Logan was browsing the books in the Imperial Library today. Most of the books were available in the Grand Duchy, but he still visited the Imperial Library every month just in case he missed anything.
That was the superficial reason for his outings. But the real reason he went every month was to get information about the underworld.
In the basement of a building near the library, there was a temple dedicated to the god of the underworld/
It was a place where people who had received miracles from the god of the underworld, or who wanted miracles, gathered. They were considered eccentric and kept their distance from beings on the surface.
After much effort, Logan was able to blend in. The reason Logan didn’t speak about this place was that the information he obtained from them was quite valuable. However, recently, he started to think that maybe this place could disappear.
The so-called “miracles” haven’t been happening lately. Things like people who were on the verge of death coming back to life. Those events were rare to begin with, but now they had completely vanished. Perhaps Mary’s disappearance had affected those miracles…
Or maybe Mary disappeared just before their desired intentions could be fulfilled.
‘Another day, another waste.’
Logan couldn’t find any significant material in the library, and there was no new information about the underground world. Even the people at the temple seemed baffled.
Perhaps it was time to tell them that all the ‘miracles’ were not due to the god of the underworld, but to the gods up in the sky who were impressed by their efforts.
With a friendly face, Logan casually slipped into that kind of conversation.
Since Mary Conler disappeared, everything has felt stagnant. Everyone in the Grand Duchy seemed to be on edge.
Logan’s new hobby was observing Tia Bluea. Whenever Logan stared at her intently, Tia would kindly approach him and strike up a conversation.
Logan gladly engaged in conversation with her. What started with a few exchanged words gradually became longer discussions.
It was only natural for Tia Bluea, since in the Grand Duchy, Logan was the only one who showed interest in her.
As she was comfortable with him, she would sometimes complain about why people were treating her like that when she herself came from a respectable family.
Well, if you don’t like it, you don’t have to come.
She had no idea what Logan was thinking as he smiled sweetly in front of her.
Logan, however, skillfully hid his innermost thoughts and acted as if he really enjoyed spending time with Tia Bluea.
For Logan, it was necessary to converse with Tia Bluea because he had to find the similarities between her and Sofia Bruno.
Through their conversation, Logan concluded that they had some similarities.
In a subtle way that cannot be pinpointed. It seems like they had selfish corners hidden behind their considerate appearance and you can see that they have grown up receiving a lot of love.
Could that be considered similarity? Even Logan wasn’t sure about that.
Logan, who forcibly searched for their similarities, such as flipping her hair to one side, parting her hair to the left, or lengthening her words, eventually gave up, feeling pathetic.
“Mr. Logan Riley?”
Someone called out to him as he trudged back to the carriage, feeling dejected. Logan turned and saw a man he didn’t recognize.
A stranger called his name as he emerged from the temple. Logan stepped back, on high alert.
He quickly scanned the man from head to toe. At first glance, he seemed fine.
However, Logan took another step back. It was because the man had black hair.
“Who are you?”
Although his eyes were brown. The man smiled affectionately as if trying to break Logan’s guard.
“I’m right.”
“Why don’t you tell me who you are first?”
The man closed the distance that Logan had carefully created. Logan was displeased, but instead of backing off again, he folded his arms. The man bowed politely.
“My name is Arsene.”
Logan’s gaze turned icy at the mention of his name. He released his arms and grabbed Arsene by the collar, pulling him towards the wall.
Arsene thought to himself, “Seems like this happens often,” as he looked at the hand gripping his collar.
His hands were white and fine, as if he had never held a weapon like a sword in his life. It must be true that he confined himself in his lab and just study.
He also had a terrible grip on Arsene. But Arsene didn’t say anything, just followed Logan’s lead.
“Where’s Mary?”
It happened again.
Arsene straightened his crumpled collar that Logan had grabbed. It had hurt a little when the man had caught him last time, but this time it was just his collar getting slightly wrinkled.
He stared at Logan’s flushed face, trying to figure out what to say.
“Aren’t you going to answer?”
Disregarding Arsene’s efforts to fix his appearance, Logan grabbed Arsene’s collar once again. Avoiding Logan’s gaze, Arsene remembered what Mary had said to him before they came here.
He’d said that Logan was a bit annoying, but he was reasonably rational, so he’d be easy to talk to.
Reasonably rational… Yet he loses his composure when he give a slightly delayed response.
“Could you calm down for now and let go of this?”
“You took Mary Conler, didn’t you? Where did you take her?”
“Mary is doing well.”
Upon seeing the determined look in Arsene’s eyes, Logan loosened his grip on his collar. Then he took a rough breath.
It seemed like his voice was breaking, as if he had never shouted before. Arsene felt sorry for him.
Looks like he has used up all his energy. Arsene could hear Mary’s voice, worried about Logan’s lack of exercise.
Arsene thought that if Mary were to go back, he’d have to tell her to get Logan in shape.
“So why did you show up in front of me?”
Logan asked in a slightly calmer voice.
Finally, Arsene thought that this was the Logan Mary talked about, the one who was “a bit annoying, but still reasonably rational.” Arsene happily replied.
“Mary said she wanted something from you.”
“From me?”
“What have you found out about the god of the underworld and Yusa?”
He didn’t actually believe Mary when she said that someone else knew about the god of the underworld or Yusa.
He had come to see Logan half-heartedly, because he wanted to give her whatever she wanted.
Anything she wanted to know, any questions she might have, if she was confused about something, Arsene could answer them all.
“Well, it’s quite extensive.”
Unfortunately, however, Logan was not cooperative at all. The scowling man from earlier seemed suddenly relaxed.
“Just tell me. It’s what Mary wants.”
“If I start reciting it to you, do you think you can memorize it all?”
It was childish.
Mary, you’re wrong. This guy is very annoying, not a little
He could now fully understand why Mary asked him if it was okay for him to meet Logan in person.
“Then, can you write it for me?”
“I’d need tons of parchment, but my hands hurt.”
Logan shook his wrists from side to side as if thinking how painful it was.
“Mary had a rough idea of who he was.”
Logan’s face grew serious again at Arsene’s words.
“You mean the identity of the underworld god?”
“If you cooperate, perhaps I can get Mary back a little sooner.”
“Wouldn’t it be more efficient for me to talk to Mary in person?”
“If Mary could come here, she wouldn’t have disappeared out like that, would she?”
“Then why don’t I just go over there?”
“How can I trust you and take you there?”
“How can I trust you to hand over my stuff?”
They can’t communicate. Logan and Arsene looked at each other and thought the same thing. After staring at each other without averting their gaze, Logan sighed.
“Are you sure that if I hand over my materials, Miss Mary can come back soon?”
“……Yes.”
“If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I have some notes in my lab that I’ve organized.”
He didn’t seem like the kind of person who would easily give up his stubbornness. Seeing Logan give up unexpectedly quickly, Arsene hesitated to follow him.
Is this some kind of trap? Was he trying to catch him off guard and capture him alive?
“Don’t worry, I’m going to cooperate.”
“Why?”
“Miss Mary has her reasons, and I understand why you can’t easily trust me.”
“But why do you……?”
“The reason I believe you is because of your name, Arsene. The lady has often told me that you helped her.”
A gentle expression crossed Logan’s sensitive face. While thinking it was fortunate that Mary was loved a lot, Arsene wondered.
Did Mary not mention that Arsene was a dog? Was he as good as Mary said he was…….
“Oh,” said Logan. “You do look like a dog.”
Arsene had a hunch he’d never get along with Logan.
