Chapter 121: The Introverted and Shy Ivan

After briefly organizing his current situation, just as Silas was about to continue reading, the doorbell suddenly rang.

Silas paused, took out his pocket watch, and saw that it was already 1:30 PM.

"I've been reading for five hours!?" Silas remembered that it was 8:40 AM when he sat down and opened the book.

Carefully putting away this "secret manual," Silas quickly went downstairs and opened the door.

At the door, Anthony looked at Silas, whose expression was a bit off, and asked with a smile, "How is it?"

"Can you give me ten minutes?" Silas asked with a bitter expression.

Anthony asked in surprise, "Are you not feeling well?"

"No, I got engrossed in reading. I haven't even eaten lunch yet. I'm thirsty and hungry now."

"..." Anthony looked at Silas speechlessly, then burst out laughing. "Go ahead, I'll give you twenty minutes."

"Thank you! You are truly an excellent priest. In the future, you will definitely be able to stand by the Goddess's side and obtain supreme glory," Silas said, not stingy with his words of praise.

Father Anthony was very comfortable being praised. He sat down and sighed, "Sometimes I quite envy you people who can calm down. I'm just not a calm person. Making me read a book is more unbearable than killing me."

Silas, standing in the kitchen, said with a smile while turning on the stove, "I have to learn, but speaking of which, I am truly full of interest in mysticism. I like mysticism."

Anthony was not surprised. The information about Silas submitted by Jeros included what Silas had first said to Jeros.

"That's why I envy you!" Anthony didn't say this out loud, because saying so would make him seem too lacking in ambition.

Silas took out a bottle of milk from the cupboard, half a cut baguette, turned on the stove, casually fried some bacon, spread butter on it, and ate it with the heated milk.

Twenty minutes later, Silas wiped his mouth, picked up his now brand new and beautiful staff, and said, "Not a minute off!"

The two walked out side by side. Anthony asked curiously, "When did you change your staff? This texture, these lines, it should be a silver-plated nanmu staff, right? This thing is quite expensive."

Silas smiled. "I bought it a while ago, but I didn't care much about it before. Yesterday, I was humiliated because of my staff, so I took it out."

Anthony sighed upon hearing this. "The quality of the population in the entire empire still needs to be improved. Since the Imperial Free Trade Act was promulgated, the overall quality has been lowered a lot. And as the class differentiation becomes more and more serious, the contradiction between commoners and nobles is gradually deepening. Sometimes, when I think about it, I really worry about the future of the empire."

"Huh? I can't tell, you're actually a priest who worries about the country and its people!" Silas said in surprise.

Anthony gave a bitter smile. "It's just personal experience. You also need to be mentally prepared. That… the Church…"

Speaking of this, Anthony pondered for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Don't look at how harmonious we seem. The higher-ups in the Church are no different from those politicians in the empire; bureaucracy is very serious. I heard that Master Jeros was qualified to be promoted to Archbishop as early as forty years ago, but because Master Jeros refused to join any faction, he has been suppressed by those people for so many years."

Silas recalled what he had seen and heard on Earth and casually spread his hands. "Normal operations. I've long since seen through it."

While chatting, the two passed through two stone archways and arrived in front of a small chapel of similar specifications to Silas's.

"This is one of the five spare small chapels. It has been assigned to Ivan for two years as his mystical workshop," Anthony introduced, then stepped forward and knocked on the door.

Screech!

Just as he knocked, less than a second later, the door opened automatically.

"So fast?" Silas was somewhat surprised.

Anthony smiled mysteriously. "Don't be scared in a moment."

The two walked in, and Silas was stunned to find that it wasn't Ivan who opened the door for him, but a scarecrow made of wood and straw.

After opening the door, this scarecrow hopped back to the corner and leaned there motionlessly.

Silas carefully examined it and found that it was covered with complex talismans, and even many complex metal wires and gemstones that shimmered with a dim luster.

Anthony introduced, "This is a byproduct of Ivan's mystical experiments. Interesting, isn't it?"

Silas nodded, then looked around and was instantly dumbfounded.

Because at this moment, he felt as if he had arrived in the laboratory of a fantasy world.

All around, and on the three rows of workbenches in the middle, were various beakers, distillation flasks, alcohol lamps, test tubes containing liquids of various colors, various strange metal pendants, a half-drawn magic circle thrown aside, an iron plate engraved with runes, and so on.

At the same time, in the aisle, there were six bamboo brooms sweeping on their own, sweeping the paper balls casually thrown by the owner on the ground into the trash can.

"Is this Quel'Thalas?" Silas couldn't quite react.

Anthony was very satisfied with Silas's expression and said with a laugh, "How about it? Do you feel Ivan's power now?"

Silas nodded dazedly, then asked, "Is Ivan also a mystic?"

"Of course, I am a mystic. Otherwise, how could I study mysticism!" A somewhat reserved voice, tinged with dissatisfaction, came.

Silas turned his head and saw Ivan, wearing a white coat and with dark circles under his eyes, walking down from the second floor.

Anthony quickly explained, "Don't mind him too much. Ivan is rather shy with strangers and a bit stiff with new people. He'll be fine once you get to know him."

Then, he introduced, "Ivan is an expert-level mystical inventor. This is a profession with a very wide range of involvement. He possesses highly sensitive thoughts and spirit, able to keenly sense the rhythm of mysticism, grasp the key points for research, discover new knowledge, create new inventions, and at the same time, allow his creations to possess mystical qualifications and become animated. Just like that scarecrow and these brooms."

Silas, after listening, said with admiration, "Truly amazing, remarkable! Remarkable!"

Ivan, hearing this, blushed slightly and said with a somewhat coy expression, "No matter how much you praise me, I won't become friends with you that quickly."

Anthony smiled, turned his head, and said in a low voice, "This fellow is introverted and shy, always saying one thing and meaning another. The more he refuses you like this, the more you should praise him. That way, he will quickly accept you."

Silas understood upon hearing this. "So he's an introverted, tsundere little cutie! This is simple."

Immediately, Silas squatted down, looked at the sweeping broom, and sighed, "This is truly magical, simply a work of gods, like a miracle of the Goddess manifested. How did you do it!"

"Ah! That… that…" Ivan's face turned even redder. He scratched his head, somewhat at a loss, then stammered and explained in a low voice.

Silas, after listening, looked as if he had benefited greatly. He turned to look at the reagent on the table and said, "This smells like Silver Blood Potion, but it looks more beautiful, and the concentration of mysticism is also higher. My heavens! Compared to this, the Church's Silver Blood Potion is garbage!"

"Ah! This! This is what I just made…" Ivan said, walking down. Amidst Silas's praise, he gradually opened up and happily chatted with Silas.

Anthony, beside him, listened in astonishment to Silas's continuous stream of praise, which was completely unrepetitive, and was completely shocked.

"My heavens, this fellow's flattery is a bit too much! I couldn't tell at all usually."

Silas, looking at Ivan, who had completely opened up and had a pure smile on his face, thought to himself, "Thanks to Randall, this vampire has a boundless future! Your master is very satisfied with you!"