She was also a little girl who appeared to be about the same age as Nanaly, wearing an Olcott Academy uniform, sitting quietly in a corner of the library reading a book.
Unlike Nanaly, this little girl had pure white hair—no, even her eyebrows were pure white.
Such hair color was extremely rare throughout the Hedley Empire, though not unheard of. In comparison, Laine's black hair and black eyes were even more uncommon.
Seeming to sense Laine's gaze, the white-haired little girl emerged from her sea of books and looked up at him.
Now Laine could clearly see her features—delicate yet extremely refined, with eyes that seemed far too profound for her age.
If one were to ignore her appearance and only look at those amber eyes, Laine would hardly believe she was a girl around Nanaly's age.
"Are you here to read?"
The white-haired little girl spoke up, her voice soft and gentle, but without much emotional inflection.
Unlike Nanaly who seemed to be masking her emotions, this white-haired little girl appeared to naturally lack emotional coloring, relying solely on her eyes to convey any information that needed facial expression.
Laine nodded: "I'm looking for books about the past ten years."
During his decade as a knight, Laine had clearly become disconnected from society.
What Laine needed now was to understand what had happened in these ten years, trying his best to reconnect with society.
After all, he couldn't just remain a butler at the Wenze household and look after a little girl forever, could he?
"The empire has developed very steadily these ten years, without any major events, so there wasn't much need for printed books. If you want to learn about these ten years, I have quite a few newspapers here that you can look through."
Though her tone was cool, the white-haired little girl was quite talkative, making conversation relatively easy.
"Thank you."
Laine expressed his gratitude and walked forward as the white-haired little girl simultaneously jumped down from her chair.
It was then that Laine noticed this white-haired little girl was even shorter than Nanaly.
Laine had thought Nanaly was already quite short for her age...
After jumping down from her chair, the white-haired little girl went to the bookshelf behind her, crouched down, and laboriously pulled out a box full of newspapers.
Laine hurried to help, lifting the box which was indeed quite heavy, packed full of yellowed newspapers.
At the same time, Laine noticed a label on the side of the box—1394.
It was now the year 1404 in the human calendar, so these must be an entire year's worth of newspapers from ten years ago.
And Laine would need to go through nine more boxes like this...
Thinking about this, Laine's mouth twitched slightly.
Carrying the box, Laine sat down opposite the white-haired little girl and picked up a newspaper to read.
At this point, the white-haired little girl asked: "Are you from Minggao? In all the books I've read, only people from Minggao have black hair and black eyes."
Though her tone was calm, curiosity shone in her eyes.
Laine shook his head: "I'm not sure where I'm from, but as far as I can remember, I've always grown up in Hedley."
Hearing Laine's response, the white-haired little girl didn't press further, but instead introduced herself:
"I'm Amiya, Amiya Wenze, a student at Olcott Academy and also the librarian here."
Wenze? Laine remembered that the magic instructor Nanaly had mentioned was also named Wenze.
"I'm Laine, no surname."
Amiya nodded and didn't say anything more, returning to her book, as if the introduction had been merely a formality.
Laine also focused on reading the newspapers, and they both sat in peaceful silence, without further conversation.
As Amiya had said, the Hedley Empire had developed very steadily that year, without any major events.
Before he knew it, Laine had finished reading a month's worth of newspapers.
After reading a few more papers, Laine's attention finally caught on one particular article.
[Human Calendar Year 1394, February 13th: Empire establishes the Dark Eclipse Knights, directly under imperial jurisdiction.]
The newspaper included a black and white photograph showing a group of knights standing at attention in heavy armor. Even just looking at the newspaper, one could sense the elite nature of these knights.
Looking at this photograph, Laine unconsciously smiled, gazing at it for a long while.
Although he hadn't been among the first batch of knights to join the Dark Eclipse Knights, Laine's sense of belonging to this order was second to none.
"The Dark Eclipse Knights is currently the most mysterious knight order in the Hedley Empire."
Amiya's voice suddenly came through: "In ten years, apart from this newspaper announcing the establishment of the Dark Eclipse Knights, there hasn't been any information about this order. Many people wonder if it has been disbanded.
The name of this order is also strange, since imperial knight orders are usually named things like 'Dawn' or 'Holy Flame,' and typically wear red, blue, or white armor. A name like Dark Eclipse and black armor really doesn't match the empire's style."
"This order did indeed disband, though it was only recently."
Laine replied with a faint smile while continuing to look at the newspaper:
"Just like its name suggests, this order never appeared in the public eye, simply carrying out its missions quietly. From its establishment to its dissolution, over ten years, this order achieved countless merits, yet remained largely unknown."
At this point, Laine suddenly noticed Amiya had gone quiet and looked up.
He saw that Amiya had even stopped reading her book, her amber eyes blinking as she watched Laine, seemingly waiting for him to continue.
Meeting Laine's gaze, Amiya said in her soft voice:
"You seem to know a lot about this order. Could you tell me more? I'm very curious."
Seeing Amiya's inquisitive look, Laine didn't refuse and smiled: "Sure."
Then, after organizing his thoughts, Laine began:
"Six hundred years ago, the Human Race, Beast Tribe, and Elf Clan joined forces to defeat the Demon Race, forcing them to sign a peace treaty, bringing six hundred years of peace to the continent."
Amiya nodded; currently, humans and the Demon Race maintained at least a superficial harmony, and there was even a young lady from the Demon Race attending Olcott Academy.
"But that's just on the surface."
Laine shrugged: "About a dozen years ago, the Demon Race began showing signs of resurgence, repeatedly sending small-scale forces to harass our Hedley Empire's borders.
Because peace had been so hard-won, and the peaceful development with the Demon Race had indeed brought considerable benefits to our nation, the empire was unwilling to start a large-scale war over these minor conflicts.
And so, the Dark Eclipse Knights was formed."
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
iemie, male, Race: Moon. Hobby: Collecting anomalies. At first, he thought he possessed two systems: the Crimson Rainbow Moon and the Clear Cold Frost Moon. One day, he discovered that he himself could also become a system for others, holding the chessboard of fate. The Eighth Epoch, also known as the Eternal Moon Epoch. Humans, witches, elves, bloodline descendants, specters, demons, and spirits together compose a new history. Walking the path on behalf of the moon, before he knew it, Chen Miemie's footsteps were followed by all manner of strange and wondrous anomalies. As time passed, many titles circulated about him—The King in Yellow, Lord of Anomalies, Heart of the Eternal Moon, and more. "Me? I'm just a traveler who enjoys collecting interesting creatures," Chen Miemie said.
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
