The Academy's Grand Library retained its awe-inspiring breadth and depth even after the Carian Royal Family took over.
Rellana followed beside Horace, trying to keep her eyes on the vast rows of book spines or pretend to take an interest in some ancient star chart.
But her attention kept drifting involuntarily toward the figure silently leafing through books beside her.
Especially that patch of red at his temples.
The feeling was unfamiliar, and irritating.
Back in Lakeside Town, she had looked at him too, but that had been more like scrutiny, or the concentration of facing an opponent.
Ever since... ever since his red hair appeared, something had been wrong.
Like now, as he tilted his head up slightly to examine a row of dusty indexes of ancient texts on an upper shelf.
A few strands of dark red hair hung at his forehead, swaying gently with his slight movements.
Rellana's gaze stuck to them, unable to pull away.
She could even imagine how those strands would feel: would they carry a faint warmth unlike other people's hair...
It was not just his hair. His whole being seemed cloaked in an indescribable allure.
His looks had not actually changed, but there was simply a strange aura about him.
An air like flames dancing in a winter hearth, radiating warmth yet harboring danger and temptation.
It made her want to draw closer, to feel that warmth.
Once again, she looked over involuntarily.
This time, Horace seemed to notice.
He was about to climb down the ladder when he paused, then turned his head, his gaze catching hers before she could fully withdraw it.
Rellana's heart gave a sudden leap. Almost instinctively, she immediately turned away and whipped up the heavy tome she had pulled out at random for show, burying her face in it and pretending to study intently.
The ancient characters on the pages swam before her eyes, but not one registered.
Footsteps approached and stopped beside her.
Then she heard Horace's level voice, especially clear among the silent shelves:
"The book's upside down."
"Huh?!" Rellana went rigid. Looking down, she found that the ancient book in her hands was indeed upside down, making its old runes even more incomprehensible to her.
She fumbled to turn the book right side up, her face instantly flushing scarlet, the redness spreading from her neck to her ears.
"I, I was just... studying mirror writing in Ancient Runes! Yes! Mirror writing! Some ancient texts were written backward!"
She tried to explain, her voice trembling slightly with embarrassment, her eyes wandering everywhere but toward Horace.
Horace did not laugh or tease her further.
He simply watched her quietly, his eyes, now back to brown, holding scrutiny, but more than that, seriousness.
"Rellana," he called her name with rare solemnity.
"Do you think there's something wrong with me?"
"Huh?" Rellana froze, lifting her head to meet his gaze.
He was serious.
"Answer seriously," Horace added, his tone allowing no argument.
"This is important to me."
His unusually grave attitude instantly pulled Rellana out of her embarrassment, and she grew serious too.
She lowered the book and thought carefully, trying to describe that vague yet powerful feeling.
"Wrong... I wouldn't call it that." She weighed her words, her blue eyes fixed on Horace.
"It's just... you feel a little different. I really want to be near you." She paused, seemingly searching for a suitable comparison.
"Like... like walking through the snow for a long time in the depths of winter, cold and tired, then suddenly seeing a bonfire ahead. You can't help wanting to walk over and feel its light and warmth."
When she finished, she looked at Horace a little apprehensively.
Was that comparison too strange?
After listening, Horace fell silent for a moment, his brow furrowing slightly.
"Fire..." he repeated quietly, his eyes thoughtful.
"Is it the heat? Or the light? Or is it 'fire' itself that attracts you?"
"I can't say." Rellana shook her head.
"It's just this... very strange feeling. I never felt this way when I looked at you before." Her gaze involuntarily settled on the dark red at his temples again.
"It started after your hair changed color."
Horace's fingers brushed his temple unconsciously.
Fire? Attraction?
"Bloodflame..." he murmured to himself.
Had the descendants of the Astrologers inherited their ancestors' instinct to seek fire and warmth?
Or was it really like the Tarnished joked: did Carians have some strange "weakness-for-redheads gene"? Did red hair make them feel a sense of kinship?
He had nothing to do with the Fire Giant. At most, as a Barbarian, he might have a little giant blood.
"I understand." Horace nodded to Rellana, his tone returning to its usual calm.
"Thank you for being honest. This helps my assessment a great deal."
Without explaining further, he turned toward the next section of shelves and began another round of browsing.
Rellana stood where she was, watching his back as he resumed his search. Rather than diminishing, her confusion only deepened.
What exactly was he looking for? What was going on with his hair? And what had that "fire" comparison touched on?
She bit her lip, but followed him in the end.
This time, she tried to restrain herself from constantly looking at him and genuinely began helping him watch for relevant titles or classification labels.
She had a good memory and knew something of the obscure collection categories used by Caria and the Academy, so she could indeed offer useful pointers.
Yet the Academy's library was simply too vast.
Several days passed, and Horace felt as though he were scooping water from an ocean of knowledge with a little spoon. Though he found scattered snippets mentioning the "Formless Mother," "Blood Ritual," and "Outer Gods," most were vague or mixed together with other myths and legends.
Finding a concrete way to resist its corruption was even further out of reach.
Time slipped past the fingertips turning the pages, and Horace's sense of urgency grew stronger.
Uriel was loyal and reliable, but handling complicated administrative affairs was certainly not his strength as a warrior.
If Horace stayed away too long, things would inevitably go wrong in Lakeside Town, perhaps even giving certain latent sources of unrest an opening.
Queen Rennala had only just unified Liurnia, and undercurrents stirred among the various powers. He could not leave his own base without someone at the helm for too long.
Did he really have to keep searching aimlessly for a needle in this endless ocean of books?
Horace stood in the deep, shadowy aisle between two towering rows of shelves, his fingers passing over dusty tomes before finally resting on an old, large book whose title had long since faded.
He was silent for a few seconds, then gently closed the book before him, which he had read halfway through without finding anything of substance.
"It looks like conventional methods won't work," he murmured to himself.
Since finding definite information by human effort within the limited time was so difficult, he could only... use cheats.
With so many tips, the author was too ashamed to slack off.
Two extra updates today.
Before you continue