"Dear Mr. Ronald, in view of your role in…"

Sitting on the sofa of the inn, Ronald opened the envelope, took out a badge, and a piece of letter paper, then began to read the contents of the paper slowly.

The meaning of these words was quite simple.

The upper part granted Ronald the authority to access certain confidential materials at the executive council for a period of one and a half months.

The lower part was about the exploration team, informing Ronald to go to an inn in Waterfall City in a week's time and then have a private consultation with the people from the exploration team.

That was it.

Ronald's request had been satisfied.

And this efficiency even surprised Ronald so much that he turned his head to Costate:

"Costate, we left the executive council, it seems like it was just last night, right?"

The maid replied calmly,

"Sir, you are not mistaken."

"…"

Ronald's expression subtly changed as he scratched his head.

It must be because of the current state of something important.

In any case, the efficiency this time was very fast, not at all like his state when he had just arrived at Waterfall City a few weeks ago.

"This is also just right." Ronald soon stopped dwelling on the issue of efficiency, put down the letter, stood up and looked out the window. "Costate, go have the inn prepare lunch. I'm quite free right now, so I'll eat and then head to the executive council to read."

"Sir, I'll go inform them right away."

Upon hearing the order, Costate immediately set off, while Ronald took out the badge by the well-lit window.

—This was his identity proof for transiting at the executive council.

On a circular bright metal base, a characteristic winter tree from here was carved into a bird, encapsulated in transparent glass and inlaid on it.

Ronald seldom saw badges designed this way.

After playing with it for a while and hearing footsteps outside, he then put it back into his pocket.

Then with a smile, he greeted his lunch.

...

After a simple and relaxed lunch.

Ronald still instructed Costate to stay at the inn, while he alone went to the executive council atop the waterfall.

Only Ronald was authorized by Layale.

So naturally, this time entering the executive council was Ronald's solitary action.

By the afternoon, the streets of Waterfall City were slightly better than in the morning, at least there were many men busy with work.

However, before walking onto the waterfall suspension bridge, Ronald clearly noticed the strict control surrounding the area. Not to mention those idlers sitting drinking and chatting, not even a child playing could be seen.

"Is this what they call… the setting sun?"

Ronald murmured to himself as he stepped forward, aided by the badge he had, he encountered no trouble and once again delved deeper into the building.

During his search for the book room, Ronald also glanced around.

Black burn marks, messy debris, and wrecked building structures…

The entrance to the basement that had just been blown open last night, along with the destroyed bedroom above, was still completely unattended. The sight of the ruins was hard to believe it was the heart of a nation's power.

Ronald had intended to reflect more on this.

But considering he also had his "contribution" here, he said nothing and just shook his head and continued walking towards the back of the executive council.

The book room was actually just an unused office.

The only guard when he saw Ronald immediately spoke:

"Are you Mr. Ronald?"

"Layale informed me about your return, please let me verify your badge."

Ronald nodded and handed over the badge. The entire verification process did not even take five seconds.

Only when returning the badge to Ronald

did the guard specifically remind:

"Mr. Ronald, the governing council here is not responsible for the food and drinks of general visitors, nor does it accept takeaway."

"If you plan to dine, please remember to go home on time."

Ronald indicated that he understood:

"Thank you for the reminder."

Click—

After the communication was finished, the guard actively opened the door for Ronald. After Ronald entered, he was responsible for closing it.

Ronald stepped inside and looked around, his expression changing immediately.

"This... is really quite spartan."

Honestly, the place did not look at all like a major archive for important texts.

A desk, three sofas, a standing cabinet—aside from these facilities that quite suited the function of an office room, there were bookshelves on the other walls that occupied less than one-third of the space.

Had it not been for these books being mostly ancient and evidently possessing a lot of history,

Ronald might have really thought he had walked into the wrong place!

"..."

With a nuanced expression, Ronald walked up and randomly took down two books.

With such an arrangement, he did not expect any particular organization, so he might as well slowly search for what he needed here.

"Edinran Winter Hunting," "Duties of the King"...

He flipped through the books bit by bit.

Ronald's expression gradually softened.

Like the ancient history these books had endured, the content they contained was distinctively characteristic of Entrod, and most of them were collections of personal manuscripts not meant for publication.

If the person standing here now were a professor specializing in history or a related profession,

then such a volume of books would actually be a surprisingly divine blessing.

"..."

"Only the most valuable books have been transferred here..."

Understanding the practices of Entrod, Ronald gradually immersed himself in reading.

This was indeed a choice under a very specific time.

The large library left by the former royal family still existed in Waterfall City, but due to various reasons, these most valuable books had been separately transferred to the back of the governing council.

Once Ronald entered the reading mode, he fully devoted himself.

Even though time unknowingly reached deep into the night, with his excellent physical condition, Ronald remained quietly seated on the sofa reading.

It was in such an environment that Ronald came across a travelogue-like manuscript and also found records of the Peak of Ling Guang.

"Northern Enertifa Chronicles" —

[March 7, I crossed the icy barriers and arrived at Ling Guang Mountain, as referred to by the northern migrants.]

[Unexpectedly, in this far northern region where ice and snow are not the ultimate rulers, there lies a mild land capable of sustaining a town.]

[Unfortunately, no one set foot here, and a strange air gave me a headache, so after two days, I decided to resume my journey northward to see what was beyond...]

The text read up to here.

The word 'Ling Guang' appeared once again.

But Ronald was not pleased because through the narrative in this manuscript, he finally realized a problem he had always ignored!

This caused Ronald's expression to become somewhat uneasy:

"It shouldn't... be as severe as I imagine, should it?"

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