Chapter 176 - Pipedream

Chapter 176: Pipedream

Sir Philip was walking on the edge of the fields, where it was hard to pass through, as it was muddy after being drenched in rainwater. By using the Beyonder’s powerful physical attributes and coordination, he had been moving in this area for some time.

This was the field beside the castle, and according to the laws, the field belonged to the feudal lord, and the serfs farming here belonged to the Kant Clan too. Right now, the harvest was already completed, and the straws were all burnt. The field no longer had any serfs that were busy working.

This field was fertile and contained unbelievable magic.

Sir Philip was born from a serf family but was a well-bred noble knight; however, this didn’t mean that he didn’t know about agriculture. A low-status noble like the knights would regularly have ties with agriculture. He would have to personally manage his own farm and to personally supervise the farm crops’ harvest and the sowing of the seeds (although the farm had already vanished along with the old Cecil territory with the huge flame). As such, he was able to discern the quality of the soil and whether the soil contained enough magic to grow new magic medicine crops.

He crouched down beside a piece of farmland and placed his hand above the muddy soil. A thin radiance floated out from the soil and vaporized in between his palm and the soil. The young knight frowned in response.

Just as he guessed, the magic didn’t come from the soil itself and came from some external source. A certain external factor was influencing the magical balance of this region, causing a nature-defying phenomenon of rich accumulation of magic.

Philip stood up and looked at the ancient castle that was situated on the hill and wasn’t far from this place. He had already inspected many farmlands and realized that the closer the farmland was to the castle, the more obvious the accumulation of magic. The few patches of soil that were closest to the castle were the places where magical crops were grown.

Without the spells from Druids, it wasn’t easy for ordinary soil to grow magical crops naturally. As humans excavated the land thoroughly, the magic contained in the soul would decline rapidly. If ordinary farmland would need to rest for one year after two years of farming, then farmlands that could grow magical crops would need to rest for at least three times as long before recovering. But in the Kant territory, the harvest of magical crops had been steadily increasing, and this was unheard of.

It was obvious that the castle was releasing sufficient energy waves to create an accumulation of magic. However, yesterday night, when Philip stayed in the castle, he had carefully sensed for but didn’t detect any magical response in the castle. He wasn’t able to sense any evil aura from an evil cult heretic.

…

Inside the Kant Clan’s ancient castle, Gawain was being personally led by Viscount Victor and the old butler Carter on a tour of this structure that had three centuries of history. They had just left a display room that had a luxurious collection, and when they were walking towards the library, Viscount Victor had a prideful expression as he introduced the history of this structure and also how his clan rose to power three centuries ago and how it was maintained until today.

However, Viscount Victor was already of a certain age and was much older than Butler Carter. Furthermore, because of a bad fall, he had problems with his body. Halfway through the tour for the guest, his stamina wasn’t able to keep up anymore.

The old viscount didn’t have a choice but to express his apologies and ask to be excused, saying that he was returning to his room to rest. Gawain naturally wouldn’t pursue this matter as he could still have a good tour of the place with Butler Carter as his guide.

The spacious and long hallway was now left with Gawain and an aged butler. The duo walked in the hallway that was decorated with tapestry and wall lamps while the latter carried out his responsibilities with diligence as he continued the introduction of the castle.

Gawain suddenly interrupted him, “Mister Carter, how long have you been serving the Kant Clan?”

“Almost fifty years, Your Excellency.” The old butler said proudly, “I have been taking care of this clan since I was a servant boy.”

Gawain nodded as he praised, “As an excellent servant, you must understand this place and the Viscount’s clan a lot.

The old butler nodded with reservation and said, “Yes, I understand everything here like how I understand my own limbs.”

“Yesterday night, I saw a tall tower opposite my room window. The tall tower was accompanied by a few small towers, and it looked very magnificent in the rainy night.” Gawain asked, “What is that tower used for?”

The old butler’s reserved and prideful face instantly turned stiff before he frowned. “Your Excellency, that is the north tower. Please pardon me for being rude, but I cannot bring you to visit that place.”

“North tower?” Gawain raised his brows and said, “Ah… When I was having a casual conversation with your master, I heard him mention that the Viscountess is residing in the north tower… I have been rude. But has the Viscountess been residing in that tower for many years? She doesn’t reside in the castle?”

“Sigh, after madam’s body deteriorated, she has been residing there.” The old butler shook his head and said, “She cannot see the light and cannot tolerate noise. The north tower is the place with the most tranquility in the castle.”

“I shouldn’t ask about others’ family matters, but I am indeed very curious about this matter.” Gawain continued to ask. For such private matters, others might be embarrassed to ask, but as a living martyr from seven centuries ago who revived, he wasn’t embarrassed. “Your Viscountess seems to be much younger than the Viscount.”

“The Viscountess married over ten years ago.” The old butler paused for a moment before responding to Gawain. “Before that…”

While speaking, the old butler revealed a reminiscing expression. “The original Viscountess passed away because of an accident, and the Viscount had been alone for many years. We are happy he could walk out from the horrifying tragedy.”

Gawain revealed a curious expression. “Accident? What kind of accident?”

“My apologies, Your Excellency. I cannot continue discussing this matter with you.” The old butler finally refused to answer. “This isn’t part of my responsibility.”

Gawain didn’t mind and laughed. “It is fine. I am the one that asked too much. Let us continue the tour. I am the most interested in places like the library.”

During the evening, Amber and Philip who had been investigating for the entire day had returned to Gawain.

“Your Excellency, the soil does have the phenomenon of abnormal magic accumulation.” Sir Philip gave his report first. “The phenomenon’s core is this castle, but the strange thing is, apart from the accumulation of magic, I don’t feel any abnormal magic waves from the castle. I cannot feel any evil aura of evil cult heretics either.”

“The information that I found out is much scarier than your information.” Amber looked at Philip with a proud expression before intentionally lowering her voice and reported to Gawain with a dark and eerie tone, “The people outside said that the Viscountess—”

Before Amber finished her words, Gawain said, “Should be long dead, right?”

Amber was suddenly startled and glared at Gawain, “You stalked me?!”

“Just a guess.” Gawain laughed and said, “Such stories always develop in this manner. Alright, I won’t interrupt you. Continue.”

Amber curled her lips and felt that the atmosphere that she brewed earlier had been disturbed, but she still obediently reported of the things she found out. “This is a rather sad sob story. A few decades ago…”

When Amber finished saying everything she found out, Sir Philip couldn’t help but press on his chest. “It is truly pitiful… Fate is always unfair to many things.”

“If the Viscountess perished decades ago, then the person you saw yesterday night must be a ghost! Or it is a ‘person’ that was ‘revived’ using a particular method by our friendly Viscount Victor.” Amber spoke in an eerie tone, and as she continued talking, she was so frightened that her entire body had goosebumps. “Viscount Victor must be unable to accept the fact that his wife had passed away and was led astray by the evil cult heretics. He then used a sorcery to revive the dead or to summon the soul into a dead body. He must be capturing refugees to maintain the ritual… Stories are always like this! Belch… What a scary story!”

“You tell a ghost story and scare the daylights out of yourself. If you are timid, then don’t learn from others. And lower your voice.” Gawain looked at the disgrace to the elves and shook his head. “That Lilith Kant shouldn’t be a departed spirit.”

Amber and Philip asked in unison, “Why?”

“Departed spirits don’t have such a high intelligence, and she doesn’t have any presence that is similar to departed spirits. Most importantly, departed spirits aren’t able to say their own names. That Lilith Kant actually spoke her name clearly. I have also confirmed that the name is real.” Gawain spoke slowly, “The various signs indicate that Lilith Kant isn’t a departed spirit.”

Amber sized up Gawain and said, “It isn’t as convincing when you are the one saying it. Who said that the revived person must be a departed spirit? Aren’t you a living exception that can speak your own name? What if Viscount Victor had also found an incredible shadow grandmaster like me to lift his wife’s coffin…”

Gawain raised his hand to interrupt that elven disgrace’s train-like behavior while saying unhurriedly, “Don’t be in a hurry to speak of your verdict. I have some findings too.”

“You have some findings?” Amber asked, “What did you find?”

“Today, when I mentioned the Viscountess to the castle’s butler, he didn’t hesitate to respond to the question and said that the Viscountess was married to Victor Kant ten years ago. The previous viscountess had already passed away from an accident.” Gawain said leisurely, “At the same time, I had also paid attention to the conversations of the servants in the castle and had also privately spoken with a few of them. I realized that all of them have the same understanding.”

Philip’s expression turned stern and said, “Yesterday, no one in the castle talked about the ‘Viscountess’!”

“Yes, they started talking today, and it wasn’t just a discussion. They had an entire set of understanding towards this ‘Viscountess’, and the understanding was significantly different from the information Amber had found out from outside the castle!”

“How is this possible?!” Amber was confused. “Who gave them a spiritual hint?”

“Perhaps it is something similar to a spiritual hint…” Gawain spoke slowly, “But according to the Eternal Sleepers’ abilities, I am more inclined to address this as… supplementary setting.”

“The castle might be entirely enveloped in a giant illusion, and our arrival and activity here have destroyed the integrity of the illusion. The person who created the illusion had no choice but to give it a supplementary setting in order for things to operate normally!”

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