Chapter 74
Xerath looked back quietly, took out an empty hand from her pocket, and snapped her fingers gently.
Sylas was completely drawn to her slender fingertips, until she heard someone gasp and then heard the sound of something heavy falling. She turned her head and saw a man in a brown overcoat and a felt hat falling clumsily to the ground like a dog chewing mud.
Sometime in the middle of the road, a stone appeared.
She turned to look at Xerath again. Xerath's profile remained cold, as if the temperature and air were the same. But this ice sculpture crumbled before Sylas's eyes in an instant. She suddenly turned to look at Sylas, smiled cunningly, tilted the corner of her mouth, raised an eyebrow and asked, "Did you figure it out?"
"I, I think I understand!"
Xerath quickly put on a mischievous expression as if nothing had happened just now. "Good girl."
They sat down in the restaurant, and Xerath quickly ordered the food. Sylas looked around timidly and asked, "Why do people always stare at me?"
"Of course, they're looking at your water lord," Xerath said confidently. She couldn't contain her joy, so she had to show off.
The two water lords adjusted their golden bracelets and exchanged a knowing look. Even if they left the Elemental Gate, she would still be the Elemental King, and what she said would go. Even if she called forth her army of elements to the limit, it would still be her decision.
"Water lords are not often seen, are they?"
Of course, how many people do you think have fulfilled the lordship contract? Only official wizards can do so, and not all wizards do. Xerath herself doesn't have a wind lord or an earth lord. She only has Son of the South Wind, who is powerful and has a gentle temperament, come every month to cut Sylas's hair.
"It is already quite rare to be able to enter an advanced school or the tower, let alone be one of the few who can summon a water lord. Based on the population of the entire continent, there is roughly one in every twenty thousand people."
Sylas widened her emerald eyes in surprise, and Xerath smiled as she forked a piece of roasted broccoli into Sylas's mouth, which was still agape in astonishment.
"I promised to grant you freedom, and all of this will be the foundation of your freedom."
Xerath withdrew her gaze and the fork, elegantly picking up a piece of broccoli with charred cheese on it and putting it in her own mouth. Sylas had once been forced to wander due to her uncontrollable powers, but with those powers tamed, they would surely become her sword and shield of protection. The archmage thought this to himself while silently planning the next teaching agenda.
Creamy mushroom soup, one of Sylas's favorite soups, arrived. The steam couldn't hide the excitement in the child's eyes. Xerath put down her fork, rested her chin on her hand, and asked softly, "Don't you want to talk about your exploration process?"
Sylas hesitated for a moment, "I thought you wouldn't be interested in hearing about it."
"I have always been very interested in what you have to say."
Sylas blushed and smiled shyly, "At first, I thought you were finally tired of my endless questions..."
Xerath raised an eyebrow in surprise, "How is that possible? No teacher would dislike a student's questions, especially yours. Your questions are usually thought-provoking. There is a difference between asking thoughtful questions and asking without thinking. You always show me your traces of thinking, which is great. I like that about you."
She suddenly realized that she had interrupted herself with a long speech and coughed awkwardly, "Please continue."
"Um... I couldn't sleep at night, so I got up to find Titus. But Elvis was still awake and made me some warm milk."
"It's something it can do."
"It said you only left a puzzle behind. But summoning the Fire Lord and summoning the Water Lord are fundamentally different, and it doesn't understand the spell used to summon it... Why?"
"Hmm... good question. Because the words the elements hear are different from what we say. It's like a sentence is transformed into a code. The sentence is what we understand, and the code is what they understand. Even if it tells you the code, you wouldn't know what it means. Okay, let's not digress."
"Hmm... but there is one thing it said for certain."
Xerath looked understandingly, it seemed Sylas didn't need to repeat the spell.
"While I was sweeping, I saw a message left in the laboratory."
"Great, it's quite simple, right? But also interesting. Only specific angles can reveal different lights." What she didn't say was that the specific angle was where Sylas was standing initially. In fact, the archmage was being quite lenient, seemingly afraid of extinguishing the students' enthusiasm for learning by being too strict, reducing the difficulty level again and again.
So I found the 'Scroll of Water.' She briefly explained about encountering the eldest sister of the Rost Family in the library, 'Endless Water Realm Fantasy,' 'Scroll of Water,' 'Syntax Summary,' Sashara, Frostlord, the investigation process and results with her and the Rost Family twins, not leaving out a single detail.
Xerath listened attentively, but couldn't contain her smile. Her icy-blue eyes softened like melting snow, silently staring at Sylas.
"Unbelievable, so fascinating, like a legendary journey."
"So when you asked me who the author was, were you giving me a hint?"
"That's right, Sashara is from the Theodore people. The capital of Theodore is the largest port city in the northern region. There is a great demand for water elemental magic and wind elemental magic. Researching these two spells has always been a tradition of Theodore mages. Sashara's butler is a Frostlord. She figured out the summoning spell on her own, so she mentioned these phrases in the books she later wrote. I originally imagined that you would read all of her works and gather all the information."
"So does that mean 'Endless Water Realm Fantasy' was an accident?"
"Definitely."
Sylas said with a worried expression, "Isn't that like cheating? Although... to be honest, I've thought about cheating many times, but I didn't actually..."
"Really? You wanted to cheat? How would you cheat?"
"I... I asked the twins for a magic spell directly."
"Did they tell you?"
"No... they said they didn't know either, and the teacher wouldn't tell us."
Xerath nodded happily, "That's right, after Emerson's suggestion was approved by the committee, all the relevant books were rewritten. Luckily, this particular spell wasn't written anywhere. So no one would know if you asked. Anything else? Wasn't it just one time?"
Sylas looked a little embarrassed and glanced at Hyectra behind her, "I asked Hyectra."
Xerath couldn't help but turn around and glance at it too, "I've silenced it with a secret code. It was really close."
"Madam, how could you say such a thing!"
Xerath frowned, "You spoil her too much, and will definitely say it directly."
Water Lord suddenly sprouted a fountain from his head, "Who are you to say that about me!"
Xerath pretended not to hear those words, and made a "banishment" gesture. Hyectra immediately shut her mouth, glaring at Leunen across from her. The latter gentlemanly stifled his laughter, but the fountain on his head continued to happily spray water.
"In fact..." Ignoring the silent competition between the two Water Lords, Xerath suddenly leaned forward. Sylas was drawn in by this action, and Xerath's lips almost touched her earlobe. "I noticed a little movement from you that caught my attention."
"Hmm? What is it?"
"I noticed you walking towards my writing desk and directly picking up a notebook."
"Yes, I saw the clue."
"And then you immediately dispelled the illusion and looked at the table of contents, instead of... instead of flipping through it. You already knew what you were looking for?"
Sylas thought her question was a little strange and blinked her clear emerald eyes, "Of course."
"How did you know? What made you sure of your goal?"
"Um..." Sylas suddenly remembered Virgil's request and choked up, "I...I..."
"You know you're looking for my thesis, but what are your clues? What evidence do you have? Don't tell me it was just a sudden guess, there's always a reason behind a sudden realization, and every coincidence has a cause."
Sylas became stuck again, her mind went blank, she couldn't come up with a single lie. Mouth open, her face turned red.
Xerath tilted her head, squinting at Sylas's eyes, which were about to overflow with tears, but she didn't seem to plan on showing any mercy. "Did Virgil tell you? Did Virgil come here? Why didn't you tell me?"
"No, no, no..." Sylas quickly denied, "No!"
Xerath sighed, resting her chin in her hand, and sighed again. "If I were you, I would say a friend had seen it before and told me."
Sylas's face suddenly showed a look of realization, but she immediately looked nervously at Xerath, as if she was really about to cry.
"I thought he had come. When did he leave?" she said as she started to stand up.
Sylas thought she was going to settle the score with Virgil, so she quickly stood up and held onto Xerath's shoulder, saying, "No, no, no... Teacher, please don't blame Uncle Virgil! He came to see you, I invited him upstairs to rest, and he said..."
"What sweet words did he say?"
"What sweet things did he say? If you found out that he and I were alone together, you would kill him," she imitated Virgil by gesturing on her own neck, "So, he just had a cup of tea and left without even eating a meal. He came from such a faraway place, he must be starving..."
Xerath crossed her arms in front of her chest and made a noncommittal sound.
Sylas carefully held onto her arm and said, "You were just joking, right?"
"Did he do anything strange?"
"What could he have done that's strange? Well... He was even afraid of you finding out he came, so he told me not to say anything. So, I threatened him and said I would reveal that he came if he didn't tell me the spell. He said he didn't know, but it has something to do with your graduation thesis... That's the only clue I know. You wouldn't really kill him, would you? Uncle Virgil is not a bad person..."
