Chapter 96
Chapter 96
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: Librarian Ernst (16) - Rest Before the Finale
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Flip, flip.
Eris watched Ernst flipping through the pages as if skimming the contents of a book, her feelings a tangled mess.
She had so much she wanted to say, but after agonizing over what to ask first...
Perhaps noticing her intense gaze, Ernst suddenly furrowed his brow.
His stare at Eris was so sharp that a stranger might think he was glaring in anger, but then he glanced down at the book in his hand and let out a soft "Ah."
And then he spoke.
"This is the only one."
"Pardon?"
"It means all the other books in the library are perfectly fine."
Eris blinked a couple of times before piecing together what Ernst had just said.
So, was this his way of making excuses?
Like, reassuring her that he wasn't some lunatic who turned people he disliked into books and displayed them in the library?
Looking at the blond librarian earnestly insisting on his innocence, Eris finally burst into laughter.
"Ha, haha! What is that? In a situation like this, that's the first thing that comes out of your mouth?"
Just moments ago, they'd faced a dire threat from a powerful demon, witnessed that demon sealed into a book right before their eyes, and now they were left alone in some mysterious archmage's hideout.
Objectively speaking, it wasn't a situation to laugh off so casually, but the more she analyzed it that way, the harder she laughed.
It was because the gap between the gravely serious circumstances and Ernst's subtly pouty expression as he stared at her was just that stark.
Eris laughed for quite a while after that, only managing to stop her fit of laughter when she felt a bit dizzy from it all.
"Whew."
How long had it been since she'd laughed like this in front of someone else?
After wiping the slight moisture from her eyes, Eris asked with a more serious expression.
"Were you deceiving me?"
"I'm not sure what you mean."
"You have this level of magical prowess, yet you kept it a secret from me."
It was a probing question, but for some reason, Eris could already guess what Ernst's answer would be.
And sure enough, he replied calmly.
"I never hid it. There just hasn't been an opportunity to show you."
"Ah, I see."
His response was so predictably on-brand that Eris let out a snort of laughter.
And she was inwardly surprised by her own reaction.
'...This is weird. Normally, I'd be furious.'
Eris was somewhat self-aware of her own personality.
She was fiercely competitive, prone to jealousy, and not particularly forgiving.
If the Eris from not long ago had learned about this situation, she would have surely gritted her teeth in anger at Ernst.
Accusing him of deceiving her all this time, mocking her inwardly as she fretted over every little spell despite being so far behind him—she would have jumped to conclusions about his thoughts, condemned him, and vented her rage.
All to protect her own pride.
But why?
Right now, she didn't feel that way at all.
Was it because she'd laughed it all off and now nothing mattered anymore?
Or was it trust that this man couldn't possibly harbor such ulterior motives?
Either way, it wasn't a bad feeling, so Eris opened her mouth driven by pure curiosity and inquisitiveness rather than negativity.
"Still, this is surprising. To think there's another archmage in this small kingdom besides my teacher."
At Eris's words, Ernst shook his head.
"It's not right to compare a mere librarian to Lady Delphinaris."
"You just showed off your skills right in front of me—saying that now holds no weight."
"If I could truly wield power on her level freely, I wouldn't have bothered fleeing here; I'd have just smashed the demon head-on. My strength is limited solely to this place, this environment."
As he spoke, Ernst stomped his foot, sending out a faint ripple of mana.
In response, strange lines and markings began to emerge from various spots in the library.
Seeing this, Eris let out an exclamation.
"A barrier-type unique spell. This library itself is practically your domain."
The trait of a 5th-circle mage: unique spell creation.
Some are relatively straightforward, like combining fire and water spells to produce steam, but others are so bizarre you can't even imagine how they were made.
Ernst's was a prime example of the latter.
Even Eris, who had observed various unique spells as Delphinaris's disciple, couldn't comprehend the structure of this one.
After staring intently at the mana lines and markings for a while, Eris snapped out of it and flushed red in embarrassment.
It was like peeking at a knight practicing their secret sword techniques—you couldn't complain if they slashed you in fury.
A mage's unique spell was just as precious, so openly analyzing it like this was an inexcusable rudeness.
"Um, s-sorry."
"It doesn't matter. I could teach it to you outright if you want."
Eris froze for a moment.
She stared at him as if she'd seen something unbelievable, but the librarian remained utterly composed.
"...You're serious?"
"No one but you could really use it anyway. It's a spell that's hard to cast unless you're deeply immersed in various books and can remember their contents."
"I've never been immersed in novels!"
"I never said novels—could this be the thief protesting too much?"
"Shut up!!"
Eris's elegant poise vanished as she glared daggers again, but Ernst brushed it off as indifferently as always.
And so, the long day drew to a close.
The fact that Marik Grimrun was a demon contractor, eventually fully possessed by the demon and attempting to kill Eris, didn't spread widely.
There wasn't really a good way to publicize it anyway.
Even if Eris had straightforwardly told everyone around her about the incident, the reactions wouldn't have been satisfying.
The Grimrun Count family, already stained by the scandal of adopting a demon contractor as a foster son, would resist desperately.
The assault academy would feel uneasy too—branded as incompetent for having a demon contractor among their students who tried to kill another top student, without noticing or stopping it.
No one was unaware that the academy's backer was the royal family, so there was a chance the palace might step in with a gag order.
Delphinaris alone might have stood up for Eris even if it tarnished her own reputation, but that wasn't what Eris wanted.
Besides, what gain was there in publicizing it despite the massive backlash and burden?
At best, demanding compensation from her fame or connected factions—but her fame would likely plummet, dismissed as a braggart, and compensation like a bit of money wasn't worth making enemies. Pretending nothing happened from the start was easier for Eris too.
She worried the count family might make a move after losing their son, but it turned out to be unfounded.
"Marik's gone missing? Tch, whatever. He probably ran off because he couldn't handle the fallout. No sense of responsibility, that one."
The count, already seeing Marik as a headache after the duel incident, simply wrote him off, and his retainers didn't object.
It was karma for all the resentment he'd built up.
Thanks to Valzare scattering illusion and perception-blocking spells across the entire academy, no one noticed Eris's nighttime outing. Delphinaris seemed to sense something off about her but didn't press when Eris dodged the questions. A teacher with heavy karma had little authority to begin with.
In the end, Eris could quietly continue her library grind—er, her dead-tree obsession—without interference today as well.
"'Her body turned to sea foam, and she was no longer the little mermaid.'"
As Eris chanted the incantation, a mug's worth of water and foam appeared above her hand.
The librarian reading beside her glanced over with flat eyes and spoke in an utterly even tone.
"Success. Congratulations."
"If you're congratulating me, put a little emotion into it."
"Hm."
Ernst pondered briefly before speaking again.
"Success. Congratulations."
The pitch rose from do to fa, but otherwise, it was identical—wording, spacing, everything.
"...Never mind."
"You're the one who asked first, yet that's a rude response."
"Restraining from cursing you out is me upholding my dignity as an educated person."
Shaking her head, Eris looked at the blob of water in her hand.
"I can't believe this actually worked."
She felt half delighted, half baffled.
Using 'verbal chanting'—auxiliary incantations with specific words or pronunciations—isn't rare in magic.
But selecting a phrase from a book and manifesting its symbolism or metaphor in reality? That was utterly unheard of.
Especially since the spell's effect grew stronger the more vivid and intense Eris's imagery and emotions were—a total paradigm shift for someone like her, who'd learned magic like mathematics.
"What do you think? Studying is fine, but dipping into literature now and then enriches life too. I proved that with this spell."
His expression unchanged, but his aura somehow smug.
Eris stared at him intently.
It was undeniably genius.
She could learn and use existing spells as taught, but creating something like this? Might take her a lifetime.
However, one thing.
"...But doesn't this undermine your whole 'importance of rest' philosophy? Now even pure entertainment novels will have me wondering what effects their phrases might produce."
It seemed like the kind of spell someone with blurred lines between work and hobby would dream up during 'rest.'
Brushing it off as quintessentially Ernst-like without much thought, Eris didn't notice.
How Ernst had frozen like a statue at her offhand remark.
Or how, far away, the crown prince let out a groan while the great demon beside him clutched his stomach in uproarious laughter.