novelhk Chapter 111 The Fool's Puzzle, Part 1
Chapter 111 The Fool's Puzzle, Part 1
If life is just a copy of a game.
Life is like a game, and death is like completing a level in this world and moving on to the next.
Perhaps thinking this way is wonderful and romantic.
Many times, I sincerely hope that my life can truly be so wonderful and romantic—and that in that anticipated scenario, I would be the protagonist—even if I am still being asked by that so-called director to act in this tangled drama.
In a side hall of Beatrice's palace, Angela idly fiddled with a chessboard. There were no chess pieces on the board, just a bare board. As the chief administrator, she should have endless things to deal with, but her subordinates usually made the decisions. She only intervened in important matters.
Therefore, among the many Snow Guards, she was actually one of the most leisurely-looking ones.
She can remotely command Beatrice's dolls deployed in various locations to perform any task—including clearing, maintenance, transportation, and so on—without leaving her home.
In Beatrice, although few have ever seen this mysterious girl, they can always feel her control. It's as if they're being pulled on a string, and their every move seems to be orchestrated by her.
"How is the experiment progressing, Fool?" Slater, the C-rank Snow Guard [Professor], asked beside her.
He would visit Angela's "game room" from time to time, mostly to inquire about the progress of the experiment.
"It's time for the inspection," Angela said, sitting in her mechanical wheelchair. "What? You don't trust me to do things? How many times have you asked this?"
“I dare not question Lord Fool,” Slater said humbly.
"Dare not? I hope you're telling the truth. I've always suspected you've been eyeing the B-rank and A-rank Snow Guard positions." Angela turned her mechanical wheelchair to face Slater. "If you had succeeded before the experiment, I might have actually given you the position directly."
Slater remained silent.
"Let me give you a piece of advice: I have no problem with coveting my position, because I've always felt it's dispensable," Angela said with a smile, holding a small teddy bear in her arms. "But please, don't even think about the A-level position, okay? That's my advice."
"I do not have……"
"You didn't? You've asked me more than once who the [Snow Woman] of the A-rank is, and why she's been able to stay at the A-rank without doing anything," Angela chuckled. "You've always felt that this is unfair..."
"Is she some kind of strategic weapon?" Slater asked.
Now that things have come to this, his guess is very likely.
Otherwise, what achievements or magical talents would allow someone to become the head of the Upper Four Guards?
Angela's puppetry skills alone made her position unassailable, not to mention her almost abnormal magical reserves; he, Slater, had so many magical achievements that Beatrice had witnessed.
As for the Ding-class [Ice Fang], as the chief military and political officer of the entire Beatrice, she has been guarding the border for many years, and no one would question her contributions.
But the Class A [Snow Woman], I've never heard of her doing anything, and I don't even know her name.
She has no records, but everyone in Beatrice knows that she is a Class A, the very pinnacle of Beatrice.
“Alright, since you’re so curious, I’ll tell you a little bit about her—just one word, hopefully it will make you give up,” Angela chuckled.
Slater watched as Angela's lips twitched slightly, but she barely made a sound.
But Slater understood immediately.
The word that came out of Angela's mouth was clearly "Beatetoriche".
……
An experiment that is never verified and remains forever in the theoretical stage does not deserve to be called an experiment.
Any experiment can only be considered a good experiment if it yields sufficiently amazing results; otherwise, it is just useless junk and has no meaning whatsoever.
Angela's doll stands before a kingdom in a dense forest.
So far, her experiments are going very smoothly—the people she chose, or rather, the people Qin chose, have not disappointed her and seem to be able to play the role she envisioned very well.
Before meeting Elena, Angela never imagined things would go so smoothly.
Before that, Qin was like a puppet she controlled, living a life of aimless drifting, neither alive nor dead. All of this changed because of the gray-haired witch.
At least, he communicates much more normally now.
In Beatrice, he only had so many words to say to the long-dead Witch of Light.
Therefore, as an observer, Angela is most able to directly perceive the difference in Qin now, as he gradually develops in the direction she hopes for.
However, at present, they are all still only at the theoretical stage.
Along the way, besides cleaning up the mess for the experimental subjects she had her eye on, she did mostly small things that slightly interfered with the development of the experiments.
She cleverly used magic to temporarily interfere with Elena's visual perception, making her subconsciously unaware of the approaching demonic cloud.
She wanted to see if Qin was different from when she was in Beatrice.
In the royal city of Serestria, while Elena hesitated about whether to travel with Jean, she kept a close watch from the shadows. To ensure the experiment could continue smoothly and prevent any unforeseen circumstances, she cleverly used magic to give Elena more weight in the idea of traveling with Jean.
She has the ability to manipulate people's hearts.
If she could get close enough to control the witch, it wouldn't be impossible—but that's not what she wants.
An experiment should minimize interference—that's what makes it an experiment.
She will only intervene significantly when the experiment is developing in a way that she does not want to see.
Currently, this experiment has reached the verification stage.
Whether my long-held theoretical conjectures will hold true depends on this verification.
If she fails, she will choose the next test subject and continue to repeat her experiment in the remaining years of her life—if she succeeds, hopefully she succeeds, then perhaps the whole experiment can move on to the next step.
"Welcome back to the Kingdom of Items, Master Doll." The kingdom's gates slowly opened.
But what greeted Angela was not a person, but a book flying in the sky, its pages opening and closing, and the sound seemed to come from that.
In reality, without certain means, people cannot normally hear the sound of such objects; only objects can hear this sound.
Guided by the book, Angela arrived at this kingdom of objects, which was her experimental field and the base where she verified the results of her experiments.