Chapter 92 - 19: The Personality Changed, and Yet It Didn’t

Chapter 92: Chapter 19: The Personality Changed, and Yet It Didn’t

"You don’t need to know."

Victor’s reply was terse and devoid of any emotion, as if he were stating an objective fact.

Lilia suddenly understood. "You were waiting here just to tell me that? To make me give up and go away?"

He fell silent again.

Lilia pouted inwardly.

’This guy... is so much harder to deal with than in the last playthrough.’

’I wonder what he went through to make his personality change so much.’

’He used to be so humble and cute.’

Since he was ignoring her, Lilia certainly wasn’t going to chase after him for a conversation.

She simply grabbed a random book from nearby and started flipping through it.

Victor had never encountered a situation like this. On the surface, he remained cold and calm, but in reality, his brain had practically short-circuited.

Thanks to his status as a High-level Mage and his immense prestige among the people of Light, even the King was respectful and granted his every request when speaking with him.

This was the first time he’d ever encountered this kind of response... someone simply ignoring him to focus on their own business.

Seeing that Lilia truly had no intention of leaving, he broke the silence after a moment. "You should leave."

"No," Lilia said without looking up.

"I told you," Victor said. "This is dangerous for you."

"I’m already sixteen."

"...So?"

"I have fully developed cognitive abilities and can take responsibility for my own decisions."

Lilia said, "I know it’s dangerous, but that doesn’t conflict with my choice to stay."

"..."

Victor watched her for a moment before finally choosing to concede.

It was just as she had said.

She was already sixteen, with a will of her own, and she could be held responsible for the choices she made.

That being the case, there was no need for him to press the issue from his position.

Victor also picked up a book from nearby, opened it to a page, and immersed himself in his research.

The Light Kingdom truly lived up to its reputation as the only nation with an unbroken heritage. These records about Demons were far clearer and more complete than any he had found elsewhere.

Demons.

Unique life forms that live in the Spirit Realm.

In the perception of most people, Demons were a special type of Extraordinary Creature, innately unruly, cruel, and bloodthirsty—the embodiment of all the world’s malice and filth.

However, the more Victor dealt with them, the more he felt that the Demons were hiding many secrets.

It was just that ever since the world-shattering cataclysm, the Church had intensified its efforts to purge the Demons. Coupled with the fact that the appearance of Demons often heralded disaster and chaos, the Monarchs of every nation loathed them to the extreme.

While the Monarchs and the Church might have their conflicts and disagreements over the distribution of power, their cooperation had always been tight when it came to dealing with external threats.

After several hundred years of purges, Demons rarely appeared in this world anymore. Even if they did, they were just some insignificant, Low-level individuals, some not even possessing sentience. They were like beasts that only knew how to act on instinct, holding no value for his research.

Two years ago, in the Light Kingdom, Victor came into contact with a living High-level Demon for the first time.

Although it soon died during a purge by the Church’s Holy Order, Victor managed to learn a great deal from it before its death.

It had called Victor a "Martyr," saying that people like him—obsessed with observing everything, studying everything, and understanding everything—were all madmen. But it also said the world was more interesting precisely because of madmen like them, that it was what kept the world from stagnating.

It told Victor his hypothesis was correct; the Demons were indeed hiding a colossal secret. But their current level was too low. Not even High-level Mages and High-level Demons were worthy of touching the secrets of the world’s origin.

Finally, it said with a laugh that if he was truly interested, he could go to the Royal Court of the Light Kingdom, where the manuscript of a Demon Lord was hidden. Within that manuscript, he might be able to find the clues he was looking for.

This was the reason Victor had come here.

He finished flipping through a tome from cover to cover, finding no information of value.

He not only had to find the Demon Lord’s manuscript, but he also had to ascertain the author’s identity, power, and their reputation and status within the Spirit Realm and among the Demon population.

And in this library, there were thousands upon thousands of books related to Demons. The information he sought was likely scattered among these tomes.

What he had to do now was perform a preliminary screening.

He needed to pick out all the books related to that Lord and then study them in more detail.

Just as Victor was about to reach for the next book, the sound of light footsteps stopped beside him.

"Victor?"

The girl held a book out in front of him. "This mentions the Spirit Realm. What is the Spirit Realm?"

Her tone was full of curiosity, like a diligent student in a classroom.

Victor turned his head, his gaze lowering slightly.

The girl was looking up at him, her dark eyes reflecting the flickering firelight, like a sun burning quietly in the depths of the cosmos.

Seeing him remain silent, Lilia blinked.

She tried a different form of address. "Teacher Victor?"

Victor averted his gaze. "The Spirit Realm is another world, different from the Human World."

"It exists independently of the Human World and the Star Realm. Legend says it is a place humans must never approach. However, with the help of certain special Magic, humans can travel through the Spirit Realm, but they cannot stay for too long, or they risk getting lost or even dying."

He casually pulled out another book from the side and placed it gently in Lilia’s hands. "The second Chapter of this book has a detailed introduction to the Spirit Realm and the Star Realm. You can take a look."

"Oh."

Lilia took it. "Then if there’s something I don’t understand, can I ask you?"

Victor: "..."

He slowly nodded. "You may."

"Thank you, Teacher Victor!"

The girl smiled with satisfaction and retreated to her original spot.

Victor watched her open the book and begin to read with great interest, an indescribable feeling stirring within him.

He had assumed that she had secretly followed him here with some ulterior motive.

But he never expected... she was really just here to read books and, incidentally, ask him questions.

This unpredictable behavior made it difficult for the Observer to discern Lilia’s thoughts and intentions.

Victor refocused his attention on the book in his hands, but as he quickly scanned the text, his mind would wander unconsciously.

It was as if he were waiting for a possible interruption.

But...

Half an hour passed, and there was still no movement from Lilia’s direction.

After finishing a Chapter, Victor instinctively glanced in Lilia’s direction.

The girl was completely immersed in a sea of knowledge, perhaps having even forgotten that someone else was there.

Sensing his gaze, Lilia looked up.

Then, she tilted her head, looking somewhat puzzled.