I made a beeline for the nearest receptionist- a lizardman, but that didn't bother me. I knew that upon knowing I was Rank Three, even if he had missed the sash I was wearing, I could be assured I would be treated well.

"Yes?" he asked. "How may I help you."

"I've traveled recently from Arconia," I said. "I am a Master Liberomancer - Rank Three, my name is Stefan Dawson. There were several business matters I had to take care of - but first, I think there is a grimoire that is waiting for me? And secondly, I would like to rent out one of the houses reserved for Rank Three Liberomancers."

The lizardman was nothing if not professional. "Certainly - just give me a moment. Do you have an identification plate?"

I pulled out a plate that was engraved in iron coated with a thin coat of palladium so that it would not rust easily. It had my name on it, and was written in both the lizardman and human language, meaning I couldn't read what was on it other than my name; but it supposedly also had my rank on it, my achievement of becoming a Master Liberomancer, and also a unique ID number.

The guild retained this kind of record for all of its members, though for Rank Two and lower members it was usually just paper records. I hadn't needed this kind of plate before, which is why I had never even withdrawn it from the guild, but I had asked for a replica to take along with me as I traveled. The original was still there in Arconia, for reference.

He came back five minutes later. "Everything seems to be in order, Master Dawson. We do, as a matter of fact have the grimoire you were looking for - though, I was told that you knew a demonic spell and had a letter explaining such? May I see that before we go onto other matters?"

I pulled the letter out, the guards at the gates hadn't made much of a fuss about it and let me through with little issue. So I found it weird that he wanted to place such importance on it that he wanted to see it first.

After a glance at it, he handed it back to me. "Thank you; right this way Master Stefan."

The grimoires that the guild held were kept secure deep within the building. The Rank One and Rank Two grimoires were kept behind a locked door in the back with a few normal guards and perhaps a Liberomancer to watch over it.

In truth, it was rare for grimoires to be stolen - particularly at that level. Stealing a grimoire would no doubt stain one's reputation, and it was not worth the trouble of cheating the system at the risk of potentially stunting your future growth. Not to mention it wasn't just your own reputation you hurt - if you had a family, or children who would be aspiring to be Liberomancers in the future, their prospects would also be cut short.

Was that fair? I mean, I didn't think guilt by association was something that could be justified - but it was another way of keeping people in line. Most of such things were not official punishments anyway but more of social rules. If people simply refused to buy or sell things with you, there was little you could do about it in this world.

Rank Three grimoires and templates on the other hand, had to be even more carefully guarded.

The surest way to keep a grimoire safe was to never make a copy - the only copy that would exist would be in the mind of the Liberomancer, which could not be stolen. Many countries and universities had powerful grimoires they wanted to maintain within their borders, or in the case of families, within their blood lines. This was a method that had a hundred percent success rate - the issue was what would happen if the one person who knew it died unexpectedly before they could hand it over to another? Also, practically speaking, if a grimoire was that good, you would want at least a few people whom you trusted to also have it.

Even Rank Three grimoires which were not all that exceptional, had to be guarded carefully - take something like [Grand Fireball]. Many Rank Three Liberomancers in Arconia knew it - to the point it would be harder to find someone at that rank who didn't know it. Despite being very common, it still needed to be heavily regulated as its destructive power was immense - no one would want for something like that to fall into the wrong hands.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Even if you could successfully pilfer a Rank Three grimoire without being caught, it would still raise issues if others thought that you had an ability you weren't supposed to - which is why the guild kept such a close track on the sales and purchases of Rank Three grimoires. If you were Rank Three, underhanded measures were not worth the hassle and it was better to just wait for another copy to appear on the market or until you had the required funds.

If you wanted to steal it to sell to someone else - most people would not buy Rank Three grimoires on the black market either, given how much they would be risking their own reputation. At least, that was what I had been told.

Deep down I was sure that there had to be some kind of 'black market' for the same, even if it was infinitesimally small. Drake and Zeke had both told me there was nothing of the sort in Arconia, though how much could people like them be relied upon for that kind of information?

In this way, the theft of grimoires was extremely rare, and would probably remain that way even if they were left completely unguarded.

The incident where one of Zeke's grimoires had been stolen had made such a ruckus precisely because it was something that so rarely happened. And who had been the culprits? Demonic Liberomancers, not people integrated into normal Liberomancer society.

Still, some amount of nominal security had to be kept for the lower-ranking grimoires, and serious ones for the Rank Three grimoires.

To get to that area, we had to pass by a guard, and led through a door, which opened up to a staircase from which we went two floors underground.

This next area was a bit of a maze - likely designed this way deliberately, though the lizardman seemed to know it by heart.

There was another door, with another guard, which led to a narrow hallway. I couldn't help but notice the murder holes that littered the sides with my [Unobstructed Sight] even in the dim lighting. No doubt there were either a few Liberomancers who could easily attack us if it came to blows, or just regular soldiers. At this close of a range, even Liberomancers could do little against a spear thrust.

Before I could feel too claustrophobic, the hallway opened up into a room that was filled with drawers that were labelled numerically.

The lizardman opened up one of them. "Here."

I was handed a grimoire, and indeed, it gave [Ansoon's Blessing] like I had asked for. There was also a small note attached to it, which was not magical, so I couldn't read it as it was in the lizardman script. "Ah, what does this say?"

He took a glance at it. "Oh… well, this is a note from the writer, he asks that you be careful with this grimoire as he was greatly saddened by what happened to the last one. He also says he will refuse to make you another if this one is destroyed in anyway, as he expects his work to be respected."

I tried hard not to let my embarrassment show - it clearly referred to how I had ended up ruining my earlier copy in the middle of battle.

To my credit, it had not been intentional - on the other hand, I could see how many people would see this as being unforgivably careless with an item so valuable. It could even be seen as being highly disrespectful to the author. After all, each Rank Three grimoire was handmade by a Rank Three Liberomancer, someone who had dedicated a great deal of time and effort to their craft. No doubt anyone who had worked hard on such a grimoire would be quite upset to learn that their efforts had essentially been wasted - still, did he have to write something like that on a note?

"Ah, I see," I said. The lizardman didn't know what the note was referring to, most likely, and I saw no reason to explain it to him, my embarrassment notwithstanding.

Before we could go back to the reception, he had to call another receptionist to verify the whole transaction, I had to sign on a piece of paper and leave my thumbprint, and I had to cough up a small fee for this whole security feature.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" he asked.

"Yes - there were a few other grimoires I wanted to see if I could find," I said. I made the requests for things like [Twin Summons], [Shared Souls], and [Recall Summon] of course - though I was also interested in any mana-raising grimoires just like everyone else. I put in a request to search for a grimoire that would help me fly, but I knew that I would likely come up empty-handed on that front.

Was it worth it to find another Rank Three creature to summon? I did not have [Second Summon- Rank Three] as of yet, and I doubted I would find a copy before going to Hitutsa, but it might've been worth a shot to get something other than the Tyrant Arachnea. Perhaps something like a Giant Earthworm Queen that could dig very well - that could be useful in some situations, not just for getting away, but also for making temporary underground shelters.

I just didn't know if I would find one during my short stay in the city.

For now though, I kept that idea on the back burner, because there were only a set number of Rank Three grimoires that I could read in a given time period, and it made little sense to buy too many, even if I still had some of the reward that Lance had given me - because I ran the risk of them being lost or destroyed. The note from the author of the grimoire about Lady Ansoon's tale felt like it was burning a hole in my pocket as I thought about how that might feel.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.