Adanis stared at Olao with bloodshot eyes, wanting to ask him something.
But Olao appeared puzzled, still looking at Adanis with gentle eyes. Even though his gaze was gentle, it made Adanis very uncomfortable because Olao looked at her as if she were still a child who hadn’t grown up.
Silent eye contact and a subtle atmosphere flowed between the two "Spirits" at the round table.
It looked like Adanis wanted to speak, but in the end, she remained silent, lowered her head, and didn’t look at Olao or the Alchemy Golem.
The Alchemy Golem then told a meaningful story: "Speaking of Margaret, I must mention her father, Franklin. Why did Franklin oppose my relationship with Margaret? The main reason was class differences, but there was another reason: Franklin hoped Margaret would be with another man. That man was Margaret’s childhood friend."
"They grew up together... No, I should say, Margaret watched him grow from a little kid to a young man because Margaret was born sixteen years before him. Precisely because she watched him grow up and knew everything about him, Margaret could already imagine how dull and tasteless it would be if she fell in love with him. Moreover, when their love reached its peak, suddenly thinking of him as a kid might seem playful to some, but to others, it’s a ’buzzkill,’ and Margaret was the latter."
At this point, the Alchemy Golem paused.
His sudden storytelling left many at the scene pondering, unclear of its meaning.
However, Adanis understood Augustine’s story; it was a veiled reference to her and Olao’s relationship.
The reason Olao always treated her as a child was that he had raised her since childhood. To Olao, he was the father, and Adanis was the daughter. For a father, it was natural to bear all burdens and shield the daughter from hardships.
As for the daughter wanting to break through this relationship and not wanting to be just father and daughter, but have a brighter or more ambiguous relationship? To a father, this is unacceptable, it’s unfilial, or perhaps even taboo.
Adanis looked up at Olao in the distance, whose expression was normal, clearly not understanding the metaphor Augustine was making... This also meant that Olao really had never seen Adanis as an "adult."
Suddenly, Adanis very much wanted to ask Augustine how she could make Olao change his view? How could she let Olao know she was no longer the little kid she used to be?
But in the end, Adanis didn’t ask, only silently lowered her head in complex emotions, lost in thought.
Adanis’s silence also marked the end of this little episode.
The Alchemy Golem turned his gaze back to Angel: "So, would the Chanter be willing to accept this modest gift?"
Is this considered a modest gift? The total amount of poetry collections here nearly rivals those of several small libraries at the Cloudtop Library; how is this modest?
After the complaint, Angel’s eyes fell on the countless poetry collections around him.
Should he accept these poetry collections?
Angel wasn’t overly thrilled; instead, there was a hint of hesitation in his eyes.
Angel’s attitude towards poetry is... well, he has no particular attitude. Like all literary forms, poetry can be appreciated, read, and admired. If he encounters something that really resonates, it can be collected.
But that’s about it. He doesn’t have a collector’s obsession, madly collecting all poetry collections. He wouldn’t do that.
Of course, if the poetry collections were replaced with some "practical knowledge," Angel would gladly accept them all. But poetry collections are just poetry collections; there might be some phrases that could spark inspiration, but they fall short of "practical knowledge."
And the books here, Angel had previously surveyed, confirming they were all genuine poetry collections. If he really took them all, it would be like chewing wax—tasteless yet regrettable to discard.
However, if he truly received so many poetry collections, including unique editions from various worlds, Angel would still be happy overall regardless. If he couldn’t use them, he could give them to Jon. Jon would definitely be interested in books from various worlds, even if they were poetry collections.
The reason Angel still hesitated was that... there were just too many books.
So many that even if he emptied his bracelet, he couldn’t fit them all. To truly take them away, he would need dozens of One-time Spatial Capsules, and Angel hadn’t prepared that many spatial capsules.
Perhaps noticing Angel’s predicament, the Alchemy Golem added: "Indeed, these poetry collections are too numerous; taking them all would be troublesome. How about this? I’ll have Olao pack all the poetry collections into a mirror space, making them easier to carry."
"Introducing physical objects into the Material Realm’s mirror space could cause the mirror space to collapse, right?" Angel said.
Just like before, when Angel loaded the Gray Merchant’s memory into the newborn mirror space, that mirror space seemed on the brink of collapse, looking like it could collapse at any moment, let alone putting actual physical objects into a mirror space.
Even stable mirror spaces can only hold a small amount of material; more would lead to collapse.
And such a massive library, placing it in the mirror space, Angel couldn’t imagine any mirror space that could withstand it.
The Alchemy Golem, smiling, said, "You’re right, but don’t worry, Olao has his tricks. Back when Olao, his brother, and I traveled across various realms, the poetry collections I gathered were all given to Olao."
Angel was momentarily stunned. Olao has a brother?
No, the focus should be whether Olao could really find a stable space to contain so many poetry collections?
Angel looked at Olao with doubt, but Olao didn’t return his gaze and continued watching the Alchemy Golem.
The Alchemy Golem continued, "So, are you willing to accept these poetry collections now? The gifting of poetry collections to the Chanter, this wonderful story, I plan to share with my friends when I return."
Having said this much, the Alchemy Golem left Angel with no choice but to accept.
"Then, thank you, sir."
After all, poetry collections aren’t particularly precious things. Once back, they can all be scanned into the Wilderness of Dreams using the Dream Conch and given to Jon to manage.
The Alchemy Golem: "While poetry collections aren’t rare objects, they hold significant meaning for both me and Margaret. The Chanter accepting them and preventing them from decaying here warrants my thanks instead."
As the Alchemy Golem said this, he stared directly at Angel. While the Alchemy Golem showed no expression, Angel oddly sensed some intriguing depth in his words.
It must be an illusion; they’re just some poetry collections, what deeper meaning could there be?
Angel didn’t ponder further nor ask questions. Mainly because the Alchemy Golem had already spent too much time on him, and he wasn’t the main focus of this meeting; the focus was Olao and Adanis, so... Isn’t it time to address the real issue?
Could you please take the spotlight off me now?
He just wanted to be an idle onlooker, to not be involved anymore, could he?
With these hopes, Angel eagerly awaited the Alchemy Golem to initiate another topic...