In the office, after both of them had calmed down a little, they remained sitting on the floor, exhausted.
Qasim looked at Valen.
"Are you going to tell the others?"
"Yasmin already knows..."
Valen gave a weak laugh.
"She figured something was wrong with me right after we killed the Fox. She confronted me, so I told her."
He paused.
"She took it a little better than you did."
*Right... She can see life energy.*
Valen turned toward Qasim and sighed.
"Don’t tell the other two."
Qasim stared at him for a moment.
The serious expression on Valen’s face was unmistakable.
His red eyes almost seemed to plead with him.
"This is for the better of the team," Valen continued. "It’s better if they think I died during a mission than if they see me like this."
He looked down at his hand.
"I understand..." Qasim replied quietly.
After a moment, he asked,
"What are you going to do now?"
Valen raised his head and thought for a moment before answering.
"I think I’ll continue what I started. It’s too late to stop now."
He gave a tired smile.
"But after I return from the tower, I’d like to spend my last days here."
After that, Valen asked Qasim to go back and get some rest.
*I won’t try to teach him anything right now... Well, it’s not like I’m mentally stable either.*
Valen returned to his office and closed the door.
...
The next day, Valen went to the capital.
This time, however, he wasn’t heading toward the castle.
He was heading toward the tall silver tower.
If the castle was like a living golden city, then the library was its silver counterpart.
The tower itself wasn’t particularly large, but Valen knew that the amount of knowledge hidden inside was unmatched.
He stopped in front of the gates and knocked.
The doors quickly opened, revealing two guards.
"We have been expecting you, Valen from the Black Seed."
The guards greeted him before guiding him inside.
The moment Valen entered, he was stunned.
There were no hallways.
Instead, countless staircases made of white stone stretched upward and downward, connecting different sections of the tower.
There were no windows either.
The entire place was illuminated by a strange yellow liquid contained within glass lamps.
Rows upon rows of shelves filled the tower, divided into sections and packed with documents of every size.
Valen knew he couldn’t waste any time.
Especially since he had no idea where to begin.
He spent the first ten minutes simply walking around, figuring out what each section contained.
Eventually, he discovered that some sections contained records of incidents dating back to the founding of the kingdom, while others covered different periods of history.
*So it’s organized by date...*
Valen made his way toward the section containing documents from three to four years ago.
Thirty minutes had passed by the time he entered the section.
He had finally figured out where to look.
Now he just needed to find the right documents.
The first papers he found discussed economic problems.
One document described how the public had been told they would receive lower wages because of a supposed threat from the Beastkin Kingdom.
The extra money was secretly used to purchase more alchemy materials and other resources.
Other documents described political conflicts between smaller countries.
According to them, the three kingdoms had secretly worked together to create tensions between those nations, eventually causing wars.
Afterward, each kingdom took its share from the fallen countries and used the opportunity to reshape the region.
Countless other documents sat on the shelves.
Each one contained another secret about the kingdom.
But Valen didn’t care about any of them.
He only wanted to find the records concerning Nasun and the old Team Four.
Eighty minutes after entering the library, he finally reached the beginning of their records.
He picked up the first document.
Then the second.
Then the third.
They contained everything Valen already knew.
Team Four had quickly gained recognition as a brilliant team.
They completed mission after mission and eventually became known as the perfect team for accomplishing even the most difficult assignments.
Then came the next document.
Valen’s breathing stopped.
He slowly began reading.
It described the mission that had changed everything.
Team Four had been sent to investigate a small village near the Goblin World called Juris, where strange roots had begun attacking travelers in the surrounding area.
They arrived in the village and followed the roots back to their source.
What they found there was described only briefly.
The document contained almost no details.
Only one sentence.
That place is the Tree Race graveyard.
Valen froze.
His eyes remained fixed on the words.
*Tree Race...?*
He had never heard of them before.
After a moment, he continued reading.
The records stated that after returning from the mission, Team Four began accusing the king of being something far more horrifying than any monster they had ever encountered.
But they only shared their suspicions with a handful of people.
Those people were later captured and killed.
Fortunately, none of the other Black Seed leaders were involved in those conversations.
A cold chill ran through Valen’s body.
He finally understood.
Nasun had deliberately hidden the truth from the others.
He had been trying to protect them.
*So... because I was just a weak human, he didn’t tell me.*
Valen swallowed and continued reading.
As time passed, Team Four’s actions became more direct.
More reckless.
They began receiving assistance from the other two kingdoms, particularly from the authorities ruling those nations.
After remaining hidden for some time, they finally made their move.
They attempted to assassinate the king.
Fortunately, the king had already discovered their plan.
He used the opportunity to make an example of them, declaring them traitors and ordering the royal guards to hunt them down.
Eventually, they were killed.
Bam!
The documents slipped from Valen’s hands and crashed onto the floor.
He stood frozen.
His mouth trembled.
His heart pounded against his chest.
His eyes slowly curved downward.
*I knew it...*
His breathing became uneven.
*I knew it...*
His legs finally gave out.
Valen collapsed onto the floor.
He closed his eyes.
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then a whisper escaped his lips.
Despite the tears gathering in his eyes, his voice wasn’t filled with sadness.
It was relief.
"They never betrayed the kingdom."
...
Valen took three documents with him—the maximum number he was allowed to borrow.
He made his way out of the library.
None of the guards questioned him about what he had taken.
They simply informed him that the documents had to be returned within three days.
*That’s fine. I’ll still be alive by then.*
Valen chuckled quietly at his own joke.
Even after leaving the library, he remained cautious.
He didn’t allow himself to relax until he returned to the TaskJam building.
As soon as he entered, he greeted Eve.
"Ah, Valen."
Eve suddenly stopped him.
"Yorness is waiting for you in the basement."
Valen raised an eyebrow.
"Why?"
"I think it’s about a new mission. It’s better to ask him directly."
"Did he come alone?"
"Yes."
Valen thanked her before slowly making his way downstairs.
The first thing he saw was the team sitting in a circle.
Doran and Levia looked at him, clearly wondering where he had been.
Qasim and Yasmin, however, remained silent.
In the middle of the group sat Yorness.
He had a suitcase beside him and wore a huge, mocking smile.
"Always fucking late, Valen."
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