-

After Terry Goldmane's body was brought back by Goldmane's family, the herbaries' reopened and pharmacy classes continued.

For Mo Shi, the herbalist was second only to the prayer hall, and he was willing to study for a long time. Compared to the so-called learning houses, the herb room has a unique scientific research atmosphere. Although half of Snowwalker's healing skills are absurd alchemy and sorcery, it is also a place filled with all kinds of herbs and ores, and the properties of those herbs and ores are by no means evasive or ambiguous.

But today, it's clear that Moshi's attention is not on the bottles and cans.

He searched through the crowd, then walked through the clearing to the corridor of the Blue Temple, and finally found the young boy named Kanan Ji.

The boy was sitting on the other side of the corridor, chatting with his companions. Like any boy of his age, only his face is whiter, his smile is shy, and he looks like a bully. His companions are more talkative than he is, and seem to be funny.

Looking at them, Mo Shi hesitated.

He suspects that any of his actions will be interpreted as unease about Terry Goldmane's death, and is once again under suspicion.

In the end, Mo Shi left the Blue Courtyard and returned to the White Courtyard, which was made of gray and white stones, and decided not to think about it anymore.

-

It's easy to forget someone you don't know well, it's far easier than someone who once had a deep conversation and briefly went deep into your heart -

From time to time, Moshi still thinks of Ember Waping, the melancholy, urbane teacher of literature, who died so deferentially and without fear, whose death was respectable because of its clear cause and effect, and of pure personal will, and Ember Waping, who had studied and grown up in this academy, and walked around the columns.

Students still choose friends and form groups according to their class, and they are separated from each other, which does not change because of the changes that happen to one or two people.

The winter is long and cold, but it is also slowly walking towards spring. During this time, Mo Shi also made friends—to his own surprise. "Friend", a word that is a bit strange to use.

It was a young man named Opal Zirconium. He is a student of the White Academy, and his status is not very high, and his personality is quite approachable, but he is slightly more sleek than Mo Shi. According to his own words, "The fourth son of an earl with little property, who grew up in the center, I guess you understand what kind of man I am." ”

He became acquainted with Mo Shi because, as students of the White Academy, they were one of the few people who were interested in herbalism. But Opal is more sleek than Mo Shi in that he doesn't ask to go to the Qingzhiyuan to listen to a lecture like Mo Shi and then attract a bunch of strange eyes, but takes the time to go to the herb room to ask for advice.

He studied the ancient books of herbology full of drawings and strange runes, and made potions to feed to the rats that were caught, or the guinea pigs, black-backed chickens, and short-legged sheep that were raised in the spinel yards.

Once, when Moshi arrived early, he found Opal bandaging the paws and wings of a frostbitten bird — a bird that also comes out to feed in winter. And the bird seems to have accidentally broken its wings and fell off.

So Mo Shi took the initiative to talk to him: "I seem to see you here from time to time. Are you good at herbalism?"

Moshi noticed that he had clean hands, and that the nails of his thumb and forefinger were shortly repaired. This is typical of a physician's hand.

The young man seemed to be very surprised by Mo Shi's accosting, and looked up at him.

His azure eyes were beautiful, and he half-narrowed them into a small smile: "Yes, Lord Moshi." ”

"Ah...... Do you know my name?"

"Who doesn't know?" he said, looking back down at the bird's wound, "I'm sorry I can't shake your hand at this moment, I mean, if you're willing to shake my hand, sir." And, in case you're wondering, my name is Opal Zirconium. ”

Mo Shi was attracted by his teasing and sharp words, and smiled back.

"Since the names have been exchanged. I also pretended to 'shake hands'. We may not be able to call each other 'grown'. ”

"Well, as you wish, sir. ”

So they officially met.

"My mother was sick for a long time, and I was also frail and sick when I was a child, so it can be said that I was raised by a doctor of herbs hired by our family. That's Opal Zirconium's explanation, "So, why do you like herbalism? I thought you were noble?"

"I don't remember where I came from. Also, I don't think studying herbology is a degrading thing. ”

Opal placed the bird on the windowsill of the window near the fire: "So it seems to you that it is permissible to sing and dance for a living?"

There was a thorn in his words, but he tended to the bird with gentleness.

"I don't think that's wrong. Rather, it would be a sad thing if there was a young man of aristocracy, who was clearly gifted in art, but could not play freely because he was ridiculed and lowly. Mo Shi confided his true thoughts, feeling that his words with Opal Zirconium were like two ice picks probing back and forth, wanting to know the thickness of the other party's ice, as well as the level and temperature of the water flowing below.

"Looks like I'm wrong about you. Maybe you're not an arrogant person. The young man turned to look at him.

"You thought I was an arrogant person?" Mo Shi looked surprised, but not so surprised.

The young man seemed to understand what he was thinking.

"After all, what you did on your first day here is for everyone to see. The young man's tone softened slightly.

"I thought it was a nice gesture. ”

"That's not. ”

"That's not?"

"That's arrogance. At least that's what everyone thinks. Opal Zirconium shook his head slowly, "But, it seems that you don't do that because of arrogance. Why the hell are you helping that child in the Academy?"

"Maybe it's because I've been treated like that. After a while, Moshi smiled, and he walked over to look at the gray-and-white feathered edelweiss, "Although I don't remember - I suffer from amnesia." ”

"Are you kidding?"

"I didn't. ”

"God sees...... You are such an interesting person. ”

"This bird," Mo Shi asked, "what are you going to do? I don't think it will be able to fly for a while." ”

"Maybe never be able to fly. The young man said regretfully, "I will raise it." I have sympathy for it. ”

-

When the snow begins to decrease, the spring months have arrived. Moshi ushered in the third spring in this land.

The Doctor of Herbology took the students to the forest outside the spinel college.

Peeling back the thick snow, you can see some grass sprouts beginning to sprout in the soil.

The professor gave them a list of several plants that needed to be picked at the budding stage and asked them to find them on their own.

Moshi knew that he was definitely the least efficient, just look at his hands and those of other snowwalkers. Mo Shi followed Opal Zirconium and watched him skillfully use the small snow shovel, and soon found several herbs that the professor had mentioned. He dug up the different grass sprouts and put them into several leather bags around his waist.

Sometimes the opal would introduce Moshi to the plants he had discovered, and sometimes he would be so engrossed and his eyes lit up that he forgot to speak.

"Ah, this is...... It's a dream grass!" Opal said brightly, tugging at Moshi's sleeve for him to see.

It was a small lilac grass.

"Dream Grass?"

"I've heard of people using it to help them sleep, and it works so well that it's like getting drunk. However, it is rare, and the effectiveness of adult plants is not as strong as that of seedlings. Opal explained.

Mo Shi was slightly stunned, and lowered his head to observe the young shoot intently.

He had a hunch that perhaps this could be a new introduction to the anesthetic he was working on.

Moser always remembered the poor young knights he had seen after the war, he had been studying anesthetics for a while, but had not been able to make much progress. Opal Zirconium also knew that Mo Shi was particularly interested in these herbs, so he smiled smugly and looked at Mo Shi's excited expression as if he had seen a precious gem.

"It's yours. As he spoke, he used a shovel to break away the broken snow, loosen the frozen soil, dug up the seedling by the roots, and carefully handed it to Moshi.

Back at the herbaries, they planted the seedling in a "warm house" (a hut where charcoal fires were lit at night) dedicated to growing herbs, and stayed with the various herbs planted by the doctors.

-

Moshi was in a good mood that night and couldn't wait for the next day to come—he couldn't wait to try the effects of that dreamgrass.

However, when the next day actually came, he was unable to enter the herb room to conduct research:

Another dead person appeared.

He was also a student of Hakunoin. He was found dead in the back garden of the herb house. The back garden of the herbalist was used for growing herbs in spring and summer, but it is still covered with snow and has not been officially opened. The young man had his face downward, the tip of his nose in the snow.

The point of causing even greater panic is that-

He was one of the friends of the dead Terry Goldmane.