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Chapter 41: Are You Surprised? Not Surprised
Today’s weather is particularly bad, with heavy rain and overcast clouds.
Especially along the coast of Cogit, the sky is darkened with black clouds. And it’s still getting darker and darker.
The strong wind rolled up the huge waves and threw them to the bottom of the cliff. Suddenly, layers of water mist and foam were shot out, with a deafening roar.
Grove Joe and the other priests were sent to the castle of Lord Desinia in this extreme weather.
Barnard glanced at the priests who were drenched in the rain, and said, “Quickly go in. The lord is waiting for you inside.”
He wants to go back and report to Lord Walker.
Suddenly a “bang” sounded.
From nowhere, the iron tool was blown away and suddenly hit the corner of the wall, making a frightening sound.
The flag of thorns and roses rustled at the top of the castle and spread in the wind.
The background is an increasingly gloomy sky.
The whole castle seemed to be shrouded in a thick shadow, which made the priests who were already in fear feel even more terrified.
Another loud noise came.
Grove Joe and the pastors shivered.
At this time.
The gate of the castle opened slowly with a creak.
A maid with a three-pronged candlestick in her hand appeared at the door and said sideways, “Priests, please come with me.”
Grove Joe couldn’t help swallowing.
When Barnard saw the priests tremblingly walk into the castle, he turned and left.
There are soldiers on duty in the castle.
They stand on both sides of the corridor with their long spears. The dark armor reflected icy light, and the sharpness of the spears made the priests even more scared.
The soldiers were expressionless and didn’t even squint at the priests’ arrival.
Grove Joe listened to the constant whine of the wind in his ear, barely pressing down the thumping heart in his chest.
He and the rest of the priests were eventually led to a room by the maid.
After the door was knocked, it opened.
Maid, “Butler Udit, here they are.”
Udit nodded and looked at the priests standing behind the maid, “Please come in, everyone.”
Grove Joe took the lead and walked in.
Because of the bad and gloomy weather outside.
The light in this room was a little dim. There were soft and fluffy blankets on the ground, the candles were burning on the walls, and the fire flickered.
Udit went to the front and led them through the outer room.
There was a silent flash of lightning outside the window, causing momentary lighting and darkness in the room.
Grove Joe just closed his eyes for a moment.
When he regained his sight, he saw a figure sitting behind the long table.
However, what scares these priests is that behind the figure, two other huge bodies are slowly standing up.
Even if the light is dim.
Grove Joe also incomparably confirmed—these are obviously two ferocious and powerful tigers!
They have rare fur colors, one black, and one white, smooth and strong body, beautiful stripes…with strong limbs and sharp teeth. And two pairs of bright tiger eyes are staring at them unblinkingly.
Grove Joe has no doubt that if he gets slapped by a paw, he’ll lose half of his life…
He’s also scared enough now, face pale, with soft and trembling legs. He’s only one step away from going directly into the arms of the God of Creation.
“Lord, Lord please spare my life. Please spare my life!”
A priest finally knelt down on the carpet in fear.
Then, the rest of the clergymen involuntarily followed suit and begged for mercy.
Xia Zuoyi, who hasn’t said a word yet, “???”
What happened?!
“Aooo?”
Briquette tilted his big head, the thick and long tail like a steel whip swayed leisurely behind him, placing the tiger’s head on the top of the long table.
Snowball slowly licked his paws, then squatted gracefully.
After the priests heard the tiger’s scream, their bodies trembled more obviously, and almost buried their heads in the carpet.
When Xia Zuoyi suddenly understood, he rubbed the heads of Briquette and Snowball.
The two of them have grown so fast recently that they are now in the shape of an adult tiger.
Even if Xia Zuoyi wants to ride on the back of Briquette and Snowball, there is absolutely no problem.
He pulled Briquette’s big head off the table and patted him to behave and not be naughty.
“Ao, ao.”
Briquette coquettishly rubbed against Xia Zuoyi’s arm.
There’s a steady stream of cold sweat on Grove Joe’s face. He tremblingly said, “I, I don’t know why the lord ordered someone to bring us here. What can we do for you…”
Xia Zuoyi, “…”
There’s no need to be so afraid.
He said, “You stand up first.”
The priests trembled, and after Xia Zuoyi said it again, they helped each other to stand up.
They can’t help it. Their legs are still soft.
Xia Zuoyi, “I asked you to bring you here because there are some things that you need to do.”
Grove Joe, “You, please tell us your instructions.”
“Udit, give them the things.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Udit took a stack of paper and enough pens from the table, went over, gave them to the priests, and said, “You need to honestly fill in the information. After you’re done, give it to me.”
“There’s a table over there. Go and write there.”
“…”
The priests looked at each other, not quite understanding the operation and direction.
But they didn’t dare to ask anything. After receiving the paper and pen, they immediately walked to the side to fill it in.
The contents on the paper are name, age, position held in the church, abilities you’re good at (multiple choices)…
There are also several categories listed below such as mathematics, music, astronomy, medicine…
But why is there manual work in it, but there is no option of theology?!
The priests bit their heads1 and ticked a few more familiar or slightly understood options, and became entangled in filling out all the contents on the paper.
They then gave it to Udit.
And Udit showed it to Xia Zuoyi.
“Ao.”
Briquette, unwilling to be ignored, leaned in again and rubbed his head on top of Xia Zuoyi’s head. His thick big tiger paw was also placed on the chair too.
There is a clear contrast between the size of one person and one tiger.
Grove Joe couldn’t help taking a deep breath because the tiger was very close, his heart pounding.
However, after such a long time in the room, he also discovered that although the two big tigers looked fierce and mighty, they made people feel fearful.
In fact, they listened very much to the lord sitting in the chair.
Grove Joe carefully peeked at Xia Zuoyi, and then a familiar feeling rose in his heart.
He seemed… as if he had seen this little lord somewhere.
Where is it?
Grove Joe suddenly remembered that in the royal city of Keys and the church was still intact… The child who said to him at that time that he wanted to ask the God of Creation for a small sum of money!
That person… Isn’t it the lord sitting in front of him now?!
Grove Joe opened his mouth in shock.
No wonder… even the butler beside him looked familiar.
Xia Zuoyi nodded with satisfaction after reading the information in his hand.
Yes, these priests knew more than he expected. They could be trained in advance.
He raised his head and said, “You will be temporarily arranged to live in the castle. What you need to do will be explained later. During this period, don’t leave or walk around at will. Do you understand?”
Grove Joe and the other priests respectfully answered, “Yes, lord.”
Whether it’s to announce the news of the mayors’ selection, to test questions, or to produce the test papers, and so on, it needs to be arranged and planned in advance.
What’s more, there is no precedent for exam preparation on the Western Continent. It’s necessary to give those who want to participate in the selection a little time to adapt and prepare.
After all, there must be a review stage before the exam.
The written examination is one aspect, so is the interview.
During this period, papermaking and beet sugar production, which had been delayed for a long time due to the Duke’s turmoil, needed to be rearranged.
He wants to put papermaking first.
When the paper is finished, it happens to be able to use the opportunity of the mayoral examination to spread the appearance and benefits of the new paper widely.
Then, it can be sold in the Thorns Chamber of Commerce.
Exam paper.
The paper on which the mayor once answered questions. After using it, you’ll know how good it is!
What a wonderful way to publicize.
Xia Zuoyi began to prepare for how to “study” papermaking.
He had asked Adai to find out which plants could be made into paper besides sedge plants.
After the Duke’s turmoil happened, Adai wasn’t idle either.
He has found four or five kinds of raw materials that can be boiled into pulp under Xia Zuoyi’s secret hints.
At that time, Xia Zuoyi only revealed a little bit about the raw materials used in papermaking, but there are still many key steps to get the finished paper.
Now is the time to show off the art of papermaking.
It’s one thing to be familiar with the method of papermaking, but it’s another to start practicing it.
Xia Zuoyi took Adai to experiment several times. Smashing the needed raw materials such as bark, hemp, straw, and old fishing nets, then put them in a pot to completely boil and make pulp…
He also asked Renault to make deckles2, paper covering tools3, etc.
The paper pulp should be fished out with proper tools. After the water is filtered out, a paper film is formed, and then the paper is covered, compressed, then squeezed out completely… and finally, it’s completely dry.
During this period, the fire in the courtyard on one side of the castle never stopped, which made the priests living in the castle very curious.
However, they didn’t dare to take a look, nor inquire about it at will. They waited peacefully every day, and they couldn’t help but relax.
Even if the big tigers who often wander in the castle are still very scary.
One month later.
Grove Joe and other priests were once again taken to the previous room.
Sitting on the sofa, Xia Zuoyi gently combs Snowball’s fur. While Briquette aggrievedly squeezes his brother aside, trying to push him away with his thick big claws.
“Ao.”
Then, Snowball suddenly turned his head and bit Briquette’s claw, bearing his sharp white teeth to frighten him.
Xia Zuoyi calmly pushed Briquette farther away. He then stretched out his hand to touch Snowball’s teeth, and closed his mouth, “Don’t make trouble or fight, or you won’t have meat at noon.”
He had combed Briquette first, and the big black mass next to him was all his hair. He’s obviously the older brother, but he’s not as stable as his younger brother.
Xia Zuoyi sighed, tired.
Tracing Snowball’s fur, he raised his head, and smiled at the priests, “From today on, you will begin to receive training.”
After all, the teachers have to be on duty first before they really start writing test papers.
Translator’s Notes:
硬著頭皮 [yìng zhe tóupí] – to brace oneself to do sth, to put a bold face on it, to summon up courage, to force oneself to. A deckle is a removable wooden frame or “fence” used in manual papermaking.I think it should have a proper name but I just couldn’t find it on Google. I think it’s the silicone or plastic thing put on top of the wet paper granules when it’s transferred from the deckle to a stack so it can prevent it from the paper granules smooshing all over the place??
Updated it early because I’m kind of busy hahaha. I’m gonna tell ya’ll next time what I’m busying myself with and by that time, I hope it’s good news.