Chapter 785: An Intruder
Trantor: TransN Editor: TransN
After Scroll withdrew, there was nobody in the office except him and Anna.
Rnd opened the halfpleted textbook, nning to finish thetter half, but words seemed to elude him. For a long time, his quill in the air, he did not write a single word.
Rnd noticed that he always involuntarily looked in Anna’s direction, as though his eyes were glued to her.
"What’s the matter?" Sensing his gaze, Anna put down the parts she was working on and smiled at Rnd.
"No, nothing." Rnd slightly shook his head. "If you feel bored here, we can go to the backyard of the North Slope Mountain."
Anna curled up her lips into an imperceptible smile. "I don’t feel bored at all. I can finish the work here. Most importantly, I don’t mind where I am as long as I can be with you."
These words might bring the color to a maid’s cheeks, but they just came out of Anna so naturally.
"Alright." Smiling, Rnd dropped the matter.
He knew Anna would never lie to him.
As Anna was the first witch with whom he got acquainted aftering to this world, Rnd knew her quite well. Apart from a few academic discussions and pillow talks, most of the time Anna was quiet and poised, particrly when she was focused on her work. Rnd did not think her a dull person in the least. Silence, to them, was also one means ofmunication.
Sometimes, a simple, asional eye contact was sufficient enough for them to understand each other.
Rnd decided to forget about the textbook for the time being. He put down the quill and started to study Anna’s face.
Her side face always fascinated him. Her ash brown hair, which had grown quite a bit, tumbled down, revealing only a tiny bit of her milky-white neck. The azure in her eyes was as clear aske water as ever. She was dressed in a puffy, pastel yellow sweater and a pair offy ck nnel pants, looking dainty and airy. Rnd was happy that he designed these modern apparels himself.
Since Anna had sliced the metal ingots (whoseposition had undergone a precise modification) into palm-sized cubes beforehand, she would only need to process them with ckfire in the office once they were delivered to the castle. Rnd was impressed by how fast those metal ingots be converted toplete parts in ckfire. To some extents, the conversion was more a performance of art than a in demonstration of Anna’s ingenious techniques and skills.
These little parts, which appeared to be so insignificant, would eventually be delivered to the nt and be one of the key parts of a machine or a weapon.
It was definitely not an easy task. Rnd knew very well that the length and the width of the ckfire were both needed to be controlled by Anna’s magic power. To summon several ckfires and direct them to cut from different angles would be even harder than using both hands to work on two separate tasks simultaneously. It required incredibly high concentration. Probably, only a person as hard-working as Anna was able to continuously dedicate to and eventually excel in this job.
The girl, who used to practice fire maniption in the castle garden, had undoubtedly changed a lot, but there seemed to be something still remaining the same.
The day slipped away unnoticed.
After night fell when Rnd sank into a slumber with Anna in his arms, the other world just woke up.
...
Yawning, Rnd turned to the calendar on his nightstand.
It was Saturday, October 14.
Although time went much faster in the dream world than that in the real world, Rnd did note to this world every night. As long as he was not dreaming, time was frozen here.
Breakfast was ready when Rnd entered the living room
"Why are you sote today?" Zero asked while chewing a fried dough stick.
"It’s a weekend. Grown-people have their nightlife, so it’s normal for me to sleep in." Rnd went into the bathroom and picked up his mug and toothbrush. "Are you going outter?"
"No, I’m writing my homework," the little girl replied. Then she said to him as much as to herself, "Nightlife? Come back home even earlier than me yet talk about nightlife. This old grumpy man is nothing but a loser with no friend or career..." Rnd knew Zero said it on purpose, for the mumble was just loud enough for him to hear.
He almost choked on his mouthwash. Rnd was very displeased to hear Zero call him "uncle", now his title had directly skipped to an old grumpy man? He looked himself in the mirror. His appearance was not so much different than in the real world. By the look, he could be no more than 23 or 24 years old. Although not splendidly attired, wearing only an undershirt and shorts, he could not be considered as a "loser" or an "old grumpy man" by any means.
Rnd med the child’s poor judgment.
He decided not to argue with the little girl but simply said, "In that case, I’ll leave my key here. I need to go outter, and you should open the door for me."
"Got it!"
By the time he brushed his teeth and washed his face, Zero had finished her breakfast and retired to her room.
Rnd waddled to the table and turned on the TV with the remote.
He needed to meet Garcia today.
Within several months, he had pretty much obtained all the necessary textbooks and materials and had shoveled them to the bedroom. The only work left for him now was to copy them. However, the search for other memory fragments met some obstacles.
No tenant in the Apartment of Souls was willing to let out his room. To this date, Rnd had only persuaded two tenants, but there was nothing valuable behind the Gate of Memory. There were over 2,000 residents in the apartment, but it was hard for Rnd to collectrge capitals just by selling armors, for armors are no real antiques. His act would probably raise as much attention from the police as he broke into someone’s residence.
After a full reflection, Rnd concluded there were only two possible ways: one was to increase his revenues and the other his reputation.
If he could be as distinguished as Garcia around Tongzi Street, he could then easily persuade his neighbors to move or rent his apartment. If he became financially capable, another solution would be purchasing the whole building.
Either way was a big investment, and currently, the more feasible way to ess such big funds seemed to be joining in the Martialist Association.
ording to Garcia, anyone who participated in hunting Fallen Evils would receivepetitivepensation. If a skillful and powerful martialist was willing to partake in the operation, the association would give him full support. When Garcia mentioned about the remuneration, however, she looked quite contemptuous, as if she slew Fallen Evils just to protect human beings rather than for the money.
Rnd spoke highly of her valor and gantry. He then inquired about the detailed rules pertaining to the rewards.
If truth be told, Rnd felt this organization, which boasted of responsibilities and personal dedication, sounded quite fishy. He somehow tasted conspiracies and shady underground business. Given that, he felt reluctant to work for them, and certainly would not work for them for free. He decided to be a member of the Martialist Association simply because this was hisst hope after numerous fruitless, vain undertakings over the past few months.
When it was 10 o’ clock, Rnd put on a suit and took off. Although they were going to meet up in Room 0827, Rnd felt it advisable to be formally dressed since this was, after all, an official application.
But no sooner had he stepped out of the room than he heard a screeching child’s scream behind him.
It was from Zero.
The shriek apparently startled Rnd. He turned around and found the little girl dash out of the room, frightened and unnerved.
"What’s the matter? Is there a mouse?"
Zero stammered out, "There, there’s someone in the room."
"Someone?" Rnd frowned and poked his head into Room 0825. He instantly stood rooted to the ground.
In the center of the living room, which had been empty just a minute ago, stood an unknown woman.