The Book of Hibernation

Hilda's Church is also close to the sea, but there is no dock port or sandy beach here.The main building complex stands on a steep cliff, while the workshop and the large library are located in a small town far from the sea.

Strictly speaking, Kanai cannot be regarded as a "student" of Hilda Academy, he has never been formally enrolled.

At the beginning, a mentor took him as a private apprentice and brought him to the academy as an assistant.

When he met the teacher, Kanai was still a mercenary, following his elder brother Aldin as his home.

Aldin was not very old back then, and he was already the second in command of the mercenary group. Kanai was both his family and his assistant.Others regard them as one, and Kanai himself does not have a separate position in the mercenary regiment.

The teacher is one of the clients of the mercenary group.When seeing Kanai using simple spells, the teacher's eyes lit up, and asked about his learning experience, Kanai briefly talked about it.

When Kanai and Aldin were both very young, they also had ordinary families, and their parents sent them to schools where they were educated in literacy.There was a teacher in the school who used to be an arcane pharmacist. He felt that Kanai had the talent in this area, so he taught Kanai to learn the basic arcane characters.

Later, when they grew up a bit, something happened at home and their parents were gone.With a little skill, Kanai went to a magic item business to find a job, worked as an apprentice, worked as a scribe, and learned some low-level spells from the store manager.

When leaving his hometown, Kanai got a spell note that the store manager no longer needed.While teaching himself, he applied what he learned in his mercenary career.Due to the lack of guidance, he put all his energy into practicing attacking spells, resulting in serious bias.

When he met the teacher from the academy, the young Kanai could release the extremely lethal elemental stun gun, but he didn't know how to identify magic items.

The teacher asked Kanai if he would like to study with him, but Kanai hesitated.He was worried that Aldin would object. Once he left, Aldin would lose a right-hand man.

Unexpectedly, Aldin supported him very much after hearing about it. Not only did he support him, but he also took out a recent income, part of it was given to Kanai as expenses on the road and during his studies, and the other part was donated to the teacher. Please ask him a lot Take care of Kanai.

The teacher refused the money, and he told them straight away that Kanai was not a student, but a personal assistant and apprentice with a lot of chores to do, so he didn't need Kanai to pay him any more.

During the time when Kanai and Aldin were separated, they each experienced a lot of things.When they reunited, the mercenary group had been disbanded, Aldin had settled down in Harbor City, and Kanai had returned to his brother.

Kanai still often returns to the church to deal with various things.Every time he comes back, no matter what the main purpose is, the first thing he does is to visit the teacher of the year.

This time is no exception.After Kanai arrived at the academy, he first went to the workshop town and found the familiar yard and two-story hut.

The teacher is over 70 years old, his legs and feet are not very sharp, and he rarely goes out.Seeing Kanai, the teacher was as happy as seeing his own child, and hurriedly welcomed him into the house.

Not long ago, the teacher's wife passed away.Kanai chatted with the teacher for a while, and asked where the teacher's wife's tomb was, and he wanted to see it.

The teacher shook his head: "Don't go today, let's do it later, let's do it later."

Kanai sensed something in the teacher's words and asked him why.

The teacher slowly closed the curtains, sat back and said in a low voice, "Simon and his gang are here. They heard that Nina passed away, so they immediately ran over to join in the fun and organized a meeting for her students." , and want to exhibit what she left behind... Well, I'm too lazy to care about them. A bunch of trash, they only do these nonsense."

"Simon is back..." Kanai sighed.

Simon and Kanai are old acquaintances, half classmates.Simon was a regular student at the Academy, but did not complete his studies.Now he lives in the royal capital, and his parents used to be servants of nobles.

He was sent to the academy at a very young age, not because he was talented, but because his family wanted him to broaden his horizons.Later practice proved that he was not the material to be a mage at all, he just hung around here for a few years, and did not get the seal of his mentor when he left.

In a sense, now Simon has inherited his father's profession.But what he served was not the nobles of the royal capital, but the current head of the chamber of commerce, Bellos Jr.

Kanai's trip back to the academy was actually mainly to meet Simon.

It was Simon who secretly offered him the invitation.He and his acquaintance mages have been making appointments at the academy to discuss things. We are considered classmates, so meeting here is justified and safe.

Kanai secretly sighed, fortunately the teacher didn't know this.The teacher has always hated the people in the capital, and even more so the fake mages like Simon.If he knew that he had an appointment with Simon, the teacher would probably faint with anger.

However, there seemed to be other meanings hidden in the teacher's sad face.And not just because he hates Simon.

Kanai questioned.The teacher has always liked him, so he told him quietly: "We have all heard about it. Recently, someone gossips in the Arcane Federation, saying that there are mages in Hilda Academy who have unclean hands and feet and bought embargoed materials from dirty roads. , and even said that someone might be cooperating with necromancers. Such rumors are not uncommon, so the Arcane Union randomly sent someone to check the trade routes near the academy, and recorded something symbolically... The problem is, this news got to Shandonia somehow, and a group of people in the capital could not sit still. Recently, a lot of things happened in Feixisite, and Shandonia must have been scared after hearing it... So, The capital sent people to communicate with the academy, saying that they would participate in the investigation of this matter."

Kanai listened and nodded.Similar situations have happened before. Those people didn't really want to check the contraband, they just wanted to use this as an excuse to let the academy and the nearby free city-states reap some benefits.

The last time something like this happened, the chamber of commerce finally came forward to settle everything.All parties are satisfied with the result, and for a long time, everyone will stop tossing each other.

"It hasn't been long since this happened last time, has it been a few years? Now it's happening again!" The teacher sighed heavily, "The worst thing is that Simon, who lived here himself, kept saying that Hilda The academy is his fond memory forever, what happened? Now he leads a group of people to swagger through the market, and wants to blackmail others with the materials for casting spells!"

Kanai has long known Simon's identity and position, so it's not surprising that Simon did this.

The problem is, Simon isn't really a big shot, it's what's behind him that's really dangerous.

When Simon invited Kanai to meet, he said that he wanted to talk about matters related to the Peregrine Mercenary Corps within the Chamber of Commerce, mainly about the supply, sale and replacement of enchanted weapons.

He didn't mention the embargoed materials, let alone that such things spread to the capital.

Kanai thought, it was indeed the right choice to visit the teacher first.Although he didn't know what Simon was going to do, at least he was mentally prepared.

===========================

Simon agreed to meet after dinner in a small reading room on the west side of the library courtyard.

The entire library is equipped with an anti-detection system, and others cannot use magic to spy on the interior.If you want to know what the mages in the library are doing, you can only use the most common way: walk up to them and see for yourself.

This small reading room is only as big as a living room, with three rows of bookshelves in the middle, and only two sets of tables and chairs, which cannot hide other people.If someone wants to come in, the people in the room will notice it immediately.Each reading room has a separate isolation force field, the inside cannot hear the outside, and the outside cannot hear the inside.

When Kanai walked into the small reading room, Simon had already arrived.

Although Simon was not a mage at all, he still wore a set of robes, as if he felt that this would better integrate into the environment of the academy.He has slightly curly blond hair, big and bright eyes, the kind of looks that most people like, and Kanai always thinks that he is more suitable to be a bard.

Seeing Kanai, Simon got up and saluted, following the etiquette of low-ranking members of the academy to high-ranking members.

In fact, Kanai's status is not high, but Simon has always treated him like this.

They sat down and chatted for a while, and the topics they talked about were mainly about spells and supplies.

As they talked, they inevitably mentioned enchanting methods, new workshops, and refiners.

"I heard that your workshop has received a big deal from San Dilian," Simon said with an admiring expression, "The situation in the neighboring country is not good, and San Dilian is even more nervous. They must hope that at this time With more powerful equipment, the demand for enchanted weapons will also increase. How did you foresee this opportunity?"

Kanai said: "We didn't expect it. It's just that the world is bad. When the workshop and San Dilian cooperated, the Gem Forest had not yet fallen, and the Chamber of Commerce had not lost Gorman's leadership. We cannot predict the current situation in advance. "

"Ah, of course, of course," Simon nodded, "You must be shocked. When I knew this, I was also shocked."

"You didn't receive the letter eagle either?" Kanai asked.

Seeing Simon's bewildered face, Kanai added: "Not long ago, something happened in the gem forest, and the head of Goman died of a sudden illness. We didn't receive the news in the first time. Such a big thing, It is said that the letter should be sent by Xinying immediately, but we have not received Xinying. Ten days after the death of the head of Goman, I received the news from the capital, and it was sent by ordinary fast horse mail, which is better than Xinying. Much slower."

Simon said: "The situation on Gorman's side is very complicated. His death was sudden, and his subordinates were in a mess. It is said that his communication network of Xinying has also completely collapsed. Not only did you not receive Xinying, but the chief and The other managers didn't receive it either."

Kanai said: "During that time, the chief lord was in the capital, right? It was quite far from Gorman in charge."

"Yes, I was with him then."

"That's not quite right... It will take about ten days to send a letter from Fesisit to the capital of Sandonia. And then from the capital to Harbor City, it will take nearly ten days. If you receive It was an ordinary letter, not the news that Xinying delivered in the first place, so how did you pass it on to us within ten days?"

Simon still maintained a smile on his face, but there was no smile in his eyes.

He was probably a little embarrassed, and he didn't realize why he suddenly became the one being questioned.

However, Kanai gave him a step down in time.Kanai said: "I think that may be the case. The chief must have received a tip in advance, but he didn't go into detail with you people. You see, there must be a private intelligence network between the chief and the chief, like us Most of the assistants don't know."

Simon suddenly realized, and nodded again and again: "That's right, that's right. You're right. I didn't think of it at first..."

As he said that, he still showed a somewhat disappointed expression: "The chief lord didn't tell me everything. I just carried out some specific things for him, and he didn't need to explain everything to me."

Kanai nodded: "Well, I can understand."

Simon said: "You can definitely understand. After all, you are also assisting others for a long time. Aldin is in charge of your brother, and he is also in charge of the chamber of commerce. He must have hidden many things from you. You just do things. Don't think too much, the decision-making is left to him... right?"

"Indeed," Kanai finished, paused deliberately, "this is also normal, because we trust each other."

Simon asked: "Speaking of which, the chief may be going to Harbor City, have you heard?"

"Of course. I also want to ask you about the specific itinerary."

Simon said: "About this... Now there is a situation, I think I should tell you. But it is just my private guess, and you don't have to believe it."

Kanai didn't answer immediately, but just leaned forward a little, acting as if he was slightly curious, but not very eager.

Without urging, Simon continued on his own: "Recently, the Austrian Federation investigated the academy and found some taboo items and materials. This matter is not complicated at all, but unfortunately, someone speculated on the commercial route , all the way back to the Harbor City. King Sandonia has also heard about it, and wants to investigate thoroughly. The Chief Sir is going to Harbor City, I guess he will ask about this matter.”

"Similar situations have happened before, not surprising," Kanai said.

Simon shook his head lightly: "Don't say that, you have to pay attention! This time is different from the past, the contraband found by the Austrian Federation is all Necronomicon items, and at this time, something happened to Fichsyth, The Guards have abandoned the Gemwood and opened up the borders of the Boreal Forest. Why do you think they did?"

Kanai said: "The northern half of the Gem Forest has been polluted by undead creatures beyond salvation."

"To put it simply, it's really like this," Simon said with a sigh, "The power of the necromancers on the north bank has increased, and there are dangerous things everywhere in the gem forest. If you stick to it, you will just kill people in vain, which is meaningless. Fesisit is just a small free city-state, and its strength is still too weak. When this matter spread to the territory of Sandonia, the capital was terrified. On the one hand, they began to strengthen the defense of the border, and on the other hand, they began to worry about necromancy. Related issues. During this special period, the capital heard that there might be a trade route for contraband in the harbor city... You see, the entire kingdom is threatened by necromancy from the south to the north. Just imagine, the capital city How scared are the people? So this time they take the contraband matter very seriously."

Kanai stroked his chin and nodded slowly: "That's what you said... What about the Chief Sir? Does he have any ideas?"

Simon said: "The chief has talked with the people in the capital. He intends to understand the situation first. If the matter is serious, he will let the trial court and guards of the capital intervene. This matter will affect the interests of the chamber of commerce. Chief lord There is also a lot of pressure. Kanai, I am a little worried that this time you and Aldin may be involved... You should prepare early."

Kanai frowned and thought for a while, and said, "I can't say anything about this. I still have to wait for the chief lord to come and see how he talks with Aldin."

Simon moved closer, and his whole body stuck to the edge of the table: "Kanai, for the sake of my classmates, let me ask you a private question..."

"You said."

"In case the situation is not good, do you have a way to get out?"

Kanai said with a smile: "I can't..."

"I hope it won't happen, but everything has to be prepared for the worst. We just lost one in charge. If it is not necessary, we definitely don't want to lose another one, so the chief lord will definitely help Aldin. But... …And you?"

Kanai looked at him silently.

Simon waited, then continued: "To Aldin, you are an excellent assistant, but to the Chamber of Commerce, and to the entire Shandonia, you are actually nothing...Forgive me, this may be hard to hear , but the facts are like this. Your identity is very subtle, you are Aldin’s younger brother, and you can be considered in Harbor City; at the same time, you can only assist your elder brother, and have not cultivated your own power... Under such circumstances, if something happens to Aldin one day, you are the perfect scapegoat."

Kanai leaned back in her chair, staring at the edge of the table, silent.

Simon continued: "Especially... I heard that your brother started to cooperate with a refiner. The refiner is very good and has brought him a lot of benefits, and the relationship between the two of them is not ordinary. He needs Obedient spellcasters who specialize in enchanting come to assist him, and there is no shortage of such people around him. And you are a battle mage, you..."

Kanai finished for him: "For him, a battle mage will only become more and more useless."

"That's not what I meant..." Simon frowned slightly, seeming to be distressed for Kanai, "You don't have to worry too much, in fact, I deliberately thought about the bad. My parents often deal with court people and are used to everything Be careful, always stay out of the way, always think of the worst situation first, maybe I have inherited their character. In fact, things are not necessarily so bad, maybe the chief lord has a way to deal with it. And Aldin and you The relationship is so good, he has not let you get into a high position so far, it is because he always treats you like a young brother, thinking of protecting you and letting you live freely. Unless it is absolutely necessary, he will definitely not let you fall into crisis."

Kanai didn't speak for a long time again.

Simon's words were probably almost finished, and he couldn't spit out more words for a while.

He kept looking at Kanai, with heartbreaking sadness in his bright blue eyes.

After a while, Kanai said: "I understand. You are right. It is not wrong to think about the worst and prepare early."

"Kanai, I'm sorry. I..."

Kanai asked: "Has the chief lord said anything about this matter?"

A gleam of light flashed in Simon's eyes: "He talked to me a little bit, but his attitude was not very clear, he was just talking casually."

Kanai said: "Is it convenient to reveal a little bit? Anything is fine, as long as it can be said."

Simon nodded.Speaking of now, he and Kanai remembered that there was weak tea on the table.Although the cups were covered and the tea was completely cold, they didn't mind.

After taking a sip of water, the two continued to talk in a low voice.