Exploring Technology in a Wizard World
Chapter 489 - 488: Your Excellence, Not in the Evaluation

Chapter 489: Chapter 488: Your Excellence, Not in the Evaluation

"Squeak—Squeak—"

Under Richard’s watchful gaze, the gates of Black Castle slowly opened, followed by an unbearably grating noise that sent shivers down one’s spine, forcing one to imagine various scenes: nails scratching glass, chalk screeching on a blackboard, keys scraping the bottom of a rusty iron bucket...

Richard’s eyebrows deeply furrowed, fully aware of the cause of this phenomenon.

Clearly, the sound of the door opening contained a special frequency that could stimulate an inherent response in the human brain.

This inherent response in the human brain originated from ancient instincts. In the era of Upright Apes without language, humans used to emit this specific frequency of sound as a warning to alert their companions of approaching danger and to escape quickly.

With evolution, humans used this instinct less and less, and it became deeply buried in the brain, seldom triggered. However, some unevolved close relatives of humans, such as chimpanzees and monkeys, still retained it fully.

Richard quickly processed this information in his mind, struggling to suppress the discomfort in his body and looking cautiously towards the inside of the castle gate. After all, considering the current situation, whatever was coming out of the castle gate did not seem like anything benevolent. Perhaps it was because his noon probing had angered the Clown, who, out of revenge, had set some traps.

What could it be?

"Let me take a look!" Richard said in a deep voice, his arm slowly extending forward as the Energy Storage Short Wand in his sleeve began to slide out. At the same time, the Free Energy Elements in his Magic Origin started to circulate, preparing to attack at any moment.

And just then—

With a "snap," the partially opened castle gate suddenly closed quickly.

Richard had not yet reacted when he heard a voice behind him: "Passerby, I am here! Hehe, you keep surprising me, so I think I ought to give you a surprise as well. Well, it might be clumsy, but seeing you tensed up, I think it worked."

Richard abruptly turned his head and saw the Clown standing on a rock by the roadside.

Richard slightly raised his arm, pausing the slide of the Energy Storage Short Wand in his sleeve, but the Free Energy Elements continued to circulate, as he cautiously looked at the Clown and spoke slowly, "Mr. Clown, what a coincidence to meet you again. From what you just said, are you admitting that some things were specifically arranged for me?"

"You should have always known that I have arranged them for you, right?" the Clown said.

"But you also know that I know you arranged them for me, right?" Richard replied.

"Well, it seems like you also know that I know that you know I arranged them," the Clown said, expression unchanging.

"It seems we could go on like this forever," Richard remarked.

"Ha!" the Clown laughed, "It seems like we indeed could keep going like this forever."

"But that wouldn’t be interesting," Richard spread his hands, "As long as we clear up that both sides know that ’each knows that the other knows’ and are ready to lay our cards on the table, it’s fine."

"That makes sense," the Clown nodded.

"So, Mr. Clown, what exactly do you want to lay on the table with me?" Richard asked, "You’ve been meticulously arranging so many things for me these days, controlling my schedule—just to have a talk, play a game, and then help solve a theft. That can’t be your real intention, can it?"

"You’re right," the Clown said seriously, agreeing. Suddenly, he thought of something and asked aloud, "But before I answer everything, aren’t you curious about what happened to the Circus after you left at noon today? You should be able to imagine what the outcome would be, but you’re not quite sure, right?"

"Then, please Mr. Clown, tell me."

"Alright," the Clown said, and began, "At noon, soon after you dropped the money, the people in the Circus started fighting. First, the bulky Tain killed the ringmaster Oliver, then the limping Maki sneak-attacked Tain, causing him to die from excessive blood loss.

"Afterward, the Beast Tamer Tolles released his lions, which killed the limping Maki. After Maki died, Tolles tried to deal with Amy and harbored evil intentions. He tore off Amy’s clothes and attempted to force himself on her. Out of desperation, Amy pretended to comply, and at the crucial moment, she bit off an important part of Tolles’s body and swallowed it.

"Ah, poor Tolles, he bled to death alive, and Amy was also killed by the lions. When the lion dragged Tolles’s corpse away, I came to find you."

Richard looked at the Clown, blinked, and said, "That truly is a gruesome end. But I have a question, Mr. Clown."

"What is it?"

"Do you actually count yourself as a member of the Circus?" Richard asked. "Are you temporarily disguised as a member of the Circus for some special purpose, or have you really lived with them for several years? I think the latter is less likely, isn’t it?"

"Ha," the Clown laughed and said, "You’ll have to find that answer yourself."

Then, the Clown’s tone became serious: "Let’s discuss important matters now."

"Uh, okay, please continue," Richard made a gesture for the Clown to proceed.

The Clown started, looking at Richard, "You should be aware that I’ve been trying to contact you all this while and then to conduct some tests on you."

"Yes," Richard nodded.

"The reason I have done so is that your attempts to explore some secrets of the once Black Spirit Empire caught the attention of my organization’s members. For safety considerations, we had to take action, to test you," the Clown spoke slowly, "It’s not that these secrets can’t be explored by anyone, but for certain purposes, my organization behind me must ensure that the explorer isn’t an enemy."

"Enemy? You have enemies? Who are they?" Richard asked. "Also, the organization you mentioned, is it related to something in the private library of the King of Ten Thousand Kingdoms at Black Holy Mountain, or in other words, are you from the so-called ’Holy Mountain’?"

"Stop, stop, stop!" The Clown made a stopping gesture, speaking seriously, "Passerby, you’re trying to know too much, and many of those are things I can’t tell you. You’ll have to try to figure them out yourself. What I tell you is only what you should know, understand?"

"Alright then, Mr. Clown, continue," Richard said.

The Clown continued, "From our conversation earlier, my initial purpose of testing you was to confirm your identity. But actually, before the first test, I already guessed that you were very likely not an enemy. The reason is simple: you are much better than the enemies.

"So, I adjusted the content of the test to understand you better, I specifically designed three challenges. That includes our initial conversation about education, then the Clown Chess match, followed by the theft incident at noon today.

"For these three challenges, I had a passing standard to rate your performance and see how outstanding you are. But during the first challenge, I realized I was wrong: you are not just better than the enemies, you are far too outstanding, beyond my highest estimation."

"In other words," the Clown wasn’t joking at all and said earnestly to Richard, "Your existence... it can’t be described as merely excellent. You... simply shouldn’t exist within an evaluation system."

"Uh..."