While waiting for the Black Earl’s return, Dox did not stop persuading Angel to let him take a look at the mysterious mirror.
However, Angel still did not agree.
It’s not that Angel is unwilling to let Dox see it, it’s purely because... Laplace is still not offline from the Wilderness of Dreams.
Laplace seems to be addicted to fishing; it’s almost been a day and she hasn’t shown any intention of logging off. And coincidentally, her online location is inside the Indestructible Heart Mirror’s space.
Although Dox may not necessarily discover Laplace, what if he does?
Moreover, if Dox really discovers the space inside the mirror and sees the sleeping Laplace... in terms of etiquette, that would be extremely impolite.
So, no matter what, Angel could not take out the Indestructible Heart Mirror right now.
However, while he couldn’t show it to Dox, there was no problem chatting with him about the effects of the Indestructible Heart Mirror.
Of course, the effects mentioned here are limited to those in the Material Realm.
That is to say — sturdy.
Unfortunately, despite Angel telling the truth, Dox did not believe him. He doesn’t think an alchemy tool with a mysterious aura would only have the effect of being sturdy.
Dox firmly believed Angel was deceiving him.
Angel didn’t explain further, as he had already truthfully stated the effects of the Indestructible Heart Mirror in the Material Realm. As for the effects of the Indestructible Heart Mirror in the Mirror Domain... can they really be talked about?
Time slowly passed as they chatted idly.
During this, they also discussed matters regarding Aex and others, but there was no significant progress. Even though each had some guesses, guesses alone were not enough; they still had to wait for the arrival of "authority" for potential confirmation.
Just before dawn, the Black Earl, representing "authority," finally arrived at the inn.
It’s worth mentioning that along with the Black Earl, besides Vay, there was also a white-haired, green-eyed youth. He was the manager of Street No. 13 in the Starry District, and also the owner of Lucia’s Workshop: Lucia.
Angel was somewhat surprised to see Lucia.
He initially thought, given the significant event at Bilun Tree Court and the fact that those attackers emerged from the Starry District, the Birlos family might hold Lucia for quite some time.
Unexpectedly, not even half a day had passed, and Lucia was released.
Did the Birlos family suddenly bee magnanimous and lenient? Or was it because the shadowy boss behind Starlight foresaw the situation here and pressured the Birlos family in advance?
Perhaps noticing the curiosity in Angel’s eyes, Lucia scratched his temple and said, "It was the Black Earl’s lord who pleaded for me... otherwise, I’d probably still be in the Birlos family’s interrogation room."
Angel turned his gaze to the Black Earl, finding it hard to believe the Black Earl could be so kind-hearted.
The Black Earl didn’t speak but used the Mind Ribbon to municate privately with Angel: "Elder Shu and the others are well aware that this matter has little to do with Lucia. After clarifying the reasons, he should have been released."
The reason for not releasing him was purely to find an external outlet for their own internal mistakes. And Lucia became the scapegoat set up by the Birlos family.
Angel: "So, the Black Earl helped him?"
Black Earl: "It’s not exactly helping him, just exposing the Birlos family’s self-righteous cover-up. Besides, I have some matters to discuss with that Preacher."
Angel understood.
The focus wasn’t on helping Lucia but rather the Black Earl wanting to have a word with the backing of the Didia family, the shadowy boss "Preacher of Starlight" behind it all.
Helping Lucia was more like an opening move.
Though it sounds opportunistic, it must be said that without the Black Earl tearing down the Birlos family’s facade, Lucia’s oute might not have been good... He wouldn’t die, but he’d definitely be made a scapegoat.
Overall, for Lucia, it was undoubtedly a good thing; and for the Preacher, perhaps it wasn’t such a bad thing either.
At the very least, the Preacher could use this opportunity to establish a connection with the Black Earl.
The Black Earl sought her out, likely for a prophecy. As long as it’s not too outrageous a prophecy, the Preacher should be able to ply...
Understanding this, Angel wasn’t tangled up anymore, and looked at Lucia: "Since you’re back now, we can take this time to exchange alchemy insights."
The exchange of alchemy insights wasn’t initially brought up by Angel, but by Lucia... no, it was Lucia who suggested it.
Angel agreed back then.
Reiterating it now wasn’t because Angel was urgently eager to exchange alchemy insights, but gently indicating to Lucia: we have time to chat later, for now, you should leave.
To Angel, Lucia’s presence in his quiet room was likely just to guide the Black Earl. Now that the Black Earl was here, it was time for Lucia to leave.
Lucia understood Angel’s implication, but he didn’t leave immediately; instead, he looked towards the Black Earl.
The Black Earl explained in due time: "I brought him here to make a final confirmation."
"Make a final confirmation?" Angel looked at the Black Earl, then at Lucia, who nodded repeatedly.
Though he didn’t know what it meant, since the Black Earl had said so, Angel couldn’t very well continue issuing an eviction notice, so he gestured for Lucia to sit down.
After Lucia sat on the sofa, the Black Earl turned and said, "Now, can you bring it out?"
Bring out what? Both Angel and Dox looked puzzled, while Vay seemed to have an idea, but as an apprentice, he didn’t speak up.
After a moment of silence, Lucia said, "I can bring it out... But as I mentioned to the Earl before, doing so is already disrespectful to guest privacy. To minimize this, I must ensure the Earl won’t harm my guests."
The Black Earl said coolly, "You still consider them your guests now? Even if they almost made you a scapegoat."
Lucia: "Since they’ve obtained the Starry District’s membership card, they’re my guests. The Starry District’s principle is not to concern itself with the guests’ backgrounds; no matter who they are, even if they’re public enemies, even if they’re otherworld spies, as long as they don’t violate the Starry District’s rules, they’re my guests."
"As for the scapegoating... it wasn’t them who set me up, but the Birlos family. I can tell this apart."
Listening to the conversation between the Black Earl and Lucia, Angel could roughly infer that the "guests" Lucia referred to should be Stop, Aex, and the witch Sharon’s group.
From the actions of Stop and his group, although they caused significant damage to the Bilun Tree Court and embarrassed the Birlos family greatly, they did indeed not violate the Starry District’s rules.
So, from Lucia’s perspective, they indeed should be considered "guests."
However, whether Lucia truly doesn’t hold a grudge against them, that is unknown.
Moreover, from Lucia’s conversation with the Black Earl, it seems that Lucia intends to present something to the Black Earl this time. That item is likely related to Stop and the others.
Although Lucia might be taking out the item under the Black Earl’s coercion; since he is willing to take it out, it indicates that he harbors some resentment within, not as tough as he outwardly appears.
Black Earl: "I’m not interested in hearing lofty words... Just take it out. I won’t harm them, and you can watch throughout the entire process."
Lucia was silent for a moment, then opened his exile space and released the Hand of Magic to go inside.
Though Lucia’s exile space only revealed a bit of a halo when opened; everyone still saw a glimpse of the inside... filled with all kinds of shelves, neatly arranged with different items, abundant yet not messy at all.
It seems Lucia treats the exile space as a storage space.
This certainly took the crowd by surprise.
While every wizard has their exile space, the existence of an exile space is not eternal; it requires the Exile Spell to open. And maintaining the exile space means having to maintain the Exile Spell from collapsing.
Short-term maintenance of exile space is fine, but long-term can be quite taxing.
Therefore, most wizards use the exile space as a garbage disposal site. Only in very rare cases, do they use it as a storage space.
Lucia seems to be one of those few.
No one asked Lucia for the reason, as it’s personal privacy, and perhaps Lucia has some special method to maintain the exile space.
Lucia’s Hand of Magic explored the exile space for quite a while before returning.
The Hand of Magic brought back two items, a very new parchment, and a slender knight’s sword.
"These are the two items." Lucia placed them on the table, gesturing to the Black Earl.
Since they were placed on the table, everyone could see them. However, just by looking, there was nothing seemingly wrong with the two items.
Dox: "Can I try sensing them?"
Lucia nodded: "Sure."
Receiving positive confirmation, Dox immediately extended a spirit tentacle, observing these two items from an energy perspective.
After a while, Dox whispered, "This parchment seems to have a faint contract power, but it’s very weak, very faint. Without meticulous sensing, one might hardly detect it."
"This knight’s sword is quite ordinary, no transcendent fluctuations, though the material seems decent."
As Dox finished speaking, Angel added, "The main material of the knight’s sword is Blood Steel, mixed with a small amount of Stellar Iron."
Blood Steel is considered top-tier steel in the mortal realm but in the extraordinary world, it’s apprentice-level practice material. However, Stellar Iron is a transcendent demonic material, though it’s quite low in value, and the sword contains only a minimal amount, so overall it’s rather mon.
But in the mortal world, this knight’s sword would absolutely be a weapon that cuts iron like mud.
"Wizard Jon wasn’t wrong, it is indeed a sword of Blood Steel mixed with Stellar Iron." At this moment, Lucia also nodded and showed Angel a friendly smile.
Wizard Jon? The Black Earl glanced at Angel but did not ment; Dox remained calm, having known earlier that Angel named himself Jon in this guise.
The Black Earl turned to Lucia: "These two items... please provide a brief introduction."
Lucia nodded: "Red Sword Wizard’s sense is correct, there is indeed contract power on this parchment."
Dox: "But the efficacy is very low."
Lucia: "Yes, the efficacy is indeed low. It’s because this contract was drafted by me, and I didn’t intend to impose a strong binding force since this contract is merely an order."
"An order?" The crowd looked at Lucia in confusion.
Lucia: "Yes, just an order. This is an appointment order signed by Witch Sharon when missioning a batch of fragrances at my Lucia’s workshop."
"It’s just a very ordinary mercial agreement, so there’s no need for a significant force of contract."
After speaking, Lucia turned to the Black Earl: "This appointment order is the item related to Witch Sharon, and this is the only one I have."
The Black Earl nodded: "Understood."
After finishing with the parchment, Lucia looked at the knight’s sword on the table: "This sword is actually a teaching sword. It’s used for teaching sword-related bat techniques."
"This sword was stored in the warehouse, but a while ago, Mr. Aex took on a large teaching task, during which he used this teaching sword."
Saying this, Lucia paused and looked at the Black Earl.
Though Lucia didn’t speak this time, everyone understood his meaning.
The Black Earl probably asked Lucia to present items related to the assailant... Perhaps the Black Earl has a way to extract some information from them.
The appointment order is related to Witch Sharon, while the teaching sword is associated with Aex.
Now, what’s missing is an item related to Stop.
"I only have these two, Stop... he’s incredibly cautious, and things rarely escape from his possession. I have nothing here." Lucia spread his hands, shrugged, appearing powerless.
The Black Earl nodded, not insisting further.
His main target this time was on Aex. Having items related to Aex here was sufficient.
As for the appointment order with Witch Sharon, it’s at most an add-on.
Furthermore, the reason the Black Earl wants these items is because he intends to sniff out some key clues from the "associated items."
The order signed by Witch Sharon might at most retain some pheromones, which might still be useful for the Prophet Wizard; for him to sniff, it may not yield any useful information.
Conversely, this teaching sword is quite useful. Aex used it for apprentice teaching, meaning he once wielded this sword for bat demonstrations.
Perhaps from it, Aex’s sources of abilities can be sniffed out.
Although the Black Earl has already somewhat guessed Aex’s branch, he still needs a strong corroboration, and this teaching sword might be the key clue he’s been seeking!
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