Siles’s gaze fell on this bookshelf.
The bookshelf had a total of seven rows and four columns, and was not fully filled. The left side near the door was emptier and held some exquisite ornaments; the right side near the window was completely filled with books.
Siles’s gaze swept over the books generally, but finally settled on the ornaments on the left.
If Time Traces really existed, then these items were probably more suspicious than the books.
According to the definition of Revelator, Time Traces are items that can be used for rituals and contain the power of time. In a broad sense, this can refer to all existing items, but in a narrow sense, not all items can be called Time Traces.
For example, paper used by someone to wipe dirt probably doesn’t need to be called a Time Trace. After all, there shouldn’t be any Revelator bored enough to use that thing as a Time Trace.
There were about a dozen items currently placed on the shelf. Quite a few had fallen on the floor before, and Siles had casually put them back on the shelf during his past few visits to this office.
But… there were indeed a few items that, in Siles’s memory, had always stayed securely on the bookshelf.
He looked over.
There were three items in total: an exquisite statue of a woman’s head, a necklace, and an exquisite, unique fountain pen with an ancient lacquer sheen.
He remembered he had never picked up these three items, and—given their materials, if they had fallen on the floor, they might have broken directly.
Siles looked back and forth, finally fixing his suspicious gaze on the statue of the head.
Time Trace Integrity. He pondered.
If judging integrity based on common sense, then among these three items, the only one that could be determined as incomplete at first glance was this statue.
It should have a corresponding body and limbs, but now it was just placed here baldly. The face of this woman statue was indeed very beautiful; even without coloring, one could imagine how moving the person the statue pointed to was.
But now, it was just a statue, quietly placed on the bookshelf, ignored for who knows how long. Siles could even see the hollow, lifeless eyeballs in those white, deep eye sockets…
When Siles realized it, he found his hand was almost touching the statue of the head.
What awakened him was the sound of dice rolling in his mind.
[You need to perform a Willpower check.]
[Willpower: 90/30, Success.]
[You realize something is wrong. You feel you couldn’t possibly touch such an inexplicable thing casually, so you rationally withdrew your hand. However, you look at this statue with fear, realizing that this woman’s eyes have an inexplicable charm.]
Siles suddenly gasped, stumbled back two steps, and instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
…Damn, is this the danger hidden in ordinary life!
If his Willpower wasn’t high enough… No, wait, why is his Willpower so high?
Siles pursed his lips, his chaotic brain filled with wild thoughts for a moment.
He looked back and found the rag he brought the day before yesterday still on the windowsill. He had planned to throw it away but forgot when leaving, so he took the rag.
Looking at the bizarre statue of the woman’s head out of the corner of his eye, he used the pencil he carried with him to pick up the rag and covered the statue with it.
Only then did Siles breathe a huge sigh of relief.
He found himself covered in cold sweat, his shirt feeling strangely clammy inside. He took off his jacket and vest, panting with lingering fear.
He didn’t know what would have happened if he had really touched that statue just now. Honestly, looking back now, it was incredibly lucky that he hadn’t touched this statue during his past few visits to this office.
He sat on the sofa and closed his eyes to calm his still somewhat fearful and apprehensive mood.
He realized that this woman’s head statue was probably the Time Trace the dice warned him about. Maybe complete, maybe incomplete; regardless, this strange power meant this Time Trace wasn’t simple.
…However, the problem was, he actually didn’t know where this Time Trace was not simple.
He didn’t understand why he uncontrollably wanted to touch this statue, didn’t understand why… even now, after closing his eyes, he instinctively recalled the details of the woman statue’s head and her expression and posture.
Siles suppressed his imagination and then suddenly opened his eyes. He must deal with this statue as soon as possible—find reliable help. In the afternoon, his apprentices would come here; in the future, apprentices would also frequent his office to wait.
If he kept delaying, then who knows when other people coming to this office would be attracted by the eyes of that head statue just like he was just now.
Siles subconsciously opened his pocket watch to check the time.
It was nine in the morning. He had a class at ten. But his apprentices were scheduled for three in the afternoon.
Before the apprentices arrived at the office, he had some time to deal with this statue.
The Historical Society or the Church of the Past?
Siles thought calmly and intently.
Historical Society—he only knew Carol, and didn’t know if Carol was at the Historical Society. Actually, there was also the option of Grenfield, but he was probably still in the Old City now.
Church of the Past—considering he provided information about the apostate, and the critical failure of Knight Commander Bunyan’s psychology check last time, plus Grosvenor’s strange friendly attitude… and the Central Cathedral of the Church of the Past was also closer than the Historical Society…
Carol had also said in the first class that if they encountered danger in daily life, they could go to the Church of the Past and the Historical Society for help.
Siles finally breathed a slow sigh of relief.
He sat quietly on the sofa for a while. Assuming his mood had calmed down, he couldn’t help but recall slightly the feeling of being distracted just now. If he had to say, he felt as if he had suddenly fallen into a strange… half-dream, half-awake state at that time.
…A dream?
No, not right. Can’t describe it like that… It was a feeling of… being distracted by temptation, instinctively reaching out to grab and touch. He ultimately avoided this danger through the Willpower check, which also verified this point.
It was some kind of… strange attraction that made one’s mind go blank.
Siles inexplicably associated it with Brewer Darrow’s description of “believers meeting Gods” when describing his fiancée.
That seemed, at least for a moment, to make Siles feel a slight similarity.
Then Siles dared not continue thinking about what happened before. He closed his eyes and rested in the office for a while. Time passed bit by bit, and Siles also felt himself slowly calming down.
Don’t worry. He said to himself. Time Traces do possess some danger; this is something known long ago. But you are now an Revelator too, you can master this power.
Siles breathed a slight sigh of relief and stayed in the office until nine forty-five, then got up to prepare to go to the classroom.
He felt chilly; the dried cold sweat made his back feel cold. He hesitated, put on his suit jacket, buttoned it up, and went to the classroom.
The classroom was on the second floor. All basic education classrooms were on the second and third floors, which had quite a few rooms. The third floor had a long corridor directly connecting to the tower on the other end. That was where research scholars mainly had classes.
Fortunately, Siles didn’t need to teach these research scholars for the time being.
When Siles arrived at the second-floor classroom, quite a few people were already sitting in the ancient castle room.
Siles had already seen the course schedule and the number of people. There were a total of 19 students in this major elective course of his, not too many and not too few, which was a comforting thing for Siles, a novice professor.
However, the public elective course in the evening had over sixty students.
…Truly saddening.
When Siles walked into the classroom, he spotted Angela Clayton. Angela smiled at him, a bit nervous and uneasy, but looked much better than the first time she heard Siles was actually her professor.
Sitting next to Angela was a young girl. She seemed very curious about Siles, her lively and jumping gaze constantly circling around the young, handsome professor.
Siles nodded calmly to the students already in the classroom, then walked onto the podium, placed the folder in his hand on the podium, opened it silently, glanced over his lesson plans, reciting and reviewing in his mind.
During this process, he heard the originally noisy chatter in the classroom gradually diminish and finally disappear. The entire classroom was as quiet as a graveyard.
Siles glanced at his pocket watch and found it was only nine-fifty, so he didn’t speak, just looked up and swept his gaze over every student.
…He intended to confirm the number of people, but every young student swept by his gaze seemed to start trembling.
Siles thought with slight confusion, am I that scary? But he remained silent without showing any emotion.
17 students had arrived, with two left. Siles lowered his eyes and continued to focus on his lesson plans. He seemed to invisibly hear the students exhaling in relief.
Around nine fifty-five, the last two students arrived.
They were two young boys, carrying bags carelessly, holding brunch in their hands, still talking to each other as they walked into the classroom. Then they seemed to suddenly sense the suffocatingly quiet atmosphere in the classroom and the slender figure on the podium.
The two boys froze suddenly, shrinking like quails.
Siles turned his head to glance at them, letting the students hear his deep, elegant, and calm voice for the first time: “Please return to your seats.”
Quite a few students admitted afterward that at that moment they felt the professor’s voice was really—nice.
The two students who weren’t late but were also fearful scurried back to their seats.
Siles nodded with satisfaction, then said, “Let’s take roll call first, so I can get to know you.”
Roll call?
The students below stirred uneasily—since when did Lafami University start doing roll call?
Siles didn’t think there was any problem bringing the habit of Earth universities to another world. He just methodically read everyone’s name in the class with his cold, deep voice.
In that serious, icy atmosphere, none of the students dared to look at Siles much.
Siles confirmed the names and appearances of the 19 students, matched them secretly in his mind, and then said, “Good morning, everyone.”
With a bit of trepidation, the students replied, “Good morning, Professor.”
“My name is Siles Noel; you can call me Professor Noel.” Siles gave a very brief self-introduction. “Next, we enter the main topic of the class.
“In the first class, I will use some time to introduce the literature and related theories of the Silence Era, as well as the specific content of this course afterward, including three famous Silence Era writers.
“Some of you should be second-year students who have already undergone one year of basic education, but you can also use this opportunity to review past learning content.
“As for freshmen, I hope you have enough patience to understand literature related to the Silence Era. Literature is always a very fascinating subject.”
After Siles introduced some information generally, he said, “Regarding the Silence Era, can anyone give a brief introduction?”
After a moment of silence, a young girl tremblingly raised her hand.
Siles looked at her, paused for a moment: “Miss Annette Melvin, please speak.”
Annette Melvin wore pince-nez glasses, her hair neatly tied in a ponytail, with some freckles on her face. She looked like a very rigid, serious good student, but when she stood up to describe the Silence Era, her voice trembled slightly.
…It seemed she was somewhat afraid of Siles Noel, this strange and aloof professor.
She said: “The Silence Era… was from about a thousand years ago to four hundred years ago. The ‘Silence’ of the Silence Era refers to the fall of Gods, but humanity in the Silence Era created a very brilliant fire of civilization at that time.”
Siles nodded at her.
The Silence Era lasted for a total of six hundred years. The dividing point with the previous Shadow Era was the fall of the first God in historical records. That God was known as “The Happy Drunkard,” God of Wine and Pleasure, Elco.
Regarding the death of this God and the cause of death, there are many disputes in the historical circle, difficult to list. But everyone regards the fall of this God as the beginning of the Silence Era.
“Miss Melvin’s explanation mentioned two very important elements in our Silence Era literature.” Siles turned around and wrote two words on the blackboard, “Gods, and Humans.”
The students started writing, writing down these two words in their notebooks or draft paper as well.
Siles paused, then continued: “The impact of the fall of Gods on human ideology is unparalleled. Before the Silence Era, people usually didn’t think Gods could fall.”
Speaking of this, Siles almost subconsciously thought of the manuscript left by Professor Cabel, and the lines of words scribbled by Professor Cabel on the manuscript.
He said slowly: “In fact, many believers fell into madness and despair at the moment of the Gods’ fall.”
The students nodded one after another.
So Siles said: “This explains the two extremes of Silence Era literature: for the believers of Gods, the Gods they believed in fell one after another, and the works and written records they left behind were filled with that kind of crazy fear and disbelief.
“Some studies call these written works… ‘mental contamination.’ Because overly strong personal feelings make people empathize, imagining how the believers of the Silence Era lost themselves due to the fall of their faith.
“These texts—including manuscripts, diaries, letters, archival records, etc., cannot be called perfect literature, but they are also a part of our research. Because that aptly makes us realize how incredible the production of another batch of literary works is.”
Although saying incredible, Siles’s tone remained flat.
But the students listened attentively, perhaps because Siles’s bland tone washed away the usually unapproachable distance on him.
“Another batch of literary works, which are also the works studied by the vast majority of scholars, are works about ‘humans.’ Gods fell, but the fire of human civilization became more vigorous and flourishing instead.
“The Silence Era was a chaotic era of great development. On one hand, Gods fell, but on the other hand, this also meant the shackles that had always bound human civilization were unlocked. Sacred texts related to Gods gradually lost people’s hearts, while secular texts slowly monopolized the market.
“The novels on the market now appeared during the Silence Era.”
A student seemed fascinated and boldly asked, “Professor, were there no novels before the Silence Era?”
Siles glanced at him: “Mr. Jacob Bellman, I am very happy to answer this question. The answer is: indeed no. I mean the kind of fictional popular novels you can buy in bookstores now.
“Narrative records about Gods, and related derivative descriptions based on the deeds of Gods, believers, etc., these existed. But those cannot be said to be completely fictional works.
“This conclusion I reached is based on current academic research. In fact, some historians believe that in the Empire Era, genres such as ‘marketplace novels’ and ‘bedtime stories’ should have already existed.
“However, the Gods’ control over human ideology was extremely extreme at that time, so this part of the material has long been wiped out under the control of some churches.
“Only some rare records are scattered in letters or other records of different ordinary people. Among them, words like ‘enclosed is a copy of the story I was reading yesterday’ are mentioned.
“This part of the research has only slowly been born in recent years. In the past, people were more interested in relatively traditional ‘heroic characters’ such as emperors, ministers, countries, Gods, believers, popes, armies…
“But now historians are gradually starting to study the ordinary life of an ordinary person at a certain point in the past. If you are interested, you can look for some historical works with a micro-perspective in bookstores.”
Siles glanced at his pocket watch: “We have expanded a bit too deeply on this issue.”
He heard the students under the podium whispering, seemingly talking about Antinam.
Indeed, compared to those Gods before the Mist Era, Antinam was a very tolerant and kind God. In Siles’s memory, He never had any deeds of intervening in the internal affairs of human empires or controlling human ideology.
Most of the time, Antinam was like a mist, just floating quietly around humans, recording and witnessing everything that happened.
Just like His godhood. He is the God of the Past and History, and should hide in the long river of the past and history.
Siles did not stop the students’ discussion. After a while, he clapped his hands and said, “Alright, let’s continue our class.”
Only then did the students gradually quiet down.
Siles continued: “I think you already have some understanding of the two types of literature in the Silence Era, and among the three authors we are about to discuss in class, two belong to these two camps.”
A student asked: “What about the remaining one?”
Siles smiled slightly: “This is a… I can’t say how legendary he is, but at least I think he is very outstanding.”
His mysterious tone immediately made the students forget the previous two writers, hoping Siles would talk about this last one in advance.
Siles shook his head helplessly and still introduced the first two—a believer, and a writer in the traditional sense.
The last one…
Siles said: “Conan Fremont, that is his name.”
Some students who knew something about the Silence Era literature recalled and said in surprise: “I’ve never heard this name!”
It was Annette Melvin who thought for a moment and then suddenly looked at Siles: “Professor, is it the Conan Fremont mentioned in your thesis?”
Siles looked at this little girl in surprise, not expecting that she would have read his graduation thesis.
So he smiled slightly and said, “Yes, Miss Melvin.” He said, “Conan Fremont, he was once a devout believer, but after the God he believed in fell, he did not fall into a desperate situation of madness like other believers.
“He turned to literature instead, and in the last ten years of his life, wrote a very lengthy work, detailing all his encounters and psychological changes from birth to death. It is a very good work for studying human life in the Silence Era.”
“Then why have we never heard of this name?” A student asked puzzledly.
Siles shook his head and sighed slightly: “Because all surviving materials are incomplete.”
Someone exclaimed in surprise.
“The name of this work is ‘The Life of a Man Named Conan Fremont.’ Existing materials about this work, if interested, can be checked in the library in advance; of course, we will also cover it later.
“This book has a total of twelve volumes, plus a very long prologue, totaling thirteen volumes. And we have only found the prologue, Volume 1, Volume 5, and Volume 12.
“Part of it is Fremont’s manuscript, part is fragments of the first edition, and part is copied by others. Pieced together, we finally gathered the content of these few volumes.”
A student said: “Professor, you look very regretful.”
Siles nodded and shook his head again: “I hope new archaeological discoveries will appear in the future, or a collector or bibliophile can tell me that he has collected the complete works of this book.”
Saying this, he himself smiled at this thought.
Next, Siles returned to the topic of Silence Era literature, asking students to mention some relevant knowledge they knew, such as some famous writers, works, and even some historical topics.
In such a process, time passed quickly.
Siles dismissed the class on time at eleven-thirty, leaving more hurriedly than the students, looking as if he had something urgent to do.
The students were somewhat curious about the professor’s whereabouts, but no one expected that Siles left Lafami University directly after leaving the classroom, not even returning to his office.
He stopped a rental carriage at the school gate and went directly to the Lafami Central Cathedral of the Church of the Past.
The rental carriage was much faster than the public carriage, and he arrived at the cathedral about half an hour later.
There weren’t many people in the cathedral.
When Siles walked into the cathedral, he inadvertently thought, this is Tuesday noon; Brewer Darrow is busy getting engaged, students are busy having class, and he is busy solving the problem in his office.
People were busy, going about their own business.
It was still Archbishop Grosvenor who received him. This outwardly plain man was still wiping the base of the Antinam statue in the nave of the church on this day.
At the moment he saw Siles, Grosvenor greeted him with slight surprise: “Professor Noel! Why are you here?”
Siles felt slightly unaccustomed to the honorific used by Grosvenor.
The Duchy of Constance was indeed just a branch faction of the Church of the Past—but honestly, would even the Archbishop of the capital be so considerate and polite to a young professor?
Siles was troubled for a moment, but there was no time to think about these issues now. He bluntly explained the matter of the woman’s head statue in his office.
Grosvenor’s expression became serious instantly.
He said, “Professor, you are also an initiate Revelator, right?”
“Yes.” Siles nodded.
Grosvenor then said, “Then, please follow me. I will have an Revelator follow you to retrieve that out-of-control Time Trace.”
Out-of-control Time Trace.
Siles pondered this title, feeling that there were indeed countless mists of knowledge on the path of the Revelator.
Could Time Traces also lose control? Is the result of losing control an indiscriminate attack? Then what would happen if he really touched that statue?
Grosvenor probably saw the doubt in Siles’s heart, so while leading Siles to the rear hall, he said to Siles, “These are things you will learn on the path of the Revelator. Just follow the Historical Society’s courses step by step.”
His tone carried the tolerance and kindness peculiar to elders.
Siles hesitated and asked, “Archbishop, if I understand correctly, I can also solve such problems independently in the future, right?”
“Yes.” Grosvenor said, “Revelator possesses power, and also the danger brought by power. Therefore, we have the duty to keep such danger away from ordinary people.”
Saying this, he looked at Siles again and said in that consistent, peaceful tone, “However, you have only just started now.”
Siles whispered, “I understand.” He thought for a moment and asked again, “Archbishop, that apostate…”
“Bunyan is responsible for investigating this matter; he has already found some clues.” Grosvenor smiled slightly. “Thanks to the news you brought before.”
Siles didn’t know whether he should breathe a sigh of relief or be more nervous. Finally, he just nodded silently and said, “That’s good.”
They stopped at a superficial level on the topic of the apostate. Siles soon met the Revelator arranged by Grosvenor to solve this accident.
It was a young lady, also wearing a fitted knight suit, looking capable and calm. She looked at Siles, her gaze carrying peace and an indescribable distance.
She nodded slightly and said, “Catherine Kinsey.”
“Siles Noel.” Siles introduced himself, “Thank you for your help, Ms. Kinsey.”
Catherine Kinsey shook her head and said nothing.
Grosvenor watched Siles and Ms. Kinsey leave the church, his eyes carrying a deep, distant emotion. He gently placed his palm on his chest, murmuring, “My God…”
Siles knew nothing of this.
He followed Ms. Kinsey back to Lafami University via rental carriage again. They were silent all the way; both of their personalities were very dull and reticent.
Siles paid the fare, then said, “Ms. Kinsey…”
“Catherine is fine.” Catherine said simply.
Siles didn’t waste words either; he said, “Catherine, please follow me.”
The young lady wearing a knight suit followed behind Siles. The round trip took an hour, and it was currently the students’ lunch break, so they didn’t meet anyone while walking into the main castle to the fourth-floor office.
When Catherine walked into Siles’s office, she frowned.
Her gaze turned to the bookshelf in the office, and after a moment, she said, “Too dangerous.”
Siles wasn’t sure what she was referring to, so he remained silent.
Catherine came to the bookshelf, looked at the woman’s head statue covered by the rag, and then looked at the fountain pen.
Siles watched her gaze and felt a little surprised again. He said, “Catherine, these two items…”
“Both are out-of-control Time Traces.”
Siles was speechless for a moment, standing in his office, feeling instant bitterness—Professor Cabel! Look what kind of mess you left behind!
Out-of-control Time Traces were enough, but the materials in that low cabinet were the biggest headache for Siles. If Professor Cabel studied those things every day before leaving office, growing his spirituality daily, no wonder students in the college regarded him as a crazy old man.
Catherine did not reach out to touch those two out-of-control Time Traces directly but took out a translucent piece of paper from the pocket she carried.
Then, she unfolded the paper, forming a paper basket. She carefully covered the woman’s head statue with this basket, and then covered the fountain pen.
A moment later, she took back the paper. The two items seemed unchanged, but Catherine said, “Done. Their activity has been eliminated.”
Siles looked with some surprise.
He couldn’t control his curiosity, but this aloof Ms. Kinsey probably wouldn’t be willing to give him a detailed answer.
Catherine indeed didn’t say much.
She eliminated the so-called “activity” on the out-of-control Time Traces, and then said, “I will recover these two items to the Church. If no problems arise later, I will return these two items to you. But this might go through a very long observation period.”
Siles said cautiously, “These two items actually don’t belong to me, but to the previous owner of this office, Professor Cabel of the School of Literature and History.”
Catherine didn’t seem to care much about the true ownership of the Time Traces, but when she heard the name “Cabel,” she suddenly said with some surprise, “Cabel? Lloyd Cabel?”
Siles hesitated, then nodded, asking, “You know Professor Cabel?”
“His family reported him missing to the police. During the investigation, the police found out-of-control Time Traces in his home, so the case was transferred to us. We are investigating his interpersonal network.” Catherine said simply, “I didn’t expect him to leave a part here in the office.”
Siles didn’t expect this matter to take a sudden turn and circle back to Professor Cabel again.
So he said, “I still have some manuscripts left by Professor Cabel here. Does your investigation need them?”
Catherine shook her head and said, “I am not responsible for the Cabel disappearance case. A Revelator responsible for the investigation should come to ask later; you can give them to him then.”
Siles breathed a slight sigh of relief, realizing he could finally clear the things in the office.
The things left by Professor Cabel were truly untimely. If Siles were a powerful enough Revelator, he might be interested in understanding the process of Professor Cabel’s disappearance, but…
He was just a novice rookie.
Siles thought of something and asked again, “By the way, Catherine, I heard Professor Cabel’s teaching assistant is also unreachable. Is his disappearance related to Professor Cabel’s matter?”
“I don’t know.” Catherine replied coldly and simply.
Siles nodded, not disappointed.
He looked at Catherine. The young and powerful Revelator casually picked up the two items, put them into the cloth bag she carried, and then said goodbye to Siles.
Siles wanted to send her to the school gate, but she refused.
However, before leaving, she instructed Siles: “The two out-of-control Time Traces you encountered this time both have relatively primary activity, so they are not that dangerous.
“Remember, if you encounter items of unknown origin in the future, never touch them with your hands, nor stare for too long. You are also a Revelator. After taking the potion and entering the ritual time, you will slowly develop a wonderful sense.
“If you really encounter an out-of-control Time Trace that you cannot handle, seek help from the Church of the Past or the Historical Society as soon as possible.”
Siles nodded and said seriously, “I will remember.”
This was the second time someone told him that if he encountered danger, go to the Church of the Past or the Historical Society for help. Did this mean these two organizations were relatively positive official organizations?
When Catherine left, Siles let out a long sigh of relief, feeling that this accident was over.
If this matter were a novel, it would definitely appear anticlimactic. Because at the beginning, he was so panicked, but after Catherine came, she solved the out-of-control Time Traces so simply.
Just a paper basket, cover it, no movement at all, and then the “activity” was eliminated.
Mediocre, simple as pulling a white dove out of an empty black hat.
Siles believed that if he were in ritual time, he would definitely get more information because then he could see the wonderful blue radiance.
But just now, he watched helplessly like an ordinary person, powerless.
Siles gently closed his eyes.
He didn’t feel his self-esteem was hurt. He knew that at this moment, he was indeed a novice Revelator without such powerful abilities. But at the same time, he felt a burning flame ignite in his heart.
He suddenly wanted very, very much to understand the secrets of the Revelator and obtain the power of the Revelator. He wanted to… master such power, master his own destiny, and not be so powerless when facing the next out-of-control Time Trace, like a useless person…
Siles opened his eyes, his pitch-black pupils gazing quietly at the ordinary office scene in front of him, slowly making up his mind.
The dice in his brain rolled.
[Spirituality +1. Willpower +1.]
Siles: “…”
Willpower is fine, but why add Spirituality! Bad luck!
Siles stood up with a dark face.
It was already a sunny afternoon. Siles took off his suit jacket, rolled up his shirt sleeves to his forearms, and went to the second floor of the cafeteria for lunch in this slightly casual appearance.
After eating, it was nearly two o’clock. Siles strolled slowly back to the office, suddenly glancing at the necklace still quietly staying on the bookshelf.
There were three ornaments he hadn’t touched before; two had problems, but this necklace had no problem?
Siles scrutinized this necklace cautiously.
It looked indeed fine, just a simple necklace with an ornament hanging under the silver chain, made of some silver metal, shaped like a scale with one end heavily pressed down.
Catherine had discovered the problem with the fountain pen just now, and if the necklace placed here also had problems, she would definitely have discovered it. So this was not an out-of-control Time Trace.
…But was it a Time Trace? Or just a simple decoration purchased by Professor Cabel?
No, wait.
Siles was suddenly stunned.
He didn’t know Professor Cabel well enough, nor did he know what Professor Cabel’s daily habits were. But in his memory, he did remember Professor Cabel’s sloppy appearance in that major elective course.
Would an elderly man obsessed with academics, called a “crazy old man” by students, have the leisure to buy such a necklace?
But if it wasn’t purchased or obtained by Professor Cabel himself, why would such a necklace appear in the office? Was it a gift from someone else? But how could anyone give a necklace to an elderly professor?
Siles was full of suspicion but had no way to get an answer. He could only cautiously push the necklace to the corner with a pencil, planning to put this issue aside first.
At three in the afternoon, his apprentices arrived on time.
