Amber looked up, just in time for Gawain's calm, deep gaze.

"Again...... And then what? She couldn't help but ask curiously.

Gawain turned the next page of his travelogue, and in the mottled old notes, the last few paragraphs of the record gradually unfolded in front of the reader:

“…… Brian's answer instilled an inexplicable fear in me, and I believe that this fear had nothing to do with his words themselves—some kind of extra-experiential, transcendental 'hunch' brought about this fear, and I instinctively felt that Brian was referring to a rather bad situation, these shadow dwellers who were wandering on the edge of the dreams of the Deep, maintaining the boundaries of waking and dreaming, when they woke up en masse...... I'm afraid it's not a good thing for the material world.

The only good thing is that it doesn't seem like it's going to happen anytime soon – Brian replied. He said: "We will wake up eventually, but now it seems that this stage is still far away, the dream of the deep world was once on the verge of awakening, but not long ago, it has regained its stability, and this stability may last for a long time.

I asked him what was causing the Deep Dream to fluctuate, what kept it awake, and what made it steady again—but Brian didn't answer, and he went back to dreaming and wandering. I've tried a few more times, including with other Shadow Dwellers, and the results have been pretty much the same, and it seems that as soon as this is touched, they immediately go into deeper dreams...... This further exacerbated my uneasiness.

"X-month-X-day...... Investigations that have been headless for days without progress are frustrating, and even more frustrating...... I found myself at the point where I had to leave.

"Unconsciously, I have been stuck in this world dominated by the shadow forces for too long, and even if there is a chance to return to the material world to recuperate, I am still under the influence of the shadow forces here - in the absence of meat. With the body as the 'foundation', the loss and assimilation of the soul is more rapid than expected, and if I don't return, I am afraid that my soul will be irreversibly damaged, and even ...... Always be a part of it.

"On the Xth of the Xth, it's time to say goodbye, to Bryan, to the other Shadow Dwellers, and even though we're not a race, and even though I've lurked around them in disguise, I've had a fulfilling time with these mysterious creatures...... They were unsettling, but they also brought me unimaginable knowledge that I think I will always remember and of these special 'friends'.

"Before leaving, I'll fade into my Shadow Soul form and say goodbye to Brian head-on, which is a bit risky, but more in line with my principles, and I think ...... At least a few days together can change something, these shadow dwellers also have reason and memory, maybe they will also accept me as a special 'friend'......

"X month X day, I didn't fight.

"Forget it, so be it, any journey has an end, at least the journey is extraordinarily fulfilling. It's time for me to go back to old Malfoy and get my body back—goodbye, Shadowworld. ”

"That's the end of the main record," Gawain looked up from his travelogue and looked into Amber's eyes, "and two short passages after that, Mordir-Wilde mentioned that he had returned to the Shadow Realm once again after his body had recovered, but he had not been able to find the Shadow Dwellers again—they seemed to have wandered somewhere else. In the years that followed, as he grew old and devoted most of his energy to sorting out his early notes, he never returned. ”

Amber opened her mouth, but said nothing, she took a step back, went to the chair next to the desk, sat down, and stared blankly at the travelogue on the high desk, looking a little lost.

The text on this...... "There's a lot to be revealed," Gawain said, "a lot of information about the Shadow Realm, about the Shadow Dwellers...... And the mysterious shallow and deep realms. But I think the most important thing for you...... It should be ......"

"A member who 'woke up' early and disappeared from the sight of his clan...... That must be me," Amber took a breath that seemed to reinvigorate herself, gesturing at herself, "Judging by the timeline, I should have been asleep in the Shadowkeep during Mordir's active years...... In the form of an artificial human embryo. The scholars of the Gondor Empire captured the souls of the Shadow Dwellers and succeeded in infusing one of them into the androids, and that's how I came to be. ”

"Yes, we all know about it," Gawain nodded, "and now it seems that your adoptive father must have learned about part of Mordir's travels from some source, and learned that it might mention your background, so he took the risk of stealing it." ”

"But it's not worth it," Amber whispered, looking at the Modil travelogue, as if talking to herself, "and what goes on here...... What is worth it! I don't care where I came to be, isn't it good to live in seclusion in the countryside? ”

"But he probably felt the need," Gawain shook his head, "and he was probably not sure what was really going on in this travelogue, let alone that he would miss it, and it wasn't something he could decide in advance." ”

Amber couldn't help but mutter: "He's a fool, his life in the countryside has long since worn out his skills as a hidden knight, but he still thinks that he is the elite royal shadow guard back then......"

“…… This mentions the 'birth' of the Shadow Dwellers," Gawain glanced at Amber and did not say anything comforting, but went straight to something else, "They were born in a dream in the 'Deep', and the persistence of this dream keeps them in their current state, they wander the Shadow Realm, in fact, on the border between dreams and lucidity...... Do you understand what that means? ”

Amber thought for a moment and shook her head, "I don't know - while I can communicate with the Shadow Dwellers, they never told me about it, but I can ask if I have the chance." ”

Then she added: "Of course, I have some conjectures of my own...... I think the Shadow Dwellers' description of the 'Deep' and 'Dreams of the Deep' is likely to be related to a place......"

Gawain frowned, and quickly guessed what Amber meant based on the information he had: "You mean...... The Shadow Realm? ”

"If the present world we live in is a 'shallow realm' for the Shadow Dwellers, and if the Shadow Realm is an 'intermediate layer' between the Deep and the Shallow Realms for them, then the Shadow Realm ...... It's very likely that it's what they call the 'Deep Realm'," Amber said, nodding her head, "In terms of spatial relationships, the Shadow Realm is also the deepest place among the 'Realms' that we know so far, so this aspect is still very possible. ”

"And what is their so-called 'Dream of the Deep'?" Gawain frowned and said, "The Shadow Realm is empty...... So far, we haven't found anything there, let alone any dreams, other than a nature god hiding inside. ”

"You say, does that giant deer Ammon know something?" Amber said as she pondered, "It seems like he's been in the Shadow Realm for a long time, and as a god, he should know more than we do. ”

"If I could, I would like to avoid 'knowledge' from Ammon as much as possible," Gawain thought for a moment and said very seriously, "My intuition tells me that there is a great deal of risk in this—the risk does not come from Armon's 'malice', but some kind of 'law' that even Ammon himself cannot control. Since ancient times, countless mortals have suffered terrible fates after being overexposed to the knowledge of the gods, and asking the gods questions is itself a strategy.

"Of course, if there is no way to do it in the end, and we urgently need to dig into the secrets of the Shadow Realm, then asking Ammon is an option, but until then...... We'd better share this information with the scholars of the Empire first, so that they can find a way to solve this problem with the 'wisdom of mortals'. ”

"Well, that's what you said," Amber waved her hand, and then seemed to think of something, "By the way, I had one more thing in mind...... You say this 'deep world', is it related to the 'deep sea' mentioned by Amone? ”

"Actually, I was skeptical at first," Gawain frowned, "but I always felt that the 'deep sea' that Amone took so seriously shouldn't be such a simple thing. If the Shadow Realm were the deep sea or the entrance to the deep sea...... Why does Ammon say that no mortal has been able to touch the deep sea since ancient times, and even the gods are just ripples in the deep sea? ”

Amber thought about it seriously, and felt that Gawain's statement was also reasonable, and she thought about it for a long time with a serious expression, and finally sighed as if she gave up, stretched her limbs and collapsed in the chair without any image: "Hey...... I feel like my head hurts...... It's all a mess. I'm telling you, I'm not fit to think about this kind of question......"

Gawain couldn't help but smile and glance at the imperial shame - it seemed that this guy had recovered.

Then he turned his gaze back to the Modil Travelogue, and after two seconds of thought, he looked at Amber and broke the silence: "Now it's time to study what to do with this travelogue......

Amber subconsciously followed Gawain's gaze and glanced at the old book with a mottled cover, and for a moment, she seemed to want to reach out, but before she could put it into action, she laughed and shook her head: "What else to discuss—of course, it is to return the things to their original owners, according to the regulations, just return them to the duchess of ice after making a copy, anyway, most of the pages in this book are Modir's travels...... It's a big deal that you can take out the irrelevant content and then return it to her. ”

Gawain glanced at the imperial shame with some surprise: "I thought you would want to keep it." ”

“…… Actually, I really thought about it for a moment," Amber pursed her lips and slumped lazily in her chair, "After all, my adoptive father lost his life for such a broken book, but after thinking about it...... What does this book have to do with me? It was just a note left by an adventurer who had nothing to do with me after an adventure that had nothing to do with me, and it happened to be about my original race...... I have no reason to encroach on someone else's stuff for that. ”

Gawain suddenly became even more surprised: "These are not like the words of a man who once vowed to be the number one thief in the South - you didn't do that when you dug my grave. ”

Amber waved her hand again and again when she heard it: "Don't mention it, don't mention it, I dug a grave and was seized by stolen goods, and my last career was over at that time, okay......"

Gawain: "......"

After two seconds of calm thought, he glanced at the Guardian Shield and the Pioneer Sword placed not far away, "Have you considered the possibility of being beaten by stolen goods?" ”

In the next second, Amber's figure disappeared into the study in an instant.

Outside, it's sunny.

Autumn is approaching, the sun is shining a little less hot, and the air is more pleasant than ever.

Amber walked down the street leading to the bustling district, a little out of the effect of shadow invisibility, the hazy veil like a black veil fading from all directions, and she let the bright sunlight pour on her face.

It also feels good to walk in the sun.

She looked up and watched the glorious sun wheel hang high in the sky, and a smile slowly appeared on her face.

Gawain withdrew his gaze from the window and left the large floor-to-ceiling window facing the eastern block.

After a moment of quiet thought, he shook his head and returned to his desk, first pulling out his pen and paper, and writing a letter to be transmitted to Wintercastle in the North, before his eyes fell on the book of Mordir's Travels.

Mordir Wild, perhaps the greatest adventurer Ansu has ever had, has traveled all over the known world of mankind, even into uncharted territory, leaving behind countless valuable intellectual treasures during his lifetime, but many of the things he left behind have disappeared into the long river of history.

For example, few people know that Modir Wild also challenged the sea......

Gawain picked up the travelogue and opened it again, finding the part he had been flipping through before Amber came.

In addition to his adventures in the world of shadows, there is also a part of this travelogue that he is extremely concerned about—about the "Charm of Cold" that has been passed down from generation to generation in the Wild family, and whose origin is a mystery to the unknown.

Those ancient and neat handwriting characters caught Gawain's eye:

"On October X, while sorting through some of the folklore of the East, I found some interesting clues that could be the beginning of my next adventure......

"There is evidence that some 100 years ago, the great pioneer Archduke Gawain Cecil left his realm for an 'adventure' that even adventurers like me would marvel at—the challenge of the sea.

"Not many people know about this secret voyage, and most of the stories that have been handed down are specious and strange, but I still find clues from many trivial sources that can corroborate each other, and with the intuition and experience of an adventurer, I think this is not a simple heroic story made up by bards, but a real adventure.

"I'm so excited!

"Think about it, a hero of a hundred years ago, a man who was not a professional adventurer, who braved the sea and came back alive, while I, who call myself the greatest adventurer of our time, spent half my life on safe land...... What an irony and what an inspiration!

"It's really time for me to embark on a new adventure – gather more information, find more clues, and be well prepared, Modir Wilde will have one of the most thrilling challenges of his adventure......

"Go find Gawain Cecil's 'Hero's Voyage'!"

(I recommend a book, "I Just Want to Win" in the game e-sports category, emmmm...... I feel like I haven't read this type of book for a long time, so you can support it. ）