This is probably the most bizarre alchemy omen Angel has ever encountered.
Most other alchemy omens have obvious risks, but the omen before him, at least hasn’t shown any danger yet.
No, Angel suddenly thought of a possibility. If the solution to this omen is to think of some love poems and satisfy the man, what if, no matter what love poem, he is not satisfied?
Angel still remembers there are some alchemy omens that don’t have direct risks, but if you can’t find the solution, you’ll be completely lost in the omen.
Could it be that this time he’s encountered such an omen?
If that’s the case, then it’s a bit difficult to solve.
No matter what, Angel decided to give it a try first.
"Love poem... love poem..." Angel quickly flipped through his memory casket.
Although he had never personally written a love poem, one of the few entertainment activities he had as a child included the chants of a bard.
Reciting epic poems is the bard’s main job, but the epic stories of the Goldfinch Empire are really lackluster, and the past history is controlled by the royal family, so they don’t dare to touch it lightly. So the bard’s work is only left with singing praises of heroes or love.
Angel liked to listen to poems about heroes as a child, but this doesn’t mean he never heard love poems.
In his memory reserves, there are indeed quite a few love poems heard from the bard in his young age.
But Angel quickly went through them, and these love poems either had explicit references to specific people, or were bland as chewing dry wax.
These love poems, even Angel himself found them painful to look at, could they pass the test of the man before him?
Thinking over and over again, Angel finally did not choose these love poems, but picked a short poem he once saw on the holographic tablet— "The Kiss".
I run to the door / open the stairs / say my pajamas / put on the prayer / close the bed / dive into the light / all because / of the goodnight kiss you gave me.
Earth has a developed literature, which naturally includes more famous love poems that have lasted hundreds of years, but Angel decided to start with a short poem to test the man.
Especially, to test whether this is an omen where the man will always leave unsatisfied.
After coughing twice to attract the man’s attention, Angel softly recited the poem. The preceding actions were full of oddity, and the man listened with furrowed brows, but when the truth came clear, it turned out that it was the lover’s kiss that caused chaos, and the man’s brows finally relaxed.
The man didn’t immediately evaluate the poem, but recited it again, carefully savoring it for a moment before saying to Angel, "Although this love poem is short, it is full of fun. If she sees it, she will definitely smile. I really like it."
"However, unfortunately, I have not yet received her kiss. Sending this along, she would definitely feel it isn’t my true heart. So, can you switch to another love poem?"
"In consideration of my liking for this poem, I won’t let you fall into nightmares. I will wait for your new poem."
After speaking, the man looked at Angel with burning eyes.
Angel now understood, this turns out to be the kind of omen an alchemist least wants to encounter. Alchemists prefer direct puzzles, no matter how complex, like an intricate math problem, it ultimately has a single answer; but this kind of highly variable omen can be the simplest and also the most troublesome one.
Because the answer depends on the other person’s subjective judgment.
And subjective judgment is a mental construct that can change anytime, anywhere, making it very difficult to satisfy the other person’s taste.
Most importantly, the man’s last words: "Considering my liking for this poem, I won’t let you fall into nightmares."
This means that Angel’s attempts are actually limited, the man’s preferences dominate the success or failure of this omen for Angel.
Though knowing this is a very troublesome alchemy omen, Angel wasn’t flustered, and under the other’s gaze, Angel began reciting another love poem.
This love poem was also one Angel saw on the holographic tablet, a quite famous love poem, and from a certain perspective, it has surpassed the scope of a love poem to become a poem that can empathize with most people.
From Yeats’ "When You Are Old".
Sure enough, this poem is very easy to resonate with, and as Angel recited the second line, the man’s gaze already started to blur, seemingly falling into the context woven by the poem.
Two minutes later, Angel finished reading the poem with deep emotion, and the man couldn’t come to his senses for a long time.
After a while, the man finally spoke: "I believe no one will be dissatisfied with this poem, including myself. The beauty of this poem and the earnest and sincere emotion contained within it also moved me."
The man’s admiration lasted for several minutes, and he even analyzed each line of the poem.
At first, Angel felt confident this was in the bag, but the more he listened to the man’s analysis of the poem, the more he felt things might be bad.
Sure enough, after analyzing the last verse, the man said, "I am very, very satisfied with this poem, but with my level, I cannot write such a poem for my dear Margaret. Although it’s sincere, Margaret might fall in love with this poem, but she might only love the emotion in the poem, not my emotion."
When the man said this, he looked at Angel: "So, I hope you can help me think of another poem, preferably one that matches my level."
Angel: "..." Who the heck knows what level you are at.
So, this kind of alchemy omen without a standard answer is genuinely despised by everyone.
However, this time the man didn’t mention letting Angel fall into nightmares, clearly this "When You Are Old", even if it doesn’t meet the man’s requirements, has won him over.
Anyway, since it doesn’t qualify, let’s try again. His poetry reserve is still plentiful.
Angel used a subtle tone to ask about the man’s level.
However, the other party’s answer was: "I don’t know what my level is either."
Angel was speechless; if you don’t know your own level, how am I supposed to choose?
Angel was silent for a moment, refraining from blasting poems to breach the omen, instead beginning to analyze all the occurrences since he entered the omen.
The man, painting, beloved maiden, writing love poems...
After careful analysis, Angel realized that actually after each poem, the man gave some information or clues.
After the first "The Kiss", Angel learned that if the love poems didn’t satisfy him, he would fall into nightmares, and the omen challenge would fail.
After the second "When You Are Old", Angel learned a name, the maiden most beloved by the man, called Margaret.