Although everyone in the Alpha Veni continent is worried, for most of the poor civilians who do not know how to do state, the status quo is that they can at least exchange their hard work for bread and let simple women feed their young children, and that is enough.

They prayed to God day and night, offered their little bread, and sincerely hoped that tomorrow would be a day of peace when they woke up.

There are probably nearly 4,000 books on alchemy in the Alpha Vini continent, but the Rosicrucian don't care about them, or they don't know how many times they have read them.

Then they felt that compared to those bullshit metaphysics, vague diagrams, and code-style explanations that challenged the limits of human patience, the Emerald Monument was the most real. After all, everything is the same. On a practical level, the head of the regiment, Sebastian Kingman, asked the members to live by the group.

Captain Sebastian often said to his regiment:

"If refining for the sake of refining, then you will get nothing. To observe, to think, I know it's not easy, but at least I'm not going to deceive you. Comrades, if you give up because you can't get the gold, it's just because you choose to give up. ”

The Rosicrucian is rumored to be a vast and evil organization with thousands of members, but in reality there are only 30 members. Three months ago, two alchemists were captured by the soldiers of the royal family, and their fate is still unknown, so to be exact, there are currently 28 people.

One day in January 1300, Sebastian left his alchemy room in order to delve deeper into the unusual vibration in his heart. His wife was knitting a sweater for her eldest son. I couldn't help but be very surprised when I saw my husband walking out of the house with dark circles under his eyes, but he also showed a funny expression.

"You can afford it."

"Don't talk to me, it's important now." Sebastian shook his head like a lion, clearly emaciated.

"Yes, yes, I knit my sweater."

His wife is good-natured and doesn't care about him. She was a little relieved to see that her husband was still in good spirits - when she heard the news that the two brothers in the left and right ears had been captured by soldiers three months ago, her husband cried day and night, borrowed alcohol to kill his sorrows, and lost 10 kilograms in three days, which really made her feel distressed and powerless.

"I'll go out, my dear, and have dinner with the kids, I'm not sure when I'll be back."

"Where are you going?" His wife tensed and stared at him and asked.

"Back Mountain."

"Can't you go tomorrow morning? The mountains are too dangerous in the middle of the night, and even if you are lucky enough not to encounter wolves, you are likely to lose your way. Honey, you should know very well how bad your sense of direction is. ”

"You have to go, my dear, and you know I'm not going to compromise. Rest assured, I will come back safely, definitely. Banyan, you know, I've spent half my life on alchemy, but this feeling is only the third time. I will find some kind of answer when I go to the back mountain today, which is an omen. Although it was very small, God had mercy on me and made it sense for an ungifted person like me. ”

Banyan put down her needlework, got up and pulled her husband to sit him on the chair in front of the fire, kissed him lovingly, and then went to the kitchen to pour him a cup of hot espresso.

"My dear, you're not ungifted. I don't know about alchemy, but I respect you, I love you deeply, and I remember what you said to me. You said that no one can predict the future, and if he did, it must be God who wanted him to know, right? If you're going, then go, I'll be waiting for you. ”

Sebastian drank coffee, hugged and kissed his wife before leaving the house. He put on a shabby but warm burlap cloak, lowered the brim of his hat, and walked on his way with a wooden staff like a traveler wading through mountains and rivers.

In January, the western plains of Iblane are now a harsh land of ice and snow. It is easy for outsiders to lose themselves for a while when they see this shocking beauty, and feel that they are too small.

As Sebastian left the village, he found an old beggar still holding his place, curled up motionless against the old wall. He approached the old beggar out of concern and shook his shoulder.

After a long time, the old beggar moved and raised his head with great speed. This is an old woman, presumably a gypsy. She was blind in one eye, and the other was terribly large, and the light of it made Sebastian feel a chill that pierced her spine.

But at least she wasn't dead. Sebastian was amazed at the strange coldness of her gaze, but he was relieved that she hadn't died. At this time, the blizzard blew even more fiercely, and the snowflakes were almost like pieces of iron on the people.

Sebastian squinted, pointed in the direction of his home, and spoke in gypsy language, "It's so cold here!" Go to my house and hide from this blizzard! You're going to die! ”

The cold glint in the old beggar's eyes weakened slightly, and her voice was as harsh as crushing steel: "You, can you speak gypsy? ”

"A little bit!"

"Oh...... Good thing. The old beggar didn't answer again, and she seemed to bow her head.

"I say!"

“…… Well? The old beggar seemed to be getting a little impatient.

"The blizzard will be even more intense in a while! Go hide in my house! Just say I invited it, and my wife will prepare brown bread and coffee for you! ”

The old beggar glanced at a certain point in the space, and then smiled strangely, and the laughter was also harsh.

"Unlucky boy." She said.

Sebastian frowned, he had invited her out of kindness, but she had spoken ill of him? Shaking his head, Sebastian prepared to leave. But the next moment, a hailstone the size of a fist slammed into his head, and he screamed miserably, clutching his head and falling to the ground.

"Hahaha...... I'll say it, hapless boy. The old beggar laughed unconscionablely, as if he had seen a circus antics perform.

Sebastian touched the back of his head in pain, it was already swollen, and it was estimated that it would take several days for the swelling to go away. Thanks to the "blessing" of this hail, when he got up again, he suddenly found that he couldn't feel the vibration in his heart.

He was very remorseful about it, but he couldn't do anything about it. As an alchemist, he knew that this subtle realm could be encountered but not sought. So he got up with his cane and prepared to go home. If you don't feel the vibrations, there's no point in going to the back mountain.

But when he turned to leave, the old beggar also stood up.

"Unlucky boy, aren't you going to the back mountain?" The old beggar didn't look at him and walked towards Sebastian's house.

“！！” He looked at her slumped back in astonishment.

"How do you know!"

The old beggar turned around and looked at Sebastian with a look of disbelief, as if he sighed helplessly. Returning to him, she held out her hand to him. The wizened hand was stained with dirty stains, and its gray nails were about half the length of a thumb.