Through the morning light, one can see the majestic outline of the 'Mobius' Mobile Fortress, with countless pipelines supporting this monster-like city. Because there is an industrial area between the old city and the craftsman district, with many chimneys, it looks foggy from a distance.
Two sparrows stayed outside the window, building a nest among the magic pipes that ran across the attic. Those pipelines were transformed by craftsmen into other uses over the years, supplying energy to the entire city through the huge magic furnace core of the mobile fortress.
Laila wiped the mist from the glass with her hands, looked at them, and tapped the window lightly with her fingers. The two birds turned back and looked at the former with their little heads tilted, as if they were not too afraid of the mistress of the attic.
A smile broke out on the girl's pale face, and she chuckled.
She didn't have many friends in this strange city, but seeing this scene could give her lonely heart some comfort. Laila thought of something and jumped out of bed - the bed was just a wooden board, covered with a quilt and a sheet - with some thick books underneath.
She walked barefoot on the attic floor and came to the bookshelf on the side. The tall bookshelf occupied most of the space in the attic. It was densely packed with all kinds of books - and some cardboard boxes.
It was obvious that some books had been read frequently, and the covers were worn and curled, but the owner seemed to cherish these books very much, and carefully put another layer of tape on them.
Other books had not been touched for a long time and were as new as before, with lengthy titles written in strange characters. Some of them are clearly biographies and histories, while others are not written in a language commonly used by the Oshurs.
Laila stood on tiptoes and took down a glass jar from the top of the bookshelf - it was like the kind of jar that holds candy, but now it was filled with coins, about half a jar, mostly yellow copper coins, one of which was A face value of three or five Rissels.
There were a few silver coins scattered among them.
Laila carefully placed the jar on the desk aside, opened the lid, and carefully counted the few silver coins, eleven in total. After she confirmed that it was correct, she breathed a sigh of relief before picking up the eleven silver coins one by one and wrapping them in her hands.
She took out another silver coin from her pocket, put it together with the other coins, and lay down with her hands to look at it carefully. After watching for a while, the girl poured them back into the jar together, making a pleasant sound of tinkling dong dong.
Finally, I closed the lid with satisfaction.
"If we keep going like this, maybe we can raise enough money before the exam," Laila thought to herself. "I still need a set of robes for admission, but Britta promised to give me her old set."
She looked at the glass jar carefully, as if looking at the whole world that belonged to her, and her heart was full of happiness. That was her own dream that she saved bit by bit.
In her eyes, these coins are like a pair of wings, carrying her on the road to the future.
Laila looked at it for a long moment before placing the jar back on the top shelf and blocking it with a few books.
On the desk next to it, there is a magic glow lamp. The base is polished and polished. It has been used in the owner's hands for an unknown number of years. The magic crystals above are almost transparent and can only emit dim light.
There are many papers scattered on the table, both sides are covered with dense writing, a quill pen is inserted in the ink bottle, and the thick book spread out is also filled with various notes and marks.
The girl closed the book and put it together with her notes. Then she picked up the half-eaten hard bread from last night that was covered with a cloth on the plate nearby, took a small bite, and swallowed the dry bread with the cold water in the cup.
She ate a small piece of bread for a while, squinting her eyes slightly as if savoring some delicacy.
After breakfast, Laila went to the cubicle to wash up, turned on the faucet, took a small basin of water, picked up a handful of water with her hands, poured it on her face, and then wiped it dry with a towel.
She raised her head and looked at her face in the mirror.
She has the face of a girl who is no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, with a pointed face, but a bit unhealthy paleness. The hair hanging down from her forehead is loose, but dark and beautiful, with eyebrows as thin as willow leaves underneath.
There is always a lingering sense of pity in her brown-green eyes. The tip of her nose is very beautiful, and there are some light freckles scattered on both sides, which makes the girl feel a little shy.
Laila picked up the glasses on the washstand and placed them on the bridge of her nose.
There was a crack in the middle of the glasses frame, but it was carefully glued back together, and a circle of cloth was carefully wrapped around it. The thick lenses reflected the light, and together with the hanging hair, covered the timidity in the girl's eyes.
She breathed a sigh of relief and returned to the outside room to change into her robe. One of the only two robes was much shorter last year, but she cleverly lengthened it with fabric of the same color, and repaired the frayed area from the inner layer using the same method.
In this way, no trace of the patch can be seen from the outside.
More than once, Laila felt proud of her ingenious ideas.
Then she picked up the books and thought carefully about whether she had missed anything. Then she pushed the door open, lowered the stairs from the outside corridor, and climbed down from the attic.
There was no one in the hotel at this time and it was quiet, but this made Laila breathe a sigh of relief. She was afraid that those people would point fingers at her and cast their eyes on her, even though most people in the hotel were quite friendly to her.
When passing by the concierge, Matri, who was looking after the boiler, turned around and saw the girl floating out like a ghost. He couldn't help shouting: "Laila, have you eaten well recently? Why do you look so expressionless?" Is it getting worse?”
"Eat, Uncle Matri," Laila replied in a low voice, "...there is also a snack in the evening, half a loaf of bread... By the way, is Aunt Rosa feeling better recently?"
"She's much better," Matri looked at the little girl and taught earnestly, "You should also pay more attention to your health and don't be so anxious. If you have any trouble, you can ask everyone for help."
"oh."
The girl responded quickly and ran away.
Matri looked at the other party's back, couldn't help but shake his head, and shoveled a shovelful of coal into the furnace.
Although there are magic furnaces for heating nowadays, they are luxury items that only rich families can afford. Ayinbrok is located on the Clover Plain, and there are amazing coal resources stored underground nearby.
This is a famous steel city. The Oshu people have used coal to smelt steel here for centuries. The price of coal here is quite cheap, and both industry and residents use it to generate calorific value.
The abundant steel resources also wrote the legend of this magical city that continues to this day.
Laila came to the lobby of the hotel. She originally wanted to discuss the rent with Mr. Pusher, but unexpectedly found that there were many strangers in the lobby today-the leader was actually a young alchemist.
There were several men and women, one of whom she couldn't help but look at twice, and then hurriedly looked away before the other girl looked over, thinking how could there be such a good-looking person in this world.
There was also a young man sitting quietly on the side holding a sword, which also attracted her attention. Because the other party was clearly wearing a wizard's robe and a pointed wizard hat, but he was actually a swordsman.
Magic swordsman?
She thought to herself that she had only heard of this profession in stories.
There was also a tall lion paladin, who had been sizing her up from the beginning, and when he saw her looking over, he gave her a kind smile.
Laila was so frightened that she quickly lowered her head.
She had heard of this race. They were born on the wild plains and used ancient precepts to establish a country. That was Lotao, the wild country, the guardian of the Pillars of Stars.
The ancient knights of Lotao and the Holy Guard of Mirran still abide by their oaths to this day and guard the great wilderness together with that ancient country, where the dragons were first born and where the stars fell.
Is there a new guest at the hotel?
When Laila saw the platinum morning star on the collar of the leading alchemist, she couldn't help being frightened. Her heart was pounding. How could someone with such a respected status live in the old city?
Are they the Chosen Ones?
Only the Holy Chosen One can have such a young high-level alchemist.
She didn't dare to look any further, and even felt a little ashamed in front of these people. She subconsciously covered the patched area on her robe with her hand, and then walked out of the hall with her head lowered.
…
Those in the hotel lobby were none other than the Nanami Brigade.
After leaving the Hart Principality, the Seven Seas Traveler sailed straight south, leaving the people who had died in the guild far behind, and passed through the Empire Gate Grand Canyon.
After enjoying the magnificent scenery in the Grand Canyon, we arrived at Laventure a few days later.
There, they were lucky enough to meet a delegation of craftsmen from Kaulien-Ithurion. To be precise, it was a delegation from the Ancient Pagoda Craftsmen Association, where Fang Pliong also met the girl named Vikki whom he had met before.
There was also the somewhat dull combat craftsman boy with her.
The current relationship between the Guta people and the Kingdom of Kaolin is somewhat delicate. The mountain people launched riots in the north under the instigation of the Crow's Claw Temple, but the Chosen were little affected. After all, both Stargate Port and the Chosen had their own interests and positions.
The same is true for the Guta Craftsmen Association.
Although the ancient pagoda and the Baozhang Coast have always been within the sphere of influence of the selectors from Northeast Asia, Japan and South Korea, and the ancient pagoda craftsmen's association has closer ties with the interests of several countries, the craftsmen's association and the mountain people are not of the same mind.
What's more, the Guta Selectors and the Kaolin-Ithurian Selectors are in a competitive relationship, but they are not hostile to each other.
After arriving in the Empire, this relationship became even more obvious. After all, they were all players in the second division. The common enemies here were the Oshurs and the Empire's selectors.
Therefore, the Ancient Pagoda Craftsmen Association, which was originally somewhat hostile to Fang Plover, also softened its attitude. Vikki and the boy had no grudge against him. It was said that Fang Plover had taught a group of people to learn ancient alchemy in the southern border.
Therefore, the two told Fang Pliong that the people from the Southern Alchemist Alliance and the Corin-Ithulian Association had set off before them and had already gone to Ayinbrok. The Guta Craftsmen Association had some affairs to deal with in Lavender, so they stayed temporarily.
In terms of time, the people of Guta really have nothing to worry about.
For unknown reasons, the Empire changed the start time of the Craftsman Competition this year. It was scheduled to start in March after the Blossom Festival and last until May or June.
Even if we wait until it snows before hitting the road, there will be more than enough time.
However, Fang Yu had no intention of staying and waiting for the Guta people. After all, although the relationship between the two parties had eased, it was not harmonious. Besides, the Seven Seas Brigade has its own sailboat, so there is no need to stay and wait for the shuttle boat between Lavender and Ronoll.
After bidding farewell to Vikki and others, the Seven Seas Brigade set off on the road again.
Passing through the hinterland of the empire via the 'Wind Gorge Route', passing through several cities, we also experienced the first snow since the beginning of winter - a light snowfall. The snowflakes disappeared without a trace before they even had time to accumulate. .
After wandering on the Kukai for several weeks, the Seven Seas Traveler finally entered the Ronoll area.
Arrived at Ayinbrok.
It was already mid-January, and according to Yayo, it should have snowed in the northern part of the Hart Principality. However, in the warm southern part of the empire, there is no snow all year round in the Clover Plain.
As soon as everyone left the airport, they immediately headed towards the old city.
After asking passers-by along the way, I finally found this hotel called 'Gear and Magic Book'.
Fang Lu and Sylvide went to the Hart Kingdom to look for Sir Mawei's old friend. One of their purposes was to seek help for their trip to the empire. But although Sir Ash is no longer alive and the Lynn family has disappeared, the old servant of the Lynn family still provides them with some guidance within his ability——
The owner of this hotel called 'Gear and Magic Book' is a businessman named Pushe.
When he was young, the other party worked as a businessman between Xinta'an and Kaolin-Ithulian. After his retirement, he bought this hotel from others and currently runs a hotel and several real estate businesses in Ayinbrok.
This hotel was actually originally owned by the Lynn family. After it was sold, it was transferred to the former again.
The old servant told them that he had met him several times when he was managing the Lin En family's property, and he was a man of reliable character. If they want to find a reliable foothold in Aiyin Block, they can use his name to find each other.
Mr. Pusher is a warm-hearted person and will definitely help them.
This is also the reason why Fang Pultru and his party appeared here——
"That's that?" Fang Yu saw Laila hurriedly passing through the hall with her head lowered and her figure disappeared outside the door. When he saw the amiable old businessman in front of him who seemed to know him, he couldn't help but ask: "Are you a local college student?"
He noticed from the beginning that the robe on the girl was old-fashioned, but it could be seen that it was the taupe-brown robe of a low-level mage. And there is no rank above, maybe he is still a student of the academy.
"That's Miss Laila," Pushe shook his head, "She has some relationship with the original owner of this property... The little girl came to this city to study alone, with no relatives and financial constraints, which is really pitiful. .
For the sake of the original owner, I let her stay temporarily, and the accommodation fee was only paid by her according to her own situation... But she is a good girl, but her face is too thin... Even if I live frugally, under normal circumstances, there will be no one. Few hotels. Occasionally I couldn't get the money out, so it was just recorded in the account, and I was never allowed to deduct or deduct it.
I also tried to persuade her, but I didn’t want to change her mind. When I was young, I went to many places and saw many things. I know that everyone has their own persistence. "
The old businessman sighed a few more words, "It is said that she is still saving for her tuition. I just hope that the girl can have a good result. If she becomes an official magician and can subsidize her own life, her life will be better in the future. many."
"You are so kind." Sylvide praised with a smile and then asked, "Is she from the Linn family?"
Pushe was very helpful and even became a lot friendlier to Fang Plover and his group. "I don't know this actually, but she came with a letter of introduction from an old friend of mine. The above is Just say that Miss Laila has an old relationship with the Lin family and asked me to help take care of her."
He suddenly remembered something and asked: "By the way, you are all friends of the Lin En family. I haven't been back there since I heard that something happened in the Stag Principality. Can you tell me what happened?"
Fang Plover and Sylvester looked at each other.
Then he told the old gentleman the story they had heard about the Hart Principality for more than ten years.
"I didn't expect that since I retired and stopped caring about the affairs of Kukai, so many things have happened there," Pushe sighed repeatedly after hearing this. "When I returned to Ayinbrok, I wanted to bid farewell to the past and work on It was a stable business. At that time, I found out that the Lin family was dealing with local property, so I bought the hotel from them.
At first, I thought they were just selling the real estate here normally. After all, this place was the property that Mr. Ash-Lynn studied and bought when he was young. Times have changed, so it is understandable that he wants to sell it off. But later I found out about what happened in the Hart Principality. Out of love, I also considered helping, but the matters of the magicians were really not something that I, a small businessman, could comment on.
Later, I helped the Lin En family deal with some of their local properties, and then handed over the money to the person they contacted. After that, I never heard anything about that place until you came. "
After listening to the other party's story, Fang Yu couldn't help but feel disappointed.
They originally expected to get some information about the Lin En family from the other party. After all, apart from the old servants of the Lin En family, the other party was the last person they knew to be related to the Lin En family.
But this is to be expected. After all, if even the servants of the Lin En family don't understand something, it is reasonable for outsiders to be even less aware of it.
He only continued: "Actually, that's all we know. Since then, the Linn family has lost contact with Tagli. No one knows where they have gone."
Pusher thought for a moment and said, "If you are really concerned about Mr. Ash-Lynn's family affairs, you might as well ask Miss Laila.
I thought for a moment, she should be the only one here who has the deepest relationship with the Lynn family. However, she seldom talked about this, and everyone respected her privacy and never asked about her origins.
But since she has a letter from my old friend, she must have something to do with it. You are also friends of the Lynn family, and you may have some relationship with Miss Laila. She has been having some difficulties in life recently. You are all important people, and you may be able to help her. "
Fang Yu thought about it carefully and felt that this was also a solution. If the girl named Laila is really related to the Lynn family, maybe only the other party will know where the Lynn family went after leaving Tagli.
But he had noticed before that the other party seemed to be a little afraid of strangers. If he and his group took the initiative to ask the other party about this, they were afraid that it would be self-defeating and scare the other party.
And since the Seven Seas Troupe is going to stay here for a while anyway, they might as well take their time on this matter.
After all, they actually have a lot of things to do -
The first step is to go to the Craftsmen's Association located in the 'Mobius' Mobile Fortress and ask about the Kaolin-Ithurian Craftsmen's Association and the Southern Alchemist Alliance's arrival.
They had previously inquired at the airport, but did not get any relevant information.
It stands to reason that the Kaolin-Ithurian Craftsmen Association and the Southern Alchemist Alliance set out from Lavender before them, and would not arrive at Ayinbrok after the Seven Sea Traveler. Even if the Seven Sea Traveler is fast, it still Not nearly to this point.
It's a pity that they are not familiar with the place in the empire, their eyesight is dark, and the airport can't give any more useful information.
Fortunately, now we finally have a local person we can rely on, and Mr. Pusher is also very enthusiastic, just as the old servant said. After learning about their difficulties, the old businessman took the initiative to find someone from the hotel to take them there.
The person they found was Matri, who was guarding the boiler. The latter was also a very enthusiastic person. He led them to inquire about everything in the craftsmen's association, and finally found out where the two people from the craftsmen's association were. Where.
It turned out that the people from the Corin-Ithurian Craftsmen Association and the Southern Alchemist Alliance did not go to Ayinbrok immediately after setting off from Lavender, but went to the Imperial Capital first.
After figuring out the whole story, Fang Yu was no longer anxious. Anyway, there is still more than a month until the Craftsman Competition, and the people from the Craftsmen Association can always make it back before then.
But until then.
But another thing is on the agenda——
Purchase supplies for the constructs lost in previous battles and for the upcoming Craftsman Competition.
After finally arriving at this holy land of alchemy, this matter is naturally a top priority. In fact, he had this idea as early as Tagli and Lavender, but since they have arrived in Oshu, of course he has to go to Ayinbrok for large purchases.
Otherwise, wouldn't he have come in vain?
…
