Four Hundred and Sixty-First Scroll of the Key
On the northern coast of Conquer Sea lies Adria.
In the morning, in one of the luxurious suites of a hotel in Adria, Dorothy stood inside, dressed in light clothing, her focus fixed on the floor.
On the floor of the suite was a large map spread out, covering most of the room’s ground. The map, which measured two to three meters in length and width, depicted the world’s four continents. It was clear that Dorothy had moved the bed to make space for this map. This was a world map showing the details of the four continents. It was the most detailed map Dorothy could find, yet there were still vast areas that were depicted rather vaguely.
The map showed the Main Continent with the most detail, where every country and city was clearly marked. Numerous geographical names were densely scattered across the map, indicating that the western part of the Main Continent was more developed and prosperous than the eastern part.
To the south of the Main Continent, the Ufeiga Continent was depicted with almost as much detail as the Main Continent, and the northern parts were more detailed than the southern ones. Next was the Starfall Continent to the west of the Main Continent, where the eastern regions were depicted in greater detail. As one moved westward, the influence of the colonizers from the Main Continent weakened, making the western regions less detailed. Finally, the Polar Continent at the north of the Main Continent was barely depicted, only showing a rough outline.
This enormous and highly detailed world map was what Dorothy used for her pendulum divination. She had only one chance for divination, so she needed to get the most accurate location in one go. Thus, the map used for divination needed to be as comprehensive and detailed as possible.
After examining the map for a few more moments, Dorothy took a deep breath. Then, she pulled out a string of amethyst pendants from her purse and took off her shoes, stepping onto the map like it was a carpet. She walked to the center of the map, focusing on the location of Sacred Summit on the Main Continent, and then let the amethyst pendant dangle from her hand.
“I need to know the exact information about the Red Tier Level promotion ceremony of the Pure Path.”
Standing on the map, Dorothy spoke the divination words. After paying a bit of “Lamp” and a bit of “Enlightenment,” she officially initiated the divination ritual. She began swinging the amethyst pendant in the air. Gradually, the purple crystal started to sway over the vast map, its sharp tip passing over various geographical names.
During this swaying process, the crystal seemed to be influenced by some unknown force, tilting in a direction that defied gravity. As the swaying decreased, the tilting stabilized. When the amethyst finally stopped, its tip pointed southward.
Looking at the position indicated by the amethyst, Dorothy began walking southward on the map. Even when she left the Main Continent, the crystal’s tip continued to point south. So, Dorothy crossed Conquer Sea and walked directly above the southern Ufeiga Continent. The tilt of the crystal gradually became vertical, pointing downward.
Focusing on the changes in the amethyst pendant, Dorothy moved around the area of Ufeiga Continent on the map until she found the spot where the crystal was perfectly vertical. Slowly, she crouched down, letting the amethyst pendant approach the map until its lower tip pointed precisely at a specific location.
This location was in the northern part of Ufeiga Continent. Based on the names marked on the map, it was somewhere within the eastern part of the Kingdom of Adus.
Seeing the location indicated by the crystal, Dorothy remained silent, then took out a pen to mark the spot. After marking the divination point, she put away the amethyst pendant. Once the divination ended, the crystal on the pendant immediately lost its purple color, returning to its ordinary transparent state.
After completing everything, Dorothy returned to her sofa and sat down, contemplating the results of the divination.
‘Northern Ufeiga… I never expected that the method to advance to the Red Tier Level would be in Northern Ufeiga. Isn’t that place mostly known for the ruins of the First Dynasty? Does it also preserve the secrets of the ‘Enlightenment’ path?
‘Come to think of it, the deity worshipped by the First Dynasty seemed to be the god of the ‘Enlightenment’ path. This amethyst pendant, which can locate the ruins of the Star Number Repair Association, was unearthed in Northern Ufeiga. Its style is also from there. This means that the First Dynasty, which perished in the second season, and the Star Number Repair Association, which continued to be passed down, must have some connection. Could the Star Number Repair Association be the continuation of the First Dynasty after the second season?
‘It seems that if I want to find a way to advance to the Red Tier Level, I’ll have to go to Northern Ufeiga. That’s equivalent to traveling to another continent. I wonder how long it will take me to find what I need once I get there. Should I go directly to Northern Ufeiga now or rest in Tivyán first before going?
Sitting on the sofa, Dorothy thought seriously about the distance and the chaos in Northern Ufeiga. It was too far, and there were many unknown risks. The result of the divination falling here was not good news for her.
Sitting on the sofa, Dorothy continued to ponder the situation in Northern Ufeiga. After thinking for a while, she decided to set aside these thoughts and focused instead on the faded crystal pendant placed beside her.
This crystal pendant helped Dorothy locate the secret of advancing to the Red Tier Level. The pendant itself contained a secret. When the pendant first regained its divination state, Dorothy used the Identification Technique to examine it, and the results were quite interesting.
“Key of Insight, a key that grants access to the Great Library. The Great Library periodically distributes access permissions to different True Keys of Insight. With permission, one can read the information protected by the information barrier guarding the Great Library. This particular Key of Insight is authorized to view geographic information, with an access interval of once every three years.”
‘The Great Library… It feels like a closed database. The so-called information barrier must be the anti-divination system of the Star Number Repair Association. And the Great Library is akin to the database of the Star Number Repair Association. The information barrier is specifically designed to protect the content of the Great Library. The Key of Insight is essentially a license to access the database through the barrier…
Looking at the faded pendant in her hand, Dorothy fell into deep thought. Initially, she thought this item could bypass the anti-divination system of the Star Number Repair Association, making it a powerful extraordinary item. But it turned out that wasn’t the case; it didn’t bypass the anti-divination system but received periodic access permissions from it.
‘From the results of the identification, there should be more than one Key of Insight. The Star Number Repair Association must have created many different Keys of Insight. All of them have access to the Great Library, but their access permissions and methods might differ… The one I have can only view geographic information and has an access interval of once every three years.
‘This explains why this item shows no signs of being extraordinary during its cooldown period. It isn’t the source of the extraordinary power but merely a carrier. The source of the extraordinary power is the Great Library of the Star Number Repair Association, which sends permissions every three years, allowing it to access the library once every three years.
‘The purpose of creating such keys by the Star Number Repair Association is likely to limit the extent to which the information they store spreads. I wonder if these keys are for internal use by the lower and middle ranks of the Star Number Repair Association or for friendly societies. Or both?’
Holding the faded pendant, Dorothy made these deductions. From the information obtained, even though the Star Number Repair Association has fallen, some of its remaining legacies continue to exert influence. For example, the so-called Great Library is probably managed by something akin to AI. Although no one from the Star Number Repair Association remains, the AI continues to run, faithfully guarding the information repository and sending permissions to the Keys of Insight annually. This gave Dorothy a sense of wasteland realism.
‘There must be more than one Key of Insight. If I can find other Keys of Insight, I might be able to search for more information about the Star Number Repair Association…
Thinking this, Dorothy decided to set aside these matters for now and returned the unused crystal pendant to the Magic Box.
‘At any rate, I now know where the clues for advancement lie. The next steps can revolve around this clue.
‘Hmm… I should go out for a walk. It’s already noon when I return, so I can have lunch outside. But first, I should pack up my things.’
Stretching, Dorothy stood up from the sofa. After putting on her shoes, she looked around the room and opened the Magic Box, placing it on the ground. She controlled two zombie puppets to crawl out of it.
Then, Dorothy instructed the puppets to start cleaning up. She had the puppets roll up the large map that was spread out on the floor and move the bed back to its original position. After putting the giant map into the Magic Box, she had the two puppets return inside as well. After securing the Magic Box, Dorothy rubbed her arms and prepared to change clothes and go out.
However, just as Dorothy was rummaging through her luggage for clothes, a familiar voice suddenly echoed in her mind.
“Great Akka, please contact Miss Dorothy. I have urgent matters to discuss with her.”
Hearing this voice, Dorothy froze in place. Originally flipping through her clothes, she stood up, frowning slightly in her mind.
‘This voice… Is it Neve’s? What could have happened suddenly that she needs to find me? Could it be that the matter involving Thief K has been exposed?
Since she and Nephnis had been using the identity of Thief K for mischief, Dorothy couldn’t help but worry upon hearing Neve’s words. She immediately sat back down on the sofa, took out “Navigation of the Literary Sea” from the Magic Box, and flipped to the page with Nephnis’s contact information. She then wrote:
“What’s the rush, Senior Sister Neve?”
Hardly had Dorothy finished writing when Nephnis’s reply appeared on the page, clearly indicating that she had been waiting with the book for Dorothy’s message.
“Miss Dorothy! Something terrible has happened. Uncle Nunut has gone missing!”
‘What? Uncle Nunut from the Boyle family is missing?!
Seeing the words on the page, Dorothy was taken aback. She hadn’t expected that the person involved would be Davis’s old servant, the keeper of his notes, who was far away in Tivyán.
“Write it out carefully. What exactly happened?”
Dorothy immediately wrote on the page, and after a while, Nephnis’s handwriting appeared again in front of her eyes.
“Here’s what happened. My father fell ill last year due to a curse, so he and my mother went to the countryside estate to recuperate. Everything at home in Tivyán and our business was managed by Grandpa Nunut. After I left for travel, there were only a few servants and Grandpa Nunut left at home.
“Yesterday was the king’s coronation day, so Grandpa Nunut gave the servants a holiday. This morning, when the servants returned, they found the house completely ransacked, worse than if robbers had broken in. Grandpa Nunut was nowhere to be seen. The servants were very worried and immediately contacted others after calling the police.
“Grandpa Nunut had previously instructed the servants not to disturb my father’s recovery in the countryside unless there was a major emergency, in which case they should notify me first. Since I had sent several telegrams to report my safety to the family from Adria, the servants knew my situation and directly sent an urgent telegram to me. I just received it this morning.”
