Without wasting my breath, I turned away and began searching for the scroll.
But...
In this library, where would one even start?
Each shelf was as tall as a building and stretched longer than a hallway. The place was shrouded in darkness, with only the occasional source of light every ten meters or so, provided by radiance bugs kept inside glass lanterns.
The enormous tree overshadowing the place certainly didn't help.
This place was more of a maze or dungeon than a library.
But that wasn't my concern. My only concern was the scroll, and I had absolutely no idea where it was.
Fortunately, I had a pretty good idea of how I could find it.
Turning around, I ran up the tree, vaulting from branch to branch despite the fact that some of them were literally meters apart.
Once I had climbed high enough, I turned around to get a better view of the Lion's Garden.
Scanning left and right, I searched as carefully as possible for anything that stood out.
Unfortunately, I hadn't learned any ocular Flow Arts. Otherwise, this would have been a whole lot easier.
There!
In the top-left corner of the Lion's Garden, a large swarm of radiance bugs hovered around a particular area.
Although it was a little too conspicuous, it was still a start. Besides, if I couldn't find anything else, I could always take a few radiance bugs with me.
After all, being resourceful and adapting to my circumstances was what made a good spy.
And I needed to be the best if I wanted to achieve what I was after.
Before jumping down, I took a mental note of the arrangement of the bookshelves.
I had three possible routes in mind.
A — The short route.
A straight path to my destination.
Suspiciously convenient, but fast.
It was definitely a trap. Probably one set up by some simple-minded fool whose intelligence I couldn't even be bothered to question right now.
B — The long route.
By far the safest option.
It would take a considerable amount of time, and if I accidentally took a wrong turn, I'd have to waste even more time finding my way back.
Or C — The middle route.
The most reasonable option so far.
Not too long, not too short.
But there was something ominous about that area.
Most likely the artificial beasts.
Compared to the other routes...
This one...
Unfortunately, was the most reasonable.
Steeling myself, I slapped my cheeks.
The ones on my face, obviously.
Then I jumped down from the tree and headed into the ominous route.
Dark.
Far too dark.
And cold.
An uncomfortable chill settled over my back, like wearing a T-shirt on a freezing winter morning.
That was all I could feel.
By this point, I was deep inside the route and hadn't expected it to feel like I was taking a leisurely stroll up Mount Everest.
The radiance bugs near the giant tree must have been keeping me warm.
Shivering as I hugged the wall, I could only think one thing.
This place couldn't possibly get any weirder.
Then again, there were literally artificial beasts roaming around, so perhaps I shouldn't have been so quick to judge.
Speaking of artificial beasts, I had to be grateful that I hadn't encountered any of those freaks yet.
If my calculations were correct, I was already more than halfway to the area where the scroll was most likely hidden.
Although I was colder than an ice cube, the thought warmed me up a little.
Progress was progress, after all.
Alright.
Just a few more turns, and I'd be at the swarm of radiance bugs.
OH GOD, PLEASE HELP ME! SOMEONE, HELP ME!
I immediately turned toward the scream.
And just like that, the ominous chill I'd felt lurking around this route returned.
Only this time, it was heavier.
More oppressive.
It reminded me of the terrifying aura of the beast Hadal and I had fought on the beach.
I ran.
And I ran hard, charging toward the source of the scream in the hope that I could save whoever had made it.
Fuck.
That scream could only mean one thing.
Someone had encountered one of the beasts.
Activating Cloud Chasing Step, I pushed myself forward as fast as I could.
And there it was.
An ugly, mutated lion fused with scraps of metal. Its body was a grotesque mess of flesh and machinery, the kind of failed prototype that should have been put out of its misery long ago.
Fortunately, it was only a few meters away from the guy it was about to eat.
A few meters was all I needed.
Soul Smasher Art: Soul Smash!
A wave of energy erupted from me, taking the shape of an enormous fist as it hurtled toward the lion.
I carefully controlled its output, making sure the attack wouldn't attract attention from anyone outside while still packing enough force to destroy the beast.
And...
As expected, the lion vanished beneath the force of the punch.
The attack drained a considerable amount of energy from me, but I didn't have much of a choice.
That mysterious Flow Slasher Art I'd supposedly used still wouldn't work for some reason, and I hadn't polished Soul Smasher enough to call it a perfected Flow Art.
"T-thank you, mister!"
The boy spoke through a pool of tears.
"Please, calm down. It's alright," I reassured him.
"Who are you, and why are you in the Lion's Garden?"
He wiped his face and took a deep breath.
"My name is Arthur. I'm one of the new servants of the Sankoré family."
He hesitated before continuing.
"As for why I'm here... I accidentally angered Sir Paul, and he beat me up before throwing me in here to be eaten."
Looking at him more closely, I could see that he was badly beaten.
Poor guy. He couldn't have been older than fourteen.
"Are you Fallen from Grace?" I asked, extending a hand to help him up.
"Yes. How did you know?"
"Just a wild guess."
I pulled him to his feet.
"But what was your family's surname before you fell from grace?"
"Adewale. That was our surname before our family fell from grace. We were amazing at anything involving aetherglyphs and Flow Arts."
"Flow Arts, you say?"
"Well, yes. I'm quite knowledgeable myself."
His voice suddenly gained a little more confidence.
Interesting.
"Then tell me something. Do you know of any illegal Flow Art capable of mutating living creatures?"
"Yes. There's one called the Mutant Beast Flow Art. Is that the one you're looking for?"
He scratched his chin for a moment before continuing.
"They change the locations of their forbidden Flow Arts every other week. Fortunately, I'm one of the people responsible for moving them."
He looked at me.
"In that case, the Mutant Beast Flow Art shouldn't be too far away. And with your strength, we should be able to find it."
"Thanks, but... what will you do afterward?"
The moment I asked that question, an awkward silence settled between us.
Arthur lowered his head.
"Probably become beast food."
He let out a bitter laugh.
"My family has been running for years because we fell from grace. A lot of us have died, and I'm simply next on the chopping block."
He paused.
"But even if that's the case, I still lived a good life!"
"Just a second ago, you were practically wetting yourself."
"Huh..."
He looked away.
"I guess I was."
His expression became a little more serious.
"I suppose that even though I've spent my life running from death, actually facing it for the first time is scary."
His words made me think of Hadal and Michael.
There were so many people who had Fallen from Grace. People whose lives had been threatened endlessly, forcing them to abandon their will to live or hide who they truly were just to survive.
All because their families had lost their standing.
"Arthur."
He looked up at me.
"Come back with me."
"What?"
"I mean, I work for the Lance Corporation. Someone with your knowledge and skills could be useful to us."
I extended my hand toward him.
"Come with me. Join us. You'd have a chance to do something with your life instead of waiting around to become someone's dinner."
Arthur sighed deeply.
"I'll help you find the forbidden Flow Art, but..."
He looked me directly in the eyes.
"Whether I'll join you is a matter of trust."
He paused.
"So, the real question is..."
"Can I trust you and the Lance Corporation?"