Hearing that the only ones who could explain the situation were dead or unconscious, Ruth changed her expression and commented. "We have to get one of them to wake up. I sense that the enemies are attacking us to prevent anything about the origin of this incident from leaking out."
"That must be the case." The level 104 doctor agreed with her, having been thinking about this for some time.
"Unfortunately, waking them up is more difficult than you might think. I'm alone here, and they're either badly injured or in special states that can't sustain energy in their bodies." The doctor explained to her. "But without energy in their bodies, waking them up will be impossible."
"I'm not as strong as the Officer, but I can try something." She took a step forward, putting herself at the Sovereign's disposal.
The doctor had no expectations of this level 95 human, but Ruth was the only doctor besides him there. As weak as she was, her help would be better than nothing!
Meanwhile, Rhett ordered those two who had stayed behind with him.
"You two should split up and help protect this place. Try talking to the guards on the outskirts and understanding more about what happened to this group earlier."
The two of them accepted and then went on to find out more about the situation.
...
While Rhett's group realized that there was something behind the situation they were in, Minos and Maximillian continued on to the only city in the Bellowing Garden region.
They traveled for a few hours longer than their companions alongside Rhett. Still, soon, they entered an alien-friendly city in that area of the continent.
Misthall was a city with a quarter of the population of Examire, which was large enough to contain a lot of diversity and opportunities for Grandmasters and low-level Sovereigns.
Silverdawn was one of Misthall's three dominant local forces, but even so, Minos and Maximillian managed to sneak into the city and quickly find directions to the enemy headquarters.
They both had masks on their faces as they walked through the streets of this city, so there was no way for anyone to see the snake symbol on their foreheads that indicated the guild they belonged to.
While dressed in large hoods, Minos and Maximillian were walking and chatting as they passed through the center of Misthall.
"I think we'd better split up and look for rumors and information about what's happened locally over the last few days," Maximillian suggested. "We'd better not go near that sect before we familiarize ourselves with these matters of common knowledge."
Common knowledge could not be underestimated. After all, rumors and simple comments could be all one had. When an expert suddenly disappeared, sometimes no one but themselves could say why. But the mere information about when and where they had last been seen could tell a lot about their sudden movement.
"Let's do this. How about we meet at the beginning of the next day?" Minos asked.
"Hmm, let's meet in front of that square." Maximillian agreed, pointing to the square they could see at the end of the street they were walking along.
With that settled, they soon split up, going their separate ways through the streets of Misthall.
...
Later that day, Minos had already spoken to a dozen people and heard rumors about the local situation.
Everything seemed ordinary from what he had heard so far. But as he entered a bar at the end of the day, he heard something that caught his attention.
"Sigh! The Scroll of Hearts is a myth." Said an old alien who had just sat around a table with his group about six meters away from where Minos was drinking. "The legends said it would appear this year in the region's core, but it's nonsense. Silverdawn, Charclouds, and Highstars all moved on and returned to their headquarters empty-handed."
"I heard that the Supreme Elder of Highstars destroyed their training site in frustration. All they found was an old leaf in the place where the Scroll of Hearts was supposed to appear."
"I've heard that one needs to be chosen by the book to find it. Maybe it exists and is somewhere." Another alien from that group commented.
"It could be. Legend has it that the Scroll of Hearts only appears every 10,000 years. It's been a month since the local sects moved in search of it, so if someone hasn't found it, it'll be hidden for another 10,000 years." The same person who started this conversation commented, sighing in disappointment.
"I hope I'm still here next time..."
While that group continued talking about it, Minos turned his attention to the barista serving him and asked. "When did these local sects return from their search for the Scroll of Hearts?"
"Oh? Interested in that, traveler?" An individual with blue scales, four arms, and 1.9 meters tall dressed as a barista asked from the other side of the counter where Minos was standing. "That happened about three weeks ago.
Even though the appearance of the Scroll of Hearts happened about a month ago, the area where it was supposed to appear is close to where we are. A few days would be enough for one to go there and return in success or failure."
"What is this Scroll of Hearts all about?" Minos saw that it coincided with the start of the Armhands' conflict in this area and was interested in looking into the matter.
"This ancient book is said to be a historical relic left by a Supreme being who was at their stage's peak. It is said that this Supreme wrote the book using the hearts of a thousand enemies.
From it, they condensed some of their wisdom and had it hidden somewhere in Oqia before they made their final attempt to advance to the 13th stage.
What happened is unknown. All we know is that a long time later, people appeared around our region talking about the book of hearts. Eventually, it got its current name and became a sought-after artifact.
But there are legends that it only appears to predestined people. That is, it is not something that can be found. One has to earn it, and through that, it would show itself."
"Interesting. Is there any possibility of a competition developing for this book if someone were to find it?" Minos asked.
"Competition? You mean like taking someone else's book and using it to your advantage?" The barista asked, understanding Minos' question.
Seeing the brown-haired young man nod in the affirmative, the alien said. "It wouldn't work. But there would certainly be a fight. As far as I know, the book can't be stolen, as you asked. But the information that someone has it would be enough to attract enemies and people looking to kill or study it."
"I see," Minos muttered as he paid for his drink and left a generous tip for the barista.
