The night was dark. The light from the tower lamps made patchy shadows on the curtains. Lin Yuan sat at his desk, poring over a yellowed ancient tome that gave off a faint ink scent as he flipped through its pages. While using magic to casually manipulate a silver coin at the corner of the desk, making it spin slowly in the air, he scanned the content of the book.
"The White Tower Academy, the Forgotten Oath..."
Lin Yuan frowned slightly. The silver coin in his control halted in mid-air and then slowly dropped back onto the desk. He stared at these words, and a peculiar sensation welled up inside him unconsciously.
"Jiuchong."
"I'm here." The voice of Jiuchong Ring sounded in his mind, carrying its usual calm indifference.
"Why do I feel like the White Tower Academy is preparing for something? After all, it's one of the oldest magic academies on this continent. There shouldn't be such an obscure record of the 'Forgotten Oath' for no reason."
"Keep it up, Host."
"..." Lin Yuan rolled his eyes speechlessly.
He continued flipping through the book, which recorded the background of the White Tower Academy. It was founded a thousand years ago. As the highest institution for magicians, it was dedicated to studying the origins, development, and application of various magics. However, hundreds of years ago, there was an "experimental incident" in the academy. It was rumored that a great magician once attempted to study a kind of magic that could affect the flow of time and bring the dead back to life. But the research failed. The lab and all the materials were destroyed, and any records about it were gone completely.
"Time magic..." Lin Yuan murmured to himself. "This is the kind of magic I'm mastering now. Bringing the dead back to life? I'm afraid even ten of me now couldn't do it."
"Do you think they want to resurrect the Demon King of Destruction or something?"
"Hmm, keep it up, Host."
"..."
Lin Yuan sighed and closed the book, deciding not to delve deeper. His current task was to escort Viscount Brion's daughter, Brissmelie, to the White Tower Academy. Maybe he could discover more clues when he got there. While he was deep in contemplation, a knock interrupted his thoughts.
"Come in."
Ute entered the room carrying a silver tray and stood respectfully in front of the desk. "Master, as you requested, I tried making the 'meat buns' and 'youzha gui' you mentioned before."
Upon hearing this, Lin Yuan's interest was immediately piqued. He put down the book and looked at the food on the silver tray. There were two plump buns giving off an alluring aroma, and beside them were two golden-brown fried items with a slight sheen of oil.
"Not bad," said Lin Yuan. He picked up a bun and took a bite. The sweet filling made him freeze.
"Ute..." Lin Yuan smiled bitterly. "Buns aren't desserts. You can't put too much sugar in them."
Ute was slightly taken aback and asked in confusion, "Master, you mentioned sweet pastries last time, so I thought I should add sugar to these too."
"There are three flavors for this kind of thing: savory, salty, and sweet. You've added too much sugar, and it's almost become a dessert. And this youtiao..." Lin Yuan took a bite and found that the texture of the youtiao was a bit sticky and not fluffy enough.
"The youtiao has an okay flavor, yet the texture misses the mark. It should be super crispy. Besides, we rarely add much sugar; it's meant to taste salty and fragrant."
Ute nodded and carefully noted down Lin Yuan's suggestions. "I understand, Master. Then how should I adjust it next time?"
So, the two of them started discussing the methods of making buns and youtiao. Lin Yuan explained how to knead the dough, how to let it rise, and how to control the frying temperature, while Ute kept thinking about how to improve the recipe. All night long, the tower smelled of wheat, and they talked and laughed as if having a strange cooking class.
Outside, the night slowly went away, and a little light showed up in the east.
Lin Yuan stretched himself and looked at the remaining buns and youtiao on the desk, couldn't help but smile.
"Ah, it doesn't matter. I'll stick with these dishes for a few days. It's Ute's first try, after all." As Ute cleared the plate, he silently mused to himself.
===================
夜色沉沉,塔楼的灯光透过厚重的窗帘投下斑驳的光影.林远坐在书桌前,翻阅着一本泛黄的古籍,书页间散发着淡淡的墨香.他一边随手用魔法操控着桌角的一枚银币,让它在空中缓缓旋转,一边浏览着书中的内容.
"白塔学院,遗忘的誓言..."
林远微微皱眉,手中的银币停滞半空,随后缓缓落回桌面.他的目光停留在这几个字上,心中不由自主地生出一丝异样的感觉.
"九重."
"我在." 九重戒的声音在他脑海中响起,带着一如既往的淡然.
"我怎么觉得白塔学院好像在预防着什么?毕竟它可是这片大陆上最古老的魔法学院之一,不应该无缘无故留下 '遗忘的誓言' 这种隐晦的记录."
"宿主加油."
"..." 林远无语地翻了个白眼.
他继续翻阅着,书中记载着白塔学院的背景.它成立于千年前,作为魔法师们的最高学府,致力于研究各种魔法的起源,发展与应用.然而,在数百年前,学院曾有过一次 "实验事件".据传,某位伟大的魔法师曾尝试研究一种,可以影响时间流转,让死者复活的魔法,但最终研究失败,整个实验室连同研究内容都被抹去,相关记载也消失无踪.
"时间魔法..." 林远喃喃自语, "这不是我现在所掌握的魔法吗?死者复活?恐怕十个现在的我,也做不到吧."
"你说,他们是不是要复活灭世魔王之类的?"
"嗯,宿主加油."
"..."
林远叹了口气,合上书本,决定不再深究.如今的任务是护送布里昂子爵的女儿布里士嫆莉到白塔学院,或许等到了学院,自然能找到更多线索.
正当他思考之际,门外传来一阵敲门声.
"请进."
乌特端着一个银盘走了进来,恭敬地站在桌前:"老爷,按照您的要求,我试着做了您之前说的 '肉包子' 和 '油炸鬼'."
林远闻言,顿时来了兴趣.他放下书本,看向银盘上的食物,两个圆滚滚的包子,散发着诱人的香气,旁边是两条金黄色的炸物,油光微微泛着光泽.
"不错嘛." 林远拿起一个包子咬了一口,嘴里的馅料带着甜甜的味道,他顿时愣住了.
"乌特啊..." 林远苦笑, "包子不是甜品,不能放太多糖啊."
乌特微微一怔,疑惑道:"老爷,您上次提到的甜口点心,我便以为这个也要加糖."
"这玩意分三种口味,鲜的,咸的,甜的,你这加糖太多了,都快变成甜点了.还有这个油条..." 林远咬了一口,发现油条的口感居然有点发黏,不够蓬松.
"油条的味道倒是还行,但口感不太对,应该要更松脆一点,而且一般不会放太多糖,讲究的是香咸口感."
乌特点了点头,认真地记下林远的建议:"明白,老爷.那下次我该如何调整?"
于是,两人就这样讨论起了包子和油条的制作方法.林远讲解着该如何揉面,如何发酵,如何掌握炸制的火候,而乌特则不断地思考如何改进配方.整个夜晚,塔楼中弥漫着麦香与笑谈,竟然成为了一场别开生面的厨艺研讨会.
窗外的夜色渐渐淡去,东方的天际泛起微微的晨光.林远伸了个懒腰,望着桌上剩下的包子与油条,忍不住笑了笑.
"算了,这几天的伙食就吃这些吧,毕竟是乌特第一次做的."
他看着乌特将盘子收拾好,心里暗暗想着.