Translator: Pai_

Several dozen minutes passed after the sudden incident occurred during the training of Soul Magic.

Turan gathered people who might help analyze the sudden situation.

Solif, Meisa, Ashiz.

In addition, Rida, who had witnessed the event firsthand with Turan.

Lastly, even the Librarian, who was once the spirit of the library, emerged from the jewel box and took a seat.

The meeting place was the study right next to Turan’s bedroom, as Meisa was in no condition to move around outside.

“The library, huh.”

“You mean the one in Orem City?”

“Probably.”

In capitals of many Great Noble Houses, cities with long histories and wealth usually have at least one library.

But the library in Orem was special among them.

It had been built directly by a god during the old empire era, so the building itself was practically a Sacred Relic.

If it hadn’t been located in the Western Wasteland, or if it had had any function beyond just triggering a theft alarm, a mere wizard family like House Baltas would never have dared to claim it.

“But... there shouldn’t be anything left to gain from there now. We even have the Librarian with us.”

“That’s true.”

The Librarian, who had come out of the jewel box for the first time in a while, nodded in response to Turan’s words.

Among those attending the meeting, three could recognize the Librarian thanks to having opened three or more bloodlines, and Rida could also perceive the Librarian due to awakening her Spiritual Perception.

Ashiz was the only one who couldn’t perceive him, so Solif acted as interpreter.

“Of course, I did comb through the place again, but if it’s something like the diary that fellow asked me to find before, it would still be difficult for me to identify. Things like that are hard to understand without background knowledge.”

Originally, Orem’s library had been a towering building entirely filled with books during the old empire era, but after thousands of years of conflicts and looting, only useless and common books remained in the modern era.

However, knowledge that could only be seen by those who knew, like the Monarch’s diary found in the past, would be difficult even for the Librarian to grasp.

“By the way, who left you that warning? Was it really a god?”

"It's probably the Night Hunter."

At Meisa’s guess, the others also nodded.

Although the Phoenix, who represents the current gods of House Zahar, had denied that theory, there had once been a considerable number of people who believed Turan to be the reincarnation of the Night Hunter.

“Have you tried it again by any chance?”

"I tried, but it just resulted in ordinary possession."

At Rida’s words, everyone let out a small groan.

After that, various opinions were shared regarding the identity of the soul.

Some suggested it might be the soul of Cadrum, who had once been absorbed by Turan, or the soul of Haroon, who had perished relatively recently.

But with no suitable answer, they eventually decided to move on to the next topic.

How to respond to the warning from this unidentified entity.

“For now, wouldn’t it be better to check it out? It doesn’t make sense that the enemy planted a Soul Fragment in Turan’s body and then laid a trap in perfect timing.”

“But Orem is too dangerous a place right now. It’s much closer to Nagin and Aravion than to us. Plus, we don’t know when Zahar might make a move.”

Unlike Solif, who insisted on rushing there immediately, Ashiz expressed a defensive opinion.

Since both views had their points, it was difficult to make an easy decision.

After a brief silence, Turan finally made a decision.

“Let’s go for now.”

“Alright!”

“But it’s dangerous to move alone like before.”

“I know. Unlike Carmine, this place’s geography is bad. I’ll only take enough people so the speed doesn’t slow down too much when I’m riding Bije. Solif, will you help me?”

“Of course.”

Despite it being a decision that would require him to leave the family for a few days, Solif replied briskly.

Rida stayed behind, as a mishap could ruin relations with Lavitas. Meisa obviously stayed too, and Ashiz, not being particularly excellent in combat, remained as well.

“So I’m the only one going with you?”

“It’s not... dangerous, right? With this composition.”

"Two should be enough. If Solif had been together last time, we would have caught and killed Badal instead."

Of course, back then he had been in the middle of crushing the rebellion of House Ruvan, so it had been unavoidable.

While Turan was swallowing his regret inwardly, Meisa made an unexpected suggestion.

She proposed taking Armania along as well.

“Him?”

“Yeah. From what I saw, he brightens up every time he goes outside, so I think staying indoors is making him feel stifled. And honestly, in terms of combat power, he’s probably the best after the three of us.”

“In the water, if it were one-on-one, neither of us could guarantee an easy win against him besides you, Turan.”

Solif added, shrugging his shoulders.

As he said, Armania's potential was immense, he had always been considered the most talented among the merfolk.

Even while lounging around eating delicious food during his stay in Kalamaf, he kept getting stronger.

He had been stronger than his kin even when he had just become a Great Sea Serpent, but now, he was likely able to hold his own even against the Mermaid King.

Considering that each additional person drastically reduced Bije’s flight speed and stamina efficiency, he was arguably the most efficient after Meisa.

“If we take him too, wouldn’t that make Kalamaf’s strength too weak?”

“We’ll be back quickly anyway. You never know what might happen, so it’s better to have enough strength.”

“Hmm.”

Faced with Meisa’s firm insistence, Turan eventually nodded.

A short while later, Armania, who had clearly been soaking in a bath and was dripping wet when called, heard the story and nodded.

“Sounds good! Is there a lot of water there?”

“No, not really.”

Back in his shepherding days, it had been so hard to find water that he only washed his face about once a week.

Of course, the city had its own water sources, so it wasn’t quite that bad.

Armania’s expression darkened a little upon hearing there was little water, but the matter was settled with the promise that they’d sprinkle him with water using magic every day.

And just like that, the team to inspect the library in Orem was formed on the spot.

***