Observation

In the afternoon, Xiaoman sent Lainya home, said goodbye to Lainya after the village was in sight, and returned to her own home.

When they parted, Lainya asked hesitantly, "Can I come to see you again?"

"…It's very dangerous. Don't come here again."

Xiaoman looked at Lania's beige hair. The rabbit girl had a few tufts of hair and ear tips with cute goose yellow or light brown spots, which was real and warm.

But she still gave Lenia a very faint, unskilled smile and said, "Forget me. This is for the best."

Lenia had no choice but to move forward hesitantly and return to the village where she grew up.

Halfway through the walk, Lenia turned her head quietly, only to see the tall and thin figure hidden among the trees still standing there.

Now they were very far away, and Lainya could no longer see those blue eyes. She only felt that the figure in the light-colored shirt was so young, only a few years older than her, but there was an indescribable loneliness about him.

By the time Xiaoman slowly walked back through the forest and returned home, it was already evening.

At this time, Lazarus also came back and was repairing a small household item that relied on a combination of water and wind spells to perform simple cleaning and dust removal effects.

This time the teacher changed back into the robes that he was more accustomed to wearing, but his face was no longer covered.

Then Xiaoman finally noticed the teacher's eyes.

Just like the hands that were now openly displayed in front of everyone, the eyes were asymmetrical in color.

The left eye is a pure, almost obsidian-like black pupil, while the right eye is a strange half-red and half-green color.

The red that occupied most of the iris of that eye looked like pomegranate seeds and white crystal splashed with blood. The faint green at the bottom reminded people of a stream, the algae on the pebbles, the small bubbles on the bottom of the water and the reflected shadows of the trees.

"Have you sent the people back?" Lazarus asked, looking up from the simple but meticulous adjustment process.

“Sent it back.”

"......?" Lazarus noticed that Xiaoman's gaze was different from usual and was a little confused.

Then he suddenly seemed to remember and said, "Sorry, I forgot to cover it again."

The lich's bony fingers moved slightly, and the chaotic light and shadow that would make people dizzy if they looked at it for too long reappeared from a point, spreading and extending, trying to hide his true appearance.

"Why should we stop it?" Xiao Man asked. She really didn't understand.

She originally thought that the teacher was unwilling to show his face for some reason, or that his head was in the same state as his right hand and the forearm that was occasionally visible between the sleeves of his robe. Out of respect for the teacher's habits, she did not deliberately ask why he did so.

However, today it seemed that Lazarus did not mind being seen. His face did not have any of the scary features as expected. He looked so normal that the disciples were a little surprised.

“…Isn’t it terrifying?” Lazarus asked, as if he also felt that her reaction was beyond his expectations.

He removed the almost completed magic disguise and turned to face Xiaoman.

"This face has only ever attracted jealousy and hatred, and later even condemnation. That's why I'm used to covering it up."

The lich with dark red hair spoke as if he had figured out the reason, his expression gradually becoming serious: "You are facing me now, but your feelings are not judged as negative?"

Xiaoman didn't know why the teacher asked this question and shook his head honestly.

Lazarus paused, raised his hand and rolled up the sleeve of his right arm a little, revealing the wrist bone that was still fleshless and had some fine words engraved on the surface.

He placed the dead hand on the table between them, showing it to Xiaoman.

The bones of the fingertips touched the table, making a slight sound.

"As you can see, your teacher is not alive," he said. "You are not afraid of that part, I know. But--"

"The beastmen, whether they are abandoned, mithril or gold, will all feel fear upon seeing Lazarus. The smarter they are and the ones who have experienced fear, the more likely they are to feel this way. Because the child lives in a stable environment and is young, it is not easy for him to have an instinctive hatred towards me."

"As a dead person, I continue to think and even act, stealing the soul that should be dispersed. My existence itself is rebellious. As the followers of the Star God, the beast tribe should naturally reject me the moment they realize that my existence is unreasonable. Even though I was once a member of the beast tribe."

Xiaoman silently took off the wolf ears that helped her disguise herself as a beast.

"But I'm not a beastman," she said.

"Yes, you are not. You are completely different from the beastmen." Lazarus nodded. He looked at Xiaoman intently, "You are so special."

"Follow me." He stood up and walked towards the laboratory in the basement.

Xiaoman seldom goes to the teacher's laboratory. Daily exercises can be completed casually, but those that can cause large-scale damage have specially arranged venues and training times.

Because her situation is different from the fire element's rejection of beastman spellcasters, the feedback the Incomplete One gets when facing water, wind, earth, and wood is a complete rejection, the highest level with no room for maneuver. In her hands, even the related props are disobedient. Her natural bias has reached an extreme.

Therefore, the development direction that Lazarus set for his disciples was also fully inclined towards practice in accordance with local conditions. In his words, there are already countless people doing research in Mithril City, but there are very few people in the world who can blow up the temple.

After hearing this, Xiaoman felt for the first time that the teacher was a dangerous person.

This is normal. Yuan Qian also thinks that the adjutant who gave him this inspiration during the chat is a dangerous person - he was just talking. Even though the lich Lazarus has been wanted for hundreds of years in the setting, he has never set foot on any brick or tile of the Holy City. The latter, however, actually demolished this kind of special building in his own world, which is very villain-like.

According to the adjutant, the spell name used at that time was translated into [Living Fire Molten City] by the plug-in. It sounds like a particularly forbidden spell, and it is like a fast food meal with snacks included in the set meal, and it also gives away hundreds of instant fireballs. In fact, of course, there can be more, but the number is very humanely calculated according to the building area, and it is just enough to fill it up.

Perhaps he had his own considerations. Normally, the adjutant seldom took the initiative to talk about his side of the story, so the starting point of the topic was Yuan Qian.

When he was doing magic research with the lich character, he suddenly realized that spellcasters actually had different preferences for different branches, which would affect their choice of future path even during their apprenticeship period.

After careful observation, he discovered that even after unlocking all external attributes, Xiaoman still unconsciously preferred the fire element.

[This little girl has a bright future!] The adjutant praised her so highly at the time. His tone was more sincere than ever before, and his conviction was so strong that he said, "This girl has the appearance of an emperor."

Then they talked about all sorts of random things, from why they liked the element of fire to how it was more satisfying to use fire spells to bombard things they hated rather than lightning spells, and then they talked about the demolition of the temple as an example.

Although Yuan Qian felt that the adjutant in another world was definitely not a good person, it did not prevent him from using this example to encourage Xiao Man.

It's not that I really want her to blow up the temple, it's just that everyone likes big scenes. When they hear descriptions involving real objects, they will always be encouraged by the strong rebellious spirit they symbolize and thus gain some motivation. Even Yuan Qian himself is no exception.

The teacher and the disciple, who were completely different and neither of them was tolerated by the world, walked through the laboratory. Lazarus picked up a narrow knife for cutting materials. The blade was composed of a mithril bracket and a dark attribute extending into a blade. It was absolutely pure, thin and sharp. It was made by one of the most powerful spellcasters in the world. It was worthy of the dream of every apprentice who stayed up late to process materials for the teacher.

Lazarus opened the wooden sheath, pulled out the knife he had made at random, and handed it to his disciple.

"I was once a deer, and now I have a part of a siren in my body."

After a brief introduction, the lich lowered his head and asked the black-haired disciple in front of him: "Xiao Man, you don't feel disgusted by my existence, so can you still judge which parts are [abnormal]?"

The thin knife in his hand had the right weight, not too heavy nor too light to be out of control. The dark element that made up the blade was always inert and cold. In the past two months, it had steadily responded to Xiaoman, its new friend, just as it was now.

Xiaoman held it and raised her wrist. Just like when the teacher handed it to her, there was no direct contact, no fingers to touch and trace, but the blade.

The tip of the knife slid across Lazarus's calm, waiting face, passing over his forehead without any marks, his beautifully shaped eyebrows, his right eyeball with a half-red and half-green iris, and his thin, pale jaw.

There was not much hesitation during this process. The blade did not stop until it passed through Lazarus's chest and abdomen. Xiao Man raised her head again and handed in her answer:

“That should be it.”

Lazarus laughed. “Yes, absolutely.”

"Is it to use spells with more attributes?" Xiao Man asked. With some systematic knowledge, she already understood that Lazarus was different from her and ordinary spellcasters. Both the external and natural elements submitted to him and performed their duties obediently under the lich's fingers, which was extremely unreasonable.

"No, as a spellcaster, I'm not crazy enough to do that." Lazarus said, "In fact, I just... want to survive."

"Now I have forgotten how I felt at that time, and I can't even remember why I wanted to continue to exist in this world even though I am dead. It seems that living too long is not a good thing. Although now I don't regret this choice."

"So you are wanted just because you have become special?" Xiaoman returned the knife and asked.

Lazarus's expression suddenly became subtle. He sat down and touched his chin with his bony fingertips, his eyes wandering: "No...it also includes some other things. Not necessarily evil deeds, but they must have been difficult to meet the regulations at the time. Spellcasters always offend authority for the sake of knowledge..."

"I understand." As a disciple of the spellcaster and a vested interest, Xiaoman did not refute the teacher's actions. She had lived a hard and difficult life with her mother in a small mountain village for the past ten years. She was not the kind of young person who believed that she could live a happy life by following the rules.

She said seriously, "And I think your right eye is very beautiful."

The apprentice brought back by the lich was a calm and taciturn child with few expressions, which was why everything she said seemed very credible to others. After Xiaoman finished speaking, she went to the ground to make dinner for herself. At her age, she would always get hungry easily after running around.

The teacher, who had suddenly received such great praise, was left sitting there in a daze.

[Wake up, I've got your forum account. I've done my job.] The adjutant called him back to life.

"How did you do that?" Yuan Qian opened it and found that the forum interface was completely new. He finally had the rights to record history and like posts, and could blend in among the comic readers with dignity.

[You really want to know?]

"…if I shouldn't know."

[I hacked into Pink Star’s forum account and gave it to you.] The adjutant said calmly.

Yuan Qian remained silent for a long time, then raised his hand weakly: "Do we really have to do this? I mean, hacking the original author's forum account is a bit..."

[I'm sorry, but this is the only way for you. Theoretically, anyone can observe two worlds at the same time, but you can't. It doesn't matter, I've taken all the data and synchronized it to Pink Star's new account, she won't find out.]

"We? Me and who, Pink Star?" Yuan Qian noticed another key point besides "observation".

[Almost. If I want to lie with the truth, I can also explain it as you and □□. Oh, He won’t let you tell it now because you are not sincere enough.] The adjutant continued to throw out information in a stable and emotional tone, as if he was teaching an old man how to answer the phone ninety-nine times in a row.

Yuan Qian had a hunch that He only blurred the most critical words into noise and did not do it more thoroughly because He was jealous of the adjutant. For example, a passing zebra would be dyed pink by a human who was in a bad mood just because he stepped on his left hoof.

Afterwards, he felt that his mind was still a little confused after coming up with this metaphor. In the end, he honestly accepted the fact that he was in cahoots with the fake system that looked like a villain, and used the official account he hacked to browse the comics forum. He first liked all the readers whose perspectives were cute.