"Are you lying?"
Hoshino shook her head. "Swear an oath to the Red Kite Immortal. Let me see."
"Red Kite Immortal, I am not lying."
Hoshino awkwardly lowered The Mortal Realm Is Hard to Cross. No matter how familiar he seemed, he was not the same person. Telling a golden-haired man, "You don't resemble Otto Apocalypse," was practically the highest praise in the world.
"State your purpose."
Hoshino sighed and decided to be someone who did not judge people by their appearance.
Honestly, Shang Boliang looked decent enough. His eyes did not gleam with wisdom like those of other scholars; he was always seeking knowledge. He looked young, and his broad scholar's robe draped over him like a miniature Otto Apocalypse.
"I am about to die."
Shang Boliang dropped a bombshell.
I haven't even prepared to make a move yet. How did you know you were about to die?
"I was born in the Great Library. At twelve, I had read extensively. At thirteen, I proposed my own theory. At sixteen... a great fire broke out, and I took charge of this chaotic nation. Then I saw the true nature of the world, and then I was about to die."
Seeing the truth meant dying.
That really was...
"Is someone forcing you?"
"No one. This world itself is making me die."
Hoshino rubbed her cheek with a slight headache. "Explain it in detail. Perhaps I will... pass it on to Durandal."
"In the museum exhibition hall of the Great Library, I found the deepest secret of this nation."
Shang Boliang described everything he had seen and heard in detail.
At the very bottom, he had found two pieces of quartz glass. One contained a brittle grayish-black solid, while the other contained flowing black liquid. Both could burn. They were historical