"Going out for a bit?"
Claudia’s words left Ronald somewhat puzzled.
To a certain extent, he suspected he might have fallen into some inexplicable trap.
After all, given the identity the girl in front of him had shown.
Did she really need someone like him to accompany her if she wanted to get out and about?
A flicker of hesitation had just crossed Ronald’s face when Claudia immediately caught on to this emotion. Stepping back twice, a distinctly cheerful smile appeared on her face:
"Don’t overthink it, relax."
"I’m usually kept under strict supervision, so since I have some time today, I thought I’d visit some interesting places in Springs."
Ronald pondered for a moment, then tried to decline politely:
"Actually, I’ve just arrived in this city myself, so if you’re looking for a guide, I’m probably not going to be satisfactory."
Claudia didn’t seem to mind, or rather, seemed somewhat pleased as she nodded:
"That’s perfect then!"
"If we had a guide who knew everything, such an outing would actually become boring."
Having expressed her own thoughts, the girl even happily shook the book in her hand at Ronald.
Then, with a voice full of anticipation, she continued to ask:
"So, Ronald, you’ve agreed, right?"
I can’t really refuse in this situation...
Muttering a silent complaint to himself, a wry smile immediately appeared on Ronald’s face:
"If there are no other issues, of course I can."
Claudia’s reaction caught Ronald by surprise.
After he had agreed, the expression on the girl’s face gradually grew calm, and she let out a very soft sigh before putting on that cheerful smile again.
She turned to the side and pondered for a few seconds in a low voice:
"Volume three, page two hundred eighty-four, subsection two."
Another incantation from the Investigation Bureau...
Hearing such words, Ronald immediately understood that Claudia was about to cast a spell, and it was an entry he had never seen before.
What kind of spell was Claudia planning to use at this moment?
While Ronald was contemplating this question, the girl’s next action made him freeze on the spot.
An astonishing spell!
This... this was a term he had never anticipated!
As the index term was recited, a faint book phantom emerged alongside Claudia, and the page that opened up was indeed the content from the Britannica Encyclopedia.
Immediately afterward, Claudia reached out and touched the phantom of the book, then lightly tapped.
The pages closed, and the phantom instantly turned into a bookshelf-styled window.
Claudia then began to rummage through it.
Despite the scene being only a fleeting, momentary image.
Ronald, with his excellent dynamic vision, successfully caught the first three entries on that page.
Betting Registration, The Wandering Library, The Bibliophile’s Mark...
Judging from the entry ’Volume three, page two hundred eighty-four, subsection two,’ Claudia was using the second subsection, The Wandering Library, and then successfully summoned the original phantom of the Britannica Encyclopedia!
Ordinary spells definitely didn’t require such casting conditions.
Ronald immediately realized that Claudia was using a unique method to borrow the power of the original text.
So... is she also considered a half-original text user?
In a moment, Ronald felt a sense of dizziness in his head.
Could the original text really be used in such a way?
The investigators he had encountered previously when carrying out their tasks would mostly use specific entry spells, and they were generally of the very limited type.
Take Spencer and Nicole, for example.
One excelled in the control of sound waves, while the other was a scholar of runes. Aside from using the spells of the investigation bureau in specific situations, they mostly relied on the magic of their own schools.
To Ronald, this seemed like a result of the investigation bureau’s inadequate decryption of the Britannica Encyclopedia.
However, Claudia’s actions now completely shattered that notion.
To be able to use the entries to such an extent...
The master of the original text, the queen of this country, Dantrian.
What exactly was her situation?
At that moment, while Ronald’s mind was reeling with shock, Claudia’s hands did not stop for even a second.
In the blink of an eye,
she had extracted the phantom of a book from the bookshelf in front of her and then purposefully opened the pages.
Standing before Claudia,
Ronald saw clearly that it was volume fourteen of the Britannica Encyclopedia, and the page she opened was page five hundred fifty-three.
Immediately after, Claudia began to recite another incantation.
And this time, she chanted two entry terms simultaneously:
"Volume fourteen, page five hundred fifty-three, item two, volume fourteen, page five hundred fifty-three, item one."
Owing to the extended process of casting the spell, Ronald clearly saw the entire content of that page.
"Plastic Surgery," "Plasticity," "Pleshakov," "River La Plata."
—A total of four entries.
As he watched Claudia begin to knead her face as if it were putty, Ronald almost subconsciously tried to chant:
"Volume fourteen, page five hundred fifty-three, item one, volume fourteen, page five hundred fifty-three, item two, volume fourteen, page five hundred fifty-three, item three, volume fourteen, page five hundred fifty-three, item four."
Something interesting happened.
Even though the investigator mark he received in Greenwich was on him, when Ronald chanted the entries, the mark showed no reaction whatsoever.
Instead, some form of power communicated with him in the dark.
Letting Ronald know that he could indeed use these four spells.
However, as soon as the phantom book Claudia had summoned disappeared, he would lose the right to use the spells immediately.
The investigator mark could not directly invoke the power of the original text.
After his journey through time, Ronald was constrained by his personal circumstances to use only the original text at his disposal, and as a temp at the investigation bureau, he could only access the monotonous spell of a lie detector.
But now, the abilities Claudia exhibited suddenly made him feel that there was a possibility of further understanding the mystical power system of this world.
Perhaps the so-called school marks...
have a completely different relationship with the original text than what he had previously thought!
Meanwhile, as Ronald was getting excited by this new discovery, Claudia had already finished the process of changing her appearance.
Except for the color of her hair and pupils remaining unchanged, her appearance had shifted from the initial elegant beauty to that of an ordinary female student with plain features.
A satisfied smile appeared on her face.
Then, with this entirely new look, Claudia addressed Ronald:
"From now on, just call me Isa."