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

He suddenly lowered his iron-gray eyes and reminded Lacier in a cryptic way:

"In fact, have you forgotten that the reason we came to Diesel was because the White Tower noticed that the two investigators were missing."

Lacey stopped talking.

Although she seldom stayed in the White Tower, and never considered herself as one of the co-founders of the White Tower, and even few people knew of her existence - the White Tower was, after all, an organization she and Lao Deng had personally established. No matter what, she had a strong sense of belonging to the White Tower.

She could not tolerate any member of the White Tower being sacrificed due to conspiracy, even though the White Tower was no longer as pure as it used to be.

Therefore, she took a deep breath quickly, adjusted her emotions, then looked at Charles and said in a rare serious tone:

"We have to find those two investigators, no matter if they have been murdered or hidden by the emperor. We have to find them alive or dead. Even if their bodies have been destroyed, I have to find all the traces they left behind!"

At least when it comes to "having gone to the White Tower to study", Crazy John did not lie, because he was right. The White Tower did have spells that were more advanced than the tracking spell, which allowed the caster to "personally" experience what the owner of an item had experienced not long ago.

And it just so happened that Laciel mastered this spell.

So as long as she meets Crazy John again tomorrow and gets the cane left by the old investigator from him, she can use the cane to trace back everything the old man experienced before he lost the cane.

By then, all the truth will probably come to light.

Is the emperor a fraud? Is Diesel's wishing well a limited wishing machine? Where did the two investigators from the White Tower go? Are they still alive?

Thinking of this, Lacie suddenly felt a little weird.

She always felt that she had overlooked something very important.

But this time, she quickly realized what she had overlooked——

It’s the wishing well that seems to be a limited wishing machine.

"If the wishing well is really a limited wishing machine, why didn't the Emperor use it to "eliminate" the existence of the two investigators from the White Tower? Why didn't he hypnotize all the Diesel people and make the White Tower forget their existence?"

"Is it just because he can't afford the corresponding price?"

Lacey couldn't help but think.

[To be continued]

-

30. I want to sleep

After exchanging information, Lacie was reluctant to leave Charles' room.

She sat cross-legged on the bed, saying nothing and doing nothing, like a harmless doll that had been there from the beginning and would remain there forever, or something like that.

Ciel didn't notice anything wrong at first.

Perhaps because his attention was still on the anomalies within Diesel, he was still thinking about what the truth was.

But the information they knew was too little, and part of it lacked credibility, so it was difficult to deduce the full picture of the anomaly from this information... Preconceived assumptions would often only lead to wrong choices, and his many past adventures and investigations reminded him of this.

Therefore, the Emperor was not necessarily a bad person, nor was he necessarily a fraud as Rachel speculated.

As for what the truth is...

I'm afraid we can only take it one step at a time.

Thinking so, Charles gathered his scattered thoughts.

Let's wait until tomorrow to retrieve the cane left by the old investigator from Crazy John.

After that, he finally noticed that Rachel had not left his room.

When their eyes met, the girl showed him an innocent and pure expression.

——Although her dress is not innocent or pure at all.

The thin suspender nightgown boldly exposed her shoulders and arms, and her white and tender skin was a delicious pink. Because she had just taken a bath and performed some unspeakable wonderful exercise, it exuded a rich golden rose fragrance.

The silver hair was slightly damp, filled with water vapor, and the whole person showed a perfect, lazy and soft texture. She was not on guard against him at all, even...

Charles even felt that Lacielle was acting like this towards him on purpose.

This reminded him of the past three years when Lacie would often come to his room after taking a bath.

She didn't even dry her hair, and there were even water droplets on her fair skin. A few times, she didn't even wear a nightgown and was only wrapped in a large bath towel.

She would sit behind him or lie on his bed, watching him handle commissions, write documents, or maintain the holy sword.

She often said nothing, but just stayed there obediently, like a harmless and exceptionally pleasing golden rose.

At first, Ciel had a hard time adjusting to her presence.

Even though he only regarded Rachel as a good friend, or a good brother at that time, he felt that Rachel thought the same way, but she might have completely ignored her gender.

After all, it does sound weird.

Being with Lacie and being with other girls are two almost completely opposite feelings.

Due to his status as a hero, Ciel often comes into contact with many clients, and naturally there are many girls who are attracted to him:

For example, princesses of some small countries, some gifted wizard ladies, witches like Rachel...

But without exception, he always felt uneasy when interacting with them, and even normal social interactions were difficult to maintain, so he had no choice but to respond in silence. In the end, he was even labeled as "serious" in the eyes of the world.

However, he was not like this when he was with Lacie.

Perhaps it was because there was something very strange about Lacie, "she was obviously a beautiful girl, but it seemed as if there was a male soul inside her body." In short, only when he was with Lacie could he let go and not be so timid that he couldn't even utter a complete sentence.

Because Laceel only treated him as a good brother.

The way they get along with each other is more like good brothers rather than... lovers or something.

At first, Charles was happy about this.

But later, Charles felt lost about it.

He was happy because he could get along normally with Lacie. From then on, he had a companion who was not a good brother but was better than a good brother.

The reason for his loss was that after an adventure, he suddenly realized that the feelings he had for Lacie were more than just the friendship of good brothers. He found that he had actually fallen in love with Lacie without realizing it, but Lacie only treated him as a good brother.

Even though she sometimes does something overly ambiguous that goes beyond the relationship of "good brothers", she has never been aware of it and she doesn't seem to think there is anything wrong with what she does.

Just like what she always emphasized to Charles:

"Brother, I have always regarded you as a good brother!"

Charles even began to suspect that she was doing it on purpose, that she was acting, that she was just being stubborn - but having never been in love before, he was not good at interpreting such things.

He even felt that he was better at saving the world than guessing what Lacie was thinking.

So he had to ask others for help.

There is no doubt that Joseph, who had no experience in love like him, could not provide him with any help. However, Joseph's sister Si Rui might be able to do so. After all, she, like Rachel, was a very popular beauty.

So he asked Xi Rui for help, and Xi Rui's advice was:

"I'm really sorry, I don't know how Laciel feels about you, Captain. But, Captain, you have to think it over carefully. If you really confess your feelings to Laciel..."

"If she agrees, then of course everything will be fine; but if she doesn't agree, given her personality, maybe you two won't even be able to be good friends."

After hearing this suggestion, Charles was silent for a long time.

From a long time ago until now, there are only a few people around him who can be called friends.

Warrior Joseph, Assassin Sire, Mage Godot, and...

And his good brother, Pastor Rachel, who sticks with him all day long.

He had few friends, and he didn't want to lose any of them, especially Rachel.

So he never had the courage to confess his feelings to Lacie. The most he did was to follow the advice given to him by Xirui and test Lacie.

But he was not good at talking, and he didn't come up with anything useful in the end.

Perhaps secret love is just like this, like a critically ill patient, being carefully maintained, hanging on by a thread, half dead and half alive. It really makes people feel terrified. They are terrified of the coming of death, but at the same time, they are satisfied and grateful for every day they are actually alive.

Until one day, when one is no longer willing to accept the status quo and wants to break through this ambiguous state, the attending physician will come to the ward late and announce the result to the patient with either a blank expression or a big smile on his face.

If no medicine can cure you, your life will not last long, or if nothing happens, you can be free and a beautiful tomorrow is waiting for you.

Choose, yes or no.

Charles, who was previously afraid of losing Rachel, chose "or".

But he eventually lost Rachel, and he didn't even have the chance to say "I love you" to her.

So after Laciel's "death", he had thought countless times how great it would be if he could start over again. If he could start over again, then he...

He suddenly shuddered and "woke up".

Perhaps noticing his abnormality, Lacier, who was sitting at the end of his bed, came over, pretending to be a good sister with a fragrant tea aroma, and said with concern:

"What's wrong with you? You've been distracted since just now. Are you okay?"

Charles just remained silent.

He looked at Lacie, the witch who was crawling towards him using her hands and feet like a cat, with her head tilted and a worried look on her face.

"Are you still playing dumb?"

He couldn't help but think, feeling a little... annoyed.

Rachel had deceived him.

Obviously, she liked him, just like he liked her, but she had to pretend that she didn't care about him, and she had to be stubborn and deny it. She had to say to him:

"Brother has always been your good brother!"

But Charles suddenly remembered what Rachel would sometimes say to him:

"You can lie to your buddies, but don't lie to yourself."

So he couldn't help thinking:

"Is Laciel pretending to be like this on purpose, or is she actually lying to herself?"

Charles didn't know that he couldn't guess what Lacie was thinking, just like in the past three years, he had been played around by Lacie many times.

But he has come to his senses now.

He suddenly realized that perhaps he could also pretend that he knew nothing and understood nothing, just like Rachel did in the past.

He can play dumb.

So he stared at Lacier's beautiful blue eyes with his iron-gray eyes and answered calmly:

"I am fine."

"That's good," Lacie smiled, "I feel relieved."

Charles began his performance.

He first averted his eyes in a gentlemanly manner, not looking at the large area of ​​white and tender skin exposed on Lacier's body, then lowered his eyes and whispered as usual:

"We have exchanged information. Do you have anything else to say?"

Lacee was stunned for a moment when she heard this, then she showed a playful expression that Charles found very familiar.

"Why," she asked confidently, "I can't come to see you if there's nothing wrong?"

Charles was of course very happy that she was willing to think this way, but on the surface, Charles shook his head:

"If you have nothing else to do, please go back to your room and go to bed. It's very late."

However, Laciel seemed to have made up her mind to pester him tonight.

The witch rolled her eyes twice, and immediately came up with a plan. She stepped back, pulled open the quilt on the bed, wrapped herself up, and replied in a deliberately lazy voice:

"No, oh my, your bed is so soft, much softer than the bed in my room... What's wrong with that store owner? Why is the bed in your room so soft and comfortable? I feel like I'm going to be sealed by the bed..."

Then, after lying in bed for a while, she suddenly poked her head out from the side and said to Charles:

"I don't care, I'm going to sleep in your room tonight!"

The implication of her words was simply to order him to leave. Charles guessed that her next sentence would be to ask him to sleep in her room tonight.

But she forgot that things are different now.

So before Laciel could finish her next sentence, he nodded calmly and said:

"it is good."