Exploring Technology in a Wizard World
Chapter 496 - 495 Another Letter

Chapter 496: Chapter 495 Another Letter

As soon as Richard stepped inside the main castle, he was immediately greeted by the stagnant air and musty smell of a place long without ventilation. The air felt heavy, almost making Richard’s body sway upon impact.

Richard held his breath in time, waiting for the fresh air from outside to flow in. Not until the air cleared, did he take a deep breath and began to look around at the desolate castle, which was clearly long uninhabited.

He saw that the floors of the main hall, as well as the surfaces of the furniture, were covered with dust. In the corners, there were large swaths of spider webs, and some of the metal decorations on the walls were covered with rust, devoid of any sign of life.

If anyone were to claim that Cat Slave Girl Heidi lived here, he would not believe it—it was more likely that she had... once lived here.

So, where had Cat Slave Girl Heidi gone now? What exactly had happened after she finished writing him that letter?

Although his main purpose in coming to Mo’er was to explore the secrets of the Black Spirit King, after all, it had been she who invited him and provided him with the key information about Mo’er. If possible, it was still better to learn more about her situation, or at the very least, to confirm her safety.

Thinking this, Richard walked towards the staircase and ascended to the second floor of the stone tower, checking each room one by one.

He finally stopped in one of the rooms.

It was a rather small room that faced west due to its position; therefore, except during sunset, it was almost never touched by sunlight, leaving the room damp and frigid like an ice cave.

The room was tidy, with little in the way of clues. However, Richard found some black fine hairs in the corner, nearly unnoticeable, sticking to the wall and looking like... they could have fallen from a cat.

He remembered correctly, when Cat Slave Girl Heidi came to Mo’er, she had brought along a black cat named something... Mi.

Mi Qi, yes, that must be the name.

"So, one person and one cat, once lived in this room?" Richard mumbled to himself as he continued to look around the room, hoping to find more clues left behind.

But—there was nothing.

Richard’s brow furrowed, and he said, "Is that it? Or perhaps, I should use the Eye of Perspective to inspect the entire main castle inch by inch? In any case, something here doesn’t feel quite right..."

No sooner had he spoken than Richard felt something move against his chest.

Hmm?

Richard quickly reached into his bosom and pulled out the moving object, which was the gift from the Clown—the mysterious white feather he had not yet grasped the purpose of.

At that moment, the white feather, much like the leaves of a touch-me-not upon an external stimulus, vibrated on its quill at a very subtle degree.

Richard’s eyes gleamed as he intently watched the white feather, which was faintly shimmering with a white light that illuminated the entire room, as well as the rest of the main castle.

In an instant, the eerie feeling of the entire castle was greatly diminished, and his somewhat dim vision became clear.

This is!

"Did it break some sort of Magic Illusion that’s difficult to detect?" Richard speculated aloud.

From what had just happened, the White Feather had indeed broken an illusion. This Magic Illusion was placed on the entire main castle. Its effects were subtle but hard for most to notice, influencing in minute ways. If it weren’t for the White Feather, he might never have realized it.

This suggested two things.

The first: The function of the White Feather seemed related to breaking illusions.

The second: There was definitely something odd about this main castle, it was absolutely hiding something—why else cast such an illusion?

After some thought, Richard decided to set aside the matter of the White Feather for the moment and focus on figuring out what exactly was going on with this ancient castle.

Deciding on a course of action, Richard narrowed his eyes and swept his gaze sharply across every inch of the room, hoping to uncover some trace.

But aside from finding more cat hairs, he truly found nothing else.

Richard’s lips pursed slightly, "Can’t find it? In that case, besides really using the Eye of Gaze to see through the entire main fortress, the only method left is to use the ’Secret Weapon’. Well... let’s go with the ’Secret Weapon’ first, hopefully it’ll be of some use, and save us some trouble."

Having said that, Richard reached into the Space Iron Ring and pulled out a briefcase, placing it on the ground and opening it, he called out, "Pandora!"

"Uh? Need me for something?" As soon as Richard finished speaking, Pandora quickly jumped out from the world of Eden inside the briefcase and looked at Richard, asking, "You’re not going to make me recite the Multiplication Table again, are you? Let me tell you, I’m not afraid; I really did memorize it this time."

As she spoke, Pandora took a deep breath, her face wore an expression of "long prepared, finally of use," and she recited loudly, "One times one is one, one times two is two, two times two is four..."

"Stop, stop, stop!" Richard waved his hands repeatedly, interrupting the eager-to-exhibit Pandora, and said seriously, "You don’t need to recite the Multiplication Table right now. I called you out this time to ask for your help with something."

"Help? With what?" Pandora cocked her head, asking with a hint of confusion and slight displeasure in her voice—after all, she had really memorized it this time—being unable to showcase her memory happily was truly frustrating.

"It’s simple," Richard explained, "I lost something in this room. Try and see if you can help me find it. Like that time over a month ago, didn’t you accurately guess where I dropped something?"

"Looking for something?" Pandora’s eyes flickered as she frowned and looked around the room, which resembled one that had been licked by a dog’s tongue, and couldn’t help but ask, "What did you drop?"

"I don’t know," Richard replied.

Pandora: "..." After a speechless moment, she glared at Richard and exclaimed, "What do you mean you don’t know?"

"Err, let me put it this way," Richard started explaining, "The thing I lost is theoretically lost. It should have been something left for me by someone else, but it ended up being hidden. Hidden somewhere in this room, or possibly in some other place beyond this room in the castle.

It could be text, it might be an image, or maybe something else. Anyway... it’s quite unique. Don’t you feel its presence?"

Richard finished speaking and looked at Pandora.

Pandora, with wide eyes, shook her head and answered honestly, "No."

"Really nothing?" Richard pressed.

Pandora’s eyes flickered twice, then thrice, and scratching her head with a troubled expression, she said, "Really nothing. You know, compared to finding things, I... might as well continue reciting the Multiplication Table for you—it’s much easier."

"No need."

"Do we really have to find it?" Pandora looked even more distressed.

"Think about it carefully," Richard said, although he had already gathered that Pandora’s Prediction Ability was apparently not going to be useful, he had not completely given up, "Use your brain properly, feel properly. Isn’t there really something unique nearby?"

"Use my brain?" Pandora tilted her head and tentatively said, "Can I use my hands instead?"

"Hm?"

"Just like this." As Pandora spoke, she unapologetically punched the floor of the room hard.

With a "bang," it was as if an earthquake occurred. The entire room shook violently, and from the center where Pandora’s fist struck, a multitude of cracks appeared and spread, the floor and walls quickly shattering.

"Crash!"

A large number of fragments fell to the ground, followed by a "plop," a distinctly different sound, and then a letter was seen falling to the floor.

There had been a very secretive compartment in the wall, not easily found by the unfamiliar, but Pandora’s punch, with its transmitted force, had directly shattered the compartment, causing the letter to fall out.

Pandora, with sharp eyes, spotted the letter, rushed over to pick it up, and brought it to Richard as if to claim credit, "Look Richard, this must be what you were looking for, I found it for you with a punch—anything that can’t be destroyed with a punch is obviously special. So, you see, using hands is much more efficient than using brains, right?"

Richard: "..." After a speechless moment, he couldn’t help but think: Is this Pandora’s style of Prediction Skill? If it really came to that, he might have to lower his expectations for such prediction abilities.

With that thought, Richard took the letter that Pandora handed to him, pulled out the paper, walked out to the hall, and, with the ample light streaming in from outside, began to read.