A brave man may not live, but he cannot die

Chapter 289 Forbidden Archives (Bonus chapter for Alliance Leader July singing a love song)

Amamiya Nene lifted her hand from the top of the eyeless toad stone sculpture's head.

A faint white light flashed, and Nibelungen passed the Mana access verification. The heavy double stone doors of the Whale Skeleton Library's restricted book area slowly opened for her.

This restricted book section is different from the restricted book section at the highest point.

There are no access restrictions to the restricted area near the whale skull. Anyone who can withstand the terrifying pressure can fly to the skull on a broomstick and browse through the books. Even first-year students can do so.

The books in the forbidden section at the top contain "knowledge," forbidden arcane arts, witchcraft, ancient arcane arts, magical insights, and secret methods that can bring disaster. Being able to fly to the top means that the person turning the pages has the strength to withstand the backlash of knowledge; the heavy pressure is just a restriction set up for safety reasons.

But this restricted book section is different.

This forbidden area, located at the heart of the whale skeleton, is accessible only by stairs but is encased in thick stone walls. Without a guide, students would never know that behind these walls lies a secret chamber, protected by the Nibelungen and one of the safest areas within Grindelwald Castle.

What is preserved here is not "knowledge".

It is "record".

Records from before the Common Era, records of arcane experiments, records from the early years of the Divine Calendar, and records of calamities—these are all records that cannot be made public. Once they are known to the world, they could very well cause chaos and collapse of the existing order. Even the mere fact that some of these things are "known" will attract the attention of unspeakable beings.
Amamiya Nene picked up the sleeping Wangcai and entered Grindelwald's Forbidden Archives.

The moment she stepped inside, the light in the library distorted slightly, as if all the light was focused on the furry white creature in Amamiya Nene's arms—Nibelungen's security check on Wangcai. In just a moment, the light returned to normal, allowing Amamiya Nene to carry it inside.

She seemed to have entered a forest.

The entire library is enveloped by tree roots and green leaves, roughly the size of a three-story building. Rows of bookshelves are embedded within the tree roots, and a huge oil painting hangs in the central courtyard, depicting a sun that seems to radiate light just like a real sun. The library is as bright as day, with warm sunlight streaming in. Complete sets or unique ancient books are displayed on the shelves, and huge vines weave a staircase for people to go up and down.

It's like a fairy tale world; it doesn't have any special decorations or soft furnishings, yet it has a vibrant beauty.

"Oh~WHO~fucking~coming?"

It was exceptionally damp, which made one think of the voice of a muscular man in a thong coming from the side.

At the very center of the forbidden archives, on a stone pedestal, lay a towering cashmere mat, inlaid with jewels and silks. This magnificent mat, meant to hold crowns or rare jewels, now bore only a pointed wizard's hat.

The sound came from the mouth of the hat.

Greetings, Your Excellency Meilinmao.

Amamiya Nene lifted the sides of her cheongsam, her slender waist slightly bent, and her impeccable greeting seemed to elevate the entire library.

“What a rare guest,” Merlin said.

Logically, even professors are not allowed to enter this place without permission; the minimum entry threshold for the Forbidden Archives is the department head. However, the head of the Divination Department appointed Amamiya Nene as his proxy before going out, which allowed her to enter.

"I'd like to look up some information about cults. Where can I find it?"

The tip of the Merlin hat turned around and pointed to the upper right.

"The second floor, rows four, five, and six are all there."

Amamiya Nene nodded in acknowledgment and prepared to walk up the vines.

"It's a bit chilly upstairs. That old hag Tirecia turned this place into something like the Elven library, with a 'springtime' breeze blowing up there. You're dressed too lightly; get another blanket—"

As soon as Merlin Hat finished speaking, a brand-new brown Persian blanket appeared out of nowhere and landed on Amamiya Nene's shoulders. Even Wangcai had a small blanket to cover it.

Amamiya Nene was slightly surprised. This was not the abyss that suppressed mystery, yet she did not sense any trace of arcane or magical operation.

"Thank you," she said sincerely.

Blankets serve more than just the function of keeping warm.

It can also protect her from the harmful effects of some taboo knowledge.

Watching Amamiya Nene's slender back and two shapely legs in black stockings as she climbed the stairs, Merlin Hat let out a meaningful yet extremely lewd sound: "Hmm~~~"

"That fat pig Amamiya Tetsuya could produce such a perfect offspring; the goddess's chosen partners are all top-notch. It's a pity she's a man."

Amamiya Nene did not hear these words she was talking to herself.

She arrived at the second floor of the forbidden archives, where several rows of bookshelves embedded in dark tree roots contained books from the Church.

"List of Zoroastrian Relics"; "Translated Notes of the Knights Templar Witch Hunt, Vol. 12"; "Introduction to the Dragon Genealogy: The Lies of the Dragon Lord"; "Refreshing: The Only Purpose of the Cross"; "The Connection Between Dungeon Architectural Features and Ancient Era Savage Worship"; "Some Studies on Whether the Origin of the Church of Light is Zoroastrianism"; "Speculation on the Location of the World Tree Remains".
These books make it easy to see why the cultists were so dissatisfied with Grindelwald College.

It's not just the atheistic views generally held by the faculty and students of the college, but also their attitude towards "studying" the divine.

Blind faith and science are inherently in conflict. If the rigorous approach used to study arcane arts were applied to theology, few religious texts would withstand scrutiny and questioning.

If these books were placed in the outside world, they would be forbidden books that would frighten orthodox religions even more than cult scriptures. Those who possess these books would not be subject to any trial, but would simply disappear silently, along with those who had read, heard of, or even only knew the titles of the books.

But these are not what Amamiya Nene is looking for.

These ancient historical records are mostly about the Papacy, followed by a 'Zoroastrianism' that doesn't exist in modern times and no one has even heard of it, and then the Eternal Church and the Church of the Dead, which are ancient religions with pre-ancient histories.

The books of the Guishu Divine Sect and the Bai Sect are particularly few.

It wasn't until Amamiya Nene found the second row of bookshelves that she spotted a book in the corner titled "The Origin and Development of the White Religion and the Empire's Feud." The book appeared to be handwritten, and the fancy yet highly artistic font made it easy to tell that the author was a Philistine.

Amamiya Nene's eyes lit up; this was exactly what she was looking for.

The reason why the seven major orthodox religions are orthodox religions is because the "Saviour Covenant" stipulates that these seven deities have the right to freely preach in the world of the Sun God.

The beliefs of monarchs in different countries are not uniform; each has its own state religion. However, the state religion only enjoys the advantage of being supported by its own government and does not hinder the proselytizing of other religions. This is the case in most countries, where people enjoy apparent freedom of religion. However, there are exceptions.

In the Felicid Empire, only the Church of the Returning Tree had the right to proselytize. Apart from that, only the Papacy was allowed to establish churches in major cities, but was not permitted to travel outside to preach. Other religions fared even worse; they were not even allowed to have churches, and were only permitted to have a small house in the imperial capital as an office for foreign tourists to visit.

The White Sect, which has the best relationship with the ruling class and the most abundant wealth, doesn't even have an office.

On the map of the White Sect, in the world's largest country on the northern frozen tundra, not a single statue of a goddess can be found.

Southern countries often use this to criticize the imperial government for interfering with freedom of religion, but the empire ignores everyone, which is extremely despicable.

As a result, despite its vigorous missionary work over the years, the Guishu Church has not achieved good results and, like the Empire, has been regarded as a barbaric and backward religion by the progressive people of the Southern Continent.

Amamiya Nene turned to the first page, and her eyes flickered slightly the moment she saw the introduction.

"In the year 607 of the Divine Calendar, a follower of the White Cult attempted to mate with the newly appointed Prime Minister, but failed due to misjudging the Prime Minister's gender. His Majesty was furious upon learning of this and the following day ordered the destruction of all statues of the Holy Spirit and Goddess throughout the Empire. The White Cult's resident bishop in the Empire, Span, protested in court but was executed by His Majesty in front of all his ministers."

Amamiya Nene sat on the floor with a book in her hands, leaning against the sleeping Wangcai, and began to read in the sunlight.

An hour later, she closed the book with a strange expression.

This unofficial history is a bit too far-fetched.

It's not because Amamiya Nene is a follower of the White Religion and can't stand people slandering her faith, but because the content of this book is completely absurd.

A young girl, prepared by the White Sect, sought out the Imperial Chancellor, only to discover that he was actually a woman. She tried to leave but was caught, and the Chancellor's sexual orientation was described as ambiguous.
The reason the emperor discovered it was because he was also in the prime minister's bed, and upon seeing the two of them making love, he flew into a rage.
The emperor slaughtered followers of the White Cult, publicly declaring, "Goddess, I want to *you*—", indulging in lewdness in broad daylight.
The rest of the content mostly describes how cruel the emperor was, how pitiful the followers of the White Religion were, and how the emperor instructed civil officials to publish a large number of erotic fanfictions about him and the goddess.
In summary, the emperor's jealousy over a prime minister and a goddess led to the White Sect being expelled from the empire, and the methods he used were extremely despicable and unspeakable.

Not to mention in the White Religion, even in the Empire, this is definitely a forbidden book. Anyone with a little historical knowledge knows it's fake.

If the Empire were to actually do that, the White Cult's current attitude towards the Empire would not be one of indifference, but rather one of relentless confrontation.

Insulting a deity revered as supreme is the greatest taboo in any religion.

Amamiya Nene closed her eyes in thought. Her historical education was far broader than that of the average person; around 600 years into the Divine Calendar was indeed the time when the White Cult was expelled from the Empire. Not only the White Cult, but other religious sects suffered the same fate. Before that, they could preach normally within the Empire, but after a short period, they were subjected to a complete and ruthless suppression.
In 395, Merlin moved Mount Aishwell from the Philippian Empire in the north to the south. This relocation directly altered the timeline. With Grindelwald, who could train a large number of arcane mages for the empire, leaving, the empire was forced to withdraw from the World War, its ambitions to land in the south thwarted. The princess who came to Aishwell was not only there because of her admiration for the hero, but also as a gesture of goodwill from the emperor towards him; unfortunately, Merlin ignored it.

The subsequent Second War against the Demons severely damaged the empire's national strength. Furthermore, because the heroes settled in the southern continent, post-war social development and economic recovery were not possible in the north, plunging the Phileas Empire into a period of turmoil that lasted for two hundred years.

By the time the era of the Third Hero arrived, around the 600th year of the Divine Calendar, the empire was already teetering on the brink of collapse. Kings and nobles were divided, provinces were independent, and wealthy cities obeyed the central government of the empire but not its commands.
Amamiya Nene turned back to the first page of the book.

Their gaze fell upon the words "newly appointed prime minister".

Although she had never attended school, the tutors who came to tutor her were all renowned scholars, and her father often said things like "learning from history can correct one's appearance," so he changed the white-collar courses that should have been taught to history classes. As a result, Amamiya Nene's history foundation was not bad.

However, she was unaware that there had been a female prime minister in the history of the empire.

Regardless of her achievements, the fact that she was a woman alone deserves a full page in history books.

The year 607 of the Shenyun calendar.
Amamiya Nene's eyes lit up.

As a mage, she had an excellent memory. Although she didn't reach Quinn's level of photographic memory, she could still naturally recall related content when she saw keywords.

The year 607 marked the promulgation of the Imperial Restoration Law.

Historians believe the drafter of this law was the newly enthroned emperor. In the following five years, the empire quelled the internal strife with ruthless, almost perverse methods. Its subsequent development was remarkably rapid, advancing by leaps and bounds every five years; by 650, Philippi's steel production exceeded the combined output of all other nations in the southern continent.
Nearly eight hundred years later, the Western Continent regime, supported by the Empire, nearly crushed the Southern Alliance on the main battlefield. Had it not been for the sudden Mist Sea blockading the Northern Continent, the kings of the Southern Continent would likely be facing a more terrifying northern invader than during World War I, and they would no longer have any brave men to mediate the war.

Amamiya Nene has little interest in the history of the Empire.

But she knew that the fact that the academy had placed the book there meant that it wasn't all nonsense; it contained content that corresponded to history.

For example, the year corresponding to the "Revival Law".

The Imperial Government's aversion to the White Religion is so strong that it wouldn't even provide a place for White Religion believers to display their idols; this must be related to the reasons behind it.

Her gaze lingered for a long time on the word "combined" in "combined with the newly appointed prime minister."

Before entering the abyss, Amamiya Nene would have absolutely disregarded such absurd claims.

But at this very moment, she felt a fear within her.
curious.

She put the books back in their place and continued searching for historical records related to the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism.

Unfortunately, all the books she found were irrelevant to her purpose.

The scriptures of the White Sect are forged, pieced together, and fabricated.
The White Church is not the only religion to have been accused in this way; such accusations are common in these rows of bookshelves, and there are even absurd speculations such as that the sun in the sky is replaced every few hundred years.

Most of the scriptures of the religion come from before the Common Era, and the history before the Common Era is a blank in human society, so it is naturally impossible to verify.

But that doesn't mean it was all made up.

Amamiya Nene returned to the first floor.

When Merlin Hat noticed that she didn't bring Wangcai with her when she came down, he asked curiously, "Didn't you find it?"

“Merlin Hat Lady,” Amamiya Nene said calmly, “I don’t think the books here are all there is.”

"This collection of books is all you can see," Merlin the Hat replied calmly. "Some books were destroyed by Merlin. Knowing too much isn't necessarily a good thing. Just like those bad things buried by history, they may not seem so bad at this moment. What do you want to know?"

Amamiya Nene uttered four words:
"The Pleasure Cult".

(End of this chapter)