WCBD CH130

Chapter 130: The Power of the Scion

Chendo froze slightly, his gaze falling involuntarily on the stack of documents in front of him.

They were stranded on this empty wilderness, with only a rather dilapidated small town nearby. Outside this train car, people were bustling about, immersed in the joy brought by the card game, almost forgetting the predicament they and the world were in.

But Siles had never forgotten. He also knew that Chendo had never forgotten either.

After a moment, Chendo slowly let out a breath. He said, “Alright, let’s…” He still subconsciously paused, “…Let’s look at these documents together.”

Confirming that Chendo was fine, Siles opened the document in front of him. Chendo hesitated for a moment, but eventually reached out and took part of it to help Siles share the workload.

His hesitation stemmed from his identity as an Old God’s Scion, not from a reluctance to help Siles. In fact, he was already very accustomed to this sort of thing—reading alongside Siles.

Soon, Siles was engrossed in the reading.

According to what Grosvenor had previously said, Old Gods would only choose to fragment their authority and power and give it to other entities under very special circumstances. And those couldn’t be called descendants in the biological sense, but rather inheritors of power.

However, this power could be passed down through human bloodlines. This was why Chendo was called an “Old God’s Scion”. The power of the Old Gods combined with human bloodlines created this group of humans possessing divine power.

But, they couldn’t be called deities, nor could they be said to have “mastered” divine power.

Judging from various descriptions, as well as Siles’s observations of how Chendo used his power, it was more like they were “borrowing” the deity’s power, much like a child borrowing an adult’s belongings.

It was just that the deity tolerantly allowed this, rather than subjecting them to severe spiritual pollution upon encountering the power of an Old God, as happened to other Revelators.

…Or was it that the Will of an Old God’s Scion was strong enough to resist such pollution? A more accurate word might be: immunity?

Thinking of Chendo’s Will stat of 99, Siles couldn’t help but shoot Chendo a thoughtful glance.

Spirituality, Constitution, Will. These three corresponded respectively to Divinity, Divine Title, and Divine Name.

Chendo Praia. This name symbolized an Old God’s Scion, and at the same time, this name coupled with this identity constituted Chendo’s self-cognition.

From this perspective, his self-cognition was unique and difficult to influence, which indeed could explain why his Will was so high.

But looking at it from the perspective of an Old God’s Scion, the matter didn’t seem that simple either. The dice’s definition of this world made Siles suddenly realize that his three-element theory very much needed further exploration.

As far as the world was concerned, what significance did these three elements they possessed symbolize?

Siles noted this question down, but kept his primary focus on the issues related to Old God’s Scions.

In these documents, Siles couldn’t find any information regarding Ligadia’s Scion, which made him feel a slight sense of regret. However, he also noticed that the existence of Scions was extremely rare.

The thirteen Old Gods Siles was familiar with, at least on the surface, had never created any Scions.

But in reality, Ligadia did possess a Scion. Furthermore, in Jan Calder’s Gods and Believers in the Shadows, he mentioned that Thaddeus and Lusmi had once “conceived a child together”.

This was obviously a metaphor; perhaps it meant that Thaddeus and Lusmi had co-created a Scion?

However, death and stars. Siles found it hard to say what kind of power combining these two would grant that Old God’s Scion.

Moreover, even though Jan Calder’s various claims had been corroborated, one couldn’t say that all the information mentioned in that book was correct. Perhaps the information was a mix of truth and falsehood; Siles couldn’t ignore this possibility either.

Therefore, regarding this Scion of death and stars who might have already been forgotten by history, Siles always maintained a degree of skepticism.

Within these documents, Siles also noticed another incredibly crucial element: why would deities create Scions?

In some very ancient records, dating back as far as the Age of Divine Birth and the Age of Faith, people mentioned the “purity” of the deities. Because they weren’t pure enough, they needed to expel a portion of “impurities.” And creating Scions became a more convenient method to do so.

Regarding this so-called “purity,” the documents didn’t provide a clear explanation, only offering some ambiguous descriptions, such as the deity’s “aging,” “fatigue,” and so on.

Based on his own understanding of deities, Siles actually formed some hypotheses.

The power of a deity was directly related to concepts. For example, Akamara, the God of Dreams and Illusions, clearly had power connected to concepts like dreams, illusions, and reality.

In Akamara’s paradise, these concepts existed very vividly; even Akamara’s paradise itself was nothing more than this deity’s dream.

Even after the deity fell, the dream forged by power had still not disappeared.

Previously, Siles had formed a thought: to be “conceptually related” to everyone in the world, that is what a deity is.

Correspondingly, if one wished to be “conceptually related” to everyone, then this concept absolutely couldn’t be so vast as to be boundless, because then it might be impossible to find such a commonality across all of humanity.

For instance, life and death; everyone experiences life and death. For instance, stars and mountains; everyone can see stars and mountains. For instance, dreams and the sea; everyone can come into contact with dreams and the sea.

From this perspective, those thirteen Old Gods all possessed very distinct, yet also “ordinary” traits.

…They would expel a portion of unneeded, redundant “concepts,” and that was one possible reason why they created Scions.

This practice was more common among the older, weaker deities. Their power itself wasn’t very strong, so they needed this method of expulsion even more to keep themselves pure.

But those thirteen Old Gods, they probably didn’t need to do this. Because their power was already vast enough; even if there were some redundancies and impurities, it wasn’t a major problem. They were even less willing to sever their own authority.

According to Siles’s understanding of these thirteen Old Gods, they even wanted to devour each other, thereby expanding their own authority and sphere of power.

From this angle, the existence of the Praia family and the existence of that Scion of death and stars, became even harder to understand. What could make these Old Gods change their past practices, sever their power and authority, and create human Scions?

Another possibility mentioned in these documents was the special relationship between deities and humans.

That was something that existed in a more ancient era.

At that time, people worshipped the power of deities, but wouldn’t believe in or revere them so fanatically. Gods and humans lived together in this world; perhaps the gods were stronger, and humans were weaker.

In any case, during the Age of Divine Birth and the early Age of Faith, the relationship between gods and humans was more intimate. Gods had favored humans, and humans had gods they were devoted to.

However, in the mid-to-late Age of Faith, such things became very rare. The gap between gods and humans gradually widened; the power of the gods became increasingly vast, magnificent, and terrifying, causing humans to become increasingly terrified and prostrate themselves.

In that era when the relationship between gods and humans was still intimate, some tolerant deities would share their power with the humans they favored. That was somewhat similar to the “Blessed Ones” of later generations, but compared to the Blessed Ones, the power of this kind of “Scion” was more equal and gentle.

The power of the Blessed Ones was a gift from a deity, which could be taken back at any time (although deities rarely did so); the power of a Scion was a sharing from the deity, something the human could use for their entire life, and would even continue to be passed down through their bloodline.

Such situations did exist. This document included a mural from a cave dating back to the Age of Divine Birth, and a modern painter had recreated the image of that mural with more delicate strokes.

It depicted a fierce beast sitting side-by-side at a table with a human possessing beast-like traits. In front of them were likely other members of the tribe. Some archaeological research on this tribe proved that the fierce beast was the “Beast” God the tribe once worshipped.

However, a human sat side-by-side with this Beast God. This unbelievable phenomenon utterly shocked the archaeologists at the time.

…Of course, archaeology. These archaeological activities seemed to have taken place during the Imperial Era. The vast majority of the materials had already vanished. The historical gap of the Age of Shadows also caused most of these precious materials to be lost.

Siles felt deeply regretful about this. He knew the Church of the Past must have collected a portion of ancient documents, but even for the Church of the Past, the documents they collected were still incomplete.

Behind the Church of the Past stood the only deity in the present world. Therefore, this meant that what happened in the Age of Shadows was a massive, irreversible catastrophe. That was a scar upon this world, one that was difficult to heal.

Siles couldn’t help but sigh, then closed the document. He looked at Chendo opposite him and said, “How is it, did you find any useful information?”

Chendo shook his head. His reading speed was slower than Siles’s, though he hadn’t taken too many documents to begin with. He said, “There is no mention of the existence of the Praia family. There’s also no mention of the Scions of other Old Gods.”

Siles nodded thoughtfully.

He believed Grosvenor must have copied all the documents in the Church of the Past regarding Old God’s Scions and sent them over. However, these documents contained no mention of Ligadia, or the Scions of other Old Gods.

This meant that these matters were inherently unknown.

Previously, Chendo had said that even the Praia family themselves didn’t know which person in the family would be the Old God’s Scion. They also needed an “inspiration” from Antinam to realize it.

Therefore, it was also Antinam who told the Church of the Past about the existence of the Praia family, making the higher-ups of the Church of the Past pay attention to it.

He pondered what this meant.

On the one hand, Antinam seemed to know far too much about the past… Of course, He was originally the God of the Past and History, so it was perfectly normal for Him to know everything that happened in history.

But as a new god, for Him to know the stories of the Old Gods like the back of His hand, and to even know about the family of Ligadia’s Scion, seemed rather strange. After all, when Ligadia disappeared, Antinam had not yet appeared.

…No, it should be said, since Antinam was born in the Age of Mist, exactly why could He know the past so well? Was it because His power is this concept of “history”?

And this brought up two questions: The first question was, how could His “birth” be explained? This world was originally very ancient and had a long history; why did Antinam happen to be born right at the end of the Age of Silence?

The second question was, the matter of a deity’s “birth” in itself was already a highly special situation. He had a specific time and place of birth, just like an ordinary human born into this world.

…The birth of a deity? That made this deity far too much like a human. Not to mention, Antinam’s “History” Divinity was also very closely related to human civilization.

Was He really, as some people guessed, just a more powerful Revelator?

On the other hand, Antinam symbolized the past and history, but His actions—including sheltering humanity in the mist, having the Church of the Past keep an eye on Siles and secretly provide help, and informing the Praia family of the birth of the Old God’s Scion…

These actions all seemed to point invisibly towards the future.

If Antinam was a deity in the same sense as the Old Gods of the past, shouldn’t He let humanity continue to wallow in the past and history so that His power could be enriched?

Why were His actions completely out of line with the concept of His power?

Regardless, Antinam, the only deity in the present world, clearly also hid many secrets. Siles hoped to first unravel some of these mysteries before truly facing this deity.

He thought for a moment, then turned his thoughts back to the matter of Old God’s Scions.

This document provided two reasons for deities creating Scions: one was the deity expelling “impurities” from their power, and the other was the deity sharing their power with the humans they favored.

Neither could explain the existence of Chendo, nor the existence of the rumored Scion of death and stars.

Regarding Ligadia’s Scion, Siles actually did think of a plausible explanation.

That is, during the Age of Shadows, when Ligadia embarked on His journey, He decided to leave behind a branch of His power just in case—although Siles wasn’t clear on what exactly Ligadia wanted to guard against.

This practice was similar to Akamara leaving those six dolls in the paradise, and suspiciously also leaving a group of people in reality—such as that mysterious stall owner—as advanced preparation.

Of course, the premise of this speculation was that the Praia family indeed emerged in the Age of Shadows, sometime before Ligadia left.

If that was truly the case, then what exactly happened in the Age of Shadows that caused these deities to leave behind backup plans one after another became a much more complex question.

Could the “child” of Thaddeus and Lusmi have appeared for the same reason?

Siles shared his speculations with Chendo and asked, “Within the Praia family, is there any relevant saying about…” He weighed his words, “…making you do something, or future missions, or anything like that?”

“Future missions…” Chendo thought for a while, and finally shook his head honestly. “No, I’ve never heard of anything like that.”

Siles couldn’t help but sigh and said, “Then it seems even stranger.”

His gaze fell on those documents, and at the same time, he heard the dice prompt [Knowledge +1] in his mind. He thought to himself that this one point of Knowledge was probably based on the information from those more ancient eras.

Siles fell into deep thought, while Chendo couldn’t be bothered to think that much. He didn’t interrupt Siles’s thoughts, just quietly organizing those documents by himself, setting them aside, then propping up his chin and silently gazing at Siles. He always did this.

In this tranquil afternoon, time ticked by bit by bit.

Around three o’clock, the drunk repairman finally arrived, belatedly. He brought a group of people with him, and after inspecting the tracks, he said it might take a day or two to repair.

The passengers were already feeling irritated and distracted, so they couldn’t be bothered to argue much about this statement. There were indeed some impulsive passengers who questioned why it would take so long, but these questions received no reply.

Afterwards, this repairman actually did some serious repair work with his colleagues for a while, but as evening approached, he left on his own accord.

The sky was like a trembling orange flower; the florist carefully decorated the corners of the sky with petals. After eating dinner, Siles and Chendo went for a walk outside the train together.

They ran into Herd Dryson again. He looked much better and had become significantly calmer. However, his tone still carried that very neurotic feeling; the sudden blow probably still inevitably affected his state of mind.

He once again earnestly thanked Siles and asked, if he wanted to investigate matters related to the House of Hales, where should he go?

“Biedel City,” Siles said. “You can try your luck in Biedel City in Galsworthy.”

Regardless, the cities in Galsworthy were always safer than the outposts and villages in Glastone.

Herd only half understood. Siles gave him a rough explanation of some divisions and sectors of the Ashless Lands, and Herd finally understood. He thanked Siles repeatedly, but also revealed a rather awkward embarrassment.

That embarrassment seemed to say that Siles had helped him so much, yet he had no way to repay him, and it even further highlighted his own ignorance and weakness, causing him to feel increasingly uneasy and nervous. Before long, Herd said goodbye to Siles.

Siles watched his retreating figure thoughtfully.

Chendo said with slight displeasure, “You clearly helped him, but he has this feeling of…” He thought for a moment, “…wishing you hadn’t helped him.”

Siles said, “Perhaps he just doesn’t know how to handle this situation. But…” He looked in the direction Herd had left, and after a moment, added, “He is slowly stepping onto an unknown path.”

If he were in a safe city, this personality might be harmless; but at a crossroads of fate like this, such poor performance could be fatal.

Regardless, Siles was probably the best person he could find to ask for help; yet Herd maintained a hesitant attitude throughout, as if unsure whether he should let an outsider get involved in his family’s affairs.

He did tell Siles some information, but Siles had to actively ask for most of it himself.

After a moment’s thought, Siles shook his head, offering no further opinion on the matter. He merely said, “We’ll be delayed here for over two days. Good thing the schedule wasn’t that tight when we set out.”

“Indeed. That lady had great foresight,” Chendo said. He was referring to Professor Bella.

However, always staying in such an environment was indeed depressing.

Just during dinner, Siles even learned that the train’s fuel was running out.

Originally, this train only carried enough fuel for a one-way trip, plus a little extra; but now, they had been stuck here, and food supplies, hot water, etc., all required fuel, yet they still had to continue their journey toward Maltz.

There was only an inn and a dilapidated small town in the distance; even if they could find some supplies, life for the next day or two might be rather troublesome.

The passengers couldn’t help but sigh.

There were nearly a hundred passengers on this train in total. A gloomy atmosphere almost instantly enveloped the entire train.

Chendo asked Siles in a low voice if it was necessary for him to go further away to seek help, or to send a message to the Praia family to have them come pick them up.

“The tracks are broken; the only possibility is to use carriages,” Siles said calmly. “A carriage can seat five or six people at most. Adding luggage, do you plan to have people drive over twenty or thirty carriages? In this current freezing, snowy weather, that’s not very realistic.”

Chendo sighed and said, “Then what should we do?”

“The more likely solution is to fix the tracks quickly.” Siles also sighed slightly. “Tomorrow we’ll go to the town to check on the repair progress and the town’s situation. If the situation is very bad, then have the Praia family send people over to repair the tracks. I think they should have the capability to do that?”

“Of course, this is something believers of Ligadia often do—providing help to strangers on a journey,” Chendo said. “Then, everything depends on tomorrow.”

Siles paused slightly, then suddenly looked at Chendo.

Chendo asked, confused, “What is it?”

“Believers of Ligadia often provide help to strangers on a journey,” Siles said slowly, organizing his thoughts. “Chendo, remember what I said about the concepts of the deities?”

They were currently far from home on a journey, and were trapped in this wilderness. This perfectly fit the concepts related to Ligadia.

Chendo looked rather bewildered at the stationary train. Against the backdrop of the evening sunset over the snowfield, the grayish train appeared utterly ordinary. He pondered Siles’s words, then said, “You mean, this kind of scene easily attracts the power of a deity?”

“Yes. And at the same time,” Siles thought for a moment before saying, “don’t you think this is a very suitable scene for the power of Ligadia to exert its effect?”

“So, I can directly get us out of this predicament?” Chendo said thoughtfully. “I can directly use Ligadia’s power to let us continue our long journey? To fundamentally change this situation of being trapped?”

“At the very least, it’s worth a try,” Siles said.

They walked a little further away to the foot of the mountain, ensuring that no one would notice what they were about to do. Then, Siles pulled the necklace Chendo had given him out from his collar, unfastened it, and handed it to Chendo.

“Ligadia’s amulet. The [Safe Travels] ritual,” Siles said. “Perhaps this can provide some help.”

He thought seriously.

Chendo grasped the ornament, which seemed to still carry Siles’s body heat. He seemed to be scalded by something, his fingers trembling slightly. He gazed at Siles with such intense focus.

After a moment, Chendo said, “What I desire most is for you to leave this predicament.”

Siles froze slightly, then raised his eyes to look over. He saw Chendo’s emerald eyes, filled with a focused, deep affection and infatuation under the afterglow of the sunset.

Chendo whispered, “May I embrace you?”

“Of course, Chendo,” Siles said. “You don’t need to ask me. You can always do that.”

Thus, Chendo leaned in and embraced him, while simultaneously looking behind Siles at the stationary train and the broken tracks. He squeezed the amulet tightly.

He thought, if he truly wielded Ligadia’s power, if he truly was the Old God’s Scion of Ligadia, if he could possess the power to change the status quo… then he hoped this power would grant his beloved Professor Siles Noel [Safe Travels].

He closed his eyes slightly.

In that instant, a grayish-white mist suddenly swirled out from the amulet in his hand. The mist carefully circled him and Siles twice before flying toward the location of the train.

Amidst the colorful hues of the sunset, the invisible mist moved to the tracks and “stitched” the broken tracks back together in a few swift motions. Subsequently, the thick snow that had piled up on the tracks was gently swept aside by some invisible force.

When Chendo opened his eyes, it seemed as if nothing had changed, yet it also felt as if everything had altered.

He looked thoughtfully at the amulet, then breathed a slight sigh of relief. He hung the necklace back around Siles’s neck and muttered, “It’s useful. You have to wear it properly.”

It was just that, before this, neither of them had been able to exert the power of this amulet.

Siles asked, “Done?”

“Done!” Chendo said triumphantly. “The tracks have already been repaired!”

Siles couldn’t help but pause, exclaiming, “That is truly miraculous.”

He walked with Chendo to the vicinity of the tracks. Since the repairman left in the evening, no one had come to check on the situation here. Siles put on [Akamara’s Eyeglass Frame] and carefully observed the tracks, discovering that the broken section was now filled with a grayish-white mist.

Thus, the originally completely ruined tracks had been restored to their original appearance, and had even become sturdier and smoother.

The wondrous power of deities, he couldn’t help but think.

Not long after, people discovered that the tracks had become perfectly intact, but no one knew what was going on. Siles and Chendo mingled in the crowd, observing the confused and bewildered expressions of the people around them.

Right then, someone proposed a possibility: “Could it be that the repairman finished fixing the tracks but forgot to tell the conductor?”

“But didn’t he say it would still take a day or two?”

“Maybe the conductor misheard! What he meant was we’d only be delayed here for a day or two!”

“That’s possible! The people in this town have quite heavy accents, and that repairman was drunk; he might have slurred his words and not expressed himself clearly at all.”

“Good thing we checked again; otherwise we would have wasted another night.”

People chattered all at once, managing to logically explain everything away. However, the few Revelators mixed in the crowd, especially those from the Church of the Past, looked rather confused, all staring thoughtfully at the repaired tracks.

However, they couldn’t exactly say what was going on either; they merely felt a certain abnormal atmosphere.

…Perhaps, without any of them noticing, a powerful Revelator had repaired the tracks?

That seemed to be the case, but the good Samaritan hidden in the crowd showed no intention of stepping forward. Thus, this would probably become another bizarre legend of the railway industry.

People quickly swarmed back onto the train and urged the conductor to continue moving forward. The conductor looked utterly baffled; he even got off the train himself to look at the tracks. His face was full of disbelief; he couldn’t understand how the tracks, which were in ruins just a few hours ago, were suddenly perfectly intact.

He pondered it for a long time, and ultimately still couldn’t figure it out. He could only notify the attendants to confirm if all the passengers had returned, then start the train and continue heading toward Maltz. After all, he couldn’t stand another day trapped on a freezing train in a freezing snowfield either.

The ones who would be the most baffled were probably the repair workers coming to work as usual the next day. They would likely be faced with an empty mountain foot, tracks restored to their original state, suddenly melted snow, and this silent, empty snowfield.

However, that repairman who had been drunk the whole time would probably only suspect that he had drank so much he forgot what day it was and simply blacked out for a whole day.

“How long can those tracks last?”

Night had already fallen as the train started moving again. Siles specifically asked Chendo about this.

“It won’t last forever,” Chendo said. “I’ll notify people from the Praia family to come repair it later—to truly fix the tracks properly, not this fake restoration. Of course, if I remember correctly, according to the Grand Duke’s development plan, new railways will soon be put into operation, and this old route from Lamifa to Maltz might also be abandoned.”

Siles was somewhat surprised to hear this news.

But after thinking about it carefully, he realized this wasn’t really anything new. After all, this current train route was a bit of a detour, intended to avoid those lands that were once covered by mist, as well as some lands that were still covered by mist.

But now, the mist was gradually dissipating, and originally dangerous lands had become safe. Naturally, the Duchy would want to utilize those lands to build more convenient, direct train routes, while also developing more usable land for construction.

That was something intended at the Duchy level, and Siles was happy to see it happen. He changed the subject, “I understand. So, Chendo, did this attempt bring you any changes?”

Compared to Siles inheriting Akamara’s power, Chendo inheriting Ligadia’s power should have been much smoother and simpler; however, judging from Chendo’s behavior all along, he didn’t seem to have considered this matter much.

He thought for a moment with some trouble, and then said honestly, “There don’t seem to be any changes.”

He thought for a while longer before answering, “Using the power of the template and transcript, and using the power I just used, seem to each have their own limitations. The former has a broader range of applications and is also my familiar combat style. I can instinctively know what characters I need to use to engage an enemy, and can very habitually pluck out specific words and phrases. The latter, although more powerful, has specific usage scenarios, like the journey we were just trapped on. It’s difficult for me to immediately apply it to a combat scenario against others.”

Siles froze for a moment before realizing that Chendo was an explorer who had genuinely grown up through slaughter in the Ashless Lands. The essence of divine power that Siles was exploring was, to Chendo, merely a somewhat unhandy “combat style.”

He couldn’t help but laugh.

Chendo asked, confused, “What is it?”

“It’s nothing, Chendo,” Siles said. “I agree with your thoughts. However, since it is a brand-new way to use power, you can also try to use and explore related possibilities. That will greatly enhance your combat flexibility.”

“Of course, I will do that,” Chendo said.

The train was slowly accelerating. People had all returned to their own cabins to rest. They had spent an extra day on the train, but fortunately, this didn’t exceed their expectations too much. Long-distance travel in this era was prone to accidents anyway.

Siles’s gaze watched the rapidly passing scenery outside the window. In the hazy night, he felt his thoughts also become very peaceful.

He thought for a moment, then said, “If you can find Tauohetia Cemetery, perhaps what just happened will allow you to make some good discoveries there.”

This was in comparison to Siles’s encounter in Akamara’s paradise.

However, Siles also added, “Of course, it’s also possible that Ligadia’s power is different from Akamara’s.”

“I hope to find Tauohetia Cemetery,” Chendo said. “I hope there will be some discoveries when we go back this time.”

Siles also nodded.

Afterward, they each went to rest. The next morning, they arrived in Maltz. The long-unseen Maltz.

Professor Bella went to buy tickets first, but she also said she would definitely buy tickets for tomorrow afternoon, allowing the group to rest and reorganize in Maltz for a bit. Professor Bella’s assistant, a rather introverted and steady young man, went to inquire about suitable hotels nearby, then led them over.

It wasn’t the Levi Inn where Siles and Chendo had stayed before, but it was also a nice hotel, named the Conrad Hotel. This hotel was elegantly decorated and had quite a few rooms; after all, it had to accommodate the twenty-seven of them staying together.

Chendo followed along with them and paid out of his own pocket to book a twin room. Because of this, the lady behind the counter specifically confirmed, “Do you need a twin room?”

“Yes,” Chendo said expressionlessly.

He actually really wanted to book a double room, but… forget it. His beloved deity was still quite reserved.

Not far away, Lorenzo and Chester cast meaningful glances and quickly began muttering something to each other due to their mutual understanding.

Siles didn’t notice these things, because he was otherwise noticing that Bunyan, not far away, seemed to be staring at Doctor Chester for a long time. Of course, the Knight Commander Bunyan didn’t make this action too obvious, but Siles did notice.

Siles thought for a moment, and taking advantage of the moment everyone was carrying their luggage upstairs, he walked up to Bunyan and asked quite frankly, “Bunyan, I noticed you keep looking at Chester?”

Bunyan was startled, then smiled helplessly. He said gently, “Yes, Professor Noel. It seems I made it too obvious. However, I originally intended to find a time to converse with that doctor. If you could find an opportunity to mention this to him first, and then introduce us, that would be wonderful. I’ve also been having a headache over how to communicate this matter with him honestly.”

“Because of the issue of his background?”

“Yes. We are heading to Middleton, after all,” Bunyan said. He additionally clarified, “I don’t want you to misunderstand us, Professor. We are indeed investigating the doctor’s past, but that is also due to some rather special factors. In short, we don’t suspect Doctor Chester is involved in some conspiracy or anything, but rather… that mother of his actually had a certain connection to the Church of the Past. We merely discovered the doctor’s existence by accident and were surprised by it.”

Chester’s mother. From Middleton, gave birth to a child of unknown origin in a foreign land, and was connected to the Church of the Past?

Siles thought for a moment, and couldn’t help but say, “Truly full of secrets.”

Bunyan nodded affirmatively. They had reached the third floor; this entire floor was comprised of rooms for their group. Bunyan then said, “It’s time for a good rest, Professor. Perhaps we will have more time to sort these things out later. If you need anything, you can also let me know.”

Siles was just thinking he didn’t need anything, but then suddenly spotted a relatively familiar face in the team. He hesitated for a moment, then said, “Is Lloyd Hobbs a knight following you, Bunyan?”

Bunyan was somewhat surprised to hear this name. He subconsciously looked over at one of the young men in the knight order, then nodded and said, “Yes. He is an excellent young man. What is it?”

Siles said, “I know his younger brother, Darrell Hobbs; we are on good terms.”

Knight Commander Bunyan nodded in understanding. He smiled and said, “I understand what you mean, Professor. I will help keep an eye out for a suitable position for Lloyd. Speaking of which, he has also been training in my knight order for a long time; it’s time for him to complete some tasks independently.”

“How are his abilities?”

“He is indeed a fine young man,” Bunyan said sincerely. “You can rest assured.”

Siles also breathed a slight sigh of relief. Even though he intended to provide some help to his companion’s family member, this help couldn’t be too biased. He hoped that for Lloyd Hobbs, it would just be an unexpected but completely justified stroke of luck.

He thanked Bunyan.

Bunyan smiled, signaling that he didn’t need to be so polite. Afterward, they bid each other farewell and headed to their respective rooms. Lamifa University and the Church of the Past had provided a large sum of funds for this academic visit, so they each received a single room.

Therefore, Siles could very naturally go to Chendo’s room, rather than sharing a cabin properly with Lorenzo like on the train.

However, he still lit the fireplace in his own room and then took a bath. Although it was still morning, after being on the train for over two days, the slightly germaphobic Siles was already somewhat unable to stand it.

Soon, he put on a bathrobe and rubbed his hair dry in the warm room. There was a knock on the door; it was Chendo. He asked, “Are you there?”

“I’m here,” Siles said. Thinking Chendo had some urgent matter, he walked directly over to open the door for him.

“Some of the passengers from our train are also staying here; they said they’re holding a celebration banquet tonight…” As he spoke, Chendo suddenly stopped short, his gaze fixed on Siles.

Siles had just finished bathing and was only wearing a bathrobe. His hair was still dripping wet, water droplets falling from the tips of his hair, sliding past his cheek, neck, and collarbone, leaving a trail of water on his pale skin before finally vanishing where the lapels covered him.

His attire was always proper, meaning he always wrapped himself in tailored dark suits, looking respectable and serious, exceptionally introverted and steady, almost keeping people a thousand miles away. This was the first time Chendo had seen him appear dressed like this.

Even though he had seen Siles right after a bath before at the House of Hales, that was when he was fully dressed, not like now, just wearing a bathrobe with the hot steam rushing at his face…

…Chendo subconsciously swallowed, feeling he didn’t even know where to put his eyes.

Siles was also momentarily taken aback, then reacted, looking at Chendo with a half-smile.

Meanwhile, the tips of Chendo’s ears were flushed red, even though his skin tone was slightly darker. This skin tone hid the heat on his cheeks, making it not very noticeable even when he was embarrassed.

However, Siles could certainly see the truth in Chendo’s gaze.

After a moment, Chendo coughed and said, “Y-you go inside first. It’s still very cold in the hallway; don’t catch a cold.”

“…Of course,” Siles said. He took two steps back to let Chendo into the room, then reached out and closed the door.

“I just came to tell you that they seem to be planning a banquet tonight. Professor Bella probably saw how much they suffered on the train and agreed to it. So, why don’t you go check it out tonight too? You can relax a bit.”

Siles casually picked up the towel again to dry his hair. He said, “I see. We can go take a look together.”

Chendo also nodded. He leaned against the sofa as if nothing had happened, and after a while, suddenly sighed. He said, “Alright, alright… Have some pity on me.”

Siles stopped drying his hair and looked up.

Chendo said in a low, hoarse voice, “Look at how much I desire you.”

“What do you need me to do?” Siles asked.

“…Kiss me,” Chendo said slowly. “At least kiss me.”

Siles laughed and said, “I was just wondering how long you could endure.”

“I can’t endure for a single second,” Chendo muttered.

“As you wish,” Siles said. He walked over. Chendo was already sitting on the sofa, head raised, gazing at Siles intently. When Siles leaned down to kiss him, his hands shifted restlessly for a moment, then gently rested on Siles’s waist.

He felt ecstatic because of this intimacy. He loved the feeling of being enveloped by Siles’s scent.

After a moment, Siles released him. Chendo felt the water droplets from Siles’s hair drip onto his neck, then slide all the way down the undulating muscles. He felt completely uneasy all over.

He added, “I had already taken a bath before I came over. It’s just that I bathe a bit faster than you.”

“Can you wash clean that fast?” Siles pretended not to understand Chendo’s meaning.

Chendo let out a sigh of lament and continued his efforts: “Want to check for me?”

Siles chuckled lowly. He said, “I believe you can wash yourself clean. Inside and out.”

Chendo processed this for a second, then stared at Siles dumbfounded. Meanwhile, Siles casually let him go and continued drying his hair. After a while, Chendo rolled over and lay face down on the sofa.

Siles looked up at him and asked, “What is it?”

“…I don’t want to hear your voice,” Chendo said sullenly.

“Why?”

Chendo indignantly patted the armrest of the sofa. “I don’t believe you don’t know why.”

This time Siles was truly amused. He said, “Alright, Chendo. I’ll give you some time, at least enough for you to roll over again and sit there properly. Need me to say a few more words?”

Chendo: “…”

This is a really difficult choice to make.

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