Meanwhile.

Imperial Capital City Gate.

……

Benn yawned.

As a member of the City Guard, when the captain told him with a straight face that their team had lost the entire month of vacation, Benn was full of resistance to the rest of the work. But after he received three times the overtime bonus, he was faintly hoping that this temporary overtime would last longer. No one hates silver coins, does they?

Benn is tasked with checking on travelers who enter the city. In Benn's opinion, it was a beautiful task to be able to show his majesty in front of all kinds of people who entered the city. Even those low-ranking nobles have to smile at themselves, which has never been seen before. Of course, it would be better if the work itself wasn't that tedious......

Benn is seventeen years old and has never left the imperial capital since he was born. His parents couldn't exempt him from military service, but they still managed to give the recruiter enough benefits to put Benn on the fat side of the local city guard. Idle, almost no danger, no need to leave the homeland, and can gain the respect of the neighbors, where can you find such a good thing?

Benn is also standing guard at the gates of the city today. Not many people came into the city. The sun shone on his face, making him feel a little sleepy. In contrast, the teams that went out of the city saw several. Benn knew they were going to the Ngor Manor on the outskirts of the imperial capital for tomorrow's funeral. If it weren't for the unexpected death of the old marquis, he would still be patrolling the streets of the city.

"Huh?"

The sound of horses' hooves in the distance, Benn suddenly came to his senses. A new team appeared in Benn's sight from near and far.

"Stop!" Benn shouted majestically.

The eight-man procession stopped. Benn saw them clearly. Except for a man wearing a silver mask whose true face was not clear, and who was dressed in a silver-gray priest's robe, the others were all dressed as warriors, and among them were three women.

"Dismount and be examined." Benn said.

"Bold! Who do you think you're talking to? A woman in silver armor in the middle of the team was furious.

The black-haired woman at the front of the line waved her hand, and the silver-armored woman remained silent. The dark-haired woman appeared to be no more than twenty years old, dressed in a dark purple blouse and trousers, leather bracers and knee pads, riding boots, and a sword at her waist.

"There shouldn't be such a rule in Phoenix." The brunette woman said calmly.

"Originally, no," Benn said with a cold face, "now there is." ”

The masked man let out a low laugh.

"Let them check, Lizzie," the masked man said, "I don't have anything to hide, do we?" ”

"Don't call my name so casually." Lizzie muttered.

Benn scrutinized the men. Except for the masked man and the black-haired woman, everyone else was dressed in neat leather or chain mail. Ben En suddenly had a suddenness in his heart: he originally thought that these people were "Wild Roses" who might belong to the Mercenary Guild, but ......

"Where are you from?" Benn asked, "Who's your boss?" ”

"Floating Sands, Speaker of the Occade Federation, under Nicolas Best," the brunette said calmly, "Admiral Lizzie Clemens. This one," she said, referring to the masked man who was walking with her, "is also from Okad, and is an envoy of His Majesty the Pope." Here's our ID. ”

“……”

Facing the document with the golden seal that Lijie took out, Ben En was stunned in place for three seconds. Then he finally remembered......

The captain did say that. In the next few days, Okad's emissaries will arrive from afar. Why...... Did you forget?

"I'm sorry!" Benn bowed so that his whole body turned into a right angle, "You guys, I shouldn't doubt you - you can pass now-"

Lijie and the masked man looked at each other.

"Within the scope of duty, there is no need to apologize. Drive! Lijie said, the first to ride into the city. The masked man and others followed.

Benn breathed a sigh of relief. These bigwigs look very stern, but they shouldn't be too much trouble for their own minions......

But he never expected that the masked man didn't run a few steps, and suddenly grabbed the reins and stopped.

"Guard," the masked man said, turning back, "I ask you." ”

"Huh? What the? Adult...... Benn was taken aback.

"You're so guarded," the masked man asked, "is there something going on in the city?" ”

"Ah...... It is so," said Benn, "that the old Marquis of Engor had died a few days ago. It's like a murdered ......"

"Murdered? The killer hasn't been found yet, has he? ”

"That's right...... The entire Imperial Capital Library was burned down. The Old Marquis of Engor was among them. ”

"Tell me the address of the library." Said the masked man.

……

Ruins of the Imperial Capital Library.

Let Lijie and her entourage go to the residence first, and the masked man arrives here.

It's so miserable...... Looking at the remaining ruins of the raging fire, the masked man thought to himself. How many books have been burned? This must be a huge loss—many people simply don't understand that the death of a high-ranking nobleman is nothing compared to the library—

"Huh?" The masked man turned his head suddenly. Among the ruins, there is not only one, but also a gray-robed young man.

Errios-style gray robe, the masked man thought. He is not an Imperial. Why is it here?

He walked towards the gray-robed youth.

"Hello." He beckoned.

The gray-robed young man turned his head to look at him. Seeing the mask of "Eternal Blood", the gray-robed young man couldn't help but show surprise.

"My face burned in a fire." The masked man casually made up a nonsense.

"Hello." The gray-robed young man said and stretched out his hand to shake hands with the masked man.

This gray-robed young man is, of course, John Goth.

"Are you here to mourn the dead, Mr. Reverend?" Goth asked. The masked man was still wearing a priest's robe.

"I'm definitely remembering. But it's not just people who are remembered. The masked man replied.

"Oh?" Goth raised an eyebrow.

"I am mourning the death of 100,000 books," said the masked man, "and every book that has poured the author's heart and soul into it is a living life, sir." ”

Even if he was as indifferent as Goth, he couldn't help but be shocked when he listened to the words of the masked man.

"You're right." Goth said.

"It's not the first time you've heard someone say that, sir?"

"Maybe. However, there is one guy who will probably agree with you. ”

"There's a guy? Who? ”

"A friend of mine," Goert said vaguely, "I always had the feeling that she would say the same thing as you. ”

It seems that the people of "this world" are not all so boring, the masked man thought. However, he now has more important things to confirm.

"What about you?" The masked man asked, "You don't look like you're from the Imperial, either. What is an Elrios doing here? ”

"Oh, I'm looking for more clues."

"An Elrios practicing as a detective in the Empire?"

"Apparently I'm thinking too much," Goth shook his head, "the Empire has searched this place to the fullest. I couldn't find anything of value. ”

"If they hadn't finished their investigation, how would it have been your turn to be here tossing around," the masked man smiled dumbly, "Is there any speculation in the market?" ”

"Nothing more than suspicion of those who benefited from the death of the old marquis. There are also those who doubt Okad. ”

"But Okade isn't a murderer." Said the masked man.

"Look at the way you swear, is there any evidence?"

"I'm a member of the Okadian Legation myself," said the masked man, who didn't feel the need to hide his identity, "but I've never heard of it." If this case is related to Okad, aren't we going to be hostages? ”

"Hey, dude, is it appropriate for you to tell me this?" Goth asked in surprise.

"I'm not here on a secret mission," the masked man shook his head, "Neither of us is from the Empire, so we can just pray in our hearts that the case will be solved soon." Now I have to go. If you want to find me, you can easily find out the address of the Okad Mission. ”

Goth watched his figure disappear.

……

"Can't find ...... Anything of value...... Is it? The gray-robed young man smiled bitterly.

Just now he lied to the masked man. While the Empire's investigators were at a loss, the first-day genius mage of the continent did find a clue about who was behind the scenes in the ruins, however, that was not the result he expected.

"Brother." Goth muttered to himself.