Hello, is this a letter addressed to Demon Fortress?

"Thump."

The sound was muffled, coming from deep within the house.

Lin Gui instantly became alert, took a few steps back, and nimbly hid behind Eve.

Eve, who had initially been on guard, was left speechless by his smooth and effortless movements, leaving her both amused and exasperated.

She recalled how, in the Blackwater Church, when facing Rogge's attack, Lin Gui had used Shia as a shield against an arrow.

Although I know he was acting purely out of rational judgment...

"Mr. Lin Gui, your masculinity... is almost gone." She sighed softly.

Lin Gui, who was hiding behind him, did not respond.

He murmured rapidly, simultaneously spreading his [Wind Listening Technique] and magical perception towards the source of the sound.

……No?

The sensory feedback is completely blank.

Could it be that the wind blew down a piece of rotten wood?

He reached out from Eve's waist, his fingertips twitching slightly.

[Floating Spell] Gently brush aside the scattered wood and rubble on the ground.

At the edge of the horizon, in the dust piled up in the corner—

A glass bead lay quietly.

Lin Gui raised an eyebrow.

The bead flew into his palm under his control.

It has a warm, smooth feel and is exceptionally clean.

In these dusty ruins, its cleanliness is somewhat jarring.

He examined it for a moment but couldn't see anything special about it.

Check the area where the sound just came from again.

There was nothing special about it.

So, it must be that some part of the wooden house fell off on its own.

Lin Gui felt slightly relieved.

Looking at the beads in my hand.

After thinking about it, I decided to put it in my pocket.

"Let's go, we might have misheard."

He turned around, ready to call Eve away.

Just then—

【Ding! 】

The special commission, "The Letter from Moro Troy," has been completed.

[The reward "Long-Distance Random Space Teleportation Scroll x1" has been sent to your space.]

Lin Gui: "??????"

He paused, his face showing utter bewilderment.

Ask the system in your mind.

"The mission is complete?? When? I haven't even taken out the letter and handed it to the recipient."

"I didn't even see a trace of the recipient."

The system is silent.

Lin Gui pressed for more information, but to no avail.

He focused his gaze inward on the storage space.

There was indeed an old-fashioned scroll inside, floating quietly.

He opened his right hand, and a thought stirred within him.

The scroll appeared out of thin air in his palm.

The reel is about the length of a forearm.

Made of an unknown leather with a dark silver color and a cool, supple feel.

Both ends are inlaid with delicate, dark bone buckles.

The surface shimmered with a faint, starlight-like glow.

Lin Gui carefully unfastened the bone clasp and slowly unfolded it.

The "runes" inside came into view.

After examining the area, Lin Gui frowned deeply.

These are not any texts from the current Buddhist tradition.

It wasn't even any magical rune he knew of.

The lines were twisted and ancient, like the shadows of living creatures wriggling and intertwining on their own.

It's like a crack frozen in a broken spacetime.

Profound and obscure, with a sense of disorder that strikes straight to the soul.

He examined it carefully for quite a while.

Aside from being able to vaguely discern a few basic "magic anchors" and "energy conduits" structures, the rest was completely incomprehensible.

Just then, the system's notification sound on the tablet suddenly rang again.

[Additional Note: This magic scroll has an expiration date. Please use it within two months, otherwise it will expire.]

Lin Gui was speechless: "...Why didn't you answer when I asked you a question?"

The system feigned death again, which Lin Gui had become accustomed to.

Aside from the initial binding, he will come out and exchange a few words with Lin Gui.

Now, it has virtually no presence.

The scroll has an expiration date, which Lin Gui, as a mage, naturally knew.

But "two months"? That's ridiculously long.

He remembered even the lowest-level beginner magic scroll.

The optimal shelf life rarely exceeds fourteen days.

The higher the magical rank, the more complex its structure.

The more unstable the magic and structure sealed within its scroll, the less stable it becomes.

The shorter the shelf life, the better.

He once attempted to create a scroll of "The Night's Veil".

It can be stored for approximately 7 days.

Putting these doubts aside, Lin Gui stared at the scroll in his hand.

I still can't believe the mission is complete.

The whole process had a strange feel to it.

The letter was still in his pocket, the room was deserted, yet the mission was completed in an instant.

This does not conform to the basic logic of "delivering to the recipient".

When delivering a letter to Rona, it was considered complete only when it was handed directly to her.

He was frowning in thought when he felt a soft breath on his shoulder.

Eve leaned over, her gaze falling on the unfolded scroll.

A hint of curiosity flashed in her purple eyes, followed by a slight furrowing of her delicate brows.

"The 'text' on this..." she said softly, her tone uncertain.

"I think I've glimpsed similar traces on fragments of the oldest forbidden documents in the Vatican."

"Lin Gui, where did you get this scroll from?"

Lin Gui looked at Eve in surprise.

"Do you recognize the... writing on this?"

Eve tilted her head slightly, recalling for a moment.

"Not in conventional magical or theological texts."

"I glimpsed it in the church's 'Abyss Forbidden Zone' library, in a rare book without a cover, with pages made of unknown metal sheets."

She described it with an academic-like caution.

"The book's material resembles a kind of grayish-white, flexible metal."

"The engravings on it have a certain similar charm to the patterns on your scroll."

"But it does not belong to any existing known religious system."

"According to the speculations of the senior scholars of the Institute of Historical Research, it may have come from a... ancient divine civilization that has long been extinct."

"Those characters are extremely complex and cannot be analyzed using any existing language rules."

"So that book was basically ignored, and very few people even knew it existed."

Lin Gui found it even stranger: "Then how could you...?"

Eve shrugged, a shy yet slightly proud smile on her face.

"The church's central library has a total of 15,403 books."

"During the seven years I was a candidate for sainthood and underwent discipline training... I read almost everything."

She looked at the leaden clouds above the distant ruins, her voice softening.

"Actually, if I had a choice..."

"My dream is to be a librarian."

"Quiet, undisturbed, I can spend my days tidying up my books and basking in the sun. How wonderful!"

She paused, looked at Lin Gui, and asked.

Are you interested in that book?

"Yes," Lin Gui answered readily.

The [Spatial Power] physique awarded by the system gave him the possibility of learning spatial magic.

However, the relevant knowledge has been almost completely lost in the current magic system.

Every clue is invaluable.

Eve smiled, a hint of slyness in her expression.

"The Vatican's library is permanently reinforced and protected by multiple layers of [barrier stones], and is under the divine protection of the archbishop level."

"Sneaking in... is almost impossible."

Lin Gui exclaimed in surprise, "Using a barrier stone to protect the library? That's so extravagant!"

Eve sighed softly, "That was the first religion to plunder the wealth of believers across the entire continent."

"So," she pointed to herself, "to see that book, you need someone with sufficient authority within the church to help you."

"for example--"

Her lips curved slightly.

"I."

"If you can reach Dawn City and find me before the 'Hero's Conquest' begins next year..."

"Or after that."

"Perhaps I can find a way to take you inside and have a look."