Chapter 238 A brief meeting at Golden Oak, the dwarf's invitation, a piece of dragon...
"You've arrived. Come and sit here."
Vesper beckoned. Ray did as he was told and went over.
This time, after Ray stepped into the light curtain, he went directly to the top of the White Tower's rooftop.
The surrounding area is empty with no doors, or the doors have been sealed off; the only way to reach it is through a teleportation screen.
"I hope you are well."
Ray greeted him politely and walked over.
The white-robed mage who had been sitting opposite Vesper bowed to him and turned to leave. As he brushed past Ray, he gave him a friendly smile.
"Don't worry, he is one of my students and the current head of the White Tower. Besides me, only he knows about your affairs."
"So that's how it is."
Lei sat down in the other seat opposite him.
Vesper put away the tea set that had been used on the table and took out the pastries, fruit and barley tea again.
"It's already noon, let's just eat something for now."
After saying that, he took a piece of date cake and ate it first. Seeing this, Lai also poured himself a cup of tea and took a small biscuit with jam.
It was filled with orange jam, which is quite unusual.
These cookies and pastries are all very delicious.
After the two ate for a while, the old monk finally spoke slowly.
"Any discoveries today?"
Ray anticipated that Vesper might ask about it, but there was no point in hiding it.
"Yes, I have indeed gained something. I come from the same country as the first person to come to the mainland."
"Oh? What a coincidence. She was an outstanding architect who participated in the reconstruction of the royal city at that time."
Many famous buildings are her creations. She used an alias here, Ilovian, meaning "tenacious life force."
"She is indeed a very resilient and respectable person."
"But there's one more thing I feel I need to briefly mention to Vesper," Ray commented.
Do you know Miss Sakurako?
“Sakurako? She was the sixth person from another world to arrive on the continent. I was still traveling on the continent at the time, and we met briefly.”
Vesper recalled.
A blurry figure in a pink dress appeared in his memory.
She is a very gentle girl. She speaks very softly when she speaks her native dialect. She has lived in Baita almost the entire time since she came here.
She later died suddenly from an illness. The monk who was in charge of taking care of her felt very guilty and died in depression in his later years.
He was somewhat puzzled as to why Lei suddenly brought her up.
"Is she also from your country?"
"No, that's not it. Although Miss Sakura and I are not from the same country, I can only partially understand some of the notes she left behind."
"oh?"
The Holy Archmage sat up straight.
The death of Sakura back then was indeed somewhat suspicious, but the two sides did not have much contact at the time, and there were many difficulties in communication, so the truth was not found out.
As time went by, apart from the monk who had taken care of her, no one mentioned her anymore.
"Did she have a lot of contact with locals at that time? I mean people from the mainland."
"Yes, she is very interested in people of all races and all kinds of magical beasts, especially dragons. She has drawn many pictures of them, and you should have seen some of them already."
"Um."
Lei nodded.
"Today, while I was going through her notes, I found a piece of paper with a magic circle drawn on it."
"A magic circle?"
Vesper looked puzzled.
"I didn't actually see it when I looked it up."
"I've put it back in my notebook. You can take a look when you have time."
"Okay, I'll take a good look at it."
Vesper made a finger gesture, then conjured a plaque from thin air and handed it to Ray.
"With this, you can enter and exit the White Pagoda."
"thank you."
Lai was somewhat flattered as he accepted the plaque.
"I heard you sold a piece of dragon bone to Nash. You can go to him if you want to sell anything in the future. He will give you a good price."
"OK."
Lai realized that Vesper's position in the White Tower was definitely not low, and with his advice and promises, the White Tower would certainly not treat him unfairly in this regard.
His friendship with the White Pagoda was thus established.
Lei sat for a while before preparing to leave; this was just a temporary meeting.
Nash had to leave temporarily, and a very honest mage took his place.
After explaining the whole story, he didn't ask or say anything else along the way, and led Lai all the way to the first floor.
"Hey you over there, wait a minute!"
Thinking the call wasn't for him, Ray continued walking forward.
"I'm talking to you, please wait a minute!"
Ray felt his clothes being pulled by a strong force. He turned around and saw that the person pulling him was a dwarf with reddish-brown hair and a beard.
His beard looked even more flamboyant than the owner of the dwarf shop, with several small braids hanging from his chin, tied with jeweled hair ties.
"Hello, I don't think we've met before. May I ask who you are?"
Lei patiently inquired.
“I am the son of Golden Oak, and also an alchemist. Are you the human Ray?”
Lei nodded.
"Hello."
"Phew, we finally found the right person. If I hadn't brought you along, the old man would have definitely thrown a tantrum."
The dwarf muttered to himself.
Ray remembered Timur mentioning that it was the son of Golden Oak who invented and improved the crystal light bulb. His innovation had virtually transformed the lives of all the inhabitants of the entire continent.
"The glass lamp you created is a groundbreaking innovation."
The dwarf scratched his head sheepishly.
"It wasn't just my achievement; my father also helped a lot."
"Did you need something from me?"
Lei continued to ask questions.
"Oh, right, it's not me who needs to talk to you, it's your father."
Lai frowned slightly, wondering what business the person, a celebrity famous throughout the continent, would have with an ordinary human like himself.
He wants to invite you to come inside his house.
Lei hesitated for a moment, but then accepted the invitation.
Following the dwarf, we went out through the back door of the white tower and arrived at a five-story stone building.
There were seven or eight stoves in the lobby on the first floor, and a group of dwarfs and humans were busy going back and forth among them.
They had all sorts of weapons in their hands.
"Father should be on the third floor now."
"good."
Even before you see him, you hear his voice; Golden Oak's loud voice is very distinctive.
The dwarf carefully opened the door, tilting his head to avoid a cup that suddenly slammed into him.
"Father, I've brought the person back."
The door was flung open with a bang, and a dwarf with similar reddish-brown hair rushed out. This must be Golden Oak himself.
"Are you Ray?"
"I am."
Ray clenched his right fist and lightly patted his left shoulder twice—a common greeting on the mainland.
Golden Oak returned the greeting, patting his own shoulder with a loud thud. His eyes were shining as he looked at Ray.
"I heard you wanted to see me."
"Haha, please come in, please come in."
Golden Oak deliberately changed the subject of Lai's words and invited Lai inside.
"Go and prepare some lunch. Those stingy guys at the White Tower never let their guests have a full meal!"
Just as Ray was about to refuse, Golden Oak forcefully interrupted him and led him into the house.
This is a very large studio, with many finished and semi-finished products displayed on the floor, tables, and wooden shelves.
On the large solid wood table against the wall, various tools of all sizes and design drawings are scattered about.
The dragon tooth that Lai sold to the White Tower was sitting on that table.
"It's a bit messy here, please don't mind."
Golden Oak shoved a large wine glass into Ray's hand and poured him a full glass of red wine.
"No, no, thank you, but I'm not a big drinker."
"It's alright, this liquor isn't very strong."
The dwarf's claim that the alcohol content was low is highly questionable; the strong smell of alcohol was already overwhelming.
Lai didn't want to drink it, nor did he want to waste the dwarf's good wine, so he put it on the table to the side.
His first impression of Golden Oak was that it had a fiery temper, but so far they've gotten along quite well.
Knock, knock, knock—there was a knocking sound at the door.
Golden Oak opened the door, walked into the room, and casually swept the clutter off a long table. The humans behind him then placed various meats and fine wines on the table.
"Come and eat."
"No, I want to go back..."
"Hurry up, are you trying to disrespect me?"
Golden Oak's face fell.
"No, that's not what I meant."
Thinking that Golden Oak was Temugi's idol after all, Lei obediently sat down next to him.
After a hearty meal, the dwarf finally revealed his purpose.
“I heard you have dragon bones in your possession.”
Alright, so the purpose was dragon bones.
"I'd like to buy a few from you in my own name."
In a private capacity, a few dollars.
Goodness, Golden Oak is treating itself like a raw material supplier, and it's asking for several pieces right off the bat.
Lai quickly declined, saying he didn't have any left.
"Really not all? Just one piece, I only need one animal tooth."
Golden Oak's well-timed show of weakness actually made Ray waver a little.
Should I sell it to him?
Ray asked Ryan for his opinion.
"Your dragon bone is your decision."
Ray felt that the fewer people knew he had dragon bones, the better, but Golden Oak already knew and seemed to have already assumed that Ray had more.
"I can make you a weapon or a magical item for free."
Golden Oak began to increase its stakes.
"No, that's not what I meant. I really only have a few pieces of dragon bone on hand."
“Oh, Ray, humans are truly the most generous and friendly race I’ve ever met. I really need a dragon bone for one of my new devices.”
The things the White Pagoda provided me were all for making weapons.
As you know, the demons have returned to the continent and are currently at war. They can't possibly lend me the dragon bones for use in the new device.
Seeing that Lei's expression seemed to relax, Golden Oak continued to complain.
"I've been in the White Tower for a long time now, and I can hardly leave the royal city until I fulfill my promise to that old man Vesper."
In these boring and dull days, the only things that make my life a little more interesting are my little gadgets and my fine wine.
"well......"
Lei sighed.
Golden Oak knew his plan was working out, so he didn't say anything more, just kept staring at Ray with longing eyes.
"This is truly the only piece of dragon bone I have left. I hope you can keep our transaction confidential."
"certainly."
Golden Oak successfully obtained a dragon tooth and offered Lai a price even higher than that of the White Tower. He also didn't forget his initial promise.
"If you have any magical items or weapons you'd like, please feel free to contact me."
Ray left the Golden Oak Alchemy Tower with the two contracts.
After carefully reviewing Golden Oak's behavior and motives, Ray discovered that he was a very intelligent dwarf with some cunning and scheming.
Therefore, the widely circulated story of how the golden oak tree reached the White Pagoda is certainly not as simple as it appears on the surface.
There might be some unknown deals or something going on behind the scenes.
"Forget it, none of this concerns me anyway."
Feeling a bit tired of the food at Golden Oak, Lai went to the market and bought some fresh mushrooms to make a soup.
It has to be said that the market in the heart of the royal city can sell almost anything, but the prices are quite prohibitive.
Thinking of Tata sleeping by the fireplace with her belly sticking out, Ray couldn't help but smile.
"To Victor's Manor on the outskirts."
"Okay, please sit down."
The whip cracked, and the horse's hooves clattered on the stone pavement.
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