A moment later, everyone focused their attention on the artifacts. While Bera and Walter were casually looking at the surroundings, Mr. Herman was following Mes. Arsh tagged along behind them as well. Mes was taking notes in his notebook while looking at the artifacts. He looked excited.
"What do you think? Is there anything suspicious?" Herman asked.
"Not yet. Please don't rush. Let me look at the others."
"We should have brought another expert," Herman muttered.
"Why didn't you?" Arsh asked.
"There aren't many experts we can ask for help in the first place. The few we have are either busy or not in the city."
After a while, Mr. Herman grew bored and joined Bera and Walter, even though it was obvious none of them had much idea what they were looking for.
Arsh and Mes began examining the artifacts together. Arsh didn't have much knowledge about them. Still, he had some idea about the Yulanis civilization to which the artifacts belonged. These objects generally dated back about 2,500 years. For the Yulanis people, the color black symbolized eternity and therefore represented God, making it a sacred color. The deity they worshipped was Kirana, the god of night and fertility. The Hilos people, descendants of the Yulanis civilization, still believed in Kirana. Beyond these, Arsh didn't know much—only a few details he vaguely remembered from his readings.
"Can you see? This vase has a depiction of Ciresnt Meton. He was believed to be a king of Orpilos, an ancient kingdom in the lands of Yulanis," Mes explained, pointing to the drawings on the one-meter-tall clay vase in front of them.
It depicted people prostrating on the ground, and at the very center, a man kneeling, holding a heart in his hands as he raised it toward the sky.
"There isn't much information about Ciresnt Meton yet, but in the records that have been uncovered, he is described as someone who killed people for his own amusement. He was later killed by his own people. Still, it is known that the period he lived in was Orpilos's brightest era."
Arsh thought there was something disturbing about the drawings on the vase, but he wasn't knowledgeable enough to judge it.
"What do you think? Could this be what we are looking for?"
"I'm not sure. I'll take a note. There's also this chest. It's interesting as well."
Soon, they stood in front of a beautiful chest, about half a meter long and thirty centimeters high. It was made of bronze and had handles on both sides. There were carvings on it too. Because the exterior of the chest was badly worn, the details were hard to see, but Arsh could still discern the faint image of a thin creature with long arms and legs and large eyes.
"I'm not sure about their taste in art," he said.
"Oh… because of this creature? It's a mythological creature, Apeirolimos. It means something like endless hunger. Look, it's written here."
He showed a label and began to read aloud:
"Apeirolimos is translated into Symranese as Endless Hunger. This bronze chest is believed to have been part of a ritual intended to capture endless hunger. Apeirolimos is a creature in Ancient Yulanis mythology that lives in forests and captures its prey by luring them into traps, keeping them until it becomes hungry again. It was a feared creature, especially among Yulanis communities living in forested areas, and it is known that many hymns and rituals were created in these regions to protect themselves from Apeirolimos. This bronze chest was found in 1901 in the Fret Gulf of the Hilos Sea, recovered from a shipwreck. The purpose for which the artifact was at sea has not yet been determined. It was not an object used for trade or as a gift. Research into the origin of the artifact is still ongoing."
"I think you should take note of this as well," Arsh said.
"I've already done so. Let's move on to the next one—look at these bracelets…"
While Mes continued taking notes and sharing stories with Arsh, Bera joined them in silence. Meanwhile, Herman and Walter headed upstairs to explore other sections of the library.
A short while later, they leaned over the railing of the third floor, looking down and calling out to the group below.
"We found something here! Come up."
Leaving the exhibition hall behind, they climbed the stairs to the upper floors. They found Walter and Herman carefully examining something between the bookshelves. As they approached, Arsh noticed four parallel grooves gouged into the bookshelf.
"What are these?" Mes asked.
"They look like fingernail marks," Bera said.
"Look here… can you see this? It's as if someone was trying to stop something from pulling them away by holding onto the bookshelf. But the height is a bit absurd. The person didn't fall to the ground… it's more like they tried to cling to this while standing," Herman said, trying to make sense of the situation.
"Is there anything else here? A piece of clothing, any blood… Let's look carefully. Don't be alone, and don't lose sight of each other, got it?"
"But where is Walter?" Mes asked
"Ah, that boy, Walter, it is not time to play. Come here, don't go around alone. This guy never listens. It's exactly why we can't put him on any team." Herman grumbled.
"Walter!"
They called out to him for a while, but there was no response. The person who had been standing right behind them just a few seconds ago had suddenly vanished. Arsh thought that this shouldn't be too surprising for someone with the ability to turn invisible.
"Mr. Herman, Walter likes to joke around, but he would never do something like this when things are serious."
Herman looked at Bera; now he, too, had become serious.
"Hey, Walter!" Mr. Herman shouted as loudly as he could.
"There's no sound," Mes said quietly, as if trying not to drown out even the faintest noise with his own voice.
"Mes, stay with me. Let's go downstairs. Bera, you go with Arsh. Look for Walter on this floor."
They moved between the bookshelves, but there was no sign of Walter. Even though Arsh felt as if he might not be able to use his intuition, he decided to try anyway.
"I'll find him."
"Give it a go," Bera said.
Arsh closed his eyes and focused on Walter's face. "Where is he?"
When he opened his eyes, he saw a single golden thread, just as he had the night before. However, the darkness surrounding it was much denser this time.
"Walter is in danger. Let's go—we need to go downstairs."
As they ran downward, the golden thread changed direction this time and led them upstairs. "Now it's upstairs… it keeps changing places, I can't follow it… now it's back on this floor again… I think something's wrong here."
They stood where they were for a while, looking at one another.
"Let's go back to Mes and the others," Bera suggested.
However, this time, Mr. Herman and Mes were nowhere to be found. Arsh and Bera returned to the exhibition hall. There was no sign from both Mes and Mr. Herman. But Arsh saw a pen on the ground. It was the pen Mes had been using while taking notes.
"Bera, look at this"
"It belongs to Mes."
Arsh turned his head and saw the bronze chest displayed inside a glass case.
"Apeirolimos—endless hunger. It was believed to lure its victims into traps."
"What do you mean?"
"I think this is the artifact you are looking for. But what kind of trap it used. When you are alone, or when nobody looking where you are you can disappear.… "
After thinking for a moment, he decided to try the idea that came to his mind.
"Do you think we should follow them? They're in danger right now."
"I don't understand what you're talking about. If someone is going after them, it should be me. You can inform Professor Reiner."
"I don't think so. Remember, the moment one of us leaves, the other will be left alone and lured into the trap. The only options are either both of us walk into the trap together, or we both leave this building right now."
Bera remained silent for a while, then stated his decision in a firm voice.
"Alright. Let's walk into that trap."
"Bera close your eyes… Don't look at me. This is how we're going to do it. Let's go into the trap." Arsh said.
Bera didn't understand what was happening, but he followed Arsh's guidance. When he closed his eyes and opened them again, Arsh was nowhere to be seen. The next time he blinked, he found himself no longer in the exhibition hall, but standing between the bookshelves.