“Vice Admiral Iceberg” Edwina didn’t show any change in expression at Gehrman Sparrow’s statement that he would consider it. She nodded calmly:
“No rush.”
It seemed she thought such a large transaction was not something I could decide on my own; I had to go back and consult the secret organization behind me… Is this a problem of my inability to decide? It’s a problem of not having money! Klein mentally complained, closed the *Grosell’s Travels*, and asked in a low voice:
“Do you know who the author is?
“What happened to the previous owners of this book?”
Edwina walked to the opposite side of him, extended her right hand, and rubbed the cover with her fingers:
“The previous owners are impossible to verify due to historical obscurity, shipwrecks, and lack of corresponding records, so we can’t determine the author either. Um, it bears no signature.
“We used some secret arts to research it and found that the parchment was produced at least three thousand years ago, before the Cataclysm.
“That’s also why I believe it’s worth at least 8,000 pounds.”
A book from three thousand years ago, with characters that include not only giants and elves but also human ascetics, nobles of the Solomon Empire, and Loen soldiers… These are concepts from later eras! A wonderful book that hides a prophecy? Or someone deliberately used ancient parchment to make it? But what would be the point, a simple prank? Klein deliberately curled his lips slightly without showing a smile:
“The giant’s name is Grosell. Could the author be Roselle?”
“No. The name Roselle itself originates from the deconstruction of the giant language, and it underwent a second change when Ancient Feysac evolved into Intis, gaining a different meaning…” Edwina explained in detail the etymology of the name Roselle, leaving Klein stunned, as if he were back in school.
He nodded lightly and said without any change in tone:
“If this is an ancient work, I’m curious why an ice frost dragon could be called the ‘King of the North.’ What Pathway and Sequence would it correspond to?”
Edwina lifted her gaze from *Grosell’s Travels* and looked at Klein:
“Before the appearance of the first Blasphemy Slate, there were no concepts of Pathways or Sequences, and many creatures did not follow such arrangements. In that era, chaos and madness were the main themes.
“Some dragons might have gathered many Beyonder characteristics related to frost, like the frost of a witch, the frost of a ‘Corpse,’ the frost of a ‘Weather Sorcerer.’ Thus, it would gain extremely powerful strength and a fairly high status. Of course, such gathering inevitably leads to death or loss of control.
“This means that if it didn’t die, it would inevitably lose control and become a monster. But then again, dragons themselves are monsters.”
If there are many such products among giants, dragons, and elves, it’s understandable why the Second Epoch is called the “Dark Epoch”… Klein pondered for a moment, then said, as if talking to himself or inquiring:
“That results in a waste of Beyonder characteristics.”
Edwina looked at him for a few seconds and said:
“Emperor Roselle once said a sentence:
“‘What is separated must converge, what is converged must separate.’”
“The Emperor said that? I understand the first sentence; it’s another expression of the Law of Beyonder Characteristic Convergence. What does the second sentence mean?
“When convergence reaches a certain point, will there be a tendency to separate and repel? When characteristics from different Pathways are chaotically combined, will there be a separation effect? The more chaotic, the more they repel each other?
“Such words would not be casually spoken by the Emperor, and certainly aren’t in the sayings that circulate… Last time, from Roselle’s dream divination and the Vice Admiral’s surname, I guessed she might be a descendant of one of Emperor Roselle’s Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Edwards… Very likely…
“After the Emperor fell, their family fled to Reinburg and gradually converted to the ‘God of Knowledge and Wisdom’?
“What a great teacher! It’s like she has all the answers!”
Klein said no more and admired the Vice Admiral Iceberg’s other collections.
At the same time, he had an idea: during the Tarot Club meeting, he would ask Little “Sun” through “The World” if he knew about the book *Grosell’s Travels*.
Of course, to prevent “The Hanged Man” from sensing something wrong from the question and thus detecting the abnormality of “The Fool,” he decided to communicate privately and block out others.
After a brief visit, Edwina led Klein out of the collection room and entered the captain’s room in the pirate restaurant.
“The specialty here is yogurt; you can add strawberry jam or honey…” Edwina pointed to the row of food outside the door. “There are also several types of dried fish from the deep sea that haven’t been named yet.”
As she spoke, she motioned for Klein to help himself and bring it into the room, and she set an example by getting up.
Klein took a serving of yogurt made by who knows whom, added a few spoons of honey, then picked up a plate and helped himself to pork sausages, cream bagels, and other food.
In the process, he saw a young man dressed in a white shirt, black vest, and a colorful tie, looking more like an office worker than a pirate, approach Vice Admiral Iceberg Edwina and whisper something.
The man had good looks, with hair that was blond at the ends and darker at the roots, neatly combed to the sides.
His eyes were a very light lake green, with a straight nose and thin lips, giving a trustworthy air.
“Don’t be fooled by his appearance. He’s like a wolf-fish can, full of stench!” Danitz had somehow entered the pirate restaurant and come to Klein’s side, muttering with disgust.
Klein turned his head and gave him a glance but said nothing, knowing Danitz would explain willingly.
Before Danitz could speak, the man next to him, with a bulky waist, said in a slightly shrill voice:
“He’s the third mate, Yoderson. He used to be a playboy and pirate who said he would steal our captain’s heart. He got beaten up and stayed here for reeducation. Bullshit!
“In short, he’s no good!” Danitz emphasized.