When Altair's gaze returned to the blackboard, she saw the information the waiter had just written, which made her feel that her trip was not in vain.
"Roselle's Mysterious Notes, two pages, 20 gold pound"
Altair looked at Amos, signaling him to buy Roselle's diary.
Upon learning of her request, Amos did not try to dissuade her with the common belief that 'Roselle's created script cannot be deciphered.' Instead, he immediately stood up, found the waiter, and proceeded with the transaction.
Before long, Altair received the diary pages, but the crooked, messy writing made her frown. She thought, "This transcriber is truly irresponsible. How can anyone decipher text copied like this?"
"March 6th, damn it, the food here is making me constipated!"
"March 17th, are the ladies of Intis all so open-minded? Did I sleep with her, or did she sleep with me? It feels a bit strange."
"March 22nd, it's time to choose a faith. On one side is the Eternal Blazing Sun Church, on the other is the Artisan Church."
"My choice is unequivocal. Praise be to you, God of Machines!"
"One day, I will change the Artisan Church to the Church of Machinery."
After laboriously deciphering a completely worthless passage, Altair was speechless at her own 'wisdom.' The most useful part of the entire text was just one sentence: "Did she sleep with me, or did I sleep with her?"
This sentence is quite good; I can use it to tease him in the future.
But why do I feel like I've seen this passage somewhere before? It should have appeared in the original text.
"May 21st, the Church of the God of Artisans gave me two choices, the beginning of two Sequence Pathways: one is 'Savant,' which belongs to their own complete Sequence chain, and the other is 'Mystery Pryer,' obtained from the Moses Ascetic Order, lacking higher Sequences."
"May 22nd, my choice is simple: 'Savant'! The 'Savant' with a complete Sequence! Although mastering more occultism knowledge would help me find a way home, the problem is that without sufficient personal strength, crossing over would inevitably require external forces. Whether these external forces are good or bad, benevolent or malicious, is uncontrollable and very dangerous. Given this, it's better to make myself powerful and return on my own strength. Therefore, a complete Sequence is my primary consideration!"
"May 23rd, I became a 'Savant.' Relying on the power of the potion, I was actually able to fully recall the knowledge I had learned before: physics, chemistry, etc., etc."
...Another worthless diary entry. These two pages must have been written by Roselle not long after he 'transmigrated,' and Altair basically knew all the content.
But that was fine. Altair bought Roselle's notebook primarily to pass the time. If she found useful knowledge, all the better; if not, it was just for amusement.
As Altair finished deciphering, Amos leaned over and whispered, "Altair, you don't need to be annoyed. From what I know, even the Church of Steam and Machinery hasn't deciphered the script created by Emperor Roselle to this day."
"You've also purchased these pages before." Seeing Amos's familiarity, Altair couldn't help but ask in return.
Amos nodded and said, "Of course, after all, I idolized Emperor Roselle in my youth."
"An idol in your youth, and now?" Altair pressed.
"Now." Amos shook his head and said, "As you know, wealthy people like us would never use the 'distorted' textbooks from the Church, so I still fundamentally admire him.
"But sometimes, I also feel that some of his past actions were foolish, not absolute enough. I believe that once you become a mortal enemy, you should go all the way, preferably directly nipping all threats in the bud."
After hearing Amos's words, Altair instinctively nodded. Although she knew very well that Roselle's death was part of his own plan, using those people's assassinations to complete his advancement with the Black Emperor's characteristics and attempt to refresh his state, escaping the Mother Goddess of Depravity's corruption.
However, she still didn't understand why, after Roselle overthrew the Intis monarchy, he didn't thoroughly purge the Sauron royal family and nobles. Was it intentional, or was this pitfall something he himself supported?
When the black-robed waiter announced the end of the gathering, Altair and Amos left together. But instead of returning to Morse Town, they stayed in Tingen City, residing in the Sheffield villa... The next morning, Altair took a carriage to Red Moon Street in the North District, St. Selina's Church. After completing her worship and not seeing the person she wanted to meet, she left the church directly.
She planned to go to Vlad Street to see if the Apothecary had come to Tingen City.
Before long, she saw the shop numbered 18, which had already put up the sign "Rosen's Folk Herbal Medicine Store."
As soon as she reached the shop's entrance, Altair smelled a strange odor filled with a mixture of herbal scents.
Entering the shop, she saw 'Rosen Darkweed' standing behind the counter. This plump Apothecary was dressed in a dark black robe embroidered with various strange symbols, looking every bit like a village witch doctor.
When he noticed Altair entering, he instinctively began to scrutinize her. But after a quarter of an hour of observation, he found nothing'special' about Altair, so he stepped forward and asked, "Miss, what kind of medicine do you need? As long as you describe the symptoms, I can certainly provide the corresponding medicine."
"Or perhaps you're looking for some special remedies, such as for skin whitening, skin firming..."
The first half of his sentence was normal, but what did the second half mean? Whitening was understandable, but what did'skin firming' mean? In response to his words, Altair couldn't help but roll her eyes, then tempted him:
"Do you think I'm not beautiful enough now?"
"Beautiful, heh~ heh." After saying this, Rosen Darkweed stared intently at the gem necklace around Altair's neck.
Regarding the 'dead fatty's' behavior, Altair thought, 'If I didn't know your cautious and prudent personality, I might really have been fooled by him.'
Knowing that teasing was fruitless, Altair asked, "Besides these ordinary materials, do you have any spiritual materials here, such as: Spirit World Fog Mushroom Spores, Dragon Blood Grass, Human-Faced Rose Petals...?"
As Rosen listened to the materials Altair rattled off, a flicker of shock passed through his eyes. He calmly said, "Miss, what are you talking about? I've never even heard of these things. My shop doesn't have anything like what you mentioned."
After saying this, he put on an expression as if he had met a mad person, preparing to usher Altair out.
To avoid affecting future plot developments, Altair explained to him, "Don't worry, I don't belong to any official or church faction. I just performed a divination beforehand and learned that I could purchase these items from you, which is why I specifically came."
She then added, "After all, Apothecaries are quite rare, aren't they?"
After hearing Altair's explanation, Rosen still cautiously asked, "Are you a Seer? Or a Monster?"
"A Seer," Altair said without batting an eye.
The latter nodded after hearing this and said, "Sometimes, I truly envy you Seers' abilities. I've only just settled down here, and you've already found me."
To his rambling, Altair could only respond with a smile and asked, "Do you have the materials I just mentioned?"