Chapter 188 (1/2)

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Chapter 188 – The Words on the Notebook

「Hmm, bingo!」The chair crashed with a bang as Conia stood up.「Look! “The stipulation to politely treat a foreign messenger who arrived in advance is not absolute. Once done with his task, he should return to his own country immediately, or join the diplomat who will arrive later. Staying in the country is a breach of etiquette.” In other words, him staying in Agiapole is not a part of his job and there's no need to treat him like a diplomat!」

「Y-You finally found it…」

「Th-That's great, Lady Conia…」

Before her was a long table with tons of books piled on top. Most of them were about laws and regulations related to diplomacy and past cases. The maids and Gray Deacons who browsed with her were exhausted, faces down on the table.

「Thank you, everyone!」

Conia's innocence brought smiles to everyone present. They all loved her character; they were here because they wanted to help her.

「I'll go see the adventurer Hikaru tomorrow.」

Conia didn't know that Hikaru simply spouted random nonsense about his rights. It would, however, be better for her and her friends that they never knew.

Hikaru drew his Dagger of Strength from its sheath and poked the notebook. He was ready to run if anything happened, but nothing really occurred. He then reached for the notebook, and after checking that no one was around with his Mana Detection, he moved to a corner of the dark room.

Hikaru turned on a magic lamp and started examining the well-thumbed, leather-bound notebook. A red string was wound around it three times and fastened with a metal clip which had traces of mana in it.

「A hidden notebook with a magic seal… I'm guessing it'll burst into flames or something.」

He was not interested in the priest who left and what kind of person he was. There was no need to put himself in danger by reading the notebook.

「But my curiosity is killing me.」

Once again, Hikaru drew his dagger.

「All right. Here goes nothing.」

He cut the string, but nothing happened in particular. The clip didn't do anything.

「Phew…」

He tilted the notebook and let the string and clip fall on the floor. His mask was in the way, so he removed it and shoved it into his pocket.

As Hikaru opened the notebook to its first page and read the contents, he pressed his hand on his forehead.

『This notebook has a magic seal on it. If someone other than me moves it for even a little, it'll burst into flames. If the trap doesn't activate, you may a.s.sume that I'm already dead.』

「Hmm. So if the priest was still alive, it would've burned the moment I poked it with my dagger. Man, I really need more knowledge about traps.」

Hikaru decided to have a professional in disarming traps teach him. But that won't be for another time. I already opened it, so might as well read it here.

『I would like to believe it is my friend Dennis who opens this notebook. But if it's not, could you do me a favor and send this to him? His full name is Dennis Lugrim and he serves as a priest in Vireocean's capital, Ville Zentra. He will surely give you a huge reward. I advise you not to read the contents as it would put your life in danger.

—Scott Fairs』

「He sure is thorough.」Hikaru muttered as he flipped to the next page.

He showed no concern of the warning at all. He didn't really care about the rewards since he wasn't in any financial difficulty. No mana reaction from the notebook anyway. There shouldn't be any problem if he checked the contents.

「Hmm.」

Hikaru continued reading. The contents were written in a diary format which changed drastically midway.

『It's been two years since I came to the Tower, but I still don't know what goes in the Pope's mind. Eighty percent of the Red Priests in the Tower come from Agiapole even though the articles state that fifty percent should come from other regions.』