Ronald had never left.
Although he was not the type to kill someone’s entire family just because he was schemed against, still, being tricked by Lelaye in this manner was quite unsettling.
As for the current situation—
Seeing Lelaye’s expression just now, the other party should soon use the translation of the "Silver Key" to open the previous ’lock’;
As for Ronald, he felt very relieved that Costate was staying in the inn; there was nothing particularly worrisome around.
It was right inside the ruling council, Ronald saw a gardener pruning the garden.
He called out to the gardener, knocked him out, then hid him in a concealed corner nearby to make sure that the cold weather wouldn’t cause the gardener any harm; Ronald even draped his own coat over the man.
"This coat, consider it a gift for Lelaye then?"
The whole process took less than twenty seconds.
A gardener who looked exactly the same as before reappeared in the garden and began walking around, putting up a show.
Everything went smoothly for Ronald.
Also within the ruling council, Lelaye was now acting more hastily.
The chief spy, after reading and memorizing the translated document, didn’t even leave the archive room; he immediately burned Ronald’s half-day’s work.
Then he picked up the original manuscript of the "Silver Key."
Lelaye distracted the young soldier who had just been in this location and hurried alone toward the right side of the ruling council.
Soon, the terrain-familiar Lelaye knocked on the door of an office.
"Torrex, I’m coming in."
The person inside the room was someone Ronald had also met before.
Previously, when calling for reinforcement to warn Waterfall City of a summoned beast crisis, Torrex was one of those who flew into the sky.
As a senior member of Entrode, Torrex was rather puzzled by Lelaye’s sudden visit.
"Aren’t you supposed to lead a team to surround and exterminate the hideout in the city tonight?"
"Coming to see me at this time... You iron giant, are you taking a break like Batty?"
"The extermination is being handled by my subordinates," Lelaye immediately shook his head, "Ronald, the one I invited here, he came to the ruling council today, didn’t he?"
"I certainly remember him. Thanks to him, I’m still stuck working overtime," Torrex said with self-deprecating laughter, still speaking in a teasing tone. "What are you saying, he didn’t just take the original and run off, did he?"
Seeing that his colleague was still joking,
Lelaye’s expression turned serious, and he spoke with a stern tone:
"No, he has already completed the decryption, and I have just verified it."
At this moment, Torrex was not in the mood for jokes anymore.
Realizing the implications of Lelaye’s words, the strategist of Entrode stood up from behind his desk, his gaze fixed intently on Lelaye.
"If I’m not suffering from auditory hallucinations due to overwork..."
"What you mean is, that Ronald only took about six hours and twenty minutes to complete the translation of the entire original text?"
Lelaye nodded and replied:
"Yes, exactly as you are thinking."
"And I’ve already verified it; his translation of the original text is completely accurate, and I can use the spells from it right now!"
As Lelaye elaborated on the results of Ronald’s previous work, the chief spy also took out the original manuscript of the "Silver Key" and placed it directly on the desk in front of Torrex.
"All obstacles are now ready."
"Torrex, do we wait for Batty and the others to come tomorrow morning, or shall we try to open it now?"
Torrex did not immediately answer Lailaye.
The man responsible for domestic affairs cast his gaze on the original text lying on the desk, pondering the various possible problems and the advantages and losses that different choices might bring.
He considered carefully for more than a minute.
"Lailaye, where is Ronald?"
"I had him leave." Lailaye obviously had thought about this issue and answered without hesitation, "Keeping such a powerful figure to ensure secrecy is not a reasonable option."
Torrex agreed and added thoughtfully:
"Yes, our current situation is not suitable for forcibly keeping such a person."
"However, to be honest, if it weren’t for the changes in the mysterious side of the world after the cosmic anomaly, I would have tried everything to keep him in Entrod."
Lailaye responded with a wry smile:
"I had never thought that he would solve the original text so quickly; it really is beyond imagination."
The two men’s lament for Ronald’s speed in decoding the original text was brief.
After further inquiring about Lailaye’s handling of the translated manuscript and the arrangements made in advance, Torrex finally decided:
"If that’s the case, then we should not delay any longer."
"Let’s go there first and try to open it; tomorrow when Batty and the others arrive, we’ll implement a rotation work system."
Lailaye immediately stated, "I have no objections."
The discussion ended, and both men instructed on various matters before directly leaving the office.
Their destination was not far off.
After navigating several turns through the complex and ornate corridors of the government building, the two men entered the inner area from the sleeping quarters at the northern side, then opened a hidden subterranean door in one of the bedrooms.
This action seemed to signal something.
Lailaye and Torrex, two of Entrod’s top Casters, looked at each other and took a deep breath before proceeding down one after the other.
The spell of the "Silver Key," originally translated by Ronald, began to be recited by Lailaye below—
"In his thirtieth year, Randolph Carter lost the key to the gates of his dreams..."
The intonation of the spell was smooth and prolonged.
This type of recitation and the effect it produced were profoundly different from normal spell-casting, and far beyond the necessary sections to activate the spell, Lailaye continued his uninterrupted chanting.
Until the entire content of the "Silver Key" came to an end. Thɪs chapter is updated by 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹·𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲·𝗻𝗲𝘁
Lailaye’s voice finally faded out from this dark entrance.
At that moment, Ronald climbed in through the bedroom window.
He straightened out his gardener’s coat and placed the scissors under his arm, then looked puzzledly at the peculiar entrance.
This was exceedingly strange!
With Ronald’s keen hearing, he could hear the entire process of Lailaye reciting the "Silver Key."
Normally, with such noise from chanting a spell from the original text, outcomes should have appeared long ago.
But there was not the slightest trace of Magic Fluctuation!
He stood in place and stared for a few seconds.
After pondering the position of the footsteps as the two of them had just descended, Ronald decided to follow them down.