Chapter 30
Veris hesitated for two seconds before immediately changing the subject.
"I took the wrong staff. I just gave a new staff to that mage, and he will give it to you later."
Sylvain looked at Murphy but didn't say anything more.
Murphy shifted his gaze from Sylvain to Veris. A voice inside him urged him to talk to this man more, but the innate sense of closeness he felt made him uneasy.
And he was anxious. He pursed his lips and looked at Veris.
Those completely white eyes revealed no emotion, as if they belonged to a blind person.
But judging from his tightly pursed lips, the boy wasn't happy.
However, Murphy quickly added, "Thank you, Your Excellency."
Veris coughed twice: "We're leaving now. If you have any questions about your cultivation, you can ask those two mages. They're quite experienced."
The boy nodded and obediently stepped aside, his eyes never leaving Veris, watching the two of them until they disappeared around the corner.
The young man in the hat didn't look at him again. Veris spoke to the other man in a low voice, which could no longer be heard after they had walked a long way.
Murphy stood there for a while before turning around, only to find a familiar-looking guy leaning against the wall not far away.
"What are you doing here?" the boy asked.
Allen looked up, but didn't look at him. His eyes reflected the flowerbeds surrounding the corridor, and he said, "Do you want to join us?"
“Impossible,” Murphy said coldly.
Arnold had invited him since last night, saying that they should go to the Royal Academy together, and after completing their studies, they would go to defeat the Demon King.
Slaying the Demon King? That's ridiculous.
Allen, however, was in no hurry. He straightened up, turned his head, and his freckled face, which could only be described as handsome, lacked any sharpness. He smiled and asked, "Do you know who that person is?"
Murphy looked at him without saying a word.
A cardinal accompanied by a legendary great magician—how low could his status be? He must be either a mysterious figure within the Papacy or of noble blood from some race.
The great magician even addressed that person as "Father" in an ambiguous way.
But the man looked strange, as if he didn't want to hear that title. The two were definitely not father and son in the conventional sense; Murphy was more inclined to believe they were a type of relationship within their organization.
But... there's no denying that their relationship is quite close.
Moreover, those two were discussing him, taking him as a student... most likely he came from that legendary Royal Capital Academy.
King's Capital Academy—Murphy's breathing became momentarily disordered.
Allen looked at the boy, whose pure white eyes reminded him of the progenitor of the dragon race, but the boy in front of him was definitely human. He pinched his palm to gather his thoughts.
"If you want to see him again, you'll have to come with us."
“Arrogant.” Murphy said, coldly observing the confidence on Allen’s face. He didn’t like dealing with Arnold; that guy seemed a bit stupid. But this guy named Allen was a bit smarter than Arnold.
Allen smiled and said, "If you change your mind, just agree to Arnold's request."
After saying that, he didn't say anything more, but turned around and walked back the way he came.
Murphy stood there, lost in thought for a long time. The magical elements around him rushed towards him like madmen. The boy unconsciously absorbed these magical elements, and when he came to his senses, he felt something different within his body.
He was unaware that, in the time it took to think, he had already stepped into the ranks of a first-tier mage.
Being born a ninth-tier mage means that the meridians in one's body that can receive magical elements are nearly infinitely extended, making lengthy and complex magical incantations completely superfluous.
The church's revised book for eighth-tier mages contains extremely short spells, usually only a few words, which greatly reduces the time required to cast spells.
When used with a staff, it can achieve instant-cast magic.
As for the ninth tier, besides instant-cast magic, there is another distinct difference: it marks the entry into the realm of reconstructed magic.
Then I began to study time and space magic.
Among the five great mages, there are quite a few who have already stepped into the ninth rank, but their understanding of time and space is a difficulty that cannot be compared to the previous eight ranks combined.
After all, time and space are not magical elements; they cannot be used simply by absorbing them into the body.
Having innate ninth-tier magical talent means having a greater sensitivity to time and space than other mages.
Veris glanced at the person next to him and casually asked, "How's your reconstruction magic coming along?"
Sylvain paused for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Everything is the same."
That's no different from learning the magic you used to know. Veris grinned and led Sylvain outside, saying, "I knew ninth rank wouldn't be too difficult for you."
"Although the highest rank currently is only nine, it wasn't always like this. Nine was equivalent to around seven in the past. Once you reached eight, you were considered a true great mage."
He kept rambling on about things from the past.
“It was not impossible for a ninth-tier mage to fight against a god, as long as it was not against a god who could manipulate magical elements.”
Veris seemed to remember something, and after saying that, he paused for a moment before changing the subject.
"I plan to stay here for half a month. I'll find a place to stay first."
Sylvain hummed in response, his face calm, but his hands, hidden in his sleeves, clenched tightly, leaving several deep marks on his palms.
Veris was probably thinking of his deceased best friend.
The holy son following behind the youth had a fleeting look of malice on his face.
He was used to wandering around alone, not caring where he lived or what he ate, but now that he had brought Sylvain with him, Veris went to the merchant guild without thinking and bought an entire house not far from the market.
The errand boy went to fetch the owner of the house, while Veris and Sylvain waited at the Chamber of Commerce.
The house wasn't expensive, but for a bard, it was a fortune.
Veris also told Sylvain that he hadn't tried spending money like that in a long time.
Sylvain said helplessly, "The church's wealth is inexhaustible; you could easily..."
“No, no, no, Sylvain, it’s not the same.” Veris said seriously. “Money is a very important thing, especially now. There are no major wars on the continent, and most of the people who need to spend money are our believers.”
"Those incompetent fools in the Papacy don't understand believers, and I can turn a blind eye to it. But I can't just stay in the Papacy like an antique every day, can I?"
He spoke in a relaxed tone, as if joking with a longtime friend: "Although I am indeed an old-fashioned person."
Sylvain whispered, “You should enjoy the best things in the world; it has nothing to do with the believers.”
"This is just my personal opinion."
Veris's smile faltered. He turned his head and met a pair of deep green eyes under the brim of the hat. Seeing Sylvain's serious expression, his smile also faded.
However, a smile still played on his lips as he said, "Sylvain, although I am your godfather according to the rules set by the Papacy, we have never had that kind of relationship."
He said it so casually that it was impossible to discern his true meaning.
Sylvain's face was somewhat pale. He pursed his lips and answered after a moment, "I know."
Veris looked away and didn't pursue the topic any further. They stood in the Chamber of Commerce's garden, with people walking by. The house wasn't cheap, and the receptionist smiled ingratiatingly and asked them to wait a moment.
He frowned slightly, his heart sinking.
Although he has adopted Sylvan for so many years, could Sylvan really still consider him his biological father? No, no, no, that's terrifying. The thought of having that kind of relationship with Sylvan is chilling.
Veris recalled an image of Sylvain calling him "father" with a serious expression.
The horror is no less than bumping into his mother on the street, who waves to him with a friendly expression and says that he has come back to life.
If a close friend calls him "father" in a joke, Veris will laugh heartily.
But if it becomes a reality... Veris just feels that the secret technique for erasing memories needs to be reactivated.
When he was still in Albion, Sylvain rarely used this title, but after he went to the Papacy, he used it more often.
He had always known that Sylvain wasn't really serious when he shouted it, so he never took it seriously.
After arriving at the Papacy, due to custom, as Sylvain's nominal godfather, he had to call him "father" or "godfather".
Veris clenched his fist inwardly. It must have been those incompetent fools at the High Vatican who had corrupted Sylvain. He had to take advantage of this time to pull Sylvain back from the wrong path.
After thinking it over, Veris turned to look at Sylvain, only to meet his gaze. He didn't know how long Sylvain had been staring at him.
The words he was about to say immediately took a backseat.
—Sylvain is only twenty years old, and his child is still young!
“Don’t take it to heart, I understand your feelings,” Veris said awkwardly, chuckling twice. “Actually, you can totally treat me as a friend.”
He was aware that his words contained a hint of something. In fact, he now considered Sylvain a friend, but after raising him for so many years, he had developed a habit of worrying about all sorts of things concerning Sylvain.
But Sylvain just looked at him, his expression revealing something he couldn't understand—a mixture of annoyance and anger. Finally, he looked away, his voice colder than ever before: "I've never thought of it that way."
Veris's eyes widened instantly, thinking to himself, "No way."
Sylvain continued, "I can't think of anyone in this era who would be worthy of being your friend."
"Haha, how could that be? I'm not that kind of person..." Veris's voice trailed off. For a moment, he wanted to grab Sylvain by the collar and shout that his friend was right in front of him, but he held back.
The scene in the attic flashed through Veris's mind. He quickly realized that Sylvain was probably still angry. This man liked to keep things to himself, and he just hadn't noticed it yet.
This wasn't the place to talk. Veris hesitated, then remained silent, and the atmosphere became tense. Not long after, the errand boy returned, and Veris breathed a sigh of relief.
Seeing Veris's instantly relieved expression, Sylvain's expression turned even uglier.
Veris was quick to act. After asking a few questions, he signed the agreement. The homeowner beamed and handed the keys to Veris. He then gave the errand boy a tip of several dozen silver coins and told him to take Veris to the house.
The Chamber of Commerce only said that the house was not far from the market, and the street next door was lined with shops. It would be noisy during the day, but quiet at night. Veris didn't know exactly where it was located.
However, with such a large sum of money, the house wouldn't be too bad.
The errand boy led them out of the Chamber of Commerce, then turned three or four streets, and arrived at a pavilion with a small garden. He smiled and said, "This is it. The market is not far to the left of the street entrance, and the shops are right next to it. If you are interested in auctions, the auction house is two streets away to the right."
Upon hearing the word "auction house," Veris asked with interest, "Is the underground black market there too?"
The errand runner was taken aback, not expecting Veris to ask these questions, but he still answered honestly, "That's right, that whole street is a black market. The auction house is in the center of the street. As for the underground black market, you have to find the owner, give him the password, and pay the entrance fee before you can enter."
What's with all this nonsense about renting in the market? Veris grunted and waved his hand, "Go back now."
He unlocked the gate to the yard with the key, walked through the small garden overgrown with weeds, and soon arrived at the attic. Veris looked at the lock on the door and picked out the right one from the box of keys.
The homeowner said that all the rooms in the attic had locks, so he gave Veris a whole box of keys.
After the door opened, the two went in one after the other. A magic circle as tall as the door appeared at the entrance after they went in, and then quickly disappeared.
The attic has two floors and a fairly large interior space, fully furnished with all kinds of furniture, but there is still a lot of empty space.
Veris was very satisfied. He said to Sylvain, "Now I finally have a place to put my scrolls and such."
Sylvain looked at the empty ground and said helplessly, "Are you going to pile it up on the ground again?"
They stood in the inner hall, next to a fireplace, where sunlight streamed through the tall windows, falling on the reddish-brown carpet, which looked brand new.
“The ground isn’t dirty, and no one will come and rummage through it,” Veris said matter-of-factly.
Without hesitation, he raised his hand, and the shadow of a magic circle appeared. The next second, piles of books and scrolls appeared on the empty ground.
Sylvain looked at those ancient-looking things, as if he had returned to the attic in Albion.
The scent of dried ink lingered in the air, spreading throughout the inner hall.
Veris squatted on the ground, rummaging through the things. Sylvain stood behind him, watching the sunlight stream through the window and fall on the thin back, remaining silent, before taking off his hat.
His silver hair fell down, and he lowered his eyes.
“These are travelogues, these are alchemy notes, and this… wait, these are notes from when I was making a staff. Strange, where did my book of magic notes go?” The young man’s mutterings echoed in the space where only the two of them were.
There is no profession known on the mainland that Veris has not been involved in.
The long years have given him a deep understanding of various professions.
He respects every profession and always approaches it with enthusiasm, diligently studying the secrets that have spanned hundreds of years, using his memory to unearth things that have been lost.
It is passed down again, opening up new bloodlines, and continuing to thrive.
Sylvain was holding the hat, which Veris had casually bought when he passed by the general store on his way out of the hotel. He thought it was for Veris to wear himself, but unexpectedly, Veris turned around and smoothly put it on his own head.
Her eyebrows curved into a smile, and a hint of cunning appeared on her pale face: "Your hair is too eye-catching, you should cover it up."
The person who was present throughout Sylvain's entire childhood was, ironically, the most brilliant and unique individual on the entire continent.
Falling in love with Veris is easier than breathing.
Perhaps it was when the other person was intently strumming the strings, or when the other person was deep in thought, holding a quill pen, that the dark and cramped environment did not diminish his brilliance in the slightest. In the midnight tavern, he was a bohemian poet singing loudly, and when he led Sylvain into the Papacy, he was a pope with eyes full of pity and an aura of authority.
"What are you standing there for? Come help me look for it! What the hell? I remember it was a book, right?" Veris turned his head and saw the helper he had hired standing there in a daze. He immediately pulled the man into the search.
Sylvain looked down at the pile of books and scrolls. They weren't originally that messy, but he had taken some time to tidy them up while he was at the Papacy, and now they were all mixed up again.
“There are no magic books in this pile,” he said.
Veris, who had squatted down again in front of his masterpieces, froze. He looked up at Sylvain, his heterochromatic eyes blinking: "What?"
Sylvain's breath hitched slightly, but he continued, "You put the books about magic somewhere else."
Veris opened his eyes wide, recalling the time he spent tidying up in the attic those few days, and it seemed like such a thing had happened.
At the time, I was quite pleased with myself, thinking it was rare that I was so diligent and had even separated these major categories of books. I thought it would be easy to take them out next time.
"You'd better tell me earlier next time." Veris said sternly, standing up as magic surged in his hands, and soon another pile of books appeared on the open ground next to him.
He nudged Sylvain on the shoulder: "As punishment, you'd better go and reorganize that pile of books."
"……good."
Veris has studied magic extensively over the decades, and of course, he hasn't neglected other areas either, since magical reforms weren't considered a major issue a few decades ago.
His notes were numerous and disorganized, and some unrealistic fantasies—that is, failed experiments—had to be removed.
The books about magic were piled up in the corner, along with some experimental scrolls, the magic inscribed on them was a mess, most of them were high-damage spells, and Veris never thought of handing these dangerous things over to the High Priestess.
If someone were to misuse them, given the power of the magic stored in those scrolls, it would be no problem to raze half of Mercury City to the ground.
The notes in the book were also messy, and sometimes the ink was not working well. Even if the handwriting was beautiful, it could not prevent the ink from being smeared into patches.
Aside from Veris and a few other known old fogies, even considering the five great mages of the High Priestess, if they were to organize this stuff, Veris would doubt their intelligence if they could understand even 30%.
Or perhaps it's possessed by some old, undead spirit.
But! Sylvain is different!
Sylvan was his best friend in the past. Even after reincarnation, the magical talent engraved in his soul was still so powerful. Moreover, Sylvan had been with him day and night for so many years and knew his writing habits very well. He would definitely be able to organize these things faster than the incompetent ones!
Veris had made up her mind last night, especially before going to sleep, she went over her plans for the next two weeks seven or eight times before happily drifting off to sleep.
As for Sylvain still being angry, as long as he has enough work and time passes, his attention will be diverted, which would be equivalent to nothing happening.
Veris thought about it more and more and more and he realized that this was indeed the case.
He flipped through the notes and then said cheerfully, "I'll go see if anything is missing upstairs. You can start organizing first, and we'll go out shopping together later."
The house has five or six rooms on the first floor, and only two large rooms and two small rooms on the second floor, plus a bathroom and a small living room.
After walking around for a while, Veris made a note of what he wanted to buy and then went downstairs to find Sylvain.
The sun was already setting outside, and the light streaming through the window outlined the golden walls. As Veris walked by, his figure was also illuminated by the golden light.
Sylvain put down the scroll in his hand, stood up and looked at Veris who was walking from the other end of the corridor. The young man was standing in the light, surrounded by a halo, and smiled at him: "Alright, let's go buy something. Hopefully they will still be open after nightfall, otherwise we will have to wait until tomorrow."
The house is in a great location; they just stepped out the door and turned the corner to find a restaurant.
There were quite a few people inside. Veris couldn't resist the aroma of the food. Come to think of it, he had only eaten something casually when he left the hotel since he got up.
Leading Sylvain into the restaurant, Veris skillfully dealt with the owner. The restaurant had a second floor, and Veris glanced up and saw that there weren't many people on the second floor. After ordering dinner, he pulled Sylvain upstairs.
The restaurant was noisy and the environment wasn't great, but the prices were reasonable, and you could tell from the aroma wafting through the air that the food was probably pretty good.
Veris looked at Sylvain sitting opposite him with a smile: "You've been in the Papacy for so long, you're not used to being in a place like this, are you?"
“For me, this place is better than the Papacy,” Sylvain said slowly, looking at the young man with the curved eyebrows.
The Grand Vatican's dining hall was comparable to a palace, but those people would only serve him cautiously. Sylvain sat in his own seat, while the high seat was always empty.
Bishop Finney said that was the Pope's seat.
However, these bishops, including the long-lived dwarf Felix, had seen the Pope dine here.
This restaurant is much nicer than those small eateries in Albion.
“I also came from Albion, why would I look down on it?” Sylvain said in a low voice.
More importantly, Veris was sitting opposite him.
He didn't say that, but Veris looked very happy, though he still pretended to be serious and said, "How can that be? You are the noble Holy Son, you are not allowed to eat at these roadside restaurants in the future."
The two sat in the corner furthest from the stairs. Veris had his back to the stairs. Seeing that Sylvain's expression had finally softened, he was about to say something witty when he noticed Sylvain's expression change slightly. His face, which had been brightening, instantly became clouded. His eyes skipped over Sylvain and landed on the top of the stairs.
Veris had a bad feeling.
"Allen, that guy looks like Veris!"
The brave young man's suppressed excitement rang out from behind him, and Veris's smile froze. Sylvain's gaze returned to him, and he spoke.
"Would you like to go say hello? After all, he's a hero."
Sylvain emphasized the word "hero" with particular force.
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Author's Note: The most outstanding being on the mainland, outwardly warm but inwardly cold, admired by countless people, yet treated you differently [dog head with rose in hand]
Veris: I want to give my best friend the best, but I'm afraid he'll treat me like his real father. What should I do? I need help urgently!
In reality, Veris (is just breathing).
Sylvain: Favorability +999
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I really wanted to write a story, but once I got to the young couple, I couldn't stop.
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