Chapter 901 — Another Record

"Of course, if in the end there is no other way, and we urgently need to dig deeper into the secrets of the Shadow Realm, then consulting Amon is an option. But before that... we had best tell the Empire's scholars what we know and let them try to solve this problem with 'mortal wisdom.'"

"All right, you have a point," Amber waved a hand. Then something else seemed to occur to her. "By the way, I was just thinking of something else... Do you suppose this 'Deep Realm' has any connection to the 'Deep Sea' Amon mentioned before?"

"Actually, I wondered about that at first too," Gao Qi frowned. "But I keep feeling that the 'Deep Sea' Amon treated with such gravity cannot be anything so simple. If the Gloom Realm were the Deep Sea, or its entrance... then why would Amon say that since ancient times no mortal has ever reached the Deep Sea, and that even the gods are but a ripple upon it?"

Amber thought it over seriously and decided Gao Song had a point. Her expression grave, she sat there thinking for a long while, then finally sighed in something like surrender, stretched out her limbs, and slumped in the chair with no dignity whatsoever. "Ugh... my head is starting to ache... What a mess this all is. I tell you, I am not cut out for thinking about this sort of thing..."

Gao Yang could not help looking at this disgrace of the Empire with a smile—it seemed the fellow had recovered after all.

Only then did he return his gaze to the Mo Jin travelogue. After two seconds of thought, he looked at Amber and broke the silence: "Next we should figure out what to do with this travelogue..."

Amber's gaze instinctively followed Gao Song's to the old book with its mottled, worn cover. For a moment she seemed about to reach out, but before she acted she laughed and shook her head. "What is there to discuss—return it to its rightful owner, of course. According to the rules, once the copy is made, we give it back to that iceberg of a duchess. Most of the book is Mo Jin's travelogue anyway... At worst, you can pull out the unrelated parts and give it back to her after that."

Gao Yang looked at this disgrace of the Empire with some surprise: "I thought you would want to keep it."

"...For a moment there, I actually did think about it," Amber pursed her lips, slouched in the chair with an air of languor. "After all, my adoptive father lost his life over this wretched book. But then I thought it over... what does this book have to do with me? It is only the notes left behind by an adventurer who had nothing to do with me after an adventure that had nothing to do with me, and it happens to mention the race I once belonged to... I have no reason to seize another's property over that."

Gao Yang grew even more surprised: "That does not sound like something a person who once swore to become the greatest thief in the Southern Region would say—you were not nearly so scrupulous when you dug up my grave."

At that, Amber waved her hands again and again: "Don't bring that up, don't bring it up. I got caught red-handed with the loot digging one grave—my previous career ended right there, all right..."

Gao Yang: "..."

After two seconds of calm consideration, he glanced at the Guardian's Shield and the Pioneer's Sword lying not far away: "Have you considered the possibility of getting beaten up by the loot?"

The next second, Amber's figure vanished from the study in an instant.

Outside, the sunlight was bright.

Autumn was drawing near; the brilliant sunshine had lost some of its oppressive heat, and the air felt more pleasant than on ordinary days.

Amber walked along the street leading to the bustling district, gradually shedding the effect of her shadow stealth. That hazy veil, like black gauze, receded from all sides, and she let the splendid sunlight pour freely over her face.

Walking in the sunlight was not bad either.

She raised her head and looked at the glorious sun hanging high in the sky, and a faint smile slowly spread across her face.

Gao Yang withdrew his gaze from the window and stepped away from the great floor-to-ceiling window that faced the eastern district.

After a moment of silent thought, he shook his head and returned to his desk. First he took out paper and pen and dashed off a letter to be transmitted to Winterhold in the North; then his eyes fell once more upon that copy of Mo Jin's Travelogue.

Mo Jin Wilde, perhaps the greatest adventurer Ansu had ever known, had left his footprints across the whole of the world known to humankind and even set foot in realms unknown to it. In life and after death he bequeathed countless treasures of knowledge, yet the turmoil of the times had caused much of what he left behind to vanish into the long river of history.

For instance, few knew that Mo Jin Wilde had once challenged the sea as well...

Gao Yang picked up the travelogue and opened it again, finding the section he had been reading, and had not yet finished, before Amber arrived.

Apart from the accounts of his adventures in the Shadow World, the book held another portion that concerned him greatly: the part about the "Frost Calamity Amulet," passed down through the Wilde family for generations, its origins a mystery.

Those old, neat handwritten words met Gao Yang's eyes:

"Day X of Month X. While sorting through some folk tales of the Eastern Region, I discovered a few interesting clues. This may well be the starting point of my next adventure...

"There is evidence that some hundred years ago, that great pioneering hero, Grand Duke Gao Yang Cecil, left his own domain and undertook an 'adventure' that would astonish even an adventurer like myself: he challenged the ocean.

"Not many knew of this secret voyage, and most of what has come down to us are odd tales that ring only half true. Still, from a great mass of fragmentary records I have found clues that corroborate one another, and by an adventurer's instinct and experience I believe this was no mere heroic tale concocted by bards. It must have been an adventure that truly took place.

"How this excites me!

"Think of it: a hero of a hundred years ago, a man who was no professional adventurer, dared to challenge the sea and came back alive, while I, who call myself the greatest adventurer of this age, have spent half a lifetime wandering about on safe dry land... What greater irony could there be? And what greater inspiration?

"I truly ought to begin a new adventure: gather more material, seek more clues, make ample preparations. Mo Jin Wilde shall undertake the most breathtaking challenge of his adventuring career...

"To seek out Gao Yang Cecil's 'Hero's Route'!"

(A book recommendation: the gaming and esports novel I Just Want to Win. Emmmm... feels like it has been a long time since I read anything of that sort. Everyone can go show some support.)