Struggle in the Steam Age

"Mr. Little Fontaine suddenly fell into a coma, and that's why I'm here today." In a professor's office at the Faculty of Arts of Far-Kang University, Lawrence said seriously to the two students in front of him, a man and a woman. arrive. "So if you have any clues, please tell me, maybe it can help your classmates."

"If this is the case—" the girl put her hands together in front of her mouth and said after thinking for a while. "From four days ago to now, I have always felt that his mental state is very poor, as if he didn't sleep at night. Can this be regarded as a useful clue?"

"Forget it." Lawrence nodded. Although he had grasped the news before, he still nodded to the girl as a sign of encouragement at this time.

It may be because Lawrence's encouragement made the two students relax, so the two quickly shared a lot of news. Most of them were of no value or Lawrence had known about them before, but one thing caught his attention.

"You said that four days ago he told you that he was going to write a novel, and told you that this novel would definitely be popular with many people?" Lawrence confirmed to the two students in front of him.

"Yes, we remember it very clearly. Because when he came over that day, he had big dark circles under his eyes, and his clothes were rarely messy." The boy said, "And he was very excited to tell us about this when he entered the classroom. We didn’t take it seriously at the time, after all, we usually think that what we create is a masterpiece when we create.”

"So did he say what kind of novel he was going to create?" Lawrence asked. "It doesn't need to be very specific, as long as there is a general direction."

"If I remember correctly, Petit Fontaine told me that he wanted to write a novel about love and betrayal, poverty and wealth, sweetness and bitterness, and that he found a very good story, just change it It can become a book." The boy seemed to have a good relationship with Little Fontaine, so he recalled it and said with some uncertainty, "Although I can't remember the exact words, but he was like this when we had lunch together later. Said."

After the two students had no new clues, Lawrence signaled that the two students could leave on their own. Lawrence then left the office after thanking the professors for their help.

"How is it? Do you have any new clues?" When he returned to the fountain, Safiel immediately stood up from his chair and asked.

"I asked for a very valuable clue." Lawrence waved his hand to signal Safiel to follow him, "So now we need to go to the place where Little Fontaine went before in the school to see if there is any Something's wrong."

Next, Lawrence and Safir checked the classrooms and restaurants that Little Fontaine had been to before, but they found nothing.

Of course, this was to be expected. After all, there is usually nothing related to the extraordinary in places like this where people come and go. So after screening these two points, Lawrence and the others went straight to the key point of this screening: the library.

The library is the tallest building in Far Harbor University. The main body is built with a local solid gray stone, which looks like a strong fortress.

Walking in through the wide gate inlaid with a circle of white marble reliefs, stepping on the slightly rough khaki slate. Lawrence felt the same impact as he felt when he first walked into this building: the high dome on the top of the entrance hall of the library, and the sunlight entering the hall from the arched windows on the side wall of the dome is reflected in the hall. A sacred atmosphere was formed inside, making everyone who came in involuntarily quiet down.

In my memory, I was also a frequent visitor here. So when I saw the neatly arranged bookshelves, desks and students studying hard on the desks, I naturally felt a familiar feeling in my heart.

"It's a pity that even the people have changed..." Lawrence stood in the hall and sighed softly, then walked to the second floor. If I remember correctly, the two students mentioned just now that Mr. Fontaine Jr. was only looking for books and notes on local history on the second floor of the library. If there was anything wrong with him, this was the most likely place.

"But how do we find it?" Seeing nearly a hundred tall bookshelves lined up in the historical area, Safiel suddenly didn't know what to do next.

The libraries of universities like this often have enough magic protection, but in this way, the [Detect Magic] that Lawrence used to find things outside before can no longer be used. Because if you use that magic, every book here will emit magical aura, and you can't tell the target you want to find at all.

"The bookshelves from b14 to b17," Lawrence said. "This is the news I just asked, because what Mr. Fontaine needs to find recently is some private stories about the local area, and this kind of books are concentrated on these bookshelves. At the same time, the positions of these bookshelves are also related to the Those two people remembered the same place where Fontaine usually took his books."

"So, what should the thing we're looking for look like?" Safiel asked after hearing Lawrence's explanation.

"I don't really know." Lawrence shrugged helplessly. "But I guess it should be an older book or notebook, and it will be placed in a remote place. The most important thing is that if you touch it directly, there will be a special feeling."

Lawrence's criteria are not made up, especially the last point. Because Mr. Fontaine is not an extraordinary person, only items leaking extraordinary power can affect him.

"Understood." Safiel nodded, and then separated from Lawrence to start searching from both ends of these connected bookshelves.

Just after Lawrence searched deep into the bookshelf for a few minutes, he suddenly felt something floating in front of him.

"Huh?" With a question in his throat, Lawrence immediately chased after the thing in the direction it left. After several laps of the maze-like summer vacation, he found himself next to a dilapidated bookshelf with half of the black paint peeling off against the corner.

And that invisible and colorless thing paused in front of the bookshelf and then disappeared into the air. Seeing this strange situation, Lawrence immediately took a few steps forward and came to the bookshelf.

The strange thing is that there is nothing on the bookshelf. Even Lawrence saw thick dust accumulated everywhere on the bookshelf, as if the bookshelf had been abandoned for a long time.

"I probably know what you are." This scene made the corners of Lawrence's lips twitch slightly, because he suddenly realized that he had seen this situation in the library of St. Gutenberg Cathedral before.

So, Lawrence took out a transparent glass bottle containing golden powder from the leather case on his belt. Then he sprinkled all the powder inside on the bookshelf in front of him.

The moment the golden powder was sprinkled, the entire bookshelf flickered like an old TV screen. Soon, the flashing subsided, and a parchment book suddenly appeared in the middle of the bookshelf.

"Okay, are you coming out by yourself or am I forcing you out?" Looking at the parchment book in front of him, Lawrence condensed a magic missile from his fingertips and asked the book.