"Dragons, you mean dragons?"

"It's incredible, isn't it too late?"

As they descended the stairs, Ferrante and Cassia saw a painting hanging on the wall in front of them, and a majestic frost dragon soaring over the top of the mountain.

The tough claws, the cold-glowing scales, and the breath that freezes everything seem to come out of the painting.

"This is also what I found in the ruins of the Southern Continent, but the real thing is carved on the stone slab, it has been weathered, and I asked a fox artist from memory to restore it. ”

"Wait!" Cassia interrupted suddenly, "I can't remember anything else, but basic common sense is still there, why is this dragon not right?"

"It's not quite right, it's a rotting frost dragon, or a corpse, and I don't know why the owner of the tomb carved it that way. ”

"Tomb?"

"Ahem, that's off topic. ”

Sost digressed and lit the extra candles so that the entire basement could be clearly visible.

At this time, the two of them clearly saw that the entire basement was almost surrounded by shelves, and the shelves were full of many inexplicable things.

In the middle was a large long table, covered with maps of the north and south, as well as a few notes and a messy note.

"Here, look at this!"

Sost threw a shield on the shelf to Ferrante, and he hurried to catch it, but it was not as heavy as he imagined, but extremely light.

"It's ...... It's ......"

"A piece of dragon scales. Cassia reminded him, pointing to the dragon in the portrait.

"It's in the top three of my collection, but don't be careful, it's hard. ”

While!

Before Sost had finished speaking, a loud sound like the pounding of bronze vessels echoed through the basement, startling him with a stir.

Cassia on the side was holding a long sword in his hand and slashed at the dragon scales, leaving no traces.

"I'll just say it's hard, right? Besides, friend, the sword you are holding is the sword of the Tigerman patriarch from a hundred and thirty years ago, made by the best dwarven forger of the time, and this is what he used when he killed himself. ”

Cassia embarrassedly put the sword back on the shelf, and it sounded like it was all something terrible.

"Shouldn't the self-slashing sword be a burial object?South, I'm suspicious of your identity right now. Ferrante said as he touched the dragon scales without raising his head.

"Almost, almost. ”

Sost snorted and began to introduce the two of them to his many collections.

As Ferrante had guessed, he had almost forty percent of the funerary goods he had here, forty percent of them antiquities dug up from the ruins, and the other twenty percent were about magic that Sost had highlighted.

For example, a chair that can glow from time to time, a ceramic bottle that can pour clean water every two days, or a dagger that keeps it cold forever and can even make frost form within a meter of it.

There are about a dozen of these magical objects, all of which have been carefully preserved by Sost in different ways.

His eyes were glowing when he was introduced along the way, and it could be seen that he really liked these things.

And Ferrante and Cassia were also amazed again and again, and their mouths never closed, for Ferrante, these anti-common sense things completely destroyed some of his ideas.

For example...... 'There may be no gods in this world', even magic can be so magical, and gods may really exist.

As for Cassia, these things also brought him shock, but they were smaller than Ferrante, because he was already amnesiac now, and there were too many things in his eyes that could be called fresh.

"Well, yes, although these things don't seem to be useful, but they are indeed beyond the understanding of ordinary people, come, this is the last collection. ”

Sost came to the long table and opened an ancient scroll of animal skins, the yellowed skins were covered with ancient characters different from those of the present, and in the center were twelve mysterious one-eyed eyes in a circle, and within the circle was a rudimentary scale.

"That's what you found about magic?"

"Yes, not only is the text on it of great value, but even this scroll is not simple, and even after so many years, it has been preserved. ”

"What's written on this?" Cassia asked suddenly.

"I don't know, I only guessed the first two sentences, and learned the magic of lighting the lamp, and the latter sentences are more complicated, but I guess it has something to do with the legendary First Magic Academy. ”

......

......

"You're going to stay here for the time being. ”

Placing Cassia in his room, Ferrante returned to his room, the shock and shock of tonight made him forget to send the amnesiac to the church, but it seemed that he knew too much now, and could only stay with him.

Fortunately, after observation, this person's temper is still good, but he eats a little too much and is a little stunned and paranoid.

Without thinking too much, Ferrante removed the candle and spread out a blank piece of paper, which was a part of the magic scroll he had copied, how could he not be interested in seeing the real world, so with Sost's consent, he copied a part of it.

It can be seen that the text on it can only make people drowsy, without the slightest clue.

As for the written language, each ethnic group has its own characteristics, and generally according to which region it is used.

Ferrante's study of paleontology has also been exposed to the writing of other races, but none of them have a style that matches the magic scroll.

He took off the balance ring that Sost had given him on his hand, pondered for a moment, then cleaned up and went to bed.

The next day Ferrante went out early, and he copied two strange texts, intending to go to the academy to ask the great instructor.

Cassia, on the other hand, remained in the Duke's Mansion with nothing to do, and he still couldn't remember anything except his own name.

In the restaurant, the old butler is instructing his subordinates to set up the kitchen utensils and tableware he just bought, as a nobleman in high society, he does not change it frequently every six months.

Cassia sat at the dining table alone, the exquisite and small aristocratic breakfast really couldn't satisfy his stomach, and when the old housekeeper and his subordinates cleaned up and retreated, Cassia barely ate seven points full.

Looking left and right at the empty restaurant, looking at the cake on the dining table, Cassia got up and walked over.

The newly arrived knife was smooth and sharp, and when it was halfway through, snowflakes drifted in the sky outside the window, and the cold that had been suppressed for almost a month broke out again.

But at this moment, Cassia was suddenly stunned, and there was a pain in his mind, so that the hand holding the dinner knife trembled.

The blade of the knife was deflected, and a small cut happened to be made on the finger, and the blood beads oozed out, turning from red to gold, and were sucked into the knife.

The pain in his fingers brought Cassia's mind back to normal, and he subconsciously took his fingers into his mouth and looked at the cake, intending to eat it whole.

In the evening, Ferrante, who had just returned from Sost's house, went straight back to his room, where he had begun to try to get used to potato soup and coarse dough.

The Academy's Grand Instructor, who was proficient in written linguistics, gave him a big surprise, feeling that the font on the magic scroll had some shadows of ancient beast scripts, but it had long been lost, and suggested that he could go to the Avos Academy of the Kaia Empire to inquire about it.

This is a substantial step forward, and Sost is thrilled by it, as he is a risk-taker, his knowledge is clearly not high.

"Maybe it's time to ask my father to go to the Academy of Ivos. ”

Ferrante thought silently, and suddenly felt a little hungry, indeed, the potato soup with the pasta still did not allow him to fully adapt.

Getting up and going to the dining-room, Ferrante was going to cut some bread and jam without instructing his subordinates.

But as soon as his hand touched the knife holder, the whole person was suddenly stunned, and gently pressed it with his hand, but the originally hard wooden knife holder was as soft as a sponge.

Ferrante turned his head a little strangely, and with a hard pull, the knife holder was torn off like bread, and the unsecured table knife was scattered all over the ground.

Biting her back molars, Ferrante felt a little painful, looked carefully at the soft knife holder in his hand, and tried to put it in his mouth, which was sweet in the mouth, no different from a cake without cream.

Swallowing, Ferrante turned his gaze to the dinner knife on the ground, and having seen the magic, he had a strange idea.

......

......

"Where did you get this?"

In the basement, Soster was sleepy-eyed and yawned in his trench coat, and he was very concerned about being awakened in his sleep.

"I asked, and Grandpa Kenard said that it was an ordinary table knife, and the source was the same as before, and there was no new order merchant. ”

"Nonsense, I mean what are you doing knocking on my door with a knife at night!"

"Just look at it......"

Ferrante's expression was serious, he reached out and grabbed the candle on the side in front of him, raised the knife and cut it down, the candle was split in half, the flame was extinguished, and the wax liquid quickly cooled.

"And then?"

Ferrante smiled, shoved half of the candle into his mouth in front of Sost, chewed it heavily, and pushed the other one through.

Sost's face froze, his eyes were completely sleepy, and he seemed to think of something.

It wasn't until Ferrante swallowed the candle that Sost trembled and picked up the soft candle and put it in his mouth, the mouth was sweet, where the candle was still there, it was clearly a cake!

"You...... Where did this stuff come from?"

A week later

Still in the basement, the two met again.

"After investigating, the merchant's knives are completely unusual, whether they are manufactured or sold. Ferrante threw the report on the table.

"Maybe it has nothing to do with the businessman. Thorst said, leaning back in his chair with his feet on the edge of the table.

"What do you mean?"

"I've been thinking about it again these days, a table knife that can cut anything into a cake suddenly appears in your house, and you happen to recognize the existence of magic......"

"You mean someone did it on purpose?"

"Come to think of it, something so magical could only have something to do with magic, maybe, I mean maybe, there's a magician watching us in Sears City! he's considering, considering whether or not to contact us!"

“...... Sost, I understand your desire to become a magician, but isn't that a bit far-fetched?"

"Far-fetched, I don't think so, but it's better for us not to leave for Evos Academy until we figure out this magic dinner knife. ”

“......”

In the end, when Sost was forced to die, Ferrante agreed to his suggestion and did not leave Sears City for the time being.

Ferrante, who walked out of the wooden house, looked at the gloomy sky, the slum area was much clearer due to a week of heavy snowfall, and the snow under his feet was already a foot thick.

The carriage was already waiting on the side of the street, and just as he was about to board the carriage to go home, a young man came out of the alley not far away, dragging the body of an old man out.

"Another one starved to death, this year's snow is too big, it seems to be worse than last year. The coachman said with a sigh.

"Do people die here every winter?"

"Yes, it's a god's favor that people don't starve to death in winter. The coachman glanced at the noble young master and replied nonchalantly.

Ferrante nodded: "Let's go, go back to the East End." ”

The next day

Sost was clearing the snow in front of his house, and after a while, Sost, who had put away his broom, planned to go to Ferrante's house, after all, he only had a brazier in his house, and the weather was still too cold.

At this moment, a dozen carriages slowly approached and stopped at the corner of the street, causing Sost to stop and look.

The curtain of the first car was lifted, and Ferrante came out with a smile on his face, and gave the coachman a few words, and came to Sost's side.

The quick-witted Sost immediately understood what was happening: "Wait, let me think about it, you won't pick up a bunch of snowballs and cut them with a knife, will you?"

"It's a furniture merchant's scraps, it's cheap, much like bread, it's also convenient, and you can eat it while cutting it into small pieces. ”

"Ferrante, you're exposing us!"

"I'm the son of a duke, and it's strange to pay for a poor man's meal, but it's not to the point of going against common sense, what if the magician who watched us wanted to test our hearts?"

Sost was speechless, he still did not approve of Ferrante's actions despite his careful nature, but everything had already begun to be distributed, and Cassia had joined in carrying the boxes from the carriage, and a long queue soon formed in the clearing, and it was useless for him to object.

In the room, the three of them sat in a circle around the brazier, Cassia watching when the potatoes were baked, while the other two stared at each other.

"Ferrante, this is Sears, the last time the major churches have an archbishop sitting here, do you know what the consequences will be if they find out about magic?

"Actually, the main thing is that this is Sost's lair. Cassia said as he peeled a baked potato.

"Look!

A bag of gold coins was placed on the table by Ferrante: "This is the truth, since they have the ability to solve it, there is no reason to watch them starve to death." ”

"I think he's right. ”

“......”

In the days that followed, even though the snow had stopped, Ferrante continued to buy wood and use the knife to distribute free 'bread' to the slums west of the city.

The matter even reached aristocratic circles, and when other nobles laughed at Duke Roy for giving birth to a silly son, Duke Roy felt relieved, because Ferrante really had his own ideas.

But the West End was too big for Ferrante to meet the needs of all the poor alone, so Duke Roy began to provide him with gold support.

Seeing that winter was coming to an end, Sost was terrified for a winter, but fortunately the matter did not attract special attention from the church.

On this day, in the Duke's mansion, the three of them enjoyed a long-lost afternoon tea and watched the snow in the courtyard begin to melt.

"I said, are you going to do this forever? You know, even in the summer, it's not uncommon for people to starve to death in the west of the city. ”

"Don't worry, Sost, we didn't show any horses, did we?"

"But the source of timber is no longer sufficient, and it is easy to create suspicion when buying again. Cassia said as he took a sip of his coffee.

"What is something like bread?"

"Maybe ......"

"Young Master!

The old butler's shouts interrupted Cassia's words, and he hurried in.

"Young master, something happened!"

"What's wrong, Grandpa Knard?"

"The mass of the poor in the west of the city has died, and the church and the royal palace have sent people!"

......

......

"Father, I'm leaving. ”

"Pay attention to safety on the road, I'll deal with it as soon as possible on Sears' side, don't worry, it's okay." ”

Ferrante and the three said goodbye to Duke Roy, boarded the carriage, and hurried out of the city.

A few days ago, mass deaths began to occur among the poor in the west of the city, and according to a post-mortem investigation, conservative estimates were at 2,000.

For the royal court and the aristocracy, the poor were regarded as cheap labor, especially after the mass spread of the steam engine, which required fewer manpower, and they could hire the poor at a lower wage.

What, if you don't do it, there are a large number of people who are willing to do it.

So they didn't care about the death of the poor, but there were so many people who died this time that the palace couldn't sit idly by.

As for the church's meddling because of the death of the poor people, maybe one second they are still walking on the road, and the next second they will suddenly go crazy, and their muscles will burst out, like a steam engine about to explode.

Often, they will experience a catharsis of one to two minutes, and then they will fall to the ground like a deflated ball, and lose their breath, which is a phenomenon that can only be produced by proper cult rituals.

But the dead were poor people after all, and the royal palace only asked the Duke of Roy for a salty and indifferent explanation, but many churches insisted that he hand over Ferrante and escort the church for baptism.

Duke Roy had a good relationship with the cardinal archbishop of the Church of Light, and of course he knew that there was no difference between the so-called baptism and shedding a layer of skin, so he had to drag it out and secretly arrange for Ferrante to go to the Avos Academy in Avos City in the Kaia Empire, and wait until he settled the matter here.

Watching the carriage leave quickly, Duke Roy sighed, turned around and instructed the old butler: "Prepare the carriage and go to the Church of Light." ”