Ah...you're
Rita Mordio.

You know me? You must be
a mage from Aspio, then.

Wh-why have you come here?

Oh, I was just stopping by in the
course of a journey. That's all.

Excuse me... Would you
mind if I looked at
that book you have?

What? This? Sure,
I don't mind...

Hey, it's Ifsanft Napsejap's
“Discourses on Aer”!

What? You've heard
of this book before?

This book used to be in my house.
I think it may've belonged to the
person who lived there before me.

...I see... Yes, I see...

It was all full of codes that I couldn't understand,
so I didn't find it all that interesting.

I ended up giving it to the first person
who showed any interest in it.

Ifsanft Napsejap.
That's Hermes.
It was his pen name.

What?! Really?!

...So that means Hermes
used to live in Aspio?

That's what it would mean, yes.

Keeping something important
like that from us yet again...

I'm sorry. I wasn't entirely
sure of it until now.

*Sigh* ...Well, whatever.

What...is all this? I can't understand any of it.
“Kdvkxosktzgr hrgyzog iuarj hk jgtmkxuay.”

It looks like he just wrote letters at random.

It's all in code. I thought about trying
to figure it out a few times, but...

This annoying type of writing is often
used for taking down personal memos and
the like. But not for research papers.

In the front of the book it says, “I dedicate this
to my daughter.” And then, “Try and read it.”

It seems that it was more of a challenge
to his own daughter than a book of his
own memos to himself.

Yes, I think that's right.

I see... What a ridiculous,
foolish researcher.

He didn't even know what
the blastia he'd created
were capable of.

Yeah...

That's it... I'm going
to take this book
and decode it!

Please, let me have this.

Sure, go ahead. It's not like
I can read it, anyway.

Once I've cracked the code, I'll find
that daughter and give it back to her!

Right. I'll show that blastia-researching bozo!

...