Dorothy’s Forbidden Grimoire Novel - Chapter 452

Chapter 452**North Shore of the Conqueror Sea, Adria**

Dorothy stood just beyond the threshold of the Crown Hall, an iconic location within Nawah’s Net Flow Cathedral Museum. She remained outside the reach of the brilliant glow streaming from within, appearing to study a chipped porcelain plate inside a glass case. Her eyes skimmed the inscription detailing the donor’s identity, but her attention was far from the display.

‘Inside the Crown Hall, the light of the Crown of Immanuel never ceases to shine. Any anomalous energy clinging to an object would be laid bare under its illumination. If Azam truly meant for the divination artifact to end up with the Church rather than Galeb, placing it somewhere Galeb wouldn’t dare approach makes perfect sense. Then, when the cooldown concludes, the Church would inevitably secure it. No other location within the entire Net Flow Cathedral fits that criteria as well as the Crown Hall…

‘The trouble is, if the artifact is inside that hall, Galeb’s people can’t easily reach it—but neither can I. The Crown of Immanuel’s radiance within the chamber is vastly more intense than what shines beyond the building’s walls. Whether I enter personally or dispatch a corpse puppet, lingering even a single circuit inside would drain an alarming amount of “Shadow.”’

While pretending to be captivated by a vase, Dorothy assessed her next steps. Though she had narrowed down the artifact’s whereabouts, she wasn’t ready to expend a large quantity of “Shadow” to confirm it just yet. Casually distancing herself from the entrance while continuing to “appreciate” the exhibits, she strolled through other halls of the museum. After making a few rounds, she eventually exited the building.

Employing the Moonlight Amulet, Dorothy slipped through the ambient light of the Crown of Immanuel, swiftly putting distance between herself and the Net Flow Cathedral. Crossing a graceful stone bridge, she left the plaza and reentered the bustling streets of Adria. Instead of returning straight to her accommodations, she boarded a gondola from a quiet dock, allowing the oarsman to ferry her across the waterways.

The seasoned gondolier brought her to several prominent sights around the city—among them the Old Governor’s Palace, the Armory, the Aquatic Stage, and the infamous Sinner’s Bridge. She concluded her tour at Adria’s principal library. After genuinely immersing herself in a half-day of sightseeing, dusk began to fall.

That evening, she selected a quaint canal-side restaurant for dinner. The regional cuisine made a strong impression; she especially enjoyed the tagliatelle and Yivig flatbread. Having visited cities across various nations over recent months, she found most local food quite palatable—perhaps a reflection of her once-low expectations, forged during her long stay in Prithvi.

Post-meal, she took a brief gondola ride to appreciate the city’s nightscape, glowing lanterns reflecting in the water. When she finally returned to her hotel, she collapsed face-first onto the bed. For a moment, she lay still, lost in thought. Then, with a quiet grunt, she sat up, slipped on her slippers, and wandered over to the desk by the window. Thinking back on her day, she sighed deeply.

“If only this journey were just for leisure…”

With that wistful thought, she shook off her traveler’s mindset and turned her attention to the task that had brought her to Adria in the first place—figuring out how to extract the divination artifact from the Crown Hall.

‘It’s almost certain the artifact’s in the Crown Hall… If I’m to secure it, I must act *before* the three-year cooldown ends. Otherwise, the Church will sense it and lock it away.

‘Though the Crown of Immanuel is incredibly perceptive inside the hall, my calculations show it’s not impossible to outmaneuver. If I move quickly, my reserve of “Shadow” should suffice… The real issue is—I don’t know which item it is. Dozens of artifacts of different shapes and sizes are on display there. There’s no way I can steal all of them. Quietly cracking open even one sealed case takes time. Dozens? Far too long—longer than I can afford.’

Staring out toward the church plaza beyond her window, Dorothy weighed her options. Her “Shadow” couldn’t sustain prolonged time in that chamber. And since mass theft wasn’t feasible, precision was the only way forward. But she was flying blind—she had no clue what the artifact looked like.

‘Come to think of it, every display case here lists the donor’s name… If I only knew which alias Azam used to donate the divination artifact, I could single it out. But Beverly never mentioned any of the aliases…

‘And what’s worse, *I* don’t know, but Galeb’s faction *does*. If they decide to make their move directly, they’re way ahead of me.’

As this realization took root, Dorothy pulled her shoulder bag closer and took out a thick roll of newspapers she’d acquired earlier from the Adria Public Library.

Unrolling them, she sifted through the publication dates—every edition from the previous year. She sought specific headlines.

“Sept 20, 1359: Museum Robbery in Molan… Oct 9, 1359: Lonia Museum Break-In, Donated Relics Taken… Nov 26, 1359: Kerdna Museum Theft, Several Artifacts Missing…”

To an ordinary reader, these stories might seem like work by a high-profile gang of art thieves. But Dorothy recognized the culprits for who they were—Galeb’s Sand Scythe Society. Their targets weren’t valuable antiques; they were pursuing Azam’s camouflaged divination artifact.

To avoid direct detection, Azam had made donations to seven different museums, hiding the artifact among other items, each under a different pseudonym. Galeb’s faction had already hit six of them. The Net Flow Cathedral was the last.

According to Beverly’s intelligence, the Sand Scythe Society would typically have been preparing for another Star Chronology Scribe Society excavation this time of year. Their silence suggested their searches at the other museums had come up empty. That failure, while frustrating for them, gave Dorothy an important lead.

‘They seized suspicious items *before* their cooldowns were over. That suggests two possibilities: they have a way to identify the artifact without using a Flicker Lamp, or they’re simply collecting everything donated under Azam’s names so that once the cooldowns expire, they can test them all at once.

‘The reports mention only a few items taken each time—that means they weren’t looting at random. They were after Azam’s donations specifically. Which means… they know *every* alias he used. The labels in these museums always list the donor. So all they had to do was retrieve anything donated under the right names…’

She scanned the headlines again, mind racing. Dorothy understood perfectly that she wasn’t the only one hunting the artifact. Galeb—Sand Scythe Society’s current leader—was moving behind the scenes, and his intelligence network far outstripped hers. Taking the artifact before he did would be no small feat.

‘Beverly’s older reports say Galeb finished the large-scale ritual he’d been preparing for years. At the start of this year, he advanced to Scarlet rank…

‘A Scarlet-ranked extraordinary backed by an entire sect… That’s an opponent I can’t underestimate. Trying to take the artifact from under *his* nose is like stealing from a beast mid-feast…’

Dorothy’s expression darkened as she admitted how overwhelming the odds were. Yet even in that danger, she saw an opening.

She’d pinpointed something crucial.

‘Galeb’s breakthrough happened earlier this year. With his power and resources, and with full knowledge that Azam’s final donations are in the Net Flow Cathedral… Why hasn’t he acted? He already raided the other six museums last year. Only this one remains. It’s mid-March now. Why the delay?

‘The Crown of Immanuel’s detection is powerful, yes—but not flawless. With enough “Shadow,” one could mask their presence long enough to carry out a theft. And the Crown, for all its might, is still primarily displayed for reverence, not active security.

‘As a sect leader, and someone with ties to the Gloom Gold Society, Galeb would have no trouble accumulating the resources necessary. And while the Crown itself is an extraordinary relic, the Net Flow Cathedral is still just a public museum. A theft, even of a hidden artifact, wouldn’t immediately trigger a major extraordinary incident. So again… what’s holding him back?’

She let out a quiet breath and folded the newspapers, her thoughts narrowing in.

A figure like Galeb, now Scarlet rank, could rob the Net Flow Cathedral with little more effort than any of the other targets. Yet he hadn’t. That pointed to a reason Dorothy could now guess.

She retrieved a small book—the museum guide she’d picked up earlier that day. Thumbing through it, she located the section on the museum’s rotating exhibitions.

Thanks to the fame of the Crown of Immanuel, the museum received far more donations than it could ever showcase at once. Over time, the cathedral’s collection had grown so vast that only a small fraction was on public display at any given moment.

To handle this, the museum operated on a rotating exhibition system. Every seven to eight months, one set of artifacts would be swapped out for the next. Newly donated items typically waited until the next scheduled rotation to be put on show.

According to the guide, the most recent rotation had occurred just this March. That meant the divination artifact had only just been moved into the exhibit hall. Previously, it would’ve been stored off-limits inside the Glorious Cathedral—the new operational heart of Adria’s Church after relocating from the Net Flow complex.

But unlike the Net Flow Cathedral, the Glorious Cathedral wasn’t open to the public. It was a fortified religious seat. Infiltrating *that* was a vastly riskier undertaking. Galeb might be strong, but making a move on the Glorious Cathedral would be reckless, potentially drawing the ire of higher Church officials.

So instead, he’d waited.

Now that the artifact was finally in the Net Flow Cathedral, stealing it was safer—still a challenge, but less likely to provoke a full-scale incident. The Church would assume the item was mundane. Still… it was already March 10th. The cooldown should be ending soon. So why hadn’t Galeb moved?

Dorothy already knew the answer.

She placed the newspapers aside and picked up another sheet. It displayed a grainy photo of an elderly bishop in ceremonial attire. The headline read:

**“Cardinal Archbishop Antonio to Host Grand Banquet at Old Governor’s Palace Tomorrow Evening to Welcome Pilgrims from the Crisis. Cardinal to Personally Receive Nun Valeria Chafferin… Sources Say This Event Will Mark the Conclusion of His Adria Visit Before Returning to Pecz.”**

A small, barely noticeable smile played on Dorothy’s lips as she considered the article. There was no doubt—the ripples from the Summer Tree incident had reached further than anyone anticipated.

……

**Late night. Along the canal beside Church Plaza.**

A man in a dark coat with his hat pulled low hurried down toward the water. With a nimble jump, he landed in a moored boat. The boatman, cloaked and silent, immediately rowed them away from shore.

“All confirmed inside?” the boatman asked without glancing back. The man adjusted his hat.

“Took a lot of ‘Shadow,’ but it’s verified. I saw it—Azam’s alias is on one of the plaques inside the Crown Hall. Once Antonio leaves, we strike…”

“Mm. Based on intel from all directions, Antonio hosts his banquet tomorrow and leaves the next day. In that case…” the boatman nodded, dipping his oars, “…we notify the boss now. He should arrive at once.”

“Yeah… With him here, it’ll be settled quick. Damn that Antonio—if he hadn’t popped up unannounced, we’d be done by now…”