Chapter 1553 - 262: Conspiracy (Part 2)

This remark, without any forewarning or follow-up, left Fang Hong momentarily stunned.

But the next moment, he felt a slight weight in his hand, as Lady Aierna had already handed him something.

He lowered his head and discovered it was a metal "craft," resembling a heart encased in metal veins, about the size of a fist. On the silver skin of the heart's surface, there was a row of tiny rivets, covered with a layer of delicate hollow conduits.

In fact, he had already seen wings folded around the heart like a thin membrane; it was semi-transparent, with vein-like shadows spreading across it.

This was a Lingus Guard, though slightly different from a typical one. Fang Hong concluded that it was probably a Variant.

Suddenly, he understood what Lady Aierna meant.

But when it came to returning the Construct Sea Monster, he hesitated. He would rather give up this thing.

He thought for a moment and decided to take a roundabout approach.

"Alright." Fang Hong nodded.

Lady Aierna, having swiftly resolved the matter, initially had a hint of apprehension in her green eyes, but seeing he agreed, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

So she said somewhat unnaturally, "I'll take my leave now... Well, if you have the opportunity, you can visit the Artisan Association again."

As for the latter sentence, it was purely polite talk, and Fang Hong naturally didn't believe it.

He simply called out to her, "Wait, Lady Aierna."

Aierna turned back, "What's up?"

"About what I said that day."

Her expression immediately turned a bit embarrassed, "You won that one."

"No, Lady Aierna, this isn't about winning or losing."

"Then what do you mean?"

"I just want to ask, regarding the Creation State of Ether, does it include the rules and complex information that make up this world? Can we inscribe 'Creation's information' into the Crystal as we do with 'magic rules'?"

Without any preconceived notions, Lady Aierna is actually someone very keen on Alchemy. She looked at Fang Hong again, but this time it was vastly different from any previous time, a glint of surprise flashed in her emerald eyes:

"Wait, are you researching these? Who told you this, who is your mentor?"

"My mentor is Master Oswald from Kapuka, Master Ande from Dulun, and Mr. Anluose from the Fairy House also taught me about Alchemy. These ideas mainly come from the latter, related to Numelin's Ancient Alchemy."

"I know Master Oswald, he is a highly respected elder. I've also heard of Master Ande, he is an Artisan Master of the Elfendo Council. Anluose, is it that Anluose, have you been to the Hall of Thousand Doors?"

Fang Hong nodded.

Aierna was even more surprised, "Which year?"

"This year, March or April."

"Then you'd have to call me senior." Aierna looked him up and down before extending her hand to him, "I'm Aierna, Aierna Vasa. I saw you mixed with that guy last time... I was somewhat prejudiced, I owe you an apology, Ade."

Fang Hong shook her hand; Miss Giant's hand was soft, but strong.

He breathed a sigh of relief; the unpleasantness between him and this Chairwoman was considered resolved.

Fang Hong asked again, "Lady Aierna—"

"Just call me Senior; I entered the Hall of Thousand Doors a year earlier than you, so I'm your senior. Ade how old are you this year?"

"Seventeen."

"That's impressive, visiting the Hall of Thousand Doors at such a young age?"

"Because I am the Invoker."

Aierna nodded, "If Ade has the chance, he can come to the Artisan Association to discuss Alchemy with us. But today I have some matters, I have to—"

However, Fang Hong couldn't possibly let her leave; after much effort, he created such a conversation opportunity, thought for a moment, and threw the question he had prepared for a long time: "Is Miss Aierna researching Fairy Master?"

As expected, Aierna's green eyes slightly brightened at this remark, "Wait, Ade, are you a Fairy Master?"

Fang Hong modestly said, "Kind of."

Aierna showed a joyful expression, unreservedly taking his hand, and asked, "I have some ideas regarding Fairy Master, if Ade has time, can you help me a bit?"

This is exactly what Fang Hong wanted. But he tried hard not to let his intentions show too clearly, nodding his head.

Aierna was somewhat joyfully squinting her eyes, the previous unpleasantness and forehead's clouds had long been forgotten. At this time, she looked at the item in Fang Hong's hand, seeming to think of something, gently patting it with her hand, "Then this, take it as my predetermined payment, and when there's a chance, I'll send you another gift."

Moreover, after hesitating for a bit, she added, "But remember to return the Guild's stuff, as it is Guild property, we must distinguish between public and private."

Fang Hong nodded.

However, he didn't think that way; other things could be returned, but not the Construct Sea Monster. He could even offer money; however, to sell guild assets, he still needed to convince this serious Chairwoman to agree first.

Fortunately, it seemed like a good first step had been made, as she was clearly more hesitant than before in her previous decisiveness.

Screech—

Amidst their conversation, there was a long sound of a door opening from outside.

Fang Hong and Aierna, along with the others, couldn't help but turn to look, only to find the arrivals were still not Mr. Abed nor the Guest, but three clearly uniformed figures.