The Troubles of the Holy Maiden [Comprehensive]

Chapter 144

Fran flipped through the materials of the candidate tutors she was looking for for Tom, and a dozen or so resumes formed a thick stack.Fran simply browsed through and found that most of them were unmarried women from the middle class, and there seemed to be no big difference in terms of background, education level, and subjects they were good at.Flicking through the materials again, Fran picked up one of them, feeling a little surprised.

"Marlon Archibald, 25 years old, graduated from the Faculty of Arts, Cambridge University, and worked in the British Museum..." Fran tapped her finger on the table without raising her head and asked: "This Marlon and Archibald Is it related to the German family?"

Sebastian, who was standing by the side, glanced at the information, and replied respectfully: "He is an offshoot of the Archibald family."

"A side branch? That means you are also from aristocratic background." Fulan put down the information in her hand, and said a little strangely: "With such a good background and education, even if you can't inherit the title and family property, it is not difficult to find a better job, right? What are you doing here to apply for a tutor from a nouveau riche family?"

Sebastian thoughtfully explained the host's doubts: "This Mr. Archibald is said to have a very cold relationship with his family, and he rarely interacts with him. He often traveled around the world when he was working in the British Museum, and recently quit his job. It seems to be trying to stabilize at home."

"I see..." Fran thought: "His conditions seem to be the best, what do you think?"

Sebastian bowed slightly, and suggested: "Why don't you meet that gentleman first before making any plans? With your wisdom, no one can pretend to hide from you."

Fran chuckled slightly, squinted her eyes at Sebastian, and asked, "Do you really think so? Sebastian..."

The handsome housekeeper knelt down on one knee, held Fran's hand, and gently kissed the back of her hand.

"I have nothing to hide from you."

"Ha..." Fran smiled mockingly, and took out her hand.She tilted her head and looked at the devil's steward in front of her, and said in an unclear way: "The wine that is highly poisonous is often the sweetest, because only in this way can people drink it willingly, and the same is true for lies."

Fran stood up and ordered coldly, "Sebas, arrange a time for me to meet Mr. Marlon Archibald."

"Yes, my lord."

---------------

"Good day, Mr Marlon Archibald, please take a seat."

Fran looked at the young man in front of her. He had very common brown hair and dark brown eyes. His face was more than correct, but not handsome enough. He was of ordinary height and slightly frail. Still let him be completely inconspicuous in the crowd.Different from the pretty good resume of the young man, as far as the first impression is concerned, it is really too ordinary and has no special features at all.

Marlon said hello shyly, and sat opposite Fran, with a standard sitting posture, and it was obvious that he had received a good education, but the trace of restraint in the young man's expression showed that he was different from the traditional upper-class people who were not sociable. idiosyncratic.

"Mr. Archibald, I will not greet you any more. The main purpose of inviting you today is to chat with you about this job. I have seen your resume and I am very impressed. But there are inevitably some doubts." Fran paused for a moment, observing the reaction of the person opposite.

The young man's hands on his knees tightened slightly, and he said nervously, "Please tell me."

Fran smiled and said: "You don't need to be nervous, it's just an ordinary chat, so that I can understand your situation. As far as I know, your family is from the aristocratic class and is very prestigious in the academic world. You are also quite talented. Why apply to be the governess of a six-year-old when it should be easy to get decent work?"

"I..." The young man pursed his lips slightly, and explained with some embarrassment: "I'm just a branch of the Archibald family, and I'm not close to the direct line. Moreover, because of my father's investment mistakes, now the family has had some debt issues, so…”

Fran nodded and asked, "Since that's the case, if I hire you, do I need to help you solve the debt problem?"

"No, no, no." The young man quickly waved his hand and explained: "The debt is not heavy, but the salary of the museum is really not high, so I want to change to a job with a higher salary. Moreover, the original house at home has been reduced in debt, so I also hope to find a job that provides board and lodging to reduce the burden on my family." After he finished speaking, he looked at Fran with some embarrassment: "If possible, I hope to do my own research outside of work. .”

Fran understood and didn't delve into this topic any further. She chatted with Mullen about education, literature, politics, law and art, and she was quite satisfied with him. She also discussed teaching hours, salary and benefits. , and immediately decided to hire him as a tutor for Tom's basic education.In view of the approaching Christmas, Fran expressed willingness to prepay part of the salary in advance and let him officially enter the job after the year.

The conversation ended in a pleasant atmosphere, and Fran asked Sebastian to send Mr. Archibald away.

--------------

Tom poked his head out quietly, ran in from the next room, leaned against Fran, and asked curiously, "Is that the person? He looks so ordinary."

Fran smiled and said, "Don't you want an ordinary tutor? Archibald's knowledge is pretty good."

"Can't you teach me yourself?" Tom asked with his little face up.

Fran rubbed his little head and explained: "Didn't I tell you? I teach you magic, and tutors teach you general knowledge. If you don't want a tutor, I can only send you Go to public school to study."

Tom stuck out his tongue and said, "That Mullen...so ordinary that I've forgotten what he looks like now."

"Nonsense." Fran tapped on Tom's forehead. This kid basically has a photographic memory. Who would believe that he forgot the people he just met.

"However, you were mistaken. This Mr. Archibald is not ordinary. At least, he is not ordinary." After thinking about it, Fran told Tom the main reason for her employment.

"Not an ordinary person? Him?" Tom asked in surprise, "Is he a wizard?"

"He's not a wizard." Fran shook her head lightly, "He's a magician."

"Magician?" Tom's mouth twitched, and he confirmed: "Can he change pigeons and cards?"

Fran smiled lightly and nodded Tom's upturned nose, explaining, "It's not the magician, but someone who manipulates magic power to artificially reproduce supernatural phenomena."

Tom has never heard of this kind of identity, or it can be said that Little Bean Tom doesn't even have a superficial understanding of the mysterious side except for the legends in fairy tale books.Very curiously asked: "Is a magician the same as a wizard?"

"Well... how should I put it?" Fran was thinking about how to explain this complicated relationship: "Let's put it this way, most supernatural phenomena in this world are classified as mysterious. Before the decline of the Age of Gods, the degree of mystery was very high. At that time, races that were born to be able to freely use supernatural power, which were actually the power of laws, were called gods. However, there were also some outstanding people from other races who could use the power of laws to a limited extent. They were magicians, and they The power used to invoke the law is called magic."

"Before the end of the Age of Gods, the supernatural races had not disappeared. Some human beings and supernatural races intermarried, and their offspring inherited the physiques of those supernatural races. They could control magic power through practice and release it through spells or will. These people are wizards. Wizards Theoretically speaking, the bloodline level of the ancestors and the concentration of their bloodlines affect the strength of wizards, which is why many wizard families with long traditions pursue pure blood. However, there are also some lucky ones who were born In the process, the bloodline has mutated or returned to the ancestors, so they also have this special physique, and they are the so-called Muggle-born wizards."

"However, since the age of gods, there have also been some top geniuses among human beings. These people have explored the roots of the world by studying the rules under the laws. These researches accumulated for generations are called magic. Magic is the use of magic to transform what humans can do. Things are accelerating. Only a small number of people have the talent to be a magician, that is, the magic circuit, which can store and call magic power. The inheritance of top magicians is through magic engraving, and the previous generation will engrave the research results of their ancestors through engraving. Passed on to heirs, sometimes their inheritance is not through blood, but through masters, because generations of magic families may also have offspring who have no talent or refuse to inherit the family tradition. In contrast, an ordinary person with good magic talent can also pass Inherit the engraving to become a magician."

Tom tried hard to digest the amount of information. He thought for a while and asked, "That means magic is stronger than magic. So, does this mean that wizards are stronger than magicians?"

Fran shook her head: "Not necessarily, because wizards and magicians have different definitions of magic. For wizards, everything done with magic power is magic. But for magicians, no matter how much time and effort humans spend Miracles that can’t be done with energy are magic. With the development of human beings, the degree of mystery has decreased, and more and more things can be done by human beings, so many things that could be called magic before have been reduced to magic. For example, The magic spell of the wizards, blazing flames, is magic when humans can’t make fire, but after humans have mastered the ability to make fire, blazing flames are magic.”

Fran looked at Tom with a wrinkled face, and said with a smile: "Actually, there is no comparison. A wizard is a race, but a magician is a profession. Why do you compare race and profession together? If you want to be a magician That's fine too."

"Huh?" Tom was a little confused: "Can a wizard also be a magician?"

"Let me tell you that one is race and the other is occupation, and there is no conflict." Fran spread her hands: "Merlin, you know, he is a hybrid of a human princess and a succubus, so he belongs to a wizard. But at the same time, he is the top The crown magician who has come into contact with the level of law, in general, is a magician." Fran tilted her head and thought for a while, and smiled: "The law that Merlin is involved in should be destiny. If the development of human technology in the future can see destiny , then Merlin will be reduced to a magician again."

"Ah? Is that so? The magician's world is so complicated..." Tom sighed like an adult.

Fran rubbed Tom's hair, and said with a smile, "What's the point? There are more races and occupations on the mysterious side, and different cultures and regions have different understandings of power. For example, the European side is basically a magic power system." ; but in the Far East, the practice of Taoism in China, the practice of gods in Japan and the yin and yang arts derived from Taoism basically belong to the spiritual power system; there are even some smaller mysterious powers. These are actually based on The understanding and exploration of the world by different cultures is nothing more than different routes lead to the same goal. All powers that reach the peak of practice will fall into the law. Now you just need to concentrate on your own practice. When you come into contact with that state, you will naturally understand. "

"Then, by having Archibald as my governess, do you mean that I should learn magic tricks with him?" asked Tom eagerly.

"That's not true, you should learn your racial skills first." Fran felt a little dumbfounded, the child was too greedy, but she explained: "I want you to get in touch with the way of thinking of a magician, and you can Broaden your thinking." Fran thought for a while, and then said: "Try not to let Archibald know that you are a little wizard, and don't show that you know his hidden profession."

--------------

On the other end, Sebastian led Marlon Archibald out of the manor.In a blind spot where everyone could see, Sebastian stopped abruptly, turned around and gave Marlon a weird smile.

The shy brown-haired young man was taken aback, looked at Sebastian in a daze, and asked gently, "Excuse me, what's the matter?"

Sebastian's smile became brighter, and the corners of his slightly opened mouth revealed sharp white canine teeth. He squinted at the innocent and docile young man in front of him, and asked slowly, "Boy, don't you understand the rules? "

The brown-haired young man looked terrified, and said uncomfortably: "Rule...Rule, sorry, did I do something wrong?"

"Hmph..." Sebastian let out a soft hum from his nostrils, and the shadows under his feet spread around, covering both of them in a dark shadow.

In the dark world, Sebastian's blood-red eyes, like the flames of hell, became the only bright color in this space.

The brown-haired young man was taken aback, and couldn't help shouting: "This...what's going on?!"

Sebastian rubbed his temples, his reserved and elegant expression gradually receded, and became cruel and arrogant, his hoarse voice carried a strong warning.

"You seem to be very involved in acting, Merlin..."

Mullen's terrified expression slowly disappeared, and transformed into a bright and hearty smile, and his ordinary facial features, which could only be described as delicate and upright, exuded a strange charm.The brown-haired young man opened his mouth slowly, with yin and yang faltering, and his slow tone sounded extremely flat.

"Oh, I was discovered, as expected of Senior Belial..."

The black-haired demon sneered, "Merlin, didn't Murphys teach you the rules?"

The brown-haired young man tilted his head, and said in a frivolous tone: "Rules... what rules? This is not hell, I am not a devil, let alone your subordinate, and neither is Murphy. Why, do I need to salute His Majesty the Great Demon King? He glanced up and down at the black-haired demon, and said sarcastically, "Speaking of rules, how did you sneak here? Didn't you get turned into a dog by Gaia?"

The thick black demon energy floated up and down, but it still only remained in a small space, not daring to spread at all. The blood pupils of the black-haired demon were like the flames of hell, trying to burn the rude boy in front of him.

"Merlin, you are courting death!"

The brown-haired young man picked out his ears indifferently, spread his hands and said, "You can try, if you can use [-]% of your strength, how about you win?" He smiled at the corner of his mouth, looked at the man in front of him indifferently, and said sarcastically : "Who doesn't know what to say? Hehe, if I win, can you please go back to hell?"

The black-haired devil smiled: "The little guy over 1000 years old is quite courageous. I was indeed suppressed. How are you doing? If you weren't half-human, hehe..."

"You don't need to worry about my affairs... Speaking of it, the mystery is already so low, how did you get here? Did the law change so much?" Merlin asked thoughtfully.

"You don't have to worry about my affairs, this is already my hunting ground, if you want to have fun, you can change to another place!" The black-haired devil said impatiently.

"Your hunting ground?" The brown-haired young man narrowed his eyes, and then chuckled softly, "That little boy? Your bad taste really hasn't changed...First it was the young Solomon, and then the kid who finally turned into a demon. Then there was that kid obsessed with portraits, and now this pretty black-haired kid. It’s been 3000 years, and you love the soul of a pretty little boy so much? What a terrifying and persistent Shotacon!"

After finishing speaking, he added viciously: "I think you should give up and forget it. You lost 72 demon pillars but didn't get Solomon's soul. After so many years of tossing around, you still didn't get the soul of the devil imp. It’s too bad to eat... You’re about to become the laughing stock of the demon world, Your Majesty the Great Demon King. I don’t think you can make it this time, so it’s better to just give up.”

The black-haired devil raised his eyebrows and asked, "Did you take a fancy to that little snake? No wonder you want to come here as a tutor... Well, as long as you don't get in my way."

"What do you mean?!" The brown-haired young man who was smiling immediately turned cold.

"What do you mean?" The demon tilted his head and said, "It's hard to come down by giving a ladder to someone who is taken advantage of. I don't want to mobilize my power rashly to provoke Gaia, and you don't want to either." He put his index finger on his lips and gestured. With a gesture of silence, he said with a smile: "Then, we should learn to restrain. I will not interfere with your fun, and you should not hinder me from having fun. Although I don't like sharing a hunting ground with others, if the prey is different, Barely acceptable."

The expression of the brown-haired young man became even more serious: "The prey is different? Whose soul are you looking at?"

The black-haired demon also realized that something was wrong at this time, he suppressed his smile, and stared coldly at the young man opposite him.

"Frank Riddle, whose soul I must have!"

The pupils of the brown-haired youth shrank suddenly, and his originally calm face became a little ferocious.

"You are dreaming, he is mine!"

The author has something to say: The world view of this world is not Xingyue, HP, or Black Butler...it is the fusion world view privately set up by Nishang.

small theater:

Sebastian: Merlin, do you know the rules?This is the hunting ground I marked out first, and the prey I set my sights on first!

Merlin: You first?This prey was mine 500 years ago!I came first!

Sebastian: Who wouldn't talk nonsense?I also said that he was mine 5000 years ago!It was specially made for me by God's stinky old man!

Merlin: Obviously I came first!No matter how proficient you are in your business, I will come first.

Sebastian: Hehe, even if it's true, don't you feel ashamed if it hasn't been done in 500 years?

Merlin: Hehe, those who didn't lose 72 demon pillars but got nothing and were rubbed by Gaia on the ground are ashamed.