After another ten seconds of silence, Amber broke the silence again, the half-elf lowered his head, and his voice was soft as if whispering: "...... So, I don't have to search for my biological parents anymore, do I, old man? ”

"We just want you to live like a normal child, and normal children have parents - after realizing that you will soon completely forget your early memories, Surrey Randolph and I lied to you that we picked you up from the forest, and your parents are missing," Pitman said in a low voice, shaking his head slightly, "Well, maybe we should tell this lie more thoroughly, and you won't care about your biological parents for so many years." ”

"You've always known the name 'Android Thirty-Six'?"

"After the death of Surrey Randolph, I found scholars in ancient writing and asked them to help translate the meaning of these letters......" Pittman sighed and said slowly, "but it doesn't really make sense anymore, after reading his notes, even if I can't read the letters, I can guess where you came from...... That's why I wanted to bring this secret into the coffin for a while. ”

Amber pursed her lips: "It's a good thing you didn't bring it in, otherwise even if I dug you out again, I would have troubled you." ”

Pitman stretched out his hands and looked helpless: "I don't know who you learned your temper from." ”

Amber's lips moved, but she didn't make a sound, she just looked down at the yellowed and worn diary, and after a long time muttered, "That's at least an answer......

Gawain stretched out his hand and gently brushed it over her head: "Are you okay?" ”

"I didn't cry."

"I didn't say you cried......"

“…… It's okay," Amber shook her head, but still didn't dodge Gawain's hand, "it's just ...... This answer is unlike anything I've ever imagined. ”

"As an outsider, I can't plan your life or decide what you think, but from my point of view...... It's all in the past," Gawain looked at Amber, "whether it's the people who created you, or the things mentioned in Surrey Randolph's diary, it's all in the past, these people and things together have shaped who you are today, and since you're alive and well now, you should look forward." ”

Amber suddenly took a deep breath and exhaled it again, then she looked up and rolled her eyes at Gawain, "You don't actually comfort people at all, you know?" ”

Then, without waiting for Gawain to speak, she shook her head with a self-deprecating smile: "But I'm an artificial human...... So maybe it's just right to eat you. ”

She seemed to adjust her mood at a very fast speed, although it seemed that there was still a gap between her usual state of giggling and laughing, but she still laughed, with a certain relief: "You're right, it's time to look forward, whether it's an android or something else, at least I finally found this answer, and I also know the secret that my adoptive father has hidden for so many years, which is quite profitable no matter how you look at it." ”

Gawain glanced at the half-elf: "But there are still a lot of mysteries on you, do you still plan to find it?" ”

"Look for it, of course you look for it," Amber shook her head vigorously, her ears twitching slightly in the air twice, "The truth may be terrible, but I'm more afraid of the unknown, to put it mildly, even if I'm going to die in the future, I have to find a way to die, right?" ”

"It's not like what you would normally say," Gawain couldn't help but say, "according to your style, even if you die in the future, you have to find a way to escape, in case you survive." ”

"So it's not nice to say, it's definitely a situation where you can't run," Amber said with a heartfelt voice, and then she glanced at the diary on the table again, with a thoughtful expression, "And after seeing this, I really want to understand some things, especially the incident that caused my adoptive father to take a risk and lose his life......"

What caused Surrey Randolph to take a desperate step and lose his life.

Gawain knew what Amber was referring to - in order to steal a book stored in the Cathedral of the South, Surrey Randolph, who had managed to survive incognito for decades, took a risk, resulting in his capture by the transcendents of the Holy See, and the death sentence of the local nobles and bishops.

What kind of book would it be that would have such an appeal to Surrey Randolph?

Gawain and Amber's eyes fell on Pitman: this old man who had hidden a secret might know something.

"To this day, don't hide any secrets," Gawain began, "what did Surrey Randolph want to steal from the church?" Is it really just a book? ”

"It's really just a book," Pitman smiled wryly and spread his hands, "it's an ancient book that dates back almost five or six hundred years, I don't know its exact name or contents, but it should be a notebook or a miscellaneous account of what it seems, and its author mentions a lot of secrets and ruins scattered around the world, including a suspected Shadow Fortress - Surrey hopes to find Amber's origin and find the secret behind the Shadow Fortress." ”

"Just for this? He put his life on the line? Amber's eyes widened, "Wouldn't this kind of thing just rot in history?" What did he have to look for! ”

"You're right, it's the stupidest of all the stupid things he's ever done, and I still scold him in my dreams to this day, but neither of us thought it would kill him at the time," Pitman shook his head slightly, "The church that kept that book was just an ordinary regional church, but that day a few ascetics from Luan City visited, and Surrey missed, it wasn't as simple as 'knocking over the candle offered by the lord', he was caught red-handed near the church's reliquary." ”

Pittman shook his head and sighed, "On that day, his good fortune came to an end. ”

Gawain frowned, "Is that book still in that church?" ”

"It is said that after that incident, the clergy of the local church dedicated most of the collection to Luan Cathedral to make up for its 'negligence', and I wonder if the book Surrey was looking for was among them...... Probably there. ”

After a moment of silence, Gao Wen said lightly: "Lu'an City now belongs to the Empire and is a training facility for the White Knights. ”

"It used to be the headquarters of the Southern Church, and it has a huge collection of books," Pittman reminds, "and books have always been a valuable possession, and the Church has been most enthusiastic about looting such possessions, especially after the decline of the Cecil family in the South, where more than half of the books in the past hundred years have been piled up in the library of Luan Cathedral." ”

"It's okay, we can find it slowly," Gawain said casually, "and we need to sort through the collections of churches and academic facilities across the country, and gather knowledge in various fields, and now is the right time to start with the library of Luan Cathedral - Wright said that the way of light requires a sound mind and body, and those white knights who train in the cathedral can't just practice weight-bearing cross-country and hunting wild bears in the mountains every day." ”

"But we don't know what that book is really like," Amber couldn't help but say, "we don't even know the title......

"Then first sort out all the notes and observations, in a church library dominated by religious texts and books in the transcendent realm, there should not be many 'miscellaneous books' that are eligible for collection."

Both Amber and Pitman nodded, approving Gawain's idea.

After thinking about it for a moment, Gawain said, "Besides, there may be someone else who can help us answer our questions about that 'Shadow Fortress'. ”

"Who?"

Pitman didn't react for a while, and subconsciously asked, but Amber next to him flashed his eyes, and instantly thought of the answer: "That Ophelia?" ”

"If Surrey Randolph's information is correct, the Shadow Fortress should be another rebel base, and Ophelia Norton was in charge of more than one rebel fortress," Gawain smiled and nodded, "The ancient rebel is in charge of the project...... Will there be an amber part? ”

……

On the first floor of Silver Castle, in the largest banquet hall, the lights were brilliant, and elegant court music fluttered in the air.

The nobles who were qualified to enter the "infield" to participate in the dinner party walked through the gorgeous castle hall, wearing the most gorgeous dresses, with the most appropriate smiles, and using the richest social experience to deal with this banquet that was destined to go down in history, but compared with the castle banquets in the past, the nobles who appeared in the venue today seemed much more restrained and nervous-

The establishment of the new empire has changed everything in the country, and the aristocracy that has not changed for hundreds of years will be turned upside down with the signing ceremony after the banquet, although the "positive progressives" of the old aristocracy who support change and the new policy and have accepted the new order are all here at this moment, but this is an era they have never been exposed to before, and in the face of a new social pattern and an unpredictable future, these "new imperial aristocrats" will inevitably have a mentality of walking on thin ice.

They were smiling in the ballroom, but their muscles were tense, and they invited their partners to dance, but every step seemed to be on a tightrope and the tip of a knife, and they talked with great weight, literally brewing ten times in their stomachs with every word they spoke, and observing every face in the hall with every word they heard.

The three archarchons conversing at the end of the hall were the focus of many nobles' attention, and the nobles passed by the "three-man consul" as casually as possible in an attempt to hear some useful information, but it was not easy - if it was really important to talk about, the archons would naturally open a soundproof barrier, and if they approached too uninterestingly, it would obviously incur the disgust of the archons, which was unacceptable to the socially experienced nobles.

So some of the nobles paid attention to the "little princess", and Her Royal Highness seemed to dislike the restrained atmosphere of the infield, and spent most of her time outside, and some well-informed people found out that the princess was an innocent and lively girl, so many people wanted to get close to Rebecca - but it turned out to be much more difficult than getting close to the three-man consul.

A beautiful lady in a lilac court dress had just returned to the inner banquet hall, and with a look of frustration, this lady poured bitter water on the acquaintance: "Her Royal Highness asked me if I could break grasshoppers with leaves, and then asked me if I knew how to solve the magic interference equation - I could hardly answer a single question, which was rude to the extreme. ”

A gentleman in a dark red gown gave the lady a sympathetic look: "Countess Lentini, haven't you tried to open up the conversation with your good women's stabbing technique?" Her Royal Highness is said to be a lover of the art of fighting. ”

"Oh, don't mention this!" The Countess reacted violently, "Of course I tried—and then Her Royal Highness drew a sword from the guard next to her and threw it over, and asked me to bring her a – the evening dress I was wearing!" ”

"Ah, that's a disaster," said the gentleman in the dark red dress, shrugged, "but you're at least luckier than the Count of Bahrain." ”

"Count of Bahrain?"

The Count of Barin, who was standing next to him, turned blue, as if he was particularly apprehensive: "I heard that Her Royal Highness is good at fireball spells, so I wanted to start the conversation with this - she was very happy, and then made a fireball the size of a door panel...... My reaction was undignified. ”

The two royal nobles suddenly had a common topic and sighed together, but their exclamation was soon interrupted by an almost wailing voice: "You are all luckier than me!" ”

Lentini and Balin turned their heads at the same time to see a young nobleman with short blond hair and a gentlemanly face standing there clutching a stack of papers with a broken face, looking extremely depressed.

"Mr. Finley, ...... you"

"Who told me that Her Royal Highness the princess likes mathematics and physics? My friendship with him is over! The young nobleman waved the paper in his hand, "I said I was good at math and science, and Her Royal Highness the princess gave me a stack of scrolls!" Can anyone tell me what the hell is written on this?! ”

……

Elegant court music fluttered through the hall, merry music whitewashed the apparent joy, and Veronica Moen stood quietly in an inconspicuous corner, her eyes sweeping over the crowd of people who were walking through the hall, dancing, talking, and laughing, as if a blank spectator was watching a play that had been memorized by her.

But when those conversations about returning home in front of Princess Rebecca came, the corners of the expressionless spectator's mouth turned up.

"Today is probably the most exhausting banquet of their lives," Veronica said, turning her head and smiling at Gawain and Amber as they walked towards her, and nodding lightly to Pittman, who was walking behind them, "They met the most unconventional royals. ”

"The aristocracy is always used to spending too much energy in useless areas, which is why they live a tiring life," Gawain said casually, "Of course, Rebecca's education is also a problem. ”

Veronica smiled slightly, "I really like that kid's character...... It's a bit like me back then. ”

“…… Totally unimaginable. ”

"Time has changed a lot, and you should know that," Veronica said, "then, is there something wrong with the Emperor of the Empire not appearing at the banquet, but instead of showing up at the banquet, I am an awkward princess of the former dynasty?" ”

Gawain got straight to the point: "Do you know about the Shadow Fortress?" ”

“…… You know, it was a project that I had scrapped with my own hands. ”