Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 256 The Book Without Words
"This was Dean Maca-Delin's former residence. Later, the entire building was converted into an exhibition hall. Students rarely come here. When important visitors come to the island, Professor Wapol will personally take them to visit this place. Well... simply put, the less an outsider knows about elemental magic, the more they like to visit places that have no practical significance."

Winter acted as her guide throughout, and as she walked along the familiar campus paths, her steps became much lighter.

However, this may also be an "occupational hazard" accumulated from the past. If you don't move quickly, you will be caught in the various traps set by the professors.

Ethan gazed at Winter's long white hair, which danced in the wind as she turned around from time to time. Meanwhile, the literary girl disappeared as soon as she returned to the academy, leaving behind only the words, "I'm going to visit an old friend."

The more he looked at it, the more he felt that Winter was essentially a cat.

They are highly curious, quick-witted, and have a natural ability to spot traps.

He enjoyed this rare moment of leisure, which gave him a feeling of returning to campus life.

The academy is one of the few ivory towers of this era, not corrupted by power and wealth like the astrology guild. At least the background of a pure-blood family will not interfere with normal campus life. For students, only winning the top three in various competitions is the only true measure of success.

“Look, right inside the door is a portrait of McCardlin.”

Winter is beneath this portrait.

Ethan naturally recognized his old friend. In the real world, Mekka-Drin had been dead for over a thousand years. His lifespan was shorter than that of the gods of the highest and middle ranks. Fortunately, he never experienced war again in his later years. For those who had lived through the Dark Ages, dying peacefully in their old age was the greatest fortune.

He was 107 years old.

This is considered a long lifespan for humans.

Beneath the portrait is written the remarkable life of McCardin, a learned and wise man, and an elder whom all elemental sculptors admire and respect. The death of this old abbot is also quite legendary, as if he foresaw the day of his death.

On one unremarkable morning, Dean McCain suddenly felt like going fishing.

The professors at the college watched him head out early in the morning with his fishing rod to the circular lake deep in the island—this was the last time they saw the dean. A day later, people found him by the circular lake, where McCa-Drin was sitting on a rock on the shore with his fishing rod beside him.

Sunlight filtered through the swaying leaves and fell on his back, and he closed his eyes, as if entering a period of contemplation from which he would never awaken again.

Ethan spotted McCardlin's fishing rod in the exhibition hall at a glance. It was the same model as the one they had met in the woodland. The exhibition hall provided a more detailed introduction to the fishing rod, including the materials of the rod and line, and how many amazing species the old dean had caught with this unassuming rod.

"He was waiting for someone until the moment of his death."

An old voice came from over.

She was an old woman with a round face covered in wrinkles. Her eyebrows were raised and her eyes were full of vigilance. The mop she held in her arms like a long-handled weapon made her look nothing like an elemental sculptor.

Of course, all the wariness was directed at Winter. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello, Mrs. Judy."

A harmless smile appeared on Winter's face. It was a name that could be seen everywhere in the Empire, but it had left an indelible psychological shadow on many students.

Mrs. Judy is a graduate of the academy. All the professors older than her have passed away, and the current students are unsure which class she graduated from. However, it is clear that Mrs. Judy is not skilled in elemental magic, and her most frequently used weapon is a mop.

But don't underestimate her because of this. Mrs. Judy is an excellent broomstick rider. Her most glorious achievement was riding a broomstick and chasing the academy racer seven times around the school, and in full view of everyone, she used a mop to "cut down" the troublemaker who was playing pranks in the memorial hall.

That's what makes Mrs. Judy so terrible.

She has plenty of time, and if you mess with her, she can chase you all day on a broom. Over time, even the most mischievous students don't dare to cause trouble here.

In addition, Winter specifically emphasized that she didn't come here to be mischievous because there was nothing interesting in the memorial hall; she was one of the few students who wasn't afraid of Mrs. Judy.

“This is my husband. This is his first time at the college. It’s a meaningful place.”

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Judy's eyebrows relaxed, and she stopped pointing the mop head at them, entering a relaxed state.

“I am very interested in Dean McCardlin’s story.”

Ethan pulled out the notebook that the Dean had personally handed to him from inside his clothes. In reality, it didn't contain much useful information—after all, it was a creation imagined by Caesaros, and even the Old Gods couldn't really enter Mekka-delin's brain and extract all the knowledge from it.

In Caesars's mind, this book was not important and should not fall into anyone's hands.

"I obtained the dean's notes by chance."

"Let me see!"

Mrs. Judy immediately came over, took the notebook with the utmost care as if it were a priceless treasure, and began to study it carefully.

Aside from cleaning the memorial, she spent most of her life studying McCardling. She was the best scholar in the field, knowing all the anecdotes by heart. The college needed a guide like her, so they let her live there.

"These are the dean's notes! Where did you get them?!"

Mrs. Judy blurted out, her eyes practically popping out of their sockets.

“A friend gave it to me; he doesn’t want anyone to know his name,” Ethan said. “You just said that Dean McCardlin has been waiting for someone. What do you mean by that?”

Ethan admitted that his heart raced when Mrs. Judy spoke.

Theoretically, he had made a pact with McCardlin that at some point in the future, he would return to the Academy with this book to complete the unfinished business for McCardlin. But that was, after all, a world of illusion. He had never seen the real McCardlin, let alone become the person the other had been waiting for.

But on another level, this world holds strange prophecies.

According to the magicians' understanding of the magic network, it was once a mirror that could reflect the future.

Moreover, similar situations have occurred before.

They rewrote history in the contaminated area, and he was remembered by Saint Mary for the rest of his life.

This seems more like the power of "Future Winter," and she did indeed appear during the trials. The line of text in the notebook was a hint left for them by "Future Winter."

Could the same thing have happened to Dean McCardlin?
Mrs. Judy did not answer immediately. She kept turning the pages of the book, and when the notes on the last few pages were completely blank, she breathed a sigh of relief, with an expression that said, "I knew it."

“There are many identical notes here, and the rest of the notes have been hidden.”

Mrs. Judy said, "The professors said it might be some kind of encryption magic they'd never seen before, or the dean might simply have stopped writing."

She was not the only researcher; many others had used the guise of research to try to unravel the secrets hidden in the notebooks, but they were not actually concerned with the dean himself.

"Perhaps he has been waiting for the person who can unlock these secrets."

Mrs. Judy said, her eyes somewhat dim.

Did he get there?

"No."

She shook her head; not only the dean, but she herself didn't have much time left.

"How did you know?"

Unaffected by the somber atmosphere, Winter curiously raised her questions. Professor Wapol also mentioned that Dean McCardlin's former residence held some unknown secrets. She admitted that her curiosity had been successfully piqued; her gaze wandered around, and she would occasionally pick up an exhibit from the cabinet and smell it. "Because those missing parts are all telling the same story."

Mrs. Judy had mixed feelings about Winter, the infamous troublemaker. On the one hand, she worried that Winter might cause damage to the memorial as rumored, and that he might tear the roof off if she wasn't careful. On the other hand, if she had to think of someone who could crack the secret, Winter was the only one she could think of.

The traps the professors had meticulously set were no match for her; she was an elemental shaper better than any of them.

Mrs. Judy even considered that perhaps Winter was the person Dean McCardlin had been waiting for all along.

But Professor Wapol spoke with her.

That was a long time ago. The professor told him seriously that they must never let Winter know the secret of this place, and they must protect it at all costs.

For Judy, this was more about the professors' sulking after losing a magical duel, and only the harsh winter could make those professors show their childlike, unyielding side.

"Did Professor Wapol send you?"

"Uh, actually it's..."

"That's right, he's the one who sent us."

Before Ethan could even try to smooth things over for Wapol, Winter betrayed Professor Wapol without batting an eye.

Is this something you can just say carelessly?

While in the office, Ethan noticed Wapol's constantly lowered tone and evasive eyes. As someone with experience in the workplace, he could tell at a glance that this suggestion was definitely against the rules. If Winter really ripped off the roof of the memorial, Professor Wapol, as the "leaker," would certainly be held accountable.

"It seems he's finally come to his senses."

Mrs. Judy cleared her throat. "Dean MacKay-Delin was a rational man who dedicated his life to the Academy. He never left the island since the day the Academy was founded. All his notes were about the future of elemental shapers and the Academy. Until his death, he was still actively searching for ways to break the addiction to magic."

She had lost count of how many people she had introduced Dean McCardlin to in this way.

Whenever visitors come here, she acts as a tour guide, telling them about the things that have happened here.

Anyone who knows McCardlin will be impressed by his selflessness and greatness.

"But that's because the dean hid all his personal feelings."

These are the parts she won't tell visitors: "On the day the dean left, he actually left a letter, but for some special reasons, the existence of that letter was hidden later."

As for the special reason, it is naturally related to the content of the letter.

It was encrypted with magic, concealing the text on it, making it a "wordless book" that no one could decipher.

Based on their understanding of the dean, they guessed that the letter must contain some very important information.

That might be related to the magic network, or even to "Doomsday".

This letter is encrypted so that one day the right person can open it.

Where is that letter?

“I’ve kept it safe… Come with me.”

The location is McCa-Delin's bedroom, which retains its ancient, thousand-year-old structure. Nothing here has been altered. Directly opposite the bed are three bookshelves, almost entirely filled with McCa-Delin's notes.

Judy untied the magical threads used for isolation and led the two into the bedroom.

She rummaged through the books on the bookshelf for a while and took out the letter from the inner compartment of a book whose cover read "An Introduction to the Energy Shaping of Elements".

The parchment was yellowed and contained no visible content.

Professor Wapol believes that the contents of this letter are likely related to the magic network, and keeping it safe is the best course of action.

"Does the dean know?"

"Winter suddenly asked."

"He tried it too, but failed."

Mrs. Judy shook her head.

At first, many people tried to write it, but after a while, no one paid any attention. "The professors believed that the letter was waiting for the right person, which should also be the dean's last wish."

When he wrote this letter, McCardlin probably already realized that his time was running out.

Winter held the yellowed parchment in her hand, brought it to her nose and smelled it, then a strange smile suddenly appeared on her face.

"Did you find anything?"

"The professors' guess was right; this letter is indeed waiting for the right person."

"As expected, the Dean had long foreseen the crisis facing the Magic Network and shared everything he knew..."

You've got it completely wrong.

Winter interrupted Mrs. Judy, shifting her gaze to Ethan and looking at him intently. "He has dedicated his entire life to the Academy, but if he knew this was the last letter he would ever write, who would he most want to write it to?"

Magic Net?

Magic addiction?
Or perhaps it's a doomsday in the distant future, a day when no one knows when it will come?

Winter doesn't think so.

After finishing the letter, McCa-Dellin picked up his fishing rod, left the college alone, and headed towards the circular lake, leaving all his worries behind.

According to Ethan, one morning when he was 107 years old, McCain finally retired.

The change on the envelope made Mrs. Judy's pupils shrink.

As the magic of winter was infused, a line of words slowly appeared.

The above content is unrelated to everyone's speculations; it only mentions one name.

Prior to this, the name had never appeared in any of McCardling's notes:
"To Cynthia"

Ethan simply stared silently at the words on the parchment.

The questions he had raised deep within the contaminated zone, within the Elemental Shaper Alliance, were finally answered at this moment.

—McCardlin and Cynthia never married.

(End of this chapter)