The Living Grimoire's Temptation
⋯⋯Who?
He had walked the path of arcane magic for a long time. In that process, he had killed countless saints and saintesses, corrupting their powers or absorbing fellow mages to expand his own knowledge. He was strong. That was how Edward judged himself.
But.
The grimoire titled Universe Door Darkness was something he had never seen before.
"What in the world is this⋯."
Everything about this book was unfamiliar. Its cover was made of a material not from Earth. The thickness of the book didn't follow a simple three-dimensional form; it had a geometric shape that defied ordinary appearances.
Powerful grimoires sometimes possessed a form of intelligence. The Tome of the Dark Lion and Abyssgateia were prime examples. Even now, as he slowly read through Abyssgateia, a subtle hostile energy pricked at his body.
But this book felt alive. It wasn't just intelligent—it exuded such a vivid aura that he wondered if a living being of this form could truly exist.
And because of that, the book sitting quietly between those two volumes sent chills down his spine in a way that was utterly terrifying. To feel fear from a grimoire? At the absurdity of the situation, Edward barely suppressed a burst of laughter.
He couldn't risk the 'girl' detecting his noise and coming to kill him.
In any case.
It's almost like it's telling me to read it, isn't it?
For such a powerful grimoire to sit silently wedged between two others like this—it was a temptation. Weaker mages would have succumbed, opening the book without hesitation.
But Edward did not. He resisted the intense lure that stimulated his heart and mind. It was so overpowering that he had to bite his tongue until blood flowed.
That book is dangerous! It's beyond what a human mage can handle!
Even Edward, who prided himself on his high realm of attainment, couldn't dare speculate on its contents. The very title Universe Door Darkness seemed like a 'translation' made mercifully easy to read by the book's grace. What was its true name?
Damn.
Even as he tried to suppress his curiosity, his thoughts and gaze were forcibly drawn to it. But no matter what tricks the book pulled, Edward had no intention of reading it.
After all, wasn't it written in this library's rules?
-6. Books may only be perused upon recommendation from the librarian.
Mental damage arising from perusing unauthorized books is not our responsibility.
The girl had brought only Abyssgateia and The Aesthetics of the Bottomless Abyss, as Edward had requested. He hadn't heard anything about a librarian's recommendation in the process.
And the latter part of rule 6—'mental damage.' It meant that reading this book could lead to mental collapse without surprise.
"⋯⋯I don't know what you want, but rest assured, I won't obey."
Edward sneered at the book as he spoke. Then, the black book's slight trembling, as if it were chuckling softly, came to an abrupt halt.
Stop.
"⋯⋯."
As the trembling ceased, the curiosity that had enveloped his entire body vanished in an instant.
As expected. The book had been luring him to read it.
But now it seemed to have given up.
"Heh."
He didn't know its origins, but in the end, things had gone his way. Edward's mouth stretched into a wide grin.
Stretch.
Streeeetch.
Streeeeeeeeeeetch.
Splat.
"Guhk. Heuk⋯⋯."
Splat.
Splat.
Two paper tentacles shot out from the black book, tearing Edward's mouth to its absolute limit. From that moment, his eyes rolled back, showing only the whites.
In the meantime, another tentacle emerged from the black book—an intangible one shrouded in endless darkness—and began slithering into his mouth. Unlike the paper tentacles ripping at his lips, this one burrowed deep into his body.
Splat.
It severed the black tentacle itself, then slowly retracted the two paper ones that had torn his mouth.
"Huu. Huu. Huu."
Perhaps because it had stretched to the limit, Edward's mouth hung grotesquely even after the tentacles withdrew.
Noticing this, the black book extended two more paper tentacles to restore his mouth to its original state. Finally, it rolled his eyes, which had flipped back to the limit, with a tentacle, awakening his mind.
"⋯⋯Cough. Hm?"
Regaining his senses, Edward blinked his eyes slowly.
⋯⋯Something felt off. Sensing a gap of a few seconds in his memory, he tried to awaken the grimoire in his bosom.
But⋯ his partner grimoire showed no reaction.
"⋯⋯Hmm."
If he had been affected by some trick, the grimoire would have reacted. Moreover, he had inscribed various defensive spells on his robe and body, so he couldn't have been taken down easily.
⋯For now, this is as far as I go.
Now that he knew how to enter this library, there was no need to rush. Better to slowly assimilate this knowledge than act rashly and have his brain eroded.
So, a moment later, suppressing the urge to scratch his itching brain, Edward closed Abyssgateia.
The entirety of The Aesthetics of the Bottomless Abyss and part of Abyssgateia. With this⋯ ascending realms would be a dream come true.
"Kuhk. I can finally get revenge on that witch."
Scratching the top of his head, Edward picked up the two books and headed to the stacks.
⋯⋯Wasn't it three books?
Universe Door Darkness must have failed its temptation and returned to its place on its own.
It must be pretty bruised in pride.
"I don't know where you are, but if you're listening, rest assured. Once I raise my realm, I'll come back to subjugate you."
Then, his brain wriggled in response inside his head. Scratching his scalp at the ticklish sensation again, Edward headed toward the girl.
"You're back."
"I've finished reading. Good stuff."
"Oh, really? I'm glad it was helpful."
Edward observed the girl for a moment. Visually⋯ she looked like an ordinary middle or high school student. Her speech was no different from a normal person's.
Countless forbidden knowledges had been discovered by various factions so far. Among them, some were guarded by specific entities, most of which deviated from human appearance. Even those mimicking humans rarely matched speech patterns perfectly.
⋯Which was why this librarian girl intrigued Edward so much. He wanted to dissect her body, if possible.
Or see her mental limits, like that man who tried entering this library before.
Danger always came with seeking forbidden knowledge. A few days ago, to that end, Edward had kidnapped a civilian man, injected him with various psychotropic drugs, and forcibly teleported him to these coordinates.
As a result, position tracking became impossible at some point, but thanks to him, he had discovered Abyssgateia and The Aesthetics of the Bottomless Abyss.
He didn't simply die, it seems.
If so, he could have tracked the corpse's location, but even that was impossible. Well, past events weren't particularly important to Edward.
"Can I come back again?"
"Of course. Repeat visits from patrons who follow the rules are always welcome."
The librarian girl smiled softly as she said this. It was a smile unimaginable for the guardian of these countless grimoires.
With the librarian girl's farewell, Edward left the library. Until the terrified screams of various humans echoed from his underground laboratory deep below, Edward scratched his scalp in delight at acquiring new knowledge.
It had been a while since I'd welcomed a patron who loved books, so my mood lifted naturally. I even saw him off, something I wouldn't normally do.
I wonder if he'll borrow different books next time?
If he craves intellectual pursuit that much⋯ yeah, I could recommend others.
What if I recommend a holy scripture to a mage?
Pfft! The amusing thought made me burst out laughing involuntarily. The few books rolling around nearby flopped over to look at me, so I forced a straight face.
A holy scripture to a mage. That could be fun. After all, this library had scriptures classified as such. Earth Religion Studies 1 was a prime example, cataloged as one. Maybe because it covered all of Earth's religions.
More than that, I'd felt something odd from that patron who just left. How to describe it—a feeling like his brain had gotten smarter? I wasn't sure if reading grimoires caused such dramatic changes.
I'd also faintly sensed Universe Door Darkness's aura on him⋯ but since he was in place when I noticed, I couldn't suspect anything rashly.
Hmm, maybe because Abyssgateia and The Aesthetics of the Bottomless Abyss are on friendly terms with it.
The two had sided with Universe Door Darkness in war games before, so it was possible.
In any case, it had been a while since I'd felt this good.
. . .
A few days later.
Finally, the guest I'd been waiting for arrived.
"Hi~. We're from the Anomaly Management Bureau! Wow, this library is even prettier than I imagined!"
"⋯⋯Who?"
But it wasn't that middle-aged man—it was a blonde woman who claimed to be from the Anomaly Management Bureau.