Chapter 613: Chapter 523: You should have already experienced the higher scenery, haven’t you, Ivina?_2
Now her “expectations” and “dreams” had undoubtedly become reality, Loth was truly dead…
“It was I who killed him…” Ivina’s spirit was shaken, and she muttered to herself, her face losing color as a gradual tremble took hold of her body.
Lynn silently shook his head. It wasn’t just Ivina’s cold, sharp words that “killed” Loth, but also the coercion of his father, Baron Pedro.
It must be said, the Pedro family was full of “talents”.
An eldest son mediocre and weak, unable to shoulder the expectations of his father, a stubborn second daughter with a chilling talent and a longing for recognition mixed with resentment, incidentally they both shared a father with grand aspirations but little ability, obsessed with restoring the family’s honor.
To the so-called children, they were nothing more than tools in Baron Pedro’s eyes. Ivina’s beauty and her talent in swordsmanship were the bargaining chips to curry favor with Duke Nord, and as for the only son, Loth, of course, he was the sole candidate to restore the family’s honor.
Talent may be lacking, but one could still work hard, and if all else failed, use other means to compensate. As long as one could establish connections with his Lordship the Duke, and then persuade the senior bishop of the Church, there might still be a chance to pass through the Knight selection.
Baron Pedro’s ideas were indeed beautiful, but he evidently did not consider whether Loth was willing or had the capacity to accept such an arrangement.
The previous seven Knight selections had been unexceptionally disastrous failures, and coupled with the expectations and burdens of family restoration, were almost suffocating Loth. Ivina’s mocking taunts were the last straw that broke the camel’s back, giving Loth, who already felt inferior due to his mediocrity and weakness, the notion that everything would be better after his death.
“Your brother may not have been outstanding, nor was he the star of Magic,” Lynn said softly, “but he did care about you a lot. His death is not entirely your fault, and death is irreversible. If you wish to do something to atone for your mistakes, then perhaps you should do something more meaningful and live out not only your life but also his.”
“Although the Council has purged the nobility, there are still many like your father, Baron Pedro, within the Empire—ignorant, stubborn, with outdated views. Atrocious incidents like infanticide, lynching, and public combat still occur from time to time within the kingdom…”
“No one can stop what has happened in the past, but at least we can reduce the chances of such unpleasant incidents happening again.”
After offering a few words of consolation, Lynn reached out and patted the trembling shoulders of the young girl then left the room alone with a watching raven, allowing Ivina some time to herself.
As he gently closed the door, a suppressed sobbing emerged in unison.
“People… only after losing something, do they understand what’s most important…” Lynn said reflectively.
Originally, he just wanted to use Loth’s identity as a stepping stone to enter the harbor town and find the limping Lae’en. Unexpectedly, that old man was hiding like a mole while Lynn, having leaked his whereabouts, was caught red-handed by the steward of the Pedro family and had no choice but to headbutt his way back.
Luckily, the situation within the Pedro family was exceedingly complex, and the relationships could even be described as stranger than kin, which allowed Lynn to muddle through by barely relying on the descriptions in Loth’s diary.
Regardless of everything now, this cycle of cause and effect had come to a complete resolution, whether Ivina would come to understand was beyond his control.
Lynn’s thoughts quickly broke free from these trivial matters; there were more important things to deal with now, such as arranging for personnel to enter the Space-Time Gate as soon as possible and clarifying the time flow differences between the two worlds.
This was of utmost importance and to a certain extent signaled how much time they had left to prepare.
Upon this consideration, Lynn looked toward the Attendant who had brought Ivina earlier and asked, “Is that Mr. Sean who invented the pendulum clock still in the capital?”
“Responding to the Legendary Councilman, Mr. Sean should currently be deep in study at the Alchemy Research Institute,” the Attendant said respectfully.
“Then have him come to the parlor later.” Lynn figured that the emotionally upset Ivina would need some time to cry, thus he changed the meeting venue to the parlor.
“Please wait a moment, I will go and notify Mr. Sean at once,” the Attendant said with great respect as he withdrew.
This wait did not last long; upon learning that the acclaimed star of Magic had summoned him, Sean immediately grabbed his latest research and hurried to the manor with the fastest speed possible.
“Councilman, you wanted to see me?” Sean entered the room and immediately bowed to Lynn, his attitude very humble.
“Yes, there are some matters that require your talents!” Lynn nodded, extended his hand towards a seat nearby, and signaled that the other party could sit down and talk at leisure.
“I would be pleased to serve you, Councilman!” Sean sat down on the chair, somewhat constrained, aware that neither his talent nor his strength was likely to catch the eye of this star of Magic—the only thing special about him was that he had invented the pendulum clock.
The other party had specifically summoned him this time, likely for issues regarding the improvement and widespread adoption of the pendulum.
Sean had a clear understanding of himself and had even brought his work with him in advance.
A pendulum clock about forty centimeters long.
“This is my new work, improved after taking your advice. It now includes a minute hand and an hour hand, and I have also added a striking mechanism and a date adjusting function…” Sean explained the functions of the new-style pendulum clock to Lynn without pause, and the restrained look on his face vanished immediately.
Lynn took the pendulum clock and examined it for a moment, noting that aside from a somewhat crude exterior, it could almost be considered a very complete piece.
“Your pendulum clock is well made. I think in the future, every city, town, and even every person will use such a convenient timing device,” Lynn said, not skimping on his words of praise.
Naturally, Sean was overjoyed and quickly immersed himself in the grand vision constructed by this star of Magic.
However, Lynn’s tone suddenly shifted, “However, I called you here because I hope you can continue to improve the timing mechanism. Its precision is still lacking. It might suffice for ordinary situations, but if it’s used in magical experiments that require precise timing, it would hardly be of much use.”
Especially if one wants to accurately assess the time-flow difference between the two sides of a Space-Time Gate, neither the pendulum clock nor the Magic Hourglass can do the job.
Lynn’s words pulled Sean from his state of self-satisfaction, and of course, he knew that precision was a major weakness of the pendulum clock.
Because the principle of its timing relied on the isochronism of the pendulum’s swing, being able to steadily achieve second-by-second time division was already quite good.
“Councilman, give me three days’ time, and I will find a way to improve the precision of the pendulum clock to within one-tenth of a second, no, one-twentieth of a second!” Sean said through gritted teeth.
This illustrious star of Magic, who rarely asked for him, meant that Sean naturally did not dare to neglect this rare opportunity.
“Not enough!” Lynn shook his head and spoke directly, “I hope the timer you develop can achieve a precision of one-millionth of a second at best!”
One-millionth… of a second?!
Sean’s face was filled with astonishment and disbelief, followed by a wry smile.
“I’m afraid… that’s simply impossible, Councilman.”
If it were one-fiftieth of a second, or even one-hundredth of a second, he might still try, but one-millionth of a second was nothing short of fanciful.
Even the reaction speeds of the Legendary Councilmen couldn’t possibly be that fast, could they?
“Of course, it’s possible, as long as you switch to a timing method that’s clearer than a pendulum. You will find it’s actually quite simple!” Lynn said with a smile.
(PS: I had to work overtime at noon and couldn’t post, so today’s update is a little late, please forgive me.)