Chapter VIII. Aalto

　　Turning over the magical notes, the rows and rows were full of unfamiliar and weird alphabetic characters, not belonging to one of the two characters that Lucien recognized before crossing over, and this body after crossing over, itself belonging to the poor, not having learned any characters was normal, being able to understand and speak the language of this world from instinct and not affecting communication was already the most glittering luck within the countless hardships that Lucien had encountered so far. 　　Therefore, the current Lucien, tragically becoming a true illiterate, could only look at the magical notes without being able to read a single word. 　　Lucien smiled to himself, "The feeling of being illiterate is really bad." 　　Although the very day he crossed over, he experienced a lot of things that made Lucien much more mature and calm compared to the past, even before reading the notes, he was worried about the threat of the church and hesitated to learn magic, but now, the great disappointment still hit Lucien's mind, as a new era college student with ideals, morals, culture and discipline, the feeling of being illiterate is not a good feeling, especially when the words are still related to times of transcendent and inhuman power. 　　Without much hesitation, just after calming down for a while, Lucien firmly thought in his heart, "The most important thing at the moment is to learn the words of this world!" 　　Even if he didn't choose to learn magic in the future, to get rid of the living condition and status of the lower class paupers, learning words and acquiring knowledge was still a desirable pathway, especially on the premise that Lucien himself didn't have a strong strength, robust body, and didn't know swordsmanship, the possibility of getting rid of the current status by relying on battle achievements, adventures, and working as a fighters, etc., was very slim. 　　With the idea and decision, Lucien quickly discarded the sense of disappointment, his heart overflowed with a little bit of passion for struggle, and continued to look through the magic notes to see if there were any other secrets hidden on them, such as treasure maps and other things. 　　Looking at it, Lucien slightly frowned, because he saw a lot of familiar things on the magical notes, such as some strange patterns composed of many standard geometric shapes and lines. 　　"Magic formations, or magic marks?" Lucien guessed based on the "Holy Emblem of Truth", and then quickly flipped to the back of the magical notes, and saw a row of formulas similar to chemical equations, except that these formulas did not contain symbols, but rather some words: "Magic equations? Magic potion formula?" 　　These two similarities gave Lucien some guesses, but not being able to read the text, he could only be skeptical for now. 　　After flipping through this magical notebook, Lucien opened another one, and on top of this one, the text was even more twisted, with letters that approximated a pattern. 　　"Not the same script?" Therefore, Lucien curiously opened the third book, which had some patterns of plants, ores, and monsters drawn on it, and it seemed to be an "Illustrated Book" or something like that, except that the text on it was the same as the one on the second magical notebook. 　　"The language I know is probably the same as the one in the first magic notebook." Lucien speculated the degree of universality from the difficulty of the text. 　　After going through the three magical notes and books a few times without any more gains, Lucien laid down on his bed and forced himself to fall asleep. 　　For Lucien, the desire to change his situation was so strong that he had to work hard for his life every single day from tomorrow onwards, and if he was depressed because of poor sleep, there was no way he could meet tomorrow better and seize the opportunity. 　　Although Benjamin's healing divine magic allowed Lucien's wounds to heal completely, after a fierce battle, the mental and physical exhaustion still made Lucien fall asleep very quickly. 　　And inside the sewers, the witch's secret room had been completely destroyed. 　　At this time, a black rat ran over from nowhere, its eyes bloodshot, cold, and demonic. 　　It circled around the ruins, squeaked twice, and then ran towards the sewers in the other direction, and after a long time, it found a small, hidden hole, drilled in, and disappeared. 　　※※※ 　　Early in the morning, the Adejean District gradually resounded with noisy voices, the sound of fetching water, etc., breaking through the coldness of the night, and instantly letting Lucien feel vitality and vigor. 　　Lucien, who usually liked to toss and turn in bed for a long time before getting up, just woke up and forced himself to get out of bed, lit the fireplace, boiled water and toasted the last piece of black bread. 　　While painfully eating the woodchip-like unpalatable bread, Lucien planned his arrangements for the day. 　　If he didn't have to think about things to distract himself, this black bread was something Lucien would never be able to swallow when he wasn't starving. 　　"First, I'll go and inquire about where I can learn writing and the corresponding conditions, in addition to finding a new job to do, or else I'll starve to death at home before I learn writing." Lucien didn't know much about this world, and could only simply plan, "It's best not to be known by those familiar with it, lest it reveal itself." 　　Simply cleaning his face with the fresh water from the water jar, Lucien took out the seven coins inside the crate and put them on his body, it wasn't much, but it was good to have a little security at least. 　　Locking the door, Lucien went directly to the house where Aunt Elisa's family lived, he didn't have half an impression of the topography of this City of Chant, so of course he had to ask someone. 　　"Hi Lucien." A young brunette girl greeted Lucien with a strong sense of curiosity. 　　Lucien didn't recognize her at the moment, and could only pull a standard smile and nod his head in a perfunctory manner, "Hi, I have something to do to go to Aunt Elisa's house." Then hurriedly brushed past her. 　　"Hey Lucien, what do ghosts look like?" 　　"Lucien, what's it like to cast a divine spell?" 　　"I saw one of the guards lose his right hand, was it dangerous last night?" 　　It was only a few dozen steps towards Aunt Elisa's house, but Lucien met several neighbors asking questions, overnight, Lucien seemed to have become a famous figure in the Adejean district. 　　Lucien did not recognize any of them, and could only walk towards Aunt Elisa's house perfunctorily. 　　Before he reached the door, Lucien heard a familiar voice: "Little Evans, you got up really early today." 　　Lucien secretly sighed in relief, "Uncle Joel, good morning." 　　Joel was dressed more neatly today, holding a very classical-flavored harp in his hands, "Has little Evans eaten breakfast yet? You're just getting better, there's no need to be in such a hurry to find things to do, your Aunt Elisa has been calling you over for dinner." 　　Lucien looked for Joel to inquire about the terrain and prepared this excuse, seeing him take the initiative to mention it, he was even more relieved, "Thank you Uncle Joel, I've already eaten, and with Lord Benjamin's divine magic healing yesterday, I'm cured of everything, I don't need to rest anymore." 　　Joel nodded and greeted Lucien as he walked alongside himself, "With the divine magic of Lord Priest, I am relieved, wait, you go to the Copper Crown Tavern and look for the owner, Koen, he still owes me a bottle of Les Wine, he will introduce you to a good job." 　　Lucien said thanks and was just about to leave, Joel thought about it, put away his usual playful face and said very seriously, "Little Evans, you are already seventeen years old, not too young, it's time to think about your life in the future." 　　"Uncle Joel, what do you mean?" Lucien asked with some understanding. 　　Joel sighed, "If you work by strength, after you reach forty, your body will age very fast, it will be hard to find a job again, and if you don't have any savings or good sons or daughters, you will be taken away by poverty and disease within a few years. This kind of people, Uncle Joel has seen many, very few live to be more than forty-five years old, you'd better learn a trade while you are young, although the contract of apprenticeship is ten years, but if you learn well, you can surely live a good life when you go to a small place in the future." 　　Between words, the two of them followed a road and walked through a city gate with guards watching, at once, Lucien's eyes lit up, wide roads, neat streets, lively stores on both sides, as well as people coming and going wearing colorful and different styles of clothes, long dresses, etc., and even occasional appearance of nobles with flashy clothes and jeweled decorations, even the air seemed to be rippling with a burst of beautiful music, with the Adejean District as if it was two worlds. 　　"Thank you Uncle Joel." Lucien could feel Joel's genuine concern. 　　Joel paused, and then revealed that playful smile, "And, if the master you learned your craft from had only one daughter, maybe you could go straight from apprentice to boss, our little Evans is a good-looking man." 　　Being teased by Joel like this, Lucien could only laugh awkwardly. 　　As he spoke, Joel suddenly stopped and walked to the corner of the street, placing a prepared hat on the ground while he himself sat on the side, ready to play the harp. 　　Uncle Joel was a street performer? Lucien was no stranger to that approach. 　　Joel pointed to an extravagantly ornate building vaguely visible in the distance, similar to the Baroque style of Lucien's previous life, and said with a smile, "You can directly see the Hall of Chant from here, and for me, playing here has the feeling of playing in the Hall of Chant." 　　Before Lucien could reply, Joel, as if he had been triggered, pointed at the Hall of Sacred Chant and chattered, "Ever since the Church guided the Holy Helz Empire westward more than four hundred years ago, occupying Alto, the last core of this ancient Sylvanus magic empire, and driving the dark creatures and magical beasts to the vicinity of the Dark Mountain Range and the depths of the Dark Mountain Range, Alto has always been one of the most famous cities in the entire continent of several cities." 　　"And more than three hundred years ago, Pope Coronation Charles I, who was still a cardinal at the time, was in Aalto, organizing the church's hymns and songbooks through the ages, setting the norms for chant music and singing, and when he became the Pope and formally extended Charles's chant singing and choir to every church, Aalto took on the title of the City of Chant." 　　"Due to its proximity to the Dark Mountains, often elves, dwarves, and dog-heads converted and became part of the Principality, and the confluence of different music made Alto the musical capital of the entire continent. The emergence of polyphonic music, the formalization of the symphony, and the invention of instruments such as the Gisu violin were all here. Great musicians have left their names in history." 　　"For every bard, every musician, every musician, to play their music in the Hall of Alto Chant is the greatest honor." 　　"Uncle Joel I can't enter the Hall of Sacred Chant, but I'm happy to be able to play nearby." 　　...... 　　Saying goodbye to Joel, Lucien asked for directions while experiencing the style of Alto, many minstrels playing and selling songs on the streets and corners, inside the stores and residents' houses, from time to time, there would be singing and lyre sounds drifting out, and the whole city seemed to be shrouded in music. 　　Just returning to Adejean district from the other inner city gate, Lucien saw the tavern with the painted copper crown at a glance. 　　And outside the tavern, from time to time, there were young girls and women who came over, sneakily peered inside, and then left in disappointment.