On the noisy streets of Tivian, Dorothy’s corpse marionette coachman guided the black carriage steadily northward toward the outskirts. Inside the carriage, Dorothy sat across from Nephthys, whom she had just picked up.
“Phew... Finally dealt with everything. I didn’t expect trouble to come knocking the moment we got back.”
Seated comfortably, Nephthys removed her veil and headscarf, letting out a deep breath. As she spoke, she glanced out the window at the familiar city streets and wrinkled her nose slightly at the faintly acrid smell in the air.
“Ugh, the air here is just as bad as ever. I used to think it was just how cities are, but after traveling around, I’ve realized Tivian’s air really is awful...”
She muttered complaints about the city air, while Dorothy replied with ease.
“Well, the places we visited were either remote or tourist towns. No heavy industry, so of course the environment was better. And this time, we’re only back because something happened in Tivian. It’s no surprise we ran into this situation right away. The spider bastards just couldn’t sit still.”
“Spider bastards... The ones who tried to assassinate Duke Barrett? They’re making moves again? Are we back just to deal with them?”
Nephthys asked curiously. Dorothy replied without hesitation.
“Whether we’ll end up confronting them directly is still unclear, but chances are high. I wouldn’t rule it out. We should be mentally prepared—for something like the night Duke Barrett was attacked all over again.”
After a moment of thought, Nephthys voiced her decision. Dorothy considered it and nodded in agreement.
“That’s a sensible plan. Things are still uncertain right now—it’s not the time to jump back into everyday life. Let’s wait and see how it goes.”
Dorothy herself was in a similar situation. Though she had returned to Tivian, she hadn’t told Gregor yet—not even met him. She figured that if she had to leave again soon, it’d be hard to explain herself.
“I just hope things can stay calm for a while once this is over... I’ve got regular classes next semester, and I don’t want to keep skipping them.
“Honestly, it feels like I haven’t attended a single class in half a year. I’ve missed a lot of the scheduled study trips. If the professors return in a few days, the next semester will start with us picking a topic for a research paper based on our spring study trips... but I missed most of mine. I don’t even know what to write...”
Holding her forehead, Nephthys sighed with a trace of distress. Dorothy shrugged and spoke bluntly.
“Haven’t we seen more real history than your classmates during our travels? Pick any topic—it’s easy. Like the secret history of the Baruch Dynasty in Addus, or the past of the pirate haven Moncarlo... Tons of options. If you need help, I can guide you too~”
“Don’t joke around, Miss Dorothy! If I write about that stuff, I might accidentally turn the whole paper into a mystical text! No way that can pass as a regular thesis!”
Nephthys quickly waved off the suggestion in a flustered tone. Dorothy just smiled, saying nothing more. The carriage continued out of the city toward the northern outskirts.
Because Nephthys’s city residence had been broken into before, it was no longer safe. The Golden Scepter and its array had already been moved elsewhere, and the place was essentially abandoned. Nephthys had no intention of returning there, nor did she plan to go back to her new home in Tivian. So she simply rented a place near the university—close to both the campus and where Dorothy lived.
Upon reaching the greener northern outskirts of Tivian, Dorothy parted ways with Nephthys and returned to her residence at No. 17 Green Shade Town. After tidying up, she headed out again—this time alone, walking toward the sprawling campus not far away.
…
In broad daylight, warm sunlight streamed down on the century-old buildings of the Royal Crown University’s King’s Campus. Between the long corridors and wide green lawns, where students would usually rest and socialize, now stood mostly empty—it was summer break, and the university was far quieter than usual.
Still, even during break, the university library remained open to support faculty and students who stayed for research. With the reduced foot traffic, Dorothy was all the more pleased.
In the peaceful afternoon, sunlight spilled through the large windows and into the spacious library. Towering bookshelves formed a maze of knowledge. With far fewer students than usual, the great hall seemed even more tranquil. In her usual quiet corner, Dorothy sat flipping through a book.
Though her eyes were on the pages, her mind wandered. Scattered throughout the library, the archive, and even the campus grounds were her corpse marionettes. Some accompanied her in the library, reading silently beside her. Others strolled the campus, while still others infiltrated the archive, discreetly examining documents.
Dorothy was following the clues left by Misha, continuing to investigate matters related to Barret’s research companions. Misha had found her leads in the university library, and so Dorothy naturally started there as well.
The most important clue Misha had uncovered was a particular book—one that had a slip of paper inside naming Duke Barrett under the alias “Richard.” The book was titled Agricultural Chronicles of Pritt.
Dorothy’s first act upon returning to the university was to locate this book in the library and read it thoroughly. She discovered that it was essentially a tax ledger compiled by ancient Prittish tax officers, detailing agricultural levies.
The author of the Agricultural Chronicles of Pritt wasn’t a historian or an agronomist, but rather royal tax officials from the Hyacinth Dynasty of Pritt. The book documents nearly a century—from Year 875 to 964 of the Radiance Calendar—of grain tax registration records from across Pritt. While not exhaustively detailed, it covered all the major noble territories without any glaring omissions.
After finishing the book, Dorothy immediately began identifying people who had shown interest in it. She sent her corpse marionettes to infiltrate the university archives and retrieved over a decade’s worth of detailed acquisition records from the library. Using her Revelation information processing abilities, she swiftly combed through the thick stacks of data and found that this book had been added to the university library fifteen years ago—meaning it had been available for a maximum of fifteen years.
Next, she had several marionettes stationed in the archives, sifting through all borrowing records over those fifteen years. At a pace of reading hundreds of lines at a glance, she quickly dug through mountains of data and extracted every borrowing record related to the Agricultural Chronicles of Pritt. As it turned out, the book was so obscure that only six people had borrowed it in all that time—including Duke Barrett, under his alias “Richard.” Aside from Barrett, the other five had each borrowed it only once.
Dorothy then investigated the other five. Using their names, she searched through the university’s student and faculty records, cataloged what other books they had borrowed, and compared those to Barrett’s list to look for overlaps. From a person’s borrowing history, she could infer their study or research focus. If it aligned with Barrett’s, they were likely his “companion.”
But after combing through all that material, the results were disappointing.
Of the five, two were officials from Pritt’s food administration who had borrowed the book to supplement their departmental archives. Their other borrowed books were all related to Pritt’s agriculture and food studies. Two others were meteorology researchers whose reading lists were filled with climate studies; they likely used the grain data to estimate past weather conditions. The final person was studying the history of tax systems in Pritt—his entire borrowing list was related to national taxation.
Grain... climate... taxation... Clearly, these three research directions had nothing to do with Barrett’s studies. Apart from the chronicles, their borrowing lists didn’t overlap with Barret’s at all. Their borrowings also occurred long ago—the most recent was four years prior—making it highly unlikely any of them had collaborated with him.
The investigation hit a bottleneck. One entire lead had gone cold. Dorothy furrowed her brow as she sat in the library and began a fresh round of analysis.
“None of the others who borrowed this book seem to be Barrett’s research companion... So how did that person study the book? For them to use this book as a way to pass secret messages, they must both be intimately familiar with it. That companion must have read it—and not just because Barrett lent it to them. They knew exactly where it was located in the library…”
“Actually... the chronicle isn’t suited for borrowing. It’s a reference table—a book of raw data. No one reads it cover to cover. It’s the kind of book you pull off the shelf when needed. Duke Barrett lived far from the library, so it was inconvenient to keep coming back. That’s probably why he borrowed it. But if someone lived near the library—or even did their research inside it—why bother checking it out at all?”
“So... what if Barrett’s companion actually lived on or near campus and conducted most of their research right inside the library?”
This thought immediately sharpened Dorothy’s focus. Someone living on or near campus and doing significant research at the library—that screams university faculty or students, more likely a professor. Busy graduating students wouldn’t have time to pursue research into Barrett’s obscure interests.
“If Barrett’s collaborator was indeed a professor here, they wouldn’t need to borrow the book to access it. I just need to find professors whose research focus overlaps with Barrett’s. But first—what exactly was Barrett researching?”
Dorothy turned her attention back to the Agricultural Chronicles of Pritt.
“This book records historical grain tax data from around Pritt. Barrett wasn’t interested in grain taxes per se—he was looking for what they revealed. Like someone using harvest yields to estimate historical weather.”
“It covers the years 875 to 964 RC—around 500 years ago. That’s right when the current Hyacinth Dynasty of Pritt was founded, shortly after the end of the War of the Wind King.”
“Barrett was after information on that war. The real history of the Wind King’s Rebellion has been erased or altered by the current royal family and the church. With no official historical accounts available, Barrett had to resort to sidelong sources to reconstruct what happened.”
“This book begins just after the war ended. The grain tax data reflects food production. Comparing the regions’ grain output over time could reveal which areas were devastated by war and which remained stable. War causes famine—long-term conflict ruins farmland and slashes harvests. From this, Barrett could gauge the intensity and scale of the Wind King’s Rebellion across Pritt. That’s why he studied this book.”
“His companion, no doubt, shared the same interest. Both fixated on this book due to their shared research goal—and that’s why they could exchange ideas and build trust.”
With that conclusion, Dorothy smiled faintly. Her investigative path had become clear: she was now looking for a university professor—likely from the history or archaeology department—who harbored a covert interest in the Wind King’s Rebellion. After chasing so many threads, the target was now in sight.
With her new lead in mind, Dorothy ordered her corpse marionettes to continue combing the archives, gathering data on every professor at the university, especially those in the history and archaeology departments. She reviewed their credentials, all their published papers, even their personal library borrowing histories. Finally, after compiling and processing a vast trove of information—
One name emerged.
John Acheson.