The Dark Dawn Society (2)
The name of their faction, left behind by the visitor called Gallerhad Chancellor. Given that the previous visitor, Bishop, had also been a mage, it was highly likely a collective of individuals wielding related powers. And just like Bishop, the members of the Dark Dawn Society probably possessed an intense hunger for knowledge. So when they learned of our library’s existence, greed must have taken hold. They didn’t merely want to acquire knowledge—they wanted to possess the books themselves. But that was a grave mistake.
“Textbooks must die.”
Honestly, I couldn’t hide my bewilderment. Our library isn’t particularly strict, and anyone who wishes can read as many books as they like. Shinbi Library is entirely free. Yet trying to duplicate what is already free? What an absurd choice. I intended to punish this incident harshly and make certain every other visitor understood the consequences. That way, similar incidents would never occur again.
“They could have just come every day.”
There is no rule in our library forbidding daily visits. On the contrary, had they been diligent patrons who came every day, I might even have crafted a bookmark for them. But instead they sent slaves to copy the books? I would never let that stand.
...
Now I knew the culprit behind this incident. A member of the Dark Dawn Society. The question was how to track that member down.
“...Use Jijong?”
For a moment, the global reach of Jijong flashed through my mind. It wouldn’t be impossible. Anyone who had ever imagined a god would be drawn into its influence, and if they all moved with a single purpose to hunt the culprit... even a skilled mage would eventually be exposed while still on Earth. But the risk was far too great. The Anomaly Management Bureau might turn hostile. I wanted no part of such troublesome affairs. Writing was also limited to people I had already seen, so it carried its own constraints.
“...A mystery novel might work.”
Several mystery novels in the archive came to mind—stories of detectives who had contracted with demons, or police officers who devoured criminals in monstrous form. A handful of titles offered vicious twists on classic Earth detective fiction, and though their effects were faint, they still granted a measure of knowledge acquisition. I once watched a detective anime and heard people joke that viewers were learning crime methods from it. If I borrowed their help to reason from the available information... it wasn’t a bad idea.
I selected two books from the mystery section, set the five victim books aside on the bed, and called them over.
“I’m trying to find the one who did this to these children. Will you help?”
At my words, The One in the Locked Room and It’s Tricky to Eat Humans began to stir. The two books, quickly grasping the situation, rose and examined the victims’ conditions.
Flap. Flap.
Perhaps because it had been discovered in England, The One in the Locked Room moved with the gait of a gentleman—flat cap, pocket watch, and the faint impression of a pipe clenched between its pages.
Puff, puff. Smack!
“What do you think you’re doing trying to light a real cigarette? Smoking is forbidden inside the library.”
Puff... flap...
I quickly ordered it to put away the paper pipe it had been attempting to tuck between its covers.
It’s Tricky to Eat Humans, on the other hand, felt almost nothing like a human. A Japanese mystery novel laced with fantasy elements, its movements were more monstrous than human. I knew why. The protagonist who utters the title in the story is, in fact, a monster pretending to be a human police officer solving serial murders. That was the twist.
Enough with the introductions. I spoke to the two books.
“The culprit belongs to a mage organization called the Dark Dawn Society. Every visitor who directly examined these five books is supposedly that culprit’s slave.”
I gave them the slaves’ names and nationalities as well. Coincidentally, there were both British and Japanese among them. Given that the two books themselves hailed from Britain and Japan, the connection felt oddly fitting.
“Each visitor accessed Shinbi Library from their own country. Their mouths were sewn shut, probably to keep them from seeking help.”
At my words, The One in the Locked Room tapped the table sharply with its cover. Tap, tap.
Flap. Flap.
“For now, the culprit’s location... is most likely Britain?”
Flap. Flap. Flap.
“......”
The One in the Locked Room laid out its reasoning. Based on the clues currently available, the culprit was almost certainly British—practically confirmed, in its view. First, the two known members of the Dark Dawn Society bore British names: Edward and Gallerhad, both common male names in Britain. Second, the society’s predecessor was the Golden Dawn Society, an occult group that had once existed in Britain.
Flap.
“Aha...”
The Dark Dawn Society had been founded by mages who broke away from the Golden Dawn Society after it fell into corruption.
“But isn’t that a lie? Does the Golden Dawn Society even exist?”
Flap. Flap.
What? The One in the Locked Room revealed an astonishing fact: its own author had been a mage of the Golden Dawn Society. And there, engraved on its cover, was the unmistakable emblem of the Golden Dawn Society.
...A mage writing mystery novels?
Well, that wasn’t important right now. What took over the reasoning next was It’s Tricky to Eat Humans.
“......? Hey, what are you doing—!”
Slurp...
I recoiled in shock and lifted the book away. While I had been listening to The One in the Locked Room, it had been licking the victim books with its tongue. The five covers now glistened with saliva.
I glared at it, ready to scold.
Flap.
“...It says the children taste like oatmeal porridge and something distinctly British...?”
What on earth? Had it actually identified the taste by licking them?
‘......’
I was speechless at the bizarre method of deduction. Still, what could I do? This friend reasoned from the perspective of a monster, not a human.
Flap. Flap. Flap? Flap! Flap. Flap!
The One in the Locked Room didn’t seem particularly bothered by its companion’s approach and began conversing with it. Roughly translated: that wasn’t the smell of rain, but something else—sewers, perhaps.
Sewers?
...Sewers!
Yes, it tasted like underground sewers! Especially London’s! No wonder the oatmeal porridge flavor had seemed off.
Good. Then it was settled. The culprit was somewhere in the London sewers.
“......”
They made an excellent team. I had only meant to borrow their help for reasoning, yet they had solved the problem themselves.
...Well, that was fine by me. In truth, I had never even considered that the culprit might be British. I had planned to mark the five visitors’ entry points on a world map, connect them, and look for a pentagram whose center would reveal the hiding place...
But the world map The One in the Locked Room had scribbled showed nothing remotely star-shaped.
Anyway, Britain—specifically London—was now almost certain. The mage was hiding somewhere inside the city.
But how to get there? That was the real problem. Reaching Britain was simple enough, but moving undetected afterward could prove difficult.
There would be an Anomaly Management Bureau in Britain, and other factions besides.
Wandering around alone under those circumstances? I had no idea what might happen. During the Laugh Encyclopedia incident the entire world had been in chaos, so things had been relatively easy.
Hmm...
Just then, a book floated through the air toward me. Unumun-eo.
Swish, swish!
“......? You want to help?”
Swish!
“How?”
Swish. With your ability? Hmm...
Its full name was The Darkness Beyond the Door that Traverses the Universe. The title alone gave no hint of its powers. Even when I had examined its contents, they had been nothing but specific years paired with absurd descriptions. So I had never realized it possessed an ability suited for sneaking around.
“How do you use your ability?”
The floating book darted forward and landed squarely on my head. Several tentacles emerged from between its pages and draped downward, completely hiding my form.
Swish!
Like this!
“......”
I was momentarily speechless at its innocent reply. Then I noticed the strange reactions from The One in the Locked Room and It’s Tricky to Eat Humans. They were flapping about as though they had no idea where I was.
...Was this real? Unumun-eo had pulled so many bizarre stunts that I found it hard to trust. Still, it was ultimately trying to help me...
“Then promise you won’t cause any trouble. If you do, I’ll take you along.”
Swish! Swish, swish!
The book perched on my head tapped its cover in reply.
Last time it had been Jijong. This time I would be going out with Unumun-eo.
Ah, and this time I announced my departure to everyone first. There was no need to slip away suddenly as I had during the Laugh Encyclopedia or the Preservation Archive incidents.
So I left the library with the fluttering tentacles—no, with Unumun-eo.
...
After the girl had gone, The One in the Locked Room and It’s Tricky to Eat Humans collapsed onto the table with a soft thud. The oppressive, chilling aura that had been pressing down on them had vanished.
...Because they had been threatened as though they might be killed, they had been forced to perform an act they were terrible at: pretending they couldn’t see the girl.
For what reason had that existence wanted to go outside? And why had they needed to resort to threats just to deceive her?
...The reason remained unknown.