During the time Liang En was at home, he was extremely busy, primarily because he had been away for too long, causing a backlog of work in various areas.
Therefore, now that he finally had some free time, he naturally needed to address all these issues thoroughly to have enough time for the next activities. One of the most important tasks was the new quarter's jewelry design.
Fortunately, there was enough inspiration for this jewelry design, making the work not difficult to complete.
According to Liang En's idea, this design mainly drew inspiration from Atlantis, so the materials naturally included organic gems from the ocean such as mother-of-pearl, coral, and pearls.
The jewelry store was very satisfied with this design because organic gems were currently in vogue, making this batch of jewelry very popular. However, it would take at least a week to produce the finished products.
For Liang En, he didn't need to wait for the products to be made and had enough time to devote to the upcoming search activities.
Since it was already late autumn and the weather was gradually getting colder, when it was not possible to conduct searches in the north, Liang En focused his attention on a clay seal from the Library of Alexandria.
Because there wasn't much meaningful information to be found from this clay seal with an imprint, he used a card he had synthesized earlier using four Detection (N) cards into a Detection (R) card.
Surprisingly, the card indicated a location not in Egypt, or even on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, but somewhere in the Little Carpathians.
"Why do you think this thing points to a location in Slovakia?" After using the card for a search, Liang En held the clay seal and asked Jeanne beside him.
"I can't think of any connection between an ancient Egyptian library or a Ukrainian tomb and Slovakia. It couldn't be that the Slovaks dug up that tomb before the Soviets, right?"
"But sometimes, history surprises people," Jeanne said with a smile.
"For example, none of the books that record my life mentioned that my prediction of the Battle of Herrings' failure was simply because we had lost so many times before that any military action was unlikely to succeed."
"You’re right. So, to understand what’s going on, I have to go to the site and investigate. Luckily, it’s not too difficult to conduct the on-site research in that area," Liang En said, nodding. Although the card gave him directions, it provided very little information, making on-site investigation essential.
So, after a day of simple preparations, Liang En and Jeanne drove the off-road vehicle they had previously bought at a judicial auction toward their destination in central Europe.
The Little Carpathians is a low, roughly 100-kilometer-long mountain range, part of the Carpathian Mountains, located in western Slovakia.
The range extends from Bratislava to Nové Mesto nad Váhom. The western part is Záhori, and the eastern part is the Danubian Lowland, with Liang En and Jeanne heading to the eastern side of the range.
"I remember Slovakia used to be one country with the Czech Republic, right?" Jeanne said curiously as they drove east past the Slovak capital, Bratislava.
"Yes. Do you find anything unusual?" Liang En asked, feeling nervous, thinking she might have sensed something unexpected.
As a seasoned battlefield warrior, Jeanne often had a keen sense of special situations, so Liang En became tense upon hearing her question.
"Of course, there’s something unusual. The surrounding environment looks increasingly different from what we saw in the Czech Republic. It now looks more like the style of Hungary," Jeanne explained her observation, noting the distinct architectural style of the houses around them.
"That’s not surprising, since during the Holy Roman Empire, this area was part of Hungary. Therefore, at the border of these two countries, their cultures naturally blend," Liang En explained, feeling relieved.
"In fact, Hungarian culture is stronger in this area than Slovak culture. So, they are more influenced by Hungarian culture."
"And considering that Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava, is very close to the western border, while Hungary’s capital, Budapest, is further north, this area is naturally more influenced by Hungary."
"That makes sense," Jeanne said, nodding as she looked at the surrounding white walls and red-tiled roofs typical of Hungarian style. "By the way, we should eat now. You’ve been driving for a long time, and it’s time for a break."
They soon stopped at a highway rest area and began their late lunch. As Jeanne had observed, the place had a strong Hungarian influence.
For example, they had the famous Hungarian beef stew for lunch. Unlike most of Europe, Hungarian beef stew contains a lot of paprika, making it spicier.
Therefore, Liang En only ate a bit of beef with his bread, leaving most of the stew to Jeanne. After all, having something spicy in the cold did feel good.
"Don’t you find this too spicy?" Liang En asked Jeanne after she finished the last bit of stew with her bread. "I feel like my tongue is on fire."
"Not at all," Jeanne replied with a smile. "I think it’s just right. Besides, this kind of luxurious eating already surpasses many great nobles of my time."
People from different eras and environments naturally have different perceptions of the same thing. This difference made Jeanne more accepting of spicy food than ordinary Europeans.
"Alright, as long as you enjoy it," Liang En shrugged. "We should get going now. I hope we can reach our destination before dark."
They hurried because the destination was in the mountains, and driving there at night without proper lighting was unsafe. Fortunately, the road conditions were good, and they had set out early enough to reach their destination before sunset—a small village nestled in the mountains.
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