He Holds a Rose from the Abyss

After Raphael stepped off the stage, the crimson curtain was pulled back a little, a yellowish light hit the stage, and the music began to play.

一 The young magician stepped onto the stage and started his journey.

一 He walked through the iron wall of the dwarf fortress and the elven graveyard, and stepped into the entrance of the abyss.

一 The sun was bleeding, the ravens were wandering in the sky, and the bards were still singing the epics of the past, but no one knew that a new epic had been born.

一 He burned down the rose garden.

Chi Lang leaned on the chair, and for a long time, he did not recover from Raphael’s questioning. He felt that he should be trembling, and yet felt a little reassured from the clasped hands with Sheffield.

He divided a small part of his mind to the opera on stage, and a large part of his mind to Sheffield. He could hear Sheffield’s breathing slowly approaching, and finally felt the slightest exhalation in his ear.

Sheffield’s voice was extremely clear: “You guessed it, right? Chi Lang, tell me, what did you guess…”

Chi Lang moved slightly to the side: “You…” Halfway through the sentence, he stopped again: “Let’s go back and talk, it’s not good to talk here.”

“So what do you want to talk about now?” Sheffield asked him.

Chi Lang looked at the opera on stage: “Is the story about Hubert on stage true?”

“Almost, some things are exaggerated. For example, he mastered high-level magic when he was thirty years old, not twenty years old as in the opera.”

“Then why did he enter the abyss… to fight the Demon Lord?”

“If someone wants to become a god, a creature of the abyss must die. When he dies, he becomes the Demon Lord.”

Chi Lang was stunned and asked, “Why did he burn down the rose garden?”

“The Demon Lord lives in the rose garden.”

“Then… can the rose garden be rebuilt?”

Sheffield didn’t answer.

“Okay, just plant roses and prune them. Think about it, the rose garden in our academy has never been taken care of by anyone, and it still grows very well, so it is possible, right?

“When he died, he became a demon lord, so if he was alive, he would not be a demon lord. He can be touched and allowed to be liked, right?”

Sheffield’s other hand suddenly held Chi Lang’s face, and his breath almost touched Chi Lang’s face, making Chi Lang feel as if he was about to kiss him.

The lights lit up again above their heads as the opera proceeded to its final act.

Chi Lang looked at the sudden light and blinked as the tip of Sheffield’s nose came almost to the tip of his nose.

Chi Lang thought Sheffield looked less than pleased, as if he had been disturbed.

The magician in charge of the illumination spell was an old man, moving somewhat slowly. He floated in the air with his levitation spell, making the seats light up one after another.

He poked his head over, “The entrance to the underground is open, you can go there now if you want.” There was a pause, “What are you guys doing?”

Sheffield responded quickly: “As you can see, we’re… kissing.”

He kissed Chi Lang, though it was only a light peck.

The entrance to the underground opened, and a rectangular opening was opened in the rotation of the two rows of seats.

Chi Lang saw with a sharp eye that Raphael also walked in and tugged Sheffield’s sleeve: “Do you have anything else to buy? Why don’t we go in…”

It is better to hide from the priest.

Sheffield: “Why did you come to the Opera House? Didn’t I tell you not to come?”

“Ah, Luth said there would be some muskets passed down from the dwarf side or something, so I came to take a look, but just looked at one, I shouldn’t be able to afford it, and I’m fine… not looking at the others.”

“Then go and see,” Sheffield said. “It’s alright, that priest feels powerful sometimes, but most of the time it’s pretty ordinary.”

“Powerful sometimes?”

Sheffield turned his gaze toward the entrance, “The more advanced the divine arts the more restricted they are, requiring years of hard work to get power from the gods, but that priest… had a few seconds where I felt power that could rival that of a cardinal…”

“So, if you meet that priest, please stand on my side, always, always stand on my side, protect me…” Sheffield smiled and made a mouth to Chi Lang—”Otherwise I’ll be found out.”

Chi Lang nodded.

The staircase at the entrance was long, and it was a revolving staircase. When you got to the end, it presented a magnificent sight.

The entire underground of “Palace of Knowledge” was about three stories high, and the ceiling was made to look like a starry sky, which was still slowly flickering. In front of them were circular stalls, with the magicians trading the lowest-level materials at the outermost circle, and the more advanced items traded in the inner circle.

And in the center of all this circle was the magic handbook.

But in almost every circle, Chi Lang found traces of muskets. These muskets have different shapes and vary greatly in accuracy, but without exception, they are all very expensive because the magicians have added magic arrays to them.

Chi Lang was not sure whether he could use “mechanical time” to use the magic circle on the firearm.

He pulled Sheffield from the outermost to the innermost, and saw the last musket on the penultimate lap.

To be precise, it was a phantom of a musket, and the real thing was not here.

“This is the long gun. I am the agent of the Magician Colin. If you want to buy it, please go directly to the ‘Palace of Knowledge’ in the imperial capital and contact the Great Magician Colin.” In front of this gun stood a small magician, who hung his head and said this.

This gun was a bit longer than the flintlock gun that Chi Lang was holding. It didn’t have a gunpowder pool, and instead of a powder pool, there was a long area covered by a cap above the trigger.

Chi Lang: “This gun… is the ammunition loaded from the back of the gun?”

Agent: “That’s right.”

Chi Lang: “Did that Master Colin build it?”

That’s too good to be true.  Luth was still studying the muzzle-loading gun that didn’t even have rifling, and according to Luth, his research was not lagging behind in the Magic Research Society.

The breech-loading gun had appeared here, which was equivalent to a hundred years of technology ahead in history.

The agent smiled somewhat smugly: “No, this is a trophy from the dragon cave when Master Colin slaughtered the golden dragon Bazel.”

Slaughtered… a dragon?

“It was actually made by the alchemist of the dwarves, and it was enchanted by elf magic. The elves and dwarves have always been at odds. This should be very rare. It is a firearm that the two races cooperated with.”

Chi Lang felt that this thing must be very expensive, and he finally asked: “If it is so powerful… Why doesn’t Master Colin keep it for himself?”

“Master Colin is dedicated to studying the highest realm of magic and regards foreign objects as obstacles, so he wants to pass it on.”

“Do you want to buy it?” Sheffield asked him.

“No, I don’t think I can use it either,” Chi Lang thought for a while, and then asked, “Can I take the liberty of asking what the approximate price of the gun is?”

Agent: “Master Colin once said that only those who have a property of more than 100 gold coins can make an inquiry.”

Chi Lang : …

Chi Lang completely retracted his thoughts on this gun,

At this time, they were standing against the central area, and with a slight tilt of their heads, they could see the magic handbook placed in the center.

Obviously, this magic handbook was a pleasant surprise for the magicians present.

There were many people around the center. The first attack magic that almost all magicians learn was the magic missile that Hubert had improved. Hubert belonged to the kind of people that were not only seen in sculptures, but could also be found often in textbooks.

And his magic handbook was regarded as the bible of magic.

Raphael stood aside and watched the group of magicians. He seemed to have noticed Chi Lang’s sight and walked over.

Chi Lang subconsciously took a step forward and stood in front of Sheffield.

“Hello, you just said that your bullet killed the monsters in the abyss, right?” Raphael asked with a smile.

Chi Lang nodded.

“Can you describe the specific process? Because I’m doing research on demonic creatures in the abyss recently…”

Chi Lang: “Ah, that is, I pressed the trigger and then the demonic creature died.”

Raphael:  …

“That demonic creature should have been injured, that’s why I caught it, otherwise it couldn’t have been killed,” Chi Lang added.

“So,” Raphael seemed to accept the answer, “Have we met somewhere before?”

Sheffield clenched Chi Lang’s hand tighter.

“Yes, outside Margaret’s Magic Tower.”

“Are you a student of the Saints Magic Academy? Don’t you want to read the magic handbook?”

Chi Long shook his head and was just about to say something.

Sheffield placed his scabbard against Raphael’s body, and raised his eyebrows, “Lord Priest, isn’t it a little too rude for you to use divine magic in the ‘Palace of Knowledge’?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Chi Lang felt a touch of warmth on the back of his hand. He looked down and saw a pale-yellow cross on the back of his hand. There were also some messy lines on the cross.

“This is a Holy Light investigation. The church recently stipulated that it should be used by all those who are infected with the abyss, not just this one…” Raphael bowed slightly.

“Although I don’t know how you silently used the magic, it’s better if you stop.” Sheffield brought the scabbard forward.

“Then I am also curious, how did your Excellency manage to be so sensitive to the breath of divine magic?”

Chi Lang felt that it would be bad if this conversation went on any longer, and Raphael would be suspicious again.

So, Chi Lang, in this very tense atmosphere, said unfittingly: “He is not sensitive to the breath of divine magic, but to me… He is more sensitive to the changes in my body.”

Raphael:  …