The Villain's Retirement-Chapter 33: Library

Ard blinked. "Wait. Didn’t you just say this is the Land of the Knights? And you want to go to the library?"

Hearing him, the boy’s face reddened, as he hurried to explain but calmly, "Yes, I was thinking of visiting the west side library today."

"The west side?"

"I hear it has a wider selection of advanced material so I’m hoping to learn more about my copy magic than what the north side has to offer."

’So he’s been there already?’ From what he had heard when he arrived, Zayn’s situation was the first he had heard from. Apparently, the people in the Duchy thinks he was his guardian or something. And according to them, Zayn had been sneaking outside to explore the city alone.

’So he has been on the library.’ Ard thought.

It was also natural for one such as him to have the desire to learn more about his ability? Frankly, even him have never heard of such ability. The only understanding he has is that the world offers many wonders and one could probably never know everything. This held true even to beings who had lived for hundreds of years.

Many demons for example had lived for even thousands of years, yet they do not know anything. A lot of them were busy killing and trying to dominate one another.

While the Citadel also had its own massive library. It probably didn’t cover everything about rare abilities like his. It made sense to keep searching, especially now that they were outside the Citadel.

"The library, huh." Ard frankly was not stranger to books.

Back when he was a kid, the clan didn’t just train him in the Shadow arts and in the art of killing. However, not all the books he had read were about magic or techniques. He also had regular lessons about philosophy and even governance from certain teachers. It was one of the things he had to learn to take over as the clan head.

While he honestly hardly cared, he however understood the concepts and theories behind the topics.

And he had to admit, those reading he was forced to do as a kid, allowed him to blend better into the human realm during his visits. Even if only slightly.

Riding the carriage the duke had assigned them, they arrived at the library. It was a big huge tower around the center of the city so it wasn’t difficult to spot.

Looking around, the first floor was already busy with mostly scholars. Even in the Land of the Knights, learning thrived alongside magic academies and ordinary schools. Round tables were spread out, each occupied by focused students and scribes. It was looking more and more as a real powerhouse in the human side. Compared to this enormous civilization, the Barony of Salience was like a village. That banishment of the former baron Lewis to Salience was indeed an exile.

Ard noticed that there were multiple round desks spread out where scholars were sitting.

Inside was like a huge cylinder pointed to the sky too, books rose before them in a circulating spire of stone. There were multiple floors. Tall arched windows lined its exterior, warm light glowing from within. The stairs also spiraled while wrapped around in some fine stone.

Ard squinted his eyes and looked from one shelf to another seeing books, scrolls, and tomes of every age. History. Magic. Politics. War.

*Sniff* *Sniff*

The scent of parchment and ink filled the air.

"This...I have never went here, but this is pretty amazing." Ard said.

"It’s almost as big as the Archives in Citadel too." Zayn said quietly.

The architect who designed such a building was a genius. It was one of the most wonderful architecture Ard had seen.

Just as he said, Zayn then separated from him. Leaving him, he had greeted some scholars too and even started talking like they had knew each other for years making Ard watching the scene shake his head. He couldn’t believe how quick the boy had made friends. He had only been in the Duchy for a few days!

Ard looked up and saw the label of the direction Zayn went to: west side of the library. From what he could see, it was indeed the magic study section which seemed to share the same books with most of the north side.

’Whatever,’ Ard said and smiled.

Soon, he found himself in what seemed to be the history section.

It wasn’t by coincidence too. At first, he had no idea where to go, but this intrigued him somewhat. He focused on records from the last ten years, though he also picked other books to hide the fact that he was mostly interested in recent events.

With books on top of his hand, he then sat on a table and placed them there while reading.

When he had started reading, the Kingdoms in the Western Continent seemed to have remained the same.

There were still three kingdoms on the Western Continent.

Lorynthia Kingdom, ruling over Jian Dukedom where he was currently located in. Along with Jian, there were two other dukedoms under Lorynthia: Arven and Koral.

Arven Kingdom, slightly weaker militarily but home to dwarves who produced weapons and armor.

The Holy Kingdom, home to the saintess of the hero party, boasting probably the most powerful military in the world.

In the Eastern Continent which has the biggest land territory, the emperor still reigned over all the nations. Nothing has changed.

In the Northern Continent where the true Land of the Knights was located, there were still the many small kingdoms which constantly waged war against each other.

Meanwhile, the Southern Continent remained mostly barren, home to the weakest military nations but still heaven for the most dangerous and most wanted criminals who trafficked in slaves and other shady dealings.

Ard tried searching for information on the archmage Sileuss on the books.

’Sileus Vond, the Curious Mage, and an expert in magic analyzation. It is said he had saved the Royal family many times and had earned the favor of the Royal family for generations. He lives in Loen’s Peak and takes on apprentices from time to time. One of his most notable apprentices is Daniel Brave, the creator of the Demon Detecting Device...’

Ard almost spat spit.

’So he had been annoying me before I even knew him...’ Ard thought and closed the book about him. ’The important thing is he won’t ever meet him again.’ Ard’s eyes turned cold for a moment. He honestly hoped they would just disappear into that creepy dungeon portal.

Ard continued to read.

He had also tried finding information on some people he had once travelled as an adventurer or interacted with.

Apparently, some had achieved fame in the war against demons, gaining lands, titles, or promotions to official knighthood. Some had already perished. Such was life. He wasn’t even shocked. During the war, people died like flies. When he watched the Demon King attack human cities, he wasn’t even sure if the human companions he had travelled with was there or not. Regardless if they were, he didn’t even care. It merely meant it was time.

He also had read newspapers. He ignored the part where he saw his face on the paper. He had already seen it after all.

Regardless, it had been four months since the Demon King had died. Demons however were still apparently still active around the countryside, taking lives in villages at night and even at broad daylight. Even demon possessions were still much alive so the holy knights were still very much busy.

However—

Ard frowned.

Apparently, the Heroes’ party had split up and went their separate ways. For some reason, the Church had also confiscated the Sword Hero’s holy sword. And at the moment, the Sword Hero had gone missing like the rest of the members of the heroes’ party.