The Truth About the Grimoire
I blinked in surprise at the bunny girl waving cheerfully at me. “Hey~! What a lucky day, running into you again after just one day, huh?”
“...Ciel?”
I never expected to bump into her again on the street like this.
“What’s going on? Why are you here?”
“Would you believe me if I said I came to the casino for fun?”
“Not even a little.”
“Aww~ Well. It was a lie, but still, that hurts a bit.”
It didn’t make any sense for the Lord of the Blue Magic Tower to be wandering around the streets so openly. As if she’d read my thoughts, Ciel sidled up beside me and whispered in a slightly pouty tone.
“I really do walk around like this all the time. Today just happens to be because I came to see you.”
“You came to see me?”
“That’s right. Remember what I mentioned before?”
“...The request?”
I’d agreed to take on one job in exchange for her writing me a letter of recommendation. But already? When she’d brought it up, hadn’t she made it sound like it would take some time?
“Yep. The situation changed a little, so I suddenly need your help right away.”
“My help?”
“This isn’t really the kind of thing to talk about in the middle of the street. Care to follow me?”
“Sure.”
What kind of request would make her act like this? I nodded obediently and started to follow behind Ciel, but she suddenly grabbed my hand tightly and dashed straight toward a wall. Just as I thought we were about to crash into it, Ciel and I were instantly transported into one of the rooms inside the Blue Magic Tower.
“Ta-da! Teleportation magic!”
“...No matter how many times I see it, it’s still amazing.”
Wasn’t teleportation supposed to be the Red Magic Tower’s specialty? I couldn’t help but marvel every time I witnessed it, wondering just what kind of power she possessed to make something like this possible.
“I just got lucky. It’s nothing special. Anyway. Here, sit down.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
As I sank into the fluffy sofa, Ciel pulled a teacup out of thin air and set it down in front of me. Once she’d prepared the tea, she asked me a rather peculiar question.
“So. There’s something I want to ask you. Do you know about grimoires?”
“Grimoires? Aren’t those just skill books?”
“They are. That’s what people call them in Shion these days.”
Did the term grimoire have another meaning besides skill book? I tilted my head in confusion, and Ciel gave me a bitter smile as she explained the other meaning.
“It’s because the hunters regulated the terminology. Originally, a grimoire wasn’t just a book.”
“If it’s not a book, then what is it?”
“It was once a person.”
“...Excuse me?”
The eerie choice of words made my expression stiffen. Ciel continued in a calm, matter-of-fact tone.
“To be precise, it’s the tragic fate of mages who tried to reach the Mystic Eye and failed. Their bodies melted away, leaving only their obsession with magic and their accumulated knowledge, which then solidified into the form of a book.”
“Tried to reach the Mystic Eye and failed? What exactly is the Mystic Eye?”
Mystic Eye? What was she talking about? Was it some kind of monster like a fusion anomaly? Sensing the confusion swirling in my head, Ciel lightly tapped the area around her own eyes with her finger.
“You were imagining those laser-beam eyes from novels, weren’t you?”
“Well, that’s usually what people think of.”
“Wrong. That’s not what mages mean when they talk about the Mystic Eye.”
After playfully announcing my incorrect answer, Ciel’s red eyes sank deeply as she continued her explanation.
“The Mystic Eye is, simply put, truth. It is the eye that pierces through the principles of the world. It’s the ultimate destination that every mage stakes their entire life to reach.”
“Is it like a realm of power? Something on the level of a 5-star mage?”
“No. It’s not an abstract concept. It’s something that actually exists.”
Every mage strives to reach this point, yet it’s not a realm of power? Something that actually exists? In that moment, I realized what Ciel was talking about.
“You don’t mean… that gaze, do you?”
“Ah, you saw it too. During the surgery.”
Ciel smiled brightly and nodded as if I’d given the correct answer.
“That’s right. The enormous eye looking down at us from outside the window. That is the Mystic Eye.”
The overwhelming, whale-like eye I had seen during the magic implantation surgery. That was the goal of all mages?
“Magic is ultimately a ladder built to reach that eye. It’s the desperate struggle to accumulate knowledge and attain a perspective equal to that being beyond.”
“...Don’t tell me the magic implantation surgery is also—”
“It is. Since climbing the ladder was too slow, some mad genius came up with the idea of implanting fragments of that existence directly into the body.”
I let out a hollow laugh at the story that sounded completely insane. Ciel simply shrugged.
“Sounds crazy, right? It is. But mages have always been the type driven mad by curiosity. That level of madness is basically a prerequisite.”
“I suppose that’s true…”
“Well, that’s old news these days. The new generation of mages doesn’t care about the Mystic Eye or truth or any of that. Their dream is just to live comfortably, throwing magic around and enjoying life.”
“Really?”
“Of course. The only ones still desperately crawling upward just to catch a glimpse of that Mystic Eye are those old geezers from the Red Magic Tower.”
Even as Ciel grumbled and called the Red Magic Tower’s members old geezers, I couldn’t help but notice something. Rather than hostility, her voice carried a strange sense of kinship, or perhaps pity. I carefully asked her a question.
“Ciel, which side are you on?”
“Hm? Me?”
“Yes. Are you closer to the new generation? Or…”
“...Which side do you think I’m on?”
Her sky-blue eyes stared straight at me. They were clear, flawless, and beautiful. Yet within those eyes, I sensed an unfathomable abyss.
“...The old generation?”
“What? Are you calling me a dried-up old hag right now? Honestly, I don’t even use anti-aging magic! I’m not old enough for that! I look exactly as I am!”
“Ahaha, sorry. It just felt that way.”
Ciel answered playfully, but even without a proper response, I could tell. She was also one of those mages with a somewhat mad streak in her pursuit of the Mystic Eye.
“Anyway. By now you should understand, right? What I want to entrust you with is the retrieval of a real grimoire.”
“The retrieval of a real grimoire?”
“Have you ever heard of the Grimoire of Ash?”
“Grimoire of Ash…?”
The moment I heard the strangely familiar name, a vision of the future unfolded before my eyes.
The Ash Witch? The moment I heard that title, Elly immediately came to mind. It was what people called her in the original story after Estelle disappeared. So, in the original timeline, Elly had obtained this Grimoire of Ash?
“Huh. You look like you know something.”
“Um. I’ve only heard the name before. Just the name.”
“Really? Anyway. What I want to entrust you with is the retrieval of the Grimoire of Ash. It was originally something the Black Magic Tower was supposed to be guarding carefully, but it leaked out during the Purple Magic Tower’s rampage. We recently located it and were preparing to retrieve it.”
“...But why me?”
If they were already preparing a retrieval team, shouldn’t they just send those people? As I was thinking that, Ciel let out a deep sigh.
“The situation changed suddenly. The last place the grimoire was detected was West Street, so we were going to send a team there, but then Reverse Factory suddenly barged in.”
“West Street? That’s…”
Wait a second. West Street? Reverse Factory? The moment those two words connected, I realized what had happened. It seemed the host controlled by the Eye System had obtained the grimoire.
“Exactly. Since it’s West Street, there’s no problem with them clashing directly, but those guys are one step ahead of us. If things continue like this, Reverse Factory will snatch the grimoire right out from under us.”
“So that’s why you’re giving the request to me?”
“That’s right. At this point, there’s no one more suitable for retrieving a grimoire than you.”
Ciel pointed at my eyes with a confident smile.
“Those eyes that didn’t even fall for my illusions won’t be affected by something like a grimoire’s influence.”
“Um. Are you sure about that?”
“I am. Absolutely certain.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I’m in a state just one step away from becoming a grimoire myself?”
“...What?”
I’d expected her to say it was a joke, but Ciel simply looked at me as if she hadn’t said anything strange.
“You’re… joking, right?”
“Who knows? Well, I’m perfectly fine for now, so don’t worry.”
Ciel casually waved her hand to dismiss my worried gaze and brought the teacup to her lips. I felt like I’d just heard an enormous bombshell, yet she remained completely nonchalant.
“Anyway. Since Reverse Factory also has quite the annoying forces, I’m not sending you alone.”
“Then is the Blue Magic Tower providing support troops?”
“Something like that. To be precise, you’ll be the one forming the team.”
“Me?”
I was supposed to form the team? Hadn’t she said earlier that a team was already prepared?
“Didn’t you say you already made a retrieval team?”
“I did. But not anymore. The Red Magic Tower was originally in charge, but some certain someone caused a huge mess there, and now most of the Red Magic Tower is combat-incapacitated.”
“Ah.”
So this was because of the Heart System terror attack that Yambre had set up. The moment I realized the truth and let out a short sound, Ciel shot me a quick glare.
“You should be more careful about who you call a friend.”
“...She’s not my friend. I was a victim who got dragged into it too.”
“Really? Then that’s a relief. Haah, the Lord of the Red Magic Tower… I understand she’s desperate after losing her precious bird, but still, bringing in such a strange person and causing this whole mess.”
“Um…”
“Oh. Don’t worry. If we dig into the mastermind, the Lord of the Red Magic Tower will inevitably come up, so the investigation probably won’t proceed any further.”
After delivering what was technically good news amid the misfortune, Ciel pointed at me and declared.
“That’s why you’ll have to form the team yourself. You still have the letter of recommendation I gave you before, right?”
“Yes. I’ve kept it safe so I wouldn’t lose it.”
“Using that, you can bring any mage you want from the towers into your team. However, the limit is two people.”
“Only two? Isn’t that too few for support from the Lord of the Blue Magic Tower herself?”
“It’s not because my authority is lacking. It’s because of the grimoire’s properties.”
“The grimoire’s properties?”
The grimoire’s properties only allowed for two people at most?
“As I mentioned earlier, a grimoire is the tragic end of a mage who came close to the Mystic Eye and fell. Because of that, grimoires affect the mana circles around them.”
“Mana circles?”
“Yes. Mana circles are the preliminary stage to becoming a Mystic Eye. The more mana circles that resonate with the grimoire, the greater its danger becomes. That’s why you can’t bring multiple mages with you.”
“I see.”
If that was the reason, there was nothing to be done. But even when told to pick two people, no candidates came to mind easily. Who should I bring to suppress the Grimoire of Ash more easily?
As I was pondering that, another vision of the future appeared before my eyes.
“...Hm?”
Yuna? This was a name I hadn’t seen before. But if the future vision was recommending her at this exact timing, it meant she was a character who could help me right now. After quickly grasping the content of the vision, I immediately tried to speak to Ciel.
“Um. By any chance…”
“If you can’t think of anyone to recruit for the team, would it be okay if I recommend one person?”
“You’ll recommend someone? That would be great for me.”
At that moment, Ciel took the initiative to recommend a team member. Well, since I could bring one more person anyway, accepting Ciel’s recommendation should be fine. As I nodded in agreement—
“Her name is Yuna. What do you think?”
“...Yuna?”
The name that came out of Ciel’s mouth left me staring blankly with my mouth open. It was exactly the same name the future vision had just shown me.