The Book of Hibernation

About five or six years ago, when the previous head of the chamber of commerce was still alive, many people, including Aldin, came into contact with Bellos Jr.

Old Bellows never married, but had a few lovers.Little Bellos has been living with his mother, and was taken by his father when he was almost an adult.

Because of this, the speech and deed styles of their father and son are not similar, and even their accents are somewhat different.

When he first came to the Chamber of Commerce, Bellos Jr.'s status was not high.He does not have any personal influence, at best he can only be regarded as his father's personal assistant.

He doesn't know how to fight, doesn't understand arcana, and isn't even very good at business. He is only talented in eating, drinking, and spending money. Therefore, he quickly made some friends of the same age, and he is not lonely.

A few years later, the old chief died of a sudden illness, and Bellos Jr., who was originally mediocre, turned out to be the new chief.

Not only that, but he also seems to have a little knowledge of arcane law, and he can chat with the mages in the chamber of commerce so that you can come and go.

The friends and cronies around him have almost changed a group of people, such as those his father didn't like, and now he gradually ignores them.Many people believe that his words and deeds have become more mature in a short period of time, and he is completely different from before.

It is not only his temperament that is "different from two people", but also his appearance.

Bellows Jr. used to be handsome and healthy, tall, with black hair, a very cheerful young man.But now his hair is graying early, and his body is so emaciated that he can't even ride a horse, and can only ride a carriage.

Aldean has long been a friend of Bellows Jr., but not a close one.He hadn't seen Bellos Jr. for a long time, and when he saw him now, he was actually very surprised, but he didn't show it on his face.

The change of Bellows Jr. is too huge, which cannot be explained by fatigue and pressure.

Aldin was sitting in the conference hall, thinking while flipping through the letters in his hand.

The letter was not contained in an envelope, but was taken out by prying open the wax pellets.

After reading the letter, he wrote a few words directly on the back of the original letter paper without changing the paper.After writing, fold the paper into a small ball as it was.

Aldin opened a drawer, and there was a small copper basin in the drawer.

He threw the peeled wax shell into the copper basin, and a circle of arcane characters gradually lit up on the edge of the copper basin.

The wax shell melted away as if heated.Aldin stuffed the folded stationery into the softened wax, and the wax wrapped it automatically, and then cooled it down quickly.

After a while, the wax turned into a crust on the bottom of the copper basin, and the letter inside disappeared.

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Kanai held a palm-sized copper bowl.When he felt a slight tremor in his palm, he drew a circle around the wall of the bowl with his finger and recited the spell.As the arcane runes emerged, the soft wax at the bottom of the bowl gathered, eventually forming a wax pellet.

He took out the wax pill and hid it in the palm of his hand, put the copper bowl back on the storage shelf, and left the study lightly.

Kanai currently lives in the teacher's house, using the teacher's study and spell-casting items.

The teacher drank the calming tea he prepared and was experiencing an extremely sweet high-quality nap.

Kanai sat down at the kitchen table and unfolded the letter.

The letter eagle is not fast enough, and it is easy to be intercepted; although the communication spell is fast, it requires both parties to know how to cast it.The communication method Kanai uses is safe and fast. The only disadvantage is that it requires a lot of odds and ends, which is very troublesome. Fortunately, the teacher has everything at home.

The content of the letter is very concise.After Kanai read it, he said a short incantation lightly, and the letter was reduced to ashes between his fingers.

A few quarters of an hour later, the teacher woke up slowly.The old man was not aware of the special effect of calming tea, and even felt that he had a good rest today and his mind was extraordinarily clear.

Throughout the afternoon, the old man was busy with his own affairs in the laboratory, and Kanai helped him copy spell books at another table.The teacher and the student chatted occasionally, as if they had returned to the time when Kanai first came to the academy.

In the evening, a group of people turned into the alley and stopped in front of the courtyard of the teacher's house.

The leader is Simon.Last time Kanai talked with him for a long time in the library, and they didn't leave until early in the morning.

Since then, Kanai has never reached out to him, and seems to still have doubts about his proposal.In the middle, Simon approached Kanai several times, but he missed it every time.

Today Simon actually ran directly to the door of the old mage's house.The old mage looked through the crack of the wooden window, wrinkled his nose, and looked disgusted.

The teacher hated Simon deeply, and was very unwilling to let Kanai associate too much with that kind of person.Before Kanai could say anything, he came out of the house himself, went to the gate of the courtyard, and scolded Simon, thinking that so many of them disturbed his rest.

Simon has a close relationship with the people in the capital, and he is also the chief emissary of the chamber of commerce. People in the academy generally don't dare to show him face, but an old mage can't control so much, and he doesn't even bother to maintain the superficial friendship.

Kanai came out and finally persuaded the teacher to go back into the house.

Simon looked helpless: "Your teacher really hates me, and I even brought him some gifts."

The man behind him was holding a small box, which looked like gems or other valuable spell-casting materials.

Kanai said, "No, he won't accept it. What's the matter, can I do anything?"

Simon took out an envelope from his arms: "Look for yourself."

Kanai gave him a suspicious look, opened the envelope, and the more he read it, the more he frowned.

Simon observed his expression, and said with a sad face: "This morning, the nearby ticket offices, post stations, and spell-casting material stores all received similar orders. I inquired about it, and the order was sent to the Workshop Street Commercial Bank yesterday. Then the commercial firm forwarded it to those places. I asked my acquaintance at the ticket office for one and showed it to you, lest you don’t believe me.”

"Why did Aldin do this..." Kanai stared at the paper in his hand.This sentence is not a question, but more like a murmur.

Simon said: "Kanai, all your authority has been interrupted. Currency tickets cannot be exchanged, spell-casting materials cannot be signed, and even the post station has received a secret order not to take you in. It is said that there is a special situation in Harbor City, and you are urged to go back. , but is this a normal way to urge people? Your brother usually treats you like this? "

Kanai said: "I contacted him with magic, and he did urge me to go back, but he didn't mention these..."

"Did he say it was because of something?"

"I told you. Something very troublesome has happened in Harbor City..."

Still staring at the paper in his hand, he glanced at Simon from the corner of his eye.

A gleam of joy flashed in Simon's eyes, but he quickly covered it up, with a concerned look on his face: "You can go back if you want, but it's better not to go alone, come with us. It just so happens that I'm going to Harbor City too Find the Chief Sir."

Kanai didn't agree, just said to think again.

Seeing that Kanai didn't intend to continue the conversation, Simon had to leave first, and left the so-called gift at the gate of the old mage's academy before leaving.

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After dinner that day, Kanai said he was going to the library of the college and left the teacher's house.Before leaving, he tried his best to persuade the teacher to keep the gift from Simon, after all, the broken gems and rare herbs are innocent.

The teacher sent Kanai out of the yard, and saw the small luggage by the door.He immediately understood that the place Kanai was going to was definitely not the library.

The teacher sighed: "Kanai, I always wanted you to stay in the academy. Your ability to control elements is very good. You should participate in more research and try to keep the results... It would be a pity if you don't become a mage .”

Kanai smiled and said: "Teacher, I am a mage, otherwise what else can I be?"

"You should know what I mean. Forget it, forget it...I know you have a lot of things to do, go ahead. I just really feel sorry for you."

Kanai bid farewell to the teacher and walked into the night alone.

He did not go to the library, or even enter the academy, but left the workshop town directly, and found the inn where he stayed last time.

The inn refused to take him in, saying that it was full of guests.Kanai didn't ask for lodging, but for a horse.He used cash, so the boss said yes.

After pulling out the horse, Kanai turned around and left from the southwest corner of the workshop town.

Walking this way, he will be farther and farther away from Harbor City.There are almost no resting places on the road, and it takes a whole night to ride to the next town.

After the moon rose, Kanai stayed away from the workshop town and rode alone on the quiet tree-lined road.

He took out a pinch of powder with one hand, chanted the spell, and blew the powder away in front of his face. The powder rushed to his face with the direction of the wind. At this moment, his eyes showed a reflection like a beast.

After casting the spell, he saw many traces on this road.Some are very pale, probably a few days ago, and some are fluorescent in the moonlight, obviously left just now.

At the same time, the blown powder floated backwards, and was wrapped in the airflow and blown back to Kanai's ears.

The powder brought back a little sound, the sound of wheels and horseshoes.

Gradually, he saw a figure hiding in the distant woods.He pretended not to notice and kept going.

Suddenly the horse stopped abruptly, with a long hiss, and lost its balance.Kanai was thrown off his horse, rolled and fell to the ground.

There are several trip wires in the middle of the road. From the perspective of thickness and layout, it is obvious that they are specially used to deal with horses and even carriages.

After Kanai fell, the tripwire loosened.Two figures rushed out from the bushes. They were wearing leather armor and masks, holding an ax in their hands, and went straight to the fallen Kanai.

Kanai curled up, with one hand covering the knee of his left leg, and the other hand was crooked to the side and could not move.

His expression was very painful, and he obviously had no time to cast spells to resist.

The first killer rushed forward in a few steps, and his movements were obviously delayed. He just raised the ax and didn't strike down immediately.

Then, the second person also came over, also did not immediately attack.

Kanai squinted at them and asked in a trembling voice, "Who are you...why..."

"Your brother asked me to bring you a message," one of them said, "You have assisted him for so long, and now I will do one last thing for him."

"What does he want me to do..."

"He wants you never to go back to Harbor City, never to speak. He will thank you forever."

The man pronounced the word "forever" deliberately emphatically, then raised the axe.

Kanai lowered her head, her face hidden in the shadows.

His shoulders trembled, and he said in a small voice: "I also want to tell you one thing..."

The killer held his ax still, and he leaned over to hear what Kanai was saying.Another person was behind him, secretly watching the distance of the road.

Kanai said: "There are too few people..."

"Huh? What?"

As soon as the killer's voice fell, Kanai suddenly raised his head and looked at him.

An electric light spear pierced the chest of the killer in front of him, then pierced it out, and the end pierced the throat of another killer behind him.

The two killers didn't say a word, just like that, they were pierced on the crackling spell spears.

After a while, the spear dissipated in place, and the two bodies fell to the ground.The piercing wound was burned by the electric light, and there was hardly any bleeding.

Kanai sat up from a prone position.

The left knee was really hurt, and he gritted his teeth in pain as he moved his body.But his arm was not injured, he just pretended it on purpose.

When the mage hurts his hand, others will relax their vigilance.

Looking at the killer's body, he said to himself: "I mean, if you really want to kill me, you can't send only two people. There are too few people."

Beside the road, the horse was a little dazed after falling down, but now it managed to stand up again, turned around and ran back.

Kanai shook his head. After all, it was a farm horse bought temporarily, so what else could he expect from it.

In fact, Kanai had already seen the tripwire.This kind of horse is not well trained, he can't control it to jump over, but he can cast spells to protect himself and let him land safely.

He did implement the law, reducing the extent of his injury a little.He protected his waist and hands, allowing his left leg to take the most damage.

He was inspired by the time Winter Thistle fell from his horse.He should be injured on one leg like Winter Thistle, but a little harder than Winter Thistle, so that he can look pitiful without affecting his spellcasting.

Kanai really couldn't stand up, so he could only sit and wait.The magic effect on his eyes is still there, and a faint light can be seen far away, which is the trace of human activities, and someone is coming.

Sure enough, before waiting for a while, a carriage and several riders appeared.

Seeing the dead body in the middle of the road, the leading rider visibly panicked. He slowed down his horse, retreated to the side of the carriage, and whispered a few words through the curtain.

The carriage also stopped, and Simon pushed open the door, yelled "Kanai", and ran over in a panic.

Simon held Kanai's shoulders and let him lean on him. Kanai looked up at him with cold sweat on his forehead and tears in his eyes.After all, his legs really hurt.

"Take me out of here!" Kanai grabbed Simon's clothes tightly, "Someone is going to kill me!"

Simon repeatedly said yes, and comforted Kanai not to be afraid.He hooked a hand on Kanai's knee, hesitated for a moment, and felt that he might not be able to hold someone, so he called a stronger subordinate instead and asked him to carry Kanai to the carriage.

The subordinate obeyed the order quietly, but his eyes were staring at the two corpses on the ground in panic.

After getting into the carriage, Simon told the driver to turn around and turn back.

Kanai leaned against the corner, her forehead bumped against the wall of the car due to the bumps.Simon took the initiative to sit over and asked him to rely on himself instead, and Kanai did not refuse.

"Why are you here?" Kanai asked weakly.

Simon said: "I'm leaving the academy tonight. I asked you if you want to go together. You didn't agree, so I wanted to ask you again. In the end, you have already left. I asked some people, and they said they saw You left the town from the southwest, I wanted to catch up and ask you again."

"Why do you have to find me..."

"Because..." Simon sighed, "To tell you the truth, I'm just afraid that this kind of thing will happen. Kanai, who wants to kill you?"

Kanai didn't answer.Simon waited for a while, with a look of surprise on his face: "Could it be..."

Kanai still didn't speak, just nodded slightly.

"No way..." Simon's voice trembled, "I thought he would let you bear some stigma at most, and then find a way to send you to a place where you don't get in the way... How could..."

Kanai said: "Because the dead can't speak, they can't argue."

Simon was startled by his tone.Of course Kanai did not die, someone else died.

Simon thought about it quickly, and felt that Kanai probably didn't mean that.Kanai should be referring to himself. After all, he was almost killed, but he killed the killer before the "rescue" arrived... This is indeed a bit unexpected.

Simon quickly adjusted his state and said in a calmer voice: "Kanai, in this situation, the more you leave alone, the more dangerous you are. Come back with me, at least I can guarantee your personal safety."

Kanai sighed: "After I go back, what can I do? In Harbor City, I have only one trustworthy person, and no one will believe me except him...but he..."

Simon held Kanai's shoulder and patted him comfortingly: "And I believe in you! Really, I believe in you. After I go back, I will try to arrange for you to have a talk with the chief."

"But... I'm not completely innocent. Many things are indeed related to me, so what can I say..."

"You don't need to say anything on purpose," Simon said with a smile in his eyes, "Just tell the truth, it's enough to protect you. After all, you're not in charge, and you're not the one with the most power and responsibility."

Kanai was thoughtful, with a painful look on his face.

Simon hurriedly comforted him a few more words, opened the curtains of the carriage, and told the people outside to find a doctor quickly.