The Old Library's Bloody Legacy (5)
The Old School Building's library was a separate structure from the main building. Though it was in the same zone, there were no connecting corridors or anything like that. Much like how universities have standalone library buildings, this Old Library was a short walk away from the Old School Building's main structure.
So why hadn't this library been opened until now? To understand that, we needed to examine why the Old School Building had been sealed off and left unused all these years.
"There was a murder incident," said Instructor Cardisha, who had come with me to open the door to the Old Library. She fiddled with some mechanism inside as she spoke.
"They say academy undergrads who entered this library went mad and killed each other."
"Something like that happened?"
"Officially, it's been swept under the rug as 'something that never happened.' It's one of the academy's dirty little secrets."
Click.
She pressed what looked like a button, and suddenly the entire library building shimmered with light, illuminating the interior brightly.
"A shameful blemish on the academy that they couldn't even bring themselves to mention. When everything moved from the Old School Building to the current main academy building, no records were passed down... because it was the site where undergrads murdered several of their fellow students."
"A mass murder, then?"
I knew about it. The horrific crime that had taken place in this library.
"Yeah, more or less... Want to know the details?"
"I can guess the gist. The traces are still everywhere."
I gestured to the library interior, which was practically a ruin—no, the crime scene preserved as-is.
"They're maintaining this place with preservation magic specifically so the academy never forgets the tragedy that happened here, right?"
"Exactly. Anyone training to become an instructor has to visit this place first and steel their resolve when dealing with undergrads."
Instructor Cardisha walked to the center of the library and pointed to a magic circle etched into a fairly spacious area.
"Back then, the Old School instructors weren't all that interested in the undergrads. Or more precisely, they showed interest selectively."
"To the talented ones, or potential heirs to the throne, or undergrads who could pull strings for them after they retired and land them cushy positions?"
"Right. It's still the case now, but back then it was even more blatant. The instructors openly discriminated... and it drove the undergrads against each other."
Instructor Cardisha pointed to the ceiling. Suspicious ropes dangled from it, their ends tied into neat nooses.
"What do you think those are?"
"...Should I just give the answer straight?"
"Looks like you've figured it out, so let me rephrase the question."
She stood in the center of the magic circle and pointed to herself.
"When I first became an instructor and saw those, what do you think my answer was?"
"Academy undergrads bullied weak commoner undergrads, used magic to manipulate ropes and hang them from the ceiling, and several got murdered that way."
"...Spot on. Back when I knew nothing, that's what I thought. Instructor Esta did too. So, what's the truth?"
"Sure, a few undergrads might've been subjected to noose bullying, but we can't assume everyone who died that way was a victim."
I opened a book stained with blood.
"Revenge for the bullying. One undergrad deliberately lured all his tormentors here and massacred them."
"Correct. That's the hidden truth, and it led to massive additions to the academy rules."
Instructors must not discriminate against undergrads.
Undergrads must not verbally abuse, insult, or physically assault each other for unjust reasons.
It's no wonder they call it the 'safety rules written in blood.'
"Did the founders know? That the library they gathered for future generations from across the continent—and the collection built up over centuries after—would one day be soaked in blood from such a brutal incident."
"Are all the books here originals?"
"Yep. Of course, there are copies elsewhere too, some even circulating publicly. But these... they're preserved as they were to embody the dean's will: 'Never discriminate against students.' A lesson for future instructors."
"The dean at the time, huh."
I glanced once more at the bloodstained books under preservation magic. It didn't appear in the game, but I had a good idea who cast this spell—not the dean, but someone close.
'Unia will figure it out once she hits S-rank.'
The Ash Witch. She roamed outside the academy scouting talent, but the shock of this incident inside (the Old School Building) must've made her hide even deeper. Still, they never found her. People back then probably couldn't comprehend it.
"It was shocking on multiple levels. The bullied undergrad was only E-rank, while his noble tormentors were mostly A-rank—by today's standards, anyway."
"......."
"Yet that E-rank student took out seven A-rankers. I can't even describe the state of the bodies, but they were killed in ways more brutal than any undergrad could imagine."
Instructor Cardisha slid a bookshelf aside.
"Even the library curator at the time... and instructors too."
There, amid books shredded like by a blade storm, were traces of humans torn apart alongside them.
"It's unthinkable that a single undergrad—E-rank until just before—could cause something like this. It's still a mystery. How did that student pull off such a horrific massacre?"
"Is it?"
"Yeah... And now, I've got a bit of a hunch—not quite certainty, but close."
Instructor Cardisha stepped in front of me as I scanned the shelves.
"You know something about this, don't you?"
"......."
"That's why you're so chatty about the secrets tied to this place, right?"
"Probably."
I knew.
"Just to be clear upfront—no, I'm not the reincarnation of the undergrad who caused that disaster."
"...Then one of the victims?"
"Not at all. I have zero connection to them."
If there was any link, it'd be in the 'inspirational' sense.
"While we're on the preservation magic situation, that undergrad must've mastered brainwashing magic."
"......."
"They had talent in illusion magic too, and were pretty good at hypnosis."
Brainwashing, illusions, hypnosis.
Yes. The specialties of Regiph Hapsderk, the body I possessed.
"Using those powers, they lured their bullies here and orchestrated a slaughter where they killed each other. Then, in the end, they all hanged themselves as a group."
"You could be a detective someday, Phoenix undergrad."
"Just piecing together what's visible. And the question on your mind."
Everyone must've wondered.
"How could someone known as E-rank master hypnosis, brainwashing, and illusion magic strong enough to wipe out all those A-ranks?"
"Right. No one could figure it out. Some speculated there might be secret magic hidden somewhere in this library..."
Instructor Cardisha asked slyly.
"Is there?"
"There is."
"...Really?"
"Yes. Or more precisely, a place where you can obtain it."
I paused at one book while scanning the shelves.
"Even the founders probably didn't know. That the provisions they made for future generations would lead to such carnage."
"...A picture book?"
"Yes."
An academy that teaches up to around age 20—a place utterly unsuited for children's picture books. They gathered them for kids, but one wonders if any actual children ever came here to read them properly.
The picture book corner.
Among them, I picked up the one that looked the least touched.
"Instructor Cardisha. Doesn't this picture book feel a bit off to you?"
"If I say it feels off just because you pulled it out, that'd sound weird, right?"
"Not weird at all. Like spotting the odd one out in wallpaper patterns—once you recognize it once, it stands out forever after."
I ran my hand over the cover of a picture book made centuries ago.
"All these books are splattered with blood and discolored. This one's cover is too. But there's one big difference."
"What?"
"What do you think?"
"...Phoenix undergrad."
Instructor Cardisha puffed her cheeks and pointed to her empty left wrist.
"I'm being super cooperative here, so how about spilling it straight?"
"It's got double-layered preservation magic."
"......."
"Anyone with keen mana sensitivity or who can spot finely woven traces would notice the structure."
"...You can see that?"
"Yes."
Part of it was visible to me now through magic power, but in a normal playthrough, players would've gotten a hint via an in-game cutscene. The mid-boss who kidnaps heroines, Regiph Hapsderk, flees pathetically, rummages through this high library on his deathbed with bloodied hands, touches this book at the end, and dies. That's how players guess: something's in this book.
And indeed, there was.
"One layer from when the library was sealed, and another from when it was built... 500 years ago."
I opened the picture book.
"The tale of the hero, the sage, the emperor, and the saintess."
The adventure story of the four founders.
Here, players could [Access]. Reaching the end of this book opened the path.
To the underground great cavern. The road to where the four founders' seal lay.