Chapter 160: Achieving Three Goals at Once

Chapter 160: Achieving Three Goals at Once

A knight who understood Dragonish, perhaps even one who had mainly used Dragonish during a crucial stage of his growth… No wonder the Psychology Alchemists want the notebook he left behind… Audrey understood somewhat. She gathered her thoughts and happily yet earnestly discussed the problems in the grammar with Michelle Deit.

Soon, they ended their conversation about the notebook, and Michelle began introducing the rest of his collection.

Time passed minute by minute. As the visit gradually neared its end, Audrey had originally intended to wait until next time before raising the request to buy anything, so that her purpose would not appear too obvious. However, the friendly atmosphere, as well as the natural groundwork she had laid through their conversation, made her keenly sense that this was an opportunity. She therefore used the power of the Lie necklace, letting an embarrassed blush color her cheeks.

“Mr. Deit, that Sauron royal helmet from the White Rose War is a fine object to commemorate my ancestor. I hope you won’t mind me asking whether I might purchase it from you. And also the notebook from the Twenty Years’ War. I greatly admire the knight who held Sunya Island, so I would like to own it as well.

“I know this is not the most polite request, but I hope you can understand my feelings. Of course, you have every right to refuse.”

Her eyes moved away slightly, half deliberately and half genuinely making herself appear guilty, hesitant, shy, and pitiful.

For an instant, Michelle unconsciously shifted his gaze away. His voice softened as he said, “I am a collector. I do not sell my collection.”

His tone and wording aren’t firm enough… The information I gathered earlier shows that he is a gentleman who cares deeply about reputation. Directly buying his collection with money is probably a method he cannot accept… The Psychology Alchemists didn’t have someone else complete this task. On the one hand, they wanted me to accumulate contributions. On the other, they were likely wary of the associate professor’s attitude in this area… I need to change methods… Before coming here, Audrey had already carefully formulated different plans based on the information she had collected. After a brief thought, she directly changed the subject and asked, “Mr. Deit, I heard you are seeking to establish an antiquities research institute within Stoen University?”

“Yes. That has been my goal in recent years,” Michelle answered candidly, looking back at Audrey.

Audrey outlined a faint smile.

“I am very interested in this field of research, and I also respect you greatly. I sincerely hope to see your wish come true.

“Mm… I would like to donate one thousand pounds in cash to Stoen University, to your faculty, along with two thousand mu of land nearby and a manor with decent income, in order to preliminarily establish a public welfare fund dedicated to collecting and preserving antiquities. I know this is still not enough, but I will persuade the ladies and gentlemen I know to make their own contributions as well.

“Mr. Deit, you are the most professional collector and researcher of antiquities I know. Would you be willing to serve as the person in charge of this public welfare fund?”

Two thousand mu of land near the university was worth almost six thousand pounds. Adding the manor and the cash, Miss Audrey’s donation approached ten thousand pounds… With such a public welfare fund for collecting and preserving antiquities, the difficulty of applying for my institute will drop to the lowest possible level… Michelle fell silent for a few seconds, then revealed a sincere smile and gave a solemn bow.

“Noble miss, your respect for scholarship moves me. Its brilliance is enough to rival your beauty and your refinement. I believe I have no reason at all to reject your invitation.

“I have already copied the contents of that notebook. I will send it and that helmet to your residence tonight. Consider them gifts from a sincere friend.”

Success! Audrey’s heart filled with delight. She very much wanted to praise herself, but outwardly she remained reserved and serene, without the slightest breach of etiquette.

“That is my honor,” she said sincerely.

Although those two collectibles were certainly not worth ten thousand pounds, she would not lose anything through this exchange.

In her plan, this proposal contained three layers of purpose and three kinds of gain.

The first purpose was naturally to obtain the item, complete the commission, and successfully acquire the Hypnotist potion formula from the Psychology Alchemists.

The second was to use academic donation and the protection of ancient objects to maintain and elevate her reputation, status, and image. This was something most nobles and magnates did. Even without today’s donation, Audrey would contribute three thousand pounds or more each year to various charitable organizations. Therefore, she believed her father, Earl Hall, would not stop her from making similar arrangements with a small portion of the property under her name.

The third was that a foundation focused on collecting and preserving antiquities would easily come into contact with valuable historical materials and mystical items. Audrey would not need to appear personally. By merely sitting at home, she might obtain things useful to herself. In effect, she was using ten thousand pounds to leverage even more funds and establish a “force” of her own.

Of course, if Michelle Deit had not accepted that kind of exchange, she had other plans as well. The Kingdom’s Higher Education Commission had members connected to the Hall family and noble friends she knew. As long as the associate professor had needs in that area, she would inevitably find a way to satisfy them.

However, Audrey did not like that approach very much. It felt insufficiently honorable, as though it harmed the public interest.

After the matter was settled, Audrey stayed a while longer, chatting idly for roughly a quarter of an hour so that the conclusion would not appear abrupt.

Then she took her leave from Michelle’s house and returned by carriage to the Hall family villa in Stoen.

A little past eight that evening, she received the Sauron royal helmet and the notebook from the Twenty Years’ War as promised.

Audrey put on white gauze gloves, sat before the desk with great interest, placed the helmet to one side, and began carefully reading the notebook.

She discovered that the events recorded inside were all very fragmented. In the earlier portions, they mostly concerned how the knight stationed on the Ancient Elven Island learned to brew Sonia blood wine, how he pursued the surrounding ladies, and how he passed his boring days. In the middle and later portions, the notebook entered the period of the Twenty Years’ War, focusing mainly on cursing the Feysacians, complaining about his companions, considering plans for holding out, and so on. It ended after Sunya Island was lost for the first time.

“Other than grammar resembling certain Dragonish habits, there doesn’t seem to be any major problem. I can’t tell where a clue might be hidden…” Audrey frowned slightly and closed the notebook.

Just now, she had used mystical methods to examine it, but still gained nothing.

That made her reluctant to waste more time. She prepared to hand it over to the Psychology Alchemists as it was.

Yet as thoughts raced through her mind, a new idea suddenly appeared.

“Mr. Fool and Mr. Hanged Man always consider matters from different angles and offer suggestions. Should I learn from that?

“Mm… Let me think from another perspective. First, suppose the notebook’s contents have no problem. Then what the Psychology Alchemists are after is the notebook itself?

“What could be special about it? I didn’t find anything just now… It belonged to a knight accustomed to using Dragonish. That knight must have undergone some unusual experience… Divination. Yes, divination! Perhaps through divination, using this notebook as a medium, I can find that knight’s final whereabouts or his earliest traces. And that is very likely connected to a dragon!

“Since it is a dragon, there is a considerable chance that it is a mind dragon, a representative of the Spectator pathway. A clue related to it would indeed be worthy of the Psychology Alchemists’ attention…

“Audrey, this line of thought is excellent!”

Audrey’s eyes suddenly grew bright, as if obvious starlight was hidden within them.

She could not help turning her head to look at the large golden retriever crouching nearby.

Susie glanced at her owner and barked once.

“Audrey, do you want me to praise you?”

“No, no need…” Audrey, feeling somewhat ashamed, turned her head back.

Then she discovered an important problem: she did not know how to divine—or rather, the revelations she received from divination were very inaccurate.

I can’t verify it… No, I can still ask Mr. Fool for help! A secret deed ritual? That seems to work only on myself and not on external objects… Artificial sleepwalking? It’s similar to the secret deed ritual, so that won’t do either… Sacrifice it to Mr. Fool and ask Him to divine for me, then have Him bestow it back? No, that won’t work. It seems insufficiently respectful. He isn’t my father or my teacher; He is a true god. Using such a method feels too casual, almost blasphemous… Audrey’s train of thought gradually shifted from matters related to Mr. Fool to matters related to divination.

Although she was not very good at divination, she had a certain understanding of the corresponding mystical knowledge. Very quickly, she locked onto one broad category of divination methods.

That was the kind of method that used a ritual to request answers from a third-party power—an unknown, mysterious existence. The most typical example of such methods was “magic mirror divination.”

“Mm… This is indeed very dangerous, but the danger lies in the fact that the entity one prays to may be malicious, or that merely making contact may cause one to collapse. I don’t have any such concern at all. I’m praying to Mr. Fool!” Audrey blinked once, suppressing the excitement in her heart. She turned to the golden retriever and said, “Susie, go guard outside the door. I’m going to use a mystical method to examine this notebook.”

“Didn’t you already use one just now?” Susie asked in confusion.

She’s getting harder and harder to fool… Audrey’s eyes shifted, and she said frankly, “I’m planning to try ‘magic mirror divination.’

“Don’t worry. I have a safe object of prayer.”

“All right.” Susie confirmed that Audrey was telling the truth.

She walked a few steps, then turned around again and reminded her, “Audrey, be careful of being possessed by the projection of a mysterious existence.”

“I know,” Audrey replied, not worried at all.

In her view, if Mr. Fool truly wished to harm her, He had already had countless opportunities. There was no need to wait until now.

After Susie opened and closed the door herself and went outside, Audrey sat down at the desk, recited Mr. Fool’s honorific name, and applied to use the “magic mirror divination method.”

A little while later, Klein, aboard the Future, entered the washroom and went above the gray fog, where he heard Miss Justice’s prayer.

“This can be done too? Well, yes. As a mysterious, unknown existence, I can indeed serve as the third-party power in magic mirror divination…” Somewhat amused, Klein gave the response: “You may.”

Audrey immediately picked up the notebook, sat before the dressing table, and lit a candle facing the mirror.