Night fell.
While Rosse was still spending his energy and spirit at Rouge's place, the palace where Olvia lived had grown more lively as well.
Even though Rosse's affection for Olvia wasn't high, he simply liked beautiful things, he didn't short her on material comforts in the slightest.
In fact, Olvia's palace was built right next to the family library, so she could go there anytime to read or research.
The Jaygarcia family, before Rosse's reforms, naturally had no such thing as a library.
But so that the next generation wouldn't grow up to be mere brutes and illiterates, Rosse proposed the idea, and Sora personally designed a massive library capable of storing over a million books.
The library's collection came from all over the world.
Any knowledge that existed in this world could be found there.
The process of gathering these books had also been of great help to Sora.
The use of the Brain-Brain Fruit largely depended on one's own accumulation of knowledge.
If you didn't have enough knowledge stored up, blowing your brain from overusing the fruit's computing power would still be useless.
It was like Kozuki Oden, no matter how far he might have developed the Brain-Brain Fruit, he could never come up with a great way to reform Wano Country, simply because he had no concept of such knowledge in the first place.
"This place sure is luxurious. Not only is it right next to the library, even the books inside your palace must number in the tens of thousands, huh?"
Robin crossed her arms, leaning coldly against the palace door, her eyes fixed straight on Olvia, who sat at her desk.
Her feelings toward Olvia were complicated. But at this point, they were mostly resentment and anger.
Why?
If she didn't like her, if she thought studying history was more important than her own daughter, then why did she even bring her into this world?
After Ohara, Robin had in a sense achieved her old dream. She could see Olvia anytime she wanted.
But every time she saw her, she felt mentally sick.
Especially watching that once ragged, travel-worn woman, now under Rosse's care, transform completely, like a ripe peach exuding mature allure.
And this same Olvia, who had once never bothered with self-care, was now taking on all kinds of feminine grooming just to please Rosse.
It made Robin want to vomit.
Robin, gazing at the elegant and shapely Olvia, had to constantly suppress her own dark feelings.
Why?
Why did she, a woman who abandoned her daughter, abandoned her friends, and abandoned morality, get to live so comfortably?
"Did you need something, Robin?", Olvia looked up slightly, her expression distant as she gazed at Robin.
Her feelings for Robin were also complicated.
If she had to say it, she loved her, perhaps even more than she loved herself.
But neither she nor Rosse could ever outweigh her pursuit of history.
Rosse and Sora had promised her, not only would she be allowed access to every book in the library, she was also permitted to write an authoritative history of the world.
And when it was complete, Rosse promised it would be spread across all the seas. So that anyone who wished to understand history could read it in any member nation.
That promise was irresistible.
The day Rosse told her this, she had been so overwhelmed that she barely recognized herself. It took her three full days to recover.
Every time she swallowed, her throat hurt; every time she sat, her rear ached, and that part of her stayed swollen and sore for a long time.
But no matter what, Rosse had given her a definite permission this time. Not just the vague freedom to "study history" or "maybe publish someday."
That alone was enough to keep her in a state of excitement even now.
Since returning, she hadn't even cared to ask what Rosse was doing. She hadn't checked on Robin either. Instead, she had rushed straight to the newly built library, brought back several historical texts, and had been reading from yesterday straight through till now.
If Robin hadn't come looking for her, Olvia probably would've read herself into unconsciousness.
"What did you learn this time in Wano Country?", Robin stared at Olvia, her eyes full of suspicion.
Rosse had only brought Olvia and Gion on that trip, that alone spoke volumes.
It meant there must have been a Poneglyph in Wano. And that Rosse trusted Olvia more.
'But why would Rosse trust Olvia more?'
With Robin's intelligence, she quickly figured it out.
Because when she had been translating the Poneglyphs for Rosse, she had hidden a few small details.
Olvia, however, must have translated everything word for word, without leaving out a single mark.
In short, that madwoman was now willing to do anything to reveal history.
Didn't she understand that releasing certain information could bring immense harm to innocent people?
"Wano Country, huh?", Olvia's tone softened slightly as she spoke about history, suppressing her fatigue, "One of the stones there was a Road Poneglyph, it points to Laugh Tale. The others describe the relationship between Joy Boy and Wano."
"Wano became isolated from the world because of Joy Boy's help. Because of that, the Kozuki clan regarded Joy Boy as the person they respected most, and they have been waiting ever since for Joy Boy's reincarnation."
"Wano itself isn't much different. It's a nation that adheres to its ancestors' traditions, rigid but loyal. Of course, there were some ambitious figures too. But in the end, what brought Wano's downfall was probably the sheer stupidity of the current Kozuki generation."
"Wait, Wano fell?"
Robin's eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at Olvia.
Normally, no one would ever talk to her about global affairs.
Her only ways of keeping up with the world were through overhearing the maids or reading newspapers.
But obviously, for a closed-off country like Wano, even its destruction wouldn't make the headlines.
"Yes," Olvia nodded gently, "Kozuki Oden underestimated the World Government's determination for revenge. He brought disaster upon Wano and led its people into utter ruin."
"How can you say that so coldly?", Robin couldn't help but snap, "Wano had, what, several million people? Even if half died, didn't you see it firsthand? Didn't you feel anything?"
Olvia's detached, outsider tone only made Robin feel more disgusted.
'An entire country wiped out, and she talks about it like a historian describing a case study. Is she even human anymore?'
"Half isn't accurate. I have detailed data."
Olvia picked up a nearby notebook, flipped through it, and read calmly, "Wano originally had about five million people. After the disaster, around four million died. The remaining one million were almost all relocated, dispersed among several powerful allied nations, divided into small groups, and forbidden to marry within their own kind."
"At this rate, within a hundred years, the civilization of Wano will cease to exist completely."
She knew exactly what Robin was shocked about. But to her, such emotions were meaningless.
The woman who had once become someone's plaything, who had personally shot her own daughter and friends, had long since lost what it meant to be human.
Now, she was nothing more than a recorder and messenger of history.
To organize history.
To witness history.
To document history.
To transmit history.
Beyond that, she had no thoughts, no actions.
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