Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

As more and more people gathered around, and some even recognized Christobelle, the man hurriedly grabbed her hand with a panicked expression.

"Christopher, let's go."

"No, the piece is only halfway through."

Christobelle refused, but continued playing. The man impatiently raised the volume.

"It would be terrible if more people gathered than we are now..."

“Oh, there’s no problem with that,” Isaac suddenly said.

"what?"

He stepped forward and patted Christobell on the shoulder. After a flash of lightning, the girl playing suddenly stopped, and the bow holding the strings froze.

After doing all that, he took a pistol out of his pocket, pointed it at the sky, and fired three shots.

boom! boom! boom!

"Get out of here, you bystanders! Or I'll kill you all."

"Ahhhh!!!"

The onlookers suddenly scattered in all directions, leaving Hugh and his group stunned.

"Alright, sir, may I ask you a question?"

Isaac holstered his gun and walked toward the man.

"You...you ask."

The man said somewhat timidly, as Isaac's actions had completely frightened him.

“This, Miss Christobell… she’s probably not human.”

Chapter 1038: Fantasy Melody

“This, Miss Christobell… she’s probably not human.”

Everyone around had left, and Isaac stared at the man in front of him and the girl named Christobell beside him.

Upon hearing Isaac's words, the man took a few steps back in fear, forcing a dry laugh as he suppressed his apprehension: "Ha...haha...sir, you're joking, of course she's human."

Seeing that he denied it, Isaac didn't say anything and just continued to watch them.

"Well... it's getting late, so I'll take my leave now."

Knowing he couldn't stay any longer, the man grabbed Christobell's hand, wanting to leave as quickly as possible.

But when he grabbed the girl's hand, he found that she was still standing there motionless, and no matter how he pulled, it was no use.

"Christobel, what's wrong? Stop fooling around... Let's go back now..."

"It's no use."

Isaac stepped forward and grabbed the man's shoulder.

“She is not made of flesh and blood; her body is made of intricate gears. If I remove one of the gears, she will be unable to move.”

"What!?"

Hugh also exclaimed in surprise, "This young lady... is she a machine?"

“I was also taken aback. It’s astonishing that such an ingenious machine exists in this era. This is practically artificial intelligence,” Isaac laughed. “But thinking about it carefully, it must have used some kind of magical power.”

After he finished speaking, he gently touched Christobelle's forehead.

After the lightning struck her body, she continued playing her violin, producing beautiful and melodious sounds.

It felt like the machine had been rebooted.

"This……"

“Um… sir,” the man said cautiously, looking down at Isaac, “please, could you not tell anyone about Christobell?”

"Anyway, it's not a big deal, and I don't have the time to spread it around."

Thank you so much!

He bowed to Isaac, then turned and took the hand of the girl who was still playing the violin.

"Let's go now."

"Not yet, the piece hasn't been finished."

Christobell said calmly, continuing to play her violin.

"This is troublesome..."

Even though everyone has left, a bunch of people might gather again at any time.

Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he looked at Hugh with a pleading expression.

"Excuse me, could we borrow this violin for a while?"

"Sure, that doesn't matter."

Seemingly intimidated by his imposing presence, Hugh smiled wryly. The man breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, I'm sorry, you are..."

“I am Hugh Anson Deswat… just call me Hugh, and this is Darian,” Hugh introduced. “This next to her is Isaac, and this is Fran.”

"Isaac?" the man exclaimed in surprise. "Black hair, black eyes, appearance..."

"If you utter any bad words, I'll beat you up."

"Ah no, um... could you perhaps be... the legendary 'alchemist of the early 20th century'?" the man asked uncertainly.

"Barring any unforeseen circumstances, it will be me."

"So it's you! I've had the pleasure of hearing of your name before. No wonder you noticed Christobelle's unusual behavior..."

At this point, he looked at Hughes beside him.

"Diswat? Could it be that you are related to Viscount Diswat?"

The man's face stiffened as he said this.

But he immediately reverted to his original cowardly attitude.

“I am Daralrio Hayward. Although I may have to stay in the capital for a while, I will definitely return the instrument once it is set up… Let’s go, Christobelle!”

After uttering these words, the man who called himself Daralrio forcibly hoisted the girl, who was still playing the violin, onto his shoulders. Even so, Christobelle refused to stop playing. Carried on her back, she continued to play the world's most beautiful melodies with an unnatural, tilted-back posture.

Daralrio carried her on his back, staggering as he walked away. The onlookers were astonished by this astonishing sight, watching them leave.

Only after the two figures were completely hidden from view by the grove of trees did Hugh mutter:

"Who are they? They seem to know my grandfather..."

“Who knows?” Darian said dismissively. “Just a strange person.”

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

It was another afternoon, and Isaac was sitting on the sofa in the mansion, drinking coffee and leisurely reading the newspaper.

English manor life is elegant and tranquil, and perhaps influenced by this atmosphere, Isaac rarely spends his afternoons with anything other than vodka.

Aside from some advertisements, there wasn't anything particularly important in the newspaper.

"Aren't you always bored at home?"

Fran stretched out her waist, walked to the sofa, and sat down next to Isaac.

"A rare moment of leisure."

"Speaking of which, you haven't opened the bookshelf since you became my key guardian."

"There aren't many usable books on your bookshelf."

Isaac put down the newspaper and glanced at the patterns and gems on his left hand.

"I was tricked into joining you."

"Don't say that, there are still some that can be used."

Fran moved closer to Isaac and whispered in his ear.

"And I'm not as arrogant as that little one. If you're interested in my body, you can invite me anytime~ Anyway, you won't lose out."

"Get out of the way."

Isaac pushed Fran's face away from him.

Just then, the mansion gates suddenly opened, and Darian and Hugh strode in.

"Hmm? You guys go back..."

"Isaac, are you free to come out with us now?"

"Huh? Where to?"

"Sassin Hall".

"Where is that... wait a minute."

Isaac picked up the newspaper and flipped through several pages, eventually finding a place called 'Sassin Concert Hall'.

The above report states that the orchestra venue under construction in the capital has been completed and will soon hold an inauguration ceremony. Sasteen is Christobelle's surname.

"Oh, so that's the concert hall that Christobell built specifically for herself? It's quite prestigious. What are you going there for?" Isaac asked. "If it's just to listen to a concert, I'll pass. I'm too much of a country bumpkin for classical music, but I can accept rock music."

“It’s not a concert,” Hughes explained. “Christobel is going to play the violin sonata Republic, a piece by Cyrilmo Padini.”

"...Who is that?"

Dalian then interjected, "Simply put, it's one of the songs left behind by a dead person, possessing a miraculous power that can either enchant the listener or plunge them into an abyss of fear and sorrow."

"what?"

"What she is about to perform is extremely dangerous; it involves phantom books... or rather, phantom music."

Chapter 1039: The Child Is Lost

"Ciriermo Padini was an 18th-century Italian composer who left behind a total of 57 musical works, but because of their difficulty, they could not be performed by anyone and no one has ever heard them."

Hugh drove the other three to the capital and explained the situation to Isaac.