Chapter 24

Night.

Under the kerosene lamp, Reilo rubbed his tired eyes and set down the bloodstained dissection knife.

He lowered his head, recording the tadpole dissection information he had just obtained into the Ice Fire Bird handbook, complete with vivid illustrations and annotations. After finishing, Reilo let out a breath and stretched slightly.

"Speaking of which, tadpoles that seem harmless from a macroscopic view appear utterly terrifying under the magnifying glass's microscopic observation, like some nightmare creature."

Reilo seemed to reflect on the tadpole's image he had just observed in detail with his magnifying glass.

After recording his notes, Reilo stored the notebook in his Space Box. After a moment's thought, he took out a transparent glass bottle, unscrewed the cap, and a slightly pungent smell of preservative fluid filled the air.

Over the past two days, Reilo had begun to get used to this smell. He only frowned slightly before picking up tweezers, placing the tadpole specimen into the bottle, and sealing it again.

There were many ways to preserve specimens, but glass bottles with preservative fluid were the most mature and common method.

By the kerosene lamp's light, he admired the tadpole specimen in the bottle as if it were the most beautiful gem in the world, a smug curve forming at the corner of Reilo's mouth.

With satisfaction, Reilo stored the specimen back into his Space Box.

For a scholar studying Evolution's Profound Meaning, the quantity and quality of specimens they possessed almost determined their knowledge reserves. As an initiate student, Reilo had already begun following his instincts to enrich his specimen library.

It was already late into the night, and even the old southeastern street where Reilo's small house was located had fallen completely silent.

"Ah..."

Yawning, Reilo stood up.

He had been sitting still for an entire day, his body stiff. As he stood, his rigid joints let out a series of "crack, crack" sounds. He twisted his neck, which also produced "crack, crack" noises.

After stretching, Reilo looked at his modest little house.

Because the house was so small, Reilo had to set up a makeshift workbench by the balcony window using an old, worn wooden table. Without a Crystal Lamp, he used a kerosene lamp instead.

For Reilo, life wasn't exactly hard, but for a scholar's experimental environment, it was far too crude.

"Even lighting two kerosene lamps at once isn't bright enough. The flickering flame is torture for microscopic observation with a magnifying glass. Over time, it will definitely damage my eyes, and I'll end up wearing glasses like my mentor. Speaking of which... I heard from my senior that Mentor Gubo's scholar life in his youth was just as tough."

Muttering to himself, Reilo picked up a rag and began cleaning the crude workbench, then dipped it in alcohol to clean the dissection knife, tray, and other tools.

"I'll have to spend some gold coins to buy a Crystal Lamp another day!"

A Crystal Lamp used energy crystals as its power source, with brightness far beyond that of a kerosene lamp. It usually cost around one hundred and fifty silver coins, far beyond what an ordinary family could afford.

Fortunately, the energy crystal consumption of a Crystal Lamp was very low. One energy crystal could last several years. It was one of the Practical Technologies invented by the Utoran Duchy Academy of Natural Sciences and had been widely promoted across the human duchies.

It could be said that even though the Utoran Academy of Natural Sciences had been suppressed by The Church over the Heliocentric Theory, causing its status among the major human natural science academies to plummet, it was still the wealthiest among them. Many practical inventions had spread from the Utoran Duchy.

Suddenly!

"Ah! Who are you people?"

A terrified cry from outside shattered the silent depths of the night on the street.

Reilo instinctively put down the rag he was using to clean, opened the window, and looked down.

He saw several blurry black figures, shadowy and indistinct, surrounding a person in the middle of the street. The besieged person quickly lost their footing. With a "bang," the public crystal streetlight on the road was shattered by a Flying Knife thrown by the besieged figure. The light vanished, leaving only the sounds of metal clashing and terrified pleas for help in the darkness.

A few breaths later.

The fighting stopped, and the entire street fell silent. But Reilo knew that, like himself, countless eyes in the vicinity were watching from the darkness.

"Hiss!"

Reilo, on the third-floor balcony, was secretly shocked.

These people dared to commit murder openly within the academy, right in front of him. It seemed he would have to be more careful in the future to avoid getting dragged into any conflicts.

Burp...

A belch came from the neighboring balcony. Reilo looked over and saw his widow neighbor, Marilyn.

"G-good evening, Sister Marilyn."

Remembering that man's well-meaning warning and the terrifying rumors about this woman, Reilo instinctively tensed up, a hint of fear creeping in.

Still wearing a loose robe, Marilyn sat on her balcony, a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other, already bleary-eyed.

A cold smirk on her lips, Marilyn seemed used to such brawls. She looked at Reilo, drunk and drowsy.

"This is the most chaotic street in the academy, and the farthest from the academy's guardians. But this is already the sixth murder this month, far more chaotic than before. It looks like some force has set its sights on this place."

With that, Marilyn tilted her head back, gulped down a mouthful of strong liquor, wiped her mouth without restraint, took another drag of her cigarette, and blew out the smoke.

Looking up, Marilyn gazed melancholically at the deep starry sky.

Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo.

Under the bright moonlight and the boundless starry sky, a flock of owls with gleaming green eyes flapped their wings and flew over. Some landed on the damaged public streetlight to repair it, others landed on the corpse on the road to confirm the death and analyze the murderer's motives, while still others flew off in all directions, searching for witnesses and the perpetrator.

One of the owls happened to fly toward Reilo.

"Hoo, hoo. I am a guardian of Gran Academy, investigating the series of vicious murders here. Did you witness the recent attack?"

The owl looked much like an ordinary owl, but Reilo knew it was a Psychic Magic Beast specially raised by the academy.

"Uh, I saw three men in black attacking the victim. I only saw it for a few seconds before the streetlight broke, and then I couldn't see anything else."

What stunned Reilo was that this owl actually took out a goose quill, nodded, and carefully recorded his testimony, its meticulous manner truly adorable.

"Alright, thank you for your cooperation. Hoo hoo hoo."

After recording Reilo's statement, the owl didn't ask further questions, simply spreading its wings and flying away.

A moment later.

Several constables removed the corpse, and the street returned to calm.

"Sister Marilyn, I'm going back to rest."

Suddenly, as if something occurred to her, Marilyn looked back at Reilo and said jokingly, "If you're interested in studying the human body, this is a good place to get specimens."

"Ah!"

Reilo was startled and quickly said, "No no no, I'm not interested at all!"

Seeing Reilo's terrified expression, the drunken Marilyn let out a giggle. Her loose robe inadvertently revealed a hint of allure, but she didn't seem to care, though Reilo felt rather embarrassed.

No wonder Reilo had reacted with such terror just now.

Collecting human specimens and conducting experimental research on the human body had existed for thousands of years—that was the work of witchers!

It was precisely through extensive human experimentation that witchers developed their means of killing without a trace, the terrifying legends of eating children's eyes, and even created the Black Death that nearly drove humanity to extinction!

Later, although various natural academies sprang up like bamboo shoots after rain across the duchies due to the power struggle between the Royal Family and the Church, human experimentation remained an absolute taboo for scholars. In recent years, the conflict between Balda Natural Academy and the Church had arisen precisely because the academy's academic direction into the mysteries of the human body could potentially involve human experimentation!

Though almost all scholars knew that those Evil Witchers must have discovered some extremely powerful forces through human research, and that Balda Natural Academy's recent rise likely came from studying the remnants left by certain Evil Witchers, there was no scholar outside the Balda Duchy who dared to face the pressure of the Church's scrutiny!

"Wait a moment."

Suddenly, Marilyn called out to Reilo, hooking her finger drunkenly and smiling, "Come here."

Uh?

Come here?

Looking at this neighbor widow's lazy indulgence after seven-tenths drunkenness, the snow-white skin inadvertently exposed by her loose robe, in an instant, Reilo's mind wandered to many things. He felt his mouth go dry, his face reddening to the roots of his neck, hesitating and wavering.

Gulp...

Reilo swallowed his saliva, his expression tense, unsure whether it was because of this alluring widow's charm or his fear of the various legends about her as a Poisoner.

"Hurry up and come here!"

Marilyn's impatient tone made Reilo bite his lip. His steps felt unsteady, his heart pounding violently, thump, thump, and he murmured in a mosquito-like voice from deep in his throat, "I need to sleep."

"Stick your face out."

Marilyn spoke in a commanding tone, fueled by drunken excitement.

As Reilo's mind went blank, he only felt the tip of his nose lightly brushed by her long index finger. In his bewildered confusion, Marilyn showed him her fingertip.

"The kerosene lamp turned you into a little tabby cat, hee hee hee."

It turned out that after Reilo lit the kerosene lamp and bent over his experiments for too long, the lamp's smoke had blackened his nose.

Ashamed of the wicked thoughts he'd had just a moment ago, Reilo quickly wiped his nose, flustered, and said, "I was in too much of a hurry just now, I'm really sorry. Good night, Sister Marilyn!"

With that, Reilo pulled the curtain shut and ran back into the house.

"Burp."

Marilyn dragged her wine bottle, swaying as she walked back inside, murmuring, "What an adorable little guy..."

Happy New Year! Wishing everyone a wonderful Spring Festival, good health, all your wishes come true, and success in everything! In the new year, may you devote yourselves with even greater passion to building our great motherland, making your own lives more fulfilling, and may everyone have a beautiful family of their own~~~O(∩_∩)O~~~ Also asking for recommendation tickets and collections here, hehe~