CHAPTER 100: 100 SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP (3/3)

Prison of Darkness.

Svannie looked at the young man who had been staring at the eye stem in the jar for most of the day and tapped the table, clearing her throat:

"Sir Herbert, regarding the letter you gave me, I think I have some results. Would you like to hear them?"

"Hmm? Oh, okay."

Coming back to his senses, Herbert set down the jar and nodded to the eye stem inside, which blinked in response.

Herbert: See you next time.

Eye Stem: Come play again~

The eye stem, having been specially inactivated multiple times, naturally wouldn’t be conscious, but Herbert always felt it must retain some basic responses.

Is this a new will born from flesh and blood?

Ever since mastering those so-called forbidden flesh-and-blood knowledge, Herbert no longer found Svannie’s research eerie.

Of course, it’s still disgusting, just not as repulsive as before.

Madness and fall are merely superficial; the essence here is still the pursuit of knowledge.

"Although you entrusted me with the decryption, it’s not my area of expertise, so it took a bit longer to look up the information."

Since the day Herbert asked for her help, more than a week had passed, and Svannie finally came up with an answer.

Svannie spread the letter in front of Herbert, her hand softly brushed over it, and the words on the paper floated into the air, beginning to rearrange themselves.

"I used thirteen traditional decryption methods first, then cross-referenced with local folk decryption habits, and finally switched to eight magical decryption methods."

The text continuously transformed and rearranged along with Svannie’s calm narration, occasionally forming some misleading phrases, but they were all somewhat dissonant.

Seeing this, Herbert squinted, having already a vague answer in his mind.

Sure enough, after everything returned to tranquility, and settled back onto the letter, Svannie looked at him and softly spoke:

"The conclusion I’ve currently deduced is that this letter was not encrypted in any way."

There is no secret in the letter.

In silence, Herbert shook his head, lightly sighing, he said softly, "Is that so..."

This result left Herbert feeling calm, not the least bit surprised.

Rather, it would be strange if there were secrets in the letter, wouldn’t it?

The Grand Duke of Silver Wings couldn’t expect a boy, who had never been exposed to decryption, to think along these lines, nor would he expect him to smoothly find a decryption master to help interpret it upon receiving the letter.

This is not realistic.

But precisely because such a possibility is unrealistic, it gives rise to expectations, making one want to try to chase it.

Hoping this tiny possibility truly exists, anticipating that there are such secrets waiting to be discovered...

Am I disappointed now?

Feeling the emotional fluctuations, Herbert shook his head, unable to suppress a laugh.

"Haha."

Svannie had been silently observing Herbert’s expression after sharing the conclusion, inwardly raising an eyebrow upon seeing him calm down so quickly.

The relationship between this father and son might be different from what she had guessed.

Although Herbert behaved as if he was not in a harmonious relationship with his father, from his actions, Svannie had her suspicions.

If Herbert didn’t care at all, he wouldn’t have specifically sought her out, hoping to find clues from here.

But now, he could quickly regain his calm... Does he really not care?

After thinking quickly in her mind, she decided to adjust her plan a bit.

"Ahem."

Svannie cleared her throat, slowly saying: "Besides this conclusion, I have a more personal thought, would you like to hear it?"

"...Please go ahead."

"Your father might have known that the letter would be seen by others."

Herbert frowned.

Svannie pushed the letter in front of Herbert, saying: "The wording of this letter is stiff and extremely formal, devoid of any personal emotions, it is entirely a standard formulaic reply."

"This seems okay, but... is it really normal?"

She observed Herbert’s reaction and continued:

"Dark Elves don’t have the human parental relationships, and I don’t have anyone who could be called a father... but I think this might not be his intention."

"Precisely because he knows he’s being watched, he can only use this way to try to protect you, not wanting others to think he still cares about you."

"I think, he must love you."

After Svannie spoke, the room fell into dead silence.

Herbert blinked, looking somewhat oddly at the expressionless Dark Elf, surprisingly saying: "Svannie, this doesn’t sound like something you’d say."

Matters of emotion and affection aren’t words you’d expect from a cold-blooded, tearless Forbidden Scholar like you.

"Why can’t I say it?"

Svannie’s expression remained unmoved as she retorted: "In your eyes, am I really such a cold-blooded and emotionless person?"

"Then perhaps I’m mistaken."

Herbert shook his head, not delving into this topic, not intending to discuss it with Svannie, and directly bypassed this topic saying:

"Thank you for your help this time, as repayment, what would you like me to do for you?"

Reciprocity, a give-and-take.

Solely seeking assistance will only deplete the goodwill between each other, mutual help is the essence of social interaction.

Even if the values might not be equal.

Svannie was straightforward, directly saying: "I do have something I’d like you to agree to."

"When my family comes here and you plan to assault them, can you..."

She paused, looked into Herbert’s eyes, a mysterious gleam flashed in hers, the corners of her cold mouth slightly turned up.

Svannie began to smile icily.

She said:

"Let me do it personally."

Cold-blooded and emotionless?

She indeed is.

.

.

Molten Hell.

Kreti watched the small figure soaking in the Magma Pool listlessly and sighed in boredom.

"How long are you going to sleep..."

When she’s awake, she finds her noisy, yet when she’s quiet, she surprisingly misses her.

"Tsk!"

Coming to her senses, Kreti clicked her tongue, shook her head vigorously, and patted her cheeks.

No no no... Kreti, you’re a Demon!

Get a grip!

How can you miss a Demon!!?

That’s too disrespectful!

If you keep falling like this, you’re destined to go to Heaven in the future!!!

And just as she kept admonishing herself not to let her mind wander, a strange noise came from the Magma Pool.

Crack.

The Demon paused, then quickly sneered contemptuously, and walked to the edge of the fortress, looking at the demon girl who was slowly sitting up below.

"Ha! You finally decided to wake up, making me wait so long..."

And in return, she received.

A fist-sized Molten Rock Ball.

Smack!

"Flora!!?"