Academic gathering with Lich colleagues

"Should we meet with them?" Kevin asked.

Lyle was still struggling with his decision. His gaze was fixed on the seemingly ethereal woman in white, and he couldn't help but call out her name.

“Ariana”.

The name, spoken in an almost imperceptible voice, even though Kevin, who was right next to him, could barely hear it, elicited an incredible response.

She raised her head, her swaying veil like a jellyfish dancing in the ocean, and gazed in that direction. A soft, ethereal voice uttered the name.

"Epidemic doctor".

"The Plague Doctor?" Beatrice was the first to react. She found Lyle and his two companions hiding on the second floor and spying on them. A hint of disgust flashed in her eyes, which then turned into a mocking look.

"I didn't expect to see you here, brother-in-law!"

Her call was three parts coquettish and affected, seven parts alluring and captivating. Coupled with Beatrice's naturally alluring and beautiful face, William and Kevin were momentarily mesmerized.

Kevin woke up first.

"Brother-in-law?" He looked at his best friend. The two had known each other for nearly five years, and this was the first time he felt that he couldn't see through Lyle.

"Just a friend's joke." Lyle's response was indifferent. The transparent lenses on the plague doctor's bird-beak mask seemed to be covered by a layer of haze, obscuring his expression.

“Ah, it’s Baron Borre’s son from Cassandra!” Karen seemed to recognize Kevin at a glance. Kevin was slightly pleased that a lady he’d never met before recognized him. Just as he was about to respond with courtesy and display his aristocratic elegance…

"My colleague, the Sheriff, is with you? Aren't you good friends?"

Kevin felt that he didn't need to care too much about aristocratic elegance, as it didn't suit him.

He glanced at Lyle, who remained silent to the side.

"No, I have important business to attend to today. I'm with two other friends."

Karen said with a hint of disappointment, "What a pity. If Lord Purifier were here, he would surely be able to proclaim the justice of the Holy Light!" As she spoke, Karen secretly glared at the smiling Beatrice.

Lyle covered her face. Karen really knows how to seek out thrills.

Now, this inn is a gathering place for necromancers, magicians, elves, vampires, and other enemies of the Holy Light. Karen, you're about to be attacked by them all, and you're still provoking them.

Is it true that ignorance is bliss?

Chapter 172 Sisters' Night Talk

"This is Sister Leanna, my senior in cultivating the Holy Light..."

Karen gave Kevin a brief introduction of the people, though it's possible she was trying to recruit him to her side.

Lyle didn't voice the thought of why Ms. Elian had used a new name, as he couldn't reveal his identity at the moment. His facade of concealing his true identity was crumbling, and Lyle looked at the two sisters sitting quietly beside him. Beatrice was watching Kevin and William with amusement, occasionally turning her head to give Lyle a smile he didn't want to see.

But Lyle wasn't worried about Beatrice; she wasn't a member of the Andrei.

Ariana's gaze remained fixed on him, and combined with his own suspicions, this might be his Achilles' heel. He absolutely couldn't let Ariana discover his identity.

“This is William, and this is the plague doctor…”

"Hello, Plague Doctor, I am Sister Riana, and I am currently training with my little sister, Paladin Kallen." Before Lyle could respond, Ms. Elian had already completed the cooperation between the two concealers.

“Hello, Ms. Ariana, I am the Plague Doctor.” Lyle’s gaze shifted, inadvertently sweeping over the white veil, which hung like a waterfall directly in front of him. Without the slightest movement, Ariana was observing him, with a gaze he had never seen before.

A week ago, such a gaze might have stirred a little excitement within me, but now it only brings silence.

"Who are these two..." Kevin's gaze shifted between the sisters, Lyle and Ariana, but neither of them offered an answer.

The atmosphere remained tense until it became unbearable, at which point Ariana's cool voice finally came from outside Lyle's sight.

“I am Ariana, this is my sister Beatrice, I am the Plague Doctor’s… friend.”

The woman's voice carried a natural sense of melancholy, making it difficult to tell whether it stemmed from a feeling of loss or was simply her natural state of mind.

"The Plague Doctor?" Kevin looked at his friend. There was definitely something strange about their relationship. With a bit of curiosity, Kevin asked his friend for confirmation.

"Ariana and I are just friends."

The introductions quickly ended, and everyone returned to their own rooms.

After entering the room, Kevin patted Lyle on the shoulder.

"William and I would like to have some peace and quiet outside. You go back to your room first, and we'll come in later."

William said, "I didn't think that way..."

Kevin slapped William on the shoulder. "You don't want to, but I do. As my servant and bodyguard, now come for a stroll with me."

William rubbed his shoulder, looking at William with displeasure. "The hotel is only so big, and we can't go outside. Where are you going to wander around?"

"I'd rather! My temper is flaring up, and I'm going to take my low-EQ friend for a spin on the first floor! You better get downstairs right now."

Lyle felt a surge of warmth. He pushed open the door to the room, and Nia lay on Lyle's head, her two tentacles poking at Lyle's mask.

Medusa slipped out from her sleeve and watched Lyle remove his mask, revealing a dejected young man beneath.

"Medusa, you knew all along?"

“I only know what I should know. I also know that you have feelings for Ariana. But you both chose to make choices that will hurt you.”

"I wish she would really be sad."

"Being hard to get hurt is not a reason for you to remain silent; at least the boy I know wouldn't be."

Lyle lay down on the wooden bed in the hotel, the discomfort on his back mirroring the discomfort in his heart.

Is everything in this world inherently right or wrong?

……

Ariana pressed herself against the window boarded up, feeling as if she were flying into the distance, mentally sketching the moon.

Her younger sister was chugging another glass of wine, her pale skin flushed with a rosy hue, and her languid and carefree demeanor made her beauty even more alluring.

"Beatles, what does the wine taste like?"

"The taste of depravity and decadence, when you bury your mind in the mud, you'll find that everything that was bad is no longer bad. These are the words of my unscrupulous drinking buddies at the bar, I'm just repeating them. You know, sister, I drink to quell my bloodlust. For me, drinking is like sucking blood, it's an indescribable pleasure."

"I envy you so much, Benny. I think Helena feels the same way. To have emotions, to experience joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, is truly a treasure to be envied."

Beatrice held her wine glass, her lips, stained with wine, were as red as blood. She went to her sister's side and rested her head on her sister's shoulder.

"Without a heart, there is no hurt. Sister Ariana."

Ariana reached out and lifted a stray lock of hair from Beatrice's sideburns, her slender fingers stroking her smooth skin.

"The greatest injury is the inability to be hurt. Emotions, the body, desires, even death are all luxuries for me."

Beatrice, who had been enjoying the comfort, opened her eyes, her bloodshot pupils gleaming with a cold light.

“You never care about these things when there are no epidemic doctors.”

"I will, it's just a matter of time. The plague doctor, to me, is just... the wrong person who appeared at the right time and in the right place."

Beatrice dismissed Ariana's words, her brows furrowing suddenly. "The two beside the Plague Doctor are humans. I've always been curious about what kind of people could pique your curiosity. Ariana, don't you find it strange? A lich who has lived in the human world for so long, and whose ascension speed is simply incredible, his behavior is like that of a..."

Ariana interrupted her. "There's nothing strange about it, my suspicious sister. The Plague Doctor's teachers are Mr. Dragon and Mr. Scholar. You should have a good idea of ​​what kind of monsters they can produce, after all, you used to be Mr. Scholar's worst student."

Recalling unpleasant memories, Beatrice drank another glass, this time truly trying to drown her sorrows. A blush spread across her face, and her alcohol-fueled body had no time to think about the plague doctor.

"Bini, is everything in this world right or wrong?"

puff!

Ariana's question drew laughter from her.

"When we were little, you were the most obedient one in the family. Now, do you still need to worry about right and wrong? My dear Ariana, we are no longer the good girls we once were. We now belong to the chaos of this world. Chaos doesn't need right or wrong, it only needs no regrets. Follow your heart. I, Beatrice, love my sister the most!"

Beatrice had already entered a cute, drunken state, rubbing her head against Ariana and messing up her neatly combed hair.

“You’re right, Benny. I’m not the obedient girl I used to be. Right and wrong don’t mean anything to me anymore.”

"Follow your heart, is my heart still there?"

Chapter 173 Heading to Hamlet's Castle

“Speaking of which, scholar teachers are really scary.” Beatrice huddled in the corner, one arm wrapped around her knee, the other clutching Ariana’s clothes. “No, they’re super scary.”

Ariana sat down next to her sister. "I've never understood why you're all so afraid of the teacher, who is such a kind person."

"That's because Anna has never made the scholar teacher angry. When he is angry, you'll understand why our father and the scholar teacher are good friends. If they weren't, the scholar teacher wouldn't exist in our memories."

"Because my father is a powerful alchemist, and the scholar happens to have an item that needs his alchemical modification."

"Did it happen? I have absolutely no memory of that."

"Because the alchemical artifact was small enough, Beatrice always paid attention to those tall alchemical golems when she was a child."

What do the scholar-teachers want to do?

“A key, the key that guarantees the inheritance of his family. I overheard his conversation with his father by chance. A key that can unlock his secret treasure.”

"The scholar's treasure trove? Is it mountains of papers and magic scrolls?"

“I don’t know about that. What I do know is that the importance of that ‘key’ led the scholar to teach the three of us sisters for three years without pay. Whether it was adjusting Helena’s potential or tapping into our talents, the scholar played a great role. If it weren’t for him, when Helena’s breakthrough came, Naslan might have already become history, instead of remaining a mystery as he is now.”

“I didn’t mean to hate the teacher.” Beatrice leaned on her sister, hiding her face behind the bottle. Ariana could only see her bloodshot eyes through the dark, curved glass of the bottle. “After Father left, the scholar teacher helped us a lot. I was just complaining, just a simple grumble.”

“Of course I know,” Ariana said, pressing her head against Beatrice’s and listening to her breathing. “After all, Beatrice doesn’t seem to have grown up at all.”

“You haven’t grown up! Anna is like an idiot, always worrying about trivial things.” The rolling wine bottle made a sound on the floor. “Anna, when are we leaving? We’ve done what we promised that woman, haven’t we? There’s nothing left in Hamlet for us to stay.”

Ariana recalled their final farewell in the bay.

The gentle lady's final request.

“Please, go along this road to Hamlet and see if my child is still there. Please make sure he is safe, but please do not bring the news to me. I have become like this, and I do not want him to see me like this. I have lost the right to love him now, but I will continue to hide in the shadows and pray for him with the rest of my life. If you encounter him, please tell him that his mother died at sea.”

"Yes, ma'am. What's your child's name? What does he look like?"

The moonlight gradually faded from her body, and the ugly scales climbed back onto her skin, but a peaceful smile remained on her face. "My child, you can surely recognize him at a glance, my child, like a shining star in the sky."

……

"Hamlet is now a Jedi. The only one who is still human is that old man sitting in the rocking chair. There is a kind of malice flowing in his blood. I can smell it. He won't live for more than two weeks. The woman's child is probably doomed too."