and Aldin went to personally escort Bellos out of the gate.

Bellows' men rode horses, and he himself rode in a very modest carriage.

Before he got into the carriage, Aldin asked casually: "Don't you like riding a horse now?"

Bellows tilted his head, pointing to the gray hair on his shoulders: "I have no majesty in this appearance, and I am not suitable for riding a horse to swagger through the streets."

"I'm afraid it's all because of overwork. It would be much better to rest and recuperate." Aldin said.

"I will," Bellos said. "By the way, remember to consider my proposal. If you insist on it yourself, you may lose more than you gain in the end. Just like a gecko, you must cut off your tail to keep yourself alive."

Aldin didn't answer, just smiled noncommittally.

The two exchanged a few more words, and Aldin watched the carriage and accompanying riders leave.