"But just as I walked out of the laboratory in despair, Perenelle called me over to have dinner with her, just as she had for the past three hundred years, over more than a hundred thousand days and nights."
"In that moment, I finally realized what a foolish thing I had done! I had cast aside every beautiful thing in my life and spent three hundred years on a single stone! But it seemed I had come to my senses too late. My wife and I had gone from spirited youth to white-haired, shuffling old people."
"From then on, I never thought about the Sorcerer's Stone again. I devoted myself to living with Perenelle, and over the years, we traveled to most of the countries in the world."
Nicolas Flamel took a sip of black tea, smiled at the curious Adam, and continued:
"The Elixir of Life can only keep people from dying of old age; it cannot stop them from growing old. It is like the blessing Zeus bestowed upon Tithonus. Over the years, Perenelle and I developed brittle bones and sluggish steps..."
"We can no longer even eat food that needs chewing. Fortunately, the Elixir of Life is a potion rather than something else. Other than that, we can still drink black tea, hot cocoa, and the like."
"Though our bodies have become frail with age, though everyone we knew has long since left us one after another, I still could not bear to leave this world. I always dreamed of living here forever with Perenelle. But a few years ago, Perenelle told me that she was tired."
At this point, Nicolas Flamel seemed somewhat melancholy.
"Only after I asked did she tell me that she had lost her sense of taste long ago. To her, that black tea did not even taste like water anymore. Continuing to live had already become exhausting for her."
"Only then did I realize that perhaps we should have set off for the next stop long ago. We had merely lingered for so long in a place where we should not have stayed, all for things that were not so important."
"So when Dumbledore asked whether he could borrow the Sorcerer's Stone, I agreed, even though I knew it would be destroyed as a result."
"It is time for Perenelle and me to set off for the next stop. Our life of silence, which has lasted for centuries, will finally undergo changes unlike any before—and most importantly, Perenelle will go with me. There is nothing in this world more worth rejoicing over."
Nicolas Flamel could not help laughing as he spoke. It was clear that he was truly happy from the bottom of his heart.
Adam could more or less understand what Nicolas Flamel meant. For Nicolas Flamel, who had lived for more than six hundred years, his wife was this world's greatest attraction.
Without his wife, continuing to live in this world would only mean drinking a few more cups of black tea, red wine, and such things he had already consumed for centuries. It would have no meaning at all.
If continuing to live in this world had become torture for his wife, then embracing death was not necessarily a bad idea.
For this couple, death was merely another great adventure.
For the first time, Adam understood the meaning of those words so deeply.
At that moment, Adam abandoned the thought of giving Nicolas Flamel another Sorcerer's Stone. He truly no longer needed one.
"I'm sorry to have made you spend time listening to the story of an old man like me."
"Please don't say that, Mr. Flamel. It was an honor."
Adam spoke sincerely.
Not only had he gained the intangible benefit of hearing the life story of a legendary figure like Nicolas Flamel, but he had also gained something tangible: an increase in magical power.
Magical power was closely tied to the soul and the mind. Nicolas Flamel's legendary life story, including his understanding of death, had helped Adam far more than all the knowledge he had learned over the past year.
"I am glad to hear you say that."
Nicolas Flamel could tell that this relative, whose blood tie to him had already grown exceedingly thin, was not deceiving him. He smiled with relief.
"As payment for fulfilling my final wish, I would like to give you some gifts."
"...Gifts?"
"You could also think of them as an inheritance. After all, you and your grandmother are the only people in this world who still share my blood."
Adam blinked as he watched Nicolas Flamel rise and walk over to the cabinet where the Sorcerer's Stone had been kept. He beckoned Adam over.
"Come here. Please forgive an old man over six hundred years old for no longer being able to move such heavy things... Good heavens, how old was I when I put these here? I was truly full of energy back then!"
Adam hurried over to Nicolas Flamel's side.
"The gifts I want to give you are all in this cabinet."
Nicolas Flamel patted the cabinet beside him, then pointed to the book resting on a stand on its top shelf.
"First, this book that changed my life."
The moment he heard those words, Adam already knew what the book was. Sure enough, Nicolas Flamel continued:
"The Book of Abraham the Jew. Though successfully creating the Sorcerer's Stone has proven to be nothing more than an accident, this book still means quite a lot to me. I hope you won't use it to prop up a table leg."
"I will preserve it carefully."
Adam nodded solemnly.
"You needn't take it so seriously. I was only joking just now. It would be fine even if you used it to prop up a table leg."
Nicolas Flamel smiled. The cabinet's second shelf had originally held the Sorcerer's Stone, but now it contained several small bottles filled with a liquid as scarlet as blood.
"These are the Elixir of Life, along with its formula."
Nicolas Flamel took out one of the bottles and a small slip of paper, then handed them to Adam.
Under Adam's wide-eyed gaze, Nicolas Flamel smiled.
"For many people, the existence of the Sorcerer's Stone is not a secret that can be kept very well. Though your connection to the Sorcerer's Stone is faint and Dumbledore may be unable to detect it, I spent more than six hundred years with one day and night."
"Don't worry. You needn't fear that an old man with only a few days left to live will reveal your secret."
"It seems symbolic, child. One Sorcerer's Stone is destroyed, and another is born immediately afterward. One elderly couple gives up the Sorcerer's Stone and embraces death, while the Sorcerer's Stone reappears in this world in the hands of a child..."
"At the same time, it seems to confirm my guess. The successful creation of the Sorcerer's Stone truly was only a coincidence, yet perhaps it was not such a coincidence after all, was it? This world is simply that wonderful."
After placing the bottle of Elixir of Life and the formula in Adam's hands, Nicolas Flamel said:
"Take this, child. I hope you will not repeat my mistakes, and that you will use the life the Sorcerer's Stone gives you for the things you find meaningful."
Before you continue