In the Library... (1)
I couldn't remember how I'd eaten after Libra's proposal. My mind must have been elsewhere the entire time. The menu had been decent enough, but it still felt vaguely disappointing. Well, to cut straight to the point, I decided to accept her offer. I was curious about those so-called successors who had inherited the Sword God's power.
"Then I'll contact you once the schedule is set. Karne doesn't have much free time, so head back to class and don't be late."
"Y-yes!"
After a lunch I couldn't even recall properly eating, Libra left those words about reaching out once the raid schedule was confirmed and vanished on the spot.
'Cheonma's successor, ancient ruins, and a strategy to clear them...'
My head was already starting to throb. There hadn't been any story related to this in the tutorial or even afterward.
"Huu......"
I felt a flinch beside me.
"S-sorry?!"
"...No. What do you have to apologize for?"
I'd simply sighed to myself because my thoughts were a mess, but my expression must have hardened too much from Libra's bombshell. Karne, who was already hyper-aware of her surroundings, had frozen solid.
To help the rigidly tense Karne, I relaxed my face back to normal and changed the subject to clear the heavy air.
"By the way, was today's lunch okay?"
"Y-yeah. I prefer fish over meat, so I actually really enjoyed it today."
That was new information. I didn't care much for fish because cleaning the bones was such a hassle. Still, the subject change seemed to work; a small, faint smile curved at the corner of Karne's lips.
"What time do you usually eat dinner, Karne?"
"Me...?"
"Yeah. If the timing works, let's eat together. Dinner has way more variety than lunch, so we can both freely eat whatever suits our tastes, right?"
But the answer that came back was completely different from what I'd expected.
"I'm sorry... It looks like eating together will be difficult."
No, that's not it?! And both of you, shut up!
At the mental commentary from Hoya and Cheonma—who had apparently snapped back to her senses—I frowned slightly. Karne immediately waved her hands and began explaining in a panic.
"I-it's not that I don't want to eat with you! I have a constitution that gains weight really easily, so I skip dinner...!"
"...A constitution that gains weight easily?"
"Yeah. That's why I've been having just a simple salad for breakfast lately too."
I subtly stepped back and took in Karne's entire figure. She was so short she barely reached my shoulders, and her build was just as delicate, making her look incredibly fragile.
Hmm......
I lifted her up.
"E-eek?!"
"If you're this light, shouldn't you gain some weight? Hey, you need to put on a few pounds."
She was so light it was like holding a doll. What was I supposed to do with someone this weightless? Like a parent lifting a child up high, I held Karne and gently shook her.
"See? Moving you around like this barely takes any effort."
"Ueeeh......"
"It feels like lifting a doll stuffed with cotton."
Of course it wasn't literally that extreme, but from what I could feel, it might as well have been. At my astonishing description, Cheonma looked at Karne with pity in his eyes and shook his head.
The dwarf physical training? Picturing their rugged muscles that seemed inversely proportional to their short stature, I found myself nodding. Not the height, but that impressive musculature was definitely part of a man's romantic ideals.
"That's right. Karne would like it too."
"E-ehh...?"
Cheonma glared coldly into empty air for a moment before snapping his fingers.
Snap.
Snap.
I wasn't sure exactly what he'd done, but Cheonma had clearly done something to Hoya. Otherwise she wouldn't have gone silent as if she'd fainted.
Tap. Tap.
"...Yes?"
"P-put me down. I'll be late for class otherwise......"
Something brushed my arm, so I turned to see Karne showing me the time on her watch.
Unlike us, Karne attended classes normally, so lingering here any longer risked making her late. I carefully set her down on the floor.
"I'll be going now......"
"Take care."
It took about five minutes from here to Karne's Class C, so she shouldn't be late.
"Z-Zeon...?"
"Hmm?"
Karne, who had been heading to her class, suddenly turned back and pointed at the watch on her wrist.
"Even if we can't have dinner together, we can still eat lunch together......!"
"Really? Then give me your number!"
"I-I already saved it......!"
With that, Karne sprinted toward her classroom at full speed. She already saved it? Just in case, I checked my watch and sure enough, a new number was stored there. When the heck did she do that?
"Hey! You're running way too fast! Slow down!"
"Eek! S-sorry!"
From far down the corridor, Karne's voice in a situation eerily similar to yesterday echoed like a reverberation and faintly reached my ears.
"You again? Weren't you caught yesterday too?"
"T-that's...!"
"Not once but twice in a row... State your class and name."
"Ueeeh!!"
Step. Step.
"There's still time left."
Unlike Karne, I still had time before class started. So instead of heading straight back, I planned to stop somewhere else first.
To shake off the uneasy feeling Libra's story had left behind.
Vrrrr.
"It's the library. I came here to dig up some information about you, Master."
Yes, the place I'd arrived at was the library. A repository where countless records gathered—a living archive of the past.
Maybe because classes were about to begin, there were no students in sight. Even if there were any, they'd probably be from our class with its later start time or students skipping altogether.
'Sword God... Sword God... Sword... Is it here?'
I moved diligently, searching for books related to the Sword God. I focused on the history and swordsmanship sections, quickly checking any book with a suspicious title. This time I pulled out one called The Strongest Swordsman of Each Era.
Flip flip flip.
I hadn't picked it up to savor it from the beginning, so I flipped through the pages rapidly in search of the information I wanted.
"...Seems that way."
Funnily enough, the book that listed the strongest swordsmen made no mention of Cheonma at all.
"Huh?"
At those words I lifted my head and checked the time periods written at the end of the bookshelf. Ah, I'd wandered into the section with the truly ancient texts.
Just as I was awkwardly sliding the book back into place, Hoya—who had been briefly knocked unconscious by Cheonma—regained her senses. She seemed puzzled by the changed scenery, then immediately realized it was the library and asked why I'd come here.
"Ahem. We should move on."
Keeping my face as neutral as possible, I began checking books from the relatively recent sections.
At Cheonma's question, Hoya made a thoughtful noise as if organizing her thoughts and paused for a moment.
Indeed, even in the game, information about Cheonma had never been released. Why? Other bosses had their data made public, yet only Cheonma's remained hidden no matter how much time passed?
After listening to Hoya, Cheonma seemed to fall into deep thought before turning his gaze toward me.
Yes. Cheonma still thought of me as the grave robber who'd discovered his tomb. Finding the grave of the Sword God, who had almost no historical records, would definitely seem suspicious.
'Not to mention the path leading to that tomb... ugh, I don't even want to think about it.'
The route had been so brutal that I'd give up immediately if told to go again. If I hadn't opened a portal nearby, my number of attempts against Cheonma would have been nearly cut in half.
"Zeon?"
As I pondered how to answer Cheonma's question, a familiar voice called out from behind me.
"Fancy running into you here. What a coincidence."
"...Mir?"
Why are you coming from there?