Ed and Kasei went into a giant building: it was Yodiara’s library, which had the biggest book collection in the whole country. The building, in which it was located, was fully build from white stone, which shined in sunlight. The rest of the building’s charm made a glass ceiling and big, beautifully decorated pillars. Books stood on wide shelves, sorted by right categories. All over the room bustled library employees and city residents, who either wanted to learn, or read something as entertainment. Far away from them stood massive doors; just behind them ancient book collection was located, fully belonging to the queen. No one, other than specially authorized employees or high-ranked aristocracy, could go in there. Edward, though, was lucky enough to have already read a few books from that section, and all that thanks to Arthur, who illegally lent them to him.

  Arthur was sitting by reception, and writing down something.

  “Ed? What are you doing here?” he asked.

  “Ah, a little change of plans. Could you…” He bent down and started whispering “...get me some books about aristocratic clans?”

  “Edward… it’s a weight off my shoulders!” Arthur breathed out.

  “Huh?”

  “These books are easier to get than those about religions! Religious ones are protected with magic, I checked today. But I won’t be able to get them right away, since… you know. It’d be suspicious if I went there two times. But I’ll get them for you, alright?”

  “Okay. Thanks for doing this for me.” He smiled.

  “Hm… You can read a bit about aristocracy here. You have to go left, there will be tons of books about aristocracy.”

  “Well, Kasei, let’s go and check it out. Thank you again, Arthur.”

  “You’re welcome!” He was beaming with joy. Ed and Kasei went in the indicated direction. The redhead turned into a fennec fox, climbed the shelves and got a few highly placed books. They spent some time on reading.

  “Delaunay…” Edward started thinking. “The most important in Gormilia, but as I heard earlier, you can’t really talk things through with them.”

  “Hey, Ed, do you really plan on sharing this information?” Kasei asked. “I get that knowledge about the game is important, but… they still can be… No, they are our enemies.”

  “Even so, it’ll be more interesting this way.” He smiled. “And also, do you see anything bad in them? In my opinion, they’re as insane of a group as we are.”

  “I wonder what they’re fighting for… For some reason she didn’t want to tell us.”

  “Your fan? You probably saw the sadness on her face when I asked her about it. You know, I also possess the thing called… empathy. They remind me a bit of Peter, they look like they keep fighting for something, but get no good results.”

  “Huh... Didn’t think such a dumbass like you could notice something like this.”

  “See how smart I am?~” He smiled dumbly. “Of course, I don’t intend on trusting them fully… But a bit of it is needed in this situation.”

  “I think you’re right, stupid. And now listen!”

  “Ah? Did you find something?”

  “There’s something about Kavaru clan written here. They’re seen as gods’ high priests.”

  “Kavaru...” Edward took the book from her. “But where could we find them… There’s not much information here…”

  “Below them there’s one more clan, Enzern.”

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  “Enzerns are from Nihoria. But they’re considered as one of the most important clans… That Kyoko is from there, right?”

  “I think so.”

  “Well, let’s write this down… We’ll check it out later in detail, when Arthur gets those books. Alright, let’s continue the search.” Ed began writing, Kasei though took another book. Suddenly, she saw something suspicious in the corner of her eye. She turned around, and saw a raven, who all this time was looking at them, yet when Kasei glanced at it, it quickly flew away.

  “What’s wrong, Kasei?” Ed asked, seeing her worried face.

  “No, nothing. Just... some raven was sitting there.”

  “A raven… I hope it’s not a bad omen.”

~

  “Hey, master… Are you really sure about this alliance?” asked Lorenzo. Aru nodded.

  “Of course I’m not, but…”

  “Edward from Rebellar doesn’t really have a bad aura” Kyoko finished for the red-haired girl.

  “I think you’re idiots!” Eris shouted out. “Do you really think that he’ll share the information with us? That he doesn’t have any bad plans? You’re naive! I know people like him! First they make puppy eyes, then stab you in the back!”

  “His way of fighting is honorable, though” the violet-haired firmly replied. “Believe me or not, Eris, but depending on the style of fighting, you can see the personality and goals of the person. I’m knowledgeable about it.”

  “Right, because you’re The Amazing Kyoko” she hmphed.

  “I’m wondering... wouldn’t Edward be a good ally for the whole game?” Aru said out loud. “I know that we’d have to fight in the end, but… it would give us a chance to survive.”

  “I think you’ve... gone insane!” Eris shouted. “GINE! If that’s what you want… we’ll check him out!”

  “How?” Lorenzo asked, intrigued.

  “There’s only one state in which people tell full truth! Or so at least everyone thinks… So, let’s try it!” The black-haired laughed dirtily.

~

  Edward was sitting and writing notes in his notebook about the events of the last few days and about what Aru told him. Kasei, on the other hand, was still reading books and writing down clans’ names. It was getting dark outside, but they didn’t feel the passage of time. They came back to reality only when they heard a familiar voice. “Hello.” Aru smiled, all weapons were with her. “How’s the search?”

  “You will have to wait for the books” Ed talked, but didn’t move his sight from the page he was writing on. “But Kasei wrote down the clans, in which we should be interested about.”

  “Enzern, Kavaru, Brando, Yanara, Kasuse…” Kasei read. Aru gestured for her not to continue.

  “Since you worked so hard… What about taking a little break from all the stress?” Eris proposed mysteriously. “And to forget for a while that we’re playing a damn dangerous game? Wanna drink with us?”

  “Huh? Drink?” Edward was surprised.

  “There’s nothing better for relaxation than cold drinks!” Eris giggles. Aru, Kyoko and Lorenzo looked at each other. Ed sighed.

  “Alright. Let’s drink so we get to know ourselves better.” He smiled. Eris laughed menacingly.