Finding someone was a trivial matter.
There was no need for Yuuki to handle it personally—when the Eye of the Midnight Sun had members available, there was no reason not to use them.
For some time now, Yuuki had been spending nearly all his days in the Royal Library. Although his understanding of mana and magic had undergone a complete and far clearer transformation, the information he truly wanted to uncover was simply nowhere to be found.
The Royal Library was located in the Noble Quarter, a special institution open only to nobles and Magic Knight members. Commoners and peasants weren't even qualified to step inside.
Knowledge of magic had always circulated exclusively among the nobility.
Unfortunately, no matter how strictly controlled it was, the Royal Library was still a public institution at its core. Certain truly important secrets were clearly absent.
Yuuki's current strength had already reached the Zero Domain. To advance further, there were essentially only three directions.
The first—and simplest—was to replicate the mana origins of other mages and continue accumulating mana.
This was the path Yuuki had followed up until now, and there was nothing inherently wrong with continuing it. However, whether endlessly piling up mana could bring about a qualitative leap in strength was something Yuuki couldn't be sure of.
If one only talked about sheer mana quantity, how many human mages could truly surpass Princess Lolopechka of the Heart Kingdom?
The second path was forming a devil contract.
Devil contracts themselves were divided into two types. One was gaining a devil's recognition and signing a contract to assimilate with it, becoming a devil host. The other was indirectly obtaining devil power through a high-ranking devil—similar to the members of the Spade Kingdom's "Dark Triad."
The second, indirect method was immediately ruled out. Power obtained that way was fundamentally incomplete.
As for becoming a devil host, setting aside how difficult the process was, Yuuki had no interest in mid-ranking devils. And every high-ranking devil was anything but simple.
In Yuuki's eyes, devil hosts who gained devil power were not much different from the way he granted magic to Mariella and the others. They had indeed become stronger—but the true control still rested in someone else's hands.
He didn't necessarily trust people, let alone trust devils. He knew he couldn't do what Asta did—treat a devil as a companion, even as family.
At the very least, the devil Liebe had truly been saved and raised by Asta's mother. To Liebe, Asta genuinely could be called a brother.
The third method was to evolve one's grimoire.
Yuuki did not believe that a four-leaf clover grimoire could evolve into a five-leaf clover grimoire, while a three-leaf clover grimoire somehow lacked the potential to evolve into a four-leaf one.
Of these three methods, the first could proceed as usual. The second was riddled with uncertainties. As such, Yuuki placed far more focus on the evolution of a three-leaf clover grimoire.
In the Clover Kingdom, there were four great royal houses.
The Kira family of the king, the Silva family to which Noelle belonged, the Vermillion family of Mimosa, and the Vermillion branch family of Fuegoleon.
If any secrets existed within the Clover Kingdom, then only these four royal houses would have records of them.
The Vermillion family.
A fully independent castle—its exterior resembled a monastery, but inside was an enormous hall no smaller than the Royal Library. Exquisite architecture and lavish decorations lined the surroundings.
Books of every kind filled the space, along with ancient parchment scrolls that exuded the weight of history.
Even Yuuki felt a moment of daze and shock upon entering for the first time. Only then did he truly grasp what "royal heritage" meant.
Among the four great royal houses, aside from the Kira family where the Wizard King resided, the other three were all located toward the outer edges of the Noble Quarter.
After all, the land each royal house occupied was simply enormous.
Of the four, the first Yuuki eliminated was the Kira family. After all, the Wizard King lived there. Among the remaining options, the Vermillion family was the optimal choice.
The strongest two members of the family—one was constantly away, the other lay unconscious. At present, they lacked top-tier combat power.
Because of this, Yuuki spent two full days scouting the area. Then, using the anti-magic capabilities of the Demon-Dweller sword, he cut through several layers of barrier spells and slipped inside.
After his brief initial surprise, Yuuki quickly immersed himself in the sea of books.
With such an overwhelming volume of texts and materials, it was impossible for a royal family not to maintain a dedicated catalog system. Otherwise, even family members would never be able to find what they were looking for.
As expected of royalty.
The Vermillion family possessed a significant amount of information on devils—material that hadn't even appeared as a single word in the Royal Library. Some records even specifically mentioned the Faust family, which had conducted in-depth research into devils.
That was the family of Nacht, vice-captain of the Black Bulls.
The materials discussed devil hosts and even devil rituals, but most of the content was based on conjecture and inference.
There was very little truly crucial information—certainly not more than what Yuuki himself already knew.
A pity.
Aside from Nacht, who had survived a devil ritual, every other member of the Faust family had perished. Any remaining devil-related records from the Faust family had likely fallen into the hands of the Kira family.
The Magic Parliament chairman, Damnatio Kira, had probably uncovered the truth of the Time Devil Astaroth—one of the three rulers of the underworld—disappearing twenty years ago through those remnants. Only then had suspicion fallen upon the Wizard King, Julius Novachrono.
After briefly skimming the devil-related documents, Yuuki returned them to their original places and resumed his search for information on the evolution of Clover grimoires.
Compared to these records, his own knowledge of devils was far more complete. There was no reason to waste time.
Next—
Yuuki spent an entire day searching, yet found no record whatsoever of a three-leaf clover grimoire evolving into a four-leaf clover grimoire. There wasn't even speculative material on the topic.
As for four-leaf clover grimoires, the records overwhelmingly described them as symbols of exceptional talent and aptitude—granting power far beyond that of ordinary mages.
The result left Yuuki disappointed. If even the Vermillion family had no such records, then the other royal houses likely didn't either.
"Haa…"
Yuuki closed the book in his hands, exhaled slowly, and leaned back into an exquisitely crafted chair stuffed entirely with wool and down. He closed his eyes briefly to rest.
A moment later—
He opened his eyes and looked toward a thick stack of documents set aside.
"At least it wasn't a complete waste."
Pulling the stack toward him, Yuuki revealed that these were records of past Wizard Kings.
He happened to be curious about the 27th Wizard King, so he picked up the corresponding file.
As his eyes moved across the pages, shock appeared on Yuuki's face for the first time.
"Key Magic—capable of opening and closing anything. Magic spaces opened by keys can absorb all magical tools, grimoires, and even magic itself."
"It can also steal the magic of others and use it freely."
"According to investigations, if the original owner of the stolen magic dies, the stolen magic disappears as well."
Yuuki stared at the text, the astonishment on his face refusing to fade.
Such magic actually existed?
To a certain extent, this magic was remarkably similar to his Replication Magic and Rhya's Imitation Magic—yet even more convenient than either.
The three abilities emphasized different aspects.
One stole, one imitated, one replicated—but in terms of actual effects, each of them far exceeded the literal meaning of their names.
"To develop Key Magic to this level… that's truly impressive."
Yuuki sighed in admiration, then continued reading—his eyes suddenly narrowing.
"Conrad was sealed by the captain of the Grey Deer, Julius. The public announcement declared death by illness. Family members who read this record are forbidden from disclosing this information."
Yuuki murmured to himself.
Captain of the Grey Deer?
This record was from ten years ago!
Shock surfaced on Yuuki's face once more. He hadn't expected the previous Wizard King to have been sealed away. No wonder Mereoleona Vermillion had worn such a strange expression when she fought him.
"Sealed for over ten years… who knows if he's dead or alive? If he isn't dead, then Julius's fake death might allow Conrad to break free."
The thought suddenly flashed through Yuuki's mind.
He set Conrad's file aside and picked up records of other Wizard Kings. After the matter with Conrad, his interest in the past Wizard Kings had grown considerably.
After half a day of reading, Yuuki selected three files and placed them in front of him.
The 11th Wizard King, Princia!
The 16th Wizard King, Jester!
The 20th Wizard King, Edward!
(End of Chapter)
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