Odis asked Bernadette, who had suddenly appeared beside him, as if he were taking a casual stroll down the street, "How long have you been here?"
The "mysterious queen" said, "I came to Azshara a few days ago after leaving the 'Argo'."
She pointed ahead: "The desserts at that cafe are really good. How about we go there, have some and chat?"
"Okay." Odis continued the previous topic and asked, "Why did you suddenly decide to leave Backlund and come to Remnburg?"
He remembered that Bernadette should stay in Backlund for some time to come.
"Didn't I tell you? This is the opportunity I've been waiting for," Bernadette said somewhat vaguely.
Actually, after spending time with Odis, Bernadette felt quite bored being alone in Backlund.
She didn't know when the opportunity she was waiting for would come. When she said goodbye to Odis last week, she heard that he was coming to Remburg, so Bernadette decided to come to Remburg first, which led to the scene of meeting on the street earlier.
For Bernadette, this trip to Rembrandt was more like a chance to clear her head. She suddenly realized that she had been working so hard for so long but still hadn't found a chance for promotion, so she might as well wait and see.
Since you feel quite happy being with Odis, then spend more time with him.
Arriving at the café Bernadette had indicated, she expertly ordered coffee and dessert. Soon, their orders were served, and Odice took a bite, finding the cherry cake quite delicious.
The two began to chat, and Odis said, "You seem quite familiar with this place."
"For a while, I suddenly missed my student days, so I got two bachelor's degrees here," Bernadette casually remarked. "The academic atmosphere at the universities in Remnburg is the best."
Odis was taken aback: "Why do we need to read it twice?"
"Because a person can only read two at a time," Bernadette said casually.
Odis was taken aback again: "You don't seem to understand what I mean. I didn't expect you... to be able to get two degrees in one go. That's impressive."
Bernadette said calmly, "At that time, I was already a 'master of prophecy'."
She meant that her exceptional abilities gave her a stronger understanding, so having two degrees wasn't a burden for her.
Odis thought to himself, "Don't explain, you're a genius," and then changed the subject, talking about how renting out horse-drawn carriages actually cost gold pounds.
"Lombard has close commercial ties with Loen, and the gold pound fluctuates relatively little. In large cities like Assara, the gold pound is the second-largest currency," Bernadette explained.
"The local currency is called Sasen gold. I remember that decades ago, about 2 Sasens could be exchanged for 1 gold pound, but now it takes 5 Sasens to exchange for 1 gold pound."
"However, the monetary system designed by the Church of Knowledge is much more reasonable than the gold pound, and it is divided into three types: gold coins, silver coins, and copper coins. The gold coins are what we previously referred to as Sassen gold."
"Or the entire monetary system is called 'Sassen,' just like the gold pound of the Loen; it's a name."
"Gold coins are called Sassen gold, and silver coins are called Sassen silver, but locals call one gold coin one Sassen. Silver and copper coins have no other name."
"All three currencies are decimal."
Odis immediately compared the gold pound he was most familiar with: 1 sassin was roughly equal to 4 soles, 1 silver coin was roughly equal to 5 pence, and 1 copper coin was roughly equal to half a penny.
This decimal currency system does indeed save a lot of brainpower when converting currencies.
Odis took a sip of coffee and asked, "How can I get to know this city as quickly as possible?"
Bernadette thought for a moment before saying, "How about we go for a walk around?"
Actually, she didn't know much about this city. When she came to study, she just wanted to go to school.
"Okay." As Odis paid for her coffee and dessert, she asked the waiter for directions to the market and shopping street.
In his view, these two places are the easiest places to reflect the characteristics of a city.
Odis had assumed that Bernadette would be unfamiliar with places like shopping streets, and that she would rarely visit ready-made stores, preferring instead to go to custom-made shops.
But when they arrived at the commercial street, the "mysterious queen" suddenly pointed to a three-story building and said, "That looks like one of my houses."
Odis paused for a moment, and Bernadette explained, "I bought them when I was in school. There was a plague in Azshara at that time, and the houses were cheap, so I bought a few."
Odis twitched his lips: "You don't even know how many properties you own?"
Bernadette paused noticeably before saying, "I have arranged for dedicated people to manage the properties in various locations."
"Don't skip over my question." Odis then added with a sigh, "Is this the difference between nobles and commoners?"
He originally thought he was already very impressive for raising nearly £100,000 to build Cruise Island, but now it seems that he is far inferior to this "Princess Intis".
Then Odis suddenly remembered: there's a treasure in Remnantburg! It's said to contain a lot of valuables. If we ever need money in the future, we could take some people to dig it up.
Speaking of which, the location of that treasure was left by Roselle. Odis obtained the treasure map from a "Roselle relic," but because he was never too short of money, he never bothered to dig it up.
"Don't be discouraged," Bernadette comforted her.
"Thank you," Odis said with a wry smile, though the other person's words did little to comfort him.
However, Odis quickly adjusted his mindset, began to observe the lives of the people in the city, and inquired about the local prices. Compared to Backlund, the prices here were slightly higher.
This is likely because Remnburg's industry is not as developed or as well-developed as Loen's.
After observing for a while, Odis heard that when the locals were selecting goods, some spoke in Rune, some in the local language, and some in Intis.
Bernadette, who was standing nearby, seemed to notice Odis's confusion and explained, "Lombard has three official languages: Rune, Intis, and Zaun."
"Well, the so-called Zaun language is more like a dialect of Feneport."
Odis paused for a moment: "That must be very inconvenient, right?"
Bernadette, however, said, "This is the tragedy of small countries."
Oddess immediately understood the "mysterious queen's" words; they were a manifestation of surviving in the cracks between powerful nations.
The two strolled around leisurely, and the more Odis looked, the more she felt that the most distinctive feature of this city was the figures of people reading books attentively in the streets and alleys.
It's even so exaggerated that even homeless people will take out a dirty book from their tattered pockets and read it with great interest under the sun.
Not far from the shopping street, Bernadette led Odis to a small, classic villa: "Let's stay here for the next few days."
The villa was built with red bricks, but it must have been regularly maintained, as it did not appear to be dilapidated.
The villa has a small courtyard and a large terrace on the second floor.
Odis didn't bother to ask whether it was rented or bought, and just followed them inside.
There was a housekeeper and two maids in the villa. Bernadette explained, "When I came to Azshara, I basically stayed here."
So the housekeeper and maids here all knew Bernadette, but they couldn't help but stare at Odis, because this was the first time their mistress had brought a guest.
The two sat down on the sofa in the living room, and the maid immediately served black tea. Bernadette then asked, "How did the talks with the Church of Knowledge go?"
Odis gave a brief account of the conversation and the outcome of the negotiations.
Bernadette nodded: "These nerds know their stuff."
"So you're going to the west of Remburg? I've heard it's quite chaotic there."
"It's more than just chaos," Odis laughed. "Several governors have reportedly died."
Bernadette tapped the armrest of the sofa with one hand, seemingly thinking for a moment before saying, "I'll go with you."
"I don't need protection," Odis said. "Let them try to assassinate this governor!"
The more you come, the more you earn.
Bernadette laughed and said, "Why didn't you say this last week when you were almost buried alive by the earthquake cracks?"
Oddess was a little short of breath: "No...it's different. There won't be any enemies of a higher level in the West."
"I'm not your bodyguard, why would I protect you?" Bernadette raised her chin: "I've heard for a long time that the snow-capped mountains there are quite beautiful."
"Perfect timing, I'll go take a look when I get back."
Odis paused for a moment before asking, "Aren't you busy lately?"
Bernadette frowned: "What does it matter to you whether I'm busy or not? Even if you don't go to those western states, I'm planning to go on vacation anyway."
"It would be best if we could go together," Odis said honestly. "I would feel very at ease with you by my side."
Bernadette smiled and nodded: "That's more like it."
She paused for a moment and then said, "I'll have someone go and buy lamb chops this afternoon."
Odis immediately understood what the other party meant: "No problem, I'll make the roasted lamb chops."
He had made roasted lamb chops once before, and Bernadette was very satisfied with his cooking skills.
Bernadette then had her maid take Odis to see the room prepared for him. It was quite nice, with all the necessary furniture and furnishings.
Odis lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. He himself seemed a little unaccustomed to the fact that he was about to embark on a new journey.
Around 2 PM, Odis met Edwina near St. Chester Church, as agreed with her.
Upon meeting, Edwina said, "Bishop Douglas asked me to tell you that you need to go to the administration hall at eight o'clock tomorrow morning to take the exam."
"Thank you." Odis then asked, "What kind of content will be tested?"
Edwina thought for a moment: "I heard that the test is about how to govern, how to solve some livelihood issues, etc. You have experience in managing Cruz Island, so most of the test questions will not be difficult for you."
This is why Bishop Douglas did not arrange tutoring for Odis.
Upon hearing that the questions were to be asked, Odis breathed a slight sigh of relief, chatted for a couple more minutes, and then used the "trip" to send Edwina back to the ship.
Odis then returned to Cruz Island to check on the construction progress of several sites.
For a while after that, he could only come once or twice a week.
Finally, after checking on the progress of the port town's reconstruction at the dock, just as he was about to leave, Tim, a crew member sent by the navy, happened to see Odis and quickly called out to him: "Captain, the admiral has urgent business with you."
Odis was taken aback: "What is it?"
"I don't know." Tim hurried to the dock and said, "The letter said it was urgent, let's go to Bayam now."
Odis was taken aback again. Although the headquarters of the Rune Navy in the Raging Sea was in Bayam, Admiral Emilius's defense zone was not there, so he rarely appeared in Bayam.
The sudden need to meet in Bayam suggests there might indeed be an urgent matter.
Just as the two were about to enter the spirit world, Rupert, the second mate stationed on Cruz Island, called out to Odis again: "Captain, I have something urgent to tell you!"
Odis was taken aback. Why did everyone have urgent business?
He waited until Rupert ran onto the dock before asking, "What is it?"
Rupert didn't speak immediately, but looked around. On the daytime docks, some workers were doing the final construction work on the port.
The three of them went to a secluded spot, where Rupert said, "Today we caught two suspicious individuals."
"They didn't know that our workers have rosters and employee numbers, and they tried to sneak into the construction site, but they were caught by the staff."
"But when I received the notification and rushed there, the two people were already dead. The preliminary conclusion was suicide, and the poison was probably hidden in their mouths."
Odis frowned. This was the first time Cruz Island had captured a spy, and a treacherous one at that. "What are your thoughts?"
"I think they are most likely sent by the Fenneport Navy," Rupert said.
Having previously caused the Fenneport Navy to lose face, and having recently inflicted some losses on them, they are likely to consider taking strong measures to retaliate on Cruz Island.
Odis thought for a moment before saying, "Investigate and see if there are any other spies."
He planned to speak with Grosser and others after meeting with Admiral Emilius, asking them for support if needed.
With Grosser and others around, Odis was relatively at ease about Crus Island unless Feneport sent out a demigod.
After exchanging a few more words with Rupert, Odis and Tim arrived in Bayam.
And in the villa belonging to Admiral Emilius, he met this naval demigod.
After exchanging a few polite words, Admiral Emilius suddenly said, "I will be transferred back to Backlund."
Odis was taken aback: "Why so suddenly?"
He did remember that Emilius had been transferred back to Backlund, and that not long after returning, he had started taking charge of the Ministry of Defense, but he really didn't expect it to happen so suddenly.
Emilius smiled, a rare occurrence for him: "It's not surprising at all."
He had anticipated this after his brother, the governor, was suddenly dismissed from his post.
Admiral Emilius summoned Odis for another matter: "Would you be interested in coming with me to Backlund?"
He wanted to groom Odis to be one of his own protégés.
Odis pretended to consider it carefully and then politely declined the invitation.
He then thought to himself: Suddenly, he felt a sense of "the end of the show and the departure of the guests".
The two then talked for more than an hour, and it was clear that Admiral Emilius really wanted Odis to go to Backlund with him.
However, Odis's recent focus has been on developing in Remburg.
As he left Admiral Emilius's residence, Tim was already waiting outside: "I've already heard that Your Excellency has been transferred to Backlund."
Odis hummed in agreement: "Has your mission changed?"
"No, not at all," Tim smiled. "The Admiral has informed the new Admiral of my mission and the continuation of the strategy against the 'Dawnbreaker' pirate crew."
Then he asked Odis, "Shall we go and pay a visit to the new general?"
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
"No need," Odis said with a smile.
Before long, the new leader will send someone to visit him.
After a brief chat, they each returned to Cruise Island under the guise of "travel".
Odis went to the construction site and met with Grosser and five other "characters from the book," explaining his request for their help in case of danger.
They had cut down too many trees and made too many planks in the past, and they couldn't use them all at once, so they came to help out at the construction site on Lighthouse Mountain.
Grosser and the others readily agreed to Odis's request.
Grosser and the others were resting, so Odis chatted with them.
He first asked Snowman, "What role did the Morse Order play in your time?"
"That is the only organization recognized by the 'All-Knowing and All-Powerful Lord'," replied Snowman, a monk from the Tertiary period. "But they do not preach, nor do they manage worldly affairs."
"They would use all their wealth to build libraries and do their utmost to spread knowledge to everyone in the world, whether they were kings, missionaries, or beggars. Everyone who entered their libraries had an equal right to learn."
"In addition to their ascetic practices, they also valued travel."
"The way to travel was to drive a horse-drawn carriage full of books to one city and village after another, and to explain the knowledge and mysteries in the books to people."
"Teach citizens about the law, farmers about the growth patterns of crops, officials and businessmen about morality, priests about how to devoutly believe in God, and the extraordinary about how to combat loss of control."
Odis paused for a moment: Wasn't this the idea I gave to Rosalind, one of the ten pillars of the current "Morse Penitentiary"? Great minds think alike!
Then he felt that this lifestyle was indeed very attractive, as it allowed him to travel around, see different landscapes, spread knowledge, and do some noble things.
At this moment, Mobert from the Solomon Empire of the Quaternary Period said: "In my time, there were also such mobile libraries."
"They have special passes issued by the Empire, which theoretically allow them to receive assistance anywhere in the Empire."
"I heard that before the Solomon Empire was established, there were people in the Southern Continent who did the same thing, but after the Byron Empire unified the Southern Continent, they actually drove them away."
Odis asked, "Why?"
"I heard it's because the 'Emperor of the Underworld' and the 'Ascetic Order of Morse' have conflicting ideologies." Mobert shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure about the specifics."
"However, when I was a child, I heard my ancestors say that after the 'Great Cataclysm,' human order almost collapsed, and it was the members of the 'Morse Ascetic Order' and their mobile library that upheld the bottom line of order."
"Thanks to their efforts and appeals, human civilization has not experienced a significant regression."
"But it was a very chaotic time, and it is said that many people died in the 'Morse Penitentiary'."
Odis was taken aback: "Didn't the 'Sage' protect the members of the 'Morse Ascetic'?"
"I don't know," Mobert said. "I've only heard the name 'Sage' in legends, but I've never seen such a miracle left by a deity…"
"Oh, the Fifth Age is a bit different from the Fourth Age. In the Fourth Age, gods still walked on land, and you could often encounter miracles left by gods."
At this point, the ascetic Snowman from the Third Age said, "In our era, 'sages' also disappear for a period of time every now and then."
"According to some records, He would disappear for decades to hundreds of years each time, and many people speculate that this was the asceticism of the 'sage'."
"By the way, the 'Sage' prefers to be called 'him', but we still unconsciously refer to him as 'He'."
Mobert exclaimed, "What a gentle deity!"
Odis, however, roughly understood what was happening: during the Third Age, the "Sage" was not in good condition, often falling into slumber and struggling against his divinity. It seemed that as time went on, the duration of his slumber had become longer and longer.
By the Quaternary period, the situation was likely even worse, and such occurrences were rare.
Then he exhaled: This deity is truly unconventional.
At this moment, Mobert added, "If Shatas hadn't also known about the 'Sage,' I would have doubted whether the 'Sage' was ever truly on par with the 'Ancient Sun God.'"
Xia Tass glared at him, and only after seeing the Fifth Age nobleman shrink back did she say, "'The Sage' often visits the Elf Clan, and the 'Elf King' and Queen always warmly welcome him."
"He popularized the method of advancing through potions among the elves and promoted the use of asceticism to combat madness and rage."
"The Elf King didn't seem to approve of this, but he still welcomed the Sage as a guest, and one of the princes accepted the Sage's views and joined the Morse Ascetic."
Odis nodded; this matched the information he had previously obtained from the "Deep Sea Admiral."
"Not only elves," Shata said without any concealment, "the founders of the 'Morse Ascetic Order' were beings who were willing to follow the 'Sage' and had seen the 'Desecrated Stone Tablet'."
"They are willing to actively fight against the madness and twistedness of the Extraordinary, but most of them are human, and they hope to use this to control the Extraordinary and fight for more rights for their own kind."
Odis nodded slowly: At that time, this was also an organization that leaned towards protecting humanity.
Then he took out the "Gus Staff" from the leather pouch hanging at his waist and asked, "Do you know what this is?"
Shatas glanced at Odis and said, "This is the 'Gus Staff'!"
She recognized Odis at first sight and even thought that Odis had stolen it from somewhere, since only important figures in the "Order of Morse" were qualified to possess such a staff.
At this moment, Odis asked, and Shatas replied, "At your level, it seems you are not capable of mastering such a weapon. Where did you obtain it?"
Odis explained, "You may not know this, but something happened to the 'Morse Ascetic' and most of the 'Gus Staff' were lost."
Shatas was clearly taken aback: "'The Ten Pillars' would lose the 'Gus Staff'?"
"It is said to have been lost in the battle with the Outer Gods," Odis said. "The staff I have in my hand was given to me by one of the Ten Pillars during the Fourth Age."
Shatas sighed, "Yes, the battle against the Outer Gods is too dangerous."
Mobert, standing to the side, was somewhat surprised: "'The Ascetic Order of Morse' fought against the Outer Gods?"
Odis explained: "As far as I know, during the Second and Fourth Ages, the power of the Outer Gods permeated the real world."
"However, the infiltration of Outer Gods was not so severe in the Third and Fifth Ages."
Mobert nodded and said, "That reminds me that in our education we did learn how to guard against believers of other gods."
"But Snowman and Ronzel clearly do not possess this knowledge."
Snowman nodded slowly, indicating that Mobert was right.
Odis then asked, "I heard that these staffs were made by the elves?"
"That's right," Shatas said. "It was the work of a high-ranking elf. During its creation, the 'Elf King' sent me to inquire about the progress."
"I almost stumbled upon the scene of the Outer God's flesh being processed. If it weren't for the protection of that high elf, I would have lost control on the spot."
She paused for a moment and then said, "This is a very high-level weapon. Those below the level of demigod may not be able to exert even 'one percent' of its power."
Odis paused for a moment, but quickly understood that the other person meant "one percent," although in ancient times it was obviously not described using a percentage system.
He exclaimed, "This is really good stuff!"
This solidified his resolve to reclaim as many "Gus Staffs" as possible whenever he had the time or opportunity.
Then Odis asked, "Why was it made by the elves?"
"I've heard Mobert and Longzel talk about your impressions of the elves," Shatas explained. "The majority of the elves are indeed extraordinary individuals who have passed the 'Sailor' pathway."
"But we also have extraordinary individuals with the 'Reader' and 'General Knowledge' pathways, especially that high-ranking elf with the 'General Knowledge' pathway, who were quite unique at the time."
"Even at the very beginning of the 'Morse Ascetic Order', there were no extraordinary individuals who had taken this path."
Odis thought back and realized that his impression of the elves was indeed somewhat contradictory; while they were irritable, they also seemed to wield very exquisite weapons.
"It is said that the 'Sage' can also create very fine weapons," Shatas said. "But I don't know why He entrusted this task to us."
Odis said "Oh," realizing that this might involve some high-level transactions.
If you have the chance, you can learn about this kind of issue; if you don't, it's okay not to.
After chatting for a while, Odis spoke privately with Edward Ronzel. Seeing that the latter was ready to go to Backlund to find his relatives, he took Ronzel to Backlund with him on a "journey" and handed him over to Hugh.
After meeting, Hugh and Fors looked Long Ze'er up and down, as if asking with their eyes: Is this the soldier who has been missing for more than a hundred years?
After a brief introduction to each other, Odis reminded Longzel, "Be careful, and try not to attract the attention of the official extraordinary individuals."
Long Ze'er nodded: "Okay."
At this moment, he was somewhat excited and a little lost, perhaps suddenly unsure how to face the descendants of his family.
Afterwards, Odis returned to Azshara by "traveling" to the room Bernadette had prepared for him, and then smiled helplessly: it felt as if he had traveled around the world that afternoon.
Around 6 p.m., Odis went to the kitchen to make lamb chops.
Just like in Backlund, Odis was busy in the kitchen while Bernadette chatted with him, leaving the hired chefs and helpers somewhat at a loss.
The main course was prepared by Odis, while the side dishes were prepared by the chef.
After finishing the roasted lamb chops, Odis and Bernadette went to the restaurant for a meal.
The maid had already poured the pre-dinner drinks. After taking a sip, Odis said, "Now that we're in the West, we may not have such good conditions for a long time."
Bernadette laughed and said, "Do you think I have high expectations for life?"
Odis glanced at the gold cutlery on the table and said against her will, "No!"
"If you lie, your nose will grow longer!"
Odis couldn't help but touch his nose and smiled, "I'm just worried that the conditions in the West are too harsh."
Bernadette replied, "I have a 'small dining table,' so you can come to me if you can't find a meal."
Odis recalled the magical "little dining table" of the "Mysterious Queen" that could provide an unlimited supply of food, cut off a piece of lamb chop with a knife, tasted it, and said, "I will try my best to make sure you have a good meal."
"Didn't you understand what I meant?"
"You mean what you mean," Odis smiled. "It is my honor to travel with the 'Queen,' and of course I will try my best to ensure that your quality of life does not decline too much."
Bernadette smiled and said, "You should go to Backlund with Emilius. With your eloquence, you might become a general someday."
Odis laughed along, "If you offered me the position of king, I might consider it."
"Ha! Even a big talker can make your nose grow longer."
The atmosphere at the dinner table became increasingly harmonious.
After dinner, Odis returned to his room, rested for a while, and then used "meditation" to enter the "wilderness of knowledge".
He has been preparing to write his new book for the past few days. Two "intelligent puppets" are responsible for organizing the materials for him. Odis just needs to integrate these materials and start writing.
Odis plans to name his new book "The Book of the Stars," which will consist of three parts. The first part is about how to interpret the stars, which is divided into active and passive interpretation.
The so-called "active interpretation" refers to the application of "astrology".
"Passive interpretation" refers to the act of quickly interpreting the celestial phenomena after suddenly seeing them in the night sky.
The difference between the two is that "astrology" is an active form of divination, interpreting the constellations in the night sky, and the results tend to be revelatory.