"I'll be leaving now if there's nothing else."

Loren ignored William, pushed the door open, and left. The others followed behind Loren, leaving William frozen in place, watching as Loren and the others departed one by one.

After leaving the restaurant, the group returned home. Before they even had a chance to sit down, Loren was already on the move again without pause:

"I'm going to the library. You all stay home and behave yourselves."

Loren's purpose in coming to the Nofica Theocracy was to retrieve that Dawn Princess's Diary, and having many people around would obviously hinder his actions. Therefore, Loren planned to go alone.

Moreover, they had just arrived in the Nofica Theocracy and were unfamiliar with both the place and its people. It was entirely possible someone had their eyes on Loren.

Since someone had already dared to ask Loren for the Ember Radiance formula, there might well be others daring enough to take action against Loren.

There were many Church personnel protecting the area near their home, making it much safer to stay inside.

After giving that instruction, Loren left. He was afraid that if he were even a step late, the book might be taken by someone else.

The house the Church had prepared for Loren was very close to the Bountiful Magic Academy. Loren walked a few steps and entered the academy grounds.

This place was very much like the academies in old-school fantasy novels, teaching both theory and practical combat, and even holding competitions from time to time.

Under the Church's rule, the Bountiful Magic Academy was, in a sense, truly the most suitable place for civilian mages to grow. Even Players could fully join the Bountiful Magic Academy, making their growth curve become very smooth.

Furthermore, this place was different from the Gedlan Royal Magic Academy. Although nobles were still the majority here, even if the nobles looked down on the commoners here, they wouldn't do anything too excessive. At most, they'd just hit a little harder during competitions.

Back then, if Loren hadn't picked up Anna and the others, he would have considered coming here to develop.

Although he was a bit older, given his abilities, the Bountiful Magic Academy couldn't possibly refuse him.

"Times have changed..." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Now, Loren needed only a single word to become the Headmaster of the Bountiful Magic Academy, and he didn't think much of this academy anymore.

Loren didn't make a big fuss when entering the academy. He just revealed his identity to the Gate Guard and also asked the guard to help keep it confidential.

There were quite a few people inside the academy. It was currently after class, with many rushing to the cafeteria and many others heading to the library.

Loren blended in with the students and arrived at the library with them.

"Finding it here is indeed going to be a bit difficult..."

The Bountiful Magic Academy's library was the largest library in the entire country. The number of books here was absurdly high, covering every conceivable subject.

There were magic books, books introducing rituals, books introducing creatures, and history books. It's just that even the history books here didn't contain much truthful information.

Loren went to the history book section, casually picked one up, and glanced at it. The first page was introducing the birth of the gods.

"Before the gods descended, people had nothing. No bountiful harvest, no night, no light, epidemics ran rampant... They lived in chaos, without wisdom, constantly tormented by hunger, at the bottom of the food chain, where even survival was a luxury.

"Later, the Outer Gods descended, intending to devour this world. So, the gods of heaven, seeing humanity's suffering, descended to the mortal realm, protecting all living beings and driving out the Outer Gods.

"The gods chose humanity, bestowing upon them wisdom and everything needed for survival. The God of Bountiful Harvest was the most benevolent among the gods. He allowed people to eat their fill, no longer tormented by hunger..."

Looking at these black-and-white-reversing words, Loren felt a bit nauseous. He quickly flipped a few pages forward. The next chapter was about the Dawn Princess.

"Humans lived happily under the rule of the gods. At that moment, a ruler filled with ambition appeared. She called herself the Dawn Princess. Dissatisfied that the gods affected her control over the people, she forced her subjects to rebel against the gods.

"The gods, unable to bear seeing her subjects tormented by her, joined forces to kill her. Before her death, she cursed her subjects, sinking her kingdom into the sea, and her subjects turned into Merfolk.

"Under the effect of the curse, the Merfolk could not come ashore and also became increasingly fierce and violent. Their reason was eroded, and they began to oppose the gods..."

Loren closed the book and simultaneously pierced its pages with a needle hidden in his sleeve. This was the method for finding the Dawn Princess's Diary.

The diary carried various kinds of concealment, making it basically impossible to identify directly. Moreover, it also had an indestructible effect.

Therefore, directly attempting to destroy it was the fastest method.

Looking at the library full of books, Loren already had a method in mind.

First, search slowly. If he really couldn't find it, then set a great fire and burn this place clean. The one book that wasn't burned would be the Dawn Princess's Diary.

Having just read the history book, Loren was a bit angry. So, he simply gave up searching book by book and directly swept a row of history books with Blood Moon Condensed Light.

Under Loren's precise control, each book only had a tiny corner cut off. If one didn't look carefully, it would absolutely go unnoticed.

"Continue..."

Without anyone noticing, Loren swept row after row. It's just that no matter how Loren tried to hide it, the special effects of Blood Moon Condensed Light were quite obvious and easily discovered.

More and more people were entering the library, and Loren gradually found it inconvenient to use magic, so he could only temporarily give up.

"Why are the people here so studious?"

The students' studiousness was causing trouble for Loren. So, he considered whether he should use his privileges to reserve the library for a day first, then slowly investigate. However, doing so would require coming up with a random excuse.

Not finding an excuse wasn't a big deal either, but it would still arouse others' curiosity.

Suspicion probably wouldn't happen, but curiosity was also quite troublesome.

"If it really comes to it, just tell the truth... After all, even if the Dawn Princess's Diary is really found, it will ultimately have to be handed over to me..."

Mobilizing everyone to help search would be much faster than searching alone. Given Loren's current status, if anything was really discovered, the first thing they'd do is come ask Loren. At that time, Loren could directly say this thing has an Outer God's curse, and only he has a way to deal with it.

Afterwards, Loren could simply pocket the book and tell others it had already been disposed of by him.

Similarly, if any Witches were discovered, they could be handled the same way. Loren could say he despises Witches and wants to personally execute them, then take them away and hide them.

However, unless absolutely necessary, Loren didn't want to tell anyone any secrets.

"I'll come back at night."

Loren closed a history book in his hand and casually placed it in a spot. The contents of this book made him very frustrated.

"Classmate, you put the book in the wrong place."

Loren was just about to leave when he heard someone call out to him. That person's voice was very soft.

When Loren turned around, he saw a little girl, about the same height as Anna, placing the book he had casually put down back in its correct position.