Looking at the words "demon," Brian Carter frowned.

　　“Demons hate books the most. Demons are all illiterate, why would they read books? Only those winged birds read books, okay? The unlucky demon was caught by an angel when he stole a book. He didn’t burn that wicked book; instead, he secretly hid it in a library. But all the bookshelves in the library look exactly the same. After the angel left, the foolish demon was dumbfounded and let out an angry roar—”

　　“These damned books!”

　　As soon as Brian Carter finished reading this passage, a clear child’s voice suddenly rang out in the library.

　　“Ding dong! The confrontation game ‘Who Stole My Book’ has officially begun. During the game—”

　　“First, violence is prohibited.”

　　“Second, during the day, the angel can receive a clue about the book.”

　　“Third, at night, the demon can burn any bookshelf.”

　　“Oh wise and kind angel, in three days, Mosaic will be killed by her angry mother. Can you really bear to watch such a cute little girl die?”

　　Brian Carter: “……”

　　Cute, my ass!!!

　　Author’s note:　　Black Tower: Can you really bear to watch such a cute little girl die?

　　Brian Carter: I can absolutely bear it!

Chapter 4: Mosaic’s Contempt.

　　Brian Carter glanced around. There was no one else in the quiet library, let alone any so-called angels or demons.

　　“Mr. Brooks, could you help me shut down the computer? I’ll go see if we can still take books from the shelves.”

　　Logan Reed nodded and used the mouse to turn off the computer.

　　Brian Carter’s gaze swept over Logan Reed’s right hand holding the mouse. He strode over to the bookshelf, pulled out a book, and put it back. “It looks like we can still freely take books from the shelves for now, so let me confirm something first… Mr. Brooks, did you hear that voice?”

　　Logan Reed asked, a bit confused, “You mean the voice telling us to help the little girl find her book, or she’ll die?”

　　Brian Carter nodded lightly. The two of them sat down on the chairs at the service desk, and he said, “At the moment, it seems we’re on the angel’s side.” As he spoke, Brian Carter extended his right hand. Logan Reed leaned over to take a look and immediately realized, quickly stretching out his own right hand. Sure enough, there was an angel wing pattern on the back of his hand as well.

　　“Ah, I have this too.”

　　Almost at the same moment the child’s voice said “angel,” Brian Carter noticed this pattern had appeared on the back of his right hand. The intention couldn’t be clearer: Brian Carter was on the angel’s side. Most people in China are right-handed, and he’d just asked Logan Reed to help shut down the computer so he could discreetly check Logan Reed’s alignment.

　　But since Logan Reed was also an angel, the problem became even more serious.

　　Logan Reed had clearly thought of this too: “If both of us are angels, then who’s the demon?”

　　This library was identical to the one where Brian Carter worked. Brian Carter opened his own drawer and took out a piece of chewing gum. He chewed it slowly, gave one to Logan Reed as well, frowned, and tapped his fingers rhythmically on the table.

　　“The first possibility: the demon is different from us—the demon isn’t human. That voice should be related to Black Tower, right? For now, let’s assume this game is the one Black Tower mentioned three days ago. Black Tower is some kind of unknown being, and the demon, like Black Tower, isn’t human—just an opponent set up for us by Black Tower.”

　　This explanation made perfect sense to Logan Reed: “So that’s why we haven’t found anyone else in the library—just the two of us—because the demon doesn’t actually exist.”

　　Brian Carter nodded: “Yeah, that’s right. But that’s the better scenario. There’s a second possibility: the demon is human too.”

　　Logan Reed gripped his riot baton nervously: “He’s hiding?”

　　Brian Carter’s gaze casually swept over Logan Reed’s hand holding the baton. After a moment, he smiled and said, “It’s possible.”

　　An unknown opponent is always more terrifying than a known danger.

　　Brian Carter and Logan Reed split up. Logan Reed was a bit more robust than Brian Carter, so he went to look for the possible demon hiding in the library, while Brian Carter planned to check the first and second floors.

　　At first, Logan Reed was scared and didn’t dare do it alone, but Brian Carter said, “The voice said, no violence.”

　　Even so, Logan Reed was still a bit timid. His legs trembled as he searched, and he could barely hold the baton steady.

　　But less than a minute later, Brian Carter came back. He looked a bit grim: “I can’t go downstairs.”

　　“Huh?”

　　“There are two ways to get down from the third floor: take the staff elevator or use the stairs. I tried the stairs first, but it felt like there was an invisible wall blocking me at the stairway. Then I tried the staff elevator, but it wouldn’t start, so I couldn’t go down.”

　　Logan Reed quickly caught on: “So we can only move freely on the third floor. That means the book we’re looking for must be on the third floor?”

　　Brian Carter thought so too, but if the search was limited to just the third floor…