Although the Kingdom had noble libraries and the Royal Academy, those were only places for merchants, minor nobles, and the offspring of the landlord class to enjoy education. Even in wealthy countries, well-off citizens would prefer to send their children to various workshops as apprentices.
Brand quickly saw the content of that book. What a coincidence, Turaman was actually researching ancient languages. He couldn’t help but glance at the manuscripts on the floor. The other party ought to be studying the evolution of the Highland language family (Cruz Language Family), and from the records on the manuscripts, there seemed to be some results.
In this era, ordinary people could not understand these manuscripts at all. Someone as knowledgeable as Batom would see most of these manuscripts as mere waste paper, and Frey would probably just think they were scribbles.
And the sound of flipping through the book finally stopped—
"Young man, where did you discover this language?" After searching through a series of related documents, Turaman finally found a language from an obscure language family that had a pronunciation and structure very similar to the word Brand mentioned.
Jialongji Ancient Language.
The Jialongji people were the weakest of the five ancient Cruz tribes, but this was enough to corroborate some of the facts in Brand’s words. Did the ancestors of the Cruz people indeed record history?
Although Turaman had always questioned whether the modern Cruz people were truly the descendants of the ancient Cruz people, he couldn’t explain why King of Flames, Jier, undoubtedly had the distinct features of the ancient Cruz people.
Brand smiled but did not respond.
Turaman, wearing glasses, walked out from the inner room, holding a thick book. He sat down on a wicker chair opposite Brand, right next to a window, and looked up at the four of them. Then he opened a side cabinet, took out a pipe from the second drawer, tapped it on the table, and instantly a flame ignited within the pipe, and smoke began to rise.
Turaman bit the pipe in his mouth, took a puff, and exhaled smoke through his nose before starting to speak: "You’re not speaking. It seems you have some request, young man. State your request. I have to say you’ve succeeded halfway. You’ve successfully piqued the curiosity of this old man—"
He then removed the pipe and pointed the mouthpiece at Brand, saying, "But you haven’t won yet, young man. I, Turaman, though old, am not senile just yet. What do you want to gain from me with a single word? You’d better bring something useful."
His words left Batom and Frey astonished, realizing that Brand was making a trade with the other party. Yet, the dealings between wizards left them somewhat befuddled, still unclear about what the young and old men intended to do.
Romantic, on the contrary, showed a look of interest. She admired Brand’s composed demeanor. She instinctively sensed that the strange old man over there, despite his tough words, had already softened.
"I am a Highland Knight. I need someone to introduce me into the scholar circles. My guide instructed me to come here and tell me what to do. Hence, Lord Turaman, this is the situation," Brand decided to continue with this facade, as in a certain sense, he wasn’t lying after all.
The guide was a mentor to a Highland Knight Wizard’s apprentice. According to the Highland Law, he also had the responsibility of guiding the knight’s growth. By saying this, Brand wouldn’t arouse suspicion and could make Turaman question and guess. He knew that Turaman was acquainted with many Black Tower Wizards.
Turaman propped one hand on the armrest of the wicker chair, took a puff from his pipe, and indeed fell into deep thought. He was contemplating which old friend had played a prank on him. Although he wasn’t a powerful wizard, he was a seasoned scholar and a great alchemist, highly renowned in the Wizard World. His friends and enemies were scattered across Vorn, making it difficult for him to immediately figure out who was pulling this joke.