"Frieren! You can't take that book!"
"Hm? Why not?"
"Because… because… that's not a proper grimoire. Anyway, you can't have it!"
Frieren looked suspiciously at Shane, then at the grimoire in her hands. Her eyes were full of doubt. Since when were grimoires divided into "proper" and "improper"?
Was this so kind of [Sage] riddle?
Seeing Frieren clutching the book like food she didn't want to share, Shane could only feel helpless.
"You have to trust . This really isn't anything valuable. And… look at the writing on it—it's clearly an ancient dwarven language. It'll be hard to decipher. Why don't… why don't you give it to ? I'll keep it safe with for the ti being."
Hearing that, Frieren glanced at the text on the cover. It really was a strange and unfamiliar script.
Deciphering it would indeed be difficult.
"It's fine. I can wait until we et Eisen and ask him to help. We can read it together."
!!!
Shane took a deep breath. 'On behalf of Eisen, I really thank you.'
Seeing that he couldn't persuade her, he had no choice but to think of another plan.
"Alright then. Just make sure you keep it safe."
After saying that, he gave the grimoire a lingering look.
He was already secretly planning how to make this "Dwarven Special Edition Spring Amusents" book "disappear" tonight in a perfectly reasonable way.
...
Since they couldn't find any further clues about the dwarven helt, Shane decided to set the matter aside for now.
Taking advantage of the improving weather, they would depart as soon as possible and cross the Neck Mountains.
After leaving the village, the two returned to Fu'an Town, planning to rest for the night, stock up on supplies tomorrow, and then continue their journey.
That night.
The moon was dark, the wind high.
Shane arrived at Frieren's door. He looked around carefully, then quietly took out a key he had "borrowed" from the innkeeper.
As for how he got it, don't ask.
Click.
The door was gently pushed…
Pushed…
Pushed…
"Hm? Why won't it open?"
Through the small gap, he saw a pale, bare foot.
"…"
He could fully imagine what kind of wild sleeping posture Frieren was in behind the door.
How did she even manage to roll all the way from the bed to the door?
He had no doubt that if the door hadn't stopped her, she might have ended up sleeping out on the street. No—she might've rolled straight out of the town!
Taking a deep breath, Shane used all his strength and slowly, bit by bit, pushed the door open just enough.
Then he squeezed himself through the gap.
After getting inside, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked speechlessly at Frieren, who was sleeping soundly on the floor.
He tidied up the bed again, picked her up, and placed her back onto it.
He even tucked the blanket around her.
Finally, without hesitation, he took the "Dwarven Special Edition Spring…" book from the table.
Back in his own room.
Instead of imdiately stripping the attributes from it, he curiously opened the book.
You couldn't bla him.
What man wouldn't be curious? Huh?
Then sothing incredible happened. The golden attribute on him—[Accelerated Thinking (Gold/Legendary)]—suddenly activated on its own.
[Accelerated Thinking (Gold/Legendary)]: A true sage must possess a brilliant mind. Permanently increases intelligence and comprehension, and accelerates the interpretation of texts.
The ancient, twisted script before his eyes suddenly beca much easier to understand. The obscure sentences transford into vivid illustrations.
His eyes widened more and more.
...
...
A night passed.
Shane stepped out of his room with unsteady legs.
What a fulfilling and unforgettable night.
Frieren, who he thought would sleep until afternoon, surprisingly woke up early. She was rummaging through the room, making a clattering ss.
He stopped at her doorway and took a look inside.
Good grief. She was just short of flipping the floorboards over.
He silently walked away and went downstairs for breakfast.
Before long, Frieren followed behind him, puffing with frustration.
She complained to him that the grimoire she had just obtained yesterday had disappeared before she even had the chance to read it. She suspected that so kind of concealnt or escape magic had been cast on it.
It must have been a mythical-level grimoire!
Shane nodded perfunctorily.
Seeing the girl's suspicious gaze drifting toward him, he quickly took out a piece of paper from his pocket to divert her attention.
"Neck Mountains, Blackrock Mountain, ruins of the Dwarven Royal Capital?"
Frieren looked at the note in surprise. "Where did this co from? Is the information reliable?"
It was absolutely reliable.
This was the result of Shane's entire night of "hard work."
That "Dwarven Spring Amusents Special Edition" book looked like an adult book on the surface, but in reality, it was a codebook.
For so reason, its author had chosen such a thod to conceal it. Shane guessed it was most likely to prevent demons from discovering it.
"I got it from those helts. A sage can always spot clues others miss."
He casually made up an excuse.
Frieren didn't doubt him. She began carefully examining the contents of the note.
This was a major historical discovery!
A spark of excitent flashed in her eyes.
Shane recalled the mont he had read the contents last night. He had felt the sa shock she was feeling now.
To think—over the long passage of ti—how many changes had language, vocabulary, and symbolic aning undergone? What had been lost, what had been added? No one could say anymore.
Without the [Accelerated Thinking (Gold/Legendary)] attribute, trying to "read" a dwarven encrypted docunt from thousands of years ago would have been unimaginably difficult.
Take the Diary of Sage Ewig fragnt, for example. It was just a thin sheet of paper, yet it was filled with strange symbols and fragnted, disjointed phrases. Without the original author to explain it, any attempt by later generations to decipher it might have been completely futile.
After all, he had done plenty of "reading comprehension" in his life.
He had to thank his curiosity as a man. Otherwise, they might have missed this opportunity to uncover dwarven history.
The decoded information revealed:
"The Neck Mountains are the birthplace of the dwarves' 'Steel Civilization.'
Here, they once built the most magnificent city in the world—'Ironforge.'
Later, during the massacre initiated by the demons, Ironforge was destroyed and buried underground.
But the dwarves believed that one day, warriors of their race would gain the power to defeat the demons, return to Blackrock Mountain, awaken the 'Black Iron Legacy' beneath the city, and restore the glory of the dwarves."
Given the level of importance implied by this double-layered encryption…
Shane had no doubt about the authenticity of this information.
Now, he was very interested in the "Sleeping Black Iron Legacy" ntioned in the code.
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