Chapter 105: Magic Lock
Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

Staring at the young musician walking out of the darkness of the second floor, for a moment, an idea flashed through both Lilith’s and Sala’s mind: Mr. Evans was a sorcerer.

However, a second later, they felt a bit amused for having such silly thoughts. How could this young, talented musician who gained such vast popularity in Aalto be a mysterious sorcerer? That was ridiculous.

At this time, Lopez came into the living room followed by a bunch of servants who were holding candles. The whole space was immediately lit up.

“I’m Lucien Evans.” Lucien walked downstairs and smiled in a polite way, “I was told that you two came here because of an ancient manuscript?”

“Mr.… Mr. Evans! I’m Lilith. I… I like your music very much!” Due to her nervousness, Lilith failed to answer Lucien’s question properly, “For Silvia is my favorite! I’m… I’m very glad to meet you.”

Facing this talented and good-looking young musician, the young girl’s face flushed.

“Me too, Mr. Evans. I’m Sala.” Sala was calmer than his sister, “Symphony of Fate gives me a lot of encouragement, sir.”

Lucien smiled and nodded, “Thank you for your support. But can we talk about the manuscript first?”

Hoping that he could find more information about the Continental Congress of Magic, Lucien read lots of literatures and ancient manuscripts. He would not let any possible chance slip from his hands.

“Yes… Sorry, Mr. Evans.” Sala sniffed a bit and took out a pile of paper, “Here it is, sir.”

Lucien took the manuscript over and said to them, “Not a problem. Please sit down, so we can discuss together.”

Lilith sat back on the couch, still blushing. From time to time, she peeked at Lucien, who was absorbed in reading. Her heart was beating fast.

As usual, Lucien read very fast in order to have a complete copy in his spiritual library. However, a familiar sentence in the manuscript immediately seized his attention!

“When the sun entered Thanos’ Palace…”

Lucien was astonished.

Why did he see the same weird sentence twice within just a couple of months? What did the manuscript have to do with the poem that Mr. Deroni mentioned?

Thus, Lucien slowed himself down and started to reread the whole manuscript. The further he read it, the more shocked he was. Combining what he read before, in the princess’ study, Lucien gradually realized what that manuscript was about.

It was about the ruins of a magic site!

Calm as Lucien looked, there was a great turmoil in his mind:

“Floating mountains”, “grand cross”… Lucien remembered these words. He saw them when he was reading Astrology and Magic Elements. Opening that book in his spiritual library, Lucien turned the page to the last chapter, magic circles.

Just as he expected, Lucien found out that the manuscript described a wide and powerful magic veil called “Magic Lock”, which was mainly constituted by a series of Astrology spells.

Compared with the folk poem, the manuscript offered a more detailed description about how the city was destroyed by the falling meteors and how the weird, red liquid surged up from under the ground. Unfortunately, the manuscript was not complete. No explanation could be found on it regarding why there was a magic site built underground, or why a Magic Lock was placed around it.

The witch’s ancestors lived in Aalto many years ago. According to the witch’s notes, one of her ancestors was the student of a very powerful legendary sorcerer who was the lord of the city. Therefore, Lucien guessed that the magic site might have something to do with this legendary sorcerer, but he had no real evidence about it.

It had been more than half an hour since Lucien started to read the manuscript. During this time, Lucien did not say even a single word. Both Lilith and Sala felt a bit nervous.

Shocked as Lucien was, he pretended to be quite calm, “It’s not complete. Do you have the rest?”

“No.” Lilith shook her head, “This is not the original manuscript. As you can see, Mr. Evans, it has been translated into the common tongue.”

“I see.” Lucien put the manuscript on the table, then he said to Lilith and Sala, “I have a rough idea… This manuscript is about some underground magic ruins, and I can do a rough calculation to locate where the ruins were, based on the geographic and constellation features the manuscript provides.”

“Awesome!” Sala and Lilith exclaimed at the same time with great surprise.

After Lucien finished his explanation, Lilith was even more excited, “Thank you so much, Mr. Evans! This will help…”

“Li… Lilith,” Sala directly cut his sister off with a couple of fake coughs. Then, he stood up and said to Lucien with respect, “Mr. Evans, thank you for telling us the story behind the manuscript. How much we shall pay you for this?”

“One Thale.” Lucien smiled. Since he was about to leave Aalto after the music festival, he wanted to save more right now, although he already had saved thirty Thales from working for the princess and all the rewards he received. That was already more than what a commoner could earn for their whole life.

“For sure.” Sala slightly bowed to Lucien. Then, he pulled out the money bag and handed Lucien a Thale with great respect.

“As the city gate has been closed, ” Lucien smiled to them and invited, “if you don’t mind, Lilith and Sala, you are welcome to stay in my manor tonight.”

………

After having dinner, Lucien asked Mr. Lopez to take Lilith and Sala to their guest rooms.

Standing in the center of the living room, Lucien watched the two young visitors leave. His shadow was shivering on the floor because of the candlelight.

Lucien was very concerned with this great coincidence. He just heard the folk poem from Mr. Deroni a couple of months ago, and now he had guests finding him on their own and bringing that precious manuscript. That was too big a coincidence in his eyes.

Lucien thought it might be a trap from the night watchers. However, he had to admit that he was also greedy.

Lucien’s spiritual power had reached a peak within the level of senior apprentice. Up to a couple of weeks later, Lucien should be able to make a breakthrough to become a first circle sorcerer. Right now, all he needed was several kinds of magic materials for his advancement.

Lucien once read from another book that, around most of the magic veils, there would often be magic gardens, since the plants and other materials there would be exposed to magic power all the time. Many of them should be on Lucien’s list.

Also, he didn’t need to step into this Magic Lock. The magic garden should be just outside of the veil.

According to the sentence “when the sun entered Thanos’ Palace…”, the best time to approach the Lock should be on the tenth day of the following month, the equivalent to April on his original world. Actually, one should approach the magic veil at midnight of April ninth, when the silver moon swung to the summit of her travels. At that time, the sun should be close enough to the constellation called Thanos’ Palace. Obviously, though, people would not be able to see the sun from the magic ruins, since it would be night time.

After a long time of struggling, Lucien finally restrained himself from being impulsive and greedy. After all, exploring the ruins of the magic site would require a lot of preparation from him. At the very least, he would need to collect more related books and notes to get a better understanding of this “Magic Lock”.

Obviously, right now Lucien was not prepared for it. He decided to be more cautious and to wait for a future chance.

…

Lilith and Sala did not sleep well last night, half because of the excitement, and half because of the manor, which made them feel a bit creepy.

As the revelation of the secret of their manuscript took way less time than they thought, when Lilith and Sala went back to Aalto, they decided to stay in the city for the music festival and then head for the small town named Bonn, which was close to Elsinore Lake.

Although Sala still felt a bit concerned about the fact that staying in Aalto any longer might bring them unnecessary trouble, facing his younger sister’s eager request, Sala yielded. After all, he did not want to miss the great musical festival himself as well.

After Lilith and Sala left, Lucien also left his manor and went back to the Musicians’ Association to rehearse with the symphony orchestra.