Four Split Personalities

In an instant, the magic orb spinning in the air swiftly transformed into a sharp, sturdy, and constantly vibrating ’net,’ which swept over the cabinet that just nearly killed Frank like a breeze.

A silver coin engraved with a snake head crest, an ancient and yellowed sheet of music, and a magic shadow drawing featuring a joker as the protagonist were simultaneously torn into several equal parts, scattered where they had been.

"So, is the real reason they haven’t been disposed of or sealed away because they’re ’too weak’? Isn’t the management of this forsaken place a bit too lax?"

Double Leaf dismissed the net that was only briefly visible, which was just like a normal breeze before shredding those few items. After casually complaining, she looked down at Motan, whose body she had pinned underfoot, squinted and asked, "Just so you know, you scoundrel, under this lady’s magic robe, I’m not just wearing stockings, I’m definitely wearing safety shorts too."

With his head tilted significantly, making the floor almost all he could see, Motan offered a wry smile as he pulled the corners of his mouth: "You can be assured, I swear I harbor no immoral intentions."

"So, you don’t want to sneak a peek at my panties, but rather..."

Double Leaf squatted down, stepping on Motan’s shoulder, gently tapped his forehead, and teased with a smile: "An M, purely wanting to be stepped on by pretty girls? Let me guess, do you really want to lick my boots right now? It’s possible, if you’re willing to beg me~"

Finally realizing the danger seemed to be over, Motan chuckled dryly twice, then quickly stood up, and the prepared Double Leaf naturally didn’t topple over, merely elegantly stepping back a pace.

"Just now, what was that..."

Ignoring the questions regarding ’M,’ Motan apprehensively turned to look at the cabinet he had just peeked into, nervously staring at the remnants that had been shredded.

"If my guess is correct, the sheet music capable of small-scale curse killings and the photos capable of throwing flying knives are both cursed items. However, since they made it into a place like this, they’re likely somewhat significant things, like music written by a great figure, or the criminal profile of some murderer."

Walking briskly to the cabinet, Double Leaf bent over the ’remnants’ inside, with hands behind her back, her tone equally brisk: "As for this ancient silver coin with a turtle crest, presumably it’s an alchemic creation that can be mass-produced."

Motan, somewhat anxious, followed Double Leaf, cautiously tugging on her sleeve, whispered: "Double Leaf, be careful, I find these things rather ominous, for safety’s sake we should..."

"Enough chatter."

Impatiently interrupting Frank’s rambling, Double Leaf tossed him a displeased look: "Ominous they may be to you, this lady doesn’t find these junk items ominous at all."

Motan mused for a moment, swiftly changing his tune: "Alright, I think these things are ominous for me, for my safety’s sake, we should..."

"Shut up!"

While inspecting a cabinet full of various dangerous small items, Double Leaf again cut off Motan: "Those laughable attacks earlier weren’t even at an advanced stage. As long as you don’t stray too far from me, this level of stuff won’t cause trouble even if they attack together."

Motan first nodded, then continued apprehensively: "But even if ’stuff at this level’ doesn’t matter, encountering something stronger would..."

"There aren’t so many stronger ones for you to encounter."

Double Leaf gave a strong kick to the cabinet in front of her, then with a grimace, hopping on one foot while covering her boot, she said: "This is the forbidden book zone, not a slaughterhouse. People frequently come and go here, so even if there are some dangerous items inside, they definitely aren’t especially dangerous. Besides the few layers I can’t access even with my pass, the threats inside the forbidden book zone are likely only at this level, otherwise, wouldn’t the diligent students be dying in droves?"

Motan thought about it and felt what the girl said made sense, so he didn’t remain cowardly, instead casually changing the subject: "But speaking of which, Double Leaf, you just destroyed those three items, are you sure there’s no issue?"

"Of course there’s "issue."

Double Leaf waved offhandedly, indifferent: "Although my earlier actions could be explained as self-defense, ultimately I still destroyed Academy City’s property, but..."

"But what?"

"But Uncle Kenneth mentioned before that backing us is the City of Miracles; no matter what mess we make, he’ll cover for me."

"Uh..."

"He’s a ’Mist Moon Sage’ of the Council of Truth, this little trouble surely can be sorted out, what are you worrying about?"

"Alright, let’s assume that..."

"Hey, that remark, are you looking down on your future brother-in-law?"

"No, no."

"Think Kenneth uncle’s influence isn’t big enough?"

"Not at all."

"Who are you looking down on then!"

"Certainly not."

"Hmph, let’s go~"

...

After quickly handling a few threats that indeed weren’t strong and seemed only to pick on weaker targets, Double Leaf and Motan, who was sticking close beside her, embarked on their exploration.

Unlike the first two layers, the third layer of the forbidden book zone appears to be a sort of ’comprehensive zone,’ filled with things that are either hard to categorize, quirky, bizarre, or place-less, basically a mess.

Those visiting the library with a purpose mostly avoid this layer, as seeking particular knowledge here is akin to looking for a needle in a haystack.

But for Double Leaf, though she indeed came with the goal of ’finding a breakthrough to the epic tier,’ we all know this girl absolutely wouldn’t skip a place as ’entertaining’ as this. So after determining the main theme of this layer, not only did she refrain from immediately leading Motan elsewhere, she even started to wander around like attending a fair.

Under such circumstances, Motan had no choice but to accompany her madness, especially since, as a bard who enjoys seeking novel things, this layer was quite to his liking.

Thus, the two of them delightedly began their tour.

During this process, Double Leaf occasionally took on the role of a bodyguard, rescuing Motan from various creatively diverse but truly not overly lethal crises.

Meanwhile, the knowledgeable Frank Hughes would occasionally serve as a tour guide, introducing some historical trivia to his partner yet to delve deeply into academia—for example, the Hamilton Empire’s Royal Family secrets, or the Emperor Empiris the Seventh’s golden toilet thrown by some Little Smarty Ghost to this layer, or the ’Joker Lord Rhodes’ who first appeared throwing flying knives in photos, later emerging as a portrait.

In short, the two were enjoying themselves.

Having never experienced much of the world (such as the quirky business run by the Lais brothers), Double Leaf was unreasonably thrilled, completely tossing her original goal out the window; whereas Frank Hughes was reveling in the rare opportunity to indulge in browsing these significant mementos without concern for his safety, similarly exuberant in demeanor.

"Whoa! This statue may not be big but its expression is so arrogant!"

"Uh, this is probably the statue of the Steel Emperor Bocke, who was originally just a common soldier but became very skilled at fighting, and so..."

"Became emperor?"

"Uh... yes."

"Just like Napoleon?"

"Who’s Napoleon?"

"No one, just a wheel-fixer, hey! Frank, look at this, looks like someone came here for a midnight snack and forgot to take their pot!"

"That’s the first-generation Steam Fish Pot, tut-tut, I’ve only seen it in picture books before, never thought I’d see the real thing one day, so moving."

"Steam Fish Pot? What’s that?"

"It’s a great invention, there are many Steam Fish Pot shops in Academy City too."

"Sounds impressive, right?"

"Surely so."

"How impressive?"

"The precursor of the Steam Consortium is the Steam Fish Pot’s first shop."

"Whoa?"

Chapter 1165: The End

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