Chapter 379. Vincent, Twenty Years Older
The news hit like a boulder dropped into a still pond.
The common folk and the average citizens found these "Books of the Dead" to be merely novel and surprising. At most, some thought that if they could find the books of their deceased parents, they could flip through them to cherish their memory. A Book of the Dead only recorded a life; it wasn't as if reading a book would allow one to undergo a complete transformation or inherit the swordsmanship or magic the owner possessed in life. Thus, most people were just briefly amazed.
However, for those in high positions of power and wisdom, these Books of the Dead represented various monumental possibilities.
With a sudden start, the Emperor of the Empire, Vincent, stood up in total shock. His eyes were filled with possessiveness as he gazed longingly at the library within the Sage's Tower.
"No matter how many books are in Beatrice's Forbidden Library, it is only the knowledge of one person, Echidna. And Echidna clearly did not write down all of her knowledge in books."
"But this library is different. This library represents the knowledge of the entire world—at least, of everyone who has died from four hundred years ago until now."
"Knowledge is power!"
"Perhaps I could find a secret technique for unconditional immortality that was researched but never implemented. I could find something that would allow me to gain great power easily with minimal side effects."
"With all that knowledge and secret techniques combined, perhaps a plan could be formulated to weaken Reinhard to the extreme—enough for the 'Blue Lightning' to defeat him."
"Two of the legendary Three Heroes, Flugel and the First Sword Saint, are also dead. They once dealt with the Witch of Envy who possessed the 'Return by Death' authority. Their Books of the Dead might contain a way to counter 'Return by Death'."
"If I conquer the Sage's Tower and seize the library, I might be able to defeat both Reinhard and Hikigaya Hachiman."
"If I defeat the world's strongest men—the ultimate warrior and the ultimate strategist—I could lead the Holy Vollachian Empire to rule the entire world!"
Clenching his fists, Vincent's mutterings grew louder, and his body couldn't stop trembling.
A group of ministers also had eyes gleaming with greed, sinking into a beautiful fantasy. Only the "Blue Lightning" (Cecilus) let out a scoff. "Then here's the question: How do you plan to conquer the Sage's Tower?"
"—Gah!"
If the Empire couldn't find Meili, it would be impossible to break through the Augria Sand Dunes, let alone enter the Sage's Tower.
Vincent, his face darkening, waved his hand grandly: "Increase the bounty! Tell the people below to bring Meili to me immediately!"
Vincent was far from the only person who recognized the immense value of this library. The other three nations also began issuing bounties to find Meili.
In the projected future, Hikigaya Hachiman had spared Meili, so Felt and Anastasia didn't stop the Council of Sages from trying to recruit her; they were simply making their own secret preparations.
Once Meili and the "Bowel Hunter" arrived, they would secretly assassinate Elsa. This individual, who had committed numerous murders in the future "Original History" and the "IF" lines, absolutely could not be let go. Her execution priority was now second only to Echidna, Pandora, and Roswaal.
They weren't worried about Meili refusing to cooperate after Elsa's death; after all, there was already a precedent in the future. And if she truly refused, they would just execute her as well.
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「"Ah!"」
「Emilia let out a cry of excitement. She immediately wanted to rush out and find a book that could solve the Archbishop of Gluttony 's authority, but she was promptly doused with a bucket of cold water by her knight.」
「"Based on the experiments last night, Shaula and I both flipped through many books, but none of them pulled us in. Anastasia only succeeded once."」
「"The time she was pulled in was because the book she flipped through belonged to someone she knew in life—a woman Anastasia had met back in Kararagi with whom she had frequent dealings."」
「"Besides that, Anastasia also flipped through books of people whose names she had heard, but none of them pulled her in."」
「"So, it's basically confirmed: only if the reader knew the person the book belongs to and had a connection with them in life can they browse that person's entire life."」
「Upon hearing this harsh condition, Hachiman saw Emilia's head droop instantly as she fell into disappointment. If anyone present knew someone who could crack Gluttony's authority, they wouldn't have needed to come to the Sage's Tower in the first place.」
「"Even if we can't see a whole life in detail, just reading the written records in the books should yield some information." Ram, racking her brain for the sake of her sister and brother-in-law, offered a suggestion. "If we can find the Great Sage Flugel's Book of the Dead..."」
「"Unfortunately, that's impossible."」
「Hachiman shook his head. "All the Books of the Dead here are distributed randomly. They aren't organized by era, name, or historical achievement. Trying to find Flugel's book is like looking for a needle in a haystack."」
「Crusch, also trying to help Sir Hachiman, came up with a plan: "What if we leave for now and return with a massive army to search together?"」
「"Regarding that, I already spoke with Shaula last night." Hachiman pointed at Shaula. "She doesn't intend to cooperate."」
「"It's not that I don't want to cooperate, Master! It's all about the rules!" Shaula jumped up, looking aggrieved as she held up four fingers.」
「"There are four rules in the tower. First: It is forbidden to leave before the trials are over. Second: It is forbidden to violate the rules of the trials. Third: It is forbidden to disrespect the library. Fourth: It is forbidden to damage the tower."」
「"These are rules I must obey; I have no choice—if someone breaks a rule, I will lose control of myself and be forced to kill Master!"」
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"Gah!... How can such a thing be possible!"
The ambitious schemers across the world instantly withered.
Shaula's rules didn't matter much; they could just gather enough combat power to kill her. The real problem lay in those restrictions regarding the soul entering the book to view a life.
This immediately turned the library into something that was "tasteless to eat but a pity to throw away."
If they couldn't view the life and were limited to just the written text, a book of that thickness would, at most, provide an extremely crude description of what the person did. It was impossible for any legacy of knowledge to remain; it might not even record the time or location of their actions.
The "Blue Lightning" shrugged, looking with pity at his Emperor as he went from excitement to a frozen, open-mouthed stare, then to a face full of grief and indignation. Finally, as if he had aged twenty years, Vincent sat back down on his throne, trembling.
With those restrictions, only a fool would use the entire nation's strength to conquer the Sage's Tower.
Vincent uttered the only curse word he had spoken since the broadcast began.
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