Chapter 119

"?"

Bavan Shi, wearing a hood, looked puzzled.

"What I mean is, it's rare to see him care so much about someone, so keep up the good work!"

Paracelsus shrugged slightly, then sat down by the window, quietly reading and drinking water.

"That..."

Feeling like she'd been forgotten, the Fairy girl raised her hand, pointed to her throat, and gestured a few times.

It's as if to say: Aren't you going to perform some kind of Surgery on me?

"Haha, you actually don't really want anyone other than Favia to come into contact with you, do you? I can tell. And with your abilities, if you wanted to, even if it's Favia's first time, curing her would be very simple."

As Magecraft who heals the sick and saves lives, the knowledgeable Paracelsus could naturally tell that Bavan Shi's recently healed facial injuries, his restored beautiful hair, and the lingering wound on his throat were all man-made.

After all, in this day and age, there are many children living in immense hardship. The difficult treatment they receive makes them withdrawn, insecure, or irritable, and the hardships of life cause their young children to show signs of severe skin damage.

In Paracelsus's view, this Fairy girl named Bawan Xi, although she currently displays beautiful eyes, upon closer inspection, like many unfortunate people he has seen, has a deep gaze that is both dark and empty, as if to say that she has experienced countless sorrows.

"Can..."

Rejected, Bavan Shi trembled and clutched the hem of her skirt tightly with both hands.

She was probably panicked and trembling because she felt that she had failed to do what Favia had asked of her.

Seeing the Fairy girl like this, even Paracelsus couldn't help but sigh.

He felt that taking her to find Favia was the best course of action; otherwise, if things continued like this, it wouldn't be surprising if she suddenly started crying.

Just as Paracelsus was thinking this...

Paracelsus.

With this stern shout, the door opened.

This time, a young man with flowing blue hair arrived.

The serious-looking young man, about the same age as Paracelsus, looked past the trembling Bavan Shi into Paracelsus.

"Hmm, isn't Favia here? Wasn't he supposed to be back today?"

"It's Makiri. Favia just went out."

Upon hearing this, the young man named "Makiri" cracked his knuckles with some regret.

"I see. Well, it's not too late to ask him about it later."

What do you want to ask?

"Paracelsus, as you know, your actions over the years have long displeased the Three Great Nobles. For your safety, how about joining the Department of Mineralogy? El-Melloi is at odds with the Three Great Nobles; they should be able to protect you."

Paracelsus, born as the eldest son of a family of Magecraft, should have stood on the side of the Three Great Nobles, just like his family. However, his actions in recent years have aroused dissatisfaction, and even his own family has been advising him not to work for ordinary people who have nothing to do with him, but he insists on doing so without hesitation.

The blue-haired youth's full Makiri Zolgen Makiri. At present, he is a noble and respectable idealist. Although he and Paracelsus have different views, they both believe that the other is Magecraft worthy of respect.

"Haha, El-Melloi, I see. So that Lord has come too?"

"This--"

Makiri paused subconsciously. Although he had indeed come on someone's behalf, he genuinely hoped that Paracelsus could be protected.

"Even so, this is the result of my careful consideration. It is the best choice for you and Favia to El-Melloi El-Melloi's Department of Mineralogy together."

A voice answered Paracelsus in place of Makiri; it was a young but very composed female voice.

Why would careful consideration lead to this conclusion?

Magecraft is an incredible technique that bewitches people, an unbelievable method that utilizes supernatural beings and mysterious powers.

Although this is how it is defined in modern times, five hundred years from now, in 1515, knowledge is Magecraft.

In the world before the advent of science, some discoveries and inventions were the power and value of Magecraft, and were absolutely not allowed to be leaked.

In many ancient civilizations, Magecraft are said to have kept their techniques secret and not revealed them to the outside world.

Ultimately, Concealment of Mystery concealing oneself from the public eye, living in the shadows of history and society, and continuously accumulating knowledge and honing skills.

Magecraft survived in this way, and Paracelsus, who attempted to use Magecraft to achieve real medical change, was undoubtedly a traitor from the Association's perspective.

"You're a genius, and so is Favia. Both of you have the value to warrant El-Melloi's investment."

A few seconds after she finished speaking, a pair of bright blondes appeared behind the door.

Then, the fair skin reminiscent of a ceramic doll appeared, and the blonde girl adjusted her skirt with extremely graceful movements.

The current Lord of the El-Melloi, and the leader of the Department of Mineralogy.

As is well known, the Twelve Departments of the Clock Tower later split into three major factions: aristocracy, neutrality, and people's livelihood.

However, due to various previous developments, the Clock Tower is now divided into two major factions, namely the El-Melloi or the Three Great Nobles, except for the Department of Inheritance established by the Head of the Clock Tower, which can remain neutral.

Five of the Twelve Departments —Department of Zoology, Department of Individual Fundamentals, Department of Archaeology, Department of Curses, Department of Mineralogy —belong to El-Melloi, thus putting them in opposition to the Six Departments headed by the Three Great Nobles.

The blonde girl peeked out and glanced at the trembling Dibawan Xi.

"Oh, is this your guest?"

Bawan Shi didn't know what to say, so she could only obediently lower her eyes.

"They were brought by Favia."

"... oh?"

At that moment, the blonde girl who had come to visit extended her fair fingers.

"Indeed, if you take off the hood, you'd look quite cute at first glance, which is great."

She lightly touched the Fairy girl's hood and then sat down cheerfully.

"... In that case, could you please take Bavan Shi to find Favia, Makiri? He shouldn't have gone very far yet."

Paracelsus nodded to Bavan Shi as he spoke, indicating that there was no problem.

Given the Fairy girl's current personality, she naturally wouldn't resist, and so she was led out by Makiri.

Then, sounds returned to the silent room.

"I'm a little confused. Someone of your status doesn't need to come see me in person."

"This very morning, through the Lord's Conference, the Clock Tower unanimously agreed to return ownership of all the religious Judgment located on the Three Islands to the Holy Church."

"So, does that mean the Clock Tower compromised with the Church?"

Paracelsus was somewhat surprised by the blonde girl's words.

He also knew that since the France and the Three Great Nobles kidnapped Rome Pope, the Church had lost face and its sphere of influence had been greatly reduced.

It's truly a miracle that it was returned to us.

"Liansor is pressing us too hard. If we don't return it as he demands, and if he really abandons the defenses of Italy and Rome, allowing the Ottoman Empire to take this opportunity to invade across the sea, then the Clock Tower won't have an easy time facing the Cursecaster either."

Cursecraft is a school of thought outside of Western Europe Magecraft and Eastern Thought Magecraft, primarily based in Central Asia, and is now a mainstream organization in the Ottoman Empire.

Paracelsus naturally understood her meaning. In the past, the Association probably would not have sent it back so easily, because successive Pope had the belief that they would Protection Rome and the surrounding area at all costs. So this also relieved the pressure on the newly emerging Cursecraft organization from Central Asia that came from the Clock Tower.

Although Cursecraft is a system of Magecraft, most Magecraft in Europe look down on Cursecaster. For example, the oil tycoon in the Middle East used Cursecraft, so the Europe Magecraft aristocracy looked down on him.

However, since the schism Pope the Catholicism in 1414, the various Lord of the Clock Tower found that the subsequent Rome were all increasingly depraved, seemingly obsessed with plundering money and engaging in infighting, recklessly squandering their wealth. If the Ottoman Empire had not risen to power, the Clock Tower might have already celebrated its complete defeat of its old rival. But the problem lies in the fact that the Ottoman Empire rose to power during this period.

It's important to understand that while Magecraft is indeed very convenient for ordinary humans, it's already a blessing that Magecraft can still actively research it now that the Age of Gods has ended. Moreover, most Magecraft's Flesh abilities are limited, and the secrecy of the Magecraft environment is what allows the mystical to continue to survive. Apart from a few exceptionally gifted Magecraft, most real Magecraft are actually just as Flesh capable as ordinary people.

Therefore, the Ottoman Empire not only threatened Europe countries on a secular level, but also, on a Magecraft level, its Cursecraft organization threatened the Clock Tower's position as the apparent leader of Magecraft.

Therefore, neither the Three Great Nobles nor El-Melloi dared to gamble on Pope Rome really abandon his 'ancestral teachings' in a fit of anger and flee to Spain with the Church, leading to Italy being conquered by the Ottoman Empire. With this concern, they thought that since those religious Judgment were of little use to them anyway, returning them would be fine.

"I see. After all, both the Association and the Church currently share a common enemy," Paracelsus said with a smile. "But then the Three Great Nobles used this as an excuse to Judgment El-Melloi at the meeting, right? So that's why you wanted to recruit Favia, isn't it?"

"That's exactly right."

Ultimately, while these religious Judgment were of no use to the Clock Tower, they were still a matter of prestige. To return them like this, a good reason was needed. El-Melloi had long been entangled with the Church because of Carl the Great, which gave the Three Great Nobles a pretext to make their move.

El-Melloi had a bitter pill to swallow. After all, the Church now looked down on them because of the Avignon Papacy. They were naturally struggling to cope with the Three Great Nobles. Although the Lord of the two factions were not far apart, the most important subjects were still in the hands of the Three Great Nobles.

"However, I'm curious, why do you insist on having Favia join El-Melloi?"

Paracelsus raised a long-standing question: although he knew Favia had a good talent for Magecraft, his personality could be described as 'detached', he didn't participate in any research, he just listened to lectures, so why could he attract the attention of this Lord standing at the top of the Clock Tower?

After all, geniuses are not uncommon in the Clock Tower.

"Fine, telling you won't hurt..." the blonde girl said with a wry smile. "He might be El-Melloi's bloodline that was lost to the outside world, and even a bloodline purer than mine."

205: I'd rather you be arrogant and domineering than obedient (4k)

That night, Bavan Shi saw Favia like this.

In a Shipyard on the banks of the River Thames in the city of London—

Beside Favia lay human tools, such as a layout ruler, ink line, and straight ruler. He put his finger to his lips, tilted his head to think, and then gestured or verbally instructed the workers beside him to mark and draw lines on the boards based on the design sketch in his hand.

Sometimes, he would even change into coarse cloth clothes and a straw hat, and personally draw the lines that needed to be cut on the board with an ink line and a ruler. Then he would carefully saw along the lines with a saw. He was very patient and focused with each cut, and his movements were smooth and powerful, as if he were one with these tools.

In the Sixteenth Century, before the advent of advanced computer-aided design tools, manual operation required extremely high precision and experience.

Meanwhile, the workers were already busy with their respective tasks: some were sawing wood, some were hammering nails, some were measuring, and some were marking lines. The air was filled with the smell of wood and paint, as well as the mist from the River Thames in the distance, making one feel as if they were in a world full of life and vitality.

Although the Fairy girl didn't quite understand, she still stared intently at it.

"What is this...?"

Bawan Shi's murmurs naturally reached the ears of Makiri, who had led her there.

"Shipbuilding, but according to what Favia said before, it could also mean participating in the production process."

"Aren't we going up..."

"No, you can go ahead. I've already told everyone, no one will stop you. I'll take my leave now."

The Fairy girl turned around at the right moment and glanced at Makiri, who was about to leave, and noticed that he looked a little strange.

Although he looked as serious as ever, his back view seemed to convey a sense of loss.

"Makiri, do you know what the biggest difference is between us and them?"

This is a conversation that took place a few years ago when Makiri came to see Favia, at the wool Factory.

Makiri initially puzzled as to why Favia wasn't focusing on Magecraft research or studies, but he countered with his own question.

At that moment, Favia sat in front of the spinning wheel, skillfully spinning wool fibers into fine yarn. Her fingers flew quickly between the wheels of the spinning wheel and the yarn, conversing as she meticulously completed each step of the process.

During this period, London's woolen Factory were typically located on the outskirts of the city or near rivers to facilitate access to water and raw materials.

First, the collected wool is soaked in a special water tank and stirred with long sticks to remove impurities and dirt. Then, the wool is transferred to the combing area, where combers use large combs to comb the wool into uniform fiber bundles, preparing it for spinning.

In wool production, the coordination between various trades is crucial. From wool washing to spinning, weaving, Dyeing and finishing, each step needs to be closely linked. In fact, much of the production requires the joint efforts of many people. In addition to the workers on the production line, there are many auxiliary workers, such as porters, cleaners, and maintenance workers.

"The biggest difference--"

The blue-haired youth seemed slightly confused. He hesitated for a moment before giving a stammering reply.

"Yes, they are pitiful, so we should help them."

"Yes, there's more."

Favia nodded and continued to ask.

"But if we don't compare their family backgrounds, but rather compare them to you as a person, what's the difference?"

"Um..."

Makiri didn't know how to answer.

Makiri Zolgen Makiri, later known as Zouken Matou, was a friend of Paracelsus and Da Vinci at this time. He was an idealist with lofty aspirations, and his mindset had not yet changed with the passage of time. He had not yet come to hate his increasingly corrupt soul and decaying body and his own lack of accomplishments, thus forgetting his ideals in his spirit.

Perhaps, just like the fateful conversation about Paracelsus: the Makiri he knew was a noble idealist, but if he were to meet Zouken Matou from the 21st century, he would absolutely not recognize or admit that it was the same person.

"No need to answer right away, Makiri. You came here without any air of superiority. I know you don't look down on them. Poor and wretched people are everywhere in London —no, they are the majority no matter where you go in the world."

Nutritious food, unsanitary living conditions, and the daily grind of working relentlessly, with no hope of saving their energy for tomorrow, meant they had to work tirelessly just to survive. How much lack of freedom did they have to endure on a daily basis?

They lack everything in life, even money for proper medical treatment, let alone painting and music. For them, even ensuring a day's food and clothing is an unattainable luxury. Clearly, they are the ones who bear the burden of this world; they are the truly remarkable people.

The Silver-Haired Boy's voice wasn't loud, and was even briefly drowned out by the sound of the spinning machine, but the blue-haired youth listened attentively without interrupting.