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

[To be continued]

-

28. Didn’t happen

Not far from the jump device, the brave team found the visiting group from the White Tower.

They gathered under the towering furnace, working almost without stopping. No one could spare a moment of leisure. Even though the brave team had already walked into their camp, these scholars and mages were still completely absorbed in the work in their hands, and no one noticed their arrival.

There was even a young scholar who treated Lacier, who was standing next to him, as his own and stretched out his hand to her without even turning his head:

"Bring it here."

"Hmm?" Laciel asked delicately, "What?"

Hearing the unfamiliar voice, the scholar came back to his senses as if awakened from a dream. He turned his head, frowned, and with strong vigilance, he quickly distanced himself from Lacie.

"You are..." He looked at Laciel, then looked at Charles and others standing not far away who were just as unfamiliar as Laciel, "Who are you?"

The five members of the brave team do not have the iconic pointed ears, so anyone can tell that they are outsiders.

And Laciel had no intention of hiding this fact.

"I am Laceline," she answered. "Laceline the Twilight Witch."

The scholar was stunned for a moment, and his expression instantly changed from stunned to surprised:

"Morning and dusk... Witch-sama?"

"It's me," Rachel nodded modestly, showing the scholar the badge adorning his cloak. "It's...Villiden sent me here. You should have received the news in advance. I notified Mr. Broda in advance."

The scholar shook his head and answered frankly:

"No, at least I don't know anything about it."

As he spoke, he took off his glasses, took out a piece of cloth from his jacket pocket with a slightly tired look, wiped the lenses and said slowly:

"Maybe it's because we're too busy. From the time we arrived in Lentiheim until now, we've been so busy that we don't even have time to eat or rest. How could we have the energy to listen to Mr. Broda announce some insignificant news..."

The scholar belittled the arrival of the brave team as insignificant, but Laciel didn't feel offended at all.

Not only did she have no objection, she also curiously leaned over and asked:

"So busy... What have you been busy with these days?"

While speaking, Lacie keenly noticed the slight excitement on the scholar's face, like the remaining ice in early spring.

It was about to melt away, almost washed away by fatigue and sleepiness, but it made it easy to see the excitement and nervousness of its owner during these days.

Undoubtedly, this... no, this group of scholars - during the two months in Lentiheim, they probably made an amazing discovery.

Rachel knew the nature of these people. They had almost no desire for material things and could stay in the laboratory day and night, surviving only on specially made energy blocks. Apart from the truth and breakthroughs in research, nothing could distract them, let alone make them put down their work and temporarily raise their noble heads.

And the thing that can make this group of scholars so excited...

Then it is probably only the legacy left by the mistress for the elves?

Could it be that the elves were so generous as to share the inheritance left to them by the Matron with this group of scholars?

Lacille wasn't sure.

The scholar in front of her put on his glasses again, his eyes beneath the lenses radiating a fiery light:

"We are busy helping the elves rebuild the Homecoming. Lady Twilight Witch, do you know? The technology that the elves possess is truly incredible, far beyond our imagination. If we can analyze that technology... God, I simply cannot imagine it. I don't know what kind of horrible shock the scientific research community of the Pan-Continent will face if we make this knowledge public..."

"Let's talk about this after we help the elves rebuild the Homecoming and get authorization and permission."

An extremely hoarse voice suddenly sounded from not far away, interrupting the scholar's delusion.

Lacie unconsciously raised her head and looked towards the source of the hoarse voice, and then she found that an old man appeared there at some point.

The old gentleman was dressed neatly, even meticulously. Even under the furnace filled with black smoke and slag all over the ground, he still buttoned every button of his shirt, and there was not a single wrinkle on either his shirt or his trousers.

This attire made him look a little old-fashioned, and his often pursed lips and serious expression further deepened this impression. Lacie even felt that after the old man appeared, even the air around him became much more solemn.

The young scholar who had been talking endlessly to Lacie about what he had gained from the trip suddenly shut up.

But after a brief hesitation, he opened his mouth again and argued unwillingly:

"Mr. Broda, you should also know how fascinating those technologies and knowledge are. If so, why do you..."

"Why do I insist on preventing you from studying and exploring it further? Or are you questioning why I insist on seeking permission and authorization from the elves?"

Broda asked back expressionlessly:

"Are you looking to me for answers to these questions?"

The young scholar was stunned, and after a moment of silence, he replied:

"Yes."

Broda looked at him deeply and shook his head for some reason:

"I don't care what you are researching, what you will research in the future, what kind of results will be born, whether it can save countless lives or send thousands or even tens of thousands of people to hell... I don't care about these at all. You should know that what I care about is always the rules and procedures."

"But rules and procedures... I have to admit, Mr. Broda, that rules and procedures to a certain extent can help us go further, but science and truth should not be restricted by rules and procedures. They are birds, free birds, they should flap their wings and fly!"

The young scholars protested.

Mr. Broda just coldly and unceremoniously killed his beautiful fantasy:

"Of course, young man, science and truth can be the birds you talk about, and my job is to put these birds in cages—"

"After all, what mankind needs is not a bird that flaps its wings and flies freely, but a canary that can delight the audience with its sweet voice."

After he finished speaking, he waved his hand and ordered:

"Well, stop wasting your breath on me, young man. You still have work to do. Go and do your work. I have my own things to do."

As he spoke, the old man raised his light grey eyes and stared at Laciel and her group.

"Ms. Rachel, Mr. Charles, and everyone in the brave team," he greeted them solemnly, "welcome to the White Tower's Camp No. 1 in Lentiheim."

Then, he raised his right hand, placed it on his left chest, nodded slightly, and introduced himself:

"I am the person in charge here, Honoré de Broda. If you need anything, you can communicate with me directly."

Broda's courtesy was quite good, but a little too formal, so Laceel had to respond with corresponding courtesy:

"Hello, Mr. Broda, since you know the identities of Charles and me, you must also understand why we are here..."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, she got straight to the point:

"We want to know what happened in Lentiheim."

Broda was not surprised at all. He seemed to have expected that Lacie would ask him this question and had prepared the corresponding answer in advance.

“Nothing is happening here.”

——This was his answer.

Laceier was stunned for a moment, frowned, and turned her eyes to look at the furnace standing behind Bloda, which was emitting thick smoke.

Of course, behind Broda there is not only a furnace in operation, but also the Homecoming ship that is like a dark cloud covering the entire elven city-state, blocking out the sky and the sun.

You call this nothing happened?

Lacie was almost speechless.

Anyone who comes here and sees those towering furnaces and the Homecoming anchored above Lentiheim will realize that something big has happened here. The elves are probably trying to make a big news...

——Except the blind.

So is Lacey blind?

How is that possible? She has very good eyesight and can see clearly even in the middle of the night.

So Old Deng must be lying with his eyes open. How is it possible that nothing happened in Lentiheim?

So she simply pointed at the furnace behind Broda and the Homecoming above his head and asked:

"What are these then?"

However, even though she had exposed Broda's "lie", there was no sign of panic on Broda's face.

"It doesn't matter," he said.

"Huh?" Lacey frowned even more tightly. "If these are not important, then what is important?"

Could it be "It's important to me without you"?

It would be ridiculous to think that the intangible cultural heritage from her hometown has spread to the Pan-Continent.

Broda's answer really had nothing to do with her guess. Facing her question, Broda said expressionlessly:

"Sir Rachel, did you and the Brave Team come to Lentiheim for the furnaces behind me and the Homecoming above us? I don't think so. I think the reason you came to Lentiheim in person is to confirm the status of us and the elves, right?"

"——You need to confirm whether we have been contaminated."

As the old gentleman spoke, he raised his arm and pointed behind him to Camp No. 1 established by the White Tower visiting group, and to the scholars and mages who were hurrying through the camp.

"The traces of the Slender Shadow appeared in the dream of survival that the Matron left for the elves, and Lentiheim happened to be adjacent to Diesel, where the Slender Shadow was excavated from the remains of a former civilization."

"So, it is not impossible that the Slender Man quietly sneaked into Lentiheim and corrupted all the elves and even the visiting delegation that came here into monsters. "

"But I want to tell you..."

Broda declared to Rachel with great determination:

"Everything is normal here, as I just told you - nothing has happened in Lentiheim in the past two months."

[To be continued]

-

29. Kill the World

There was no way Rachel could believe what Broda said.

No matter how he argued, or how reliable the evidence he presented, Rachel insisted on her opinion.

Something is wrong with Lentiheim today!

So she raised her hand, pointed at the towering furnace and the starship that obscured the sky, and said to Broda calmly:

"If nothing really happened in Lentiheim, then why did the elves rebuild the Homecoming?"

Broda shook his head and answered in a hoarse voice:

"That is the freedom of the elves, Ms. Rachel. As outsiders, we have no right to interfere with the elves' decision."

"But now their decision will affect the entire Pan-Continent, and countless people will face catastrophic disasters because of their decision."

Bloda frowned upon hearing this and asked:

"What do you mean by that? I don't understand."

"The elves rebuilt the Homecoming in order to leave the Pangaea. In the process of leaving the Pangaea, they would inevitably touch the starry sky, and the act of touching the starry sky itself would bring disaster..."

Laceel's expression was almost as serious as Broda's before:

"You should have heard about Diesel's situation."

Broda hesitated, then nodded slowly:

"Although Lentiheim hardly communicates with the outside world,...through the intelligence channels of our White Tower, Ms. Verliden once sent us news about Diesel. I have a general understanding of the situation over there."

Having said this, he suddenly paused, then waved to Lacie and the others:

"This is not the right place to discuss this. Please follow me."

After he said that, he turned around and started walking.

Everyone in the Brave Team looked at each other, and finally reached a consensus -

Follow me!

So they followed Broda.

……

The temporary camp set up by the White Tower visiting group in the city of Lentiheim was very simple.

Tents were scattered in an orderly manner in the open space under the furnace. The ground in the middle was covered with fine coal slag, which made a rustling sound when people walked on it.