# Chapter 11: Clearing the Room with His Face
"Milord? What's wrong?"
Fendal sensed an unusual atmosphere. Although Joshua's gaze was only for a moment, it brought heavy pressure to the surroundings, and he subconsciously asked.
"Why is there a squad of elite clergy from the Church inside Morlai Palace?"
Gesturing for the red-haired knight to continue leading the way, Joshua asked bluntly, his tone somewhat puzzled: "Their strength is formidable—more than half of them are great cultivators who have reached the Gold Realm, enough to serve as regional bishops. This is unusual."
"Ah, they are the ambassador delegation sent by the Church during the previous celebration. Naturally, they are powerful. The leader, Robzek, the regimental commander of the [Hammer of Freedom] Knight Order, is even an Ultimate-rank Holy Knight. However, that lord is currently in the main hall discussing something with His Majesty."
Encountering a question he could answer, Fendal couldn't help but smile and nod. This handsome red-haired knight was indeed a cheerful person: "Some time ago, nations and powers from across the continent sent envoys to pay homage to His Majesty the Emperor. The Church was among them. But now, most of the envoys have returned, yet they seem to have some unfinished business and remain here."
When he said this, Fendal's tone carried a hint of regret: "It's truly a pity that you didn't attend the celebration, Lord Count. That was a carnival that might not happen even once in several centuries. Many ancient families came to the Imperial Capital... Speaking of which, quite a few people are interested in you."
"Thank you... As for the celebration, I regret it too, but I had matters to attend to and couldn't go. There was no helping it."
Nodding, Joshua indicated that he understood the other party's identity. As for the celebration, since he had to save the world, he really couldn't attend.
Regardless, even though the warrior still had questions about the familiar aura emanating from the woman at the center of that group, they had already arrived at the Black Swan Palace.
Exiting the corridor, they came upon a garden full of flowers, and the Black Swan Palace stood opposite this garden. It was an ancient palace with several hundred years of history. Built by the third emperor of the Empire, it was converted into the Royal Library after his death. Over time, the black stone walls of the palace's exterior were covered with traces of ivy and moss. The current emperor seemed to like this, so he had no intention of cleaning it.
Now, the evening sunlight was gradually dimming, casting hazy light and shadow onto this enormous black palace. In the distance, the faint echo of bells could be heard, announcing the end of a day's work.
The Royal Library was one of the most important places in Morlai Palace and could not afford any mishaps. Thus, there were many guards patrolling along the way. Joshua could even sense sentries lurking in many blind spots, forming an unbroken net that enveloped the entire Black Swan Palace.
The guards along the way all recognized Fendal. Seeing that he was leading the way, they knew that the person behind him must be an important figure, so they did not step forward to question them.
Thus, they entered the Black Swan Palace.
—Inside the Black Swan Palace, the Imperial Royal Grand Library, a long-sealed book chamber.
"Utterly worthless."
Among the bookshelves, under the cold light of the Glowstone Lamp, the white-haired old man sighed helplessly. He closed the dusty ancient book in his hands and set it aside. With this sigh, another ancient book floated through the air into his hands.
One could see that beside the old man, hundreds of books were suspended, held aloft by layers of hazy blue light. They flipped through automatically, were set down, and then dozens more books were lifted from the shelves by magical power, repeating the cycle.
The old man was naturally Nostradamus, and he was currently organizing the ancient books in this book chamber.
The Northern Empire's royal family had a long history. The Grand Library they built rivaled the library in the Elf Holy Land at Eternal Lake in terms of collection size, only slightly inferior to the secret vault of the Seven Luminaries Council, the long-established mage organization. Most of the ancient books stored here were original manuscripts from their time, containing more information than later copies and forgeries.
Yet they were all utterly meaningless.
Reading hundreds of books simultaneously, it didn't take long for Nostradamus to finish reading half the ancient books in the chamber. He made a gesture, and magical power returned the books beside him to their original places.
The old mage couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed.
"Much of the knowledge in these books has been rendered obsolete by the times."
He murmured to himself: "Spells and secrets from several hundred years ago have become widely known knowledge today. Even many ancient prophecies have already come true. These books have no value at all; they can only be sealed away as historical records, and might even end up in a museum someday."
Regarding this, he seemed to have no particular emotion, only a simple sigh. The old mage walked toward the next bookshelf, frowning: "Clearly, for these people, the Lost Three Hundred Years have only just passed. Why is there not a single piece of information about the Era of Radiance in their books?"
This was the real reason for Nostradamus's disappointment.
Ever since the Empire discovered the sacrificial grounds of an ancient race beneath the Orc Royal Court, various ancient sites of varying sizes had been found across the continent. The most shocking among them was the ancient city ruins discovered by the Sky-Piercing White Tower in the Central Black Forest.
This immediately sparked an archaeological craze in academic circles. Nostradamus was naturally very interested in this as well. He had taken on the task of organizing the ancient books in the Grand Library precisely to find clues about these ruins from these long-sealed texts.
Regardless, the traces of a race's existence and the records of a city's presence couldn't simply be erased without a trace. They must have left some clues in books—this was the old mage's thinking. But in reality, he found nothing, as if these ruins had appeared out of thin air, leaving no mark in history.
—Perhaps this was what was called the Lost Three Hundred Years. Nostradamus couldn't help but think this way.
No trace at all, as if even their existence had been erased. That period of history might be an untouchable taboo for humanity today.
Meanwhile, in the hall of the Black Swan Palace.
"I'm sorry, Master Nostradamus is organizing in the ancient book chamber. He said it's best not to disturb his work, so..."
A maid in a gray dress stood somewhat awkwardly before Fendal, shaking her head: "It would be best to wait a while. It's almost dinner time now; the master might come out to eat..."
At this point, Joshua and the others had already arrived inside the Royal Library.
In terms of structure alone, the Royal Library was actually quite similar to an ordinary library. Soft Glowstone Lamps flickered between the bookshelves, emitting silver light—there were no luxurious decorations or overly surprising structures. Everything was ordinary, but the difference from other ordinary libraries was that it was large enough.
Large enough that an entire palace, including over a dozen basement levels, was part of the Royal Library. Here, people with poor sense of direction could easily get lost. There were many records of such incidents in history, and even the current emperor himself had gotten lost here as a child.
In a place like this, relying solely on oneself to find someone was clearly unrealistic. Fendal directly found a maid serving here and asked about Master Nostradamus's whereabouts, but the answer he received was not satisfactory.
"Did the master really say that?"
Joshua spoke, gesturing for the somewhat dissatisfied red-haired knight to step aside: "If that's the case, waiting a while is fine."
"Y-yes!"
Upon seeing Joshua, the maid immediately became tongue-tied. Cold sweat broke out on her forehead, and she looked very nervous. Her feet instinctively took small steps backward. However, even so, professional ethics compelled her to say her final words: "If you wish to wait... please go to Rest Area No. 3 over there. We will inform you and the master the moment Master Nostradamus comes out."
"In that case, I should be leaving now."
Knowing that his task was now complete, the red-haired knight gave a slight bow to the warrior. The warrior nodded in response: "Thank you."
"It is my honor to serve you."
With that, Fendal turned and walked toward the door.
Under the maid's guidance, Joshua and the others arrived at Rest Area No. 3.
The rest area was essentially a place for those who had borrowed books to read. It was a square hall with tables, chairs, and bookshelves arranged inside. Many people were holding books and reading, most of them young nobles, as could be seen from the emblems on their clothing.
Most of them were in their early twenties, not yet thirty. At this time, they should be studying books related to nobility or supernatural power. In the corner, several middle-aged men in mage robes were flipping through thick spellbooks, copying down some important data.
Originally, the atmosphere in the entire rest area was quite harmonious. Apart from the identities of the people present, it was no different from an ordinary library reading room. Even if some young nobles were chatting and laughing quietly among themselves, it didn't disturb the work of the busy mages.
But Joshua's arrival broke this.
The moment the warrior arrived here, the maid leading the way hurriedly bowed and then quickly left as if fleeing. The others in the rest area also felt something cold climbing up their spines, unable to help but turn their heads in unison to look at the doorway.
"Count Radcliffe!"
A young noble who recognized Joshua couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice: "Why has he come to the Imperial Capital now? He was completely missing during the celebration, as if he had vanished!"
In truth, almost everyone present knew Joshua. Even if there were a few exceptions, they had at least heard the warrior's name.
Because of dragon-slaying and killing a Greater Demon in the Imperial Capital, Joshua's reputation was greater than he himself imagined. Originally, he should have been on the same level as these young nobles, but now, the warrior could be compared to their fathers' generation, or even far surpass them. After all, most of these young nobles hadn't even touched the edge of the Gold Barrier, while the warrior had been personally acknowledged by His Majesty the Emperor as a genius who would advance to the Legendary Realm in the future.
These were two different worlds.
Not only that, but they also vaguely felt that the pressure emanating from Joshua was growing heavier, and the atmosphere was becoming increasingly frozen. As the warrior gradually approached, the young nobles felt as if they were slowly sinking into the deep sea, the gradually increasing water pressure suffocating them.
The warrior paid no attention to this. He simply found a spot and sat down with Ying and Lin, preparing to wait for Nostradamus to finish organizing the ancient books.
"Sorry, I'm feeling a bit unwell today..."
Just as Joshua sat down, a young noble sitting relatively close stood up. He swallowed hard, goosebumps covering his exposed skin, and his voice seemed to tremble slightly: "My friends, forgive my rudeness. I'm really not feeling well. I'll take my leave from today's gathering first..."
Having said this, he picked up his book and walked out quickly. As he passed by where Joshua was sitting, he even subconsciously took a detour.
"Speaking of which..."
"I also..."
"Actually, I..."
After a moment of silence, many others stood up. For them, the entire rest area hall was gradually growing dim. Although the Glowstone Lamps still flickered, their light could not illuminate the shadows in their hearts. Seeing someone leave first, they subconsciously followed suit, even silently praising the first person for giving them an excuse.
Before long, almost all the nobles had left. The mages on the other side also sensed something was wrong.
"...Let's do the remaining work back in the research lab. It's a bit cold here."
Muttering softly, a middle-aged mage called out to his collaborator, and the two of them took their books and quickly left the rest area. Faint complaints about the library's heating system could still be heard.
Thus, the remaining people also found various excuses to leave the rest area.
By the third minute after Joshua arrived at the rest area, the entire hall was empty.
"...Didn't I bring a magical equipment?"
Looking at the now-empty rest area, Joshua was silent for a moment, then frowned and helplessly turned to Ying and Lin: "The Misty Pocket Watch's effect is quite strong. Earlier on Commercial Avenue, the passersby didn't notice the pressure emanating from me. But why, once inside Morlai Palace, does everyone become so nervous and wary of me?"
"...Probably because, Master, you were just passing by earlier. The passersby naturally didn't have time to notice the pressure on you..."
Lin thought for a moment and said somewhat uncertainly: "But those nobles and mages just now all clearly saw your face. They also knew your identity, so their attention was focused on you... For this reason, the Misty Pocket Watch's effect weakened?"
After listening to Lin's speculation, Joshua nodded slightly. But before he could speak, another voice came from a corner of the room: "A decent explanation, but it doesn't get to the root of the matter."
A tall figure stepped out from a corner previously hidden by bookshelves. His voice was low and clear: "No matter how much a beast lowers its presence, it is still a beast. You can't expect people not to fear a lurking night leopard or a half-sleeping lion."
"Let alone you, Joshua van Radcliffe, the man known for being able to slaughter demons with his bare hands."