Hello, is this a letter addressed to Demon Fortress?

If you were to ask who is the most likely person to find Lillian, the answer would undoubtedly be Prince Eli.

Lin Gui's blatant investigation back then was also driven by this intention.

They hoped to use him to pinpoint the location of that elusive girl.

So even if the other party attacks him, they will use heavy force.

Even though Lin Gui hated what Eli did to White.

As far as he knew, White hadn't even met Lillian before Eli held a grudge against him.

He didn't do anything to Elido either.

Eli did not disappoint him.

Noon the next day.

Lin Gui sat by the window on the second floor of the post office, holding a book of magic theory borrowed from the Heart of Elements.

The sound transmission stone hummed.

He took it out, glanced at it, and then answered the call.

Dick Eli's voice came from inside, carrying a barely audible reluctance.

"Found it."

"She was in a used bookstore near the college dormitory."

The address is...

After listening, Lin Gui closed the book, got up, and left.

He arrived at a narrow alley on the south side of the Heart of Elements.

The alley was lined with old, low-rise buildings, and the storefronts of the shops were narrow and crowded.

Dick Eli stood at the alley entrance, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, his expression very complex.

As Lin Gui walked over, Eli tilted his head, indicating the direction ahead.

Following the direction he pointed, Lin Gui looked through a dusty glass window and saw a corner deep inside the shop.

The interior of the secondhand bookstore was dark and crowded, with bookshelves stacked from floor to ceiling, each shelf crammed with all sorts of old books.

At a desk deep inside the bookstore, a petite figure was huddled in a chair, looking down at a book bigger than her head.

She was wearing a large, dark gray mage's robe, with the hood pulled low, obscuring most of her face in shadow.

Only a slender neck and a few strands of chestnut hair were visible.

Lin Gui confirmed that it was Lillian.

It's different from the portrait on that list of charismatic mages.

The girl in front of me was even smaller and less noticeable.

But her figure and appearance are indeed Lillian's.

If you didn't look for it intentionally, you probably wouldn't notice that there was such a person in the corner.

Lin Gui breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally, I saw someone.

He didn't want to go looking for a third person.

Just as he was about to push the door open, Eli suddenly reached out and stopped him from behind.

Lin Gui turned his head and looked at Eli's conflicted expression, finding it somewhat amusing.

"Is there anything you need to entrust to me, Young Master Eli?"

Eli paused for a moment, then asked.

"You're looking for her..."

Are you going to pursue her?

Lin Gui answered with certainty.

"no."

"I already have a lover."

However, instead of putting Eli at ease, these words heightened his vigilance.

He stared at Lin Gui, his tone clearly questioning.

"So what is your purpose?"

Lin Gui glanced at him indifferently.

"Dick Eli".

"Understand your own identity."

After saying that, he pushed open the creaking wooden door and walked into the used bookstore.

Eli stood at the door, his face alternating between pale and flushed.

He gritted his teeth and finally followed her inside.

He was a few steps behind Lin Gui, his eyes fixed on Lin Gui's every move, as if guarding against any outrageous actions the other was about to take.

However, this vigilance froze completely when he looked past Lin Gui's shoulder and his gaze truly landed on the person by the window.

The afternoon light streamed in through the window behind her, casting a soft, pale gold hue over her silhouette.

She seemed to hear someone approaching, and she slightly raised the brim of her hat before quickly pulling it back down.

In that brief moment, Dick got a clear look at her face.

It was a face so exquisite it was almost fragile.

Her skin was so fair it looked like it had never been touched by the sun, and it had a slightly cool feel to it.

The eyebrows are soft, with an innocent curve, as if they are forever puzzled about something.

A pair of round-framed glasses sat on her nose, the lenses reflecting slightly in the afternoon light, obscuring most of her face.

But behind the glasses, amber eyes cast a clear and lively glance the moment the person looked up.

The tip of his nose was slightly upturned, with a rounded look that still retained a touch of childishness.

The color of her lips was very light, like flower petals covered with a thin layer of morning dew.

It was just a fleeting moment when he looked up, yet it made Dick's heart skip a beat.

He froze in place as if he had been frozen in place by a spell.

It's that feeling again.

Three years ago, in the corridor of the Royal Magic Academy, a figure carrying a stack of old books hurriedly walked by, and he experienced for the first time what it meant to fall in love at first sight.

Small and delicate, like a sparrow that might hide in the pages of a book at any moment.

I could never forget it from then on.

Dick's gaze fell on her, and a familiar flutter of excitement surged up once again, making him breathe softly.

Lillian, who was by the window, had already noticed the two getting close.

She shrugged her shoulders and pulled her hood down even further.

Only the tip of her chin and a small nose are visible.

She secretly glanced at the person who had come in, her gaze filled with a timid wariness.

But deep in his eyes lurked an irrepressible curiosity.

But Lin Gui didn't beat around the bush.

There was no womanizing segment that Elvia was looking forward to.

There was no inclination to engage in deeper contact.

He spoke directly, his voice steady, his purpose clear.

"Hello, I'm looking for a spell called Astigmatism."

"But its entire reel has been destroyed."

"I heard you know that magic too."

"Could you please make a copy of the spell's casting, circuitry, and construction for me?"

"I will pay you."

Lillian was stunned.

She blinked twice, peeking out a little from the edge of the hood.

He sized up the straightforward, almost naive person in front of him.

It seems I've never encountered this situation before.

Eli, who was not far from Lin Gui, was also stunned.

His mouth was slightly open, and he didn't react for a moment.

After a moment of stunned silence, Lin Gui asked again.

"May I?"

"Don't worry, I'll leave as soon as I get the magic, so I won't bother you."

Hearing this, Lillian's shoulders relaxed slightly.

She lowered her head, her voice as soft as a mosquito's hum.

"Yes...yes...it's okay."

She put down the thick book in her hand, turned around, and groped for a blank scroll on the bookshelf behind her.

Before she could even touch it, Lin Gui had already pulled out a complete set of rubbing tools from his pocket.

A set of polished quill pens, a newly opened bottle of Magic Ink, and several sheets of cut blank parchment are neatly arranged on the desk.

Lillian looked at the set of tools on the table, which was much better than what she had prepared, and then glanced at Lin Gui.

His expression was somewhat strange.

But he didn't say much more.

She shrank back as she took the quill pen, dipped it in ink, and began to write rapidly.

The pen tip moved swiftly across the parchment, and lines of runes and circuit diagrams appeared one after another.

Her handwriting was delicate and neat, and every stroke was precise.

Lin Gui stood beside her, his gaze following the tip of her pen.

Once he confirmed that what the other party had written was indeed the orthodox astigmatism correction method he had been searching for for a long time.

Lin Gui couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

Eli hesitated for a long time before finally stepping forward.

He lowered his voice and asked Lin Gui.

"You...you sought out Lillian just for this magic?"

"yes."

"Is there a problem?"

Dick Eli frowned.

"Astigmatism correction?"

"That useless magic that only provides light?"

"You went through all that trouble just for something that's not even as good as a dim light spell?"

"Isn't it just so I can get closer to Lillian?"

"What is your purpose?"

"What do you want to do with this magic?"

His tone was filled with suspicion and probing.

Lin Gui naturally couldn't tell him about the Illusionary Scene Technique.

He replied casually.

"That's not something you should worry about."

For some reason, he felt that he might have held back last night.

This caused the guy to forget what happened last night and keep testing him.

Or perhaps, as students of the Heart of Elements, they haven't experienced the bloodshed and turmoil of war.

So you think what I said yesterday was nonsense?

Lin Gui looked puzzled, but then he came to his senses.

But then they discovered that Lillian had stopped writing at some point.

She tilted her head slightly, her gaze falling on Lin Gui from under the brim of her hat.

Those amber eyes, shining brightly through the edges of her round-framed glasses, gazed at him.

His eyes were also filled with curiosity.

The instant their eyes met.

Lillian looked down sharply as if she had been burned, the brim of her hat almost touching the tip of her nose.

She continued writing in a flustered manner, the pen tip drawing a crooked arc on the paper.

Lin Gui: "..."

It took her quite a while to finish writing the last rune.

She put down her pen, rolled the parchment into a neat scroll, and handed it over with both hands in a low voice.

"I've...I've finished writing."

Lin Gui took the scroll, unfolded it, and glanced at it.

It was a very familiar, nerfed version of Astigmatism, exactly the same as the one he remembered encountering in the Gray Zone, but this time...

Every node in the magic loop is intact, without any missing parts, alterations, or replacements.

He finally got what he had been searching for for so long.

Lin Gui carefully put the scroll away, a slight smile appearing on his lips.

He looked at Lillian, his tone gentle.

"Thanks."

"What kind of reward do you want?"

Lillian remained silent for a while, her head lowered, her fingers twisting the hem of her mage robe.

After a while, she raised her head, her voice soft.

"I...I want..."

She stammered, as if she didn't know how to start.

Lin Gui waited patiently.

"I want to know..."

Her voice lowered even further.

"Why do you want this magic?"

"You're already at a high-ranking level; you shouldn't need to learn intermediate-level magic."

"and……"

She paused, as if she had mustered up a great deal of courage.

"Among intermediate-level spells, there are many that are better than Scatter Spell, and there are even many basic spells."

"Why did you go through all that trouble to find it?"

Lin Gui was somewhat surprised that she would ask for this reward.

He rolled his eyes and casually made up a lie.

"Oh, nothing special."

"It was originally for the convenience of lighting."

"After all, Astigmatism is a mid-level spell, so theoretically it should be brighter than Dim Light."

As soon as she finished speaking, Lillian suddenly looked up.

Her expression became very serious, and she even forgot to lower her voice.

"wrong."

"The mana cost of the 'Diffuse Light' spell is only one-tenth that of the 'Diffuse Light' spell, and it illuminates a wider area with a softer light."

"The Irradiance spell is notorious for being a reverse optimization spell. It was optimized from the basic Illumination spell, but the mana cost has tripled while the lighting effect is worse."

"If you're just using it for lighting, dimming is a hundred times better than diffused light."

After she finished speaking, she realized that her tone was somewhat agitated.

He immediately shrank his neck, pulled his hat brim back to its original position, and shrunk into a small ball again.

The voice also returned to that thin and weak tone.

"I...I mean..."

"You definitely didn't look for it because of the lighting."

Although her tone was weak, her words were full of certainty and a hint of dissatisfaction at being fooled.

Lin Gui was somewhat embarrassed after being exposed to his face.

He touched his nose, thought for a moment, and then spoke.

"Um, I can't explain the specific reasons to you."

"How about you choose a different form of compensation?"

"for example--"

"Fifty Star Coins".

"I would be happy to pay that fee."

Fifty Star Coins, which is equivalent to fifty thousand gold coins.

Exchanging 50,000 gold coins for a mid-range reel is a great deal.

Especially for Lillian, a member of a collateral branch of the family who is even more marginalized than Dick.

However, Lillian did not respond for a long time.

She kept her head down, the brim of her hat obscuring her entire expression.

Lin Gui waited for a while, then, somewhat puzzled, was about to ask a question.

But then they heard her make an extremely faint sound.

He didn't hear clearly.

"What did you say?"

He bent down slightly and took half a step forward.

He finally heard Lillian's voice when he was almost right in front of her.

The sound was almost squeezed out of his throat, as faint as a needle falling to the ground.

"Why...why do you have the power to create flowers...?"

Her voice trembled slightly at the end, carrying an barely suppressed confusion and curiosity.

"I didn't reveal that magic..."

"Why do you know the art of creating flowers... and so skillfully at it... it seems you've almost run out of chanting."

Lin Gui's movements stopped.

He straightened up and looked at her with some surprise.

Lillian finally raised her head.

This time, she didn't pull down the brim of her hat.

There was no attempt to dodge.

She simply looked at him, her amber eyes, filled with undisguised curiosity and doubt, peering through the rim of her round-framed glasses.

Lin Gui frowned.

How did you know I knew that magic?

Lillian stared at him and spoke slowly.

"I saw it last night."

These words stunned both Lin Gui and Dick.

Dick blurted it out instinctively.

"Where were you last night?"

Lillian nodded, her tone flat.

"I'm in the women's restroom."

Lin Gui's brows furrowed even more.

What are you doing there?

Lillian tilted her head, the brim of her hat tilting slightly with her movement, revealing a pair of confused eyes.

Her expression held a genuine puzzlement, as if she were pondering a very simple question that she didn't know why it had been asked.

"I...I...I was using the toilet there."

That look seemed to say—isn't it common sense to use the restroom in the teaching building at dawn?

Lin Gui's lips twitched.

Two o'clock in the morning, on the top floor of the teaching building, on the abandoned floor, in the women's restroom.

He opened his mouth, trying to find a reasonable angle to understand this behavior, but every direction led to incomprehensible absurdity.

He opened his mouth, then closed it again, and finally gave up.

There were so many things to complain about that he didn't know where to begin.

Lillian's amber eyes remained fixed on him, the confusion and curiosity in them even deeper than before.

It's as if she's the one who needs an explanation.

You haven't answered my question yet.

Her voice was low, with a stubborn seriousness.

"Why do you know the art of creating flowers?"

Lin Gui took a deep breath, organized his thoughts, and spoke.

"Personal interests."

"I saw some street performers performing flower magic before, and I thought it was interesting, so I learned it."

"Not surprising, is it?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Lillian shook her head.

Her eyes, hidden behind her round-framed glasses, shone with a resolute light, causing even the brim of her hat to sway slightly.

"wrong."

"The poets on the street don't use flowery language."

"It's not even magic, but a trick that deceives people's vision, which they call magic."

"The true art of creating flowers—"

She paused, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the edge of the mage's robe.

"You won't find its name in any magic scroll or textbook."

"Because its techniques were not disseminated."

Lin Gui's expression froze slightly.

"Are you that sure?"

Lillian nodded.

She took something out of the inside pocket of her mage's robe.

It was a very small wooden stick, no longer than a finger, with a smooth and rounded surface and a faint wood grain sheen.

She held the stick up to her eyes, her lips moving slightly as she uttered a very short syllable.

A soft light shone from the tip of the stick, and a white camellia slowly bloomed from its tip.

The petals unfolded layer by layer, carrying a faint magical fluctuation, emanating a gentle warmth in the dimly lit bookstore.

Then she raised her head and looked at Lin Gui's face.

"I'm very sure."

"Because I created the art of flower making."

"Last year, but I never released it."

"The first edition scroll is still at my house."

She tilted her head, her gaze becoming even more peculiar.

"so--"

"How do you know this magic?"