Chapter 95
Chapter 95
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: Librarian Ernst (15) - What Happens If You Break the Library's Taboo
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What qualities does a librarian need?
The ability to recommend and guide guests to the books they desire?
The skill to neatly organize and display countless books for easy viewing?
The care to protect books from damage by moisture, dust, and the like?
All of those are correct.
However, there is one more ability that is exceedingly important for a librarian.
That is—
"—protecting the library."
Thud.
Ernst took a step forward.
His hair was even more disheveled than usual, his clothes were soiled, and bruises marred his body here and there.
But his face remained as calm as ever.
Dozens of flaming swords aimed at him, yet his demeanor showed no trace of fear.
Rattle! Rattle-rattle!
In one corner of the library.
The door leading to the second floor shook violently.
The door, which had been banging noisily as if something were pounding on it, suddenly flew open wide. A single book floated out from within and settled into Ernst's hand.
"Oh, my friend. Pretending to be a knight guarding the princess, are we?"
The demon Balzareth flicked his tongue mockingly at Ernst.
Sneer filled his eyes.
'Pathetic.'
It was true that Ernst's book radiated mana.
Against an average mage, it might even put up a decent fight.
But to Balzareth, who wielded power at the early stage of the 6th hierarchy as a human equivalent, it was laughably insignificant.
Moreover, no mana emanated from Ernst himself, the one wielding what was supposedly a powerful grimoire.
"In that case, let me help you. A knight's attire is far too shabby! How about adorning yourself with a cloak of roaring flames?"
-Roar!
One of the fiery swords shot toward Ernst's shoulder.
"No!"
Eris's scream echoed as the sword was about to strike Ernst's body.
The book in Ernst's hand glowed.
"As the match's final breath faded, everything vanished. The walls returned to their cold state, and the street wind whipped her cheeks even more fiercely."
⟨ [Excerpt Invocation] ⟩
The flames went out.
Not just the sword threatening Ernst, but all dozens of swords Balzareth had conjured.
The smirk vanished from the demon's mocking face, and Eris behind him swallowed hard.
'...Magic? The grimoire's power?'
Spells to control fire, mana, air.
Several possibilities flashed through Eris's mind.
Balzareth seemed to think similarly, his lips twisting.
"Don't like flames? To be a splendid knight, you must endure pain, but your patience is lacking!"
Balzareth snapped his fingers, and countless rock fragments rose around him, spinning into motion.
A storm of stone that would pulverize anything it touched into dust growled threateningly at Ernst.
"That morning, sunlight poured down abundantly, and the sky was a clear blue. The breeze was refreshing, as if heralding a brand-new beginning."
⟨ [Excerpt Invocation] ⟩
But the moment another book opened in Ernst's hand, the ferocious storm turned into a gentle mountain breeze.
Eris shuddered as the earthy scent tickling her nose shifted to the fresh aroma of grass.
The phrase that had whispered in her ear the instant Ernst opened the book—like the library itself murmuring.
It evoked the contents of a book she had read here before.
And it didn't end there.
"His sword slashed down. The sharp metal cleaved the air, charging at the foe. Overwhelmed by its force, the blade grazed the enemy, turning threat into terror."
⟨ [Excerpt Invocation] ⟩
A tale of human fear became a shadow monster lunging at Balzareth.
A story of stormy hills and love amid misunderstanding became a bolt of lightning striking down on him.
A narrative of unyielding persistence and revenge manifested as a blade just as relentless and sharp, slashing at Balzareth.
Crushing the shadow beast, deflecting the lightning, blocking the solidified blade, Balzareth shouted.
"What is this!? How did you prepare so many grimoires!?"
'...No.'
Eris realized Balzareth's misconception—and her own misunderstanding up until now.
What Ernst wielded were not grimoires.
Yet they were grimoires as well.
It seemed contradictory, but it wasn't.
"I get that you love reading books. But if that's the case, why bother recommending them to me? You've already read them anyway—what's the point of hearing someone else's impressions?"
"There is meaning. Even the same book, the same sentence, evokes different responses in each reader. Sharing those impressions with others enriches the joy from a single book manifold."
A conversation she'd once had with Ernst resurfaced in Eris's mind.
The same book could be received differently by each person.
What was mere impractical fiction to one might be a spell's clue or profound inspiration to another.
The content of the books.
Every phrase written within.
Interpreting, emphasizing, twisting them into reality.
If a grimoire granted magical power to its reader, then to Ernst, every book in this library was a grimoire.
"Fine! If you crave such a miserable death, I'll get serious!"
As if declaring an end to the games, Balzareth's aura shifted.
Marik's body, worn like a husk, burned away, revealing Balzareth's true form beneath.
A clownish guise, sprouting horns, wings shrouded in membrane, and a long tail.
Mana bullets from Balzareth's hand morphed into a massive boulder, blocking the door between the second and first floors. He cackled triumphantly.
"Even your fancy grimoires end here!"
He seemed to believe only the second-floor books were grimoires, but Eris's guess proved him wrong.
Eris glanced around.
At the hundreds of books neatly shelved by category nearby.
Books that would function as grimoires only in Ernst's hands.
And as if affirming her faith, Ernst pulled a suitable volume from a nearby shelf.
A mere bundle of ordinary paper, devoid of any mana.
Yet the moment Ernst opened it, radiant light infused the book.
"The hum of yellow fluorescent lights, stained carpets, endlessly replicated spaces. You are trapped within, with no escape."
⟨ [Excerpt Invocation] ⟩
The library's space expanded.
It felt like a subtle illusion at first glance, yet also like a dramatic shift dozens or hundreds of times over.
To Eris, it was the former; to Balzareth, the latter.
The demon flapped his wings frantically, darting about, but despite constant motion and bursts of mana, his position barely changed from the start.
As if, in an infinitely vast expanse, minor movements appeared stationary to an observer of the whole.
Balzareth screamed in rage.
"Why!? Why can't I copy it!?"
Balzareth's power was replication.
A authority that stole only the essence, bypassing others' efforts and accumulations.
No matter how many spells Ernst commanded, they should pose no threat to Balzareth—rather, they'd offer more fodder.
This spatial spell pinning him down could be copied, freeing him and binding Ernst with even greater force.
But it failed.
No matter how he tried to activate his authority, Balzareth couldn't replicate Ernst's spells.
To the demon, who had lost his usual playfulness amid this incomprehensible situation, Ernst spoke in his signature flat tone.
"I added security codes."
"...What?"
"Your ability lets you act as if you've read a book cover-to-cover just by glancing at the outside, right? So I blocked that. Unless you've read every page from first to last, you can't recall or quote its contents in your mind."
"It took a few days to encrypt them all one by one," Ernst added nonchalantly.
Balzareth's face went slack with disbelief.
And toward the demon, Ernst declared.
"Murder, stalking, assault, threats, use of magic endangering the public in a shared space, and most critically, violence and property damage within the library. The penalties will be severe. But rest assured—as a librarian, I won't kill you easily, even if you're a demon."
He paused for a breath before adding,
"I'll just turn you into a book."
"W-What nonsense is that, guk—urk!?"
Balzareth's body began to shrink grotesquely.
Thinner, thinner, like paper.
Thinner, narrower, like ink.
Ernst grabbed a suitable hardcover from the counter and hurled it at Balzareth.
The paper adhered to the cover, becoming pages; the ink filled it with text and illustrations.
-Aaaaaaaah!
The long scream faded into the distance, growing ever fainter.
Only a single book remained on the floor.
Ernst picked it up casually, then looked at Eris with a grave expression.
"...I'm pondering the title. Any recommendations?"
Eris replied with utmost politeness, elegance, and intellect.
"Have you lost your mind?"