Lu Ning's gains from Zafi's course were very small, not even as good as Soygo and Geer. The theory of elemental magic is indeed very useful, but that is not what Lu Ning needs. After all, these things will be useless if the scene changes.
She did not choose to ask questions after class, but left after the lecture. But as soon as she walked out of the building, she saw many students from her school gathered in front of a school bulletin board.
coming.
The Magic Council will definitely react to yesterday's new round of magic book thefts. Lu Ning had a hunch that this reaction was finally announced. She followed the crowd to the bulletin board. The bulletin with the seal of the Supreme Council was posted at the highest place, and it could be seen without going to the innermost part.
But the content shocked Lu Ning.
[To all Evarong students:
In view of the fruitful achievements made by magicians from all walks of life in this exchange meeting, the parliament discussed and decided to open the first floor door of the library within three days from the 17th to the 19th day of the exchange day, allowing all students or professors to The magician enters. All necessary measures for the library have been prepared, please feel free to visit.
Magic Council]
The announcement apparently caused quite a stir among students.
You need to apply to enter the Violet Library, and the library is a place that students like them don't even think about. Although the magic book has been repeatedly reminded of its dangers, the vast magical knowledge contained in it also makes people yearn for it.
Lu Ning withdrew from the crowd and thought about the purpose of the Magic Council's step.
If nothing else, this is probably the condition of "opening the library" mentioned in the mission. But is this the Magic Council’s countermeasure? A plan to eliminate the mole? Or are there any other arrangements?
Since the Twilight Thieves Group took action last night, it must not be just in the Opal District. Have all incidents been contained? If such a quick reaction could be carried out, it wouldn't be particularly difficult to find the mole, right?
All of these can only be conjectured. The reason is that Lu Ning cannot come into contact with people at the level of the parliament, let alone think from their perspective.
So from another perspective, what will the opening of the library cause this time?
There is no need for the mole in the parliament to take action at this time. The previous two successes proved that that person can steal the magic book at any time. To do so at this time would expose his identity. Tourists may take this opportunity to get in-depth contact with the Magic Book, but Lu Ning is sure that every tourist is aware of the pros and cons of the Magic Book. This time, they may just go with the mentality of stepping in, or even not go.
No, there is another problem, which is the main task of rubbing the magic book. The parchments that Lu Ning got when put together cannot be called a rubbing. After all, it is not a complete magic book. This was also confirmed when she verified task completion while meditating. But the divination given by Geer is also accurate. The rubbings of the magic book do need to be copied manually. Obviously, low-level magicians cannot complete such a task at all. Only those who are qualified to read can be qualified to copy.
What Lu Ning thought of here was the last sentence of the announcement.
"Necessary measures..."
Rubbings have changed the magic book from a book that can only be touched through magic perception to a concrete text. Although the text is still mysterious and difficult to understand, it is readable by anyone and has lost its contamination. This will Isn't it just a necessary measure?
With all kinds of possibilities in her mind, Lu Ning left the Shinto Academy quietly and embarked on the road back.
At dusk, she finally returned to the Moonstone District. When she returned to the One-Eyed Squid, she had to pass through the commercial street. Lu Ning took a look around and found that there were not many changes here. Based on what she observed along the way, she could basically determine that what happened in the place she passed Everything was quietly suppressed.
"Lillian?"
When she was about to leave, a person came over and saw her and said hello. That was Rochester, the intermediate alchemist of Rainbow Mushroom. At this time, his expression was half surprised, but also half haggard.
"Mr. Rochester?"
"What a coincidence." Rochester came over, and Lu Ning saw that he was carrying a potion package with some materials and other things in it.
"I remember Mr. Rochester seemed to have said that he would not go to work after the public day?"
"Yes, I'm just here to do some shopping. I've taken some courses these days and I've benefited a lot..." Rochester smiled, "What about you? Have you taken any courses from those alchemy masters?"
Lu Ning nodded.
"Very good. Although alchemy has levels, there is no real threshold. After all, it is a skill. Even at the apprentice level, it is beneficial to listen to the experience of the master."
"Mr. Rochester, you seem to be in a bad mental state?"
"Well." Rochester rubbed his eyes, "You have seen it all. It seems that I am indeed not very good... Your mind is very flexible, can you guess the reason?"
"Then, please allow me to take the liberty of making a guess. You don't look good, and you are more pleased to see my smile. You don't know my personal history, and it's impossible to tell my alchemy level at a glance, so then... It’s not because I’ve made academic progress and I’m laughing. From our interactions a few days ago, I can see that you like to be a teacher, but you also have your own humility. If you really meet a famous teacher, you will definitely give me guidance at this time, but what we just said You just said some clichés during the conversation. Due to the quality of the tutors selected by Evarang, I can rule out the possibility that there is no famous teacher who can be recommended to me. In fact, you have not participated in any alchemy courses."
Rochester raised his eyebrows.
Lu Ning continued: "This is a plan that you have already put on your schedule. It must be a more important event to make you give up this opportunity that is still planned. The medical level of Evarang is extremely high, and it is impossible to achieve it with your financial resources. It could be something like a family member getting sick. You consume a lot of energy, but you can still put on a smile and say hello when you see me, which means you don’t have no rest time at all. Based on the above three pieces of information, you are concerned because you are most direct to me. The reaction is that of an alchemist, and lack of energy means doing something together with others in shifts, and this matter must be more important than your alchemy entrance - please tell me, which alchemist is it, or, Whose lives are in danger?"
After she finished speaking, Rochester completely stopped the smile on his face and replaced it with a troubled and depressed look.
"you are right."
The two walked into a relatively quiet street, and Rochester told Lu Ning about the problems they encountered.
Almost the day before the opening day, Rochester received a letter from the Alchemist Association. The letter at this time was actually a bit strange, but Rochester still passed by. There he heard that a senior alchemist was attacked, and the clothes he was wearing turned into hot metal, which also caused the alchemist to suffer extensive burns all over his body. But the magician still had some ways to protect himself. He barely escaped back to the association, asked for help and left a message.
"Let alchemists be wary, especially mid-level and high-level ones."
The association was not sure what the specific situation was, but they would not ignore it if there was evidence, so they urgently summoned all mid-level and high-level alchemists to notify.
And the next day, when Rochester was going to attend the lecture according to the course schedule, he heard that his friend, the artificial life alchemist of Rainbow Mushroom, had an accident during today's refining practice. The artificial life doll he made unexpectedly turned into a cursed doll. He was accidentally stabbed four times, and then used powerful explosive magic to blow up the cursed doll to pieces. However, he also fell into a coma due to the powerful curse. The incident happened later through alchemy. The magician comes by analyzing the situation present.
But Rochester knew his friend, and his alchemy skills in refining an artificial life form would definitely not go as far as the cursed doll. That thing was much more complicated, and it definitely couldn't be made by casual refining. The problem was that there was no one else present at the time, and no one knew what was wrong with that friend's alchemy. The magic flow had already dissipated by the time it was discovered.
Then came the third alchemist of the night, who was attacked while returning to his residence after an afternoon class and was the first to wake up. According to his description, he was walking through a narrow alley when he was returning home. Suddenly there was a light under his feet, and then there was severe pain in his legs. He immediately used a strong wind spell to blow away everything around him and nothing happened. But when he was found, the bones of his legs had turned into liquid.
The fourth incident occurred in the early hours of yesterday and was also the first fatal incident. The flowers an alchemist kept on his windowsill to provide daily alchemical ingredients released nerve gas during the night, and the alchemist suffocated to death in his sleep. His body was discovered by his companion who went to class with him this morning. This death caused the association to summon all the alchemists again and investigate every scene together. All these things plus looking after his friends left Rochester with no time to go to class.
"You still dare to come out?"
"Even if you know that such a person is here, you can't stay at home forever. Besides, the fourth incident has proven that it is not safe even at home." Rochester smiled bitterly, "Lillian, you just guessed the reason for my state. Can you do us a favor? Alchemists are experts when it comes to formulas and theories, but attacks and murders like this...we really can't handle it."
"Then I have to ask a few questions."
"explain."
"Where have the four incidents so far occurred?"
"They are all in the Moonstone area, so the guards also believe that the murderer is around the Moonstone area. I can tell you the address if you need it."
"Perhaps, second question, all four people were attacked alone?"
"There must be no witnesses around. The conscious one was also attacked when he went home alone."
"Three, the alchemist level of these four people."
"In chronological order, advanced, intermediate, advanced, intermediate."
"In other words, that person was right to tell the mid-level and high-level alchemists to be careful in the first place? But how did he know? Did he ever fight against the murderer?"
"I don't know about this, because the man is still receiving treatment. The association sends people to keep an eye on him every day. After this death, everything around him was replaced."
"Why didn't the association notify apprentices and junior alchemists?"
"Because the first three incidents have obvious clues, and there are too many unregistered low-level alchemists at this time, it is impossible to notify them all. They can only be delegated to us. This is why I smiled subconsciously when I saw that you were fine. Rochester sighed.
"Last question, after so many days, the guards should have been involved for a long time. Is there no clue at all?"
"All on-site investigation results were determined jointly by the association and the guards, and the street surveillance has not stopped. Without disturbing the normal order, there is indeed...no discovery."
"...I know, I need to visit all four locations." Lu Ning said.
"How about tomorrow? I can spare some time, and I know a lot of people in the association."
"Okay, please bring the one-eyed squid to see me tomorrow."
Rochester left, not feeling relaxed.
Another mystery, but not a special one. Lu Ning also had a similar experience, and since the Alchemist Association skipped the notification to the junior alchemists, it naturally failed to verify another similar incident, that is, the green energy incident in Boliwell.
No - wait a minute.
Was Boliwell the only one she had ever experienced?
Lu Ning's thinking became extremely flexible at this time.
If she remembered correctly, on the morning before the opening day, when she was refining the Holy Bell for Jiefeni, there should have been some abnormal changes in the magic flow of the transformation formation, similar to magic power disturbance, but there was no It shouldn't happen in a laboratory with an isolation circle. She didn't care at the time, turned the magic flow dial back to its original position and continued refining.
The first reaction of ordinary people when recalling this kind of thing would be fear, but Lu Ning was inexplicably excited.
There is always human logic in man-made cases. Even if a madman commits a crime, there are traces to follow. If you are a link in this chain, then continuing to reason will become much smoother.
"Counting Boliwell and me, a total of...six people were attacked, and only the last one died. The attacks described by Rochester seemed fatal, but they were far from the level of those alchemists. To a fatal degree, the only difference is time."
There was one day between the Boliwell incident and Lu Ning's refining of the Holy Bell for Jiefeni, followed by the metallization attack at dusk that day, the cursed doll incident of Rochester's friends the next morning, and the liquefied skeleton incident in the alley that night. The intervals between these events are very short, while the events in the early hours of yesterday were separated by several days, which is a relatively long time span.
"Then...there's something else that needs to be confirmed."
Lu Ning adjusted her direction and instead of returning to the One-Eyed Squid, went straight to Bell Tower Academy.
