The Skeleton Soldier Failed to Defend the Dungeon

All of these are written by Kevin Ashton?

I staggered back in disbelief. Up until now, I had only ever read eight of Ashton's works.

Now, one hundred volumes stood before my eyes. I scanned them again from top to bottom. There was no mistake. Beneath every title, the name Kevin Ashton was etched in crisp, clear letters.

I couldn't help but remember the twenty-volume collection Marquis Ivote had once shown me. At first, I thought it was proof of a founding family's influence and power, but those twenty had all been fakes. I did not gain any Wisdom, and there was no special message. Nothing. Now, confronted with a hundred of Ashton's works, suspicion gnawed at me.

Could these all be genuine? Even a single one of them?

I reached for the thinnest book, hidden in a difficult place to reach deep within the imperial archives. I didn't think the books were fake, and yet… the sheer number before me, one hundred in total, felt absurdly unreal.

I cracked open the cover. Isaac and Naneow both stood still, silently watching. Neither mentioned the time nor the marquis who might already be walking to his death. The impossibility of this place caught our attention and entranced us.

The Last – Kevin Ashton

I turned the page.