Shut up, brave man! I don't want to atone for my sins to you!

……

The Lord of the White Tower sat upright in her armchair, and after checking this simple question through her reading glasses, she narrowed her eyes and fell into deep thought.

After a moment, she raised her head and looked at the young secretary standing next to her. She smiled gently and asked:

"Yalai, do you still remember that Long Jin?"

"Long Jin?" The young secretary was stunned and asked subconsciously, "Which Long Jin are you talking about?"

"Who else could it be?" The Lord of the White Tower replied as a matter of course, "Of course it's Long Jin from our White Tower."

The young secretary looked embarrassed when he heard this:

"But we have too many Longkins in the White Tower, Lord Viliden. Just among the students who enrolled this year and the researchers who joined the White Tower, there are countless Longkins."

The Lord of the White Tower shook his head:

"In the short history of the White Tower, there have indeed been countless Longjins, but there is probably only one Longjin who is so talented that he can reach the super-level realm before the age of 25."

As she spoke, she had a nostalgic expression, like every old person who likes to reminisce about the past:

"——Longin Tyr."

After the Lord of the White Tower said this name, the young secretary suddenly realized:

"So you're talking about Senior Tyr... Indeed, if he had stayed in our White Tower, he would have achieved a super-level achievement long ago... I just don't know why he suddenly chose to leave the White Tower."

The young secretary's tone was quite regretful.

There was even more regret and yearning on her face - the name of Longkin Tyr was known to almost everyone in the White Tower back then, but now, she had to be reminded by the Lord of the White Tower before she could remember the former celebrity, the all-powerful Longkin.

However, the Lord of the White Tower was not surprised by this. She just sighed softly:

"Yes, if he hadn't left the White Tower, he might have become a super-level wizard... Come to think of it, I even thought about passing the position of the Lord of the White Tower to that kid."

"Ah?" The young secretary was a little surprised.

The Lord of the White Tower winked at her playfully, shrugged and said:

"After all, I am old now, and I am increasingly unable to handle the affairs of the White Tower. My disobedient student is not interested in my position as the Lord of the White Tower. I have no choice but to look for another suitable candidate."

"As for that kid Long Jin, no matter his scientific research achievements, mage level, or character and reputation, there is nothing wrong with him. It was everyone's expectation that I pass the position of the Lord of the White Tower to him. Unfortunately, just like my useless student, he eventually rejected me and even gave up further studies in the White Tower. He was almost going to achieve a super-level..."

The young secretary couldn't help asking:

"Then...why did Senior Tyr reject you back then? Why did he leave the White Tower?"

The old man in the armchair was suddenly stunned.

She was a little dazed - including the text message that Rachel sent her from Diesel, this was probably the third time she had heard this question.

The last two times happened today, while the first took place in the White Tower thirty years ago.

At that time, she frowned, looked at the young man standing in front of her who had applied to her for withdrawal from school, and asked the same question:

"Do you understand what you are doing? Are you sure you want to refuse to succeed me as the next Lord of the White Tower? Are you sure you want to leave the White Tower, even though you may become the youngest Super Mage in history at any time?"

The young man in front of her looked apologetic, but soon, that look of apology turned into a resolute determination:

"Well, I've thought about it."

At that time, she couldn't understand the young people's choice at all, so she couldn't help but ask:

"why?"

After a brief silence, the young man looked at her with his pale golden eyes without hesitation and told her:

"For my country and my people - they need me."

Later she learned that the young man came from a tiny country called Diesel, which was poor, backward, and plagued by constant war.

The reason why he and his friends traveled thousands of miles to the White Tower to study was to save his country and his people.

There was no reason for her to reject such a heavy application for withdrawal, so she let Longin Till go.

Later, she heard Longin Till's name again in an inconspicuous report.

"Longin Tyr ended the century-long chaos in Desair and proclaimed himself emperor, being crowned Longin I."

She was happy for him at that time.

But now, two investigators have disappeared in Diesel, and her dearest student, Miss Twilight Witch, whom she sent to Diesel to investigate, has asked her this question...

The Lord of the White Tower sighed in his heart and then asked:

"Apart from this question, didn't Rachel give us any other news?"

The young secretary showed a tangled expression when he heard this:

"That's exactly why I came to report to you in person, Master Veliden. In the brief message that Miss Twilight Witch sent us, except for this question, everything else is..."

"It's all meaningless gibberish."

[To be continued]

-

42. What

After delivering the message to the White Tower, the witch and the hero did not choose to sit idly by.

Instead, they began investigating Diesel's anomaly again.

Although they are unlikely to be able to resolve those anomalies, at least there are some things they can do.

For example, based on the results of the tracing spell, look for the notes left by the old investigator in Diesel, and the large box of unknown origin that he almost took away from Diesel.

So they came to the border of Diesel.

Charles still remembered that in the illusion created by the tracing spell, the old investigator finally fell near the border adjacent to Victoria.

But they did not find the old man's body nearby, let alone the black shadow Lawrence who was killed by the old man and the big black box.

The area near that section of the border was deserted and shockingly clean. The grass and trees were still growing quietly in the spring breeze, and the birds and animals were still foraging and roosting there. No one could tell that a dedicated investigator had died here.

A conspiracy was thwarted here and a disaster was stopped here.

Thinking of this, Lacie's mood became a little heavy, her steps were no longer brisk, and she no longer had the heart to joke with Charles.

She took out her wand and tried to search for clues using the wizard's method.

At this moment, she heard Charles suddenly ask her:

"How will you, the White Tower, deal with the aftermath of that old investigator?"

She subconsciously turned her head to look at Charles, but then lowered her eyes and answered in a low voice:

"If possible, we will try to find his body, bury him, and provide for his wife, children and parents...if he has any living relatives."

Charles said "hmm" softly, and then asked:

"Do you have many investigators like this old gentleman in the White Tower?"

"Ah." Laciel said as she waved her wand to check if there were any abnormal magic nodes nearby. "That's right."

"There are always various disasters in Pangaea, some of which are naturally caused, and some of which are caused by people with ulterior motives. But whether it is the former or the latter, they will bring unimaginable destruction and pollution to the lives of ordinary people."

As she spoke, she looked at the wand in her hand and smiled bitterly:

"Unfortunately, our understanding of spells and magic is... not as deep as we think, so most of the time, we have to cross the river by feeling the stones."

"But there are always some conceited guys who think they are different and have seen the truth of the world long ago, and they try to realize their ambitions and satisfy their desires through certain spells."

"They always create some unusual incidents."

"And the White Tower..."

Lacey paused at this point.

In a trance, she recalled the opposition and criticism that Lao Deng had suffered when the White Tower first established the position of "investigator".

Because whether it is a natural disaster or a man-made disaster, it should have nothing to do with the White Tower, and the White Tower has no responsibility to help solve it. Moreover, once it involves those abnormal events, the danger is terribly high. In some extreme cases, even a super-level wizard cannot guarantee that he can escape unscathed.

But Lao Deng still went against the majority opinion and established the position of "investigator" in the White Tower.

Lacey once asked Lao Deng why he was so stubborn, and Lao Deng smiled and replied:

“If everyone lives only for their own selfish interests, who will save the world and others?”

Lacey asked Lao Deng again, if some investigators really died due to abnormal incidents, wouldn’t that be unfair to them?

But Lao Deng told her that those people were all willing to be investigators, without coercion or inducement, they just felt that someone had to step up to do something, and as for what the final outcome would be...

The witch raised her head and looked at the hero beside her, with a complicated expression, and slowly said a sentence:

"Noble hero, please keep going... Every road leads to your homeland."

The brave man didn't speak for a long time after hearing this.

The two men walked in silence for a long distance along the border. Finally, finding no signs of anything unusual, they decided to give up looking for the old investigator's body for the time being.

"Mad John said that he found this cane next to the throne of His Majesty the Emperor. Then I wonder if the old man's body, the notes that recorded all his investigation results, and the box of unknown origin are also in the palace?" said Rachel.

Ciel hesitated and shook his head.

"That's just Crazy John's story."

"...So what you mean is that you don't believe Crazy John?" Lacier raised her eyebrows. "You think he is lying to us?"

"No, he's not necessarily lying," Charles whispered, "but sometimes, selective concealment is the worst lie."

Lacele felt that what Charles said made sense.

So she kicked a small stone away with the toe of her boot and muttered softly:

"So smart... In fact, if you want to judge a person's intentions, don't listen to what he says, but watch what he does..."

She raised her head, glanced at Charles's profile secretly, and asked:

"Mad John is trying to lure us into an audience with the Emperor? Considering that he has attempted to assassinate the Emperor ten times before - you mean, he wants to use our power to kill the Emperor?"

"Ah."

"But why?" Rachel asked again, "Why did he have to kill the emperor?"

"I don't know." After saying this, Charles shook his head again, "But I do have a vague guess..."

"? Tell me." Rachel's curiosity was aroused.

However, this time Charles did not obey. Instead, he just turned his head and stared at Lacie with a calm face.

“…W-What are you doing?!”

Charles found Rachel a little creepy.

To hide her panic, she glared at Charles and asked:

"If you have any guesses, tell me now! Be the riddle teller again. Believe it or not, I will..."

Before she had finished her words, Charles answered her calmly:

"But I always feel like you're hiding something from me... You tell me first, and then I'll tell you."

"what?"

Lacie asked suspiciously, then reacted instantly.

Then she sneered guiltily.

In that case, she didn't plan to ask any further.

But she didn't expect that after she stopped asking, Charles took the initiative to tell her his guess:

"Do you remember how the Slender Shadow multiplied in the Madam's dream of existence?"

Lace was stunned for a moment, thought about it briefly, and answered the question with a question:

"It... ate Mura?"

"I think that might only be 'eaten' in our eyes, but in the eyes of Sombra himself - in the eyes of the old investigator who became Sombra, it is no longer eaten."

I don’t know if it was Lacier’s illusion, but Charles’ voice suddenly became hoarse: