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Chapter 64: Hemlock Reception

Somewhere along the way, during the end of the Restart Era and the start of the Adventure Era, the elves and orcs faced a cataclysm that hadn’t quite wiped them out, but certainly pushed them out before the humans had taken over in the aftermath. After last night, Hannah was certain that a Tier 4 Event had struck, either triggered by a world boss of the Star System or some monstrous regressor going on a rampage.

Hannah was certain the Forgotten Kingdom was involved somehow, although it might not have been made forgotten during that cataclysm. The Forgotten Kingdom might’ve fallen some time during the Adventure Era, centuries before the Dark Era began.

Hannah had an easier time conducting her research thanks to the Star Core having a simple 360-day, 12-months-a-year time tracking subsystem, which helped convince Hannah that Infinita was a very close sibling or cousin of the old universe. The spacetime fabric keeping them separate must be thin, but such thoughts weren’t so pivotal right now until Hannah figured out how to punch through dimensions using runes and enchanting.

Setting aside extreme magic astrophysics, Hannah kept note of key dates where the Hemlock Family had made major donations or grand political moves to influence events around Central Bramblevale. The Lovewar information network went back for many years even if they weren’t as sophisticated as they were today, and that information network kept a close watch on the Hemlocks.

Back in Mid Spring, 1492 of the Dark Era, the Hemlock Family paid for a mercenary force of gnolls to help defend Central Bramblevale from raiding humans from a different kingdom. In Early Autumn, 1377 of the Dark Era, the Hemlock Family backed a coup that deposed the Bramblevale Lord of the time, someone who’d been an aggressive opponent of the secrecy surrounding the library. The king hadn’t involved himself despite the gross loss of a key High Rose figure.

In Late January, 1214 of the Dark Era, the Hemlock Family paid tribute to gnoll tribes to ignore the library while they raided Bramblevale and other frontier town regions. The library remained completely untouched while everything else was demolished.

At that time, the Hemlock Family helped rebuild Bramblevale with low-interest loans and later on sold those loans to the highest bidders, making well over what they’d paid. Now they were rumored to have many times the money than the current royal family’s treasury.

There were more examples of the library and the Hemlock Family remaining unscathed over the centuries while others suffered. It had never mattered if it was their own people or a completely different race encroaching on their business.

The Hemlock always won in the end.

It was now Early Autumn, 1532 of the Dark Era. Hannah was striding up to the front gates of the Bramblevale Main Library, also known as the Hemlock Library, her mind abuzz with what she’d researched and what she was about to do. An immense darkness followed behind her, but she was both cool on the inside and cold on the outside.

Passing nobles of mid or high status looked at them with varying degrees of disgust, anger, or bewilderment. Some nobles looked amused or interested in the presence of the foreign Floridians.

Keeping her lips sealed for now, Hannah knew she still couldn’t shake the Alabamian accent that bled through her speech. But how were the Cormians supposed to know the difference between a true Floridian and a transplant?

She stopped to take in the view of the library.

Whereas the rest of Central Bramblevale reminded her more of the Renaissance style fused with super medieval fantasy, the Hemlock Library reminded her of more high fantasy gothic architecture.

On the eaves of their rooftops, they had gargoyles that were lit up with passive runes for watching and preparing to launch attacks. Their perimeter fence had sharpened tips with metal bars twisted in a corkscrew fashion.

The stone material was dark, close to black, with stained mosaic-covered windows depicting howling figures caught in thorny and constricting vines. The massive front doors had more passive golems pretending to be statues: lions the size of elephants, dragons the size of whales, and even chimeras that stood on their hind legs and could look over a three-story building.

“Are you lost, milady?” asked a young male noble.

He had a three-rose pin on his breast pocket. He had a dainty air to him, definitely not the type to shovel feed in the pens or sit on a stool with a sore back and sore forearms while milking the cows.

If Hannah had remained the younger and more sheltered woman she once was, she would have blushed and struggled to speak. Instead, she brushed past the young man and continued her climb up the towering, dark steps.

“How rude. Is that how they teach brutish women to act in so-called Florida?” asked the young, foolish noble.

The lack of tact caught up to him later when he seemed to realize he was endangering himself, his eyes swiveling toward the dark presence trailing Hannah.

The demigod was invested in his Grimoire of the Dread Mire Gator at the moment. He followed after Hannah like a shadow, not truly paying attention except for things of importance.

His Spectral Spider Network would occupy some of his fractured attention while he studied, and with that leathery and toothy book open, an invisible and swampy titan followed, leaving a trail of predatory musk that bled into the atmosphere.

Everybody behind the Floridians could feel the ghoulish predator’s presence especially. Fortunately for the rude noble, Zarian remained occupied.

Para, however, had nothing to do and was keen to help. She even practiced her new humanoid hand with a surprising maneuver that nearly broke Hannah out of her cold focus.

Para hit the young and foolish noble with a backhanded slap!

Where had she learned that from? Hannah wondered. Para is very impressionable. So are many of Zarian’s summon-type abilities, the spiders more so. We should be careful about what they learn from us.

Hannah had a few thoughts on potential possibilities while the rude and childish noble tumbled down the steps. He should have enough stats to protect him from a broken neck or severe injury. Still, it was clear he’d come out worse for wear after landing at the bottom.

“Gracias, Para,” Hannah said.

“De nada!” Para moaned with a haunting, whale-like voice that sent the nearest nobles scrambling backward.

She was getting better at being more intelligible, and she could even talk in Spanish or English. As silly and overly emotional as Bianca could be, at the best of times, her approach to engaging Para in a friendly manner was probably the most genius thing she’d done.

A sociable Parasite Cloak was a very agreeable one to work with.

Zarian continued his wizardry studies, undisturbed. He stopped when Hannah stopped. He moved when she moved. He followed like any shadow, but one of heavy darkness.

Hannah and her companions passed through the doors. She ignored the many onlookers of a rich status. Nobody would ignore them, of course.

“My, you all must be new here! I can assure you that you won’t get lost with my help. No need to thank me at all!” Another noble, this time a young woman, lunged in Hannah’s way, eager for her attention.

This time, Hannah activated an enchantment on her gauntlet that created a wall of solidified force where she pointed. Having it formed diagonally, she moved her arm to the side and sent the young woman stumbling out of the way.

That should’ve been an obvious sign to leave things alone.

“You think you can waltz in here and get what you want from the Hemlocks without support? We’ve been at it for hundreds of years, you foreign bumpkin!” the girl hissed, raising her voice a little louder than the hushed conversations around them.

Hannah strode onward without response.

The girl became even more irritable. She turned toward the studying demigod and sneered. “Milord, surely you can find better company than a lowly tool-woman?”

Zarian didn’t respond. The grimoire mattered more.

The response came from Para, who hit the foolish girl with another backhanded slap!

Then Para went a little further by wagging a veiny finger down at the young noble girl lying dazed on the polished floor.

A round of gasps and hurried murmurs circled around the room.

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Hannah felt a bit more dominant, a bit more in control, and her demigod continued to back her with his silent but colossal presence. She would’ve smiled if she wasn’t focused on the tall receptionist working behind a massive desk.

The lobby area didn’t have any books. It had a cafe-style bar on one side. It had multiple meeting rooms down the hallway to the right.

Bluish light shone down from the gothic chandeliers hanging from above. Hannah quickly noted the small statues shaped like harpies and other avian beasts. Each one was another golem in wait of activation.

Hannah kept going with a confident stride and reached the reception desk. All eyes were on her as she stood in front of a Hemlock.

“Lady Rhea Hemlock, I’m Lady Hannah Townhouse from Florida, the World of Swamps and Princesses.” Hannah turned and waved her hand toward the demigod. “This is Lord Zarian Darkrun, who is busy studying. As of now, I speak for our party and for him, so my words have his approval.”

Hannah might have the sudden status of a High Rose, but she was not known compared to Zarian and the others. She was nobody outside of a paper.

Zarian, however, was the most important man in the Bramblevale region. That was both fortunate and unfortunate for Hannah. She would look like a stepping block for anyone ambitious who wanted to get to Zarian.

The Alabamian-turned-Floridian prepared her teeth and fangs. She kept her mind sharp as she looked up at Rhea Hemlock.

The tall, raven-haired, and graceful woman adorned in a black and violet dress was one of the fresher faces of her infamous family. She was well known for working the reception desk and having an authority that even a White Rose would find impressive.

She had the Hemlock’s famous angled nose, which gave her an expression that seemed like she was always looking down at others. Here, with Hannah being the shortest of her party, just a few inches above five feet, Rhea had an easy time looking down from across the reception desk.

Hannah looked up coldly.

“What is that Lord Darkrun wants at our illustrious library?” Rhea asked.

“We’ll want access to your inner sanctum, please.” Hannah didn’t bat an eye, ignoring the gasps and mutters from behind her. “We’re on an important quest, and it seems that your library will contain the information we need.”

Rhea smiled down at them both. She only had to wait before the surrounding nobles voiced some dissent. It all boiled down to how Hannah’s party shouldn’t have the right to access the inner sanctum of the library when nobody else could.

“Will you force your way if we say no?” Rhea asked.

Hannah sensed all the golems in the room slowly activating. They were halfway ready to launch their attack if Hannah even breathed the wrong way.

It would be easier if we forced our way, Hannah thought. However, that would rely on Zarian a little too much. It isn’t the time for us to go hog wild yet.

Hannah believed ‘might makes right,’ but she also believed that could come in different forms. Sometimes a fist would do. Or sometimes a few bold statements would land better.

“We don’t need to. You’ll let us in,” Hannah said.

There was a small round of laughter. The loud, whip-crack flap of the Parasite Cloak quieted the audience.

“Oh, and why’s that?” Rhea said, undaunted.

“I’ve discovered means to access the Forgotten Kingdom, and it’s here through the knowledge gathered by your family where I’ll ascertain some more usable information. If that’s not the case, then we shall leave and I will find somewhere else with the knowledge I can compile with.”

Then Hannah committed a cheap trick that would work at a car dealership. She turned away as if to make for the exit.

Rhea didn’t stop her.

When the demigod turned to follow Hannah like a shadow, Rhea finally took the bait.

“Wait.”

A round of gasps and mutters circled around the reception area. Someone spilled their drink from the bar area.

Hannah felt like the main female heroines in those time-displaced shows who had to use modern means to overcome medieval challenges. Her pounding heart and feelings of thrill didn’t match her cold expression, however.

She turned around and looked back expectantly.

Rhea maintained an impeccable bearing. She kept looking down her angled nose toward Hannah even with the added space.

“How have you come by this information for the Forgotten Kingdom?” asked Rhea, searching for a lie.

“Does everyone know that all the statues they’ve passed are your murderous golems waiting to switch on and kill those who aren’t a Hemlock?” Hannah pointed up at the halfway activated golems clinging to the edges of the ceiling. “They’re decently strong. But they’re nowhere as significant compared to the golems of the Forgotten Kingdom. Despite the mystery surrounding its disappearance in the Adventure Era, I’m sure one Forgotten Kingdom Golem could destroy all the golems you have here.”

Hannah slowly looked down while the nobles looked up nervously or back at the doors where the immense golems waited. Matching Rhea’s stony gaze, Hannah continued:

“It’s in my nature to see deeper into runes and complex enchanting. I can see into the forgotten secrets that would make all of your creations look rudimentary at best.”

The silence was loud.

The tension was high.

The sole demigod in the room flipped to another page in the grimoire with a casual turn of his hand.

“Come with me,” Rhea said. “I shall grant you passage to our most inner sanctum. Of course, we will expect some of your knowledge to be shared with us. It will become a very profitable venture for everyone involved.”

The nearest nobles scrambled in Hannah’s direction. Even the girl who Para had slapped looked desperate to seize this opportunity.

Hannah had no idea what possessed them to risk life and limb to get in with her and her companions or to learn about the secrets of the Hemlock Library, but it definitely played out like those dramatic shows. Maybe more so than what Hannah had prepared for.

People did say that art could reflect life.

Nonetheless, these nobles were starved of whatever was missing in their lives despite their fortune and opportunities. They looked like they wanted to feast on Hannah directly and suck more fortune and opportunities out of her.

Hannah was feeling a rollercoaster of emotions and froze up on the spot, overwhelmed by her success and playing out a silly fantasy she had only seen in fictional dramas. She was thankful Para was there, shoving aside raving nobles begging for a chance to join her, to be granted audience inside the Hemlock’s inner sanctum.

Then Hannah regained her composure and did the most logical thing. She aimed her gauntlet down at an angle and fired off force waves that reflected off the floor. She sent desperate nobles flying away in heaps and created a wide space around her companions.

Rhea watched the whole thing with cold amusement. Then, with a wave of her arm, the Hemlock Receptionist parted a thick set of expensive curtains and revealed an archaic round door behind the reception desk.

There were a pair of golem knights that were smaller and simpler than the Lost Knight of the Forgotten Kingdom.

The Hemlock Golem Knights activated, red orbs shining from the visors. They stomped forward, holding clubs, their presence a warning to the desperate nobles who had no chance against their might.

“The more accessible library is on the first floor and the floors above,” Rhea explained. “Our inner sanctum is below. Please, go on.”

Hannah rushed in before things became more violent. As much as she found the nobles annoying and in much need of a Para-slap or force wave launch, she didn’t want them losing their lives.

Nobody would act like that at their young ages unless they were under pressure from their family. Hannah saw that the older nobles waited back and spoke quietly into communicative devices to make their reports and kick up the rumor mill.

She’d given them a lot of information. She made herself an important asset. She had to move quickly.

She stepped into the claustrophobic stairway with dim sconce lights that led downward for a distance so far she couldn’t see the end. Once Zarian stepped inside, Rhea closed the door behind them, leaving her assistant receptionists with the work of calming the rabble the mad nobles had become.

Hannah led the way downward. Rhea walked casually from the back.

“There is indeed information about the Forgotten Kingdom here. But it is incomplete. We know of its general location. But we don’t know how to access such a place. If you’ve noticed our golems, then you’ll know the knowledge contained in the Forgotten Kingdom, or what’s left there, could further golem research and many more ventures beyond what we’re capable now.”

Rhea had a more dreamy and charming tone to her voice now. Maybe Hannah could connect with the woman despite the nebulous history of the Hemlock Family.

“I’m curious how far their enchanting diverges from others. I can learn a lot there,” Hannah admitted.

Rhea chuckled. “Indeed, a lot can be learned, a lot can be gained. Such knowledge would prove not only astronomically valuable, but one could say that the entire Walled Continent would be up for the taking by whoever has control of the secrets of the Forgotten Kingdom.”

“I agree.” Hannah nodded.

She could hear her potential singing inside of her. Her imagination ran high. The Forgotten Kingdom would make it so that Hannah was truly gifted in her own way, able to keep up with the others.

Even as a supportive class, she could make herself a demigoddess with the right knowledge and resources applied efficiently. Hannah couldn’t help but imagine that with some excitement and whimsy.

“Then you must understand that we’ll use whatever means to have that knowledge.” Rhea’s voice sounded more distant.

Hannah’s heart seized. She stopped and looked past her distracted demigod and saw Rhea standing further up the steps.

The Hemlock woman placed her hand on a section of the wall near the dimmest sconce light. She pushed on a button that triggered a set of runes that were so small while inactive, Hannah had overlooked them.

The steps beneath her collapsed. The floor became unbelievably slick with magic. Hannah fell and slid down.

Her demigod fell along with her. She didn’t bother screaming, although she was shaking with fright. Keeping her calm with the help of Level 0 Tranquil Mind, she looked up to Zarian to see his reactions.

He kept reading his grimoire, casually flipping through the pages, unperturbed by the slide to the unknown. If he was okay with the sudden turn in events, then Hannah had less to worry about.

Still, she didn’t like how fast they were sliding down.

“D-ramp, soft, charge,” Hannah ordered.

“Your will is my command,” he said teasingly.

The shadows darkened and converged. They slid under Hannah and Zarian far faster than their fall.

“Engage,” Hannah said.

A soft ramp rose in front of them. Hannah hit it and slowed down immediately as she passed through its soft, plasma-like body.

Zarian slowed down as well after passing through. They picked up speed again. Hannah made the same request multiple times, stopping and going before deciding on another action.

“Our shoes have the Surface Walker enchantment,” Hannah said.

“They do. But do we really want to walk the rest of the way?” Zarian asked.

Hannah let it be. The slide would get them to their destination faster. She ordered for more soft ramps just in case.

After a while, they made a light landing on a solid smooth floor. The way up behind them shut close. There was no going back now.

Other than feeling disappointed from not seeing the obvious trap, Hannah was alright. So was her demigod. He flipped through another page in his grimoire.

Before she could take in their new surroundings, Hannah looked up at a group notification. She found that it all made sense.

<You’ve entered the Devouring Librarian Dungeon (Rare-Level 40)!>

<You’ve been sacrificed to the dungeon! No minimap option available. Extra rewards can be earned at the end for your forced participation. Enjoy!>