Steel steam and flame

Shaco remembered clearly that this was her first time to participate. She was not even qualified to stand and listen in the past.

It was almost time to start, and there were many more people holding notes or books like her in the corridors or roads connecting Yatu's lecture theaters. Among them are also gorgeously dressed women, or bright-faced industry elites from all over Manoma, or some members of the nobility.

An important lecture is held every year, and nearly half of the seats are open to the public. For these people, it is to use money to integrate themselves into certain circles and give themselves the opportunity to create some experiences in the future.

Yatu's lecture theater in the Imperial Historical School, as well as the important lecture halls held here, were very famous in the Manoma region in Shako's impression.

Before entering the lecture theater, Shaco shook off some snow from her body. Going to her assigned seat, she put her notes and books on her legs together. During the ten minutes of waiting for the start, she looked around from time to time, allowing all kinds of people to be reflected in her eyes. This is an opportunity to get in touch with the outside world. For her who spends most of her life studying and researching, the Imperial History School is already a home in another sense.

Not someone who goes out often, she always remembers what happened when she left home and came to Manoma. They all left a deep impression in their hearts. Some things that happened later made it clear to her that as the capital of the empire, Manoma was quiet and full of life on the surface, but beneath the surface, huge dangers were always hidden.

But it has been a long, long time. I don’t know when it started. Sha may have clearly felt that these dangers were blocked by some invisible thing and could not get close to her. She actually knew very well that someone was protecting her, and it had been like this for a long time, or since a certain point in time. What made her realize this was that the aristocratic students who had bullied her in the past either suddenly dropped out of school or came in private to apologize with gifts.

But no surprise, they all completely disappeared from their side in a short period of time, making it difficult to find traces.

Just over two years ago, she witnessed a bright light that blocked the sun suddenly shine in school, and then the ground shook violently. She felt that the danger was just blocked. It wasn't that it couldn't get close to her, it was just that she wasn't worthy of being approached.

Or has the danger not yet discovered the value in itself? Shaco wasn't sure of that.

"I feel that the world is blurry. In fact, this feeling is correct. There is indeed something behind that fuzzy film." She thought of this sentence during the ten seconds when her eyes were stung by the bright light.

That afternoon, she heard from her classmates and teachers that there was a huge explosion at the Holy Emperor Hall headquarters. Two weeks later, she and her classmates made a special trip to the headquarters of the Holy Emperor Hall, but a three-meter-high iron wall had been temporarily built around the headquarters, and they could only hear the "dang-dang" coming from the other side of the wall. The sound of construction was heard, and large sheets of steam surged up from time to time.

She and her classmates immediately went to a nearby high-rise building. Behind a window, they saw the huge ravine that had not been "decorated". But there was no way it was a trace of the explosion. No matter how the news that came out later explained or described the incident, she could always feel the sense of concealment in it.

As time passed, the explosion quickly disappeared from everyone's usual topics of discussion. The speed made Shake feel weird, because it was too fast. It was obviously not an ordinary thing, but it was like an ordinary thing. Just like turning the pages of a book, it passed without any strength.

But that huge ravine remained in her heart. For a long time, she would involuntarily associate that ravine with Perkinz Chilis's "Stories of Strange Creatures", with the ancient history she focuses on, and with the many books she can now translate. Strange words linked together.

And, connecting with someone I haven’t seen in a long time.

When his thoughts came to this point, Shaco suddenly felt a sense of loss and inexplicable sadness in his heart, the feeling of regret at that time. The eyes looking around have lost their focus, and the various people around them reflected in the pupils no longer become electrical signals sent to the brain.

"Beautiful lady, excuse me, I'm sorry, I want to go there..." A sudden kind male voice interrupted Shaco's thinking. In his eyes that regained focus, a man carrying a black backpack bent over, with an apologetic smile, pointing to the aisle on the first floor of the lecture theater, "You're in the wrong place..."

Shake was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized, he quickly picked up his notes and books and stood up, making a gesture of "please come over": "I'm a little lost."

"Thank you!" The man nodded repeatedly, and with an apologetic look on his face, he carefully passed through the narrow area in front of Sha Ke, went into the passage, and entered the flow of people who were constantly entering the classroom. His back could not be distinguished in the blink of an eye.

Shako exhaled at this time and subconsciously looked at the time, only to realize that several minutes had passed and the entire lecture theater was almost half full. She sat down again, looked forward, smiled and cut off her previous thoughts, waiting for the lecture to begin.

The surrounding sounds then gradually became smaller. In the first minute or two before the start, there was only a slight "buzzing" sound in the entire huge "Ya Tu Lecture Hall", which was the wind caused by the full operation of the air circulation system. the sound of.

Seeing the staff entering the venue and making final preparations for the start of the lecture, Shake took out his pen and when he wanted to open the notes, he saw the corner of a folded envelope emerging from the notes.

Shake didn't remember writing a letter recently, nor did he include it in his notes. As she subconsciously pulled out the envelope, she thought of the man she had borrowed from just now.

But that's where my thinking ends, because the letter has been taken out. Shaco did not recognize the handwriting on it and had no impression of it. There are only two sentences on the envelope, one is the recipient and the other is the signature:

To Miss Shaco.

A friend I haven't seen in years.

Shako felt that his eyes were a little blurry, so he immediately put the letter back into his notes, took off his glasses and wiped them. She took a deep breath at this time, and her thoughts that had just been disconnected were resumed at this moment:

"Mr. Cassia, how have you been over the past few years? I wonder how you are now. Do you still have a serious face from time to time, but your words are very gentle, without any sense of seriousness?"

"Are you still busy with work, or are you traveling around the empire and still don't have a fixed residence?"

"Do you still read various books during your normal rest time? Are you still interested in the history and geography of the empire?"

"Actually, you have been to Manoma in the past few years, right? I really want to feel that occasionally, like a hallucination, I always feel that someone is watching me from a distance... This feeling is correct. I think that person should be you, Mr. Cassia..."