Meeting

Ever since the unpleasantness with Orin in the Black River Valley, Raymond had not been to the Lord's Manor again.

After synthesizing the exorcism powder according to the recipe of the itinerant poet, he did not enter the basement in the middle of the night to verify the effectiveness of this folk remedy.

After seeing the so-called most effective exorcist on the west coast, Raymond knew that the records in the books were extremely unreliable, so he did not need to try it on himself to verify the effectiveness of this folk remedy.

The more than ten yellow-toothed rats bought back were similar to hamsters on Earth, fluffy and lovely. They became the pets of Raymond's personal maid, Amelie, and were raised on the terrace by her.

Seth Vinson, Hayden's shy little brother, came to the old castle from time to time. On the second floor of the old castle, he didn't know what he was messing with in the room where he used to live.

Every time this shy and restrained boy met Raymond, he looked frightened, with panic in his eyes. But since Seth's actions did not interfere with Raymond, Raymond allowed the boy to come and go in the old castle.

After all, the old castle belonged to the Tolly family. Raymond was just staying here temporarily.

What interested Raymond was that Seth seemed to be observing him secretly, especially when Raymond appeared in the square of the old castle for morning exercises. From the window on the second floor of the old castle, Raymond could see little Seth peeking at him from behind the curtains.

With the help of the chip, Raymond could clearly sense such gazes within tens of meters, especially Seth's eyes, which Raymond found somewhat difficult to understand. That was definitely not the kind of eyes a twelve-year-old boy should have.

Gloomy, and with a strange hostility.

Sometimes Seth also carried a strange fragrance, which was very weird.

But to Raymond, this boy who was only half a head shorter than him was sincerely respectful to Raymond. And Seth never went up to the third floor of the old castle to enter Raymond's floor.

So after Seth came to the old castle punctually every day, Raymond ignored this taciturn boy.

Raymond now had a fixed schedule every day, morning jogging and exercises, then memorizing the strange symbols in the book in his room. Occasionally he would also tease the shy maid Amelie, which was his way of relaxing.

But this peaceful day ended with Hayden's arrival.

Early in the morning this day, Hayden, dressed in his best attire, appeared in the old castle. With a bright smile, Hayden stood by quietly waiting for Raymond to finish his final lap. Then he ran over enthusiastically to tell Raymond that there was a very exciting beast fight today, and he had come specifically to take Raymond to watch it.

Raymond was originally uninterested in these activities favored by the nobles, but after politely declining, Hayden leaned close to Raymond and advised mysteriously: "Respected Lord Raymond, today's beast fight is not the theme. The real reason will be known when you get there."

Although Hayden, full of sunny smiles, seemed to be joking, his tone was unquestionable.

Facing Hayden's somewhat coercive invitation, Raymond squinted his eyes slightly and agreed after a little hesitation.

Seeing Hayden's smile become even brighter, he directly pulled Raymond into his carriage. Outside the old castle gate, there was actually a convoy waiting.

Under the escort of the guards from the Lord's Manor, Raymond learned that the carriages in the convoy not only carried nobles from Port Kaidon but also Seth and his sister Whelan Tolly from the Tolly family.

After a journey of more than an hour, when the convoy arrived, the luxury carriages that had joined the convoy along the way numbered no less than thirty.

Along the way, Hayden introduced the scenery along the road and talked about the customs of Port Kaidon. He did not make Raymond feel bored, but Raymond always felt that Hayden's sudden invitation was too abrupt, and there must be some issues behind it.

So after the convoy arrived, Raymond guessed Hayden's purpose when he saw Orin, the fat man, standing at the entrance of a circular building downstairs.

Orin, whose face still had patches of vitiligo, had a hypocritical smile. He first bowed to Raymond and then led Hayden into the circular building built in the wild.

Raymond slowed down his pace. Facing this building, he felt a sense of familiarity. Just from observing the outside, Raymond found that it was a building similar to the Roman Colosseum.

The entire building was made of huge stacked blue stones with traces of erosion left by the ages on the mottled outer wall. When Raymond entered the gate, he saw that the interior of the building was a circular plaza with hundreds of seats and no covering overhead.

And all the seats here were five or six meters higher than the central circular plaza. And between the circular plaza and the stands, there was a double-layered high stone wall that completely separated the inside and outside.

In the center of the circular plaza, a skinny old man was surrounded by several young men in their white robes, not very old.

Orin had led Hayden to the circular plaza and was talking to the old man. When Raymond appeared at the entrance to the stands, an unpleasant expression appeared on the old man's face. But he still walked over slowly.

As the old man approached, the chip's alarm sounded in Raymond's ears: "Warning! Warning! Unknown strange force field detected. Get away quickly!"

Raymond frowned, and behind him were noble people from Port Kaidon dressed in their best clothes. Hayden and Orin were following behind the old man.

This arrogant old man, after standing in front of Raymond, carefully looked Raymond up and down with a strange look in his eyes.

Hayden, with a bright smile on his face, quickly came to Raymond's side and whispered in his ear that this old man was the Dean of the Black River Valley Academy, Dean Bahmer.

The skinny old man wore an exquisite white robe. On his chest hung a round badge. His pale face was covered with age spots. With a condescending look, he seemed to be studying Raymond.

After a long time, he bowed his head slightly and said in a very indifferent tone: "I am Dean Bahmer, Dean of the Black River Valley Academy. Greetings to the Level 3 Apprentice Badge."