NOVEL NEXT Chapter 198: Cleaning the Clock Tower
After class, Luo Wei tucked the turtle shell into her pocket and walked out of the classroom.
"Junior, please wait a moment." Veronica Malachi hurried over from the side corridor of the hall, clutching a sheepskin ledger.
Luo Wei's brain immediately sounded an alarm: "Senior, do I have more community service to do?"
She now dreaded seeing student council members. They wouldn't make her scoop out feces again, would they?
"Yes," Veronica flashed an elegant smile, "The academy plans to reactivate the clock tower atop the North Chapel, but the springs and ropes were damaged by rats. You and several other students need to clean and repair it."
"You can go after lunch. Oh, and the springs need to be coated with pine oil, and the ropes need replacing. You can collect these supplies from the dormitory supervisor."
"Alright," Luo Wei nodded, "Senior, should I notify the other students?"
"No need, I've already informed them," Veronica glanced down and made a few marks in her ledger before looking up again. "After completing the task, go downstairs to find the duty prefect in the office for inspection. You can only leave after they check your work."
"Understood, thank you, senior," Luo Wei replied.
"Well then, I wish you success with your task. I must go now."
Veronica came and went in a hurry, rushing off to her next destination with her ledger in hand.
Luo Wei watched her figure disappear into the distance and felt slightly relieved. Thank goodness, just maintaining the clock tower—much easier than last night's task.
However, this feeling of relief lasted only until the moment before she climbed up to the North Tower.
"This is the academy's clock tower?"
"This is a rat's nest!"
"Squeak, squeak, squeak—"
Theodore pushed open the door, and a cloud of dust billowed out, causing everyone behind him to cough incessantly. Rats on the floor surged toward the corners like a tide, disappearing in the blink of an eye into the spaces beneath the floorboards and wall cracks.
Everyone stood outside the door, hesitant to step in. What greeted their eyes was a dark lair resembling a spider's den.
Spider webs covered in dust and insect corpses had formed into clumps of tangled threads, hanging from the ceiling and the bell ropes. The floor was layered with thick rat droppings and rotting wood, with damp bugs and dung beetles crawling about.
Light streamed in through the narrow window openings, and broken moth wings swirled in the beams, resembling large flakes of dandruff.
"How long has it been since this place was cleaned?" Even Hol Felix couldn't help but complain. "Don't tell me no one has cleaned here since the founding of the school?"
"With dust this thick, it must have been at least three to five years."
Theodore kicked a lame wooden stool blocking the doorway. The stool immediately fell apart, its broken legs already decayed into soft wood chips, with fat, milky-white woodworms wriggling inside.
Luo Wei took one look and felt goosebumps rise all over her body.
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She really hated hairless fat worms!
Theodore and Hol stepped on the wood chips as they entered. The white, plump worms burst open, resembling yellow snot dripping onto the wood chips.
Fighting the urge to vomit, Luo Wei stepped through the door, with Gladys and Laura following behind her.
"It stinks!"
The smell of dead rats invaded everyone's nostrils. The stench had reached the level of a biochemical weapon, causing even Gladys to roll her eyes in disgust.
"I knew it. How could the academy assign us something as easy as repairing the tower clock? Turns out the academy's clock tower is even filthier than a pig sty!" Theodore complained with a grimace.
"Stop complaining," Laura handed him a broom. "Let's clean up quickly so we can start the repairs."
Both the North and South Chapels of Siria Magic Academy were Romanesque buildings. The clock towers were integrated into the structures, positioned at the top center of the chapels, serving both as bell towers and lookout towers.
The bell sounds they usually heard came from the South Tower. The North Tower had been out of use for a long time, and they didn't know why the academy suddenly wanted them to repair it.
Probably because the academy figured that free labor shouldn't go to waste, and they needed to keep the students busy with something.
As is well known, Romanesque architecture features small windows positioned high up to create a sense of mystery, resulting in almost no natural lighting.
The North Tower was exactly like this—thick, solid walls with narrow, small windows. Even in broad daylight, standing inside meant seeing almost nothing.
They had to light oil lamps to clean.
"We should clear the spider webs first," Luo Wei said, using a broom to sweep down the cobwebs from above, fearing they might cause a fire later.
Though the chance of a fire was slim, given how damp the floor was.
It had rained several times recently, and the walls were so damp they were seeping water.
Luo Wei piled the swept cobwebs together, and when she turned around, she spotted inchworm larvae crawling on a wooden pillar.
...The biodiversity of the clock tower was worth studying.
After diligently sweeping for more than three hours, the clock tower finally began to reveal its original appearance.
Inside the tower was a massive weight-driven mechanical clock. The wooden boards and pillars had rotted away, and the gears were rusted.
Behind the mechanical clock hung a bronze bell used by the bell-ringer to announce the time, now covered with large patches of verdigris.
"Can we really repair this mechanical clock?" Theodore was doubtful. "I've forgotten most of what we learned in alchemy class."
"What should we do? I've forgotten too," Laura said worriedly.
Alchemy had been too difficult for her; she hadn't really understood it even when she was studying it.
"Don't worry, we still remember," Hol removed a loose gear and used a fire spell to heat the bearing in the center.
Gladys also began repairs from the other side, removing the rusted springs and replacing them with new spring plates.
The elementary alchemy class had taught them how to make weight-driven mechanical clocks. They had just finished learning this recently, so the knowledge was still fresh in their minds.
"Laura, can you hand me the rope?" Luo Wei passed a bundle of rope to her. "I need to go up and remove the old hemp rope."
The rope that originally suspended the weights on the mechanical clock had been worn through, and they needed to climb up to tie new ones.
"Sure," Laura took the rope. "Be careful."
"I will."
Luo Wei bent down to gather her skirt, tied a few knots at her knees to ensure it wouldn't hinder her movement, then grabbed the wooden frame outside the mechanical clock and began to climb.
"Laura, step back a bit. Be careful not to get hit by anything falling down."
The frame wasn't very sturdy and wobbled as she climbed. Several of the crossbars had been hollowed out by woodworms and broke when she grabbed them, sending wood chips fluttering down.
Luo Wei quickened her pace and climbed onto the iron plate above the pendulum. She turned, about to ask Laura to hand up the rope, when her gaze swept across the stone platform where the wall met the arched ceiling, and she spotted a palm-sized wooden box.
The box was covered in dust, and the patterns carved on it were almost filled in, but she recognized the markings at a glance.
They were too familiar—she had just decoded similar patterns a few nights ago.
Anti-dark element magical runes, identical to patterns in the academy's magic arrays.
What was inside the box?
Luo Wei instinctively glanced down. Laura was standing about six feet away from the wooden frame, head lowered because of the falling dust.
Hol and Gladys were busy repairing the mechanical clock, Theodore was scraping rat droppings, everyone was occupied, and no one would notice her.
Luo Wei immediately stood on tiptoe, grabbed the wall edge, and reached out to take the box, placing it in the special pocket sewn into her petticoat for hiding things.
Whatever was inside, it was better off in her pocket for now.
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