Chapter 59
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Library Committee Chair (4)
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Library Yokai.
The yokai that the academy keeps under control, but depending on how you use it, it can become a tree that gives without reservation.
Well, that's from the perspective of a veteran. If the Library Yokai had any wits about it and heard that, it'd weep tears of blood.
'It was dangerous to begin with.'
Among the yokai scattered throughout the academy, this one had the highest danger level by far.
Because simply following the set order, the placement method, and above all, the act of pulling out a book made its domain exponentially stronger.
The swarms of countless forbidden book yokai couldn't be easily exorcised even by mid-rank exorcists, or those just entering high rank.
'So what.'
But putting it another way, as long as you followed those rules properly, it was like free food.
Look at it now—it was adding the attribute 'dream' and letting him vividly experience someone else's past.
Man, no need for VR anymore?
'By the way, whose body is this?'
Bihyeong looked down at his hands.
He had expected to wake up in the committee chair's body, or at least experience her past from a third-person view.
But the body he came to his senses in was male, and young.
Plus, the sensations were so intact that for a moment, he even forgot it was a dream.
Just then, a faint rustling came from the bushes nearby.
And what jumped out from the bushes was—
'...The committee chair?'
It was the young committee chair.
Unlike now, she wasn't wearing glasses, and her eyes weren't curved in that same way.
Even so, for some reason... that face felt strangely familiar, not awkward at all.
'Familiar? Like I've seen it before?'
As Bihyeong pondered that—
"Eun-yu. I told you not to leave my side."
The committee chair said that as she grabbed his hand.
Her small grip was weak, like any child's,
but it carried a firm resolve never to let go again.
"......"
Bihyeong stared at her wordlessly, then looked back at the little girl before him.
His mouth moved against his will.
"Yeah, sis."
"Then let's go. Today we'll head to the hill entrance we couldn't reach last time."
"But... isn't that too dangerous? The elders in the clan said not to go there."
"...Really? Hmm. What should we do then... Eek! Hide."
The committee chair hurriedly ducked into the bushes, and Bihyeong followed right behind.
Thud.
─Thud.
The footsteps of someone patrolling the area gradually faded away.
Thump. Thump.
Even so, the committee chair's little heart showed no sign of calming down.
"It's okay. They're gone now."
Only after hearing her little brother's words did the committee chair let out a sigh of relief.
"Phew. If they catch us still awake this late, Mom and Dad will scold us, right?"
"We'll get scolded, and probably spanked too."
"But going back inside is boring... How about we wander just one more hour, then sleep?"
"......?"
At that moment, Bihyeong's will merged with her little brother's.
No, why did it lead to that conclusion?
"Sis?"
"Come on, Eun-yu. Don't let go of my hand this time, okay?"
And so, the young committee chair played around in a moment from her past.
"Hmnya... Over there, fun......"
It was late into the early morning hours.
Bihyeong turned to look at the committee chair, who was deep in sleep and mumbling in her dreams.
'Finally free.'
The words referred to two things.
One was being freed from the committee chair dragging him along, and the other—
'From control of this body.'
The sensations, will, and mind were clearly his own.
But strangely, when near the committee chair, his thoughts didn't translate into actions.
It was probably the memories and habitual actions of the boy called Eun-yu taking priority.
Only when both of them had fallen asleep did Bihyeong get a chance to move purely by his own will.
Creeeak...
He carefully opened the door and wandered around what seemed to be the committee chair's clan home.
'Nice place.'
The style resembled a traditional hanok, but its size was like something nobles from the past would live in.
Above all, the meticulously tended gardens everywhere, the artificial pond, and the glossy scales of the koi swimming in it.
No way this was a poor family.
'This puts them in the upper ranks of clans.'
Not quite a prestigious house yet.
Those had history, tradition, and the power to match.
It would be fitting to say their home was palace-like.
'But have I heard of a clan like this?'
Bihyeong recalled the geography, structures, and crests of the countless clans he'd encountered playing the solo campaign.
'Earlier, I saw this clan's crest—it was definitely a solar eclipse.'
More precisely, the midpoint of a solar eclipse, where the sun was half-obscured and drowned in darkness.
'...No such crest exists.'
And in the solo campaign, no clan used that crest.
Of course, he didn't remember every single clan, but he remembered all the ones worthy of being called upper rank.
Judging by this clan's foundation alone, it had to be upper rank.
'Unless.'
They're deliberately hiding their power.
'...Tch. What a pain.'
Bihyeong clicked his tongue softly but moved busily nonetheless.
First, the outer grounds.
Unlike the inner grounds where clan members resided, this was for servants—far more numerous than blood kin—so it was spacious.
He vaulted over the garden wall and scanned the surroundings at quick speed when something caught his eye.
'What's that?'
A strange statue.
It had bat wings and a nude human-like body.
But oddly... it was sexless.
'No genitals at all.'
And above all, the head was a bit off.
'A goat?'
Bihyeong had a vague idea of what this shape was.
'Isn't this... a straight-up demon?'
He hadn't seen them in the solo campaign, but it was a motif he encountered often in modern media.
Sly-tongued deceivers who tempted people into corruption and ultimately claimed their souls.
That was a demon.
'A demon statue in the clan grounds?'
This was getting even more suspicious.
'Something smells off.'
The foul stench of whatever happened to the committee chair's clan—and to her.
'Let's take a closer look.'
The moment Bihyeong approached the statue with that thought—
"Yawn. Tch. What kind of night patrol is this."
"They pay well, though. Money's the boss—gotta do what they say without complaint."
The snap of dry twigs underfoot came with voices.
Bihyeong immediately climbed a tree.
The guards' realms felt no higher than 1st hierarchy, even being generous.
Their aura sense was trash, so... if he held his breath, they wouldn't find him.
Hiding in the thick leaves, Bihyeong looked down.
Two guards were approaching this way.
Then—
"Oh."
The guards suddenly stopped in front of the statue they found odd, staring at it.
And then they said—
"Man, this statue always makes me feel reverent, no matter how many times I see it."
"Angel statue, right? Heard Madam had it shipped from Europe to match her tastes."
"Yeah? Makes me feel solemn just looking at it."
"But why stick a statue like this in a corner? Should put it center garden where everyone can see."
"How would we know the clan head and Madam's minds? Treasures are meant to be hidden, right? Maybe that's it."
"Maybe."
They chuckled among themselves and resumed their patrol.
"......"
In the spot they left.
"So that's how it is, huh?"
A pair of demon-like eyes blazed coldly from the tree.
"......"
Bihyeong quickly hopped the outer wall and re-entered the inner grounds.
Then headed straight for the houses where blood kin lived.
'The guards saw it as an angel statue.'
But not to him.
Rub his eyes and look again—it was still a demon statue.
That meant there was a separate 'condition' for seeing that form.
'And most such conditions are shared through blood ties.'
Or only those selected by the hider could perceive it.
It was one of the rare tricks in the solo campaign.
Keeping that in mind, Bihyeong entered the house.
Dim hallway.
A scene similar to when he first opened his eyes.
Within it, Bihyeong began walking in the exact opposite direction from the room where the committee chair slept.
'Space feels blurry.'
Distorted, mixed up.
Like witnessing the Library Yokai's end after acquiring the Colorless Painting.
But this wasn't the Library Yokai's doing.
It was just that this world was built on the committee chair's 'memories,' shaped by the 'dream' effect.
Thus, Bihyeong carefully advanced through the warped scenery.
At its end—
"......"
A single room with lights on late at night, and voices conversing inside.
And also—
'...Strong.'
A presence so powerful it made his body hair stand on end.
'This far is enough.'
He had explored the house sufficiently.
Bihyeong turned back without regret and returned to the room.
'Demon statue visible only to blood kin. The only clear space in the distorted scenery.'
And the conversation.
'The committee chair has been to that space.'
And in that process, her consciousness likely wasn't fully intact.
Otherwise, the path there was warped, but that one room clear? Impossible.
'But no clear incident has happened yet. What exactly happened to her?'
Bihyeong spent the night sleepless with those thoughts.
The next morning arrived.
And before him—
"Eun-yu. Eun-ha. Say hello. This is the teacher who'll guide you from now on."
A man who looked foreign at first glance removed his derby hat and bowed.
Just like in the movies, a gentlemanly demeanor.
"Haha. Nice to meet you. Please bear with me if my Korean is a bit rough."
"Wow! Teacher! What are we gonna learn!?"
The committee chair—no, the girl named Eun-ha—jumped up and down at the sight of the teacher.
In contrast, Bihyeong—
'...It's him.'
Was busy hiding his trembling eyes.
'The one talking in that lit room last night.'
The moment he came face-to-face with the owner of that powerful presence.