Page 46
When the get out of class was over, Tik also presented his return gift, a book that was four fingers thick - "Rune and Alchemy".
Although there are some basic alchemy books in Yieta College, they can never compare to the gift from an alchemy master.
Lynn flipped through a few pages. In addition to the analysis of some basic alchemical runes, the book also had notes at the bottom of each page.
So many annotations could not have been written on the spur of the moment. They should have been a "textbook" used to teach a core apprentice.
Even so, it is still a very precious gift, which means that I can avoid many detours when learning alchemy.
Lin En made a few polite remarks and then put the alchemy book away.
Tik, who had just finished an Olympiad mathematics class, had all kinds of questions in his mind that needed Lin's answers. However, after glancing at the half-orc girl who had been hanging around since the get out of class, he tactfully said goodbye and left.
"Professor Lin En!" Lydia came up immediately, tiptoed and put the bulging bag of money on the podium, put her hands on her hips, and said proudly.
"Throughout the day yesterday, we sold 837 tickets, which is a total of 83 magic gold coins and 70 silver coins. They are all here..."
The half-orc girl kept talking about the grand scene in the square yesterday afternoon. The line of people taking the airships stretched all the way to the pier of the harbor. Everyone couldn't wait to fly up to the sky to take a look...
So many tickets were sold in just one day, and Lin En was a little surprised. It seemed that the charm of flying was even greater than he had imagined.
"By the way, there's this account book. Uncle Darren asked me to give it to you!" Lydia took out a small booklet and stuffed it into Lin's hand. It contained a list of all the people who had purchased tickets, and even clearly stated which batch of airships they were on.
Lin En asked the intelligent computer to record all the data, then took out the eight gold and thirty-seven silver coins belonging to the halfling in the purse and returned them to Lydia along with the account book.
"When you go back, tell Darren that you don't have to send this thing to me every day. Just show it to me every once in a while."
The half-orc girl's expression became a little confused, because Lynn's reaction was different from what Darren and the others had predicted. With such a huge amount of money, they thought the other party would definitely require an inspection every day.
Lin En did not explain. He deliberately loosened the control on money just to see if these halflings would do something secretly.
An airship is just the beginning. There will be many opportunities to earn gold coins in the future. For example, the wizarding land is still using very backward papyrus and parchment to record text. He can make a fortune just by selling paper.
But he couldn't do these things himself, so he definitely needed to hire some trustworthy people.
It depends on whether these halflings can resist the greed in their hearts.
The two were chatting when they suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside the door, and then the door of the classroom was slammed. Lynn turned his head and looked over. He didn't see anyone at first glance, until he lowered his head and found that it was Darren who broke in.
After not seeing each other for a day, the unshaven half-man looked much more haggard than before. He walked in and looked around. When he saw Lin En, he spoke in a panic as if he had seen a savior.
"Oh no, Professor Lynn, Ralph... Ralph is dead!"
Ralph? Who's that?
Lynn paused, but before he could think clearly, he was dragged away by the anxious Darren, pulling his sleeve.
Chapter 82 [Sleepy Mist] and [Corrosion]
When Lynn arrived at the harbor dock, a group of people were gathered in a dark alley next to the Broad Axe Tavern. After squeezing in, he saw a short and fat corpse lying on the ground.
Ralph was only about 1.3 meters tall and looked very strong, but his entire upper body was a bloody mess, and half of his neck was missing. His eyes were wide open, his face was full of fear, and he was holding an iron wrench tightly in his hand.
"Oh my God, poor Ralph, who could be so cruel to him? If he dies like this, what will happen to little Dimi?" A female halfling covered her face with a handkerchief and sobbed, her voice choking.
"Damn bastard, if I knew who did it, I would smash his head with a hammer."
The halflings present were also filled with righteous indignation, and angrily pounded the earthen walls of the street with their rough, calloused fists.
Even the usually cheerful and lively Lydia was furious at this moment, clenching her fists tightly...
Suddenly, Lynn frowned, squatted down and placed his hand on top of Ralph's robe. Under the effect of the [Magic Hand], some white powder stuck on the other's body was absorbed out.
After using [Elementary Material Analysis Technique] to decompose it, Lin En discovered that this was not anything that had been recorded in the system database...
"This is the powder of the rhizome of withered grass. It is usually used to assist in the release of the first-level magic [Sleepy Mist]..."
A voice sounded behind him. Lynn turned around and saw that it was a middle-aged wizard who spoke.
The other person was wearing a standard robe, and the medal hanging on his chest was inlaid with three dazzling gems and had a silver eagle-like mark.
Without waiting for Lin En to ask, the man took the initiative to introduce himself.
"I'm the sheriff of Yieta Harbor. You can call me Leia!"
Lynn nodded and asked, "Hello, Your Excellency the Sheriff, I want to know why Ralph died here. Have you found anything else?"
"I just asked the staff at the Broadaxe Tavern. This halfling came here early in the morning and got drunk. Then he went out alone. About ten minutes later, someone heard a fight and cries for help in this alley. When we arrived, the halfling's body was already severely corroded and there was no possibility of saving him."
Leia succinctly recounted the incident, and after a pause, he continued, "I think it is most likely a wizard apprentice who did it. As for the reason, I cannot confirm it yet. Anyway, I have asked the security team to investigate..."
Lynn nodded, agreeing with Leia's guess. If the one who did it was a formal wizard, then Ralph would have no ability to resist at all.
Only apprentices need to use magic materials when casting low-level magic.
Lin En looked down at the yellowish powder floating in his hand. The other party should have used [Sleepy Mist] first.
So you want to capture Ralph alive?
But it was obvious that the wizard apprentice underestimated the physical fitness of the halflings. [Sleepy Mist] did not have much effect and even provoked Ralph's resistance...
Given the opponent's strength, if he uses a wrench to hit any part of the body, it will inevitably cause considerable damage.
As for what ended Ralph in the end, it should be the first-level magic [Corrosion]...
“Does anyone know what Ralph has been doing these days? Did he have any grudges with anyone? Or did he say things he shouldn’t have…” Lynn looked at the group of halflings and asked.
"Ralph has been making airships in the workshop for the past half month, staying with us, and has not gone anywhere... Yesterday afternoon, he even drove the airship for a while on behalf of Lydia..." Darren said with a sob. "Last night, only last night, we went out to celebrate with a drink, and asked Ralph to be in charge of watching the airship to prevent anyone from sneaking in and doing bad things on the airship..."
"It's all my fault... If I hadn't arranged for him to keep watch, he wouldn't have waited until early in the morning to go to the pub and drink to his heart's content..." Darren said with sobs, tears as big as beans kept sliding down from the corners of his eyes and his nose twitching.
Lynn thought about it and remembered that he had met Ralph several times when he went to the workshop. He was one of the halflings responsible for making the airship cabin.
So are you here for the airship design drawings?
Lynn couldn't help but think of this possibility, because the timing of Ralph's death was too coincidental.
He had just conducted a flight experiment in the square yesterday morning, and today one of the core builders of the airship died. Moreover, the person who did it initially used non-lethal magic such as [Sleepy Mist], and it was obvious that he was planning to take the person away for interrogation.
Despite this guess, Lynn still asked Ralph as usual if he had any strange behavior recently. He then called over several people who first heard the cries for help and asked them to recount in detail the entire process from hearing the cries for help to entering the alley and discovering the body.
Unfortunately, after some questioning, Lin En helplessly discovered that the clues he got were too few, because after hearing the noise in the alley, the townspeople's first reaction was not to go in and check, but to run away quickly. Being able to notify the guards and the sheriff was the best they could do.
No one saw the murderer's appearance...
Lin En understood this behavior very well. Even if it was a wizard apprentice, he could cause terrible damage by using fireball. In such a situation, no one would take the initiative to go to a dangerous place.
Considering this, Lynn looked at the sheriff helplessly and spoke.
"Sir Leia, please keep an eye out these days and find someone who is about 1.7 to 1.75 meters tall and may have injured his legs, arms, waist or abdomen..."
"I can understand that he was injured, but why is he only 1.7 meters tall? Could it be that Professor Lin En has seen the murderer?" Leia questioned in confusion.
"Shoe size!" Lynn pointed to the ground in front of Ralph's body and responded directly.
Darren, Lydia and others immediately looked in the direction Linn pointed, but their eyes were blank because they saw nothing.
Leia was different. She walked directly to where Linn had just stood. Through her perception, she could see footprints made up of some residual dust on the ground.
"Generally speaking, height is about seven times the length of the feet. Of course, what I mean is... if the person doing it is a normal human!" Lin En explained. For example, the ratio of his own height and foot length is very consistent with this standard. However, if the person doing it is some strange creature like an orc or an elf, it may not be the case.
At least it can serve as a useful clue.
As for following the footprints? That's simply a fantasy.
The entire alley was trampled into a mess by the crowd of onlookers, and only the area near the corpse was slightly cleaner, with some traces left.
Chapter 83 The Other Side of the World
"Is that so? I'm glad to hear your advice."
Leia looked at Lin En with a strange look. He strongly suspected that the other party had been a sheriff before crossing the sea to the land of wizards, otherwise how could he be more skilled in investigating clues than himself.
"Here are five magic gold coins. Please help me give them to Ralph's family." Lynn took out some magic gold coins from his pocket and handed them to Darren.
Since Ralph was most likely attacked because of the airship, he naturally had to make some response, otherwise no one would be willing to help him in the future.
However, the investigation will ultimately be handed over to Leia, the sheriff.
After all, he didn't have his own intelligence personnel, and he didn't know which apprentices met the requirements, let alone track and investigate them one by one.
Lin En only now realized that although he had gained considerable fame in the past half month, he did not have many manpower at his disposal, and it was difficult for him to obtain some intelligence.
In view of this, Lynn had no choice but to remind Darren, Lydia and others to pay attention to safety recently and never act alone.
The other party failed in their attempt to take Ralph away, and there might be further actions. A wizard apprentice is most likely just a pawn.
They stayed in the alley until noon, and without finding any more clues, the crowd had to disperse. As for the body, Leia took it back to the security team in the hope of finding more traces that had not been noticed before.
On the way back to the workshop, Lydia and the others were in very low spirits. The joy they had felt from making the airship and earning a large amount of magic coins had long since dissipated. However, they still drained the airbags of the airship according to Lin's instructions.
Then Lynn personally replaced the hydrogen filling the airbag with helium.
Both gases are able to provide sufficient lift for the airship.
It’s just that hydrogen is easy to obtain but flammable and explosive. This thing was chosen just to help Lydia complete the test of Herram.
In addition, he had a little idea, that is, once the design drawings of the airship were leaked, and someone made another airship using the same method, it would leave a fatal weakness.
As long as the airbag is broken and a few sparks are created, this thing will turn into a big fireball flying in the sky.
As Lin En was thinking, he stepped out of the workshop. When he was about to return to Yieta College, he saw someone who was unexpected waiting outside the door.
"Mr. Lord, what do you want to talk to me about?" Lynn stopped walking, looked at the man waiting at the door, and asked.
"Yes, there is some news, maybe it's what you want to know, Lord Lin, are you interested in listening?" Lord hunched over and spoke very respectfully.
He didn't look like a gangster boss managing hundreds of people, but more like a nobleman's butler.
Lin En stared at Loud for a while and said indifferently, "Let's find a quiet place to talk."
He did not choose to return to the academy because in his eyes, it was not a private place.
"Please follow me, Mr. Lin En." A look of surprise appeared on Lord's face, and he quickly stretched out his hand to lead the way for Lin En.
The two walked through the streets on the west side and the central square, and after walking out of a long and narrow alley, they arrived at the South City area next to the pier, which he had never been to before.
Lin En looked around at everything around him. Ever since he stepped into the Yieta Harbor, the scenes he saw were extremely prosperous and orderly, but the entire South City area was different. There were only low houses and broken wooden houses here, and the expressions on most people's faces were very numb and anxious. For a moment, he even suspected that he had returned to the Sekas Empire.
If there is anything that is the same as outside, it is regularity!