The door, made of walnut wood, stood out with its antique design. It was clearly no ordinary door at first glance.
When I touched it lightly, I could sense all sorts of security and defensive enchantments placed upon it.
Not only the door, but the surrounding walls were also completely covered in magic—enough to make one feel a bit exasperated.
This guy is still as cautious as ever, I see.
As I was thinking this, the man knocked a few times on the door. The sound of something heavy clattering echoed from inside.
As expected, he was probably scrambling to tidy up only now after not being prepared.
“Master is waiting.”
He said these words and stepped aside from the door. Passing him, I knocked twice on the door myself.
With a creak of its hinges, the door opened easily.
“…It’s been a while, Mr. Cain.”
In the center of a dusty room sat a leather sofa and a marble table.
Amidst furniture that seemed to hold over a thousand years of history, a young girl lounged casually on the sofa. In her hand, she held a small wooden cube and nodded her head slightly toward me.
With platinum hair and eyes as blue as the sea, the only unusual feature about her was the pointed ears—traits typically seen in the elf subspecies of fantasy worlds.
“I never thought you’d go missing for years without showing your face. I was disappointed.”
“Stop saying things you don’t mean, Louis.”
An elf who had lived over a thousand years, Louis was one of the few elves in this world. In the original story, he had appeared as an antagonist assisting the emperor.
Though technically an antagonist, he leaned more toward neutral, focusing all his attention on preserving his own life, which led him to assist the emperor. In fact, in the original, he had also accepted Adelle’s proposal.
“You’re as cold as ever. But that’s what makes it easy.”
Louis chuckled slightly, then tossed the wooden cube in his hand onto the table. He leaned back on the sofa and picked up a long pipe leaning against it, igniting it with a flame spell.
As a pungent smell of tobacco filled the air along with a trail of blue smoke, I wrinkled my nose in distaste.
Despite my reaction, she paid no attention, continuing to puff away at her pipe.
Well, someone who has lived over a thousand years wouldn’t bother much with others’ reactions.
“Let’s skip the preliminaries and get straight to the point.”
“Agreed.”
“The legacy of the Magew king… you’re looking for that, right?”
The Magew King.
The monstrous figure who, alone, had once crushed half the empire’s army and stood toe-to-toe with the emperor.
A transcendent figure who had surpassed human limits and mastered magic. The king of a kingdom that the Arrie Empire had eradicated.
The reason Abel and Adelle were able to seal the emperor in the original story was thanks to the Magew King’s legacy.
The problem was that the original work never clearly mentioned where this legacy was located.
“I don’t even know how many years I’ve spent searching for this single thing. My kin don’t know much either, so it was quite the struggle.”
She clicked her tongue, irritably setting the pipe down on the table, and slowly continued speaking as she exhaled a puff of blue smoke.
“I’ve found the location.”
“Where?”
“The capital of the Prillecha Kingdom, Ark. Do you know it?”
I do.
Because it’s now part of my territory. I even participated directly in the war against the Prillecha Kingdom, so there’s no way I wouldn’t know.
Nodding slightly, Louis continued, taking another puff of his pipe.
“Somewhere in the mountains surrounding Ark, there’s the legacy.”
“It’s quite far.”
“Yes, quite far.”
It was practically on the outskirts of the Arrie Empire.
The harbor city of Ark was where the old Prillecha Kingdom had made its final stand, even moving their capital there.
The royal palace is gone now, burned to ashes.
“Mr. Cain, there’s something I need to say.”
“What is it?”
Unlike her usual self, lounging while smoking tobacco, she now wore an exceptionally serious expression. It was hard to believe this was the same person who usually handled duties lazily, drenched in apathy and lethargy.
“I’m pulling out here.”
“Why?”
In response to my question, Louis gave an astonished laugh. After laughing for a while, she sighed and answered.
“Mr. Cain, or rather, Duke Hardenberg.”
Though I had suspected she knew, hearing it spoken aloud left a different impression. After all, I hadn’t thought it possible to conceal my identity when dealing with an information guild.
“You’re thinking of destroying the royal family, aren’t you?”
“You’re well-informed.”
“If I weren’t, I wouldn’t have lived this long.”
She lightly tapped her neck as she said this. Scars and wounds marred the entirety of her throat.
It was also her habit to scratch her neck when she was annoyed.
“Unfortunately, my life motto is living thin but long.”
She casually waved away the cloud of smoke floating before her with her pipe. Though the pungent aroma of tobacco reached me, I didn’t mind too much.
She opened a subspace, rummaging around before tossing something my way.
“Here, catch it.”
“What is it?”
It was a cylindrical music box. A striking feature was its ornate handle designed in a vintage style.
I thought it might be something special, but touching it revealed no traces of mana—it was merely a simple antique.
“This allows you to seek help from a spirit, but only once.”
“Spirit?”
An existence that had long vanished from this world in ancient times. They barely appeared even in the original story, only fleetingly mentioned as part of the lore.
If my memory serves, only elves could handle them, though they were extremely limited.
In this world, the number of elves could be counted on one hand. Their numbers were that few.
Still, there was one elf I had managed to secure in my youth through knowledge of the original story. Though upon reflection, she was a half-elf, with human blood.
“It was nice knowing you, Mr. Cain.”
“Do you plan to side with the emperor?”
“Think what you will.”
With those words, Louis clenched her pipe harshly—a subtle indication that she had no intention to continue the conversation.
Knowing that I wouldn’t get any more information out of her in this state, I gave up.
“Thanks for everything, Louis.”
With that, I left. Just as I reached the door, a quiet voice reached my ears.
“…Don’t mention it.”
§
A place filled with the distinctive smell of old paper and wood.
The bookshelves were immaculately clean, as if tended to by someone with obsessive-compulsive cleanliness. Old books were arranged with obsessive precision by size.
The arrangement of the books was so precise it made me tired just looking at it. The pristine white marble floor was equally spotless.
I had known the royal library was clean, but I hadn’t expected it to be to this degree. Even I, who pride myself on tidiness, was starting to get annoyed. How do others cope with it?
‘History, History, History section…’
The bookshelves were organized into categories, much like modern libraries.
Though it’s unclear why a medieval library is structured like a modern one, it saved effort when looking for the books I intended to read.
“14th Chapter of the Empire’s History Book”
“A Beginner’s Guide to the Empire’s History: Special Edition of the Unification War”
“How Did the Empire Flourish?”
Familiar titles caught my attention as I crossed my arms and perused them closely.
As much as I’m ignorant of the medieval era, it seems unlikely that books from that time were really titled this way. Is this what passed for a medieval-style romance fantasy?
Though, in romance fantasies, there’s no need to adhere strictly to historical realism. Neither readers nor authors of such stories tend to obsess over it much.
Through such minor details, I realized again how this world fits the description of a fantasy novel world.
‘Sigh, back to focus.’
I picked up a history book centered on the royal house. One by one, the books piled up, soon blocking my view.
The considerable weight made me groan a little, but I managed to place them on the table. The thud of the books releasing a cloud of dust made me cough.
How long has it been since anyone read these? It seems even the cleaning staff don’t bother with the books themselves.
‘…Too many. There are too many.’
I don’t expect that reading all of these will reveal the secrets of the royal family. But there must be some clue in here.
Since this world is the backdrop of a typical fantasy novel, there must be some flaw in the content.
‘Let’s cross-reference things first.’
The amount of content is substantial, but I’m used to such tasks. I never imagined my university days would prove helpful for something like this.
How much time had passed since I began?
“Damn…”
Nothing. There were no inconsistencies or discrepancies in the records.
My motivation dropped significantly after carefully scanning hundreds of pages and checking them one by one.
Trying to suppress an impending sigh, I stretched.
My slightly closed eyes opened to find the library already dimming.
I thought it hadn’t been that long, but time had slipped by so quickly.
‘If I return too late, Lily will worry.’
At the thought, the candles around me began to flicker. A cold draft blowing through the window extinguished the flame.
The regressive instinct of a returner alerted me that something was wrong.
‘What is it?’
Was it the flickering candles or the wind that blew through the window?
After pondering for a while, a sudden thought crossed my mind.
Weren’t there candles in the library in the first place?
Poke.
“Cough…!”
A blade pierced my chest, blocking my vision. The grotesque pain of being impaled rendered me unable to do anything but moan.
The ticking of a clock sounded in my ears.
Consciousness slipped away without even a single question forming in my mind.
