"For this bottle, I used Violet Dew and the green peel from this year’s first pears, so the scent is quite subtle."
"The way you use it is also different from the cologne adults wear."
"Unscrew the cap and just lightly dab it on the small patch of fine hair behind your ear."
"For a child your age, the fragrance should only be noticeable when someone hugs you. That’s just right."
Evelyn pinched the small, silver leaf between her fingers, turning it over. She had never received something so delicate.
"...Thank you, Miss Clara."
"We’re all friends here. There’s no need to be so polite."
Next, Clara took a small ebony box from her cloth bag.
"This is for you, too."
Richard reached out and took it.
He lifted the lid. Inside was a dark green, velvety lining.
The velvety interior was divided into two compartments.
In the left compartment, six small incense cakes were neatly arranged.
In the right compartment, a shallow, little brass dish rested.
"Is this incense?"
"Yes," Clara nodded.
"Scholars can sit at their desks for the better part of a day. After a while, you get completely exhausted."
She extended her index finger and tapped the compartment with the incense cakes.
"This incense has a calming effect and helps with sleep."
Richard picked up one of the incense cakes. He could smell a clean, bitter aroma mixed with resin.
Clara explained,
"The base is frankincense, with benzoin and a few herbs mixed in."
"This is what they burn at the entrances of Fire God Temples and those old churches."
Richard gently closed the lid of the box.
"Thank you, senior."
"You’re welcome."
Clara’s gaze returned to the cup of black tea in front of her.
Of everyone at the table, she spoke the least.
When dessert was served, Mother patted her daughter’s little head.
"Evelyn, after you finish dessert, you’ll head back with me. Your brother and your aunt have important matters to discuss."
"What important matters?"
"...Matters of scholarship. You wouldn’t understand."
Evelyn pouted, but she knew her mother was telling the truth.
......
The inn’s corridor wasn’t long.
Isabella walked in front, with Richard half a step behind her.
At the end of the corridor was an oak door with "3-A" on the doorplate.
Richard had been making a mental list since the morning.
The Sphinx Lamp needed to be examined by his aunt; the disposition of the Sun Seal and the Sophie Incense Burner had to be decided; the ownership of the Copper Pendant also needed to be discussed. These were the important matters.
But he also wanted to take this opportunity to ask about some even more crucial things.
"Aunt," he began.
"Hm?"
"There are a few materials I’d like to ask you about."
"Go on. Just list what you need. Don’t be polite with me." Isabella didn’t break her stride.
Hearing this, Richard began to list them as he walked:
"Do you have any practice materials for text encryption;"
"or expanded comparison tables for the Gaelic Language, the Church’s Ritual Language, and later variants of the Alexandrian School?"
He got this far, then thought of the material he was currently most interested in.
"Also..." He thought for a moment. "If you have any introductory materials related to Double Overwrite, I’d like to see those too."
Isabella turned to the side, twirling the brass key ring in her fingers.
"Introductory materials on Double Overwrite?"
"Yes."
"Didn’t your Guide mention how troublesome this kind of thing is?"
"He did," Richard answered honestly.
"But he also said that learning encryption is a fundamental skill."
Isabella switched the keys to her other hand.
"It’s not a bad thing," she said, echoing his dedication. "Quite commendable."
She started walking toward room 3-A again.
"I’ll make a note of it," she said as she walked. "I’ll organize everything in the next couple of days, and then I’ll get the materials to you."
Richard nodded.
As they reached the door to 3-A, a thought belatedly occurred to him.
’Organize? Organize what?’
He had glanced at the leather suitcase his aunt carried with her on their way here.
The suitcase wasn’t large, and there was a limit to what it could hold.
’A change of clothes, a work notebook, a few fountain pens, some personal items... It definitely couldn’t hold bundles of books or document folders.’
Richard couldn’t help but ask,
"Aunt, you didn’t bring those materials with you when you left, did you?"
Isabella’s hand was in her pocket, searching for the key.
"Of course not," she replied as she inserted the key into the lock.
"Based on the list you just gave me, everything would fill two large suitcases."
"I came here on a business trip, not to move house."
Richard stood behind her.
The key turned in the lock, and the door clicked open a crack.
"Then how are you..."
Isabella pushed the door open and stepped inside.
She took off her coat and sat down at the desk.
"Richard, scholarship has to keep up with the times."
"Two years ago, the Royal Telegraph Bureau set up dedicated lines between the Imperial Capital and six other major cities."
She twirled the fountain pen in her hand.
"It’s not yet available for public use, but Imperial University and several other High-level Academies have access to the academic line."
She pointed to a corner of the room, where an old-fashioned telephone stood, which Richard hadn’t paid much attention to when he entered.
Connected to the back of the telephone was another device he didn’t quite recognize.
The whole machine looked like a cross between a telegraph and a typewriter, but it was bulkier than both.
"They’ve installed these in a small place like Brighton?" Richard’s gaze settled on the machine.
"Of course not in Brighton."
Isabella walked over to the machine and bent down to check the scale on the drum.
"I made a call ahead of time and had one temporarily transferred from Manchester City."
She straightened up. "In our line of work, there’s a huge flow of information for cross-regional collaboration."
"A single field report might need to be signed and stamped in three different cities. Without a machine like this, you could be waiting until next month just for the mail pouch."
Richard walked around to the side of the machine and reached out to touch its sheet-metal casing.
The casing was warm. It was working.
"The principle is..."
"You don’t need to understand the principle," Isabella cut him off. "It’s not like you’re studying engineering."
"..."
"You just need to know this." She put the fountain pen back in her pocket.
"I make a call from this end and tell a student at the records office what I need."
"They lay the documents on the machine on their end, and a few hours later, a copy prints out from the drum on this end."
Richard circled the machine, examining it.
Beside the drum was a thick roll of special paper with a very fine grid on its surface.
On a small rack next to that were a dozen or so used metal nibs, each one wiped clean.
He had originally thought that for his aunt to prepare a set of systematic materials for him from the Imperial Capital, he would have to wait at least a month, between her finishing this business trip, returning to the Capital, and then sending a package.
But as it turned out, all she needed was to make a phone call, and he would have the copies in his hands in two days.
’To think that I, born in the internet age in my past life, would be reminded by my aunt from the electrical age to keep up with the times.’
Isabella reached out and pressed a bell.
A server from the inn quickly brought a pot of hot tea and two cups.
"Have something to drink first."
She lifted the teapot and poured half a cup for each of them.
"You’ll need a cool head to look at what’s next."

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