Chapter 83
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 83
“Ugh.”
Stepping out of the jewelry box, the Librarian stretched and twisted his torso from side to side, looking like a man who had been confined in a cramped space for far too long.
Do spirits suffer from muscle aches too?
Turan gave him a moment to compose himself before speaking.
“Are you feeling alright?”
“I suppose… Hmm, I feel quite drained. Are we far from the library, perhaps?”
As he spoke, the Librarian looked down at his hands and body before suddenly fixing a sharp gaze on Turan.
“More importantly, why is it that the moment I come out of there, you’re the first thing I see? Don’t tell me you’re the one who ordered my kidnapping?”
“Not at all. If anything, I’m the one who rescued you.”
After saying that, Turan glanced at Meisa and Solif. The blank expressions on their faces were answer enough.
“I take it neither of you can see him?”
“No,” Meisa replied.
“To me, it just looks like you’re talking to yourself,” Solif added.
Back when he had only manifested two bloodlines, Turan had been able to see the Librarian. This suggested the condition for seeing him was the number of latent bloodlines one possessed.
Was my guess wrong? Did I overestimate the number of latent bloodlines my companions have?
Organizing his thoughts, Turan turned his attention back to the Librarian.
“Do you happen to remember how you were captured?”
“I was going about my business as usual when some dull-witted-looking fellow showed up. I was going to play a prank on him, but then he suddenly spoke to me. He seemed to know exactly what I was.”
“Could you tell me exactly what he said?”
“Let’s see, it was something like…”
True to his nature as a possessor of perfect memory, the Librarian recited the conversation exactly as it had occurred.
[“Oh… so a spirit really did remain? Honestly, if they were going to erase the traces, they should’ve wiped the whole thing. Why leave it so messy?”]
[“A spirit? Are you talking to me?”]
[“Who else? Hey, AI. Have you heard or said anything strange lately? About a Life Scholar, or perhaps about the Reincarnation Art?”]
[“…I have no idea what you’re talking about. If you aren’t here to read, then get out. Disturbance is forbidden in the library.”]
[“Tsk, you really are impossible to talk to. Well, we can discuss the details back home. I have a friend there who can make you open your mouth.”]
“After he said that, I asked him what kind of nonsense he was spouting,” the Librarian continued. “Then he pulled out that jewelry box and opened it. My consciousness was sucked right in, and the next thing I knew, I was here.”
“…By any chance, did that dull-witted fellow look like this?”
Turan used Earth Manipulation Magic to sketch Renod’s face on the ground. The Librarian nodded immediately.
“That’s him.”
Hearing this, Turan felt a chill run down his spine.
This meant Renod had directly perceived the Librarian and even spoken to him—the same Renod who, when Turan checked earlier, appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary high noble with only two bloodlines.
Even the contents of the conversation were deeply unsettling.
He didn't know what an "AI" was, but he could take a guess at "Life Scholar." In the library, hadn't the god who manipulated the dwarves possessed power over life? The "Life Scholar" was undoubtedly a bloodline originating from that god.
As for the "Reincarnation Art," the name alone suggested it was a technique for possessing another person's body.
In short, Renod—or the faction behind him—had come looking for the Librarian because they realized Turan had shared a suspicious conversation with him in the library. Perhaps the god who was the progenitor of the Life Scholar bloodline was directly inhabiting Renod’s body.
Fortunately, it seemed they didn't know the specific details of the conversation or even who the Librarian had been talking to. The Librarian had refused to speak about Turan, was sealed away, and had only just been released.
“Thank you for keeping my secret.”
Turan hadn't actually expected the Librarian to go out of his way to protect his identity. While Turan personally viewed him as a mentor because of everything he had taught him, to the Librarian, Turan was likely just one of the few people who happened to be able to communicate with him.
The Librarian gave a short, dry laugh.
“Don’t thank me. It’s not because I like you. That brat just had an incredibly foul attitude.”
“Ah…”
It seemed he had simply been offended by the man’s condescending tone. Indeed, being polite was almost always more useful than not.
As they were talking, someone tapped Turan on the shoulder. Meisa was looking at him with a somewhat awkward expression.
“Um, could you maybe tell us what’s going on?”
“Oh.”
To Solif and Meisa, it must have looked like Turan was muttering to himself while drawing Renod’s face in the dirt. As Turan calmly explained everything he had just heard, both of their expressions turned grave.
“Hmm…”
“That’s definitely suspicious,” Meisa said. “It’s almost certain there’s something inside that Renod guy, right?”
“That’s the most likely conclusion.”
Turan suspected it was a mechanism where a new bloodline would manifest the moment power was exerted, much like what had happened with Badal in the past. Whether Renod’s original personality was still intact remained unknown.
While the two were exchanging opinions, Turan spoke quietly to the Librarian.
“So, what do you plan to do now, Elder?”
“Hmm?”
“If you return to the library like this, Renod or his backers will just come to kidnap you again. And I don't think you're in any position to fend them off.”
The Librarian looked at him with an incredulous expression.
“Don’t beat around the bush, boy. You’re telling me to stay quietly by your side if I want to live, aren’t you?”
“That is indeed what I was getting at.”
“Tsk, I suppose I have no choice. At this rate, I’ll become the Spirit of the Jewelry Box instead of the Spirit of the Library… but it seems this box is a sufficient medium for me to linger in for now.”
Fortunately, the Librarian agreed to accompany them more readily than expected. It would have been troublesome if he had insisted on being taken back to the library to fulfill his duties.
Having successfully rescued the Librarian and convinced him to join them, only one problem remained. They had to decide whether to let the Nagin group return to their base peacefully while they retreated, or to attack, capture Renod, and extract information.
“Let’s attack,” Meisa said.
“How about we back off for now?” Solif countered.
Offering opposing views, they stared at each other. After a moment of silence, Meisa spoke first by tacit agreement.
“Unless they’re idiots, they’ll realize the jewelry box was stolen. If we just retreat, it’ll be obvious that the thief was a Zahar noble and that the goal was to rescue the Librarian. They’ll naturally send people back to Orem City, where the library was, and they’ll conclude it was us. But if we wipe them all out, we can silence them.”
Meisa paused to catch her breath before adding in a chilling tone, “Besides… the Nagin family is our enemy anyway. It’s a gain if we can reduce their strength even a little. And if we capture and interrogate Renod, we can learn a massive amount about the enemy’s identity.”
Turan could feel the malice laced in Meisa’s words. It was clear that her hatred for the Nagin family—specifically the woman who had mocked her in the past—was fueling this. However, setting that aside, her argument was quite plausible and aligned with Turan’s own way of thinking.
Then, Solif lightly raised his regenerated hand to offer his opinion.
“Well, first of all… even if we annihilate them, they’re going to find out it was us eventually. Their whole purpose was to retrieve the spirit—the Librarian. If the group goes missing, that’s the first place they’ll investigate. To stop that, we’d have to kill everyone in Orem City who saw us, and we’re not going to do that, right?”
Solif asked with a slightly uncertain look, and Turan nodded firmly to confirm that wouldn't happen. Whether they had commissioned monster hunts or accepted money, the fact remained that the successive lords of the Baltas family had shown him the kindness of allowing him to use the library.
“So, whether we wipe them out here or not, we can’t really hide our involvement,” Solif continued. “And one more thing—if what the Librarian said is true, isn't it basically a given that a god or something similar is inside Renod? What if he unleashes a hidden power when he’s in danger? We might have to risk total annihilation. Is it worth taking that kind of risk?”
Meisa bit her lip but didn't offer a rebuttal.
The Librarian, who had been sitting quietly and listening, spoke to Turan.
“You used to travel completely alone. Did you manage to make friends in that short time? Friends you can share such deep secrets with?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm. Cherish them. Friends you can share your thoughts with are more precious than a thousand gold coins. Not that I’ve experienced it myself—it’s just a proverb from a book.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
When Turan politely relayed the Librarian’s words to the other two, they both gave sheepish smiles. Having cleared the somewhat chilled atmosphere, Turan announced his conclusion.
“For now, let’s attack.”
“Your reasoning?”
“First, the mana in Renod’s body is at the level of a high noble at best. Even if two bloodline abilities suddenly manifest, I don't think it's likely he'll become drastically strong enough to harm the three of us at once. If he could do that, why would he be hiding and sneaking around instead of openly acting like a god?”
“Hmm, well… I guess so.”
“Most importantly, this is an opportunity worth the risk. It’s unlikely that a god’s vessel will be this vulnerably exposed a second time.”
“That’s true.”
Even Solif, who had opposed the attack, nodded in agreement. Turan then glanced at Meisa.
“However, I don't plan on wiping them out. In fact, it’s better if we intentionally let some of them escape. Their main house is close by, after all.”
“Why?”
“We can use this attack to make them suspect that someone other than us rescued the Librarian.”
Turan opened the Mimic Relic and drew out two clumps of mana. They were the mana of the Zahar nobles who had died in the underground labyrinth.
“Because the ones who ambushed the Nagin nobles and stole the jewelry box will be the nobles of Zahar.”
*
“Ambush! It’s Zahar! The Zahar are here!”
“Report to the demigods, quickly!”
“Help me!”
In the dark of night, the barrier’s alarm rang out just as hidden weapons flew from all directions, striking the knights. Having grown accustomed to the relaxed pace of their two-month journey, they were unable to react quickly.
“L-Light…!”
One quick-witted knight desperately tried to create a sphere of light above his hand, but something pitch black swallowed it before the light could spread. As the knight’s head was taken off in the same instant, the Nagin knights stopped trying to reveal the hidden attackers with light and instead fled in a chaotic mess to escape the invisible enemy.
“Stop! Stop! Don’t run, you cowards! I am here!”
Just then, the noble of the Barrier Master bloodline who had accompanied Renod as an attendant burst out of his tent. He created a massive light while simultaneously improvising a defensive barrier around himself. He didn't know why the Zahar nobles had suddenly attacked, but he had to reorganize the ranks if they were to survive.
“Logi! To me! Protect me!”
The moment he called for his spiritually bound hound to bolster his defenses, hidden weapons flying from all directions riddled his body. Through his open mouth as he shouted, into his throat, and into his chest.
Though the technique lacked the finesse of a true master, each projectile was infused with the mana of a top-tier noble, more than enough to tear through a mediocre barrier.
“Guh…”
“The… the demigod has fallen!”
“Everyone, run! Call for reinforcements from the main house!”
Someone’s shout acted as a catalyst, and nearly half of the surviving knights scattered and fled the campsite. Three tamed magical beasts tried to resist, but without the ability to create light, they had no way to deal with the stealth.
As the three beasts were slaughtered—their vitals torn and pierced without being able to put up a proper fight—Renod and his remaining attendant noble emerged from their tents a step late, casting a brilliant light. The other knights surrounded the two nobles with their bodies to protect them from the ambush.
A moment later, the stealth was deactivated, and several figures appeared in the middle of the wrecked campsite. A knight pointed at them with a terrified expression.
“There… it’s them…”
Three Zahar nobles stood revealed under the bright light. All of them were covered in large cloaks and wore masks, making them difficult to distinguish except for their different builds.
Naturally, these three Zahar nobles were Turan, Solif, and Meisa.
It was only recently that Turan had discovered he could transfer the mana stored in the Mimic Relic to others. The catalyst had been a passing comment from Solif while they were practicing magic.
‘It would be so convenient if I could just pull out my Sun bloodline mana and give it to you.’
While the relic currently held a fair amount of Baraha mana, it was a consumable resource that would eventually run out. Additionally, Meisa’s Storm bloodline possessed the power of lightning, which Turan lacked, so it would be useful if she could bestow it upon him.
However, hearing this, Turan had flipped the idea: what if he could give the mana in the relic to someone else? To be more precise, he had thought of it before, but he hadn't had the chance to test it because he was busy hiding the relic’s true nature. It was only recently that he had gained companions he could trust with the relic’s existence.
The experiment had been a success, as evidenced by the fact that the other two were currently using the Zahar’s stealth ability.
Seeing Turan’s group reveal themselves, Renod’s secretary shouted desperately.
“Why are you attacking us?! Nagin may have formed a marriage alliance with Arabion, but we aren't at war with you! This is a senseless act of murder! Do you want to see Zahar’s infamy spread across the world again?!”
“Do as you please,” Turan replied in a distorted voice, conjuring a fireball above his hand and hurling it toward the Nagin camp.
The other two joined in, firing arrows of light and calling down bolts of lightning. The Nagin mages, realizing the gap in power from a single clash, turned pale.
“W-What in the world…!”
The attack from Turan’s group crushed the Nagin’s resistance with startling ease. Though they were using unfamiliar attack methods, the sheer difference in their fundamental capabilities was overwhelming.
The two nobles fought decently among the knights who were being swept away, but they were equally overwhelmed. Before long, the secretary’s throat was pierced by a hidden weapon, leaving Renod as the only one still capable of fighting.
A knight who had barely survived lay on the ground, muttering softly.
“They’re… they’re monsters…”
To face such opponents, the elites from the main house—only two days away—would be needed. No, perhaps the Family Head himself would have to come. But no matter how powerful a mage was, they couldn't sense a battle from such a distance and arrive in time.
Yet, amidst the despairing men, Renod Nagin did not show fear. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and glared at the Zahar nobles surrounding him. He looked like a man who suspected something.
After a moment, he clicked his tongue and reached his hands toward the sky.
“Damn it, I have no choice.”
The moment Renod muttered those words, Turan, watching from behind his mask, finally felt the symbols within his opponent begin to change. Depending on how much skill Renod showed here, Turan would decide whether to flee or subdue him.
If he proved to be an unmanageable powerhouse, the plan was to immediately enter stealth, scatter in three directions, and then have Turan retrieve his two companions while riding Bije.
As had happened with Badal, the change in symbols was instantaneous. Within the space where only the Ruler and Tamer symbols had existed, two additional symbols emerged.
They were crossed axes and a raging blizzard.
Turan recognized the blizzard as the symbol of the Frost bloodline, one of the former vassal families of Arabion.
Axes, Frost, Ruler, Tamer? What kind of combination is that?
As if answering Turan’s question, the symbols within Renod began to intertwine. However, unlike Badal, only two of them merged. While the blizzard swirled around the crossed axes, the Ruler and Tamer bloodlines remained aloof in their positions, as if they had nothing to do with the others.
In reality, Renod was gathering a massive amount of moisture in his hands and freezing it into the shape of an axe.
“L-Lord Renod?”
“Before we fight, let me ask one thing. Do any of you know what ‘The Pact’ means? No, for that matter, are you even really from the Zahar family?”
Ignoring the knight who asked how he had done that, Renod looked at the surrounding trio and questioned them. There wasn't a trace of fear on his face. And looking at the power radiating from Renod’s body now, his confidence wasn't entirely baseless.
His mana, which had been at the level of a high noble just moments ago, had now reached the top tier—on par with Meisa and Solif. If he hadn't been surrounded by three top-tier nobles of equal or greater strength, he might have been able to overcome this crisis.