Chapter 34

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Richard let out a breath before changing to Sino-Tibetan language family.

“Huh… Chinese? Tibetan?”

He realized that Pandora blinked and frowned when he pronounced the word “Chinese” in Mandarin. This also had an influence in her attitude.

Richard immediately said a few more terms in Chinese, however Pandora reverted back to her usual expression. It seemed like the slight reaction he had spotted was not because she understood Chinese, but because she was probably wondering how long Richard would continue trying different languages.

Richard pursed his lips and tested the Afroasiatic languages. “Arabic?”

He then tried using the Austro-Tai language family. “Javanese?”

He also tested the Niger-Congo language family. “Wolof.”

And he continued trying…

At the end, Richard had tried all the languages he mastered. However, Pandora still maintained the same expression with a slight raise of her eyebrows.

Right now, there could be two possibilities.

The first possibility was that Pandora spoke a lost or unknown language, such as the Dalmatian language, an Indo-European Eastern Romance variety that was no longer used. Another example would be the legendary dragon language, which was unknown to mankind.

In that case, it was naturally impossible to communicate.

The second possibility was that the girl, Pandora, did not have the ability to speak languages. In other words, she was deaf. Since she could not hear any sounds or speak, the verbal language had no meaning to her. In this case, compared with the first scenario, there was still one last possibility of communication: sign language.

Richard looked at Pandora, stretched out his right hand and pointed at her. He then retracted his hand, clenched his fist while raising his thumb.

This was the simplest and most versatile expression in sign language, it meant “hello.”

In fact, people who did not understand sign language would also be able to understand. However… Pandora obviously could not. She stood in the same place, tilting her head slightly, and kept staring at him with cold and strange eyes.

“Um.” Richard thought for a while before changing his gestures.

Sign language was a language where they used gestures to express images or syllables, creating certain ideas or words. There were actually different varieties in sign language, which meant that even within the international deaf community, they might have some language barriers. Fortunately, Richard also knew multiple words in different sign languages.

However after trying them, Pandora still did not respond.

“Okay, it seems that there’s really no way to communicate with her.” Richard gave up, shook his head, and continued to grill the hare.

Pandora watched on the side. After a while, she seemed to get tired. She sat on the rock nearby and continued watching him with her chin propped in her hands.

She watched as Richard grilled the hare, finished it and cleaned up.

Late at night.

Pandora stood up, glanced at Richard, and walked into the castle without saying a word.

Richard watched as Pandora entered the palace. He turned to stare at the dragon cave next to him, and then at the open space on the top of the mountain. He wondered where he should stay for the night.

He was not someone who placed importance on enjoyment or luxury. As a prince, he had used to order maids, craftsmen, and soldiers who worked for him. That was a privilege that a prince had, and everyone expected that of a prince. The world he was in now was, after all, a medieval feudal world. If, as a prince, he showed concern for their comfort, they would not be moved by his words, but fearful of his odd behavior.

It was necessary to do what his identity required him to do.

But after leaving behind his identity as a prince, he knew exactly what kind of person he was. If necessary, he could live with the bare minimum needed to stay alive, as long as it did not affect the realization of his goals.

Then again, if given a choice, he would choose the better alternative.

He had three options for spending the night. He could sleep on the ground, with the mountain breeze blowing at him. He could enter the dragon cave and rest on a rock with Gregory. Or he could enter the black castle and find a suitable room to rest.

Which one should he choose?

Without thinking, Richard lifted the heavy suitcase he was carrying and walked into the black castle.

It was very quiet inside. The first thing that greeted him was a vast hall, a large crystal chandelier hanging above, and numerous oil paintings on the walls. There were a few stone statues in the corners.

The two sides and back of the hall were connected by corridors. There were rooms of different sizes and purposes, such as dining rooms, bedrooms, storage rooms, kitchens, etc. along them.

In a corner of the hall was a wooden staircase spiraling upward that led to the second floor.

Richard took the suitcase and thought for a moment. He then turned left and walked into the hallway, where he randomly selected a room and walked in. He used wind spells to ventilate the room and did a simple cleaning to clear the dust. Afterward, he put the suitcase down.

The bed in the corner had no bedding, only wooden boards. Richard did not care. He sat cross-legged and began to meditate.

All this time, Richard had been using anesthetics, electric currents and magnetic fields to assist him. However, he had eventually managed to break away from them and meditate on his own, creating magic sources and smelting mana.

This was similar to learning to ride a bicycle. At the beginning, the person needed auxiliary wheels, but one could remove them after mastering this step.

Richard had given it a long thought. If his method applied on a wider range, many ordinary people could become wizards. If managed properly, he could even create an army of wizards to take over the entire world. Of course, it was just an idea.

The most important thing was to understand what was going on in this world.

In order to achieve this, he needed to improve his abilities through meditation.

With this in mind, Richard sat on the wooden bed and calmed down.

“Why is it so quiet?” Gregory, who had turned into a sallow-faced brawny man, stuck his head out from the entrance of the dragon cave. He stared at the black castle for a long while and listened for any sounds. A puzzled expression appeared on his face as he muttered to himself, “Oh? Why is nothing happening? How is it possible that the kid hasn’t been kicked out by Pandora? This is… unreasonable.”

After a while, Gregory returned to the dragon cave, not bothering to hide his emotions. “I’m really disappointed. I thought I could teach that kid a lesson, but this is the price he has to pay for annoying me.”

On the second floor of the black castle, in a small room.

Pandora, who was dressed in purple, hugged her legs and curled up in a corner. Her big eyes twinkled in the dark. No one could tell what was on her mind.

Suddenly, she sensed something and turned her head to look at a certain place down below, the look in her eyes turning dangerous.