Chapter 65

The center of Rondan, the Furnace.

From the rooftop, I quietly observed, in an almost meditative state, the sight of snowflakes vaporizing instantly upon touching the flame that seemed as if it would never extinguish.

Due to the nature of Snow Castle's world, concepts like morning and evening didn't exist.

There were slight differences in brightness beyond the clouds, but even those weren't noticeable near the Furnace's flame due to its blinding brightness.

As a result, the number of people moving around during my usual sleeping hours was almost the same, and this phenomenon was true for when I woke up as well.

Perhaps thanks to this, among the various service facilities operated by Rondan, there were a few that were open 24/7.

For example, the market I visited with Asti, or ordinary hospitals that weren't emergency rooms.

The library I was heading to was also included among these.

"It's been a while since I've been alone."

When I arrived at the branch, I felt a bit uneasy after persuading Asti, who had expressed her desire to come along.

Well, the content I was going to look up this time was essentially digging into Asti's background, so I had to be cautious.

I felt regretful because I enjoyed taking Asti along, as I felt healed seeing her eyes light up with excitement at new experiences wherever we went.

'Alright, Master. I'll prepare a meal for when you return.'

Remembering how Asti immediately yielded her wishes and bowed her head without much argument made me feel uneasy again.

I thought I should take Asti to the market as soon as I finished researching at the library.

I entered the Knights of the Furnace headquarters.

As knights need to be able to respond immediately when something happens, it was much more helpful to report my whereabouts.

Of course, there were plenty of knights anyway, so it wasn't a problem, but just in case.

As I passed the spiral staircase and walked down the stairs leading to the basement, I encountered someone as soon as I opened the door to the headquarters.

"Subordinate."

I came face to face with White Mask, who was also reaching out to open the door.

It seems he had business with the Vice Captain.

I think this is the first time I've seen White Mask at the headquarters since he was brought in from the underground prison.

It felt awkward yet intriguingly pleasant to see 'this person in a place like this'.

"Master."

"I don't think I called for you this time."

"I came to report my location as I was planning to visit the library today."

"I see. That's very commendable behavior for a knight."

White Mask patted my shoulder as he said this.

Recently, White Mask's attitude towards me has been changing gradually whenever I accomplish something.

Should I say he's treating me more comfortably, or perhaps with a much closer feeling?

Anyway, it feels quite nice, so I've been responding with a smile each time.

"Thank you, Master!"

"The Vice Captain is inside. Go about your business."

"Yes, take care."

After saying that, White Mask left with somewhat clumsy steps.

I wondered about his emotional footsteps, which seemed at odds with how favorably he had just treated me.

Did something bad happen?

As I tilted my head, puzzled by White Mask's unfamiliar demeanor, I entered the Vice Captain's office, and soon I could guess the cause.

The Knight Commander staring blankly into space.

The Vice Captain holding his head and sighing deeply.

And for some reason, a smashed chair.

...It seems something must have happened while talking with the Vice Captain.

"...You're here, Tanton."

"Yes, Vice Captain."

The Vice Captain spoke in a weak voice, his face somewhat haggard.

"I came to report that I plan to stay at the library for a while from now."

"...I see, do as you please."

The Vice Captain, who would usually ask how long I'd stay and what books I'd be looking at, was just letting it slide as if he had a headache.

I wonder what kind of conversation they had that led to such a serious atmosphere.

I didn't feel it was my place to ask, so I was about to let it go when a knight entered the Vice Captain's office after knocking.

"Vice Captain, we've been seeing a surge of patients with severe mental contamination recently."

"I've already received that report and told someone to handle the handover, yet you still don't know? Which branch are you from?"

"Ah, well..."

...Unable to watch the superior's stress-relief scolding any longer, I quickly saluted the Vice Captain and left.

Even in that situation, the Vice Captain returned my salute sharply.

***

The Library.

Due to Rondan's iron rule, "Never read anything not written by humans," people are extremely wary of reading books.

According to the Knight Order's statistics, 90% of Rondan's population is illiterate, and even the remaining 10% mostly don't read properly but understand through context.

Even if the books in the library were safe, sometimes books written by Outer Gods are imported.

Scholars who unknowingly read these... I'll spare you the detailed explanation.

Anyway, it could be said to be a very dangerous place, like a minefield near a ceasefire line, where it wouldn't be strange to fall into a trap anywhere.

However, with my mental strength that's almost immune to the Outer Gods' mental contamination, it was like a honey pot where I could learn various information.

Even content written by Outer Gods - like the Recorder's text, for instance - was occasionally helpful, so any information was welcome from my perspective of needing to know everything.

"Welcome to the Gwyn Library."

As I entered the library, I saw bookshelves grandly lined up.

Although faded with age, the neatly arranged sight was moving in a different way from when I first came out of the underground prison and encountered Rondan's scenery.

Trying to find information about Outer Gods alone in these vast bookshelves would obviously be a struggle.

As I approached a middle-aged man wearing glasses, he closed the book he was reading, took off his glasses, and stood up.

Fortunately, he seemed to be the librarian.

"Hello."

"How may I help you?"

"I'd like to browse books with information about Outer Gods."

Perhaps because I spoke too suddenly.

The librarian's eyebrows furrowed for a moment.

"Outer Gods?"

"I'm a knight, and I'm in the process of gathering information."

Faced with an expression that looked like he might treat me as a mental patient at any moment, I tried to speak as plainly as possible while calming my surprised heart.

Only then did the librarian furrow his brow and start to look at me closely, then nodded.

"Ah, now that I hear it, your face is familiar. Aren't you Lord Tanton?"

Of course, I never imagined he would know my name.

...At this point, it wouldn't be wrong to consider me Rondan's idol, would it?

The talent that the Vice Captain expects and the Outer Gods covet!

...Well, the latter wasn't exactly an honorable achievement.

"Thank you for recognizing me."

"In that case, I understand. However, books related to Outer Gods are so dangerous to read that even I don't manage them carelessly."

"It's alright. I know how to avoid the dangers somehow."

"...Do you also possess knowledge of mysticism?"

I couldn't help but make an embarrassed expression as the librarian spoke with sparkling eyes of curiosity.

It's not really like that.

Well, maybe it's better to give a vague answer here.

"Yes, my father was once a somewhat successful mystic scholar."

"Then there shouldn't be a problem. Over there, the brightest colored bookshelf in the corner contains all the books related to Outer Gods. I hope you enjoy your reading."

After saying that, the librarian bowed slowly and politely, then sat back down and started reading his book.

...I thought his behavior showed a severe lack of safety awareness.

As I approached the bookshelf the librarian had pointed out, I saw only tattered books that seemed very old.

I tried to take out some books to look at their covers, but they were already torn off, making it difficult even to guess their contents.

Sigh, this won't do.

I was hoping to look at only relevant books, but at this rate, I'll have to look through each one, which will take too much time.

The one fortunate thing was that I could understand the basis for how books were arranged on the shelves.

More popular books were placed on the left, while books that people weren't interested in or found difficult were usually placed on the right.

And probably, content related to the Torturer would likely be something people aren't aware of, so it would be placed more towards the right.

Thinking this, I reached out towards the books, but a hand overlapped with mine, seemingly trying to pull out the same book.

Following the hand and arm to confirm the other person's face, I saw a man with a long beard that made him look like a sage.

"Ah, please read it first."

Since I was only trying to find related information, not wanting to read any specific book, I tried to yield the book to that person.

But for some reason, despite my offer, he didn't try to take the book and just kept staring at me.

"...?"

As I stared back at that gaze, the man slowly opened his mouth.

"Aren't you Lord Tanton?"

Oh my, I'm too popular.

As I nodded while scratching the back of my head, the man's eyes began to widen.

"Lord Tanton, you can read books as well?"

"Yes, well. I can read a little."

The man made a "Hmm" sound at my words, looked away for a moment, then looked back at me with a meaningful gaze.

"As we expected, our prediction was correct."

"Pardon?"

"Lord Tanton. Did you find a basis for surviving after reading some text in the Gardener's Garden?"

I was surprised by the man's words.

While I'm not sure if the Recorder's text was helpful, it's true that it helped me understand the Gardener's true intentions.

How on earth did this man figure that out?

Catching my expression, the man nodded and said:

"Yes, it was true. Lord Tanton, I have a favor to ask of you."

And through our subsequent conversation, I learned that this man was quite high-ranking in the mystic scholar faction that had been mentioned several times before.