“Good evening, Daniste.”
At 9:21 PM, Xia De appeared on a chair in the central circular clearing of the Saint Byron's Grand Library. The Administrator was seated on the sofa opposite him. The students who helped with the ritual bid farewell to Daniste and left. This time, there were two students, one male and one female. The older male was human, while the female had scales on her face, making her race unknown.
“Her grandmother was a mixed-blood Mermaid.”
Daniste noticed Xia De's curiosity and spoke only after they had walked away.
Daniste was still the same, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and holding a book, looking energetic even late at night. Although Xia De really wanted to understand, on an academic level, the process of Mermaids and humans having offspring, he politely refrained from asking:
“Is the Library still very busy this late?”
He noticed young students sitting on the floor, holding books, in the Gaps between the bookshelves:
“I thought residential schools like Saint Byron's would have curfews and lights-out times, just like regular schools.”
“Lower grades do, but upper grades can move around within the castle before eleven at night, as long as they don't violate school rules. You can stay overnight in the Library. The Astronomical Academy's autumn activities just ended, but the Star Sea Whale and the Starry Sky Fragmented Light Path incident are causing a stir, and students are all looking for answers in the Library.”
Daniste explained, so Xia De pretended to be curious and said:
“I also heard news from Middelburg in Tobesk City. Miss Luvia Annett, a Ring術士 from my group, also observed the Star Sea Whale on Wednesday night. I heard that something similar to what happened in Tobesk City occurred in Middelburg on a Summer night. Is that true?”
“Yes.”
The Administrator looked very troubled:
“Our Headmaster originally intended to try his luck and see if Miss Felianna would appear again in this Selected One Ritual, but then this happened. The information you received is probably incomplete. What happened in the Sicar Mountain region from Wednesday night to Thursday morning is tens of thousands of times more complex than you can imagine.”
Seeing that Xia De still wanted to ask—Xia De actually had no such intention—Daniste proactively changed the topic:
“This matter is not related to you, and you don't need to inquire too much. The reason I called you here this time is still about the ‘Guiding Moon’ from Serex Higher Medical College. He was originally expected to arrive in Tobesk City at the end of this month or early next month, but there was a small issue, and he probably won't arrive in Tobesk City until mid-November.”
“Pushed back a week? No problem, I'll act whenever he arrives. I also have many connections in Tobesk City.”
Daniste smiled and nodded:
“That’s good. If his identity wasn't so tricky, there would be no need for such trouble, going through all this hassle just to wait for him to arrive in Tobesk City before taking action.”
“Tricky identity? I remember you mentioned that he's also a Letter-based Ring術士. Is it his real-world identity that's tricky?”
Xia De asked, and Daniste gave an affirmative reply:
“You've probably heard that the Cavendish Royal Family of Delarion is connected to the Zaras School of Spellcraft. Talented individuals among the royal family members are sent to Zaras to study.”
Like this generation's Leia Cavendish.
“The Anjou Royal Family of the Carson Rick United Kingdom is connected to the Success Higher Medical College. Similarly, talented individuals from the royal family are sent to Success to study.”
This reminded Xia De that in Middelburg, he had given the briefcase containing the 'differential engine' blueprints to the Princess of the Anjou Royal Family, and that Princess clearly possessed very slight witch powers.
“The true name of the Guiding Moon is Leikins Prisha. He is a distant relative of the Anjou Royal Family; Mr. Prisha’s maternal grandmother and the mother of the current Carson Rick King are twin sisters. Therefore, after displaying his talent, he became a Letter-based Ring術士 of Cerces.”
Of course, such an identity would not be enough to make a Thirteen Ring Sorcerer wary. But regarding the 'Silver Moon Library,' Daniste wanted to keep it as secret as possible, which is why she acted so cautiously:
“Let's talk about some political topics. Are you aware that Princess Leia Cavendish of Delarion visited Carson Rick on behalf of the royal family this Summer?”
Xia De certainly knew about this, and although he wasn't sure why it was brought up, he cautiously nodded:
“I know. There was a lot of related news in the newspapers. You know about this too?”
“Of course, we also subscribe to newspapers from the civilized world and care about the politics of the two major human kingdoms. I've recently been following the 'hamilton detective story collection' serialized in the Steam Bird Daily. Speaking of which, the protagonist of the novel is very similar to your identity—I'm getting off topic.”
Daniste shook her head, pointing to the coffee table. A newspaper floated towards Xia De, showing a photo of Leia at Coldwater Port when she returned home:
“For diplomatic Balance, the Anjou Royal Family plans to have the Second Princess Margaret Anjou return to Tobesk City this autumn or Winter.”
Xia De also knew about this (Chapter 653); it had just been a rumor, and Winter was approaching, but there was no definite date.
“Leikins Prisha will accompany the visiting delegation to Tobesk City. He wasn't originally supposed to go, but I found some ways to make him voluntarily join the delegation.”
Daniste stopped speaking because a young lady with orange hair, wearing a black robe with the school emblem embroidered on her chest, walked over:
“Daniste, I apologize for the interruption. Professor Wincheles just sent a message, asking if that batch of relic books is allowed to be stored in the Library basement?”
“We'll discuss that at next week's campus luncheon. Please reply to Professor Wincheles and tell the Library Management College not to always dump those dangerous things in the Library.”
Daniste waved her hand, as if very annoyed by the topic. The orange-haired girl nodded slightly, looked at Xia De curiously, and then turned and left.
Seeing Xia De's curiosity, Daniste picked up her teacup and explained:
“The Library offers some positions, allowing students below High-Ring Sorcerer to do work like book organization and Library guiding. This not only provides compensation but also allows them to earn limited practical credits, and even helps with applying to stay and teach at the school. When I was young, I also did book organization work.”
She shook her head slightly, ending the topic:
“In short, it's already confirmed that Princess Margaret and her entourage will depart in early November and arrive in Tobesk City in mid-November. You'll probably see the news in the newspaper next week. I'm telling you in advance so you can prepare. I remember your real-world profession is Detective? And you also have a knight title, so you should have connections with the nobility, right?”
She was not completely unaware of Xia De's background.
“Yes.”
Xia De immediately nodded, confident:
“Because I saved the Queen, I even entered Yodel Palace and had a private conversation with the King.”
“Then I'm relieved.”
Seeing Xia De like this, Daniste also smiled:
“It was indeed correct to ask for your help.”
Perhaps there was nothing else to do tonight, so after discussing official business, Daniste started talking to Xia De about the history of the Library. She had promised that once the 'Silver Moon Library' was found, she would list Xia De as the next candidate for Administrator. This was, of course, not just casual talk.
The extensive loss of history in the fifth epoch, though it caused a historical Gap in this ancient Library, still preserved some information, such as the name of Miss Blainey Oranode, who was the first Administrator of the Academy Library.
“She was considered Miss Mana Feilianna's most important student, and she had elven blood. Due to family ties, this later led to a large number of elf-descended students appearing in the Academy.”
Daniste said, drawing a circle in the air with her finger, and a translucent yellow moon appeared above the coffee table:
“As one of the initial founders of Saint Byron's, Miss Oranode's information is closely related to Miss Felianna. To investigate Miss Felianna's more specific life story, I found some old books in the Library, and unexpectedly discovered that this Lady's core Ling Rune was actually the 【yellow moon】.”
“That's really a pity. Miss Oranode was a Sorceress who lived in the fifth epoch, otherwise we wouldn't need to look for any 'Guiding Moon'.”
Xia De said regretfully, looking around at the same time:
“This feeling is truly interesting. The same space, different times. Perhaps in the distant fifth epoch, that Lady also imagined her future successors discussing her story.”
“A very romantic fantasy.”
The Thirteenth Ring Sorceress said with a smile. Xia De took the opportunity to bring up his own topic:
“Speaking of which, I recently came into contact with the shattered holy emblem of the Old God Grey-Robed Sage and learned a spell related to the Library. I remember you mentioned that the establishment of the Library was related to the followers of that Old God.”
“Yes, so what spell did you learn?”
Daniste motioned for Xia De to demonstrate.
So Xia De sat up straight, reached his palm forward, and silently chanted in his mind:
“Methods to enhance Time Perception!”
He maintained this posture, but nothing happened. After a full three seconds, just as Xia De was starting to feel awkward, a scroll of parchment flew from a distance with a whoosh and accurately landed in Xia De's hand.
“It really works?”
Xia De was greatly surprised, not expecting this matter to be resolved so easily.
But upon closer inspection of the parchment scroll, he realized it was a thesis he had previously borrowed, written by a senior Saint Byron's student, on methods to enhance Time Perception. He had tried most of the methods on it, and aside from providing some interesting ideas, they were basically useless.
“But it doesn't matter, after all, in a projected state, the power of extraordinary abilities will be weakened. If that old Sage really left the methods to enhance Time Perception to his followers, and the followers stored them in this Library, then perhaps I need to come here in person...”
“Oh? Are you using a spell to directly find the information you need from the Library?”
Daniste asked, so Xia De briefly explained the general situation of the 【Library Retrieval】 spell. The Administrator nodded with great interest:
“I've heard of this spell. More accurately, in the era before the Old God departed, this should have been considered a divine spell. After all, this Library itself prohibits most extraordinary powers for searching books, to prevent the Library's secrets from being leaked. Only this type of homologous divine spell can work in Saint Byron's Library.”
“So, besides some of the Old God's followers integrating with us here, are there any other places? I'm very interested in this type of spell.”
Xia De asked, seizing the opportunity. Daniste nodded:
“Do you know Apner Library?”
“I know.”
He had encountered a High-Ring Sorcerer from the Library during the Natural Church defense battle in the Gap.
“There is information indicating that before that Old God's cult disintegrated, a small number of followers carried some important information and joined Apner Library.”
Xia De immediately decided to try to contact the Library if he had the chance; perhaps the Time Perception information was with them.
“Besides that, there's a very ancient organization, very ancient, but also very ridiculous. They always believe that the end of the world is coming, so they try every possible way to prepare in advance to deal with the apocalypse.”
Daniste continued, and then spoke a familiar name:
“Guiding Light Hermitage.”
Those people are very secretive. I only heard in my student days that some of them traded a few relics with Saint Byron's. After the Old God's cult disintegrated, two high-ranking members of the cult carried some information and joined the Hermit Order. This isn't a rumor; it's recorded in Saint Byron's records. Of course, most of the Old God's cult members stayed in Saint Byron's and became our faculty and staff, but that was thousands of years ago.”
“Saint Byron's, Apner Library, Guiding Light Hermitage—three places might have clues.”
Xia De thought to himself, feeling like he would never be able to rest.
