Long moments of profound silence passed without either of them uttering a single word.
Leo still held the book in his hands, while the old man stood before him with an eerie calmness—so unnatural that it was almost unsettling.
There was nothing outwardly threatening about the scene.
No raised voices.
No killing intent.
No oppressive aura.
No overt hostility.
Everything appeared perfectly ordinary.
And yet...
To Leo, this was one of the most unsettling situations he had encountered since awakening in this world.
Leo was not someone who allowed the world around him to pass unnoticed.
He was accustomed to observing everything.
The fluctuations of mana in the air.
The slightest movements of the body.
Changes in tone.
The trembling of fingers.
The dilation of pupils.
Even the tiniest shifts in facial expressions—Leo could notice them, analyze them, and draw conclusions from them almost instantaneously.
It was not merely a habit.
It was an instinct forged through countless years of experience, conflict, and survival.
Yet this old man had approached him...
Without Leo sensing a thing.
He had heard no footsteps.
He had noticed no movement of the man's robes.
He had detected no disturbance in the surrounding air.
Not even the faintest fluctuation of mana had reached his senses.
Even the man's breathing...
Had escaped his perception completely.
It was as though the old man had never approached him at all.
As though his existence had simply appeared beside Leo out of thin air.
That fact alone was enough to make Leo's mind operate at full speed.
Who was this man?
How powerful was he?
To what extent could he conceal his presence?
And most importantly...
Why had he approached Leo specifically?
One question after another raced through his mind, yet he could find no definite answer to any of them.
After another long moment of silence, Leo calmly closed the book in his hands.
He lifted his eyes toward the old man and said in an even tone,
"It seems I have somewhat defeated the purpose of my visit here."
A faint smile appeared on the old man's face.
There was a trace of satisfaction hidden within it.
"Not entirely."
Leo raised an eyebrow slightly.
The answer was vague.
But the old man did not leave him wondering for long.
"It seems you are reading more than you should."
For a brief moment...
Silence descended once again.
Then a faint smile appeared on Leo's lips.
"Isn't that the purpose of a library?"
The old man's smile stopped.
For several seconds, he simply stared at Leo.
Then...
He suddenly burst into a short, deep laugh.
"Ha... hahaha!"
It was not loud or boisterous.
Yet there was genuine amusement hidden within it.
After a few moments, his laughter faded.
"Good answer."
He fell silent for a moment, studying Leo from head to toe as though something about this young man had begun to interest him far more than he had initially expected.
"You..."
He paused.
Then said,
"You're an interesting young man."
Leo offered no response.
He simply remained silent, waiting for the old man to continue.
After a moment, the old man asked a question that sounded simple on the surface...
Yet carried far more weight than its words suggested.
"Have you found what you're looking for?"
Leo's gaze settled upon him.
He did not answer immediately.
Instead, he contemplated the question itself.
What was he looking for?
Knowledge?
Power?
Answers about this era?
Or perhaps...
Something far deeper than any of those things?
After a brief silence, Leo answered,
"Not yet."
The old man's eyebrow rose slightly.
"Then what are you looking for?"
Silence returned.
Leo lowered his gaze toward the book in his hands.
He stared at its cover for several moments before slowly running his fingers across it, as though the simple gesture gave him time to arrange his thoughts.
Then he spoke.
"Something..."
He paused.
"...that this world lost a long time ago."
The faint smile disappeared from the old man's face.
His expression became noticeably more attentive.
"And what is that?"
Leo raised his eyes.
The next word left his lips quietly.
Yet its weight made it feel far heavier than an ordinary answer.
"The truth."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
For a moment, even the atmosphere of the library seemed to freeze.
It was only one word.
Yet it left behind an inexplicable echo.
The old man continued staring at Leo.
Leo did not avert his gaze.
Both of them seemed to understand that their conversation had already crossed the boundaries of casual curiosity.
After several seconds...
The old man finally broke the silence.
But his voice had changed.
The lightness from before was gone.
His expression had grown serious, and his tone had become considerably deeper.
"And why are you searching for the truth?"
Leo fell silent.
Not because he did not know what to say.
Quite the opposite.
There were countless things he could say.
The problem was...
What should be said?
And what should remain buried deep within him?
He could tell the old man about his former life.
About the era in which he had lived.
About the countless thousands of years separating him from this world.
About the secrets he possessed.
About the truth of this body.
About the real reason behind his return.
But...
One wrong word could open a door he was not yet willing to open.
So Leo remained silent for several moments.
Then he raised his head.
"To understand myself."
The answer was simple.
Short.
Yet it was not a lie.
Even Leo himself knew there were things buried deep within his soul that he had yet to fully understand.
The old man stared at him for a long time.
Then...
A small smile appeared on his lips.
It was not a mocking smile.
Nor was it shallow admiration.
It was the smile of someone who had just encountered something unexpectedly intriguing.
He thought to himself,
"This boy..."
"He hides far more than he reveals."
The faint smile on his face deepened slightly.
"Interesting..."
The old man then turned around, seemingly deciding that the conversation had come to an end.
He began walking away calmly, without the slightest sense of urgency, as though he had done nothing unusual at all.
But Leo was not about to let him leave so easily.
"Wait."
The old man stopped.
He turned halfway around.
Leo looked directly at him.
"Who are you?"
Then he added,
"And why did you approach me without me noticing?"
Silence lingered for a moment.
A mysterious smile appeared on the old man's face.
"Just curiosity..."
He paused.
"...from an old man who was bored."
Leo continued staring at him.
It was an answer that explained almost nothing.
Yet the old man made no attempt to elaborate.
After a brief pause, he added,
"As for my name..."
"You may call me Eldric."
Then he turned around.
And calmly walked away...
Just as quietly as he had appeared.
Leaving behind far more questions than answers.
Leo watched his back until the old man's figure disappeared among the endless shelves.
Then he muttered inwardly,
"What a strange old man..."
He decided not to waste any more time trying to understand him.
Leo returned to his seat.
Opened the book once again.
And resumed reading.
The hours passed without Leo noticing.
One book after another.
One page after another.
The sunlight filtering through the towering windows gradually faded.
Then the sun disappeared completely beyond the horizon.
Darkness enveloped the world outside the library.
Inside, however, the magical crystals suspended from the ceiling gradually illuminated the vast halls, casting a soft glow over the countless shelves and endless corridors.
Leo continued reading until he finally felt that he had gained what he had come for.
And more than he had expected.
During those hours, he had gathered an enormous amount of information.
The history of the family.
The history of the continent.
The magical hierarchy and the standards of magic in this era.
The kingdoms.
The civilizations.
The wars.
The races.
The changes that had shaped the world over the countless years.
All of it helped him form a far clearer picture of the era in which he now found himself.
And for the first time since awakening in this age...
Leo felt that he was beginning to truly understand the world around him.
It was no longer an incomprehensible place filled with unknowns.
He was beginning to see the threads.
To understand the rules.
To comprehend the immense distance separating his former era from the present one.
At last...
He decided to leave.
Leo stepped out of the library with steady, composed strides.
Night had already claimed the territory of the Dainhart Family.
The sky was clear, filled with countless stars that glittered endlessly across the darkness.
And above the estate...
The moon had risen high into the heavens.
Its pale silver light spilled across the ancient trees, the stone pathways, and the magnificent buildings of the Dainhart estate.
Leo stopped for a moment.
He raised his head.
And silently stared at the moon.
That same moon...
The moon he had once gazed upon tens of thousands of years ago.
The moon that had watched civilizations rise...
Only to crumble.
Kingdoms ascend...
Only to vanish.
Generations emerge...
Only to pass away.
Everything changed.
Everything moved forward.
Nothing remained untouched by the passage of time.
A faint smile appeared on Leo's lips.
Then, in a voice so quiet that it was almost a whisper, he said,
"Indeed..."
"Time moves on."
And with those words, Leo continued walking beneath the moonlight.
Behind him, the Grand Library remained silent and imposing, guarding its countless secrets...
Secrets that still waited for someone capable of uncovering them.