Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: The Witch's Tale☆ (7)
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Amid the countless murmurs, I saw the ‘first grimoire’ left behind by the [Golden Witch].
“…”
An old cover made of thick leather.
The surface was so weathered it had long since lost its original color, yet it gleamed from the touch of countless hands. Inside, on pages of thin leather, were letters inscribed by the [Golden Witch] herself.
Its contents were so bizarre that some students hypothesized it was a diary written by the [Golden Witch] after taking some mind-altering tonic during her research.
In a word, it was a dirty, old book.
Moreover, being the first thing the [Golden Witch] ever created… it was more like a practice notebook and had no function as a typical grimoire. The description even stated its contents were closer to a novel with no research value.
‘It’s just that people with a different [Destiny] can’t understand it.’
The first book left by the [Golden Witch].
A book called a grimoire, but not a grimoire.
Its written contents held no value… but it was preserved as a sacred relic of the Seekers, who carried on the will of the first ethermancy scholar.
It was a story item with that kind of backstory.
And in the game, it was an item that the students of would ‘accidentally’ drop amidst the disaster caused by the [Priest of Corruption] throughout the academy city.
‘Because that… was its [Destiny].’
The ‘story’ left by the [Golden Witch].
A [Destiny] I was supposed to encounter in the cold of winter had arrived in early summer. It was now in the hands of an orange-haired, cat-eared girl wearing a dark red cape.
Even I, who already knew of its existence, had no idea where it was.
‘Lotha isn’t the type of kid to go on a treasure hunt in an emergency… She must have found it ‘by chance’.’
I’d already stirred up a huge mess with the [Priest of Conflict], calling myself a ‘Prophet’ and all… but when I felt these twists of the original story and a [Destiny] disguised as ‘coincidence,’ an indescribable feeling washed over me.
Sometimes, things seem endlessly twisted,
yet they circle back and eventually return to their original place.
I wonder what [Destiny] in this world truly is…
“…”
I gazed for a moment at the grimoire in Lotha’s hands.
She held the shabby grimoire carefully with both hands. Her gaze was fixed on me, but it was impressive how she was unconsciously protecting the book, tucking it securely inside her cape.
Then, Hilde and Lotha spoke to me with concerned voices.
“…Senior? Are you hurt?”
“…Lara?”
“It’s nothing~☆”
I gave a wry smile and glanced at the Seeker kids.
‘If the Seekers notice, all hell will break loose…’
It was practically their sacred relic, after all… If Freyja saw it, she’d freak out and demand it back.
Twitch, twitch…
Murmur, murmur…
But the Seeker students didn’t seem to be paying much attention to us.
“…?”
Hundreds of pairs of animal ears twitched incessantly.
They didn’t seem to have noticed the grimoire hidden inside Lotha’s cape. Instead, they weren’t looking our way at all, but were watching me, Hilde, and Lotha while discussing something seriously.
Murmur, murmur…
Even Freyja had joined in, looking like she was in the middle of a debate.
Every one of them was stating their opinion with a serious expression. It was strange to see those kids speaking so loudly. But I couldn’t understand a single thing they were discussing.
-I-Isn’t the pink one the top…? I-I mean, she’s the most extroverted… U-Usually, that type takes the lead…
-Y-You don’t know anything… Th-Those rogue-like types are actually the biggest bottoms… They laugh all cheerfully and then get, get eaten up…
-Ooh… I-I see… A-As expected of the Head Librarian… Such insight is truly worthy of a sage…
Murmur, murmur…
-L-Looking at her… the silver one seems like the husband-type t-top…
-As soon as they get home, she’ll put a leash on… Hooo… It’s scary… But it’s, it’s thrilling…
-C-Could the pink one unexpectedly be the supportive wife-type top…?
-A-A healer… being a top is awkward… The healer class is an, an archetype that exists to be a bottom…
Twitch, twitch…
-I-Is no one shipping… the orange one…?
-I-I… think it’s good… She’s the smallest… b-but the most carnivorous… Maybe even a harem…
-Hooo… Sh-Shameless… Th-That’s why I like it…
-Hawawa… A-A small-animal-type carnivore…! Are we going to be, be eaten…?!
-M-Maybe all three of them…! A, a love triangle…?! I-If that happens, the, the World Tree will burn down…!
“…?”
No matter how hard I listened, I couldn’t understand.
But it was clearly a serious and difficult conversation.
‘Hmm… Are they talking about [Unique Ether] and attack matchups…? And it seems to be about the fate of the World Tree.’
As expected of the students closest to forbidden knowledge.
They were freely discussing the powerful figures of this academy city and the fate of the World Tree. But perhaps because I only observed them for a moment, there were some minor inaccuracies in their analysis.
‘Hilde’s [Unique Ether] isn’t silver, but a mix of blue and white… Well, if you only glance at it, you could get confused.’
Since they’re the type to be cooped up in the library, they might not know titles like the [Azure-White Lightning Spear]. I couldn’t understand the rest, but I was sure it was a profound discussion befitting ethermancy scholars.
Thanks to their continuing debate.
They seemed to have completely forgotten about the first grimoire Lotha was holding.
‘But where on earth did she pick this up…?’
I pointed to the grimoire and spoke to Lotha.
“By the way, where did you get that cool… hmm… vintage♪ grimoire─☆ It doesn’t seem like something you should bring to such a dangerous place☆”
“Ah…! Th-This? I brought it without realizing.”
“Ahaha☆ So my little kitty is a thief cat─☆ You naughty girl~!”
“Ah?! N-No, it’s not like that…!”
Twitch.
Her cat ears moved once in surprise.
And then, Lotha explained the situation to me.
“W-Well… I think it was under the statue of the [Golden Witch], but the floor was rumbling, so the statue kept shaking… I thought the book would get damaged if I left it, so I just brought it with me…”
“Aha─♪ Oh, is that so─☆”
“I-It’s true! The library kept rumbling, boom! boom…!”
“Ahaha…☆”
Lotha bounced with each ‘boom! boom!’ to express the urgency of the situation. Since it was true that she had taken something belonging to the Seekers, her face turned completely red.
“Ahaha…”
Aside from her cuteness,
I felt a sense of emptiness at the unexpected hiding place of the grimoire.
Ah… that ridiculously large-chested statue.
I can’t believe they hid it under there.
‘My goodness, it’s true what they say about the darkest place being under the candlestick… Did they count on people being distracted by the statue’s extraordinary features? Or did they just place it there symbolically since it belonged to the [Golden Witch]…?’
Honestly, given the… extraordinary behavior the Seeker kids have shown so far, I thought there might be several overlapping intentions.
Even I stared at that statue for a long time, but I never even noticed the grimoire’s existence.
‘…The book itself has a strangely faint presence.’
Anyway.
I wanted to know if Lotha could use the first grimoire even at this point in time.
‘…Truthfully, you’re originally supposed to get this item when you can at least use [Wave Ether], so she might not be able to understand it right now.’
Setting my high expectations aside for now.
I feigned ignorance and asked Lotha.
“I see~☆ So, by any chance, do you know what it’s about…”
“Ah, well… Strangely enough…!”
Just then.
“…Lara. More importantly, shouldn’t we head to the Aristocrats’ main base now? The operation explained by [The Violet Spindle] is over, so we need to move to the next location.”
“Eek─?!”
Hilde whispered beside me. The high-pitched breath tickling my ear made me flinch in surprise.
‘Ah, that startled me… Why is she suddenly doing ASMR…’
“R-Right… Senior has things to do… I…”
Her words cut off, Lotha looked dejected. But knowing this wasn’t the time for a leisurely chat about a grimoire, she quietly wore a somber expression.
“…”
Hilde paid her no mind and moved closer to me.
Press─
The warmth and softness I felt from her arm pressing against mine.
‘This feeling that she keeps pressing against me… It’s not just my imagination, right?’
No matter how I thought about it, it was a blatant temptation.
Hilde had been on my mind since earlier, and I was trying my best to think of other things. But with this, strange thoughts began to bloom once more.
“…”
Separate from her actions, which felt like… a temptation,
what Hilde said made sense.
Even if Ófnir had vanished in a strategic retreat, and even if Prau’s forces, including the Aristocrats, had been shot down by the guided bombardment from the ‘Sage’s Room’…
‘The situation isn’t over yet.’
Ófnir could return to cause trouble at any moment, and Prau’s forces were still borrowing the power of [The Serpent of Wisdom and Cycle]. And there was still the matter of the mysterious magic circle whose purpose remained unknown.
‘Let’s have a strategy meeting together, then go investigate what happened where Prau was.’
Following Hilde’s suggestion, I called over Freyja, who was still debating in the distance, and proposed we decide on our next course of action.
We gathered again in the Seekers’ library.
The Seeker students had already scurried back to their own spots.
Lotha said she would return the grimoire to its place under the statue and disappeared.
Freyja spoke with a cautious expression.
“I-I see. Come to think of it, Prau might have suddenly gone out alone to… protect that magic circle.”
“I wonder if you know what kind of purpose that magic circle is used for─☆”
“W-Well… It’s not like you can just whip up a magic circle and have it, have it activate… I-In fact, in this era, it’s a less efficient method than a grimoire… no, to be precise, it’s an ancient method that wastes space… Something feels off…”
“Borrowing power from an ancient being and using an ancient method… It hardly feels like a coincidence.”
“Th-That’s right… Hooo… Just how far does that moron idiot Prau plan to take this…”
“Moron, idiot…”
Hilde muttered the words she had heard from me earlier, now hearing them from Freyja. But Freyja seemed to take it as a sign of agreement and nodded.
“Th-That’s right… To borrow so much power she can’t handle and start something while relying on an outside force… That m-moron idiot…!”
Freyja sighed as soon as she finished speaking.
In the end, to sort all this out, Hilde contacted the by phone. They decided to rejoin the others, whose situation had eased up thanks to the support fire from the ‘Sage’s Room’.
“…”
And finally, Hilde glanced at me and asked about Alvitt’s situation.
Fortunately, they had safely joined up with the main forces and were currently fighting dozens of armored puppets rushing the gate.
‘Unintentionally, they ended up providing the support they were supposed to give in the Golden Street at the gate instead.’
“…”
Surely.
They will be able to overcome it.
If they really can’t, we’ll finish our work here quickly and go help them.
‘I’ll tell Lotha to stay here and read the grimoire for a bit, while Hilde and I go.’
It was… still too early for Lotha to get involved in the fight with the [Priest of Conflict]. It would be far better for her growth to read the grimoire she found here and encounter her [Destiny] sooner.
‘Now that we have support fire from the Sage’s Room, we should be able to enter Prau’s main base.’
With that thought,
I prepared to leave the Sage’s Room in Freyja’s care.
KRAAAKOOOM──!!
“…?!”
“What is this…?!”
“W-What?!”
Outside the library, ether churned in the far distance.
And with a massive tremor, the ground began to shake.
[Kekekek…! Mwahahahahahaha──!!]
Ófnir’s voice rang out, clearer than ever before.
[Now, it is complete──!!]
[Khahahahat!! O body of the dead beast god!! Become a pathetic mount for the servants of another beast god and move──!!]
We rushed outside the library.
The scene before us was unbelievable.
“A snake, a snake…?!”
“…This can’t be.”
GROOOOOWL──!!
Kilometers away.
From a corner of the distant Golden Street, a colossal sound erupted.
A giant serpent was rising from the ground, obscuring the sky like a pillar. The pillar was like that of an ancient god supporting the heavens.
Endlessly.
Endlessly.
Endlessly…
GROOOOOWL──!!
A body so immense, it was impossible to tell when it would stop rising. When it finally emerged completely… it was a colossal size that could even reach the height of the World Tree.
[The Serpent of Wisdom and Cycle] lifted its body, filled with black ether.
And as it opened its mouth…
KRAAAAAAA──!!
…everything in the vicinity was being destroyed.