“Yes, it’s an underground trade fair.” Eric nodded in response.
Siles noticed his casual attitude and asked, “I feel—this trade fair doesn’t seem to be,” he carefully chose his words, “secret?”
Eric looked at Siles with some confusion, then suddenly understood. “It’s like this, Siles. This is a semi-public trade fair. After the rainy season, some merchants returning from the Ashless Lands will sell some miscellaneous goods.
“These goods are, of course, legal, so selling them at the trade fair doesn’t matter. If you want to buy some… not-so-legal things…”
Eric instinctively lowered his voice. “You have to wait until the last night of the trade fair.”
Siles inwardly felt fortunate to know this classmate Eric. He asked, “What illegal goods are there?”
“Some precious medicinal herbs, clothing. Some mysterious things—possibly related to Revelators, though I didn’t understand much before. Some items that may or may not be related to the Old Gods. And some belongings of deceased adventurers… some…”
Eric thought for a moment and shook his head. “In short, things unlikely to appear on regular markets.”
Siles nodded thoughtfully.
He asked again, “Will there really be Old God artifacts?”
Old Gods—those deities who had already fallen were called Old Gods. They were fading shadows from ancient times.
“I’ve never actually been to the last day of the trade fair, only heard others talk about it.” Eric’s voice gradually lowered. “But there are indeed such claims. People often say the Ashless Lands are the domain of the Old Gods.”
Siles held his breath slightly, his gaze instinctively looking out the window—at this city sheltered by Antinam.
After a moment, he said, “Perhaps we’re fortunate enough.”
Eric didn’t quite understand his meaning.
Siles was about to explain when the room door was pushed open again. Angela Clayton, Mrs. Fuller, and Brewer Darrow walked in together.
And there was still a hint of annoyance on Angela’s face.
Eric was the first to observe and notice the expression on this young lady’s face. He glanced at Siles, then took the initiative to ask, “What’s wrong? Miss Clayton, what happened?”
Angela Clayton was an outgoing, lively, and cheerful lady. She immediately answered, “Just call me Angela. We just encountered a… Revelator. He became a Revelator earlier than us and has already mastered quite a few rituals. He…”
“He mocked us.” Brewer Darrow, a young man who was always somewhat impatient, answered. “How incredible—who does he think he is? He’s also just a novice Revelator—”
Mrs. Fuller shook her head without saying anything.
It seemed the three of them had experienced a very unpleasant encounter on their way here.
“What’s wrong, what’s wrong? Why are you blocking the door?” Another lively personality appeared. Darrell Hobbs poked his head out from the doorway, his gaze curious and confused as he looked at them.
Everyone looked at this young child.
For some reason, everyone laughed.
Darrell tilted his head in confusion and scratched his hair, feeling the adults were hiding something from him.
Then Mrs. Fuller explained what had just happened in a relatively peaceful tone, and Darrell also showed an indignant expression. After this bout of annoyance and laughter, they felt considerably closer to each other.
There were still more than ten minutes until two o’clock, and they each sat down on the sofas.
Angela and Mrs. Fuller sat together, Eric sat beside Siles, and Darrell reluctantly sat with the proud Brewer.
Angela looked at her classmates, thought for a moment, and said, “We’ve known each other for several days now. Why don’t we do some deeper self-introductions? Well, I’ll start—
“My name is Angela Clayton, and I’m twenty years old. I’m about to attend Lafami University.”
Mrs. Fuller spoke next. “My husband died early. Everyone calls me Mrs. Fuller. My granddaughter is about the same age as you all.”
She smiled kindly.
Then came Darrell. “I’m Darrell Hobbs… um, sixteen years old. In August, I’m going to study at Marshall Middle School. But my parents already know I’m a Revelator!”
He said somewhat proudly.
“Marshall Middle School!” Angela quickly said. “I went to school there, too. Listen to me, Teacher Eugene is a good teacher, just very strict…”
They discussed Marshall Middle School for a few sentences.
Then came Brewer. “Brewer Darrow.” He simply repeated his name, then hesitated. “I… uh, I’m about to get engaged. I can talk about that.”
Angela let out a small exclamation. “You’re still so young.”
Brewer’s expression was bland. “My father is very anxious.” He looked at Angela. “Miss Clayton, haven’t you been urged to marry?”
Angela’s expression was complex. Finally, she said, “But I’m going to university.”
This topic was slightly heavy. It seemed Brewer didn’t particularly want to get married, but wasn’t particularly resistant either. Who knew what his fiancée thought about it?
At this moment, the eldest Mrs. Fuller said, “In this era, if you can really find someone to accompany you through life hand in hand, that’s also a good thing.”
Brewer rarely showed a hint of irritation. He couldn’t help asking, “But, Mrs. Fuller, even if it’s a woman I’ve never met…”
Mrs. Fuller said, “Then you can meet her in advance and spend some time together, can’t you?”
Brewer froze, couldn’t help muttering to himself, “Meet… in advance?” His expression looked like he was moved, then he awkwardly coughed. “Alright, my part is over.”
Then it was Eric’s turn. He introduced his name, then hesitated and asked Angela and Darrell, “May I ask, what’s the tuition at Marshall Middle School approximately? My daughter is also of school age.”
Angela looked like she didn’t remember. She looked toward Darrell.
Darrell thought for a moment. “One school year should be… about one hundred Duke coins, including room and board.”
Eric frowned, thinking carefully.
Angela couldn’t help suggesting, “If you’re short on money, you could look at other middle schools—like Claude, Hales. I remember my mother mentioned them as good schools. Marshall Middle School’s tuition is relatively expensive.”
Her words were quite direct, but Eric, who had now overcome that mental hurdle, also nodded in agreement. “I’ll consider it.”
Then it was Siles’s turn.
He had been silently listening to their conversation without much participation. But before he spoke, his gaze looked at Angela Clayton with some complexity.
That glance made everyone else curious.
“Siles Noel, research scholar at Lafami University,” Siles said rather blandly. “Next week I’ll be teaching at Lafami University.”
The room fell into subtle silence.
Angela exclaimed, “Professor?!”
Her expression was somewhere between respect and horror.
—She was just being a Revelator, and she could still be caught on the spot by a teacher?
Young Darrell was the first to lose control and laugh loudly, followed by Mrs. Fuller and Brewer. Eric also couldn’t help but chuckle quietly twice.
Since things had come to this point, Siles asked, “What’s your major?”
Angela said carefully with a sense of awe and foreboding, “Literary history… What about you?”
Siles sighed slightly. “Age of Silence… literary history.”
Miss Angela Clayton froze there like a statue.
Darrell was laughing so hard he was about to fall off the sofa. His laughter sounded like a goose.
As they were stuck in this impasse, Carol Houseman pushed the door open and walked in. Seeing these six people sitting on the sofas talking, with Darrell laughing, he blinked and asked with a smile, “What happened?”
Darrell spoke first. “Laughing at an unlucky person!”
Angela glared fiercely at this guy, then, considering the professor was present, she showed a dignified and appropriate smile.
Siles almost couldn’t hold back his laughter, but considering his future student’s self-esteem, he maintained a calm expression.
Mrs. Fuller explained with a smile about Siles and Angela’s teacher-student relationship—which they themselves hadn’t known about before.
“Oh, what a coincidence… ahem.” Carol also couldn’t help but laugh. “Study hard… with your professor.”
Angela tried to maintain the smile on her face and nodded.
Afterward, Carol also sat down. The atmosphere gradually became calm and relaxed as they began focusing on Revelator-related knowledge.
Carol once again pulled out that thick knowledge box.
“When you first arrived here, I already told you that a Revelator’s power comes from three elements: potions, time tracks, and rituals,” Carol said. “On Wednesday afternoon, you also tried a very simple ritual.”
Everyone nodded.
Carol continued, “When you performed the ritual, even though you had already taken the potion, possessed the time track, and recreated the ritual, the result could still fail—why is this? Does anyone have any guesses?”
Siles had already learned about the three elements and three dimensions from Grenfield, but at this moment, he remained silent.
Darrell said, “Because we’re not proficient enough?”
“Indeed.” Carol nodded at him. “But, to be more specific?”
“We’ve already taken the potion and possess the time track. These two are external things and won’t have problems.” Angela said while thinking. “But the ritual needs to be recreated by us… We can’t control it well?”
Carol nodded at her. “You’re right. So today we’ll discuss a question: ritual compatibility.”
As he spoke, he pulled a stack of items from his pocket and distributed them to everyone.
