After reaching the maximum level, my "soft rice system" finally arrived.

The newly appointed dean quickly nodded in agreement.

After Tevez spoke, the other bidders fell completely silent.

Most of those who will be interested in the items to be auctioned and attend the auction are wizards.

Although the Black Tower imposes almost no constraints or restrictions on wizards, it is, after all, a sacred place in the hearts of spellcasters in the Western Continent.

As the tower master of the Black Tower's branch tower in the Empire, Tevis naturally held a transcendent position.

Moreover, His Majesty Charles is the chief of the Black Tower, so it is perfectly reasonable and beyond reproach for the Black Tower to reclaim the artifacts.

Tevis looked around the quiet auction hall, quite satisfied.

In the past, Tevez, who was considered a "salted fish," might not have participated in this auction.

However, His Majesty Charles's earlier demonstration in the light screen truly touched him, rekindling his passion for the path of arcane magic.

Having discovered such an opportunity, I naturally wouldn't miss it.

Who knows, I might discover some secret in those three notes and find the opportunity to advance to the legendary level?

However, just when Tevez was confident that he could win the auction item, reality slapped him hard in the face.

"I'll offer 100,000 gold coins."

Countless people looked in the direction of the sound and saw only a refined old man dressed in red and wearing gold-rimmed glasses—

The cardinal of the Dawn Church.

……

"Hey, hey, hey, you're a priest, you can play around with divine magic, but what's the difference between giving you that note and a blank book?"

"Do you even understand arcane magic? If you do, you're just wasting its potential!"

"Stop deliberately trying to disgust people!"

The cardinal listened with a smile to Tevis's furious voice transmission through the telepathic magic crystal, feeling quite pleased.

He genuinely didn't understand arcane magic, and he wasn't interested in those notes at all—

But there are people in the Dawn Church who are interested.

Everyone in the high echelons of the Papacy knew that the Dawn Saintess, the future High Priestess Sylvia, had one great passion: collecting all sorts of items related to Charles.

He even anonymously visited the Golem School at the Black Tower and spent a lot of money to commission figurines and body pillows based on Ciel.

The cardinal looked at Tevis, who was still completely bewildered at the other end of the auction and thought he was just there to cause trouble. He couldn't help but feel that he had successfully turned the tide after his previous failure in the illusionary test.

What's the use of just studying by rote? When it comes to emotional intelligence, I'm a peak you can never surpass in your entire life.

The cardinal smiled and took a sip of tea. It felt great to be in control of the emotional intelligence situation. Indeed, the strong should ruthlessly humiliate the weak!

I must say, this tea is actually quite delicious.

……

The bidding between Archmage Tevis and the Cardinal continued for several more rounds.

However, it is clear that although their identities, strengths, and statuses are not significantly different—

As a wizard of the Black Tower, Ketevis spends a lot of money every day on magical materials for arcane research and spell experiments. In terms of wealth, he is obviously no match for the Dawn Church.

Sure enough, after only a few rounds, Tevez was defeated, and the cardinal snapped up all three slips of paper.

The auctioneer, seizing the opportunity, quickly introduced a new item for auction.

"This item was discovered by the hotel owner along with the three previous notes—"

"After our Shadow Council's investigation, we can confirm that it was also made by His Majesty Charles."

"However, unlike those three slips of paper, the language used in this book... does not seem to be any common language known on the Western Continent."

The auctioneer carefully placed his new item on the auction table.

This is a somewhat worn diary, which, like the three notes from before, is also protected within a miniature magical field.

Ciel, who had been passing the time by watching the drama unfold, could no longer sit still.

On the cover of that diary was a line of text written in Chinese—

The Forbidden Codex of the Dark Swordsman

Chapter Thirty-One: The Dragon of the Night

Anyone who has just experienced time travel will inevitably experience some emotional ups and downs.

Moreover, this is a different world where swords and magic exist.

The same was true for Xia Er at the beginning of his transmigration.

While they wouldn't become so complacent as to lose their senses, it's understandable that adventurers would have some wild thoughts during their leisure time.

According to Vimer's teacher, the master of the Black Tower, magic is the process of manipulating magical power with the mind to materialize fantasy into reality.

In layman's terms—that means if you don't have a talent for being a bit of a chuunibyou (a person with delusions of grandeur), you really can't be a qualified wizard.

But even so—

When that chuunibyou diary filled with phrases like "blacker than pitch black, deeper than the abyss," "the blood of every king must end with a sword," "Heaven creates all things to nourish man, yet man has nothing to repay Heaven," and "when Yin and Yang are in chaos, I will stain the blue sky with my demonic blood," actually appeared before him, Xia Er still felt a little uneasy.

"calm."

"The total number of words in that diary is only a few thousand."

"From a rational perspective, even the most brilliant linguist could not decipher a completely new language with such a small sample size without any reference."

Charles muttered to himself.

However, there are always exceptions to every rule.

The book "The Forbidden Holy Scripture of the Dark Swordsman" was allowed to circulate among various scholars, who studied it repeatedly, and it was even used as lecture notes in classrooms...

This scene is just too beautiful.

So no matter what, this thing has to be taken back.

He looked at the faint shadows cast by the tables and chairs beside him under the bright beam of the magic spotlight, and spoke.

"Augutia, come out, stop eavesdropping."

……

"The problem with this diary is that no one can decipher the text."

"Even the ancient language experts specially hired by our Shadow Council cannot determine the types of languages ​​in the diary."

"However, even though the inscription is illegible, it still has extremely high collection value as an artifact once used by His Majesty Charles."

"Starting price..."

The auctioneer's voice abruptly stopped.

He made a listening gesture, then nodded.

Then, the auctioneer said apologetically, "I'm sorry, everyone, we have just received notice that the consignment auction of this item has been cancelled."

The auction hall erupted in uproar, with Archmage Tevis being particularly displeased.

He had just lost the previous item to a cardinal at auction, and was hoping that the cardinal wouldn't have enough money to buy the remaining one, but the cardinal simply refused to sell it.

"Is this how your Shadow Council treats its guests?"

"This is a decision made by our leader."

Tevez immediately fell silent.

There was no way around it; the leader of the Shadow Council, the Queen of the Night, was a legendary figure renowned throughout the Western Continent.

Even if he hadn't reached the legendary level yet, he would most likely be outmatched if he encountered the opponent.

The auction ended with many guests sighing that they felt it was not enough.

……

On the other side, Charles sat on the sofa and took the old diary from the waiter.

【Palavis. Spatial Sealing Technique】

[Hidden Third Protection]

【Wimers. The Disturbance of Fate】

Xia Er unleashed three consecutive spells of level eight or higher.

【Palavis. Spatial Sealing Technique】Anchors the space around the diary with a layer of shackles at the level of rules, so that no one can access the diary unless they forcibly break through the spatial seal.

The "Hidden Third Blessing" keeps this diary "hidden" at the cognitive level. Unless one possesses similar powers, an ordinary person would not discover its existence even if they walked right up to it.

【Vimers. Fate Disruption】is a genuine forbidden spell, created by Vimers, the master of the Black Tower. It can interfere with all divination and prophecy abilities and render them ineffective.

After doing all this, Charles threw the diary into the sub-plane.

Then, he turned his head and looked at the illusory figure woven from black shadows in front of him.

"Your Majesty Charles paid no attention to the notes when he auctioned them off, but it was only when he saw this diary that he suddenly remembered to look for me—"