Do ratmen dream of the sacred tree of spirits?

Chapter 79 The New Bishop

Fafnir officially began his holiday training today. He didn't want to slack off, so he started with filling in the gaps in his spiritual energy.

"Thump, thump"

There was a knock on the door. Fafnir was somewhat exasperated; he had only practiced Spirit Gap Filling for two hours, and it wasn't even lunchtime yet.

"Who is it?"

"Open the door immediately! Night watchmen of Lorraine! We've received a report from the public!"

Eh...

A familiar female voice, but the words were spoken with a strained tone.

Fafner was a little speechless.

He opened the door and, sure enough, saw Mademoiselle Joël standing there, giggling, as if she thought she had tricked Fafnir.

Ms. Cecilia stood behind her as always, looking around expressionlessly.

"Miss Joelle, hello!" Fafnir bowed to Miss Joelle.

"Hey, Fafnir, no need to be so polite. We've known each other for two years, no need for formalities."

Joelle smiled and simply curtsied in return: "How was that? Wasn't I quite funny?"

"Ha...ha, yes." Fafnir pretended to appreciate the Viscount's daughter's sense of humor and gave an awkward laugh.

"What are you doing right now?" Miss Joelle asked.

"I was just practicing spiritual filling techniques, and I practiced for about two hours."

"Spiritual Gap Filling? What is that?" Miss Joelle asked curiously.

"Miss, this is because the spiritual energy within him cannot be fully stored and cannot form a spiritual cycle," Cecilia explained from the side.

"Spiritual cycle? Fafnir, I didn't expect you to be heading towards becoming an Enlightened One. Congratulations!" Miss Joelle was pleasantly surprised.

She didn't usually inquire about Fafnir's progress in his supernatural abilities, as it was considered impolite.

"Thank you, but it's still a long way off, and filling the spiritual gap isn't a good thing. For example, you, Miss Joelle, are pure-blooded elves, and you don't need this step to build a spiritual cycle within your body."

Joelle seemed to understand, yet felt as if she had inadvertently offended Fafner:

"Fafner, excuse me for asking about your soul-filling matter."

If you need any help in this regard, please feel free to let me know.

"Thank you," Fafner replied with a smile.

"Miss Joelle, what brings you here today?"

"Hey, Fafnir," Joelle remembered the purpose of his visit today:

"You went to see Martha and Ellen yesterday, why didn't you come to see me? Wasn't I in the castle too? My maid told me that."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Fafnir didn't know how to reply.

"Yesterday I came to help them solve problems related to the first-tier fireball spell."

"Alright," Miss Joelle said solemnly.

"You guys are really hardworking. I've been resting for the past two days."

You've only had two days of holiday, and you're already working so hard. It makes me feel a little ashamed.

"I am the future heir to the territory of Lorraine, and I also need to learn from you and practice magic at all times."

"Ah, actually it wasn't that hard. I've been resting these past couple of days," Fafnir said.

"Let's go, Fafnir, let's go to the castle and practice some magic together. I'm getting bored by myself."

"Hmm..." Fafnir hesitated for a moment, feeling that this would bother Joël.

"Let's go, it's been a while since we practiced together. We can talk about the Wednesday afternoon classes for underprivileged children next semester." Joël smiled at Fafnir.

"Okay, Miss Joelle, let's go."

"I'll treat you to lunch, Fafnir."

"Oh, thank you so much, Miss Joelle, thank you."

"You're welcome..."

……

Grammar school, basement

Bishop Andrei stood in the center of the basement, the magic circle in front of him still operating.

He's been standing here all day.

After Victor left, he was the only messenger left monitoring the magic circle. Occasionally, priests would come to relieve him, but those who weren't even Enlightened Ones could only check if the circle had stopped functioning; if there were any abnormal fluctuations, they couldn't even sense them.

Andrei didn't complain. He was never much of a talker and didn't socialize much, so this basement made him feel more comfortable than anywhere else.

Footsteps came from the stairs.

Andrei did not turn around.

"Bishop Zero."

The voice of the newcomer was not loud, and it echoed slightly, so Andrei turned around.

Standing at the top of the stairs was an elf with pointed ears, meticulously combed silver-grey hair, and wearing a black priest's robe with golden raven feathers embroidered on the chest.

There was another person standing behind him, younger, also with pointed ears, and a serious expression.

"Cedric Layton," Andrei said in a flat tone.

"It is I," Cedric said with a slight bow. "This is my assistant bishop, Edmund Grey."

Edmund also bowed slightly.

Andrei nodded, said nothing more, and turned to look at the magic circle again.

Cedric descended the stairs, glanced around the basement, his gaze lingering for a moment on the spiritual patterns, then on the pile of spiritual materials in the corner, before finally settling on the moonstone at the center of the magic circle.

"Is there anything you need to tell us about this magic circle?"

Andrei said, "The magic array cannot be stopped. The spiritual materials must be replaced every three days, the moonstones every month, and any abnormal fluctuations must be recorded and reported to the region once a week."

Cedric nodded. "Anything else?"

"there is none left."

Cedric was silent for a moment. He walked to the edge of the magic circle, squatted down, and stretched out a hand, his fingertips touching the silvery-white patterns.

Spiritual threads seeped from his fingertips, probing into the magic circle. After a few seconds, he withdrew his hand and stood up.

"The structure of this magic circle is very old," he said.

"That's enough," Andrei replied.

“I’m not saying it’s not enough,” Cedric said. “I mean, it can be upgraded. There’s new monitoring technology in the region that’s much more sensitive than this. I’ve applied for a set, and it should arrive in a few days.”

Andrei glanced at him: "Whatever."

The two remained silent for a while. The only sounds in the basement were the humming of the magic circle in operation and the faint rustling of the spiritual materials in the corner.

"Bishop Zero, when do you plan to leave?"

Andrei was silent for a few seconds: "Wait until the handover is complete."

"That'll be in the next few days," Cedric said. "The atmosphere is rather tense in the region and the capital, so you can report to the First University as soon as possible."

"I know."

Andrei turned around, walked to the table in the corner, opened a drawer, took out a manila envelope, and handed it to Cedric:

"This is a monitoring record from the past thirty months. The time, intensity, and direction of every abnormal fluctuation are all recorded here."