Dr. Drexler was sitting by the fire in a large study. The flashing flame illuminates his face, making it look a bit evil. He leaned forward with a firestick, poked the red coals until they burned, and then added some more from the coal bucket beside the fireplace. When he looked up, the flames reflected on his glasses. This effect is creepy.

"Now, can I help you, Mr. Bai En?" He said quietly, then smiled. "You don't seem to be sick. Is it because of that girl?"

Bai En glanced at the room. The servant had gone far, and the thick Al Erby carpet absorbed his footsteps. This is an impressive room, even larger than his private library in the Black Tower, and has much more books. This idea made Bai En no longer pay attention to books, but searched the dark corners with keen eyes. It seemed that he tried to find some enemies there. Then he turned around and looked directly at Drexler.

"What do you know about Ratmen?" He asked bluntly. Drexler froze for a moment, then carefully put his fire stick back on the shelf. He took off his glasses and polished the cuffs of his robe, carefully considering Bai En's problem.

"They are human-like mice, and many scholars believe that they are extinct. Spengler believes that they are a subspecies of human aberrations. Rebel proposed a theory that they may be the product of ancient witchcraft . It is said that in ancient times, they fought against the dwarves, but— "

"Rebel?" Bai En interrupted the other party. "Legendary Master Constant-Rebel?" "Yes," Drexler nodded in surprise, he didn't expect Brian to know the legendary Master. "He is also an excellent historian. Have you read the literature he has written about the excavation of ancient ruins?"

"No," Bai En replied, "but I know those ratmen, they have not gone extinct."

Drexler looked at Bane harshly. "you know?"

"Yes. I fought them. They are here. In Heidelberg."

Drexler leaned on the back of the chair, put his glasses on the bridge of his nose, and grasped the armrests of the chair with both hands. "Please sit down. Your success aroused my interest." Bai En sat down on the chair opposite Drexler. The heat of the stove warmed one of his arms, making him uncomfortable. He pushed it gently away from the hearth before he started talking. He told Drexler about his experiences while on duty in the sewers and their encounters with the Ratmen in the city's underground tunnel. He only ignored the fact that they broke into the house of Fritz von Hallstatt and killed him. He talked about the raid attack on the blind pig tavern by the ratmen, which he thought was a kind of revenge attempt by the ratmen. But he didn't mention a word. He and Guerrero had also fought with the ratmen that night when they were burned to the ground in the College of Engineering. Drexler looked at him with more and more surprise. When Bai En finished everything, the doctor began to speak.

"Mr. Bai En, if all this is true, why haven't I heard more news? Didn't the authorities take action?"

"I don't know. Maybe the Ratmen have allies at the top." He now remembered von Hallstatt. In Heidelberg and other parts of the Marnus Empire, how many people like him occupy the position of power? "I sometimes think that in our society, there is a conspiracy that has been trying to cover up evil and all its consequences. . "

He noticed that Drexler flinched when he heard the word "conspiracy," but it seemed that he did not disturb him at all when he mentioned evil.

"If you don't seem so sensible, I would suspect you are a lunatic," Drexler added. "Of course, some of the things you say do indeed sound like lunatic nonsense."

"I know," Bai En said. "Unfortunately, all this is true."

"This is of course a possibility. In Elbyba-they don't think the Ratman is a legendary figure. I have talked to several dwarves who claim to have met them. The elven seamen also talked about the Rat The story of human power. But I do n’t understand why you came to me, except to tell me your story. "

Bane handed the letter that Grerogan received to him. Drexler unfolded it and read it calmly.

"The person I want to write to refers to the Pestilian clan," he said at last. "Yes, I have read it."

"what?"

"The Pestilian clan. Some of the old major monographs, the most famous of which is Rabble's" The Abominable Ratmen and All Their Despicable Relatives, "claim that the Ratmen are divided into many different clans. The rat-man society has its own role and has its own unique witchcraft. Rebel claims that the Pestilian clan is the plague maker. He even said that they are responsible for the 541 plague. If you are sent this letter The person who believes is a liar, then he must also be a learned person. I suspect that only more than twenty people in the Marnus Empire now own a Rebel book. "

"How about you?"

"Of course I have. I stumbled upon Rabel's theory about the Great Plague in Moravec's writings and found it. I have what you call a professional interest in these things."

"Can I have a look?"

"Of course. But first, you have to answer a few of my questions."

"Of course. Ask!"

"Do you really believe that the Ratman is the man behind the urban plague?"

"Yes. From what I know about them, this is a good fit for their combat style. I believe they may be recovering, and our world will soon no longer doubt their existence."

"This is consistent with Rabel's own theory."

"What do you mean?" Bai En raised his head.

"Rabel claims that the birth rate of ratmen is very high. If the conditions are right, their population will explode. At this time, they will eat all the food in their territory and must go to other places to find food. And resources. At that time, their hungry ethnic groups will explode into the surface world in droves. They will continue to fight until they conquer the world, or most of them are killed, they can once again be in their own kingdom Survive here. "

"Damn," Bai En cursed, "I must read this book."

"Of course. But this is a very interesting guess. It also makes it difficult to confirm other claims he made."

"such as?"

"He claimed that these explosions were usually related to strange disturbances and abnormally unstable behavior from the smaller moon."

"Like the previous plague in 541?"

"You are a learned man, Mr. Bai En. Yes, for example, there is that thing, and the thing before the invasion of the evil army 400 years ago. I believe that another thing may happen in our time. thing."

"All the prophets and astrologers say so." Bai En said with a sigh.

"Maybe this may be true."

"Do you have any other questions?"

"Yes, but they can wait. I can see that you are anxious to get Rabel's work, and I will never stand between a scholar and the work he wants to read."

Drexler brought a set of small steps and a lantern, and they walked through rows of bookshelves to the farthest corner of the room. Drexler dragged a moldy leathery head from the highest shelf and held it respectfully with both hands. He blew away a thin layer of dust on the cover and gave it to Bai En.

"There's a table and a lamp over there. I'm leaving you for a few minutes. I have some work to finish." Bai En nodded, and he was now completely immersed in the excitement of finding this book.

It is very heavy. The title and author name stamped with gold foil on the spine have almost disappeared. Two huge brass hinges hold the cover and help them swing out.

Bai En sat down at the table, lit the table lamp with candles, turned the small handle at the bottom to fully extend the wick, and then covered the lampshade on the flame. When he started reading, the air was filled with a pungent aroma of oil.

The title page of the book states that it was published by Oledov Press nearly four hundred years ago. This means that Rabel is likely to be nearby during the last large-scale evil invasion, or at least to know those who have appeared near the invasion. He may even have first-hand experience with ratmen.

While reading, Bai En realized that this was what the author claimed. In the preface, he said that he encountered a large group of ratmen during the evil invasion. Unlike his companions, Rabel believes that they are not just a new form of beast, but a completely different race, and he is committed to revealing various information about them in the next ten years. He referred to various academic materials, such as the writings of Saruman, Van Porter, and Kruger. These three are also very famous spellcasters. Bai En wrote down these materials in his heart for future reference.

His book is divided into several chapters, and each chapter is about an aspect of the mouse-man's social structure and its various clans. In the course of reading, Bane read this article in horror, because Rebel repeatedly mentioned in the book that the caster clan's despicable experiments with various kinds of creatures turned them into a variety of dirty Mutated monsters. This reminds him of the experiments that some of the mentors in the Black Tower have done, and their goals seem to be the same.

Bai En can't determine whether the Church of the Dark Night came up with ideas like this kind of work, or whether this kind of thing itself is something any organization will study. This also reminded him of the Fatalin Association, the black elk and his experimental base. The black elk is still committed to making the monster obedient and become part of the army. But what next? Will he also start this kind of similar experiment? Looking forward to obtaining certain types of enhanced mutations, or using these mutations to make them easier to control and more loyal?

Bai En shook his head, and now he did n’t think about it. He continued reading. Www.lightnovelpub.net ~ He recognized that the craftsman of the Scree clan was probably the creature he and Grerogan encountered at the College of Engineering. In the house of Fritz von Hallstatt, the monster was a rat-like prophet, some kind of evil priest. Rabel may be like a roaring lunatic in writing, but everything he writes is in line with Bai En's own hard-won experience. Even if the scholar and the legendary mage eventually lost their reputation, his description of the ratmen is correct.

Bane paid special attention to the chapters about the Pestirian clan, and how they created diseases and used various dirty methods to spread their dirty plague. The description of boils, pustules and fleas made him goose bumps. The horror that occurred here exceeded his previous imagination.

He may be able to deal with monsters and even against small-scale armies. But something like disease made him very worried, and the damage caused by this almost invisible thing was more dangerous than his magic.

Just as Bane was thinking about countermeasures, a shadow fell on him, and he looked up to see Drexler standing beside him. He realized that he must have read the book for several hours in the dark, and his eyes ached from overwork.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Drexler asked.

"More than I want to know." Bai En said painfully.

"Very good. Come and find me tomorrow, I might be able to help you. If you want, you can take this book away."

"Help me. How to do it?"

"We will visit the morgue in the city." "What's the use?" Bai En can cope with the body, but unless he can treat the plague, Bai En believes that dissecting the body will not change anything.

"You will see tomorrow, Mr. Bai En. Now go home and sleep."