Sphinx's Riddle

Standing in the study, Richard saw five or six tall bookshelves lined up against the wall, each packed with books and scrolls.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Richard walked over to one of the bookshelves, climbed the wooden ladder made for it, and reached toward the very top.

Pushing aside a large number of books and scrolls, Richard felt a cold black iron box tucked at the very back of the shelf. The box was over thirty centimeters long and wide, and five or six centimeters high. Its surface was carved with intricate patterns, making it look strange and mysterious.

With a slight exertion of strength, Richard pulled the black iron box from the shelf, climbed down the ladder, and set it on the wooden table in the study.

He placed his hand on its surface, feeling its ice-cold touch. His eyes flickered as his gaze settled on a depression in the surface.

Together with the metal patterns on the surface, the depression looked like a split-open mouth. From a certain angle, one could also make out a faint line of tiny words: Awaken me with magic, and I will tell you the truth of this world.

A Wizard Book! Or rather, the shell... of a Wizard Book!

Richard had found it only after great difficulty in the deepest part of the Royal Library. Even the oldest librarian could not explain its origins. All they knew was that it was a strange book, filled with evil power and bearing a vicious curse. Frequent contact with it could cause illness at best and sudden death at worst.

Naturally, Richard did not believe in so-called curses or evil power. In his view, the book merely contained some volatile substance harmful to the human body. As long as ventilation was maintained, chronic poisoning could be completely avoided.

However, uncovering the book's secrets would not be easy.

The iron shell around the book had a special design and was difficult to destroy by force. If he truly tried to break it open, there was a high chance of damaging the real contents inside.

Richard had ways to reduce that risk to an acceptable level, but he did not want to take the chance. That was why he had kept searching for Demonized Creatures and people related to spells, hoping to obtain "magic." Now, he had succeeded. "Hoo—" Richard took a deep breath, tilted his head slightly, and looked at the golden liquid placed at the side of the table.

"Whether I'm right or wrong, the answer will be revealed soon enough, won't it?" Richard muttered to himself. The next moment, he picked up the bottle containing the golden liquid, pulled out the stopper, and slowly poured it into the depression on the iron box's surface.

Before long, the depression was full. After remaining still for a while, there was a click. As though it had triggered some chain reaction, the liquid in the depression rapidly began to boil, countless bubbles rising as the entire iron shell started to tremble faintly.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Then, as if some restriction had been triggered, with a gulp, the book instantly swallowed all the liquid, leaving not a trace behind.

The iron shell shook more violently, trembling like a human body and making the tabletop vibrate along with it. Finally, there came another click, and the iron shell automatically opened like a box, revealing the true Wizard Book inside.

Richard gently took out the book and carefully placed it on the table. Then, a faint voice drifted from the depths of the book. "Who... is it? Who... is it?"

"Hmm?" Richard raised an eyebrow and opened the book.

On the first page, there was not a single word. In the center was printed an extremely horrifying skull.

Blazing flames burned within the skull's eye sockets, so lifelike that Richard could not tell whether it was an illusion, but he felt the temperature of the entire room rising sharply.

This...

The next moment, something even more shocking happened. The drawn skull moved, its jaw opening and closing as it let out an incomparably chilling murmur. "Who is it? Who exactly awakened me? Who intends to peer into Master Monroe's treasury of knowledge? Answer me, or you will receive the harshest punishment!"

Anyone else who saw this might have been scared half to death, but Richard was not. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and looked at the skull on the page with great interest. "Who are you?"

"I am the Book Spirit created by Master Monroe, used to protect this book and determine who is qualified to read it."

"What can you do?"

"I can verify whether every person who wishes to read this book is intelligent enough. If they are, they will be qualified to read it. If they are not, they will pay the due price for their recklessness and ignorance."

"What price?"

"Death!" The Book Spirit's voice was incomparably cold.

Richard smiled. "Interesting."

Then Richard asked, "How do you verify whether someone is intelligent enough?"

"I exchange one question with every person. If they can correctly answer my question and make me unable to answer theirs, then they are considered intelligent enough. During the time I cannot answer their question, they may freely read the contents of this book without punishment."

"Is that so..." Richard's eyes flickered. "Then what is your question?"

"You who wish to peer into Master Monroe's knowledge, are you certain you wish to begin the challenge?" The Book Spirit's voice turned solemn.

"I have to give it a try," Richard said. "Whether I succeed or fail, I want to study how you work."

"..." The Book Spirit fell silent for a moment, as if pondering the meaning of Richard's words. After a long while, it spoke. "Very well. Since you are certain you wish to challenge me, answer this difficult question: There is a strange creature that has four legs in the morning and two legs at noon..."

Richard could not help but freeze. Wasn't this Sphinx's Riddle from Greek mythology on Modern Earth? In Greek mythology, the lion-bodied, human-faced monster Sphinx sat on a cliff near Thebes, stopping passing travelers and asking them the same riddle. Many could not guess the answer and were mercilessly eaten by the Sphinx. Later, a man named Oedipus guessed the correct answer. The Sphinx was overcome with shame and leapt off the cliff to its death.

Before the Book Spirit could finish, Richard could not help interrupting. "Don't tell me you're about to say, 'This creature has three legs at night, and when it has the most legs, it walks the slowest and is at its weakest.' Then ask me, 'What is this creature?'"

The Book Spirit's voice abruptly stopped. It fell into silence, a long silence, as though it had encountered such a situation for the first time.

Richard spoke again to the Book Spirit. "Well, if that really is the case, then all I can tell you is that the answer is 'man.' When a person is an infant—morning—they crawl on four legs. As an adult—noon—they walk normally on two legs. In old age—night—they walk with a cane, making three legs.

But... is it really rigorous to judge whether someone is intelligent based on a riddle like this, something akin to a brain teaser? Or is the intelligence you speak of fundamentally different from what I understand? You lean more toward cleverness, while I lean more toward wisdom..."