"How did you find me here?" Bernadette looked at Ebner and asked a question she had asked once before.
Ever since the incident last time where Ebner had almost run into her while she was bathing, Bernadette had dealt with the permissions she had granted him for the "Dream Labyrinth Tower", making sure that it was impossible for him to locate her through it again.
Originally, Bernadette had not been capable of doing this, but after advancing to "Sage" and becoming a complete "information lifeform", she had easily understood the essence of that "permission" and modified it accordingly.
Because of your previous recklessness, you've already been deeply "contaminated" by the "Unknown". Once I exclude you from my "permitted" range, you'd end up in the same state as Flora Jacob in minutes…
And you still expect me not to be able to find you?
Ebner muttered a few words inwardly, while outwardly smiling as he said, "Although this place is some distance away from Kingster Street, there aren't many obstructions between here and my home. You've been standing by this window observing my place for quite a while now, haven't you?
"How could I possibly not sense that?"
This was not the true reason Bernadette had been located, but it was also a fact.
Bernadette's straight, long eyebrows twitched slightly. She did not continue on this topic and instead asked,
"Did you come to see me for something?"
Ebner nodded and replied, "I have a matter I'd like to consult you about…
"If you can answer my question, then I can equally answer one of your questions."
Bernadette's eyebrows lifted as interest appeared, and she asked, "What question?"
"I want to know where the storybook Roselle wrote, themed around the three items 'sword, mirror, and seal', is located."
Ebner had already asked "Lion" Leon about this question, but unfortunately it didn't know either, so he could only come to Bernadette to try his luck.
Bernadette, with her chestnut-colored long hair casually draped over her shoulders, did not speak and maintained her silence, seemingly thinking about something, while faintly, the "river of fate" flowed within her eyes.
After quite a while, she finally came back to herself, rubbed her temple, and sighed, "I 'retraced' my own memories, as well as all the intersections between my father's and my 'rivers of fate', and I did not find the existence of the storybook you mentioned."
She felt somewhat regretful, because this meant she would not be able to obtain the answer to something she cared very deeply about.
So you don't know either… Where exactly did Old Huang hide it?
As his thoughts turned, Ebner's tightly knit brows suddenly relaxed. He then extended his hand and "drew" the "Holy Sword · Bernadette" out of the void.
—After obtaining all of Alvin's memories, Ebner had become even more adept at simulating the abilities of a "Wanderer".
"I remember you once promised that as long as I held this sword, I could make one request of you, and you wouldn't refuse?"
Bernadette stared deeply at the long sword in Ebner's hand. She fell silent for several seconds, seemingly making certain associations and engaging in a bout of inner struggle, before finally nodding as if she had made up her mind.
"Yes… what do you want me to do?"
"I need you to transcribe all of Roselle's diaries from memory and give them to me," Ebner stated his request.
What Old Huang had done might not necessarily be told to his daughter, but it would definitely be written down in his diary.
Then, as if he remembered something, he added, "Don't worry, I won't hand the diaries over to Mr. 'Fool' for the time being… You can continue to trade with Mr. 'Fool' through Cattleya."
Hearing this, Bernadette—who had just quietly let out a sigh of relief—suddenly widened her ocean-like azure eyes. She sized up Ebner for a long time, her lips moving several times, before finally asking the question aloud:
"You and Mr. 'Fool'—can both of you read 'Rosellean'?"
"That's actually 'Chinese'," Ebner replied casually.
As he had said before, at his current level, many secrets no longer needed to be hidden.
What's more, he had already told Edwina about the matter of "Chinese".
"'The language of the Central Kingdom'? What does this 'Central Kingdom' refer to? Is it connected to the words 'home' and 'hometown'?" Bernadette pressed further.
Ebner smiled but did not answer. Edwina herself had yet to get an explanation of the "Central Kingdom" from him—did Bernadette think she could just freeload it with empty words? Impossible.
Bernadette also reacted at this point, realizing that this was not knowledge that could be obtained easily. After thinking it over, she felt she could take it slowly—there would always be something or some information that Ebner needed from her side…
If all else failed, she could take another risk and explore the "Pale Death" again. After all, within the imprints left behind by "Liu Bo", there also seemed to be knowledge related to "Chinese".
The meanings of the two symbols "home" and "hometown" were the results she had obtained from her previous risky expedition; she had simply not yet verified their authenticity with that Mr. "Fool".
Thinking of this, Bernadette's deep azure eyes shifted slightly, as if she had fallen into a memory. Only after quite some time did she come back to herself, glance at Ebner, and say, "He has many diaries. Transcribing them all will take some time."
Hearing this, Ebner very unceremoniously sat down on the sofa in the living room. He casually took out a tea set and tea leaves from the void, brewed a cup of Duke Red Tea, and then smiled as he said:
"No problem. I can wait."
Bernadette fell silent again for two or three seconds, then silently took out paper and pen, leaned over the table, and began transcribing.
In fact, as an information being, she could have opened up her memories directly, or created an "information package" for Ebner to read himself, but she subconsciously ruled out such methods.
One of the reasons was that once "Rosellean", or rather "Chinese", was incorporated into an "information lifeform"'s "database", it would mean that the "Hidden Sage" would also know it. In the future, if she came to understand the meaning of those characters, it would be equivalent to indirectly informing the "Hidden Sage", which was something she was unwilling to see.
...
Just as Ebner was visiting the "Queen of Mystics", Leonard also took a deep breath and was about to ring the doorbell of Dawn's house.
But at that moment, his expression suddenly changed, because the emergency contact item that "Red Gloves" Captain Soest had placed on him suddenly began to vibrate.
This was a device that would only be used when there was an urgent mission.
Leonard did not dare to delay. He could only lift his head and regretfully glance at the third-floor window before turning around and leaving.
Soon after returning to the underground of Saint Samuel Cathedral, Leonard learned the reason for the emergency summons:
"Count Gross, a great noble who believed in the Goddess, was assassinated. The four extraordinary bodyguards he had hired also died on the spot, and the killer used the methods of a 'Nightmare'!"
"This incident can be said to be extremely serious. A follower of the Goddess has died in a field that the Goddess's Nighthawks specialize in. If the culprit cannot be brought to justice, the impact will be enormous."
"The killer is very likely a 'Black Blade' of the Church of the God of Combat, or an agent planted by the Feysac authorities. They've probably already fled Backlund."
Listening to his colleagues' introduction of the case, Leonard's brows also furrowed, because in the process of Count Gross's "assassination", he saw far too many "coincidences".
(End of the chapter)