When Bruce used the carriage prepared by Master Andrew to haul the first batch of books back to the Forgotten Bookstore, the new owner, Constantine, was stunned to see groups of mage apprentices gleefully moving a pile of heavy-duty books into his shop.
"Hey, Ras, you're Master Andrew's apprentice Ras, right? What are you doing? I haven't got any new stock recently?"
The black-haired apprentice referred to as "Ras" by Constantine extended a hand, pointed his thumb backwards and said, "You'll need to ask the big shot behind me. And, you bloody rotten man, when did you start keeping company with Wayne?"
"We'll talk about it later." Constantine turned his head while simultaneously patting Ras's back, then jogged towards the back of the line.
He found Bruce at the door of the carriage, checking the quantity of books. With a dramatic lean backward, he spread his hands out and asked, "What are you doing? Where did you get all these books from?!"
"This is the bounty of knowledge that the Demon King I have just bound has bestowed upon me. It's a welcome gift for you. You're welcome."
"But but but but but... Ouch!"
A falling book pile hit Constantine on the forehead, causing him to fall backward and sit down on the ground. He rubbed his forehead as he got up, flashing a grin as he said, "Are you kidding me? You don't actually think someone will buy those heavy tomes that only you can understand, do you? … Wait a minute, you're planning to sell them, right?"
Bruce shook his head, traced a pentagram on his chest, and then said, "Like I said, these are a boon of knowledge from the great Beelzebub's majesty. To talk of buying and selling would be too crass."
Just then, another carriage dropped at the entrance. Nightwing stood atop the carriage, waved at Bruce and said, "This is the penultimate carriage. Jason and Tim are sorting out the last batch of books; they'll be here shortly."
After finishing speaking, he jumped down from the top of the carriage and walked in front of Bruce, briefly lowered his head, then looked up at his face and said, "I'm afraid we didn't quite fulfill our task. The Demon King didn't seem too welcoming toward us."
"No worries, he'll be welcoming you guys soon."
"How's your health?"
"Much better." Bruce and Nightwing walked together toward the main entrance of the bookstore, with Nightwing turning his head to glance at Bruce, saying, "Are you planning to seek a cure for your disease in the mystic world?"
"I'm not putting all my hopes in it," Bruce shook his head.
Nightwing's face immediately darkened, and he sighed, "Too bad I'm not well-versed in magic; I only occasionally hear things from Diana. Have you asked your universe's Diana?"
"I was about to ask her." Bruce said this, and Nightwing realized that Bruce's previous plan to go to Mount Olympus with Diana must be related to this as well.
It seems, every Batman has his own tragedy, Nightwing thought rather gloomily. This Batman of this universe could save Gotham, but strangely he couldn't save himself.
On the other hand, at the entrance of Master Andrew's Mage Tower, much of the ruins had disappeared, and Beelzebub had left the Human World with his Demon Generals.
For a Demon Lord, a palace is not a particularly precious treasure, but for humans, everything from Hell contains an extremely concentrated energy. All the mages who came to the birthday banquet today had harvested quite a lot, and now, in pairs or small groups, they opened portals, preparing to haul their spoils back home.
Most of the mages present didn't know Red Hood and Red Robin, so quite a few black magicians coveted the pile of books. They were not particularly interested in demon knowledge, but believed there might be some residual power left by Beelzebub in them, so they wanted to pilfer them.
Red Hood, like a guard dog, beat up any who dared approach the pile of books. Red Robin stood on top of the book pile, relaying messages to him, and all the petty thieves received a good beating.
"Hey, Jason, look to your right, who's that guy in the suit with the cane?" Red Robin craned his neck to look at one side.
Upon looking down, Red Hood was busy dealing with two black magicians who were attempting to sneak to the pile of books from the side so Red Robin leaped down himself and told the approaching man, "Don't come any closer, these things are already taken. Otherwise, you'll get beaten."
Red Robin rarely spoke to people in such a rude tone. But the greed of the magicians exceeded their expectations. They'd only been here half an hour, but were already dealing with wave after wave of villains trying to rip them off.
"Thanks for the warning. I'm just taking a look."
"There's nothing to look at." Red Robin's hint to leave was obvious, but he noticed that the man continued to stroll unhurriedly forward, causing him to step to one side and block him.
"I wasn't joking, sir, didn't you see him beat up magicians with a few punches?" Red Robin pointed to Red Hood standing nearby, shrugged, and added, "I bet no matter how powerful your magic is, you can't defeat both of us at such a close distance. It's better you leave quickly"
Seeing that the person in front of him still had no intentions of leaving, Red Robin grew impatient. His detective's instinct didn't reveal any valuable information, the stranger looked just like an ordinary scholar or college professor.
Thus, he rolled up his sleeves and took a step forward, intending to uphold the Batman Family's tradition of physical negotiation. But just then, a familiar roaring cry suddenly came from behind him.
"No!! Tim!! Don't go!!"
Red Hood's voice was so sharp it sounded like a scream, the likes of which Red Robin had never heard from Jason before.
Red Robin had already taken a step forward; his instinct was to plant his foot on the ground. But in the next moment, Red Hood rushed over directly. He grabbed Red Robin's shoulder with one hand and covered his mouth with the other, dragging Red Robin away like a kidnapper taking a hostage.
"What are you doing?" Red Robin looked back at him discontentedly, "What's gotten into you, Jason?"
"I'll explain to you later!"
Red Hood just dropped these words in a hurry and rushed towards the man in the suit across from him. He braked abruptly in front of him, forcing a smile onto his face, and said in a trembling voice, "The child doesn't understand, you mustn't take it personally."
Watching all this, Shiller paused briefly, took his gaze off Red Robin and focused on Red Hood's face. Shiller raised an eyebrow and said, "...do you know me?"
"What? Do you..." Red Hood was taken aback, then visibly deflated, his shoulders sagging. He sighed, "No, it's nothing, I just..."
"Do you remember everything that happened in your universe?" Shiller tilted his head slightly and asked tentatively.
Red Hood's eyes brightened immediately. He pulled off his mask and said to Shiller, "Of course, haven't you lost your memory like they have? Great!"
Shiller adjusted a little to Jason's youthful face, then frowned slightly, "It seems like you didn't know about me before. Haven't you heard about me in Gotham?"
"I don't even know your name! Nobody told me!"
Shiller's expression stiffened for a second, he shook his head helplessly, "Alright, I can't expect Batman of your universe to introduce me to you. I am Shiller, Shiller Rodriguez."
"So you're the Professor Rodriguez who failed this universe's Batman?" Red Hood seemed a little surprised.
"That's me." Shiller nodded and walked towards the pile of books with Red Hood trailing behind him.
He rambled, "One morning before I came here, I found that time had inexplicably reversed by many days. Many things I'd definitely already done reset to their original state. I asked other people, but they hadn't noticed."
Shiller stopped next to the tall stack of books. He smiled, "This is also a good thing. Since time has reversed, the bill for your psychological consultation with me no longer exists. But you still have the memory, helping Batman save quite a sum."
"That's what you wanted to say?!" Red Hood looked into Shiller's eyes, his tone and gaze a mix of indignation and resentment.
Suddenly, he cocked his head to the side, rubbed his fingers together anxiously, took a deep breath, and lowered his head.
"Er....thank you."
"For what?"
"I...I saw it all." Red Hood's lips became pale as he wrung his hands, stuttering, "That day, Batman was in the surveillance room for a long time and didn't come out. I was a bit worried about him, so I picked the lock and went in."
"So, what you said and did to the Joker that day... I saw it all."
Red Hood lowered his head again, looking at his fingers, "I saw him shatter with my own eyes. It was very serious, at least...more so than my own death. Thank you."
His face turned red, and he said resentfully, "I really don't know what to say, and I know you didn't do it for me... but thank you anyway."
"I did it for you," said Shiller calmly.
Red Hood looked up at him blankly. Shiller shook his head gently, "Jason from this universe is my student. Even though he hasn't gone through all of this, I'm sorry for what happened to you."
Red Hood's face turned even redder. He stood in place, feeling out of sorts. Then he heard Shiller say,
"That's part of why I did it, but not all. You shouldn't thank me, but Batman."
Shiller started walking again, rounding the side of the pile of books. Red Hood followed, his steps matching Shiller's. Shiller's voice drifted in the night wind.
"When Batman came to find me, he expressed his troubles. He said he lost his children, not just one, and not just once."
"You know, nobody can convince someone else to let go of such a tragedy, not even a psychologist."
"Batman provided me with decent food, clothing, and shelter when I was stranded in a strange world, so I was willing to do my best to try, even if I couldn't reverse the tragedy, to at least give him and his children another possibility for reconciliation."
Shiller turned back. In his grey eyes, Red Hood saw unfathomable calm and strength. He heard Shiller say,
"I'm glad you witnessed all of this and didn't lose your memory when the universe rebooted. At least you saw how violently your enemy shattered. This comforts me."
"And what I want to tell you is, maybe Batman didn't show it, but he also has his memories."
Red Hood's eyes slowly widened as though understanding something. His fingertips began to tremble.
He looked uneasily up at Shiller's eyes, which seemed somewhat obscure under the night sky. As Shiller's voice echoed, he finally understood what he had been hoping for.
"Which is to say, the morning you and Batman met in my clinic, and all the memories related to me, are, and will always be, a secret just between the two of you."
"Jason, what will make you special to Batman will no longer be your death."