Climbing a stone wall four or five stories high is not an easy task for an ordinary person, especially not at night without any lights.
However, for Liang En and Joan of Arc, who had undergone repeated enhancements and broken through human limits, climbing this uneven and gap-filled stone wall with bare hands was not difficult.
After ordering the ravens to spread out and begin reconnaissance, Liang En and Joan of Arc started to climb. They had already taken off their armor and were dressed in dark blue clothes, carrying only long daggers and short knives for self-defense.
If this were wartime, this wall on the main building would be a key point of defense. Climbing up slowly like this, even at night, would definitely be noticed by sentries before reaching the top.
But now it was not wartime, so Liang En and Joan of Arc quickly reached the window of their target room without being discovered. Using professional tools, they pried open the window.
At this moment, they heard two people talking through the small gap in the window. Liang En, who had a general understanding of the situation through the ravens, recognized one of the voices as the previous woman, and the other as her servant.
"Ah, I feel my hands are a bit cold," an elderly woman's voice said. "I tried putting them in my lap or by the fire, but it didn't help as much as I expected."
"Don't worry, madam, go lie down," the servant said after the old lady finished complaining, then he stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him.
Seizing this opportunity, Liang En quickly grabbed the edge of the windowsill, climbed in, and fully opened the window. Joan of Arc followed him into the room.
Based on previous experience, Liang En realized that the target person would have a special feeling upon seeing him. That's why he entered directly once he confirmed there was no one else in the room.
"Who are you two—no, that's not important," the old lady turned her head and saw Liang En and Joan of Arc. At first, she seemed to want to ask something but quickly changed the topic.
"I suppose you must have some business with an old woman like me who is about to meet her maker. If you want to speak, now is the time. I'll help if I can."
"Of course, you might know that I am currently under house arrest, so some complicated matters are beyond my capacity. However, if it's money you want, I can tell you a few places where I have hidden some."
"Uh—I just want to ask if you have any unfulfilled wishes?" Liang En quickly asked after the old lady's lengthy speech.
Since they had already made contact and started a conversation, he had received his next task directive.
"You risked your lives just to ask me this?" the old lady said in surprise. She knew she was under house arrest, surrounded by guards who would attack anyone without permission to be there.
"So, the fact that these two young people risked great danger to come here just to ask about her wishes was odd to her, especially since they were strangers."
"Yes, indeed, just for this," Liang En said seriously. "We heard a voice from the beyond, and it led us here."
"Is that so?" the old lady's previously lifeless eyes suddenly lit up as she asked, "Do you have any way to prove this?"
"Would this suffice?" Liang En looked around, walked to the wall, and activated the [Rock Control (SR)] card, extracting a stone the size of a cola bottle from the wall. He then turned it into a stone cross resembling the silver one on the bedhead.
"Enough—this is enough." Seeing the action of the young man from the East, the old lady's face flushed with excitement. "I do have something to ask of you."
She walked to the bed, moved a few things on the headboard, revealing a section of the wall with a recess, and took out a black leather-bound book before restoring the headboard to its original state.
"This is what I want to ask of you. I hope you can take these writings of mine out and tell others the truth of my trial."
"No problem, we will do our best to complete this task." When the old lady handed the book to Liang En, he received the next step of his mission.
According to the task panel, he needed to find a way to hide the book and preserve it until the modern era, then hand it over to the archaeological department of the excavation site.
"I hope you can accomplish this." The old lady slowly walked back to her bed and sat down, then looked at Liang En and Joan of Arc. "I have a feeling that one day we will meet again."
She lay on the bed and started humming a song in Hungarian, praising the gods.
"We think so too," Liang En smiled, placed his right hand on his chest, and bowed slightly. "Let us meet again on the other side of time."
With that, he and Joan of Arc retreated to the window and retraced their path, only stopping at a small house to take some items.
These included some paint, sealing wax, and a bag of silver coins. It wasn't for keepsakes, but necessary for preserving the book.
Indeed, there were precious metals in the card-created space, but the purity of modern refined metals was too high for this period.
"Let's see what we have here." Joan of Arc curiously asked, looking at the book in Liang En's hand when they reached a safe place. "I think that lady is not an ordinary person."
"That's for sure, because ordinary people leave no legends in history." Liang En said while adding oil to the lamp. "Without legends, there wouldn't be enough information for my power to restore them."
"Since we are here today, it means the person we are to recruit is that old lady. It's a pity we didn't ask her name."
"I think the answer is in this book." Joan of Arc took the book and opened it, only to find the front page written in Latin, which she couldn't understand.
"Let me see." Liang En took the book and read, "Elizabeth Bathori. This name does sound familiar, wait, it's—Elizabeth Bathory!"
"Who is this person?" Joan of Arc stepped forward and asked, seeing Liang En suddenly excited.
"She is a famous figure in history." Liang En pointed to the name, "But later generations mostly call her by her nickname: the Blood Countess."
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