Leif was not the only one who was speechless by Auto-one's comment. Kyran was too, and so was Aki— the latter mainly because he was amazed at Auto-one's ability to remain loyal to their master even when his programming still had security codes based on his original master.
If Auto-one's remark rendered them speechless, his following words almost gave Leif a heart attack, while Kyran turned numb.
"As the Realm Scion, it is only natural that everything here belongs to you."
The moment Auto-one mentioned the Realm Scion, the gears in Kyran's mind started to move. He immediately thought of countermeasures to salvage the situation.
His first idea was to order Auto-one to shut up. But even as the thought appeared, it was sent to the rejected idea section of his brain simply because Leif already heard Auto-one refer to him as the Realm Scion— not to mention Auto-one had already finished speaking. It was already too late to make him shut up, and doing so would only make Leif suspicious.
The second idea Kyran came up with was to clobber Leif as hard as he could, staging a forced memory loss. But the reasonable part of his brain reminded him that if he clobbered Leif— never mind doing it without exerting much force, his normal strength probably would only be comparable to a playful smack on her head.
Leif was from the Higher Realm, meaning her physical and magical defenses were far more powerful than those in the Lower Realm. Apart from that, she was a High Sovereign; it would have been impossible for even a Sovereign to clobber her to death in a single hit. She might not be a combat mage, but that did not mean her physical defenses were weak.
If Kyran wanted to induce a memory loss with his fist, he would have to use Draconic magic. But if he did that, Leif would probably die with one hit. After all, he had not mastered control over his strength under the influence of Draconic magic's enhancement.
After considering all of that, Kyran considered using a Void rune to remove her memories. He had done it before, but doing so would leave a remnant of his magic inside her body, which might cause problems once they left the tower. Because of its unique location, his magic energy was being masked in the tower, but if they returned to the Higher Realm, it would become detectable.
Kyran continued to rack his brains as another idea started to form in his head.
However, before the idea could fully materialize, Auto-one suddenly made a swift movement and touched Leif's nape. She then let out a muffled groan before her body went limp.
Before falling headfirst to the floor, Auto-one caught Leif from behind. He adjusted his center of gravity before lifting her and draping her over his shoulder like a sack. His action was so fluid that Aki barely followed what had happened.
On the other hand, Kyran remained nonplussed during the whole scene. But inwardly, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, which pretty much summed up Aki's reaction. Fortunately, the Dragon Emperor transferred the latter's core into an automa treasure from the very tower they were in, and his eyes popping out of its socket would only be a figure of speech.
"My apologies, master. I had assumed this woman was already aware of your identity, which is why I spoke without giving much thought to it. I will be careful with my words moving forward," Auto-one apologized, bowing his head slightly toward Kyran.
He continued, "As for this woman, please rest assured that I have hit her in the right spot and applied enough pressure imbued with my magic to induce short-term memory loss. After all, my energy core mainly generates Lightning magic energy, which is very helpful in inducing a shock-like effect to bodies."
Kyran had considered Auto-one's magic when he thought of a new idea. Unfortunately, that idea barely formed in his head because Auto-one had already acted upon it.
[Yes. However, I will say one thing you may not be aware of.]
Kyran inwardly raised his brows, 'Is there anything else that Auto-one had not mentioned?'
[More like this, something belongs to the information he cannot freely say due to the security code preventing him.]
'Hm... looks like I have to check his program and lift the security code. This way, I'll get all the necessary information without worrying about him violating any code.'
[If the Ancients' programming could be easily decoded, why do you think Array declined in the Higher Realm to the point that it became useless.]
'Point taken.'
[More importantly, please be careful. Someone in the tower will soon notice your presence.]
'Is it the same presence I have been sensing for some time now?'
Shaiha nodded.
[That's right. When I hid in the tower, that presence was already present. And after all this time, it remains here, and I can attest that its aura has gotten stronger.]
Kyran frowned. He did not like the sound of that, 'Is it hostile?'
Shaiha shook her head.
[I don't know. I have only been in one location when I hid here before. But that presence seems to encompass the whole tower. You have to be careful.]
Kyran did not respond. However, Shaiha felt his silent acknowledgment and, thus, did not make a fuss over it.
At that moment, Kyran already arrived at the door and opened it without hesitation. Auto-one already told them what room was behind the door, and there was no cause for them to dally.
As per Auto-one, the next room was a massive library. Though no puppets guarded the place, hidden dangers were still present within the books and scrolls themselves.
It was wise not to touch any of the books. However, anyone looking for treasures would not heed such a warning, especially since the books and scrolls kept by the ancients definitely possessed great knowledge.