Asphayren hesitated before asking.

“What did you say?”

“I said Miss Shuria has a cute appearance.”

A second silence ensued. Rubbing his brow, Asphayren finally spoke.

“I can’t trust your standards of cuteness.”

“That’s something I can’t just let slide. I determine cuteness based on very clear criteria.”

“And what are those criteria? Last time, you called a 2-meter man wearing a fur coat cute.”

“That’s because the fur was soft.”

Kiara explained earnestly.

“‘Is it small? Round? Soft? Squishy?’ If it meets even one of these four criteria, it can be considered cute. And Miss Shuria meets all of these conditions. She’s perfectly cute.”

It was somewhat odd to see Kiara discussing cuteness with a stoic face.

This woman is insane. Seeking agreement, Asphayren looked at Canis.

However, betraying his lord’s expectation, Canis hesitated before siding with Kiara.

“Yes, yes, Miss Shuria is cute. Ha ha ha! Have you never felt that way, my Lord?”

Asphayren was about to dismiss it as nonsense, but a vision of Shuria, frolicking in the snow with three dogs and smiling broadly, flashed across his mind.

The crescent-moon-shaped eyes, her puffy cheeks, and the way she proudly showed off her accomplishments…

…What am I thinking about?

Asphayren hastily cleared the image of Shuria from his mind and spoke sternly.

“Not at all.”

“Really?”

“Are you doubting me now?”

At Asphayren’s renewed ferocity, Canis quickly closed his mouth. Kiara began rummaging through a pile of documents.

Asphayren, pen in hand, began sorting through the matters that needed addressing, but the sentence “Shuria is cute” persistently entered his thoughts.

He shook his head, dismissing it as a frivolous thought.

Though it ended awkwardly, I had gained access to the library and headed straight for the royal archive.

The library was much larger than I had imagined, not even organized according to the Dewey Decimal System, making it difficult to find a needed book.

Just as I was feeling perplexed, a kind librarian approached me.

“If you need a book, I can find it for you.”

“Oh, thank you!”

Things seemed to go smoothly, or so I thought.

The real problem occurred after finding the book.

“Ugh…”

I scanned the shelves in frustration. There were so few books related to Beltraum that they couldn’t even fill a single shelf.

“Excuse me, is this all the books related to Beltraum?”

I asked, unable to hide my surprise. The librarian nodded.

“Yes, many books related to Beltraum were disposed of after His Majesty’s ascension.”

“Oh…”

With that settled, what more could I say? I issued a loan card, borrowed three books, and returned to the nursery.

That night, after finishing all my work, I pulled out the borrowed books and spread them on the desk.

There were three books in total: “Beltraum, History of Calamity,” “Actions to Take When a ‘Gate’ Occurs,” and “Monster Manual.”

I’ll study a bit before sleeping tonight. There might be useful information.

I first picked up the book called “Beltraum, History of Calamity.” Skimming through, it appeared to be a historical record detailing the events in Elos after the first “Gate” opened.

“…Two years after the opening of the first ‘Gate,’ on February 15, 532 of the Arkan era, Duke Evraim Loarkin finally made a decision. It was the birth of the Northern losers, the Kingdom of Loarkin…”

Just as I thought, it’s a history book. I quickly flipped through the pages.
The book went on to describe that after a long war, the continent of Elos was divided into seven countries: the north ruled by Loarkin, the west by the three desert nations, the east by Floren, the south by Alpia, and the center by Rubabl.

Discovering the unknown lore of this world was very pleasing from the perspective of a novel fan.

Unfortunately, there was no information about the monsters I was interested in.

I put away “Beltrum, History of Catastrophe” and opened the next book, “Guidelines for Action During ‘Gate’ Events.” It was the thinnest among the three books.

The title itself indicated the sort of content it would have—something like “what to do when you encounter a monster after a gate opens.” I skimmed through the book without much expectation.

To my surprise, the book contained rather interesting details.

I corrected my previously slouched posture and read the book more attentively.

“Guidelines for Action During ‘Gate’ Events” provided basic information about Beltrum along with what to do in the event of a Beltrum-related disaster.

Since not much about Beltrum had been mentioned in , most of this was new information to me.

With a pen twirling in my right hand, I read the book carefully.

“Beltrum is divided into seven different terrains, and at any given time, only one is connected to Elos through a ‘gate.’ The terrain currently connected is called the ‘surface terrain.'”

“Surface terrain….”

“The connection to the surface terrain lasts for nine days, after which all ‘gates’ disappear for one day before a different terrain takes over.”