Mysteries: Arcana Wars

Before going to Klein's apartment for further divination, the two decided to stop by the Greenwood Bookstore, where Sadie's husband Robert Russell was last seen.

The bookstore is not big, barely squeezed into a small storefront. The expensive land price makes all the spaces here appear cramped and small, but it also means a prime location and a constant flow of people.

The interior decoration is just like the name of the store. All the bookshelves are painted with a layer of dark green paint. Judging from the production style and wear and tear, this place has been here for quite some time. Although the style is simple, it can be regarded as a real antique.

Stacks of books crowd the old but strong bookshelves, the vigorous bookshelves bear the pressure of guests coming in droves, and in the crowded scene, green plants tenaciously grow from unexpected cracks.

The entire Greenwood Bookstore was filled with a simple and peaceful atmosphere. In the Sixth Epoch, where paper books were becoming less and less popular, it was rare to find such a traditional bookstore on the streets of Backlund.

Klein, who had just awakened his memories of the Fifth and Old Ages, sometimes felt in the past few days that in this Sixth Age where technological development was progressing at a crawl, time seemed to have stagnated.

Leonard always sighs that the 8G network is so fast, Backlund is advancing with each passing day, and our antiques from more than years ago can't keep up with the rapid development of the times.

But in Klein's opinion, if you pick up any object, there is not much difference between it today and it was ten years ago, and there is no huge, epoch-making change from it twenty years ago, fifty years ago, or even more than a hundred years ago.

Just like the antique bookshelves in the Green Wood Bookstore, they were actually no different from today's popular styles, and no different from the styles and technology of twenty years ago. It was not until he saw the brand names proudly marked with their production dates that Klein could truly feel that these were antiques that were more than two hundred years old.

Five years, ten years, twenty years... These long and significant concepts of time for human life seem very insignificant in the Sixth Epoch. The same is true for Backlund. In a person's short life, what he sees is probably an unchanged Backlund forever. Only a span of more than a hundred years can show that this city is really changing and developing.

Even though countless people have fought for this, the great Backlund is still struggling to drag human civilization forward in a slow and difficult state.

Just by looking at this full bookshelf, you can feel the unremitting efforts of people over thousands of years.

Leonard quickly questioned the book guests one by one through his daydreams, while Klein carefully searched the bookshelf to see if he could find the books that appeared in the divination and diary.

The theme of this bookshelf is the period at the beginning of the Sixth Age. It mainly displays research works in various fields during the more than 400 years of the Sixth Age Steam Age, describing how people in the post-apocalyptic era returned to prosperity by improving steam technology.

"Oh, do you like post-apocalyptic stories too?"

Seeing the magician standing in front of the bookshelf for a long time, the enthusiastic old store manager couldn't help but walk over to talk to him. The store manager was old and shrunk, and he had put on a sweater vest shortly after the fall. He still enthusiastically kicked over a small stool and took down a few books for Klein.

If we divide the eras by the development of steam technology, in fact, the Russell steam engine brought about the first industrial revolution as early as the end of the Fifth Period. The "Steam Age" can be summarized from the birth of the Steam Age in the Fifth Period to before the "Electric Age" in the Sixth Period. Therefore, in order to distinguish the different steam civilizations before and after the [Apocalypse], people will call the prosperity brought about by the Rama steam engine in the Sixth Period the "post-apocalyptic era" or the "Second Steam Revolution."

"I recommend these books to you. They are very interesting and written in simple language. Even laymen and enthusiasts can understand them easily."

The old store manager obviously knows his bookcase like the back of his hand.

Klein couldn't refuse the kindness, so he politely took the thick books and flipped through them one by one. As expected, these books were from different fields, ranging from art to technology, from philosophy to history, and seemed very interesting.

"These books have received unanimous praise from regular customers." The old store manager is very confident in his vision.

Coincidentally, it was also mentioned in Olga's diary that before her condition worsened, she was a frequent visitor here and she often bought diaries here.

It can be seen from the diary that although she suffers from a congenital disease, Olga has always lived a very optimistic and positive life. The large red patches on her skin could not stop her efforts in her career and life.

The image of David in Olga's first few diaries was completely different from what Klein knew. He would patiently apply medicine to his wife every day, and would try to take time out of his busy work at the police station to ride a bicycle with Olga on the streets.

This green wooden bookstore seems to carry a lot of memories for the two of them. Every diary that Olga has used since her marriage was selected by her and David in this store.

Perhaps it was the blind filter of love, or perhaps it was the ignorance of an outsider, but Klein felt that the David described in the text was still a gentle and considerate husband who still had a little bit of rare faith in his police career and had never even quarreled with his wife before the incident.

As a colleague, Leonard seemed to have more say in what kind of person David was. But when Klein asked about this topic, Leonard began to hesitate, struggling to summarize the image of "Detective David Axus" from the few relevant impressions in his mind. He even had to daydream to recall some details.

This made Klein vaguely feel that before Leonard woke up, the cold-faced detective Leonard seemed to have been living quietly in a layer of membrane. No matter whether it was David or Geraldine, they could not break through the invisible wall and leave their own figures in his eyes.

Perhaps for Leonard, who has not yet woken up, Pales, who he has been with day and night, is just a background board that he has to see every day and perform daily routines. Klein speculates that Leonard finally became a policeman just to follow the career and life plan given to him by Pales.

Just like... a walking empty shell, oblivious to everything around, mechanically and aimlessly carrying out one's own life routine.

...If Palez had given Leonard a life plan of "Master of Thieves" at that time, he would have faithfully carried it out.

So what is this? Leonard's if line? The sixth epoch extraordinary thief Kidd Zoroaster participates?

Leonard, you were almost the man who became the Thief King of Backlund!

Phew!

Thinking of this, Klein couldn't help but laugh.

This complaint is just right. While appreciating the emptiness and indifference of the sealed Leonard, it also praises the excellent qualities of truth, goodness and beauty of the real Leonard, and perfectly utilizes the jokes of the old era in a subtle way.

He was suddenly very satisfied with the joke in his mind, it was so wonderful that he even covered his mouth with his hands and laughed out loud, making the artificial flowers on his hat tremble, the green ivy in the cracks tremble, and he laughed so hard that he was out of breath. The book lovers and the old store manager around him were all filled with festive joy, and Leonard was confused and creepy.

"Klein...what are you laughing at?"

"I remembered something happy... haha..."

"What happy thing?"

“…These books are really interesting.”

"...Mr. Store Manager, what are you laughing at?"

“…Someone likes the books in my store, hehe.”

"Are you talking about the same thing?"

"Yeah……"

"Don't be right, Klein!"

After sending the overly hospitable store manager back to the counter, Leonard couldn't help but squeeze over to see what book Klein had picked up. Klein felt a little guilty about the joke he had made on Leonard in his mind. After calming down, he still felt that the laughter just now was a little embarrassing, so he could only distract Leonard by turning the book for him.

"Detailed Description of the Rama Steam Engine", "Manstein's Prophecy: Is Our Future Already Destined?", "On the Influence of Technological Revolution on Dramatic Art", "A Guide to Doomsday Reconstruction: A Report on the Economic Recovery of Loen in the First Century of the Sixth Epoch"...

The hand that was flipping through the book stopped. Klein picked up the book and saw the author column clearly read "Benson Jacob".

...Benson Jacobs...

...Benson Moretti?!