Seeing Xia De about to get up, Miss Olanorde told him to sit down and said softly, “The Library is very dangerous, so you shouldn’t go.”
Then her tone became a little more serious: “Fiona, you go and bring that shrine back.”
She said to her student, and the red-haired girl immediately stood up and nodded somewhat reservedly: “Okay, teacher.”
Her red hair looked even more textured under the firelight, and after she stood up, a large shadow with a tail immediately appeared on the wall behind her. The murals on the wall were already mottled, depicting the Library's past splendor and partial maps. A large shadow with a tail appearing on them was somewhat like a backdrop in a puppet show.
Miss Olanorde then explained to Xia De: “Fiona is only a seventh-tier. We chose to bring her because her Red Dragon bloodline can slightly resist the loss of power during the blizzard.”
“I see.”
Xia De learned new Knowledge, and then watched the young Witch dig out a prepared torch from the clutter behind her. After lighting it with the bonfire, she walked towards the corridor on the left.
Miss Olanorde motioned for the Witch from the Zaras Society to prepare a list of daily necessities, while Xia De thought of another matter:
“Miss Olanorde, I have one more thing I’d like to ask. After 3014, did anyone who attended the God of Vampires’ banquet come to find you?”
He further explained: “In 3014, I attended the God of Vampires’ banquet with a Witch, a pair of twins, and an old gentleman.”
“I don’t know about the old gentleman, but the teacher seemed to have mentioned the twins and the other Witch. It’s just that when the twins came to visit, I happened not to be with the teacher.”
Miss Olanorde shook her head: “However, I heard that with the teacher’s help, the twin girls officially became Witches and regained some memories related to that banquet. Unfortunately, they didn’t mention you. But they thought of the other Witch at the banquet, and the teacher helped find the other Witch. After that, the twins followed that Witch to study.”
“And then?”
Leia’s intelligence indicated that the twins had summoned a god in the Sicar Mountain region and defeated the evil entity sealed by their family, but he didn't know the process in between.
“I know very little about what happened next. It seems they summoned a god together in a certain area of the Central Continent and fought an abyssal evil entity.”
“I know about this!”
Miss Peggy Samuel, who was writing, said: “The appearance of a god and an ancient evil entity that was sealed was a major event with far-reaching implications. The Society once sent people to observe the aftermath of the battle, but only found a severely injured Witch who seemed to have received the divine grace of the God of Vampires. She is now recuperating at the Society’s headquarters, but her condition is still not good. We hope to learn what exactly happened from her, so we are providing her with continuous treatment. As for the twin girls, I’m sorry, there were no other living things in that area.”
“This happened three years ago. After that Witch and the twins disappeared, the teacher regretted it for quite a while,” Miss Olanorde added.
“I see.”
Xia De also sighed.
In other words, among the other four people at the banquet, the armored old man holding the Demon Hunter Seal died in the Sicar Mountain region, the middle-aged Witch has not woken up since helping her two students, and the twins are missing.
For a moment, he didn't know what kind of mood he should be in to accept the story's ending. Miss Olanorde also remained silent. Only the howling wind and snow outside the door, the crackling of the bonfire in front of them, and the sound of Miss Peggy Samuel writing were exceptionally clear.
Fortunately, in Middlesburg of the sixth epoch, an entire epoch after the story ended, this lost story related to blood, twins, contracts, and Witches still had chapters after its conclusion. And the Outsider traveler still had a chance to continue learning about the stories yet to unfold.
“Perhaps, that is also your story.”
She chuckled softly.
“Alright, for now, we only need these.”
The Witch let the parchment scroll in her hand float past the bonfire towards Xia De.
Xia De moved forward a bit and, with an extremely worried heart, glanced at it by the bonfire’s light, finding that it was just a very ordinary list of daily necessities, with a special note that the material didn’t need to be considered. It seemed that these very experienced Witches could judge Xia De’s financial situation just by his clothing, so they didn’t ask for too much.
Although there were many items on the list, the total price would definitely not exceed 100 pounds, with only six sets of women’s robes for changing, marked with sizes, being the most expensive. And while 100 pounds was the income of a skilled worker, train driver, or high-level tailor after a year of hard work in Tobesk, for the Detective who had recently made a fortune from a foreign princess, this amount was not much.
Just as Xia De was about to inquire about Miss Felianna’s recent condition, such as her health, the Witch from Zaras curiously asked: “Sir, while we have time, could you explain this power? What kind of spell is this?”
Miss Peggy Samuel asked, curiously pointing to the faint silver Moonlight above the bonfire.
“This is not a spell, but a Miracle from the Ring術士 system.”
As he spoke, he summoned his Destiny Ring behind him, the brass ring slowly rotating in the steam:
“You must have heard of the Ring術士 system, right?”
“Yes, so that’s it.”
Miss Peggy Samuel nodded and then asked Miss Olanorde: “I know Miss Felianna has been researching this somewhat weak extraordinary system. You should also have mastered some basic theoretical Knowledge. Blainey, since you are also proficient in the power of the Moon, can you learn this interesting spell?”
That was a good idea. With Silent Moonlight, at least three Witches could safely leave Dead Silence Valley.
“I don’t mind sharing power, but this Miracle is a gift bestowed upon me by a great one, and I don’t know how to learn it.”
He explained again, and at this moment, footsteps were heard again. The red-haired young Witch had actually returned, laboriously rolling up the sleeves of her thin white shirt, holding a heavy stone shrine with both hands.
Her physical strength was absolutely astonishingly terrifying.
The three temporarily ended their discussion about Miracles and helped Fiona, the Witch with Red Dragon bloodline, place the heavy shrine on Miss Peggy Samuel’s pile of books—the shrine could not be placed directly on the ground, which was a very traditional rule.
The stone shrine looked exceptionally simple, with no decorative patterns on its surface, only some peeling colored marks on its two small doors. The two small doors were closed at this time, with symbols representing books on them. The surface of the shrine was covered with a thick layer of dust, looking as if it hadn't been touched for a long time.
After Xia De quietly apologized for their rude behavior, he reached out and pulled open the two doors of the shrine. There was no special holy light effect; they only saw the empty shrine, where the corpse of a spider that had died at some unknown time lay, probably from starvation. Looking closer, they finally saw an inconspicuous stone slab placed at the bottom of the shrine. The stone slab was made of ordinary material, but at its four corners, there were reflective metal decorations, with patterns of a new moon, waxing crescent, full moon, and waning crescent, respectively.
“Outsider, you have felt a Miracle.”
“The Library and the Moon... Wait, why are there no holy emblems or statues?”
Xia De asked with some surprise, and the other three were also unsure.
No one dared to reach their hand directly inside, but instead, using the bonfire’s light, they barely managed to make out the content on the stone slab.
The decorative patterns on the edge of the stone slab made it look like the cover of a hardcover book. And the surface bore ancient text that only Xia De could understand.
“Is this second epoch text?”
The Witch from the Zaras Society was extremely surprised: “Is it that ancient?”
“It’s alright, I can read it. It seems to be a short poem…”
He translated softly:
“Knowledge passes on power,
Books carry civilization.
When the flame of civilization is extinguished,
The old Library will also fall silent.
There will come a day,
When the Book of Past, Present, and Future appears,
The old sage with the staff will come from the sky,
To reclaim the Knowledge that does not belong to mortals.
This is,
The end of Gadis.”
“And then?”
Miss Olanorde asked.
“There is no ‘then,’ unless there’s text on the back.”
Xia De replied: “It seems… to be a ritual, requiring us to sacrifice the Book of Past, the Book of Present, and the Book of Future.”
“Is it that simple?”
The red-haired young Witch asked softly from behind her teacher, as if afraid of disturbing the shrine: “Although the Book of Future is difficult to understand, would a god-summoning ritual be so simple? It doesn't even require preparing a ritual array.”
“Perhaps, that god has been waiting for us all along.”
The Witch from Zaras reminded, Miss Olanorde was still frowning and thinking, but Xia De already understood her meaning:
“Then let’s try this ritual.”
“Alright, let’s try this ritual.”
Miss Peggy Samuel nodded, adjusted her glasses, and casually picked up an old book from beside her: “Most of these were found in this Library, and can be called the Book of Past.”
“Then let this be the Book of Present. This is a new book written by the teacher, which the teacher told me to read during this adventure.”
Miss Olanorde had her student take out another book from that backpack. The title was “Mana Adventure Stories, Volume Three.” Twenty-two years before the current time point, two months before Xia De’s timeline, he had seen Volume One in the Thousand Tree Forest.
“Then, for the Book of Future, let’s use this. I often carry books with me on adventures, and I can read them when I have nothing to do.”
Xia De said, unbuttoning his bulky outer coat, layer by layer, until he reached his black jacket. After unbuttoning it, he pulled open one side of his coat and then pulled out a handful of small toys from an inner pocket.
“Sir, is your profession a toy merchant?”
The Witch from Zaras asked with a smile, and then saw Xia De cover the toys with a handkerchief, and the toys turned into real books:
“Such an interesting power again.”
The book Xia De took out was his first-year textbook, “Introduction to Astronomy.” Although he had already passed his first-year exams, the content in this book was still very useful.
“But, is this the Book of Future? I think I understand…”
Miss Peggy Samuel raised an eyebrow and handed the old book in her hand to Xia De. Then Miss Olanorde also handed the book in her hand to Xia De, even though he was the weakest of the three.
The Witches tacitly retreated a few steps, standing on the other side of the bonfire, watching Xia De. Xia De turned to look at them, and Miss Olanorde gave him a smile, as if encouraging Xia De to be bolder:
“Xia De, we’re relying on you this time too.”
“Can such a simple ritual really work? The ritual of the evil god - Blood Feast Lord was so complex, and the ritual of the old god - shifting door almost made Miss Felianna make a mistake… Is it similar to that god of gambling, just a simple projection?”
Thinking to himself, Xia De placed the three books separately inside the shrine. He suddenly jumped back to prevent any accidents, but nothing happened. So he thought for a moment, then closed the doors of the shrine, waited for a while, and still nothing happened.
“It seems ineffective.”
He hesitantly turned to the Witches and said, only to find that they had retreated even further at some point, clinging together in fright, almost standing at the edge of the bonfire’s light.
“You, you, behind, behind…”
The Witch from Zaras pointed frantically behind Xia De, the red-haired girl lowered her head even further, and Miss Olanorde covered her mouth, using her other hand to motion for Xia De to look at his own hand.
