SSS Talent: From Trash to Tyrant Chapter 534: An Important Meeting [V]

Once the trio had completely entered the hidden chamber, Darian broke the silence first.

"I haven't disturbed a thing in this room," he declared. "I kept everything just as I found it. Feel free to examine anything you like. Notice the bloodstains still on the table from Icarus's experiments."

Trafalgar swept his gaze around the room yet again. Shelves crammed with papers, vials, instruments, shackles, layers of dust untouched for ages, and that grim table with its chains locked firmly, like the chamber itself rejected erasing the horrors it witnessed.

"Very well," he replied. "Let's start searching to discover if there's anything valuable here."

Darian nodded briefly.

No further words were exchanged as they split up the space among themselves.

Trafalgar headed straight for the tables closest to the chains, likely where the clever void creature had been bound. Darian claimed the shelves along the chamber's left wall. Caelum proceeded to the far end, inspecting the right side with his trademark icy precision that he applied to every task without fail.

One paper after another flowed through Trafalgar's grasp.

A few bore stains. Others appeared partially ripped. Some bore scribbles of formulas, recipes, experiment logs, and bizarre symbols beyond his knowledge. He scanned whatever made sense, tossing aside the irrelevant, sorting potential gems from clear failures and worthless scraps.

For some time, it resembled sifting through the wreckage of someone else's mad fixation.

Suddenly, Trafalgar halted.

His grip tightened just a bit on a single sheet.

Its symbols would baffle most onlookers.

But not him.

Or at least, not completely.

'Hold on... I've encountered this before.'

He dipped the page slightly to scan it anew.

Indeed.

This script had crossed his path previously, and crucially, he knew a person who could decipher it given sufficient effort.

'Bartholomew.'

Trafalgar stood motionless, clutching the paper as a new doubt formed right on the heels of the first.

'Can I trust Barth with this?'

That question cut to the core.

Handing these documents to Bartholomew meant far more than a minor act. It surpassed casual aid among pals, scholarly hurdles, or obscure decoding from ancient records. Should Barth decipher it, truly grasp the secrets in these pages, he'd plunge deeper into Trafalgar's realm than ever imagined.

No safe separation would remain afterward.

Not truly.

Trafalgar had lately considered keeping Bartholomew nearby going forward, nurturing and empowering him for future roles at his side. That was straightforward, even practical, yet utility differed from entanglement. After Barth absorbed such material, he'd cease being just an academy ally. He'd join the shadowy underflow shaping Trafalgar's existence.

Trafalgar lingered in silence a beat longer.

'Time has come, I guess.'

A soft breath escaped his nostrils as he neatly creased the page once.

'We've shared plenty already. And nobody seals lips better during serious labor than him.'

His mind shifted once more.

'Plus... this handwriting isn't Icarus's.'

He examined the symbols anew.

'Did the void creature pen this?'

Such an idea struck as eerie and disturbing, yet entirely plausible.

Trafalgar voiced his words at last, drawing the attention of both others in the chamber.

"Does either of you grasp this?"

He lifted the sheet, displaying it first to Darian, then Caelum.

Darian approached swiftly, glanced once, and shook his head. "No."

Caelum advanced too, eyed the script briefly, then stated, "I recognize the style of it more than the content. I can’t read it."

Trafalgar refolded the paper and tucked it into his coat.

"I’ll handle this one," he announced. "I know somebody who can decipher it and reveal if it conceals anything valuable."

Darian agreed without hesitation. "Understood." His tone stayed guarded, deferential, perfectly restrained. "I'd value hearing what it reveals once you learn. If you're willing."

Trafalgar nearly smirked at the careful phrasing.

"We're in this as one," he affirmed. "I have no desire to micromanage my followers. Caelum can confirm that for you."

Caelum responded before Darian could.

"It’s true. Those who earn the Young Master’s trust can be certain of two things. He will not betray them, and he will stand behind them." His voice stayed utterly steady as he continued, "As for his enemies, he has already provided a clear example through his brother."

Darian accepted that reply smoothly.

"Don’t worry," he assured. "I have no intention of being a fool. I intend to earn that trust."

He pivoted toward a nearby worktable and lifted a small vial delicately between two fingers.

"Look at this."

Trafalgar approached, with Caelum coming over to join them.

Within the vial, just a bit of dense yellowish liquid lingered, sticking stubbornly to the glass in a way that revealed it was never any ordinary mixture.

"Traces of World Tree sap from the Sylvanel remain here," Darian explained. "Plus remnants from items stolen from their sanctuaries. This formed part of whatever Icarus employed it for."

Trafalgar faced Caelum. "Do you know what it was for?"

Caelum stretched out a hand with calm poise.

Darian handed over the vial carefully. Caelum raised it to the light, examining the liquid via the glass, then eased the cork loose a touch and sniffed it cautiously.

"It’s what Darian said, or very near to it. World Tree sap from the Sylvanel, blended with other stuff. I can’t identify the rest just by the aroma." He dipped the vial a little. "Finding the proper record will prove much better than mere speculation."

Trafalgar eyed him briefly.

’How much does Caelum know, and how long has he known it?’

It made sense as a question, yet it wasn’t worth voicing in this place.

Thus, he merely declared, "Then we search."

The trio scattered once more.

Now Trafalgar focused closer on the sheets linked to vials and worktables nearby, as Darian sifted a different shelf piled high with ledgers and scattered papers shoved in haphazardly. Caelum continued gliding along the room’s right flank, as precise as always, collecting and tossing aside with his signature eerie efficiency.

Darian paused by a shelf, yanked out a sheet, and strode across the chamber holding it.

"I have one."

He moved up and offered the page to Caelum.

Caelum accepted it, scanned it quietly, and when done, his face showed no shift whatsoever. For him, that only heightened the grimness of the discovery.

"It seems a major alchemist was involved in making this."

Trafalgar’s features tightened.

"Hm. That’s not good." He swung toward Darian. "Do you know anything about that?"

Darian shook his head. "Honestly, no. My father was the only one conscious while Icarus put the rest of my family into a coma through that disease. If anyone knew more, it would have been him."

Trafalgar tsked under his breath.

"Hm... I may ask someone whether they know who could make something like this." He rapped the page once. "I’ll take this too and have it looked at."

"Of course," Darian replied.

Before more words could follow, Caelum’s voice rang out from a short distance away.

"I’ve found something you should read, Young Master."