After Mercy thanked Lazarus for his cooperation, she promptly left the room.
This left the young man staring blankly at the walls for some time. He had a calm, almost emotionless vibe in his demeanor.
This state lasted for about a minute before Lazarus muttered a few words.
"Supreme Desecrator of Heaven and Earth."
A snap echoed within the room, instantly triggering a rush of memories from beneath his Fog of Forgetfulness. In that instant, he understood many things and also felt a surge of different emotions at the same time.
Most importantly, he felt himself being assimilated into the Celestial Library.
Within an instant, Lazarus was back in his Secluded Domain.
He had his seat and placed both elbows on the desk in front of him. Then, he gently rested his chin on his intertwined fingers and let out a deep sigh.
"That was close..."
He spoke for the first time since his arrival, revealing a grim tone that ominously rang in the nearly empty library. "If I hadn’t made the appropriate preparations ahead of time, I could have been in serious trouble."
Lazarus didn’t waste any time before summoning the ’Book of Life,’ as he called it. Once he opened it, his entire past life flashed before his eyes, once again allowing him to remember everything he once lost. Only then did he relax his mildly troubled expression, revealing a more mature demeanor that showed the vicissitudes of life.
Once again, everything had gone according to plan—at least, almost everything.
’I didn’t expect myself to nearly die when I returned to reality, but I suspected that there would be consequences for forcefully raising my Integration.’
That was one of the reasons he left a few backups in his Mind’s World.
This arrangement had caused him to ’miraculously’ recover even though his Mind’s World was completely ruined as a result of the backlash.
’Note to self...’ Lazarus nodded while closing his eyes. ’Forcefully raising my Integration will cause a backlash that will heavily damage my body. Thus, even if I can connect with Historical Projections of higher rank, I must never make the connection last too long.’
The battle against that Nameless Sin hadn’t even lasted three minutes, yet it was able to cause so much damage to his body.
’One of the reasons for the extensive damage was also because I connected with two Historical Projections, both of whom were much higher than my capacity.’ To be safe, Lazarus quickly determined that he could only summon one powerful Historical Projection at a time. ’The lower their ranks, the longer I should would be able to maintain the connection without much risk.’
After settling on that thought, Lazarus quickly recalled the problem involving the female Investigator from the Historian Association.
Now, this was a problem he had already foreseen.
After all, the battle between Altreius and that Nameless Sin had caused quite a commotion. It was only natural for the Association to investigate something so blatantly paranormal. In addition, since no one in the hall would remember anything from the event, Lazarus would become a prime suspect for multiple reasons.
’For one, my body was stationary for an extended period in the hall. Additionally, though I couldn’t clearly predict this, I ended up nearly dying because of the backlash.’
These two factors placed Lazarus at the center stage.
In fact, he already knew that he wasn’t cleared of all suspicions even if the woman called Mercy had told him so. She merely wanted to ease his worries and let down his guard. There was no doubt in his mind that the appropriate authorities would continue watching him for some time until they were certain that he showed no other abnormalities.
’Well, if staring blankly into the world isn’t considered an abnormality, then I should be free of all suspicion once I become a Squire and officially begin my life in the Academy.’
A Squire was a Rank 1 Historian.
Those with an Integration of less than 10 Percent belonged to this rank.
In essence, they were the Sub-Integrated who were accepted into the Academy for the opportunity to become official Historians and graduate. To be pass the Academy, one had to advance to Rank 2, Scholar, and pass the Final Examinations.
Lazarus was well aware of all these things based on his past and present memories.
’Not much about the Academy’s structure has changed in the last hundred years. In fact, I’d say they’ve relaxed in many ways...’
He set those thoughts aside and paid special attention to his Mind’s World.
It was perfect—exactly as he designed it.
Before returning to reality, Lazarus had placed only the most irrelevant information beneath the Fog of Forgetfulness, burying the truly important ones under layers and layers of unnecessary and easily overlooked knowledge. He even hid the corresponding important knowledge within the seemingly unimportant information.
This was to prevent people from unearthing his memories and discovering what they shouldn’t find. It was also the second reason he refused to place too many memories in his mind at once.
The less implicating memories there were, the easier they would be to hide.
’That investigator earlier was most likely at the fourth rank... hehe. She’s quite experienced, but compared to me, she’s like a child.’ Lazarus chuckled lightly, his tense expression easing for a moment before it turned rigid once more.
There were too many risks involved this time around.
’I have to be even more careful in the future,’ While he considered this aspect, he loudly exhaled and looked at the hall before him.
All of this knowledge—his recent and even past discoveries—it wasn’t his intention to hoard them forever. In fact, as a Historian, he felt a strong obligation to share knowledge with his peers and help them improve.
But he had to fight the urge to reveal these secrets.
’Until I learn more about my unique circumstances, such knowledge cannot be dispensed. It could even be harmful to those who obtain it.’
Lazarus was no longer the naive youngster that didn’t know anything about the world. As an experienced old man, he knew he didn’t solely have to be wary of Nameless, but also his Historian colleagues.
Not all Historians shared his ideals, so he couldn’t freely trust them. This wasn’t his era—he didn’t know anyone in this new world.
Thus, he could only be careful.
’Based on everything I already know, I should have no problems summoning Historical Projections a rank above me. I can also maintain them for an extended period as long as it’s only one at a time. As for higher-ranked Historical Projections, I’ll have to halve the time. For anything above Rank 5, I can only summon one at a time and one minute is probably my limit. Even then, I’ll suffer heavy backlash after...’
Once again, Lazarus began to make thorough preparations while writing in pieces of paper that he summoned on his desk.
’I also need to find a way to fill up this library. It’s simply too scanty even though there are so many bookshelves,’ Lazarus sighed, quickly gaining a headache. ’Even if I were to write until the year passes, I won’t be able to fill up the ground floor alone.’
That meant there had to be some other way to gain books within his Secluded Domain.
Unfortunately, he didn’t know of such a method.
’Oh well... I can’t rush things,’ With this thought in his mind, Lazarus smiled decisively. ’I have already learned my lesson from this recent experience. Even though I desire my previous rank, I must take things one step at a time.’
If he didn’t... he would very well be setting himself up for death.
Although he had access to more knowledge than most people and even possessed a Secluded Domain in the Celestial Library... he wasn’t invincible.
He could still be killed!
That thought alone drove off any hint of haughtiness in his mind and forced him to be humble.
’Those who are arrogant can never learn. As a Historian at heart, I must constantly remind myself that there are simply too many things that remain undiscovered in this world. The terror of the unknown continues to lurk around us, and humanity still needs protecting.’
Although he didn’t know why and how he was able to reincarnate into the future, Lazarus was clear of his purpose—he never lost sight of it.
’I will protect this new world!’
This was the reality that he and his comrades sacrificed blood and tears to preserve.
His family, friends, and everyone he had ever known were no more. Lazarus was the only one left to remember the horrors of the Apocalypse over a hundred years ago.
It was one that still frightened him even now.
That was why he was determined to prevent something so catastrophic from repeating itself.
’I will now consider this world my home.’ Lazarus closed his eyes and began his descent to reality with a smile on his face.
’As long as I live... I will guard it with my life!’
[A/N: To those who have made it this far, I hope you are enjoying the story. I am pretty infamous for dropping my novels, and I cannot promise that it won’t be the case for this story. That is why your support is paramount. If this story does well and I can support myself financially with it, I will continue writing. If it flops, than I won’t lie to you... I will drop it and start another story. You may consider it rather shallow, but this is the reality I face as a full-time author. It’s also why I am appealing to you, my reader, who sees the potential of this story and wish to see it to the end, to support me however you can. It brings me no satisfaction to drop a novel, but financial struggles make it difficult to continue every new story I develop. I sincerely hope this one will be different, and I will be cheering for myself in the background. Well, that’s enough of that. Take care and happy reading!]