"[Ginkgo Leaf Business Alliance] treated Ronald extremely well.
Since he planned to spend time every morning at the church to read, Ronald had suggested adjusting his work schedule to the afternoons for the next few months. The commerce chamber accepted his proposal without any objection.
Actually, Ronald’s original intention was to start with a big request and negotiate from there, hoping to secure some specific time each week as a satisfactory outcome.
The result was beyond Ronald’s expectations.
The commerce chamber had agreed right away!
Facing such a satisfactory work arrangement was honestly hard to refuse.
Being a man of action,
the next morning, Ronald took the golden card and headed to the church district.
In fact, Springs Church district was quite populated with ordinary residents.
Ronald didn’t take a rented carriage and simply walked towards his destination.
Observing the expressions of the pedestrians along the way, the people in this district didn’t seem different from those in other districts, without any noticeable fervent religious atmosphere.
It might be the influence of the church.
Most buildings in the area were predominantly white, and it was common to see clergy members passing by.
However, there was one unique aspect.
The location of the church library was not in the large cathedral at the center of the church district, but in a separate monastery around the cathedral.
It seemed there had been internal notifications within the church.
As Ronald entered the building known as the Tri-Spirit Monastery, an old man dressed in a gray robe walked towards him.
"Mr. Ronald, welcome to the Tri-Spirit Monastery."
While speaking, the old man’s face showed almost no emotional fluctuation.
However, Ronald could faintly sense a profound Magic Fluctuation from the man, an energy that would normally be hard to detect without Ronald’s considerable investigative skills.
Facing such an old man, Ronald promptly presented the card the priest had given him earlier:
"Hello, I am Ronald Adler."
"I will mostly be coming in the mornings for the next few months."
The old man nodded his head, his gaze lingered on the golden card for a moment, then he turned and walked deeper into the monastery:
"Show this card each time you come, and it will save you a lot of trouble."
"Three months is not a short time, let me first show you around the monastery."
Following the elder through the monastery.
After more than half an hour, Ronald became familiar with the place.
Following the preferred architectural style of this world, the monastery was built around a sizable central courtyard, with other monastery buildings surrounding it.
The monks’ quarters, prayer halls, kitchen, and dining hall were essentially arranged in one direction around the courtyard.
Aside from the living area, the other directions were dominated by completely enclosed towering structures, with the entrance integrated into a room opposite the living area.
Pointing at this unique structural arrangement, Ronald asked the old man:
"Besides this living area, do the other places belong to the library?"
"Currently, including myself, there are six monks residing in the monastery."
"The rooms of two nuns are located deep inside, and I hope, Mr. Ronald, that you do not approach there unnecessarily."
Following the old man’s instructions and making a round of the surroundings, Ronald’s gaze eventually returned to the entrance of the library.
"Is there anything else I need to be aware of?"
The elderly man shook his head calmly in response,
"This is just a regular monastery."
"Since Mr. Ronald has received permission, there is nothing to worry about. We have meals at one in the afternoon and seven in the evening, and we can prepare food for you if you don’t mind."
"That won’t be necessary."
"My schedule can be quite chaotic, and unpredictable."
He probably noticed Ronald’s gaze lingering around the library.
After a brief exchange, the old man pointed steadily towards the entrance to the library,
"Mr. Ronald, I won’t disturb you any further."
"If needed, you can start browsing the books inside now."
"However, please remember not to take any books from the library out of there."
Ronald nodded to the old man to show he understood,
and then he headed alone towards the entrance of the library.
Passing through the entrance room, there were rows of neat desks and chairs on either side, seemingly prepared specifically for readers to rest.
Further inside were staircases ascending upwards, with wooden signs on either side indicating the content of the books they led to.
[History], [Monks’ Notes], [Research Reports], [School Records], [Noble Genealogies]...
Such as the books about history and monks’ notes.
They often occupied a placard at one staircase entrance alone, while categories like [Music] and [Noble Genealogies] might appear at one staircase with two or more labels.
Ronald looked over the categories in order, eventually setting his sights on [History] and [School Records].
First stepping onto the staircase, Ronald entered the building containing [School Records].
How can one describe the feeling now?
Upon entering from the staircase, the surroundings were filled with dense, suffocating circular bookshelves; due to the hollow architectural design, Ronald could directly see up to the topmost layer of the building.
Within the lofty six-story structure, nearly every spot was completely occupied by bookshelves, and the unique lighting design at the ceiling allowed sunlight to enter from outside, creating an ancient and serene ambiance.
Not to mention, in a certain sense,
this was Ronald’s first experience with a mystical book repository above ground.
In venues like the [Scroll Research Society] or investigative bureaus, or even at the Springs’ Church, these powers seemed to prefer hiding things underground.
It really was his first time at an above-ground library!
With a somewhat subtle emotion, Ronald casually walked to the nearest spot, and the first books he saw on the shelf were "Spring Annual - 51" and "Latoqiao New Chronicles."
Ronald recognized these two books.
Both "Spring Annual - 51" and "Latoqiao New Chronicles" were recently published this year within the boundaries of Germany.
While continuously adding the latest books, the monastery had also managed to arrange them in chronological order.
So, naturally, he looked upwards,
staring at the higher architecture of the structure, a question emerged in Ronald’s mind.
Up at the highest level of the library, where the church retained its oldest historical books,
what could their content possibly be?