“Respected... Holy—! Wait!”
The man, who had thought himself quite gentlemanly and elegant, looked up, prepared to explain his purpose for coming and begin a conversation with Lan Qingyou.
But as soon as he looked up, he saw four or five cork-stopped test tubes filled with pale blue and bright red liquids flying toward his face.
He wasn't sure what was in them, but it definitely wasn't anything good.
So, the moment he saw them, the man immediately chose to dodge.
With a speed Lan Qingyou had never seen before, he bolted from the tree on the left to the one on the right.
The entire process didn't even take a second.
In Lan Qingyou's eyes, the man was moving so fast he left afterimages!
Boom!
Crack!
The man dodged one second, and the test tubes arrived the next.
Under the violent explosion and freezing ice, the white snow was blasted into a blackened crater.
The suspicious figure standing not far away was dumbstruck.
Is this alchemy?
I've never heard of alchemy being capable of this kind of attack!
No... actually, in his mind, alchemy was just for brewing potions.
After all, having spent time wandering the Abandoned Land, he was quite familiar with the local affairs.
“Wait! I'm not here to fight you! I'm here to invite you!”
When the man looked up at Lan Qingyou floating in the air, somewhat dazed, he saw her reaching into her pocket again.
He immediately stated his intent.
Gentlemanly conduct, elegance—all of that had to be tossed aside; life was what mattered most.
His dream wasn't finished yet, and he didn't want to be taken out in such a bizarre way.
Invitation!?
Heh, that was a new one.
Lan Qingyou was momentarily stunned, but she still pulled out another potion.
Even if she wanted to hear him out, she couldn't just stand there empty-handed.
With a potion in hand, she had at least some deterrent power.
“Then why don't you tell me about this invitation?”
“This... you want to talk about it in a place like this?”
The man looked around, then up at Lan Qingyou in the sky and the terrace behind her.
If he wasn't mistaken, that should be the witch's shelter.
But clearly, the witch had no intention of inviting him in for a seat.
This was normal. On the Kalim continent, no one invites a stranger into their shelter—that would be foolish, and the witch clearly wasn't a fool.
As a messenger, he was already accustomed to this.
So, he could only shout up at Lan Qingyou in the air.
“Yes, right here.”
Lan Qingyou didn't give him a chance to waste time.
“I've come here hoping you'll join our organization.”
“Organization?”
Lan Qingyou frowned slightly.
This guy wasn't sent by that slave owner, Sherlock?
In her view, the only person who would come here to invite her was that fellow Sherlock, who loved collecting slaves.
But it seemed he wasn't sent by Sherlock?
“Tarot Villa. That's the name of our organization.”
Tarot Villa?
Lan Qingyou's frown deepened.
The name alone didn't give much away, nor did it reveal the nature of the organization.
For instance, the ‘Kalim Supreme Council’ on the channel was obviously an entity that wanted to rule the entire Kalim continent.
“So, what kind of organization is Tarot Villa? You can't expect me to just say yes because you asked, right?”
Lan Qingyou asked.
“Just like the ‘Villa’ in the name suggests, our Tarot Villa is a salon-style organization.”
A salon—a type of social gathering where a living room is turned into a social venue.
A group of like-minded people with shared interests would gather from time to time to drink, listen to elegant music, and have unconstrained, heart-to-heart talks.
Of course.
That was the high-brow, pretentious way some people described it.
To put it more simply: it was about drinking tea and shooting the breeze.
Lan Qingyou was noncommittal.
After all, she didn't have much time to go to some tea house to chat; she was currently busy studying chemistry with Professor Seymer.
As a poor student who hadn't even done well in middle school chemistry, she needed some serious remedial lessons.
Perhaps sensing Lan Qingyou's lack of interest, the man quickly added:
“Our Tarot Villa is a loose organization, primarily focused on academic research. Aside from the rule that members must not harm one another, there are no restrictions.”
“The organization was founded with the intention of mutual learning, discussion, and exploring the mysteries of this magical world. If you ever feel unhappy staying, you can leave at any time.”
The man's supplementary explanation made Lan Qingyou stop her plan to drive him away.
Exploring the mysteries of this magical world?
Academic research?
“Is it something like an academic symposium at a university?”
Lan Qingyou asked uncertainly.
“Yes, it's that kind of organization. Everyone can discuss magic, mana, or knowledge of this world. As an alchemist, I'm sure you've read many books from this world. Most people in Tarot Villa are just like you, joining with an attitude of wanting to learn.”
Oh!
To be honest, Lan Qingyou was intrigued by this explanation.
Not even mentioning alchemy, she would need a vast amount of knowledge to create golems in the future. Joining might provide her with plenty of new knowledge and academic theories.
After all, even Blue Star chemistry could provide her with quite a bit of inspiration.
“So, who is currently in this Tarot Villa?”
Lan Qingyou decided to ask for details first to see if it was what she needed or if it would be helpful.
“Currently, besides me, there's an agriculture expert, two magic researchers, one magic item maker, one magic machinery maker, an astronomer, and a fisherman.”
The man counted them off on his fingers for Lan Qingyou, then added:
“Everyone is just like you—possessors of World Titles.”
Hiss—
Everyone has a World Title?
Hearing this, Lan Qingyou couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air.
The researchers the man mentioned had already surprised her, but she hadn't expected him to be holding back such a bombshell!
Although she knew that many people had been obtaining World Titles lately, she hadn't expected an organization to try and gather all of them for academic research.
However, judging by the ‘actions’ she and Gu Xiaobei had taken to earn their titles, anyone who could get one must have created something new, right?
Wait!
Wasn't one of the criteria in last month's ranking the contribution points to this world?
Both she and Gu Xiaobei had obtained their titles that way. Could it be the same for the other fifty or so people?
Could it be...?
Rate on N.U.
