The Grimoire's Whisper
“Wow, what a thieving little brat. Thieving little brat.”
As I stepped into the library, a chorus of mocking laughter greeted me from the students huddled near the entrance. “Hey, she’s from the magic department but can’t even use magic properly? How the hell did she get into the academy anyway?”
“Who knows. But there are always a few idiots who slip in somehow. Could this be one of them?”
“Turns out she got in by sheer luck? Hah, some people really grind to get admitted, but what a joke.”
I tuned out the jeers aimed at me, familiar now after countless days of this nonsense. My feet carried me naturally to my usual corner spot in the library. The only reason I was still here—barely scraping by with almost zero talent—was pure, relentless studying. Most mages relied on raw power, but even the theory-only types dominated the field. For someone like me, who couldn’t cast a damn thing, survival meant burying myself in books. And here, in this quiet corner, no one could bother me. It was ironic, too. Thanks to this body swap, my mind felt sharper than ever. Maybe Serina had actually been smart. If I had to use a cheap metaphor, it was like switching from a rusty, low-grade knife to a set of premium, expensive tools. The fact that studying—which used to be torture in this weak body—now felt almost enjoyable told me everything. Or maybe I was just clinging to it because it was the only way to survive this hellhole.
Hours blurred by as I lost myself in the pages. One by one, the students around me vanished. That’s when it happened.
Thud. A heavy stack of books crashed onto my practice notebook. My desk was empty—no one sat nearby—so someone had deliberately tossed them right on top. What the hell is this?
Still clutching the report I’d been writing, I carefully pried it free from the avalanche. The owner soon appeared. “Oh, perfect timing. Could you take these to the basement archive?”
The student clearly wasn’t just one or two books. My expectation shattered. The library had stopped being a safe haven.
‘At least in here I could stop the noise. Now even this place is turning into chaos.’
I turned my head and there she was—the familiar face I’d seen many times in this very library. Not the librarian herself, but the assistant who worked under her. ‘Name… Maila? Something like that.’
We’d never actually spoken. I was a second-year, she was a third-year. Different classes, no overlapping lectures. So the situation hit me like a truck. All the “conversation” had been about book locations or checkouts, but Maila wasn’t the friendly type. I’d seen how she treated even other academy students with total disrespect. Of course, my lowly commoner status meant I got ambushed more often than not. Even some first-years who knew my face had already whispered rumors about me. It was a decent enough story—rumors of some dark magic from the Eldrich family—but the core stayed the same. I was still the underwear thief.
For Maila to suddenly confront me like this? Way out of left field. She wouldn’t dare if we weren’t both commoners, but why drag it into the library?
As I stared, stunned, Maila kicked my desk lightly with her shoe, motioning for me to get up. I snapped out of it, still figuring out how to respond. Then another figure joined us. “What? You’re still not done, Maila?”
“No, I’m not. Lucky you offered to help!”
“See? If you just ask nicely, you get whatever you want, right?”
The new arrival was a tall, burly guy from the knight department. Same familiar face. One of the bunch that followed Chloe around. Name… yeah, I couldn’t remember it. There were already a couple of students who acted like her personal bodyguards. Anyway, I had no idea what was going on between Maila and this guy, but the conversation flow was obvious. He was clearly using her to dump his chores on me while he went off to “play.”
‘So right now… she’s passing her work off to me and heading off with the guy?’
I wasn’t interested in whatever drama was between them. This was none of my business. The situation was absurd, but not unheard of. I just nodded. The guy was obviously trying to screw me over by egging Maila on. Best to finish the errand fast and dip.
“Um… but don’t the archives need a key? I don’t have one…”
“Obviously. Only the people who run the archives have keys. Here.”
Maila pulled a small key from her pocket and tossed it in front of me. It was a strange-looking black key that gave off an eerie aura. Important enough to bother with? But she didn’t care. She linked arms with the guy and walked off.
“Remember—sort everything properly and lock the door when you’re done. Then let’s go, Dave!”
Dave? Yeah, that must be the young master from some noble family. I sighed and slipped the key into my pocket. “Tch, this thing better not take forever.” I wouldn’t be able to move that many books in one go. This was just another trap. Another deep sigh escaped me as I slung the stack onto my hip and headed downstairs. To the basement archive I’d never set foot in before.
***
“Hah… this place is actually huge.”
Outside it looked like any normal library back on campus, but the inside was pure magic. The space inside was enormous. I’d been here for what felt like two hours by the time I finished organizing. Plenty of books, but the real headache was putting them back in the right places.
“Fucking idiot. Eat shit.”
I hoped Dave’s personality was as rotten as the guy he followed. I finally tucked the last book into its slot.
“Whew…”
Standing in the corner of the shelf, I took a moment to breathe. The empty silence felt strangely sad. Alone in a vast, deserted room, my mind wandered. Did Serina really steal Chloe’s underwear, or was this just my twisted fantasy playing out? It didn’t matter anymore. This wasn’t the game reincarnation I’d craved. And turning into a woman already sucked. Dealing with monthly periods every month? Even worse. It was supposed to be a harem otome game, but instead I was eating alone every single day while everyone else flirted. Even the professors looked at me like I was vermin. If I paid a little attention, the obvious mistakes I made would be blamed on me. They didn’t care about facts. The world was just a shitty place.
“…Enough. For real this time.”
They say people who say they quit every day never actually do. Too bad I wasn’t that type.
—Really? You really think that?
The voice in my head was still there, nagging. I swallowed hard and glanced around. Of course, no one was in the archive. Had stress finally cracked me? But before I could spiral, the woman’s voice returned.
—Not there. This side. This side!
Startled, I spun around and nearly fell off the shelf. “W-Who’s there?”
—I’ll tell you later. For now, help me out?
The voice kept guiding me from one side to the other, and I followed like I was hypnotized. The stairs and shelves grew taller as I descended deeper. Finally, I reached a grand display cabinet filled with a single black book. It had to be the one talking to me.
‘No way… is this the artifact containing the ego of some ancient being?’
In novels and games, there were always those self-aware weapons or relics. This place was a game world anyway. I stepped closer. The voice grew clearer.
—Sigh. Finally, we meet. A cheerful tone filled my head. The book on the shelf began to creak. “Y-You… know me?”
I was so caught up in the weird, expectant feeling that I spoke without thinking. The book instantly fell silent. For a moment, I wondered if I’d fallen asleep. But the voice came back stronger than ever.
—Yes. Nice to meet you. My name is Evelyn Darkwood. The traitor to humanity, the right hand of the Demon King army, the biggest obstacle to the hero party, a grand mage who studies space and dark magic… and…
—Your distant ancestor. So, nice to meet you, descendant?
Something was unfolding before my eyes.