The Mouth of Syloens felt only of rough stone, not the repulsive softness of living flesh.
But the anticipation, with his finger lingering inside the unknown cavity, was perhaps more agonizing than any unpleasant sensation.
After a mont, a sound like wind howling through a mountain pass echoed from the Mouth of Syloens.
— Hmmm... Sweet, like cake... Delicious, so delicious... Let
see... No corruption... How can this be... Can't eat it, what a sha...
— You may remove your finger, — Lilia said with a slight nod.
— Lady Lilia? — Dean Rolens asked, his voice full of hope.
— Congratulations, — Lilia said indifferently, her interest clearly gone. — A pureblood human, free of contamination. But don't celebrate just yet. You still have to confirm that he is, in fact, an exorcist.
Lilia took back the Mouth of Syloens and walked past Lu Li.
— You've returned too late... — she whispered.
Lu Li turned his head, his eyes following Lilia.
Before she left, as she passed a window, Lilia glanced toward the estate gates, from which a dull murmur was rising. A small crowd had gathered there.
— You're being too hasty, Rolens, — Lilia remarked.
— Because this is our only chance, — Dean Rolens replied, struggling to contain his excitent.
— Those on the Great Tree might invite him to join them.
— Of course. But don't forget that we, the 'public face,' were the ones who found him.
Lilia said nothing more. Her slender figure, concealed beneath a voluminous robe, moved toward the exit, followed by her young assistant.
As soon as Lilia was gone, the tense atmosphere in the conference hall evaporated. Genuine smiles broke out on the faces of those present.
Except for Professor Sesar.
— Mister 'Lu Li,' now you must answer a few more questions, — Professor Sesar said, stepping out from a corner and approaching Lu Li.
— Sesar... — Professor Deizi Shmidt tried to stop him.
— We cannot allow soone to impersonate a hero, — Professor Sesar declared, his gaze fixed on Dean Rolens.
— But... but I think Mister Lu Li needs to rest, don't you? He's co a long way from Mantistown, — Professor Deizi Shmidt said with a placating smile. — We could start tomorrow...
— I know what you're up to. Spreading rumors about him, aren't you? — The severity in Professor Sesar's voice stopped Professor Deizi Shmidt in his tracks.
— A lie must not be allowed to beco truth, especially not here.
The excitent in the conference hall died down under Professor Sesar's stern presence. He looked at Lu Li, awaiting his answer.
— Begin.
...
— How much longer are we supposed to wait here? — grumbled Ternasi, a reporter for the "Midnight Chronicle," standing by the noisy gates of Claire University. His irritation was infectious. — It's because these people never follow the rules that they only have a few dozen pathetic students.
Then again, the people of Midnight knew that this Claire University had no students, because it wasn't the real Claire University.
— Maybe it has sothing to do with the university on the Great Tree?! — his young assistant, Shon, suddenly exclaid.
Ternasi wanted to clamp a hand over his assistant's mouth, but it was too late. He noticed several reporters from other papers, who had been clustered by the gate, quietly slipping away to draft their articles.
— We have to get back quickly too, or they'll beat us to it! — young Shon cried excitedly.
— Idiot, keep your voice down, — Ternasi snapped, smacking him on the back of the head. But the outburst seed to sober him up. — It's not that simple. Look who's in that carriage.
He pointed to a stout man sitting in a carriage parked at the side of the road.
— Isn't that... the owner of the Mondali Theater? — young Shon recognized the man. — What's he doing here? And why can't he get in, just like us?
— Perhaps he's here for the sa reason we are... — Ternasi murmured thoughtfully, his words lost in the noise from the gate.
— Maybe the theater owner knows sothing? — young Shon asked, tugging on Ternasi's sleeve.
— Excellent idea! Let's go!
They squeezed through the crowd and onto a quieter street.
— Sir, we're reporters from the "Midnight Chronicle." Could you tell us what's happening at Claire University?
Ternasi stood before the carriage while young Shon flipped open his notepad, ready to take notes.
— Sothing very important, — the theater owner replied, his gaze fixed on the nearby building.
— Excuse ... what do you an by 'very important'?
...
Beyond the window, an alchemy tower lood, with plus of smoke rising from a pipe at its corner.
Everyone sat along the edges of the conference hall, waiting for the conversation between the two n to begin.
Professor Sesar looked at the dark-haired man and asked: — Do you recall the route you took while confronting the Third Calamity?
Lu Li replied calmly, — I traveled from the Allen Peninsula to Vinnelag on the Main Continent. From there, I took a ship to Port Most, and then on to Lynx City in the Wastelands. I passed through the settlent of Peschanaya Obval and Raintown before stopping in Helentown on the shore of Lake Legkogo Zerkala. Along the way, I rescued several people in a naless village and accompanied them to Revoltown. After the Great Migration, I crossed Saint Fox Gorge, a desert corridor, and a river, eventually reaching an old river plain, where I fell into an abyss.
His account was far more detailed and impressive than any of the rumors.
— You rember it all very well, — Professor Sesar remarked, watching Lu Li's expression. It was, in its own way, another question.
— For , it was only a month ago, — Lu Li's composure remained unshaken.
— A month... So much has happened in that month, it's hard to even imagine, — Professor Sesar continued his questioning. — The rumors say you were always accompanied by a female companion. Who was she?
— ...There were different people.
After a brief silence, Lu Li answered, — On the ship to the Wastelands, I t Emin. In Helentown, it was Elena. In Revoltown...
But in the end, all their nas rged into one.
— ...Anna.
— That's not ntioned in most of the rumors, — Professor Sesar nodded.
— One last question, — Professor Sesar's gaze was sharp. — A man you saved, Bruce Stanley, said you left sothing behind in Revoltown, but no one has ever been able to find it... Where is it?
Lu Li didn't answer right away. He frowned slightly, lost in thought.
— ...Cou...ra...ge... — ca a quiet whisper.
Professor Deizi Shmidt, pretending to be nonchalant, was mouthing the words silently.
— ...The courage... you left behind...
He was trying to prompt Lu Li.
Professor Sesar frowned and looked back at Lu Li.
Just then, the conference hall door swung open. Katerina, who had accidentally fallen asleep after a hot bath, had finally arrived.
And just in ti.
Amid applause and joyful shouts, Professor Sesar placed a hand over his heart and bowed respectfully to Lu Li. — You've passed the test, Mister Lu Li.
— Welco back.
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