The Handbook for Completing Demi-Human Girls

Chapter 243: Entrance to the Sycamore Tree (Two-in-One, Monthly Ticket Bonus)

"Who exactly do you work for? Naris? I don't believe you are truly a pirate... At least not a pirate from the Sardin Woman's Country. Men on Sardin ships are only delicate, broken lovers."

After Valentiina agreed to Fisher's request, the tall Naris gentleman leaped down from the tree, landing beside her.

Valentiina scrutinized him, her wheelchair turning slightly to face him perfectly.

The wheelchair beneath her was entirely composed of intricate machinery. Looking from the outside, one could even glimpse the continuously turning gears within. Interspersed among the wheelchair's frame and structure were many Northland blue crystal minerals serving a decorative purpose. This made the entire wheelchair both practical and beautiful; it could be said to be incredibly valuable.

"I'm indeed not a pirate, as I told you earlier. I am a scholar interested in demi-human races, and researching the Phoenix Race naturally falls within my scope of research. Why, do I not look the part?"

"You don't."

In her heart, Valentiina still leaned toward Fisher lying. But since he could tell such an obvious lie, it also meant he wasn't afraid of her suspicion. Even if she was on guard, it wouldn't affect him achieving his goal.

From this perspective, if this Naris man mingling on a Sardin pirate ship offered a flawless excuse, it would instead be suspicious.

"If that's the case, the Schwalian scholar in your team named Balthazar also researches the history of Northland demi-humans. Why don't you find him strange?"

"He researches Northland history, not the history of Northland demi-humans. The legendary Phoenix Race of the Northlands is an unavoidable topic in history.""Then just treat me as a scholar interested in Northland history as well."

Fisher didn't care how Valentiina viewed him. According to his guess, this aristocratic lady from the Turan family seeking the Frostwood Sycamore Tree of the Phoenix Race certainly had her own unspeakable secrets as well. As long as she needed to hire others for help, Fisher's actions wouldn't conflict with hers.

Watching Fisher follow Valentiina's wheelchair toward the beach, Sertil and Heidelin, who hadn't met Fisher previously, were sizing him up. The steam automaton Herdor exhaled a puff of steam without speaking, and Balthazar gave a light 'Tch' without adding anything further either.

"Then, according to our agreement, reveal the secret of the scroll, and I will fulfill the payment you demand. If you need anything, ask Herdor and Balthazar; they will assist you."

Fisher ignored their gazes, instead taking a few more looks at Herdor.

Only now, up close, did Fisher notice this fellow was composed entirely of steam machinery from head to toe. In other words, he didn't have a single bit of human flesh and blood on him. This suddenly made him doubt whether the person before him was human or some other creation.

'Has the steam technology of other nations already developed to such an extent, to the point of being able to create a conscious entity composed of steam machinery?'

"Sizzle... Hello."

"Hello."

Fisher acknowledged, then unceremoniously sat down in front of the gold box, quickly getting into the zone and carefully examining its surface.

"Sizzle... The True Ice Scroll is surrounded by a Curse similar to magic fluctuations, and this gold box sealing it is called the [Anti-Magic Golden Box]. It can suppress the ability of the magic contained within to pry the World's Echo, providing an excellent inhibitory effect. But once it leaves this island, the intensity of the fluctuation will drastically increase, causing the Curse to leak out."

"Sizzle... Originally, our plan was to bring it back to the Northern Border and use an even more powerful spatial relic to open the scroll. But that relic is too massive to move, so now we can only attempt to open it and read its information on the island."

While Fisher examined the gold box, Herdor beside him simultaneously explained the current situation. But in truth, Fisher already roughly knew the situation of this item; otherwise, he wouldn't have associated a solution while pondering his new rank system in the tree earlier.

"I have a concrete idea and can try it."

Fisher's black eyes looked at the gold box before him. He stroked his hands above it, roughly confirming the size of the box, before speaking,

"The efficacy of the Curse is very similar to the World's Echo pried by magic. In other words, all we need to do is construct a magic that pries the World's Echo with a reverse concept. This can distort the Echo it basically carries, rendering the Curse ineffective."

"Sizzle... Are you saying you want to specifically design a brand-new magic for it to suppress its Curse effect?"

Hearing Fisher's words, even Herdor's voice—blurred by the mingling steam—exhibited obvious fluctuations, clearly shocked by his statement.

As mentioned before, designing magic was an extremely dangerous process. It demanded extremely high sensitivity to the World's Echo. Once a mistake occurred in the design phase, it was highly likely to suffer backlash from the Echo, turning into a drained corpse.

Most magicians simply aimed to engrave existing Magic Crests, because thoroughly comprehending even existing magic was an extremely difficult task.

However, as the final disciple of Grand Mage Helson, Fisher had naturally inherited his true legacy, not to mention Fisher's soul sensitivity had been enhanced by the Completion Handbook.

Being only able to engrave Ninth-Ring magic didn't mean he lacked the theoretical knowledge above the Ninth Ring. On the contrary, what he uniquely lacked was sufficient magic power; otherwise, he wouldn't have needed Renee's help previously.

When engraving magic with Renee, her role was more akin to a large magic power bank. the main engraving process was still completed by Fisher. After all, it was Fisher who previously taught Renee magical theory.

"Yes, I basically have the prototype of the magic structure, but I need you to provide me with the Magic Material. Prepare them according to what I say..."

After Fisher finished speaking, he rapidly recited several types of Magic Materials belonging to different major categories, along with specific quantities. Upon hearing this, the Herdor before him subconsciously exhaled a puff of steam.

"Sizzle..."

Herdor suddenly realized: weren't the quantities of Magic Materials Fisher stated a bit too much? They were enough to engrave a Ninth-Ring magic or higher.

He even began to suspect that this magic basically didn't need this much Magic Material, and Fisher was just fleecing his boss. But he had no proof, nor dared he speak carelessly.

Valentiina behind him possessed absolutely no knowledge related to magic. She glanced at Herdor—who only had a mechanical visor without specific expressions—not knowing what he meant.

"Sizzle... I understand. I will prepare them for you."