# Chapter 13: The Book of Ib-On
In the northern regions of the Mycroft Continent, the second Sunday of March each year serves as the dividing line, marking the end of the cold winter and the true arrival of spring. At this time, whether commoner or noble, everyone chooses to invite friends and family for grand gatherings, celebrating the arrival of the warm winds. They sing and dance, holding festivals, as if wanting to release all the vitality accumulated during the long winter in a single burst.
From the southern border fortresses all the way to the northernmost Wallachia Territory in the Northern Lands, from the western Great Plains region to the eastern Brilliant Sea, all people, regardless of status, cheer and pray for the new year, hoping that the coming year will bring smooth fortunes and keep disaster far away.
At this moment, in the main city's Lord's Manor, Joshua, respectfully addressed as "Lord Master" by his subjects, was waiting before the dining table for his lunch.
Currently, not counting the branch families, the Radcliffe Family's main line only had two people left: Joshua and his cousin Chris. And ever since the warrior killed his cheap uncle—that is, Chris's father—that young man who dreamed of becoming an Alchemist no longer dared to appear before his younger cousin.
One couldn't even say "dared not," because Chris had vanished like he'd evaporated from the face of the earth. Even though Joshua had asked some people to search for him, after all this time, there was still no news at all.
So now, the vast Lord's Manor was empty and desolate. Aside from the maids and guards, there were only four people in total. Joshua estimated that this should be the smallest number of people in the Radcliffe Family in four hundred years.
But although there were relatively few people, he still had Ying and Number Three for company. The number couldn't be called large, but holding a spring celebration feast was definitely no problem.
After waiting for some time, Joshua, seated at the head of the dining table, heard footsteps. He looked up and saw Ying carrying a whole roasted pig larger than his own body, slowly walking to the table.
This whole roasted pig was golden all over, with a ruddy sheen. Golden fat dripped from the skin, fragrant steam rose from it, and the meat looked tender and delicious, making one's appetite stir.
The pig was sourced from the great wild boar king of the Black Forest, which Joshua had personally hunted a few days ago. Although according to Northern hunters, the wild boar king's meat was exceptionally tough—even swords couldn't cut it, making it completely inedible—that was only for ordinary people. After using special methods to soften the meat, its hardness and chewiness were just right for a Gold-rank warrior like Joshua, providing an excellent texture.
"Not bad, Ying. I didn't expect that besides handling official business, your cooking skills are this good too."
Joshua never stinted on praise. He expressed his amazement at the Divine Mechanism boy's culinary talent: "A truly all-around butler, well-deserved."
"Haha, thank you for the praise, Master." Receiving the compliment, Ying seemed very happy. He hadn't appeared particularly tired carrying such a large roasted pig, after all, the black-haired youth was a Divine Mechanism. Although his figure was petite, he still possessed Silver-rank strength. He spoke with slight pride: "Actually, my memory core contains culinary data from almost all regions of the Far South, the Eastern Plains, and the Empire. The mage who compiled my database once traveled across the entire Mycroft Continent, collecting food cultures from various places, and input everything during the compilation."
As he spoke, he slightly bowed, his right eye half-closed, a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth: "If my cooking can make Master happy, then nothing could be better."
"Alright, no need to be so formal."
Being able to eat delicious food put Joshua in a good mood. Especially thinking about being able to enjoy various cuisines from all over the country in the future, he revealed a slight smile. The warrior waved his hand, signaling to the Divine Mechanism youth: "Come, sit down."
According to Ying's introduction, this whole roasted pig had a special meaning—in Mycroft mythology, the great wild boar was a symbol of desperate struggle and never retreating. Whether facing a tiger or a hunter, this creature would fight until its last breath. Therefore, food made from it could only be enjoyed by those with the highest courage.
Joshua naturally accepted this veiled praise from his weapon completely. He happily began cutting the food.
The golden roasted meat entered his mouth—rich but not greasy, extremely delicious. But not long after eating, the warrior sensed something was off.
Beside him, Ying, Ling, and Number Three were all sitting in their seats, looking at him with smiles on their faces. But not one of them was preparing to pick up a knife and fork to enjoy the food.
—Of course, just think about it for a moment. Two Divine Mechanisms didn't need to eat, and Number Three was entirely a mana projection. Her original Rune Core would automatically absorb surrounding mana to supply her consumption. She absolutely couldn't eat anything.
This made the scene somewhat awkward. Being watched by his three subordinates while eating, even Joshua felt a bit strange. But he was a broad-minded person. Although something felt off, he still quickly finished the entire roasted pig.
A Gold-rank warrior's appetite depended on how much they wanted to eat. As long as their energy wasn't truly completely saturated, they could rapidly digest all food to supply their already partially energy-based bodies and store it.
Regardless, this slightly strange early spring feast had ended. Ying and the other maids carried away the plates from the table and began cleaning up the scattered utensils. Meanwhile, Joshua took out his notebook, glanced sideways at the event schedule written on it, then nodded slightly and muttered to himself: "Yesterday, the Imperial Capital's auction ended. If nothing unexpected happens, this Alfonso guy should have already bought that evil object that destroyed Ares Fortress in my previous life and sent it to me."
Thinking of this, Joshua couldn't help but sigh: "Compared to sweeping away the Black Tide and closing the Space-Time Gate, this is probably the simplest world-guarding mission. Saving fifty to sixty thousand people so easily—it feels a bit unreal."
"Master has something to pick up? Let me go get it for you!"
The silver-haired girl sitting nearby stood up, speaking energetically. Although she hadn't fully understood what evil object that destroyed the fortress was, she clearly wanted to do something.
"Thank you for your trouble."
Since Ying was willing to help, Joshua wouldn't dampen her enthusiasm, so he nodded to indicate she could go.
Generally, noble families with some property would have communication arrays and small item teleportation arrays for sending letters and storage crystals. Previously in the Northern Lands, because of the temporal disturbances caused by many Space-Time Gates, teleportation arrays couldn't be laid down. But now, with Nostradamus's help, they had been almost completely installed.
This type of teleportation array, used for sending small items under ten kilograms, generally only needed a miniature mana-gathering array to run smoothly. With Rune optimization, it could even transmit continuously. This didn't even account for the fact that the Northern Lands' mana concentration was currently a bit higher than other places, making operation even easier.
Number Three sat to the side, watching the interaction between master and servants. Her blue eyes blinked, and she smiled slightly, then canceled her projection, leaving only a person-height Rune Core in the cart. Mana light flickered, as if she was thinking about something.
Not long after, Ying returned carrying a book.
"So it's a book, not a shining trapezohedron or a silver key."
Looking at that seemingly ordinary book, which carried a strange aura that only someone like Joshua, who held the power of Order, could sense, the warrior nodded slightly: "According to the data from my previous life, this should be called the Book of Ib-On, right? It certainly looks unusual."
After all, it was an evil Grimoire that had destroyed a fortress and caused the [Fall of Ares]. Thinking of those giant Abyss worms with Gold Peak-rank strength, the warrior couldn't help but feel a bit excited. He stood up, preparing to take the book from Ying's hands.
But something strange happened.
Before Joshua could approach, accompanied by a soft cry from Ying, the book, which seemed to be made of sheepskin or monkey hide, suddenly trembled on its own, then slipped from the girl's grasp and fell to the ground.
(To be continued.)