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((The Wednesday Triple: page 2 of 3))
Jercash accepted the tome and flipped it over in his hands, inspecting it up and down. He opened it and began sifting through the pages. “Hmm. What language is this?”

“Lyzakki,” said Gohvis. “And a few others.”

Jercash gave him a look. “The Lyzakks didn’t write books.”

“No, but they did preserve knowledge in stone.”

“Ah. So these pages are transcriptions, then?”

“Yes, from an underground ruin in Vantalay that I discovered some forty years past.” He held up Chergoa. “I had forgotten all about it until I recently acquired a Lyzakki translator.”

“Huh. Well, uh, that’s great, pal, but I can’t read this.”

“Find a translator for yourself, then.”

“Can’t you just lend me yours?”

“No.”

“But what if I--?”

“No.”

He smacked his lips. “Then could you at least give me the gist of what’s written here?”

“It is a rumination on the Theory of the Hidden Third.”

Jercash’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

“I also transcribed several passages from a few other sources that I found here in the Library. To my knowledge, there does not currently exist a more comprehensive pondering of the subject than the volume that you are holding right now.”

Jercash’s eyes widened even more. “Um. Wow. Just. Damn. Thank you.”

“Mm.”

And Emiliana waited, but from the way they were talking, it didn’t seem like anyone was going to ask the question that she wanted answered. So she gathered her audacity and said, “What is this Theory of the Hidden Third?”

Jercash smiled at her. “That, dear girl-whose-name-I-still-don’t-know, refers to a question that has been bothering us for millennia. And might you have any idea what that question is?”

She shook her head.

“Then I’ll ask it to you. How many different powers does a single servant possess?”