Alan was breaking out in a cold sweat as he agonized over the current situation.
‘I have to hide it somehow.’
He had to deal with Mars’s legacy that was currently tucked inside his clothes.
Alchemy already had a poor reputation in this place.
Furthermore, there had been an attack at the library.
Finding a clue regarding Mars in the midst of such a grim atmosphere?
It could easily lead to the misunderstanding that they had entered this place with that very goal in mind.
Besides, what kind of bold person would come to rob Seiram, the heart of the Southern Region?
And beyond just being caught, various other problems would arise.
First, he thought about the deterioration of their relationship with the Order.
It could also have a significant impact on Evan’s image.
Alan’s brow furrowed automatically as he thought of the growing list of problems.
He then shook his head as the thought of being burned at the stake crossed his mind.
“That can’t happen, so a good location somewhere…”
“Is there a problem?”
A voice came from outside the door.
Alan broke out in a cold sweat and replied while stuttering.
“Just a moment.”
“W-What should we do!”
Ayra also became flustered, her heart racing.
“What’s the matter? Can’t we just open the door?”
Only Reynold scratched his head, unaware of the situation.
‘There’s no guarantee I’ll be able to come back even if I hide it here. And I haven’t even met the young master yet…’
However, it seemed he had no choice.
Alan hurriedly decided to place the items on the top part of the bookshelf.
The moment Alan approached the bookshelf—
Clunk!
Suddenly, a sound came from the bookshelf.
“Huh?”
Alan stood rooted to the spot and watched it, and soon the bookshelf began to slide to the side.
Rumble!
“W-What!”
As Alan shouted while staring at the bookshelf, Ayra and Reynold also turned their eyes toward it.
“How is the bookshelf moving?”
“Gasp!”
Ayra shrank back, suddenly gripped by fear.
After a moment, the bookshelf opened, revealing a secret passage.
And there, a familiar face appeared.
“You guys have been waiting a long time.”
Evan emerged from the secret passage.
“Y-Young master?”
“How did you come out from there?”
“Young master!”
The three of them welcomed Evan, each showing a different reaction.
Knock, knock.
At that moment, the officials from the Order knocked again, urging them.
“We don’t have much time. Please cooperate.”
At the voice coming from outside, Evan closed the passage door.
He then looked at Alan as if telling him to explain the situation.
Alan watched it as if it were still miraculous before snapping out of it and speaking to Evan.
“While you were away, young master, we stopped by the library for a moment. But it seems like there was an attack by something there; it turned into a complete mess and chaos with a loud impact.”
When Alan explained the situation, Evan nodded as if he understood.
‘It must be because of the aftermath of the fight with the Hydra.’
Just thinking about the battle with that creature still made him feel dizzy.
“Young master. But I found something like this in a secret location at the library.”
Alan pulled a potion and Mars’s Notebook out from his shirt.
“A secret location? What is this?”
Evan took them, wearing an expression of surprise.
“I believe it is the notebook of the Great Alchemist Mars. It contains his biography along with a story about his companion, Ellecel. And that potion is one that Mars left behind.”
“What?”
Evan couldn’t help but be shocked upon hearing the stories related to Mars and Ellecel.
It seemed they had discovered another hidden piece that he was unaware of.
And there was also a clue about Ellecel that he hadn’t expected at all.
Alan briefly explained about Mars and urged Evan, saying it was urgent.
“I think you should check the items and deal with them. If you leave the contents of the notebook to Ayra, I think she might be able to restore it at least…”
Evan shook his head.
“I didn’t go to the library anyway, did I? It’ll be fine.”
“…But just in case. If they even inspect magic tools, there’s no way to hide it…”
Evan smiled and spoke to the worried Alan.
“It’s fine. I have a way.”
He wasn’t particularly worried about that part either.
If it seemed dangerous, he could just put it into his Inventory immediately.
There was no way for anyone else to check the Inventory by any means.
Evan put the notebook and the potion into his Inventory.
He then approached the door and opened it.
A man in the Order’s uniform with his forehead exposed was standing there.
“Lord Evan was here as well. It is an honor to meet you in person. My name is Trin. I belong to the High Court of the Order and am in charge of the Order’s security.”
He held out his hand in a white glove and offered a handshake.
Evan maintained a smile as he accepted the handshake.
“What brings you here?”
Evan decided to subtly probe to see what the situation was.
“A bit of a troublesome matter has occurred. Traces suspected of terrorism were found near the library. Of course, we aren’t suspecting you, Lord Evan, but we are conducting an investigation according to the rules regardless.”
“Yes. If that’s the case, I should cooperate.”
“Thank you for your understanding. Since you were meeting the Sacred Maiden, Lord Evan, you are fine, but it seems an investigation will be necessary for the rest of your party.”
Evan readily agreed.
‘As expected, the Order doesn’t know about the hidden piece.’
He deduced this by looking at their general reactions.
It also meant they weren’t the original owners of this Holy Temple.
Thus, Evan’s group was led by Trin to the High Court of the Order.
A magnificent statue of a goddess holding a sword caught their eyes from the entrance.
And as high-ranking Paladins moved about, the atmosphere seemed somewhat more solemn compared to the Main Building of the Shrine.
“This is the institution that handles various cases along with the Inquisition. The others please wait here, and Lord Evan, please follow me.”
Trin gave a brief introduction to Evan and guided only him to a separate location.
‘This will take a while.’
Evan was sitting leisurely, waiting.
Everyone except him was being inspected.
In the meantime, Evan decided to check Mars’s Notebook and the potion that Alan had found.
He first took out the potion and checked the information window.
-Grade: ??
-Category: Quest Only
-Effect: It appears the effect can only be received if used during a specific Main Quest segment.
-Other: A potion developed by Mars to uncover the secrets of the world. A craftsman’s touch can be felt.
Evan couldn’t hide his amazement.
‘This is a quest-only item?’
However, it seemed it wouldn’t have any effect if used normally.
It appeared to be an item used to progress through a quest, and in cases like this, there was a high possibility it was a hidden quest.
It seemed he would only know where to use it after visiting the Mediator.
‘Otherwise, the purpose of this item might be written here.’
Evan took out Mars’s Notebook and opened it.
He was excited to see what kind of person he was and what clues there might be, as it was said he was with Ellecel.
Looking at the cover, the traces of time were clearly visible.
However, there was something else that caught Evan’s eye more than that.
‘The crest of the Red Dragon.’
A crest designating a certain empire.
It was a clue he had found in the Memory of Ellecell.
Evan’s eyes sparkled.
‘Could it be that this empire and Mars are related?’
He felt as though he had finally grasped a thread that wouldn’t unravel.
An empire that used an unknown power.
With that power, they had created ridiculous things.
Not to mention the Chaos Value, they were even skilled in the use of runes.
‘If only I could know even a little bit of their clues.’
Evan flung the notebook open.
He read through the contents of the journal left by Mars.
The first page contained a simple objective and an apology to Ellecel.
‘What happened? He betrayed her?’
Evan continued to read.
In doing so, he came to know a bit about the person named Mars.
‘Mars was someone who conducted research with Ellecel and, like Ellecel, was a being who survived the Destruction of the World.’
No, he preceded her by much more.
He had spent an unfathomable eternity, much longer than Ellecel.
He was hiding even more secrets.
‘Does that mean he was the sole survivor among the ancients?’
Looking at his Alchemy, it transcended imagination.
From soul transplants to body reconstruction and immortality.
With all sorts of bizarre and transcendent Alchemy, he was able to defy the world.
Along the way, he searched for beings to help him.
There was a passage where one could learn why he came to possess such knowledge.
-I realized that I possessed a strange power.
The first time I noticed the world was strange was exactly after the third world collapsed.
My memories remained accurate after the third world’s destruction, and I came to live again along with the world while continuously remembering everything that happened after that.
It is a different concept from what is commonly called reincarnation.
For some reason, when a new world appeared, my existence as a person of the Old World was not erased.
I simply held the memories from the previous world.
To me, it was no different from a curse.
With only the very first memory of when I was born gone, I was resurrected along with the new world, carrying the horrific memories I faced in the fallen world.
It continued to repeat, and the intensity was gradually becoming more severe.
My mind was already becoming devastated and going mad.
Who could understand the anguish of a human who must live forever, seeing the world begin and continuously seeing the End of the World?
‘He went completely insane.’
Evan clicked his tongue.
If ordinary people saw this, they would dismiss it as the ramblings of a madman, but Evan had already seen even worse things in this world.
Mars’s existence would just be one of them.
‘It means the one who influenced Ellecel was Mars.’
If he had lived for a long time while carrying memories across multiple cycles, it was understandable that he possessed such knowledge.
Evan’s brow furrowed.
‘He deceived many humans and made them taste that hell.’
The first research Mars attempted was immortality.
It was because he had to create companions like himself.
While experiencing the repeated destruction, the hardest thing was loneliness.
He wanted to escape from this anguish of being the only one who knew the truth of the world.
It seemed he wanted to share this anguish with companions.
However, even if he taught them knowledge, they would not exist in the next world.
As the world met its destruction in that way, he would always meet new humans.
It repeated like a treadmill, and even the levels of knowledge, which were regressing, were so different that he couldn’t even communicate with them.
Within that, he researched making humans who wouldn’t die even if the world were destroyed.
He gathered companions one by one in that manner, but…
They all failed to endure mentally as they went through the repeated destruction of the world and went insane.
The people of the new world were too weak from the beginning to bear this weight.
What he met at the end of his frustration was Ellecel.
He possessed a special power and endured even after experiencing the truth and destruction of the world.
Rather, he had a spirit of challenge.
Mars researched together with Ellecel.
And by chance, Mars discovered a certain ruin and obtained the final chance to escape the world.
He did so while keeping it a secret from Ellecel.
‘He discarded the companion who had been with him without hesitation.’
Looking at the past he had lived through, it wasn’t incomprehensible, but new victims he created appeared one after another all over the world.
And it seemed Ellecel began to be corrupted from that point on.