"To the recently established Oceanic Association and the militaristic force they have begun constructing within the Sea of Mystery.
"As the curator of the Library of Nautilus, I must invoke my right to forbid underground operations on my island and in my jurisdiction.
"Out of respect for the deities of those contracted with the Association Guard and the Council of Kings, I have spared their lives.
"However, even a single step onto the soil of my land without the specific and clear intent of gaining knowledge will result in instant death.
"His eminence, the God of Knowledge and Wisdom."
…
Cauron gazed at the paper with clouded eyes, his head shaking as he placed it down onto the wooden table ahead of him.
I simply wished to mobilize them in hopes of removing the Knights of Crimson from the region, yet it seems that the patron has taken my actions as an act of disrespect.
Looking over the second slip of paper before him, he read it quietly to himself before sighing aloud—another request from his grand-nephew.
Tutoring the children? Perhaps this could be for the best…
Staring at the wall silently as if waiting for a voice to interrupt his thoughts, he shook his head, remembering what his goddess had said.
Previously, she had been relying on the excess strength she had garnered from the centuries without needing to expend mana, allowing her to commune whenever needed.
Now, however, the Knowledge Barrier alongside the Gates of Heaven and the Abyssal Fog prevented any form of connection outside of the brief window of clearance on January 1st every year.
Tsk… I knew this day would come eventually, but that woman's voice was truly useful sometimes…
Pulling a quill out of his pocket, he scribbled out a reply to his grand-nephew, agreeing to teach Augustus and Claud all he could.
His lips curled up as he did so.
An opportunity to pass on his knowledge to future generations was always something he took with a stride.
One year of their time should be plenty… However, it cannot be now. The day they turn 18, I will begin their tutoring as my own adventure began at that age.
Finishing the note and sealing it in a white envelope, he stamped it with the Association's seal and burned it with his own specially designed magic transition spell.
After a week, it would appear on the doorstop of the Twynam Estate, where it would be discovered by Tiberius himself.
Leaning back in his chair and staring up at the ceiling, the King's smile bloomed, a warm emotion spreading through his chest.
I truly cannot wait for their arrival.
…
January 19th, 3062.
Hugging the two now adult men as they stepped off the large vessel that had brought them to Nautilus, Cauron spoke vigorously.
"Now, boys, as you know, I don't have infinite time to train you into scholars or warriors. Therefore, I have enlisted the help of someone who I believe can help."
Appearing in a flash, the God of Knowledge and Wisdom's fragment materialized, staring at the two brown-haired men with mild annoyance.
"『How unappealing…』"
He did not address his former adopted child; instead, inspecting the Twynams standing before them, his gaze sharp, not letting even a single detail slip.
Whether it be the Emblems on their chests or the mark of the Sea of Wishes on their foreheads, he scanned every aspect thoroughly.
"『Hmm… There is much that needs to be done…』"
Looking over towards Cauron, he closed his eyes, sighing hard.
"『As I am a better warrior than you could ever dream to be, I will handle the combat training, and you shall handle the theory. If you do your job correctly, then the terms of our subcontract will be upheld without error.』"
The orange-haired man nodded with a dejected look on his face, the two youngsters instantly noting the change upon their great-grand uncle's face.
"Claud… Is it just me, or does Uncle Thorn look like a scolded child in front of that man?"
His brother nodded his head in agreement.
"Indeed, Augustus. Perhaps we should assist in their bonding to help Uncle!"
Forging a silent agreement between them that was clearly within earshot of the deity and the Sea King, they fist-bumped and began to follow the black-haired god.
"『Claud has the greater warrior potential. Therefore, for the first six months, I will teach him.』"
Augustus stopped in his tracks, his black eyes darting over towards Mr.L's.
"What do you mean? I thought we would be training together?"
Cauron's gaze stayed fixed on the ground, his hands trembling ever-so-slightly as he waited for the words of his former mentor.
"『I do not care about your opinions. Follow orders and orders alone.』"
And with that, he, alongside Claud Twynam, vanished into stardust, a sigh coming from the orange-haired man's lips.
"Uncle! What the hell was that!?"
The boy who was left behind instantly burst into rage, the Sea King shaking his head helplessly.
"Regardless of your thoughts, Augustus, that man is a god, and his word is law."
As he rebuked him, the old man looked up at his great-grand nephew, a wave of unease shooting through his nerves, almost like a warning.
Hmm?
Furrowing his brow, he listened as the boy exploded with even more heated arguments.
"And!? I've done my research into the gods, and I know that one sure as hell shouldn't be here! Not even that, but why the hell are you taking his side! Is it because you think of him as—"
His voice ceased, suppressed by a surge of pure rage blasting out from the King of Mysteries' core, causing the space around him to frost over.
"Do you truly believe that he would accept me onto his island without any reservations after all that I've done to him? I've contracted with a different god and then ordered underground operations in the caverns beneath his territory. If he could, I assume he'd flay me with the Flames of Reincarnation without hesitation."
For the first time in his life, Augustus Twynam saw an emotion other than joy across his uncle's face, yet was unable to discern what kind.
"To allow him to teach you here, I had to sacrifice more than you can ever realize. Now, you will follow my orders without talking back until you are a greater scholar than even me. Do you understand?"
He didn't waver, staring straight into the black-eyed boy's very essence as if asking it for the answer.
"Yes, Uncle…"
Nodding, Cauron turned on his heel, beginning the long walk from the bottom of the steps upward to the greatest library in the world and the former home of the King.
…
"Founded sometime within the early 1000s after the world sank beneath the seas, the ancient race of Architects built this place with the intent for it to be a source of knowledge for the entire world."
The two men, the King and his great-nephew, walked through the main hall, occasionally stopping so Cauron could introduce various areas and rooms that they would be using.
"After an incident recorded only as 'The Greatest Sealing,' the God of Knowledge and Wisdom materialized inside these halls with his immortal form bound to the island and a kilometer offshore at maximum. His true body would vaporize the souls of normal mortals, and therefore, the form you saw earlier was simply a fragment, the full figure being hidden beneath the sea."
Augustus nodded as he took notes with the pen and paper he had received upon entering the library, the grandeur of the structure still overwhelming to him.
"So you're telling me that even though they know when the library was created and have records of its creation, there is no record of this 'Greatest Sealing' that you mentioned?"
Shaking his head, Cauron took a seat at an empty table, reclining backwards and sighing hard as he struggled to explain what he had meant.
"Yes and no. We, as in us mortals, have no understanding of what it could mean. He, however, knows exactly what occurred and what was sealed. I believe that it is likely that it was something at least on the level of the Ten Great Ones, considering the other work of the Architects."
The brown-haired boy furrowed his brow, puzzled by the new phrase that was thrown at him.
"Ten Great Ones?"
Cauron pursed his lips, clearly stupefied at how he had forgotten to inform him of the very basics of history before coming here.
"In the restricted section of the library—an area that you are not allowed in, by the way—there are documents about sea terrors that could be considered 'half gods.' These demigods, as they've been dubbed, ruled the Dimension of Waves for millennia and even survived confrontations with the gods themselves."
Taking out a paper of his own, he began to scribble on it hastily, drawing a picture as he spoke.
"Three of them were sealed by the Architects using their advanced technology, while one was slain by the Primordial Kings who sacrificed themselves, alongside their Ghostships, to end the life of their opponent. Therefore, we know that there can be at most six more of these creatures that measure above even the Apexes."
Augustus stared wide-eyed, unsure of what to even write in response to the overload of information he was faced with.
He scribbled something on his notes, then quickly erased it to flip to the next page, where a new question appeared.
"Then where did the name Nautilus come from? Surely if the name of the island, vault, and even library is such, there must be records, correct?"
Cauron thought for a moment before half-shaking his head, surprising the boy.
After a brief consideration, the Sea King opened his mouth and explained the situation as best as he could.
"There is nothing that we know of the name 'Nautilus,' and it is as good as a false word. Even Mr. L, the curator, spoke honestly when telling me of the gap in his information when it came to this subject."
The brown-haired boy's jaw nearly dropped; the mere idea that a god—let alone the God of Knowledge—wouldn't know the origins of something as trivial as a name truly shocked him.
Sighing one final time, Cauron sat up, his orange eyes drilling deep into his new apprentice's.
"Now that we have got the hardest of the questions out of the way, we can begin your education in its fullest."
Augustus paled; the chair that he had pulled out to sit in suddenly seemed far more worrying than it had originally.
"Where should we start… Ah, I know!"
Whether it be the generational trauma from his ancestors of the Sea King's lessons or his own instincts, at that moment, he knew that he would suffer a fate far worse than whatever combat training his brother would be enduring.
"Let's start with how human consciousness developed from dusk to dawn. After that, we can dive into political referenda from dawn until dusk. Yes, a solid plan…"
Closing his eyes and lamenting his situation, Augustus sent out a silent prayer to his brother.
You'll understand how lucky you were in 6 months…
Taking a breath, he opened his eyes and began taking notes, the painstakingly boring psychology lecture drowning his subconscious in sludge.
Such conversations would be lifted over the weeks of tutoring during interesting lessons, such as the floods or the First King; however, even those would be considered awful when his schedule was audited.
This system would remain in place until a sudden event six months later, on January 2nd, 3063, a day that would be remembered as the last breath of calm that the world would experience until the dawn of the thirty-second century.