Chapter 26: The Black Book's True Purpose
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 26: The Black Book's True Purpose
Being a martial artist at the Late First-Tier didn't provide Muen with much of a sense of security. As he’d learned during the recent assassination attempt, beyond allowing him to run fast enough to throw himself in front of a blade for Celicia, it didn't mean a damn thing.
"The protagonist’s martial arts strength should only be at the Late First-Tier right now as well."
"But she can use magic! She has divine blessings! And she has all sorts of items!"
"At her current level, if she ran into a pure mage or a pure martial artist, she could probably jump two tiers and still win without a problem!"
Thinking this, Muen felt the massive gap between himself and the protagonist, Ariel, even more acutely.
—In the original novel, the only reason Muen Campbell was able to act like a tyrant over the protagonist’s head for those twenty chapters was solely due to his noble status!
...
After a moment of thought, Muen added one final line to the "Become Stronger" section on his paper.
→ Be able to protect myself against the protagonist, Ariel.
"For now, this is my ultimate goal."
Muen didn't believe he could actually surpass Ariel, so he settled for the next best thing. Since the conflict between him and the protagonist was currently irreconcilable, he had to at least reach a level where he wouldn't lose his life when her revenge inevitably came.
But even that was going to be incredibly difficult to achieve.
Having read the original book, he knew exactly what kind of "cheat" Ariel was.
She was the protagonist of a Soaring Phoenix novel, after all. If she wasn't overpowered, how could she look down on the world?
"Ordinary methods definitely won't work. I need something else!"
...
...
Muen pulled out the Black Book once again.
After considering all his options, the only thing that could possibly serve as his "cheat" was this Black Book. Usually, it did nothing but automatically write his diary or force him into unreliable prophetic dreams.
However, Muen had recently noticed something else unusual about it.
"The Evil God's flames that the assassin summoned through that ritual... even if that dress was a powerful defensive magic device, it shouldn't have been able to block them! You must have done something!"
Muen stroked the mysterious Black Book, murmuring under his breath.
"And in that moment, I definitely felt you react."
"If you have other functions, please, show them to me!"
Muen flipped the Black Book open again.
It was no longer the "Wordless Heavenly Book" it had been when he first opened it. Now, it was filled with dense records of Muen’s experiences.
From the moment he obtained the book until now, every detail was recorded—even that "incident" with Celicia was written down in excruciating detail.
"Dammit, it’s like reading an erotic novel where I’m the main character."
Muen cursed under his breath and skipped past that part of the "plot."
Then, he finally found something different.
"The words here... they're red."
The text throughout the Black Book was black, except for the entry regarding the assassin who had tried to kill Celicia. There, the word "Assassin" was a vivid, blood-like red.
"Why? Is there something different about this?"
Muen pondered for a moment, and then, almost instinctively, he placed his finger on those two blood-red words.
Suddenly, the crimson text exerted a massive pull, as if it were dragging Muen’s very soul out of his body.
Before Muen even had a chance to scream, his vision went black, and he lost consciousness.
...
"What happened? Where am I?"
Muen stood up from the ground, looking around in a daze.
Just a second ago, he had been in his room. Now, he was in a completely strange place.
Everything around him was dark; he couldn't see a thing.
"No, it’s not dark."
Muen looked down at his hands.
He could see himself, which meant the environment wasn't actually pitch black.
The illusion of darkness came from the fact that the entire background was black. Black walls, black floors, a black ceiling. The boundaries between them were indistinguishable, as if he were standing in a void of mist.
"Could this be... a space inside the Black Book?"
"But what’s the use of this place? Is it just a storage room?"
Just as Muen was puzzling over this, he suddenly heard a strange sound.
Tap. Tap.
It sounded like the footsteps of a maid from the Duke’s manor, leather shoes clicking against a marble floor.
Muen looked up.
His eyes widened involuntarily, a look of horror washing over his face.
Not far away, a figure was walking toward him.
A figure dressed as a maid.
It was clearly the uniform of the Duke’s maids that he was so familiar with, which was why even the footsteps sounded identical.
The problem was the maid’s face...
It was the assassin.
"How... aren't you dead?"
And why was she here?
The assassin didn't answer.
She simply lifted her head, her eyes as cold and mechanical as a machine.
A sudden chill swept through Muen’s heart.
But before he could react, his vision blurred.
The assassin vanished.
The assassin reappeared.
Just like during the attempt on Celicia’s life, she crossed the distance between them in a bizarre instant.
Then... a flash of cold steel.
Muen felt a sharp chill at his throat.
The world began to spin.
The last thing Muen saw was the blood-stained dagger in the assassin’s hand, and... a headless corpse.
...
...
"What the hell!"
Muen jolted awake at his desk.
His movement was so violent that he accidentally knocked over his chair, losing his balance and crashing to the floor.
But he didn't care about the minor pain. Instead, his hands scrambled frantically around his neck.
"It’s okay... it’s okay... my head is still there."
Muen let out a long sigh of relief.
He had almost thought he’d kicked the bucket for real this time.
"Was that... another dream?"
No, that wasn't right. It wasn't a dream.
The sensation of death still lingered on the skin of his neck. No dream could ever feel that real.
Muen stood up and looked at the Black Book again.
The book was still there, and the blood-red word "Assassin" was incredibly eye-catching, possessing a strange, magnetic pull.
"Could it be..."
A theory suddenly formed in Muen’s mind.
But to prove this theory, he needed to test it.
He reached out his hand again, intending to touch the red words.
His hand was trembling slightly.
Even if the death had been too fast to feel pain, the "taste" of dying wasn't something easily stomached.
"Dammit, I’ve already died more than once or twice. What am I afraid of?"
Muen steeled his resolve and slammed his trembling hand down onto the text.
...
The black space was exactly the same as before. The assassin in the maid outfit stood there as she had before.
Her appearance, movements, expressions, and even her strength were identical to Muen’s memory.
However, her expression was icy, devoid of the spark of a living person.
"I see. She isn't the actual assassin. She’s a record constructed by the Black Book, just like the records it keeps of me."
"But this record is more detailed, more real... you could even say she’s no different from the real person!"
Looking at the assassin, Muen felt as though he finally understood everything. A somewhat morbid excitement flickered across his face.
"I think I understand the Black Book's true purpose now."