https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-756-Lanchi-and-Talia-s-Grand-Finale/12585248/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-758-Rockie-McKasy-Meets-an-Old-Friend-Again/12585250/
Chapter 757: Lanchi is Mistaken for a Comedian
Chapter 757: Lanchi is Mistaken for a Comedian
The night was deep, and the hustle and bustle of Brilda's Broadway Central Square gradually faded.
The main lights of the opera house had gone dark, leaving only a few soft night lights that bathed the contours of the majestic building in a pale golden glow.
In front of the theater, the last few audience members were reluctantly leaving.
"Tonight's performance was truly amazing."
"I think the plot should be changed when the original work is republished."
"By the way, have you heard of these two actors before? They're so talented. If not for the war, they would be on a national tour."
They spoke in hushed tones about the captivating performance they had just witnessed, their faces still aglow with excitement.
Inside the grand foyer of the Brilda Opera House, the routine closing procedures had begun.
Footsteps echoed across the spacious floor of the performance hall, occasionally mingling with the distant clicks of chairs being stacked away as the staff meticulously dismantled the set.
Backstage, the actors had already left after removing their stage makeup.
The lights in the dressing rooms went out one by one.
Only a faint glow emanated from a handful of rooms along the lengthy corridor on the first floor.
The second floor of the theater remained as bright as daylight.
"Miss Abigail, thank you so much for agreeing to meet with us privately."
Finally, Lanchi and Talia received an invitation to meet with Abigail at the opera house.
Through the half-open window curtains, one could glimpse a rather spacious terrace of a mansion.
Its interior space was approximately equal in size to the entire performance hall of the opera house, blending the styles of a grand ancient hall and a modern library. It was Abigail's private domain and current residence.
"Which friend of yours recommended us to you?"
Abigail covered her forehead with her hand, her silvery-gray hair, cascading like a waterfall, shimmering with a metallic luster in the lamplight.
She wore a well-tailored black off-shoulder evening gown that hugged her delicate figure. A black gemstone necklace adorned her neck, contrasting beautifully with her fair skin. At the moment, she was leaning against a sofa, appearing to have a terrible headache.
It would be unfair to blame these two; they had, after all, saved the day. Otherwise, she might have had to take the stage herself tonight.
But these two...
When asked to perform, they actually dared to accept!
Abigail was still shaken by the memory and couldn't shake off the lingering fear.
These two were definitely amateurs. They had relied solely on luck, mental fortitude, and a resemblance to the characters to pull off a successful performance and hoodwink the entire audience!
"It was Mr. Barton, Mr. Barton Hall of the Brilda Mafia," Lanchi replied politely.
Talia nodded silently, sitting quietly beside him, her senses reaching out to perceive the space around them.
The complexity of the magical constructs here far exceeded that of the underground silver palace of the Brilda Mafia.
The domed ceiling, towering at a height of fifty meters, was painted in a style similar to the performance hall, but the surrounding walls were enveloped by tall, deep brown bookshelves made of solid wood that reached all the way up to the ceiling. Each shelf was filled with precious music and theater manuscripts, not a single book of magic engineering among them—a fact that made Talia wonder at Abigail's apparent disdain for the subject.
Aside from countless antique collectibles, the central area where they sat featured a set of ancient Vinci-style sofas and a tea table adorned with an exquisite silver tea set.
The air was scented with a hint of sandalwood, and a liquor cabinet along one wall displayed an array of fine liquors and crystal glasses. The entire space was illuminated with a warm brass-toned light, and the terrace outside offered a panoramic view of the entire Broadway Central Square.
However, things were not as simple as they seemed.
Hidden beneath every wall was an intricate array of spatial enchantments that Abigail had inscribed, which Talia struggled to comprehend.
Abigail, a seventh-rank spatial magus engineer, did not possess formidable combat strength.
But within the meticulously crafted base that she had constructed, the situation was entirely different.
Talia had initially been reluctant to enter such an unknown and dangerous domain.
However, upon discerning that Abigail's invitation held no hostility, she had agreed to accompany Lanchi.
"Barton? Are you acquainted with him?"
Abigail sat up a little straighter, her eyes appraising Lanchi and Talia. She had never imagined that Barton would be the one to save her in this unexpected turn of events.
"Yes, this is the token he gave me," Lanchi replied, reaching into the pocket of his gray coat and placing a silver cross brooch on the glass surface of the tea table before them. He slid it toward Abigail.
"It's indeed his," Abigail acknowledged, picking up the brooch and studying the light reflecting off its surface.
Based on her understanding of Barton, he would not easily part with his personal token.
While she and Barton shared a unique communication channel, it was not something they would use in front of others or let people know about. So, Barton must have considered their rules and decided not to contact her directly.
"What brings you to me?" Abigail inquired, returning the silver brooch and adopting a more relaxed tone.
"You two are definitely not ordinary people. I can tell that you're both strong, especially her."
She pointed at Lanchi and then turned to Talia.
These two were definitely not simple individuals.
She should have heard of their names before.
But no matter who they were, since they had helped her tremendously, it was only right for her to return the favor if they ever needed her assistance.
"That's right, Miss Abigail," Lanchi said as he dropped his disguise, "I'm actually Professor Landry from St. Crisant Abbey. I encountered some troubles today, so I had to change my appearance to sneak into the opera house to find you."
His appearance gradually shifted back to that of Landry, with black hair and blue eyes.
Upon hearing the name "Landry," Abigail's eyes twitched imperceptibly, and her breathing rhythm subtly changed.
"Landry, Professor...?" Abigail asked with a hesitant smile.
"I'm sorry for hiding my identity, but we were indeed introduced by Mr. Barton," Lanchi added.
He believed that even without his explanation, Abigail would have guessed his intention—
He needed her support within the imperial military.
"It's fine, no need to apologize," Abigail said, maintaining a perfect smile and waving her hand.
"...I should apologize," Lanchi continued, feeling that Abigail wasn't angry, "There might have been a communication mistake when we met, and we wanted to help as much as we could, which is why we ended up like that."
He couldn't quite discern Abigail's attitude.
Abigail seemed to understand but didn't fully believe him, carrying a hint of near-perfectly hidden sarcasm and coldness, or perhaps in an instant, she had completely distanced herself from him on certain levels.
Talia stared at Abigail, unable to decipher what she was thinking.
"Professor Landry, so you wish for me to aid you in expanding your influence within the imperial magic engineering community and to have your talent gain more recognition from the imperial military, am I right?" Abigail asked straightforwardly.
"Yes, that's correct," Lanchi admitted.
"May I ask a question first?" Abigail inquired without giving a clear answer, placing her hand on her chest and leaning forward slightly with a curious expression.
"Please," Lanchi nodded.
"How did you manage to come up with a series of principles, such as the magic power fission, as if you had a sudden enlightenment recently? I'd like to seek your guidance on that..." Abigail spoke in a calm and unhurried tone.
"... "
Just then, Talia, with her keen senses, seemed to detect a subtle change in the air, and a hint of alertness flashed in her golden eyes.
Abigail's smile remained, but her eyes turned cold and sharp.
Her fingers gently caressed the black gemstone necklace, and a dangerous aura filled the air.
As the hands of the antique clock just slid past eleven, time seemed to freeze in that moment, and both Lanchi and Talia felt an invisible oppressive force that caused their hearts to race.
Suddenly, the lights in the banquet hall flickered, and the candle flames swayed.
"What are you doing?!" Talia exclaimed as she quickly moved in front of Lanchi to shield him. She turned towards Abigail and lunged at her, knowing that at this moment, Abigail was no longer the friendly conversationalist but a thorough enemy!
Suddenly, a deep and sonorous resonance, like an ancient ceremonial bell, vibrated within this confined space.
The sound waves spread in visible ripples, creating layer upon layer of wrinkles in the air, tearing countless fine cracks in the frozen space-time.
The opera manuscripts on the bookshelves stirred as if by an invisible wind, and the portraits of famous opera singers in the golden frames seemed to come alive, their eyes scrutinizing this unexpected change.
Talia's instinctive reaction was to try and protect Lanchi from the spatial magic that had reached the eighth rank.
This magic wasn't strong, and at most, she would only suffer some injuries from the high-level magic artifact, but Lanchi wouldn't be able to withstand it.
However, the gears in this space mercilessly turned.
Just as Talia was about to use her spiritual magic to restrain Abigail and intercept the spell triggered by the black gemstone necklace, the space suddenly distorted and deformed, and a two-meter-high mirror silently appeared out of thin air.
Talia felt a sense of weightlessness as if she had missed her footing, and her graceful dancing feet couldn't find a point of force.
"Lan...!"
Before her voice could reach him, she passed through Lanchi's gradually transparent silhouette, grasping at a wisp of dissipating morning mist. And when her vision cleared, only emptiness remained.
The room was still the same room.
But both Lanchi and Abigail had vanished from in front of the sofa.
"Lanchi, can you hear me?" Talia looked around anxiously.
She suspected that she had been isolated into another channel of this spatial realm and wouldn't be able to return to where Lanchi and Abigail were until it was dispelled.
"Don't let her do anything to you! She can't hold me for too long!" Talia shouted anxiously, trying to break free. But no matter how she struggled, it felt like she was the only one left in this world, able to only slightly shake it and unable to find the core coordinates to tear through the spatial node.
Indeed, her suspicions were proven right, as she found herself unable to get a response from Lanchi despite their close proximity.
...
Back in the original room, the fluctuations of spatial magic gradually subsided, and the vortex vanished without a trace.
The second floor of the Brilda Opera House fell back into silence, as if everything that had just transpensed was merely an illusion.
Lanchi sat alone in the grand mansion, a sense of loneliness engulfing him.
The air still carried the faint scent of Talia's floral perfume, along with a lingering trace of magical resonance, reminding Lanchi that what had transpired was not a dream.
"Miss Abigail, what are you doing?" Lanchi asked, directing his question at Abigail, who was sitting across from him.
It seemed that for the time being, she had no intention of launching a further attack.
Or perhaps, with Talia out of the equation, she no longer perceived him as a significant threat.
"You have quite a positive attitude, despite the circumstances..." Abigail sneered, crossing her legs nonchalantly.
"Who exactly are you?" She narrowed her eyes, studying Lanchi intently.
"I am Landry," Lanchi stated with conviction.
Just as he had responded to Red Falcon Nicola, the chief of the Empire's Special Operations Department, he could give no other answer.
"Still lying, huh? That's boring." Abigail seemed to find the situation absurd as she tilted her head back and laughed.
"What do you mean?" Lanchi asked, confused by her statement.
His eyes scanned the room, and his gaze eventually settled on the wall clock, each tick of its second hand feeling like a mocking reminder of the passing time.
Although she hadn't explicitly stated it, Lanchi had a hunch that Abigail wasn't bluffing. Her decision to act so decisively against the more formidable Talia suggested that she might have had some form of evidence.
"Landry is my junior. Do you really think I wouldn't be able to recognize him?" Abigail's eyes turned icy as she continued, "I always felt that based on Landry's abilities, it was unlikely for him to achieve such a level of understanding, or even if you gave him ten years, no, a hundred years, he wouldn't be able to come up with such profound insights about fire and seals. Now I'm certain that he must have been killed and his identity stolen."
Her words were laced with increasing hatred, her fingers digging into her palms.
"Wait, I had nothing to do with Landry's death!" Lanchi quickly interjected, feeling the need to clarify.
He now realized the seriousness of the situation.
Setting aside the question of how Abigail came to be Landry's senior, if one were to connect the dots, from her perspective, he, Lanchi, appeared to be the prime suspect in Landry's murder!
As for the token from Barton, it was most likely obtained by impersonating Landry. Barton's favor would no longer be of any use.
Perhaps it was due to the comical performance he and Talia had put on earlier that they didn't seem like bad people, which was why Abigail had chosen to give him one last chance instead of immediately resorting to violence.
"Then tell me, what happened to my junior, Landry?" Abigail stood up, placing her foot on the coffee table as she looked down at him.
"He... might not be coming back," Lanchi replied, his voice trailing off.
"Good, since you admit that he's dead and that you know about it, tell me, who is the murderer?" Abigail's demeanor had transformed from that of an opera director to an interrogator, her voice filled with authority.
"It's... um..." Once again, Lanchi found himself at a loss for words.
He couldn't very well sell out the Allied Forces, could he?
If Abigail were to track down the Allied Forces' spy, Unity, and hand her over to the Empire, Lanchi would truly become an honorary citizen of the Empire.
"Hmph." Abigail let out a cold laugh and removed her foot from the coffee table.
She was tired of wasting words on this joker.
Handing him over to the appropriate people would surely yield the information she sought.
Abigail took out a magical card that emanated a pink glow and brought it to her ear.
Lanchi's eyes widened as he recognized the communication card in Abigail's hand—it was identical to the one Landry had.
"What's your number?" Lanchi asked, his eyes fixed on Abigail as he sat on the sofa.
Abigail glanced at him but didn't reply, choosing instead to focus on the communication at hand, awaiting an answer.
After a few seconds, the translucent pink communication magic card lit up with a buzzing noise.
"Teacher, come to the opera house. I've caught a big fish. Your suspicions were correct; there's something off about Landry," Abigail spoke rapidly into the card.
"But I'm investigating something important, and it takes a lot of magic to transmit over here," a male voice crackled through the card intermittently.
"When I tell you to come, you come! Stop wasting my time with your nonsense!" Abigail shouted into the card.
"... "
The voice on the other end fell silent, seemingly intimidated.
"Okay," he finally replied.
Abigail promptly ended the call.
(End of Chapter)
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