Capítulo 943: Chapter 941: I Am Afflicted
Richard pushed the door open and walked into the main laboratory, sitting down at the circular lab table, his eyes slightly narrowed.
Previously, he had promised the Witch Demon Elder to complete the task and return within seven days, partly to reassure the elder and partly because he didn’t want to spend too much time on this matter, lest the Ancient Tree Species Ximu or other issues arise.
However, completing it within seven days wasn’t an easy task.
The task’s location wasn’t very close, and half of the seven days would be spent on the journey, with only the remaining half to actually perform the task.
After all, it was no small city. Although it was known that books were collected by an ancient wizard family, the exact location was unknown, making it difficult to find. The search would require not only ability but also some luck.
If unfortunate, even using a spiritual body for a carpet-like search might yield no clues for several days and nights upon arrival.
To avoid returning empty-handed, he best had some understanding of the city and enough clues before departure.
In simple terms, it’s about preparing thoroughly.
Richard lightly tapped the table a few times, flipped his hand, and took out Star Pattern Paper and Starry Sky Ink from the Space Iron Ring.
This was a communication tool for contacting the black-faced elder Oscar. He could confirm that the black-faced elder Oscar, whom he met accidentally in Delan, held a significant position, possibly being a notable figure in the largest country on the Main Continent—Northern Soma Alliance; otherwise, he wouldn’t have a Level 4 Wizard as a guard.
In the spirit of mutual assistance, after confirming the cooperation with the other party, he occasionally provided intelligence to him and also obtained desired information in return—for example, in his research on Shape Energy Light Magic, aside from the spells acquired from the Truth Society headquarters, a few exotic Light Magic spells were obtained from the other party.
Now, he intended to communicate with the other party before setting out on the task, to see if he could get information about the task city.
The city was located on the border of the Southern Free Federation, very close to the Soma Alliance; perhaps it had already been “infiltrated” by their intelligence agencies.
With this in mind, Richard dipped the Quill in Starry Sky Ink and started writing on the Star Pattern Paper.
“Scritch scratch scratch…”
He first reported to the black-faced elder Oscar about the recent Truth Society intelligence he had gathered, then asked if the latter knew anything about the task city he was headed to.
The ink with faint shimmering spots on the Star Pattern Paper slowly seeped in and disappeared. After a short wait, new writing appeared as a reply from the other side of the paper.
The handwriting was somewhat sloppy but not hard to read, and the writing speed was very fast.
Richard guessed that it wasn’t the black-faced elder on the other side but rather someone authorized by the elder to transcribe, making it so efficient.
The efficient information exchange continued for dozens of minutes, during which Richard obtained detailed information from the paper.
Then the handwriting on the Star Pattern Paper abruptly changed style, slowing down but with each word appearing more forceful.
Richard guessed that it must be the black-faced elder Oscar himself now.
Displayed on the Star Pattern Paper: “The information provided to you above is relatively outdated; some updated information hasn’t been transmitted yet. If your task has a high time sensitivity requirement, our institution in that city might offer you some insignificant help.”
Richard raised an eyebrow: previously, he thought the elder’s influence might have “infiltrated” the city where he was tasked, but now it seemed they were actually stationed there.
Of course, this was good news for him.
Continuing to read, the elder wrote: “If you wish to meet with that small organization, just go to a specific address and look for a specific person, and they will try to fulfill any of your requests. Of course, if possible, we hope you can also offer them whatever help you can. This also counts as cooperation.”
Richard nodded slightly, and after that line of writing faded, he picked up the pen to write: “Agreed.”
Soon, a new line of writing came back with the contact address, contact person, and contact code.
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By evening, Richard had made numerous preparations for the task and began to make departure arrangements.
He then left the Blue Lake Estate and headed to the Ash Academy where Bobbobovic resided.
The reason for going to the Ash Academy was that Richard felt that having one more person was better than just himself—having Bobbobovic accompany him on the task would be less trouble.
But upon arriving at the Ash Academy, he discovered things were a bit complicated.
Ash Academy, in a somewhat shabby parlor, Richard and Bobbobovic sat facing each other.
At the moment, Bobbobovic was wearing a pure black top hat, slightly oversized, made of not-so-great material, looking like a can fitted on his head, appearing somewhat comical.
However, Bobbobovic didn’t show much amusement on his face; instead, he had a deep worry as he looked at Richard and frankly asked: “You came to see me because you want to take me on some task, don’t you?”
Richard’s eyebrows twitched, responding: “From your words, it seems you don’t want to go?”
“It’s not that I don’t want to go, it’s just not very convenient,” Bobbobovic replied, then sighed deeply, “Sigh.”
“What’s the matter?” Richard asked.
Instead of answering, Bobbobovic slightly rolled his eyes upward, towards the hat he was wearing.
“Is something wrong with the hat?” Richard guessed, then paused as he saw Bobbobovic’s hat abruptly grow taller, as if something was pushing it from underneath.
Richard thought he must have been mistaken, but not long after, Bobbobovic’s hat grew taller again, lifting right off his head.
He could see that Bobbobovic’s head was covered in dense hair, each strand standing tall, grass-green in color, resembling wild grass imbued with extraordinary power, visibly growing longer and pushing the hat higher and higher.
In a short while, Bobbobovic’s hat had been pushed half a meter off.
Richard’s mouth twitched at this, looking at Bobbobovic, he asked: “Your hair seems a bit abnormal?”
“Indeed it’s abnormal,” Bobbobovic said with a mournful face, “I was too impatient. Baldness is too unsightly, and hair doesn’t grow back in a day or two, so I used a spell to speed it up.”
“Wild Hair Evil Power Growth Technique,” Bobbobovic replied.
Just hearing the name, you could tell it wasn’t a good spell… Richard’s mouth twitched again.
Bobobovic continued with a pained expression: “Actually, it was quite fine at first; the hair returned to normal in just an afternoon.
But to my horror, after a night’s sleep, things turned frightening. First, the hair turned green, then it started growing wildly. Even if completely cut, it would regrow.
So, it’s really inconvenient for me to join you for the task. In fact, I can’t even step out now; I give lectures to students from behind a wall, yelling until my throat aches.” After speaking, Bobbobovic rubbed his own throat.
Richard’s mouth twitched more severely, shaking his head, he stood up. Walking over to Bobbobovic, he patted his shoulder comfortingly before turning to leave.
As he reached the door, Richard turned back, trying hard to keep a serious face: “Then, don’t worry about the task, just… focus on recovering. Ah, I’m leaving now; there’s no need to see me off.”
With a wave of his hand, Richard left the Ash Academy.