After sending Greem and Fraser away, the room was only left with Anna and Leylin.
“Young…Young Master!” Tears welled up in Anna’s eyes.
“The Mandara Flower’s essence on your body, I have already created an antidote for it. Also, take these!” Towards his own women, Leylin was much gentler.
Saying so, Leylin handed over some potions and a parchment paper over to Anna.
“This is….” Anna opened the parchment paper to have a look, and she became startled.
“These are letters of authority. You will be managing all of my establishments in Extreme Night City. Furthermore, if I don’t return within ten years, all of these will be transferred over to your name!”
Leylin crossed his fingers, “Furthermore, Murphy and Viscount Jackson are witnesses to these procedures! If you meet with any trouble in the future, you can seek their aid!”
These worldly possessions, Leylin could have as many as he wanted. Naturally he would not mind giving them to Anna as a backup plan for himself.
Moreover, even if he played this chess piece wrongly, there wasn’t much to be regretful about.
After all, right now, Leylin was only an acolyte in the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy. According to the academy’s rules, acolytes are not allowed to bring their followers or maids into the academy compounds.
Since these are things which he had to eventually let go of, naturally, Leylin’s heart did not ache for them.
“Also, this is the desert scorpion sting, which is a tool specially used to control Greem and Fraser. You must keep them well….”
Leylin handed over a red box to Anna.
“No!” Anna bit her lips, before finally pouncing forward and hugging both of Leylin’s legs. “Young Master, don’t chase Anna away! Anna wants to be by Young Master’s side no matter what she has to do, alright?”
The young lady held onto Leylin’s legs and tears as bright as pearls slid off of her beautiful face.
Her warm and mildly shuddering body wrapped itself around Leylin’s legs. One could see that Anna had mustered extreme courage to speak these words.
Leylin looked at Anna with a touch of gentleness in his eyes. He reached his right hand out and stroked the young lady’s hair and back.
“I’m very sorry Anna. The place I have to go is extremely dangerous for you….”
“But….” Anna lifted her face filled with tears as if wanting to say something else.
“Don’t mess around, listen!” Suddenly, Leylin’s face hardened.
Seeing her master act this way, the deeply ingrained pain and suffering for disobeying a master’s orders surfaced in her mind. After all, Anna had undergone slave training. Although these were the methods of the slave traders, it was etched right into Anna’s soul itself.
“Yes, Young Master!” Anna stopped her crying and kept the scroll and box. She only looked at Leylin, the same way as a cat that had been abandoned by its owner.
Seeing the girl act like this, Leylin withdrew a few potions from his robes and handed it to her. After all, he was not a stone-hearted person.
“This is a recovery potion, which can quickly heal physical wounds. Keep this well!”
“Also, this purple potion is an attack type potion. If there comes a day when you encounter a danger that not even Greem nor Fraser can handle, throw this out at it. Do you understand me?”
Leylin pointed at the purple potion and instructed Anna.
“Anna understands!” Her eyes turned red. She knew that she could not disobey her master’s orders, so she kept the potion well.
“Sigh….”
Looking at her leaving figure, Leylin sighed suddenly.
Although he had made many preparations, he knew that after a dozen odd years, this faction that he had left would most lightly disappear into thin air.
However, he had no regrets. These were all regular humans without any aptitude for becoming a magician. They would be of limited use to him in the future.
Most likely, the only use of this small faction to him would be to act as a cover for him to hide from people, and even then, it wasn’t very secure at all.
In the end, entrusting everything to Anna was not a bad choice.
Apart from the Mandara Flower’s essence on Anna’s body, all other restrictions on Anna’s body had already been removed by Leylin. From now onward, Anna would be a free human.
“I hope that after having these things, you will be able to live a happier life!”
Leylin’s eyes were unreadable.
If Anna was to land in the hands of another magician, she would at most be a tool for them to vent their pent up energy. After their interest wanes, she may very well be used in an experiment. Now that Anna had followed Leylin, not only was she free from her status as a slave, Leylin had even saved her from the poison of Mandara Flower’s essence. He had even given her the manor and medicinal shop, so no matter what happens next, he would be free from all guilt!”
“The troublesome matters have all been resolved. What’s left is to finally dispose of the experiment lab and underground cells thoroughly!”
Leylin thought and got up to go to the underground.
This was the forbidden area that he had demarcated. Anna and the two Knights would not dare come down here so easily.
Under the dim light from the torch, Leylin withdrew a crystal ball. An old person’s figure could be seen within it. His expression was crazed, and even had terror in it.
“We meet again, Mister Roman!” Leylin smiled and gave his salutations. However, in Roman’s eyes, this smile was more harrowing than the devil’s.
“Don’t… Don’t come over!” Roman’s expression twisted, and he fearfully backed up to the walls of the crystal ball behind him.
However, Leylin’s acute senses picked out the resolution behind the expression of the frightened vengeful spirit.
“Let me tell you a piece of good news, and a piece of bad news!”
Leylin proficiently placed many tools beside the crystal ball, and let the vengeful spirit let out ear piercing screams as he spoke.
“The good news is that I am going to leave here for a while!” Before the vengeful spirit had any response, Leylin smiled and said, “And the bad news is that no matter where I go, you will be going along with me!”
“Oh! No! No! I beg of you….”
“Alright! So then, tell me everything you know!”
At the beginning, Roman naturally would not speak of anything. However after over a year of torture, he had already begun to cough out some information.
After the narration of the vengeful spirit, Leylin shook his head. “It seems like Mister Roman still harbours wishful thoughts, so let us continue….”
Following Leylin’s statement, many hair-raising screams filled the lab, as if the howls of a person right before their death.
Although this vengeful spirit had showed signs of a mental breakdown half a month ago, it still managed to give misleading information to Leylin regarding the secrets he knew.
This vengeful spirit gave much information at once, and it was extremely complicated. However, with the A.I. Chip, Leylin was able to record all of its narration quickly, and sort it systematically.
The next few times, he discovered a problem.
Towards things which are pertaining to more general and common knowledge, Roman always handed them over easily. However, towards the crucial points and secrets, Roman glossed over them and hid much of the important information.
However, Leylin did not mind at all. It would give huge amounts of information each day. Along with the filtering and sorting of the A.I. Chip, he would still obtain plenty of information.
Moreover, with the continuous and prolonged torture and interrogating, Leylin believed that one day, this vengeful spirit would tell him everything, and pray for a fast death.
After the daily routine of ‘questioning’ was completed, Leylin went towards the other rooms underground.
In here
, various blood-stained torture instruments were hung along the walls. On the floor, there were even a few corpses with wounds littered across their bodies, causing them to be almost indiscernible as a human body.
[Beep! The surrounding negative energy density is higher by 34.5%, which satisfies the most basic condition for a spirit body’s existence. The target’s physical body has undergone various suffering and tortures. Chance of spirit body appearing: 1.23%]
The A.I. Chip scanned the few corpses and reported the figures.
“Compared to the one-thousandth chance of a spirit body forming naturally, this proportion can be considered extremely high already!” Leylin stroked his chin, “If I were to be given more time, I would definitely be able to induce the formation of an artificial spirit body!”
The most efficient way to do research on souls was through the use of spirit bodies. This established theory was publicly accepted by all Dark Magi.
What Leylin had to do now was to continuously simulate the conditions of the outside world, and induce the forming of an artificial spirit body!
If this piece of news were to leak out, Leylin’s reputation would be completely interlinked with savagery and ruthlessness, which would be bad for his future developments.
“Reputation is also a kind of benefit! Although I’m not afraid of how people view me, even Magi wish to have dealings with those who have good reputations, but not a fellow with a dredged reputation.
Leylin sucked in a lungful of air and sprinkled power on the corpses.
With hissing sounds, the corpses turned into yellow pus after corroding, and very soon, they disappeared.
“Although I have finally stopped my experiments, which is a little bit of a pity, it’s not like I haven’t obtained any results!” Leylin comforted himself, “At least, regarding the Lowian Academy Teachings’ final step, the spirit awakening, I have already obtained sufficient data!”
As for the other ancient potion formula, Tears of Mary, Leylin still hadn’t found any clues regarding it.
80 - Return
Within Extreme Night City, there was recently a matter that was neither big nor small happening. This turned into an idle conversation topic discussed by commoners after lunch tea.
Mister Leylin, an heir of a noble who had stayed in the city for three years and Viscount Jackson and Scholar Murphy’s good friend, was temporarily leaving Extreme Night City.
Before he left, he actually handed over the manor and medicinal shop to his serving attendant, a maid, to handle the running.
For nobles, although they did vent their pent up energy on their serving maids frequently, they would never have handed over important establishments and such over to them because of this act.
After all, to them, maids were like toys, which could be changed or abandoned at any time. As for establishments and lands, they would often become the inheritance of an heir, and was the root for the growth of a family’s continual development.
By doing this, Leylin had turned into a joke in front of the rest of the nobility. Not only did his reputation contain a lazy and kind person, it also extended to a muddle-headed trademark.
However, to the surprise of many, the maid, with the help of two Knights, very soon made the remainder of Leylin’s faction submit to her. At the same time, Viscount Jackson City Lord and Murphy stepped in personally to express their support for the maid, which allowed her to act on Leylin’s behalf with his establishments.
After taking over Leylin’s establishments, Anna dedicated herself to managing them and did it neatly and tidily. Not only did Leylin’s establishment in Extreme Night City not fail as predicted by the other nobles, it continually developed, which made many nobles fall from their chair.
However, all of these things had nothing to do with Leylin. At this moment, he had long since left Extreme Night City.
* Pitter Patter! *
The sky turned dark, and bean sized drops of rain fell on the ground, initiating countless splashes.
* Thud Thud Thud! * A dark, handsome steed continually dashed along the road, and the scenery on both sides hurriedly retreated. Rainwater fell onto the body of a Knight, but was blocked by a raincoat.
By the time when it was midnight, the downpour stopped, and the Knight sought shelter in a cave.
A warm and bright flame illuminated the cave. A steel wok hung above the bonfire, and a white mushroom broth with a fragrant smell boiled. From time to time, a few pieces of meat jerky floated to the surface.
The Knight took off his coat, revealing a young face with brown hair and eyes that glittered like jewels.
This person was Leylin. At this moment, he drank the mushroom soup, while time bringing out a map from the A.I. Chip.
“After two months of continuous journeying, I am finally going to arrive at the academy!”
Leylin looked at the destination on the map. His expression was complicated. Previously, if not for him constantly changing his route and going to other markets to sell his potions, he wouldn’t have been in such a rush, and the journey would have been a breeze.
However, with such a hastened journey, he had suffered plenty.
After having lived like a king for the past 3 years, Leylin had gotten used to the extravagant life of a noble, and almost could not adapt to his current situation.
“However, I have finally arrived. According to the map, I will arrive at the academy after three more days!”
“I never thought that a third party would actually intervene, and make the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy and the other two factions come to a ceasefire agreement!”
Recalling the news that he heard from the markets in the past few days, Leylin was still somewhat in disbelief.
According to the news, with the pincer attack from the Sage Gotham’s Hut and Whitewoods Castle, Abyssal Bone Forest Academy should have been in a precarious situation. Even the academy headquarters’ defensive spell formation was damaged by half and was almost broken.
However, in the end, it was unknown what method the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy chairman used. He had actually managed to appeal for help from the Lighthouse of the Night.
The Lighthouse of the Night was one of the finest organisations in the South Coast. Its leader was rumoured to have the strength of a Rank 3 Magus.
Under the forceful mediation of the Lighthouse of the Night, the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy finally managed to escape from its dangerous situation, eventually reaching a treaty between the two rivaling factions.
Leylin was not someone who would immediately respond when he was requested to return to the academy. Along the way, he always inquired for news. Only when he was indeed certain that Abyssal Bone Forest Academy was freed from war, and that the recalling of the acolytes was not a trap, did he decide to return to the academy.
“With this distance, I can already initiate the communicative method that mentor showed me before! It’s best to first discern the truth!”
Leylin’s face turned serious, and he withdrew a pink coloured potion from his robes.
After removing the plug, he used the pink coloured potion to draw a mysterious rune on the ground. It was cursive and winding, like a worm.
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