“I’ve found the temple?” Inside the library in Adria, Dorothy read the words Misha had written in reply and involuntarily shivered, her whole body suddenly alert. After carefully rereading the message, she picked up her pen and responded. “Was there anything else written on that note besides that sentence? Or were there any other notes?” “No, that was the only note in that book, and it only had that single sentence. I didn’t find anything similar in the other books Duke Barrett had borrowed either. This is the only clue I’ve found over the past month in the library.” Misha’s handwriting quickly appeared on the page before Dorothy. Upon seeing it, Dorothy paused for a moment, then frowned—seems she wouldn’t be able to extract more information about this “temple” from Misha for now. “Looks like… our dear Duke Barrett had a ‘reading buddy’ at the Royal Crown University Library…” Dorothy wrote back, and Misha promptly replied. “Yes, I thought the same. It seems Duke Barrett wasn’t conducting his research all alone in isolation—he may have had a collaborator with whom he exchanged findings. That note might have been left by this collaborator. Perhaps they were using that particular book to leave messages for each other… After all, Agricultural Chronicles of Pritt is an extremely obscure book in the Royal Crown Library. And that so-called ‘temple’ mentioned in the note may well be connected to their research.” “Now that Duke Barrett is dead, the research data we have from him is only a fragmented portion. Trying to derive anything from it is incredibly difficult. But if we could locate that collaborator, we might be able to learn more about the Eight-Spired Nest and their objectives through them.” As Misha’s words quickly scrolled across the page, Dorothy gave them a glance, pondered for a moment, then responded. “Your theory makes sense. But continuing to trace that lead shouldn’t be too hard for you, should it? You haven’t hit a dead end yet, so why reach out to me now? Did something troublesome come up?” “Your instincts are as sharp as ever. Yes, I’ve run into a problem. To put it simply—after half a year of relative silence, the Eight-Spired Nest seems to have returned to Tivian, and they’ve begun influencing the Serenity Bureau again. Lately… things have started to feel increasingly off.” Misha’s blunt words appeared clearly on the page. Dorothy, after reading them, immediately asked. “What’s off?” “According to direct orders from the royal family, the Bureau has now canceled the nationwide high-intensity search order for the Eight-Spired Nest. The reason given was that operations over the past six months have been fruitful and that the Eight-Spired Nest has essentially been purged from Pritt, so we’re shifting focus to other priorities. The matter of the Eight-Spired Nest has been delegated to a few smaller departments…” “That sounds good on paper, but from where I sit, I know full well that’s not the truth. Yes, operations over the past half-year have taken down quite a few Eight-Spired Nest members—or suspected secret societies linked to them—but they were all small fry. Not a single big fish has turned up. Forget Crimson rank—we’ve only caught one White Ash-rank member, and that one didn’t even have time to flee. With results this thin despite so many raids… it actually shows that the problem lies with us.” Misha’s words came through plainly, her frustration clear. Dorothy bit her pen and replied. “Did you report your concerns to your superiors?” “Of course I did. I opposed ending the high-pressure campaign against the Eight-Spired Nest, but my proposal was rejected. The reason given was that the Bureau can’t focus all its resources on a single group, which, I admit, is somewhat reasonable—I couldn’t refute it.” “But the issue is that the department assigned to take over the Eight-Spired Nest investigations isn’t exactly made up of the Bureau’s top operatives. They’re not very powerful. I suggested allocating more manpower to support them, but that was also rejected. What’s more… a few days after I made that suggestion, I started hearing rumors that I might be reassigned.” Through her writing, Misha conveyed the recent situation at Tivian’s Serenity Bureau. Dorothy’s expression grew increasingly serious as she read. “If I recall correctly, your current post is in the Tivian headquarters and focused on counterintelligence?” Dorothy wrote. Misha replied quickly. “Correct. My team and I were specially established to investigate frequent internal information leaks—‘catching the mole,’ you could say. But our progress hasn’t been smooth. Aside from that Eight-Spired Nest mole we caught at the end of last year thanks to your intel, we haven’t made any breakthroughs. As a result, we’ve been getting some side-eye and criticism.” “Perhaps because of that, the higher-ups have recently started assigning us other tasks outside our original mandate—jobs that take us farther away from Tivian. That’s left me with barely any free time to continue following the Barrett lead. I haven’t even had time to go back to the library.” “I don’t want to see such a crucial lead go cold, so I thought of asking others to continue the investigation on my behalf. But with the Bureau in its current state… I don’t really trust anyone, top or bottom.” “So, you thought of us?” 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂 Dorothy responded. Misha’s next words carried a note of resignation. “Exactly… At this point, the only ones I can turn to are your group, the Rose Cross Order. After all, it was your people who gave me Duke Barrett’s materials. You have your own grievances with the Eight-Spired Nest, and you’re hidden even deeper in the shadows than they are. Entrusting this lead to you is, for now, the best option I have.” Seeing the words Misha had written, Dorothy immediately gained a clearer understanding of her situation, and more or less grasped what she meant by the Eight-Spired Nest "returning." After thinking for a moment, Dorothy picked up her pen and wrote back. “It does seem like things are getting serious in Tivian. Until you root out that major mole inside your Bureau, the problem with the Eight-Spired Nest won’t go away. “I understand your situation now, and as it happens, we’re also looking to obtain something from the Eight-Spired Nest. So resuming cooperation is no problem at all. That said, most of our operatives are currently not in Pritt—you’ll probably need to wait a few days before our people return to Tivian. Once they’re back, we’ll restart our investigation. When the time comes, I hope you’ll cooperate as much as you can.” “Right now, I’m being restrained. But if I have the opportunity to assist you, I certainly will.” “Good. Then we’ll contact you once we arrive in Tivian. Make sure to keep an eye on your copy of the book in case new writing appears.” Dorothy wrote this in reply to Misha. After exchanging a few more words, she closed the Literary Sea Logbook and silently looked out the window beside her. Watching the flowing river and the boats gliding across it, she reflected. “To think… the clue about the temple actually ended up being in Pritt. I wonder if the temple that Barrett’s collaborator found is the one I’m looking for. “Either way, since there’s a lead, I have to pursue it. Otherwise, I won’t have any clear path forward for my advancement… “I never expected this, but… it’s time to go back to Pritt. I left because of the Eight-Spired Nest, and now I return because of them…” Dorothy reminisced—earlier this year, she had left the country to avoid the spiritual thread linked to her by a Crimson-rank Eight-Spired Nest member. Her goal had been to sever that thread, which posed a hidden danger. In fact, by the time she had first arrived in Adria, the thread had already been cut due to the excessive distance involved; the Eight-Spired Nest had considered it too resource-intensive to maintain. But back then, Dorothy had also obtained clues about the method of advancing to Crimson, so she hadn’t returned immediately. Instead, she traveled to Addus, acquired the advancement method, and then wandered across North Ufiga and the coasts of the Conquest Sea to gather divine artifacts for the requirements. Thus, returning hadn’t been on her mind—until now. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on novel·fıre·net “Mmm… Well then, time to start preparing to go home. I should get something for my brother while I’m still abroad. And maybe pick up a local cookbook or two—I’ll need to re-adapt to the food back there.” With that thought, Dorothy stood up from her seat and walked into the library stacks to look for books on local cuisine. … In the following two days, Dorothy took the opportunity to rest comfortably in Adria one last time, spending her time leisurely shopping and sightseeing. Her real goal was to wait for the mystical texts Edward had promised to send. Once they arrived and she could replenish her spirituality, she planned to immediately depart for Tivian. Dorothy had offered five years’ worth of Waters of Youth in exchange for information on the Afterbirth Cult. Edward hadn’t delayed—he shipped the books immediately after returning. After Dorothy sent the spring water, the package eventually arrived in Adria. She retrieved it from the local White Craftsmen’s Guild, had her corpse marionette perform a thorough inspection, and then began reading. Edward had sent a total of four mystical texts. The first was a two-volume set titled Shark Training. Despite the name, it wasn’t a shamanic manual for training sharks, but a record of how the Abyssal Church trained pirates during the Great Pirate Era. After the Muddy Stream War began turning against them on the mainland, the Abyssal Church started cultivating large numbers of pirates to resist the major powers and the Radiance Church. Among the persecuted Ivengardian refugees, they selected children who harbored deep hatred toward the Church, adopted them, and brought them to secret island bases for brutal training. This training included martial arts, survival skills, seamanship—alongside indoctrination, Chalice-drug control, and mystical development. It was accompanied by horrifying rituals. The process was extremely cruel—many died during training. Those who failed faced harsh punishment; repeated failure meant being thrown to sea monsters as live bait. Escaped children had it even worse: they were hunted down and dismembered by their peers in blood rituals. Only about 30% survived to complete the training, becoming the Abyssal Church’s fearsome and loyal warriors. These training programs were called “Shark Training.” The trained “sharks” would go on to become the church’s ruthless pirate captains. Those who earned merit would receive titles—among them, the infamous “Bloodwave.” “So… this is a record of how the Abyssal Church trained child soldiers during the pirate era. Many of those vicious pirates weren’t just self-made—they were created like this… And judging from this… Edward must’ve been one of them. He was trained as a child soldier by the Abyss. I wonder how he managed to escape their Chalice-drug and cognitive poison control to finally defect…” Having finished the two-volume set, Dorothy extracted its spirituality, gaining 4 points of Chalice, 2 of Lantern, and disregarded Revelation. The next book was titled The Tragedy of Laichel. It was a fragmented account of the Battle of Laichel, which occurred during the Muddy Stream War. According to the text, this was one of the most pivotal battles in the entire conflict. The Laichel Valley, home to the Cathedral of Redemption, was a Radiance Church holy site located in Ivengard. It came under fierce assault at the start of the war. The text claimed that multiple Crimson and even Gold-rank elders and leaders from the Three Afterbirth Sects participated in the battle personally. The Radiance Church deployed at least three Saints, who used the sanctum’s defenses to hold the line. The mystical text didn’t go into detailed strategy. Instead, it used vivid language to describe the scale of the battle: skies darkened, day turned to night, the land cracked open, waves surged, and tsunamis formed towering walls of water nearly a thousand meters high—visible even from inland regions hundreds of kilometers away. Reportedly, at the climax of the battle, divine will descended. The end result: the Chalice-allied forces retreated, the Radiance Church emerged victorious, but both sides suffered great losses—including multiple Crimsons and possibly a fallen Gold. This marked the decisive turning point of the war. Afterward, the Chalice alliance, led by the Abyss, began to steadily lose ground and was eventually driven completely back to the sea by the Holy Crusaders. Of course, none of this was recorded in mundane history. As a holy site, the Laichel Valley was never officially touched by war. “The valley where Vania went on pilgrimage… so it was actually the site of a massive mystical battle. Crimsons and Golds from both sides clashed. Three of the Radiance’s Seven Saints showed up… Who knows how many the Three Sects of the Afterbirth Cult sent? “This… this might be the most recent large-scale mystical battle in history. I didn’t expect the Muddy Stream War to escalate to such an extent. The Afterbirth Cult actually banded together to launch an assault on Radiance’s sanctum… but from Vania’s perspective, the valley didn’t look like it had suffered any catastrophic destruction. With that many high-ranking Beyonders fighting, the entire terrain should’ve been reshaped…” Dorothy thought silently as she read the short but explosive mystical text. It revealed that the Afterbirth Cult had once stood united in full force, and that the Radiance Church’s victory was far less effortless than its official history portrayed. Although the status of the Seven Saints was unclear, it was evident that they had lost several Crimsons in the war. “And what were the Afterbirth Cult really aiming for in that battle? Did they really think they could destroy the Radiance Church in one go? Or… was there another goal? “And this mention of divine will descending at the end… does that mean the battle escalated to the point where a god actually intervened?” Gazing at the lines on the page, Dorothy fell into deep thought.