Clovin

"L-long... sir, Jeffrey... what exactly happened?"

Vanason summoned the courage he had left and asked, his gaze involuntarily darting toward the study, which looked like a gateway to hell.

"Was there a fire in that room? But this fire was far too strange. Why was it confined to just that one room?"

At the other man's gesture, Vanason sat down in an armchair in the living room. He felt as though all the strength had been drained from his body, and his legs seemed to have been stripped of their bones and sinews. He could barely stay on his feet.

His question did not immediately get an explanation from the three men. The man in the lead looked at Vanason coldly, making him clamp his mouth shut again.

Just as Vanason regretted speaking up, the other man spoke first.

"Professor Jeffrey was involved in a highly classified research project. Unfortunately, there was an accident during an experiment."

The man's tone held no emotion, as if he were describing something that had nothing to do with him.

Vanason felt a wave of dizziness.

An accident during an experiment?

A historian and archaeologist had caused an "experimental accident" in his own study—one that carbonized everything inside without affecting anything outside?

Thinking about Jeffrey's past, Vanason didn't believe a word of that explanation. He wondered if Clovin's people were deliberately hiding the truth, including the real cause of Jeffrey's death.

Then he remembered how Gallo, after reading Jeffrey's research materials, had explained that Jeffrey believed the final collapse of the Askia Dynasty might have been connected to some supernatural phenomenon. Combined with what Vanason had just witnessed—the study, where everything had been completely carbonized—

Vanason couldn't help feeling that the whole thing was utterly absurd.

A cold voice interrupted his thoughts. "We've taken over everything related to this matter, including what happens next.

"What you need to do is forget everything you saw today, forget that you came here, and forget that 'Clovin' ever appeared here."

The man leaned forward slightly. His gray eyes were like icy probes, piercing Vanason. "And I hope you'll keep your mouth firmly shut when you return to school.

"Also, don't investigate anything about Jeffrey Gito. Curiosity can sometimes lead to consequences you can't bear.

"You can continue your day-to-day work and your research in your academic field... As for Jeffrey, you can think of him as a bubble."

Vanason nodded woodenly, indicating that he understood.

The man continued, "We'll send the school an official notice about Professor Jeffrey. Let's hope we don't meet again in Lepest!"

Lepest! Clovin's headquarters, a place that struck fear into the hearts of the Empire's citizens and even its politicians.

"I... I understand, sir." Vanason lowered his head, not daring to meet those eyes. His voice was so dry it sounded like sandpaper scraping.

He promised, "I don't know anything. I... I was never here today."

"Good." The man gave a slight nod, reached into his coat, and took out a small brown notebook about the size of his palm. He then held it out to Professor Vanason.

"You coauthored a book with Professor Jeffrey, and you're a respected professor in the History Department at Imperial Industrial University.

"I imagine you should be able to decipher the contents of this notebook easily."

He forcefully shoved the palm-sized notebook into Vanason's hands, not giving him a chance to refuse.

"My specialties are historical artifacts, architecture, ancient ruins, and archaeological excavation and preservation." Vanason swallowed and tried to explain himself calmly.

"Professor Jeffrey was very good at deciphering and translating ancient hieroglyphs. I can only recognize a very, very small number of them, usually pictographs or patterns carved on some kind of artifact."

The other man didn't care. Instead, he said with interest, "We found this on Professor Jeffrey.

"Take a look through it first. You might find Professor Jeffrey's last words and the true cause of his death."

Vanason froze. Was this notebook written by Professor Jeffrey before he died?

And what did he mean by the true cause of death? Hadn't he just said Professor Jeffrey was conducting a highly classified experiment, and that was what had caused all this?

And how could a notebook have survived completely intact on Jeffrey's charred remains after such a horrifying fire?

Vanason took a deep breath. He didn't dare question Clovin's people to their faces, but the man's words had made him deeply suspicious.

Still, the name Clovin was enough to make him force down his doubts and open the notebook.

The cover of the notebook was made of leather. There were no words on it, and the pages felt like parchment. All the writing was in red ink. But what astonished Vanason even more was that every character and symbol was written in the ancient script of the Askia Dynasty.

It really did seem to be Professor Jeffrey's work. In the entire Iron Glory Empire, only Jeffrey Gito—or at least, the only person Vanason knew in his academic circle—had such a deep knowledge of the Askia Dynasty's ancient hieroglyphs and could write them so fluently.

Vanason leafed through a few pages, then sighed and reluctantly told them, "I'm afraid I can recognize only a very few ancient characters and symbols, which isn't enough to help. I can't decipher this notebook.

"Unless..."

Seeing the displeasure in the other man's eyes, Vanason hurried to add, "Unless I had some of Professor Jeffrey's research materials on Askia hieroglyphs to help me.

"I think I could decipher the contents fairly quickly."

"Heh..." The other man let out a meaningful, cold laugh. "They're all gone. Burned up in that room. You saw it yourself just now. There isn't a single other piece of paper anywhere in this apartment besides the ones in the study."

The man stood and looked down at Jeffrey, who was sitting on the sofa. In a cold voice, he said, "Looks like you're completely useless, Professor!"

"Wait! There's someone who can decipher this notebook. Yes, he can!" Vanason nearly screamed, afraid that the other man would take him straight back to Lepest the next moment.

While the other man waited, Vanason continued, "At the Moonlight Cafe on Lubo Lane, there's a young man. He's amazing—he has a photographic memory and can read incredibly fast. His ability to learn is terrifyingly beyond that of an ordinary person.

"He once read all of Jeffrey's research materials on Askia hieroglyphs. If it's him, he'll definitely be able to decipher this notebook."

After hearing him out, the other man calmly said a name: "Gallo Channing!"

Vanason grew even more nervous. The other man even knew about Gallo. No wonder he was from Clovin!

The apartment fell silent for a moment. The man stepped aside, clearing the path to the door, and said to Vanason, "You can leave now, Professor.

"Remember what I just warned you. If you're frightened, go home and rest for a few days. Try not to see anyone. Go back to work once you've recovered."

Vanason was so relieved he practically scrambled out of the apartment, even forgetting his hat.

The cold air in the hallway filled his lungs, yet he felt as if he'd escaped the lair of some monster.

He looked back at the apartment door, now firmly shut. Everything that had just happened felt so unreal, and yet it was more terrifying than any nightmare he'd ever had.