Chapter 97
Chapter 97
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 97
Chapter Title: The Screaming Music Box
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97
4
“Here, somewhere nearby….”
Minenvar Library, third floor, the northernmost bookshelf.
My voice quietly faded away among the sparsely browsed philosophy books.
It seemed philosophy sections were unpopular everywhere.
Well, philosophy was the flagship of the humanities, and the humanities had never been free from crisis in history.
Even in Broken World, philosophy had fallen into crisis….
Anyway, I ventured deep into the philosophy shelves before stopping in front of a certain bookshelf.
It looked like an ordinary bookshelf, but there were faint traces on the floor where it had moved.
A moving bookshelf—the classic secret passage.
This was one of the rare ways to access the forbidden stacks.
“Let’s see….”
I carefully pulled out four books in order from the shelf: *The First Philosopher, Lacreia*, *Let’s Study Beginner Philosophy Together*, *The Disconnect of Meaningless Philosophy*, and *Refutation of Rune Philosophy Theory*.
Then, I inserted them back in reverse order, and the bookshelf silently slid back into the wall.
The movement created just enough space for one person to squeeze through.
I turned sideways and slipped into the gap.
*Click.* Something underfoot activated, and the bookshelf returned to its original position.
The secret passage plunged into darkness in an instant.
I waited a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dark before cautiously stepping forward.
The passage was a gentle but narrow staircase.
Gripping the wall to avoid tripping, I descended for quite a while.
At the bottom of the stairs was a hole faintly leaking light.
I squeezed my body through the hole, and a musty smell assaulted my nose.
Looking around, I found myself in a dimly lit corner of the forbidden stacks.
“Made it in safely.”
This was the safest infiltration route among the few known paths into the forbidden stacks.
I stood up and brushed the dust off my clothes.
The reason I had negotiated with Edmund to return the forbidden book, despite knowing this route, was quite simple.
I could sneak in using the secret passage, but it would always trigger the security.
Bypassing security required preparations that were quite labor-intensive.
It needed equipment and consumables that weren’t readily available, making it nearly impossible at the time.
But things were different now.
Even without such equipment, I could bypass security with a more primal method.
I wrapped mana around my entire body.
Then, I cloaked myself behind the dimensional veil.
A stealth technique that hid my very existence behind the dimension.
It was an application of dimensional magic I had experimented with while tailing Noel before.
As a test, I pulled out a nearby forbidden book.
No alarm sounded.
Infiltration successful.
The reason for coming this far was simple.
To find the screaming music box, the Easter egg of Tartarus Hall.
Of course, being an Easter egg, it wouldn’t just appear from random searching.
It likely required fulfilling specific conditions.
“If I’d known, I should’ve interrogated Michel when I took him down.”
No, wait.
Michel wasn’t the type of villain to explain his circumstances or plans in detail anyway.
In the end, I had no choice but to explore primitively.
Starting from the dog hole, I slowly searched the forbidden stacks.
Hours passed like that.
The yield was surprisingly zero.
“Haa….”
Easter eggs were like heading into concrete—no matter how much you searched randomly.
Just knowing it existed was impressive, and finding it usually required all sorts of bizarre methods and ideas, yet still fell short most of the time.
Should I gather more information?
Or scan the entire forbidden stacks with dimensional magic, prepared to exhaust all my mana?
As I pondered these options, a humming tune drifted from afar.
*Humming~*
Someone had entered.
Moreover, the humming was gradually approaching me.
My dimensional magic was properly deployed.
I hid in the shadows between the bookshelves and quietly suppressed my presence.
The one who appeared, humming cheerfully, was none other than Giacomo.
Why was this guy here?
And how did a priest even get access to the forbidden stacks?
“This area is especially dark, isn’t it? What a curious thing~.”
Humming in rhythm, Giacomo mumbled and ventured deeper into the forbidden stacks.
Just before leaving, he glanced my way, making my heart skip a beat.
But he said nothing and the humming faded into the distance.
Only when the humming completely disappeared did I emerge from between the bookshelves.
“What the hell is with that guy….”
He was the most incomprehensible existence.
More than that, what did he mean by dark?
Even glancing around, I couldn’t spot any difference.
Only after observing for a while did I realize the light source in the direction he mentioned was subtly dimmer.
It was so subtle that it wouldn’t have been noticeable without hearing him point it out.
How did he even notice that?
No… why is the brightness different in the first place?
Looking up, I saw the lighting of the forbidden stacks.
To prevent fires, they used magic crystals for illumination.
Controlled by magic, the light should be perfectly uniform in intensity.
A 1% difference meant there was a reason.
Thinking of it as a game, it was suspicious.
There’d be no reason to subtly vary lighting intensity in one space.
Instinct told me.
If it was related to the Easter egg, it had to be this lighting.
“First… I should investigate the lights.”
I examined the subtly dim light.
On the surface, it was an ordinary glowing crystal.
But when I wrapped it in dimensional magic for precise analysis, I sensed something covering the crystal’s surface.
I carefully peeled off the covering from the crystal’s surface.
What came away in my hand was paper so thin that light passed through it easily.
It was so thin that it was nearly invisible when attached to the light.
The paper bore a short phrase: “Listen to the voice of the god.”
The moment my eyes followed the words, the paper itself began to glow.
“Ugh…!”
The flash was like a stun grenade exploding, forcing my eyes shut involuntarily.
When I opened them again…
I was in a pure white room on all sides.
Floor, ceiling, walls—all blindingly white.
No trace of the forbidden stacks anywhere.
Even deploying dimensional magic only conveyed the information of pure whiteness to my brain.
But something not white was right in front of me.
A luxurious blue box containing a music box—the Easter egg of Tartarus Hall—sat there welcoming me.
The light really was connected to the Easter egg.
Which meant… Giacomo had deliberately given me the hint?
He had definitely noticed my presence there.
Why had he not only turned a blind eye but also given me the Easter egg hint?
I couldn’t fathom what that man was thinking.
“…How did those Nagara guys know about gimmicks like this?”
That was another mystery.
Well, they were villains who’d already been eliminated, so no need to worry.
I cautiously opened the music box.
Perhaps because it wasn’t night yet, no scream emanated.
Was the scream from this music box the voice of the god?
And why did it only make sound at night?
“Full of mysteries.”
Questions abounded, but no answers.
That was typical for Easter eggs, though.
I had examined it once when recovering it from Nagara, but the music box itself had no peculiarities.
Back then, I lacked mana and mental leeway, so I’d returned it straight to the academy without close inspection…
Now I could observe it thoroughly.
Visually, it was just a broken music box.
The spring mechanism wouldn’t turn, so it couldn’t make sound.
It seemed utterly useless, but just in case, I used dimensional magic to inspect it.
In a cleverly hidden rectangular gap in the spring mechanism was a rune I’d never seen before.
It was in the same format as the rune on the mysterious egg.
This was the second link between the Easter egg and runes.
“There must be something to these runes.”
Though I had no idea what rune it was….
I should check if Edmund had figured anything out.
2
“Unfortunately, I haven’t discovered anything yet.”
Today, as always, the impeccably groomed Edmund said while interlocking his fingers.
His swept-back bangs made his subtly melancholic expression particularly visible.
Well… I’d expected as much.
Edmund surpassed me as a researcher, but in pure rune knowledge, I inevitably had several times more.
I knew Broken World’s hidden ruins and even the setting documents inside out.
What I expected from Edmund was his research prowess.
But that wouldn’t manifest in a day or two.
“Honestly, it’s frustrating enough to be disheartening. It could be designated as an academic enigma without issue.”
“That severe?”
“Yes. I’m curious where you found such a rune.”
“It’s private, so I can’t say.”
“I know. I didn’t intend to pry. Right now, analyzing this rune is what matters.”
Edmund’s lips twitched upward.
It felt like the first time I’d seen him smile….
His handsome face made it suit him well.
Except it vaguely resembled a predator eyeing prey.
“Thank you for indulging my request.”
“It’s my stubbornness as a researcher. No need.”
Still, a thank-you was in order.
I bowed my head briefly.
Anyway… even Edmund was struggling.
I’d have to investigate on my own in my spare time.
“I’ll take my leave, Professor.”
“Wait a moment.”
I halted awkwardly mid-turn.
Edmund eyed me predatorily for a second before stroking his jawline with his index finger.
“No solid evidence, just a subjective view, but I think you’d consider such possibilities and find the answer, so I’ll mention it.”
“What is it, sir?”
“The rune you brought doesn’t seem like a complete character. There are a few similar shapes among ancient rune radicals. The correlation is unclear, though.”
Radicals, huh….
I hadn’t considered the possibility that the rune wasn’t intact.
Understandably, the rune I showed Edmund was quite complex to be mere radicals.
If this was really radicals, imagining the magic embedded in a complete rune was beyond me.
“Thank you for your insight. I’ll consider that possibility too.”
Edmund’s perspective was certainly fresh.
To find answers, I’d need to keep all possibilities open.
I bid farewell again and left Edmund’s lab.
As the door closed behind me, my stomach growled with hunger right on cue.
Hours of hunting the Easter egg had drained my stamina, mana, and brainpower—natural consequences.
And for food at the academy, there was only one choice.
“Been a while. Might as well have some cafeteria food.”
3
It was already dinnertime, so the student cafeteria was packed.
Seats were a concern, but I focused on the menu first.
Having taxed my brain, I craved high-calorie spicy food.
But none of the options were particularly spicy.
Ah, I was starting to miss kimchi.
Or pork stir-fry, tteokbokki, even ramyeon.
All unavailable right now.
I compromised and ordered a pizza loaded with cheese.
Grabbing a bottle of Tabasco, I scanned for a seat and spotted Merrill sitting alone.
“Mind if I sit?”
“Yeah, Cain-senpai’s busy today.”
Perhaps because it was the cafeteria, Merrill—who had taken off her wide-brimmed hat—nodded.
I’d asked about a seat, and Cain came up automatically.
I settled comfortably across from her.
“You usually eat with Cain-senpai, huh.”
“Most of the time? We’ve known each other for a while.”
“For a while….”
Both Merrill and I were first-years.
Going further back would mean before enrollment.
“Right, before we enrolled here.”
As if reading my mind, Merrill nodded.
Just how long had they known each other?
Cain was a duke’s son, not someone easy to befriend.
“I got help from him when I was little.”
“Sounds like Cain-senpai. His personality probably hasn’t changed since back then.”
“Yeah. Hasn’t changed at all. Same ten years ago as now.”
At least ten years.
Recalling memories, Merrill smiled softly.
I’d thought they were just club president and member, but they were acquaintances.
I almost felt sorry for butting into the tea ceremony club.
But quitting now wasn’t an option, so I gave up and opened the Tabasco.
I poured enough to turn the thick crust and abundant cheese bright red.
“…You handle spicy well?”
“This much is fine.”
Only when excess Tabasco dripped onto the plate did I slice an edge and pop it into my mouth.
The moment the sauce hit my tongue, spiciness surged, but that was it.
Just a light jab, so I chewed and swallowed.
As expected, this sour spiciness wasn’t what I craved.
For truly satisfying spicy food, I’d have to make it myself like with king oyster stir-fry.
Even then, missing ingredients left me unsatisfied….
Might as well start by making gochujang from scratch?
To make tteokbokki, I’d need to make rice cakes first….
Even eating comfort food stress-free was tough.
“You eat it… really well?”
Merrill watched, intrigued by the Tabasco-drenched pizza.
“Want to try?”
“I’ll pass. I’m bad with spicy.”
Merrill shuddered at the sight of the Tabasco bottle.
She seemed extremely sensitive to spice.
“Too bad. It relieves stress too.”
“You must have a lot of stress. You were out sick last week too? Feeling better?”
“You’re the only one today who asked. As you see, Merrill, I’m fine.”
I added more Tabasco to the plate, and Merrill nodded.
“Oh, by the way, the club room got new tea. Good for calming mind and body. Swing by the tea ceremony club.”
“Haven’t been in a while.”
Right after classes started, I’d been running around everywhere….
Not just the club, but academy life itself had been on hold for a bit.
“Alright, I’ll drop by.”
A rare moment of peace.
Maybe enjoy some tea and relax at the club.