“Following Screwllum's instructions, Stelle entered the Unknowable Domain. After searching for a long time, she finally found Madam Herta's familiar purple figure near its edge. The genius's puppet was standing at the boundary between two timelines, attempting to strip away the corrupted data from the Unknowable Domain.”

“It wasn't until Stelle called out loudly and walked up to Madam Herta that the puppet realized there was a living person added to the Simulated Universe.”

“Madam Herta didn't lift her head, continuing her work: ‘Why are you here? This area isn't open for testing. Hurry back to other areas and amuse yourself.’”

“Screwllum: ‘Madam Herta, you have been out of contact with the outside world for 34 standard hours. Stelle came specifically at my invitation to find you.’”

“‘...34 standard hours?’ Madam Herta paused. ‘It seems the Unknowable Domain not only interferes with external observation but also affects the perception of time. What appears as unobservable corrupted data from the outside is completely normal internally. This is definitely not a programming error; it's some kind of... 'filthy thing.'”

“Madam Herta ignored Stelle and Screwllum, refocusing her attention on the data stream before her. The two quickly realized she wasn't trapped in the Unknowable Domain; she had simply—forgotten to leave.”

“Well, that's very Madam Herta.”

“‘Do you know about the Circle of Knowledge?’ Madam Herta suddenly asked. Unlike usual, she seemed less straightforward now, deeply perplexed by a certain problem.”

“Stelle: ‘I can make one up.’”

“Screwllum calmly stated: ‘Compare known knowledge to a circle; the more knowledge, the larger the circle, and the more unknown outside the circle. Assessment: A very clever analogy.’”

“Madam Herta continued: ‘Since I started studying, whenever the knowledge in my mind expands to a certain extent, just about to break through the known circle and enter the unknown world, I encounter some kind of obstruction. Machine malfunctions, data corruption, even personal safety issues... various outlier probability events occur, always setting my research progress back to square one.’”

“‘It's like an invisible hand constantly prevents me from stepping out of the known circle, forming a continuous Unknowable Domain.’”

“Screwllum reminded her: ‘Logic: You appear to be attributing subjective qualities to these objective obstructions. Allow me to remind you that subjective speculation is the enemy of research.’”

“‘For some, it's subjective speculation, but for a genius, it's a flash of faint glow. I have a hunch that this bottleneck we encountered in the Simulated Universe is preventing us from acquiring certain knowledge, from uncovering a certain piece of history...’”

——

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.

“‘It must be the Aeon of mysterious causing trouble, right?’ Stark guessed.

“‘No, if it were the Aeon of mysterious, their actions would definitely not be this obvious, easily detected by Madam Herta.’ Frieren shook her head, denying the possibility. ‘Someone must be trying to interfere, doing everything possible to stop Madam Herta from breaking through the known Circle of Knowledge, but I don't understand why that person would do this.’”

Preventing the breakthrough of the Circle of Knowledge undoubtedly confirms that this person stands opposite Erudition, and is definitely not a member of the Genius Society. But if it's not the Genius Society, Frieren truly couldn't imagine who would possess such insidious means or ability to evade detection even by a genius, let alone infiltrate the Simulated Universe.

“‘Frieren-sama, could it be someone related to the Destruction faction?’ Fern asked softly, clutching her staff.

“‘Destruction? Fern, are you referring to the Emanator of Destruction?’”

“‘No, I just think destroying knowledge must also be part of what the Path of Destruction wants to accomplish, right?’”

Fern rested her chin on her hand, looking at the burning bonfire in front of her. 'The Path of Destruction is very broad. As I understand it, it should first destroy all organic life, knowledge, the various Aeons in the universe... and finally, its own army, Emanators, and even Nanook itself should be destroyed, otherwise, a Destruction Aeon that 'exists' fundamentally contradicts the Path of Destruction.'

“‘That makes some sense.’ Frieren shook her head. ‘But I still lean toward another Aeon faction, outside of Destruction and Erudition, preventing Madam Herta. But the strange thing is, isn't the expansion of the Circle of Knowledge a good thing?’”

——

“‘Deduction: Perhaps the mysterious Mythus glanced at the Simulated Universe. I have enumerated three thousand two hundred and fifteen deductions; which one would you like to hear first?’”

“Madam Herta retorted crossly: ‘Now that sounds like subjective speculation.’”

“She turned her head to look into the depths of the Unknowable Domain, but Madam Herta did not move. It was as if something was waiting for her there, like a riddle calling for a genius's answer.”

“After a long silence, Madam Herta sighed in relief: ‘Forget it. It won't be too late to come back next time.’”

“The three left the Simulated Universe, and Madam Herta's puppet reconnected. Screwllum: ‘Question: Have any useful clues been found regarding the cause of the Unknowable Domain?’”

“Madam Herta shrugged: ‘I have some ideas, but not many—though I did see quite a bit of the Intelligentsia Guild's dark history. The School War happened only a little over a hundred Amber Eras ago. Logically, the Candle-Ink School, as a direct participant, should have fully documented the beginning and end of the event. But when I compared the data with the history inside the Unknowable Domain, I found gaps and fabrications everywhere.’”

“‘Logic: The Intelligentsia Guild has always been highly secretive about mysterious, especially regarding such important historical records. They should not allow History Fictionologists to tamper with them.’”

“‘Unless they did it intentionally, using the hand of mysterious to hide information that shouldn't exist.’ Madam Herta squinted. ‘The schools fighting tooth and nail to control the computing power of Staff, or having secret, unspeakable dealings—those things are trivial. What's truly worth hiding can only be one thing—knowledge itself.’”

“‘According to the public statement, thousands of Staff units were filled up by the Scholars' foolish questions, exhausting their computing power and turning them into mere tourist attractions, floating garbage in the universe.’ Saying this, Madam Herta raised her voice in dissatisfaction. ‘Do I look like I'd believe that? That was a creation of genius!—Screwllum, how much can we increase the simulation accuracy of Staff system?’”

“‘Conclusion: Based on previous estimates, if all the computing power of the Simulated Universe is concentrated, the simulation degree can reach over 71%.’”

——

delicious in dungeon.

“‘So, why give Staff to the Intelligentsia Guild? Wouldn't it be better to let Madam Herta and her peers use it?’”

Laios asked with a frown. He didn't understand why, since the IPC also knew the difference between geniuses and ordinary people, they wouldn't give the tools to the geniuses? Wouldn't giving them to the Intelligentsia Guild be a waste of resources?