“Is anyone here?”
In a dimly lit bookstore by the roadside, a red-haired girl was clutching The Scroll, glancing around nervously.
“Oh? It’s little Phyllis! Come on in.”
A middle-aged man’s voice from inside sounded pleasantly surprised. “What brings you here all of a sudden?”
“Hehe, Uncle Tyr, I want to ask for your help to appraise something.”
“Appraise?”
The man glanced at the scroll Phyllis was holding, took it from her hands, and rubbed it carefully.
“Hmm… this is no ordinary item. Where did you get it from?”
Phyllis never lied to him.
“I snatched it from someone else, hehe. We both wanted The Scroll. He probably thought it was just an ordinary manual, but I could feel the aura on it—it’s a product of the Moonmist Sect.
Battle power.
He offered me the same price, and we were at a deadlock until we decided to settle it with a fight.”
The girl spoke lightly, but Tyr saw through her bravado immediately.
“Little Phyllis, be careful next time… don’t get hurt.”
Because he understood why the girl was risking her life to get this scroll—it was for avenging her family that had been wiped out in the Rainy Night Massacre.
That was a hurdle she could never get past in her lifetime.
But Tyr, ever observant, sensed the girl had another purpose at this moment.
If it wasn’t just revenge, but some other emotion driving her, then perhaps that could become the reason she kept going.
“Oh, Uncle Tyr, don’t worry about me. If you’re really concerned, why not hurry up and decipher the contents of this scroll?”
“All right, all right. I’ll start now.”
The man sighed and opened a toolbox on the table, which contained most of the tools needed this time.
If it were just a regular Deciphering Ritual, that would have been enough.
But since this was a specially crafted scroll, breaking it required high-level Destruction Magic.
Tyr pulled out a Golden Gem from the drawer—his treasured secret weapon.
He infused it with magic, and a palm-sized magic array gradually spread out, covering the entire scroll.
Layer by layer, the reinforced seals were lifted, until the last trace of light faded away, and the text on the scroll transformed.
The original writing was replaced with obscure symbols, leaving the girl shaking her head in confusion.
“What does this even say?”
Phyllis knew these symbols were the Moonmist Sect’s special way of communication, which was why she had come to Tyr—he could understand them.
Tyr had once been a member of the Moonmist Sect, and it was thanks to him saving her that she was where she was today.
“Let me see… it looks like a pretty nasty Spiritual Control Magic.”
“Spiritual magic?”
“Yes, and it’s high-level, even Legendary Magic.”
“Seriously? Legendary? I thought those were super rare! How did I manage to snatch it?”
Phyllis rattled off her questions rapidly.
Legendary Magic was the strongest magic in the world, with only a handful of people in a country mastering it—each one capable of leveling an entire city.
“Little Phyllis, where exactly did you find this?” Tyr’s intuition warned that something was off.
“A Stray Merchant? He didn’t seem like a bad guy… I even bought it from him.”
“Wait, wait—does that mean the Axe-wielding Man was originally the contact? No wonder he was so strong!”
This was bad news.
The Moonmist Sect would definitely come after her.
“Little Phyllis, how did you manage to defeat him?” Tyr was puzzled.
“Actually, I ran into an old acquaintance. She quietly helped from the sidelines. I don’t know what magic she used—she won’t admit it—but that guy was knocked away in one hit.”
“Can you find her again? I think we need to relocate.”
“Hehe, of course! I put Tracking Magic on her, so I know exactly where she is.”
Tyr: “?”
Don’t say such terrifying things so casually.
“Never mind that for now, where is she?”
“Hmm, right at the entrance.” Phyllis sensed a familiar aura at the door and looked outside to see two people browsing books.
“Miss Tina! What are you doing here?”
The girl bounded over like a puppy, completely ignoring the increasingly strange look in Princess Lia’s eyes.
“Ahaha, just checking up on you, of course. And the progress of the investigation.”
“Miss Tina, you’re the best! Once I finish this, I’ll take you away from that wicked woman.”
Phyllis threw her arms around Tina, leaving her unsure of what to do.
In her past life, she was a little chef boy.
“That’s enough, little redhead.”
Princess Lia pushed Phyllis aside with an elbow, her expression serious.
“Tina?”
Tyr emerged from the inner room and caught the name. “Is that the eldest daughter of the Aiverson Family?”
“Eh, you know me?” Tina had no memory of the man.
“Haha, we probably haven’t met, but little Phyllis often mentions you, so I naturally know a bit about you.
So, you’re the one helping Phyllis with her troubles? Thank you very much.”
Tyr bowed slightly.
“Actually, it’s not really me. Um… it’s this person beside me who’s been helping.”
“?” Princess Lia blinked, then caught on.
“It’s me who helped, sir. Do you have any questions?”
“Is that so? Do you know the person you helped was actually a Moonmist Sect follower?”
“Him?”
Princess Lia, clever as she was, immediately understood the man’s plan.
That scroll was indeed related to the Moonmist Sect, and because of it, he had gotten into trouble.
He wanted to use their strength, capable of defeating his enemies, to evade danger for the time being.
“Where do you plan to go, Mr. Tyr?”
“I have an empty house near the Inner City’s Underground Black Market, and some contacts there. It should be safer.”
“All right. Do you need our help with anything?”
Tyr looked around.
These books had accompanied him underground for almost ten years.
“Look for any books you find interesting. Take a few with you. I’ll take some myself, and the rest can wait until I come back.
If I can still come back, that is.”
“Thank you very much, sir.”
With that, they began picking out their favorite books.
Princess Lia chose her beloved Classic Fairy Tales Storybook.
Whether in the palace before or now, it had extraordinary significance to her.
Not just for the stories, but for the person who used to read those stories to her, and the atmosphere it created.
Though all that was in the past.
“What about Tina? What kind of books would she like?” As a friend, Lia felt she had to care.
But Tina was nowhere to be found—she seemed to have vanished into thin air.
“Tina, where are you?” Lia called out.
“!”
A noise came from the corner, making a bookshelf wobble.
“What are you doing?” Lia walked behind the shelf.
“Uhahaha, I’m reading.”
“What kind? Can I see it?” Lia was curious about Tina’s deliberate attempt to hide the book behind her back.
What kind of book was so captivating she was oblivious to everything else?
“Oh, it’s not really something you’d like. I don’t think Your Highness would enjoy this kind of book.”
“Why not?”
“Um…” Tina hesitated and couldn’t come up with a denial.
“Never mind. Since you want to keep it a secret, I won’t look.”
“Phew—” Tina sighed.
She didn’t expect Lia to be so understanding.
But just as she was about to tidy up the stack of books behind her, she accidentally kicked a stool leg and all the books fell to the ground.
“Tina?”
“Ah, it’s nothing, I’ve got this.”
With lightning speed, Tina gathered the books on the floor, but one was left behind—open.
Lia happened to see it.
On the left page was a girl looking very sad, another girl comforting her.
On the right page, the two were talking all night—from the sofa into the room.
In the end, the emotional knot was successfully untied.
Of course, what kind of emotional knot it was, remained unknown.
“Listen to me, Lia.”
Tina knew by the time she said it, it was already too late.
Lia’s lips parted slightly, her thoughts paused.
“So… you like reading this kind of story?”
Boom, my Masterpiece of a Lifetime!