Our Fall I
A Portroute problem
There was a thorn in Meili Portroute's heart. It was stuck there, stabbed deep, just like the ground of sand underneath her boots. The thorn had been stuck there for a long time, but for now it remained just a bit dormant.
"Stra~y-chan," her whisper was blown off by the dusty gusts and never reached the stray witch beast approaching the caravan. It approached with its limbs, weakened from starvation, and stood tall against her tiny figure.
A chorus of frightened screams, anxious shouts, and a singular voice of encouragement boomed against her back. The wind carrying those voices let her majestic cape, dyed orange and black, flutter against her body.
"Hmph~! How nois~y, right?" The tiny crimson scorpion snapped its pincers in answer.
It laid atop her head, and stared at the approaching Oiranguma[Courtesan Bear] with the will to fight. However, it did not possess the stature or strength to do anything of that sort. Yet its unrelenting spirit was amusing, at the least.
"Sorry, stra~y-chan," she brushed her braided hair, placed her hands on her waist, and smiled at the beast which could easily crush her body even with its frail limbs. "Normally, I would let you joi~n the rest, but you're too wea~k."
The conquering of the tower had led to a strange occurrence within the witch beasts. The majority of them had scattered away from the sand dunes, creating problems elsewhere, but some, like this one, had strayed away from the escaping groups.
She had thought long and hard about a suitable name, and came up with, 'Stay-chan,' in the end. Perhaps there might be another way to deal with stray-chan, but she could not find it. It was weak, useless, and having it recover its strength would itself be a hassle. Thus,
"Do it~! Earthworm-cha~n! It's feed~ing time!"
The ground under the stray-chan's feet exploded. To be exact, a large frame overcame the pressure of the sand ground and launched stray-chan to the sky. The large frame belonged to one of her pet Sunamimizu[Sand Earthworm] and it patiently awaited for the landing of its treat. Its body wiggled and its mouth erupted with saliva.
"-Eeep!" A scream of that sort came from behind her.
It dumbfounded her mind when she thought about how this scream came from grown men—soldiers and scholars.
Suddenly, another large frame belonging to the Earthworm-chan erupted from the side, snatched the stray-chan from its downwards trajectory, and dived back under the sand.
She ignored the second scream from the people behind her, directing her attention to the remaining Earthworm-chan, who still had its mouth open and was awaiting for its treat.
It took a while for it to realize what had happened, and then it turned its eyeless mouth towards her. It seemed to cry, "The other one stole my treat."
Her response was anger.
She pointed at him, stomped her feet, and said, "No, no! You weren't the one I called on in the first place! Go back, second Earthworm-chan! I'll punis~h you by giving the next feeding time to the third Earthworm-chan."
It sulked its mouth lower, but dived back under the sand the moment little scorpion-chan snapped her pincers. Despite her lack of power, all of the witch beasts seemed to hold some sort of instinctual fear towards it.
"Don't you think it would be better to give your pet witch beasts some better names?" The question arrived from the only other female in the caravan. It had a casual tone, unafraid of everything that had just occurred. In truth, this fearless nature gave quite the impression and caused a great deal of restlessness within her.
"These name~s are just fin~e. It's cut~e."
"Huh? These names are cute? Aren't you just naming them exactly what they are?"
"You won't understan~d," she put a trained smile on her face and turned around to face the girl, "Felt-chan."
Standing there with clothes dirtied by sand was one of the Royal Candidates, Felt. This candidate was only an inch higher and a year older than her, however. Yet those crimson eyes held a deep ambition and a strong sense of identity.
"How envious."
"You put on a good show, Meili-chan," Felt-chan gave a thumbs-up. "Look at all of them behind us. A bunch of cowards, really. At least they didn't piss their pants or run away. I'll praise them for that, at least! Ah ha ha!"
"Oh~? And Felt-chan really wasn't scarre~d at all~?"
"Scared? From that skinny-looking bear?" Felt-chan proudly patted her chest, and continued, "If there's anything that scares me in this world then it's definitely not that. That witch beast's condition really made me pity it. It's simple survival of the fittest and that one already lost before it got a chance."
"Still, you shouldn't underestimate even the weak one~s."
"You shouldn't too, sister," saying so, Felt-chan gestured towards the long caravan and the people there. It was a warning from this observant candidate.
But there was no need to be warned about it, because she already understood the meaning of the gazes upon her. The gazes came from the group of scholars and soldiers, who were riding safely within the caravans with the intent of reaching the Pleiades watchtower.
She was assigned to them for safe transport, but they looked at her with caution. This caution wasn't directed to who she was as an individual, but to her divine-protection instead. It made her unnecessarily restless and she truly wished that she could just ditch this entire stupid job.
However, if she wanted to follow the path shown by Onii-san and apologize for her sins then her only option was to grit her teeth and bear this anxiety. It did not make it any easier though.
"Hey, sister," Felt-chan wrapped a hand around her neck and pulled her close. "Don't worry about those fools. They are just a bunch of paranoid people, but they ain't going to do anything as long as you're Onii-chan's comrade. Putting that aside–have you thought about my deal?"
"Deal~? Ah, that…"
Now she remembered the main reason why Felt-chan was so friendly towards her. It had happened when she had learned about her divine protection. This girl, who's supposed to be a Royal candidate, came up with a plan to make some quick money.
The plan was to utilize the divine protection in the sand dunes and collect the horns of powerful witch beasts without having to fight them. Then Felt-chan would sell it to some 'illegal black market' and make more money than you would by doing otherwise.
But,
"I have no reason to do somethin~g like this."
"Don't be a stranger, sister. This deal holds a lot of benefits for you too. Think of the sound of gold coins as they overflow out of our pockets, my sister! Better yet, you can earn enough to get yourself out of this stupid job."
She sighed. Even with extra money, it was already too late to escape from this position now that her divine protection had been exposed to the authorities of Lugunica. Currently, her only circle of protection against complete labor abuse was her affiliation with the Emilia camp. Money would not protect her here.
This reality brought by the exposure of her divine protection was, in fact, not something she had perceived on her own. Onii-san had been the one to grimace over it the moment he returned back from Vollachia. He had discussed how the decision to reveal Meili to the authorities of Lugunica had been hasty, but now the time for deliberation had passed.
"Is this really the only reaso~n Felt-chan came to this hot place?"
"No way! Money interests me, but my own dignity is more important now."
Felt-chan turned her eyes towards the silhouet of the watchtower. Those crimson eyes held a spectacular glitter that anyone would envy.
"I want to see it," she grinned. "This tower that was left unconquered for 400 years. This tower that Onii-chan and his team conquered. Its wonders and secrets. More than that, I want to see the damn senile divine dragon causing hilarious issues for those Council old men."
Given Felt-chan's personality, she had a bit of a prediction on what her reaction would end up becoming.
For now her job was to lead this caravan of scholars and soldiers into the watchtower. This was but the first of many future expeditions, and her role in all of this made the thorn in her heart ache.
#
Only three five hours, perhaps six, had passed after everyone stepped foot into the watch tower itself. In these few hours, she observed how the passion in Felt-chan's eyes turned into complete disappointment.
"Boring!" Stomping the floor of Alcyone[fourth floor], Felt-chan complained like a self-entitled child. "How could this be so damn boring?!"
"Seriously~?"
"What? Are you trying to state that this place has some actual entertainment?"
"Mhm. It is…borin~g."
"Exactly, sister! The Taygeta library is just a collection of books I can't even read. Well, yes, even I can understand the reasons based on the information given by Onee-chan's group, but it doesn't change its uselessness!"
"Uselessness~? I think it would be pretty valuable to, uh, collectors? Or to those scholars, I thin~k."
"Tch! Just a bunch of useless politics. Gives me a bad taste just by thinking about how those scholars are going to dissect books that belong to the dead. Absolutely ridiculous."
"Felt-chan really isn't curious~?" She carefully asked with a simple smile. In honesty, her desire to find Elsa's book flared up everytime she came to this place. But then she would remember Onii-chan, and stop herself from seeking her old path.
"No way," Felt-chan waved her hand in front of her face. "Change is good, but people shouldn't pry into things they can't handle. They shouldn't take deals that are completely out of their level."
She spoke like she had literally done such things.
"What about the Old Dragon-chan~?"
"Dragon-chan? You…never mind." Felt-chan crossed her arms together, nodded, and said, "It's definitely cool. Those scales, the color, and even the size. There is just something about it that makes me feel strange, like I am standing on a familiar yet extremely grand stage. But, despite how amazing it looks, the thing is just a husk of its former self. They should put the thing out of its clear misery. It's pathetic how the Kingdom thinks that they can still use the power of the Dragon."
"Wha-?! Shh, Felt-chan! You shouldn't say such things near the ear-shot of people from the Kingdo~m." She looked around, trying to notice whether anyone was eavesdropping on their conversation or not. It wasn't out of fear for Felt-chan, but for herself.
Felt-chan's expression turned irritated, however, and she replied, "Why should I lower my voice and keep my opinions under my tongue? I'll say what I want to say. If they have a problem with it, then first they will have to find the guts to stand up. I doubt that will happen though. Ha ha ha!"
She rubbed her forehead, leaving a sigh towards this ridiculously stubborn girl.
"Hey, you," Felt-chan called out.
"What~?"
"When are you making the next trip back?"
"Oh, so Felt-chan already wants to go back, huh."
"Of course I do! I should have taken Reinhard's offer for speedy transportation."
"But Felt-chan must have been stubborn and refused it, right~? Ufu! Can't believe you took this long trip simply because of tha~t."
"S-Shut up! Leave me alone," she pouted, cheeks flushed.
"Let's see. This time the soldiers are here to set up the camps outside and inside the tower. Then in two weeks I am supposed to escort a team of workers from the Capital. After that we have the first set of excited Nobles, and one week after that we have the Sage council themselves. So I guess the earliest trip back would be in two weeks~?"
"W-What did you just say?" Felt-chan's eyes widened, jaw dropped low, and incoherent words came out of her mouth.
She understood what it was and smiled brightly, repeating, "The earliest trip back is in two weeks, Felt-chan~!"
"Noo!" Felt-chan went flat on the floor, her back against the cold stone. "Don't want to! Don't want to! I wanna go right now! I don't want to wait for two weeks! Let's go, sister! Let's go right now!"
"Uwah, what a ki~d." It put a soft smile on her face. Letting Felt-chan continue her well-deserved tantrums, she walked away towards the staircase leading to the upper floor.
"Oi, sister. Where are you going?"
"Ah, just for a wal~k."
"A walk towards the Taygeta library?" Felt-chan narrowed her eyes.
For a second she thought that the mask of friendliness on her face had broken, but Felt-chan shrugged and let it pass.
"Be careful, sister. Don't fall down the staircase. Ah, I guess maybe I should warn you not to push someone off the staircase? Ha ha ha!"
"..Mhm. Not funn~y."
"Just kidding. Those scholars up there might be annoying, but I don't think there is any idiot here who would give you enough reason to justify a murder!"
She ignored the laughter and carefully climbed up the staircase. Her only companion was the silent little scorpion atop her head.
"No one to talk to except for you, I guee~s. Though you have been acting pretty strange lately. You keep looking towards a strange direction, and then you become oddly quiet when we're in the tower itself. What change~d? Whatever. It's not like I'll get a answe~r."
The steps to the library were heavy and taxing for her small feet.
"I wonder what Onii-san is doing right now," her tone had deep frustration within it.
He was the one who made the promise to show her a different path, one which would be different from the path of murder. Then, right after the promise, he went and got himself teleported to somewhere far far away. It was way too ridiculous, and it shook her heart with a feeling that she could not even comprehend, much less express.
But at least there was still Onee-san, Beatrice-chan, and the rest. She would get the chance to stick with them, observe the path they travel, and perhaps even go with them to rescue Onii-san. Or at least that had been her initial hope.
Now she was stuck here in this role that was chosen for her as a form of repentance. Trying to repent wasn't the problem itself. The problem laid within the way Onii-san, Onee-san, and the rest handled the crucial promise made near this same staircase.
"Are they idiot~s?" She said in a low whisper. "You said you would show me the way, but how will that even happen if you aren't even here? Onii-san, do you even remember the promis~e? I am starting to wonder whether I was just fooled again.
"-If you keep this up, then I'll feel like murdering you again. Though considering how the last attempt went, I highly doubt any of my strategies will ever work."
When she arrived at the Taygeta Library, her ears were greeted not with silence but with excessive noise. The volcanic volume of the noise came from multiple voices spread throughout the circular stone-work of the library. Each voice was wise, filled with a childish excitement, and running on so much vigor and energy that it would exhaust the listener's spirit.
The liveliest out of all them was the voice of an elderly man in the center of the library.
"-How wonderful! The vistas of knowledge are stupendous. Ah, I envy the young! To have years upon years of sight, sound, taste, and knowledge! The heavens cry and the earth rumbles for the grandeur of this library. Oh, books of the dead! Grace me with thy memory. If only I had known all of you when thee were alive! How shameful!"
Despite the frail status of the old man, he was engaging in absolutely ridiculous theatrics as he spoke. His arms were outstretched, back bent backwards, and his bald head trembled under the shadow of the infinite shelves of this library.
He wore a similarly colorful robe like all of the other scholars, but the tied blue ribbon on the breast signified his mastery of the arts of academics in the Dragon Kingdom of Lugunica.
Many younglings waited around him, their ears strained on each word.
"Everyone! We must make haste. For there is no time to waste. Sleep is unnecessary."
"It's unnecessary, Teacher?!" One of the young scholars retorted.
The elderly man turned his shallow face towards the one who spoke out, grabbed the robe of the youngling, and yelled, "Of course it is, you idiot! In front of this abode of books, you decide to value sleep? You know what? Just hurry up and let me possess your body!"
"What are you even talking about, Teacher?!"
The elderly man–the head teacher–shook the youngling's body, and complained with childish tears, "I want to be young again! Getting old is the worst! Ah, I just heard a crack in my bones."
"A bunch of idiot~s. But," she looked around at the increasing pile of books on the floor, and at the scholars researching them through various methods.
These piles were made up of books whose names were recognized, familiar to any scholar here, or part of the ledgers the scholars brought with them. They were prioritized for research and designated for collection.
"Is it really okay to take these books out of the librar~y?" In order to not draw unnecessary caution from the scholars, she mixed herself in the discussions and asked one of the mature ones.
"Little lady, weren't you part of the team that conquered this tower?" The man she had asked raised an eyebrow. The breast of his robe had a tied red ribbon, signifying his rank as being lower than the blue-ribbon scholars.
She tilted her head to the side, replying, "But I didn't understand anythin~g. I am a little too youn~g for all of this scary stuff."
"Hearing that from a girl who can control witch beasts is a bit unnerving. I suppose that is yet another mystique of the divine protection system."
"Mhp. So their judgment of me is indeed based on tha~t."
She kept her composure even under the careful deliberation of this scholar. It would all go into the ideal scenario if she kept her composure, regardless of any pressure thrown at her.
After a few seconds, the scholar shook his head and said, "Fine then. There is no need to deny knowledge to someone who seeks it. Your question has a deliberative answer, little lady. We have derived the answer from the information provided by the team that conquered this watch tower. That is to say that our decision of collecting the books of the dead is based upon the testimony of Natsuki Subaru-sama, Emilia-sama, Anastasia Hoshin-sama, the mysterious Knight, and the Great Spirit."
"Why can't these people ever give a quick answe~r?"
"The rules of the tower would have prevented us from ever considering our current decision. It would likely be considered a disrespect to the Library, you see. But now the rules are out of consideration because the tower has been conquered."
"Why did I even bother askin~g? I-I really am going to fall asleep at this rate."
"For those above-mentioned reasons, there should be no issues with taking the books out of the library and out of the tower itself. It would also fulfill our experiment in figuring out whether the books continue to function outside the range of the tower, and whether the ones familiar with the dead person can read it outside this library, or not. It would also allow us to dive deeper into our research. We can try methods of magic, and even physical met–"
"Hee? How interesting."
"You said it in a completely dead voice! And don't interrupt a scholar's lecture! Are you even actually interested in the answer to the question you just asked?"
"Of course I am. By the way, were there any notable names in these collections?"
"Well, well, little lady. Is there any particular name you are looking for?"
She stifled the groan in her throat. There was no deep meaning to his question, but it still put her off. Right now what she needed to know was whether Elsa's book had been found or not.
There was still confusion about whether she desired to read it herself or not, but there was no confusion about her desire to not let anyone else touch it, no matter who.
"Just intereste~d, and supe~r bored," she said.
"The trip was indeed taxing for all of us, I suppose. And it is understandable that a person of your age would be bored in this tower. Just like Felt-sama, I suppose. Let's see," he held his chin, and ran his eyes over the nearest shelf.
She followed suit and ran her eyes over the names written on the bindings of the books. The ones she read were: [Gild Huan], [Rachins Hoffman], [Buld Greyman], [Lusbel Kallard], [Mild], [Feeter Peecks], [Setanta], [Null], and a few others.
The scholar spoke up, "Ah, how could I have forgotten? We made a monumental discovery just an hour ago."
"...Monumental, huh~? Mind telling me…please," her heart thumped louder than she wanted it to. She blamed Onii-san for her recent lack of composure.
"We found the book of Libre Fermi."
"Who?"
The man put a hand to his head, sighed, and said, "The current generation of kids scare me. Have you not learned any history, little lady?"
"Just a littl~e," she said. It was half a truth and half a lie.
In truth, she did not want to remember the memories associated with her time spent with Mama. That person was the one who talked about random names while engaging in sadistic torture.
"Libre Fermi, for your much-needed knowledge, was one of the notable figures in the Demi-Human War. He was notably known for having wiped out the Zelgeff squadron, and known for having died due to a betrayal. Wilhelm-sama would most definitely be capable of reading his book, while Bordeaux-sama would be highly interested in it due to his past grudges. This book could offer us invaluable insight into the demi-human alliance, and give us knowledge about the mysterious existence of the Witch, Sphinx."
"How very inter–"
"Don't you dare say it in a dead voice. Not about Libre Fermi because I am a secret fan."
"Sorry. Ahem, let's put that aside. Have you found any assassin~s?"
"Assassins? Highly specific, but it probably doesn't have any deeper meaning."
The man looked about and called to some of the scholars, asking, "Have you found any assassins so far?"
The answer to such a question was a negative.
"Little lady, if you by chance find any notable names then please bring them to us."
"Notable name~s?" She recalled one of the names she had glimpsed in the nearest shelf. Mama had talked about it once, though she did not care to recall the exact details of that time.
But as a reward for this scholar's information, she pointed at the book and said, "Like Fourier Lugunica?"
"Yes, just like Fourier Lugunica-sama. Hmm?!" The man turned his head, and then his eyes went so wide that she thought they would fall off. "Fourier Lugunica?!"
"Ouch, you scream so lou~d."
"Can't believe this! This is an incredible find. To think that it was right under my eyes, yet I overlooked it due to the ever-shifting nature of this library! Little lady, you hit quite the jackpot. I'll make certain that the credit for this find goes to you."
"..It's just some luc~k."
The man shook his head, snatched the book of the dead belonging to Fourier Lugunica, and rushed towards the head teacher.
Soon a commotion that she had no interest in started in the center of the library. The head teacher did his strange pose again; arms stretched to either side, back bent backwards, and his voice booming as he contemplated the mysteries of Taygeta.
She walked away, trailing her hand on the spine of the books stacked on the shelves as she went, and came across another short group of scholars.
There were three younglings sitting on the floor, with one head researcher supervising them. The ones on the floor had tied-yellow ribbons on the breast of their robes, while the head researcher had a red ribbon.
The yellow-ribbon younglings were surrounded by several books, many of which did not belong to this library. The head researcher gave her a casual nod, and turned towards the younglings.
"How goes the research regarding the composition of the books?" He asked them.
"Compositio~n? Is it about what the books are made out of~? Why is that even importan~t?"
"Yes, Sir," one of the younglings began, "It is exactly like our earliest predictions, Sir. We have scoured through the texture and material of different samples of paper, book, text, and dialect. We have even taken into account and observed books from different eras, such as the indecipherable texts of Hoshin, for example. However, other than the structure of language itself, there are no similarities between the composition of books. None of our samples match the strange composition that the books of the dead are made out of. The paper, binding, texture, dialect, and everything else is unlike anything that exists in our era."
"Naturally, we would have to properly 'dissect' one of the books of the dead in order to learn more about its actual composition," another youngling chimed in. "As for the structure of the writing…well, simply put, it isn't handwritten."
"What does that mean?" The head researcher asked. "It is easy to tell that no one is writing it because the books of the dead continue to be generated without an author. Our current theory into that is based on the possible power of the Sage. But if the meaning of your words is as literal as they are, then…"
The last youngling raised his hand, stating, "My area of expertise is in handwritten texts, so I would be able to give an efficient answer, Sir."
"Go on."
"As my colleague just stated, the letters in these books of the dead could not have been written by the hand of a person. The glyphs hold no error; the I glyphs, Ro glyphs, and Ha glyphs are in the state of pure perfection. This same perfection makes it queer, eerie. No matter the text, the writer always leaves behind an imprint. From a simple error in the curve of a glyph, to the existence of a unique style. The books of the dead hold nothing of that sort. They leave no imprint behind. Our hope was that we would be able to understand the Sage's writing structure based on an imprint, even if the current generation of the books of the dead is based upon some sort of a system."
"But there's nothing like that," one of the younglings finished. "And the fact that every single book of the dead is written in this same manner provides evidence to this possibility. If we can study this method of writing, then we might be able to understand the kind of system used behind it and possibly apply it to our own texts. Imagine a non-living system that writes with perfection."
"So, simply put, the books of the dead don't have the writing of a human, demi-human, or any other living existenc~e? Ha. Then what exactly is writing it? There is nothing in this world that is not written by the hand of a person."
The head researcher nodded after a bit of deliberation, and then said, "Make a proper report, submit it to the head researcher, and you may begin research into the possible method of replicating this same non-living style of writing."
"Yes, Sir." "Understood." "Yes."
"If that's all for your findings, then I shall take my leave."
"No, p-please wait, Sir," one of them called out. This youngling had the sweat of anxiety plastered on his forehead.
"Say your piece."
"Well, um, it's about the composition of these books."
"Yeah? What is making you so nervous, youngling? Speak your mind freely."
"It's just a suggestion I would like to provide. Just a suggestion!"
"Just say it already. The way you're acting is super suspiciou~s." She leaned herself against a shelf.
"We have compared the samples from the majority of regions, time periods, and authors. But there is one type of book that we have not compared the books of the dead with," he took a few gulps, cleared his throat, and then continued, "We haven't compared it to the Gospels."
"..." Silence dropped like rain. The younglings were shocked, and so was she.
"Ha…ha. W-What are you saying?" One of his colleagues said in a forcefully hushed voice, and looked around with caution. "Do not bring up such a term, even as a suggestion, idiot! What if one of those useless soldiers heard you, and judged this as a cause for concern? And comparing a book from the tower of the Sage to that? Do you even understand what you're saying?"
"Yeah, that's right," the other colleague joined in. "The tower is one of the most important symbols of the Kingdom. Think about the kind of eyes the nobles will show to you, and to all the scholars if they heard what you just said. It'll ruin our reputation to the ground, but it's truly because of concern for your safety that I suggest you take your suggestions back."
"I..I was just," the youngling who provided the suggestion lowered his head. "Sorry, I'll take it–"
"It's fine," the head researcher suddenly stated.
"What?!" "Sir?!"
In response to the outburst from the other younglings, the head researcher folded his arms together, narrowed his eyes, and said, "Do not forget who you are, you foolish younglings. We are scholars, not political nobles. Our work here is to satiate our curiosity and none of our theories are to be rejected without proper evidence. There is no room for paranoid fear here."
"Do not forget who you are, huh," she thought to herself, surprised by the researcher's forwardness. She had believed these people were a cause for concern, and was still cautious regarding Elsa's book. But perhaps her way of thinking had been immature. Now if only Onii-san were actually here to confirm or deny her observations. If only.
The head researcher continued, "Make your report of this theory, youngling. File it under my name if necessary."
"Sir…"
"Let's see. I believe Sir Natsuki Subaru retrieved the gospel of the Sin-archbishop of Sloth. I do believe he has now deposited it to the Capital for inspection. If the head researcher approves your research, then you should be able to file a request for that particular gospel."
The youngling nodded and bowed his head.
Standing near that sight, she muttered, "Maybe the books of the dead will match the gospe~l's composition. That would be quite the shoc~k to everyone. Will it be amusing, or troublesome~? What do you think, little scorpion-chan?"
She nudged the scorpion on her head, but it remained eerily silent in the domain of this library.
Just then, suddenly, a voice of commotion interrupted everyone. It came from the center, and multiple footsteps started to rumble towards the source. She went towards it, excited at the prospect of a new discovery.
"Everyone! Please gather together," one of the red-ribbon scholars told them. He held a book in his hands, his grip so tight that she felt bad for the book. "I-I have made quite the tremendous discovery. It's such a strange one that it feels like an error to me."
The crowd gathered around the scholar and murmured among themselves. She quietly sifted through them to get to the front.
"A new name?" "Error?" "Maybe it's a name that is not supposed to be there?" "Like what? The name of a living person?" "Or a name that doesn't even exist?" "O-Or maybe it's the name of a historic figure." "Like Reid Astrea?! Or Flugel?!"
The scholar shook his head, and then pushed the book in front of his chest, showing it to them. The composition, color, binding, and shape of the book was the exact same as the rest. There was no special aura either.
At first there was nothing but a sigh of disappointment from the crowd. But when the scholar pointed at the title of the book, everyone stopped. Gasps and surprised grunts rose in waves. Even the tiny scorpion on her head trembled and shifted around on her hair.
Its quivering tail pointed at the title of the book, while its pincers rapidly sliced empty air. It was almost like it had been filled with a humanistic spirit. Though she did not understand its behavior, she couldn't blame the scorpion for its confusion.
"What is tha~t?" She said the question that was on everyone's mind, the question brought only by the title.
The strange title was, [菜月・昴]
Were those boxes? Squares? Weird shapes? What kind of structure was this?
It looked like something that a child might draw. In other words, the shapes were absolutely incomprehensible.
The scholar traced his finger over the drawings, wetted his lips, and said, "As everyone can see here, the title of this book is written in, uh, a language that is not ours. A language that does not belong in this library."
The head teacher drew close, his old eyes bright with the glint of a childish wonder.
He said, "Given the place we are in, it's simple to conclude that this title is most likely a name, wouldn't it? But why is it written in this manner? The first name has two of these drawings designated to it, but the last name only gets one. How? How does that work? Whose book is this?"
"Um, Sir," one of the many scholars spoke up. "Could this be the sage's book? I mean, the mysterious and indecipherable manner in which the name is written could very well be the proof of the Sage's name. Of course, there is no actual proof for it, but it may explain the use of a language lost to our present time."
"The Sage's book!" The head teacher stretched his arms, bent his back backwards, and snatched the book for himself. He flipped through the pages with a wide grin. "Everything written within is in the same strange language as the title. And naturally, the true content is hidden only to those who are familiar with the dead person."
"Doesn't that mean that there is no one who can read the book?!" Another scholar brought the saddening conclusion.
"It is so," the head researcher nodded. "We learned a bit from Emilia-sama and Anastasia-sama about the true identity of the Sage. It was a true shock to learn that Shaula was an apprentice, not the Sage. But it is a shame that even the apprentice is no longer present in this tower. She would have been the last person capable of reading this book and uncovering the secret of what occurred 400 years ago! What a shame!"
There were actual tears pouring out of the Teacher's eyes.
Another scholar put in, "So we may deduce that this strangely written name is actually Flugel, right? Well at least this book will become a literal relic in the Kingdom. Though I feel as if I have seen this language before…"
"-This book of the dead is not the Sage's book!" A voice called out from the dense crowd of scholars, silencing all of them.
The head teacher's piqued interest was clear from the expression on his face.
The scholar, a yellow-ribbon one, stepped forwards with a book held under his arm.
"Why do you say that, young youngling?" The teacher questioned.
"Sir, we know from all of the information gathered that a single book of the dead exists for each dead person. It appears in this library after death and only those acquainted with the person can vividly experience their entire life. Which also means that a historical figure like Flugel-sama, who is most certainly long dead, should only have one book, right?"
"It should, yes."
"Then," the youngling took a gulp, slowly pushed the book under his arm in front of him, and continued, "Then why are there two books of the dead for one individual?!"
Death-cold silence dripped over the entire library. Everyone stared at the title of this second book, at the letters which were, [菜月・昴]
The scorpion on her head went silent again. She could feel her own skin grow cold at the existence of this possibility.
Someone let out a nervous laughter and the dam of questions broke free.
"W-Why is it the exact same?" "An error. It must be an error." "Something like that is physically impossible." "Could it be that this name is shared by two people?" "Teacher, what do you think about this?!" "Teacher?!"
Everyone turned towards the head of their order, who was currently on the floor, face to the floor, and unmoving.
"""Eh?!""" The chorus boomed.
"What~? Did the old man suddenly drop dea~d? A heart attac~k?" She concluded.
"Don't say that!" Someone retorted.
"I-Impossible, but it's not impossible when you really think about it! The old teacher is already seventy-two years old!"
"Oh Dragon lord, please don't take him right now! I won't be able to hold back my tears!"
"Look at how excited he was. Why must it end like this? He didn't get to the end of this mystery!"
These educated scholars started shedding tears, wailing at the sudden loss of the head teacher.
–The head teacher sat up.
"""Eh?"""
The head teacher brushed his hair, looked at everyone's shocked faces, and said, "What happened, everyone? You have such grieved faces. Did someone die?"
"""-It's you who died!"""
"Are these guys comedians or scholars?"
"Don't make us worried like that, Teacher."
"Oh, sorry, sorry," he scratched the back of his head. "I was just so excited about a certain possibility that I fainted! Ho ho ho ho."
"A certain possibility?"
The teacher's grin was foreboding. He took both of the books of the dead and pushed their spines against each other. The indecipherable name was the exact same. The teacher began,
"It's a possibility that all of you have in the depths of your mind. Now there is indeed the possibility that these two books belong to two different people who simply share the same name. The possibility is there for every dead person, even despite the fact that we have not found two books sharing the same exact name for whatever reason. We haven't found any example of this likely scenario except for this one right here. There is also the possibility that this is nothing but an error in the system that governs this library. Perhaps even the language used for the name is naught but a garbled mess. However, the last possibility interests me the most."
Everyone gulped at the same time. Even she was completely immersed in the wonder of this mystery. Finally, after a long silence, the teacher said,
"The possibility in my mind is that this name belongs to one person. This person uses a language unlike ours, and that's why their name is written in this manner. And lastly, the reason why this person gets two books is because this person has died twice in one lifetime! Died twice!"
"Seriousl~y?" She asked, fidgeting with her braids. "Sounds highly unbeleivabl~e."
"Is it now, young lady?"
The head teacher's sudden question surprised her. The way all eyes turned towards her was as troubling as ever. However, waving his hand like a gentle grandpa, the head teacher continued,
"I didn't mean to put you into the spot like that. I only mean to give you as the example for my hypothesis, young lady."
"Me~? What about me is as impossible as dying twic~e?"
"It's your divine protection, young lady."
"...Mh," she let out an involuntary grunt. She had let her guard down, but now it was fully brought back up; a plastered smile on her face, an innocent tilt of the head, and clear eyes.
"Before we had embarked on this expedition, I and many others had never believed that the witch beast issue could be resolved without violence and strength. I had never thought that a rare divine protection like yours could exist, and that it would become vital for the conquest of the watchtower itself! So what evidence is there that denies the possibility of the existence of a rare divine protection that, when used, could allow the user invulnerability to true death?"
The other scholars let out a few gasps and reasonable nods.
"The lack of evidence does not prove actual absence! If you remember me for something after I meet my death, then remember me just for that!"
"""Teacher!""" The scholars gave an inspired shout.
"Wha~t is this strange atmospher~e?"
"Ahem," the head teacher brought back attention. "There was one other fact I realized when I fainted. It came to me like a thunderbolt as I collapsed on my face." He stretched his arms, bent his back backwards, and proclaimed up to the heavens.
"Should I ask what's up with that strange pos~e? Maybe?"
The head teacher snapped his fingers, then said, "The scholars whose expertise is in language, step forward."
"""Yes, Sir."""
"All of us have assumed that the language in which the title is written is absolutely foreign and indecipherable. However, there is a certain sort of text that repeatedly showcases letters similar to these. Whose texts am I talking about?"
"""Hoshin of the wilderness, Sir!"""
"Exactly, people! It is a shame that the majority of records are kept in Kararagi, and that their team of scholars are the only ones to have studied these records for hundreds of years. But if we can collaborate with them, then the possibility of deciphering the name of this mysterious existence increases to 90–no, it increases to 100 percent!"
This frail old man spun around on the spot, his face filled with so much childish joy that it made the observers smile.
She envied the spirit behind those old eyes. Could he not see that he was so close to death? If so, then how was it that his way of life shone so bright in her eyes?
"Just like Elsa. Something in her was as bright as this old man, as Felt, and as Onii-san."
"I, as the head teacher, wish to uncover the name of this person above all else. That's why I shall prioritize our two-fold task. The first team shall head out as soon as possible to contact the Kararagi scholar team. Their role is to decipher this language and find out the name of our 'undead' person. The second team will search this library for any other names written in this same language. And who knows, perhaps we might find this same name repeated in yet another book of the dead. Ho ho ho."
"Agai~n? That would be quite scar~y. Maybe this person is a true monste~r or a nightmar~e to this world." She judged with a shrug of her shoulders.
"A monster? A nightmare? Nay! I would see this person's existence as a miracle, young lady," he replied to her as his hands trailed over the strange letters. "Let's get to work, everyone!"
"""Yes!"""
Roaring with a sudden breath of energy, the team of scholars spread around and started their work without a single sigh of exhaustion.
However, for Meili, a yawn painted over her entire expression.
"Sleep~y. Somehow the discoveries here were a lot more interesting than I thought. Felt-chan really missed out on a lo~t. Maybe I'll tease her about it if she's still awake. Come one, little scorpion-chan. It's time to go to slee~p." She walked away from the library and into the living quarters on the fourth floor.
–The scorpion stayed silent, its crimson eyes turned towards the direction of the library even after she had exited it.
# Strand of Memory
A thorn filled her chest. A thorn so strong that it threatened to rip her heart to shreds.
"What is he doing? Why is he doing this? What's his scheme? Why? Why?! Why? Onii-san!"
Didn't he tell her?! Didn't he promise her in the library?! He said that he would remember her worries and anguish, right? She heard him loud and clear, right?
Then why had he now conveniently forgotten everything?!
He had been the one who told her to listen to her own desire, to devote herself to finding it, and only then would she become Meili. He had looked at her with those deranged eyes, and told her all of that!
But now he was just messing with her. A liar. A cheat. He had broken her desire like it was nothing but a papier-mache.
The urge burned in her heart, just like Elsa's body had burned!
She needed to do something. She needed to take out this urge on this lying Onii-san. She needed to quiet the person who had seen through her deceptions and the only way to do it was in the path she had followed until now.
She knew what Elsa would do. And so her answer was easily set into stone.
She waited for the opportunity and it came to her on a silver-platter through Onii-san's own mistakes.
Onii-san convinced Beatrice-chan to allow him some privacy. Then he did strange poses, incomprehensible stances, and even tried to use his whip, but hit his own shin instead. His behavior was as innocent as that of a blameless child.
But she knew. She knew that Onii-san was a scary person. Instead of becoming fond of him over this past year or so, she had always been scared, wary, restless.
So she waited until Onii-san had walked in the wrong direction. She waited until he was near the large spiral staircase.
Why was this so easy? Was there really no trap?
Her caution was there as she slid closer on silent feet. But her urge broke through any wariness, begging her to,
Push him. Push him. Push him. Kill him. Kill him for Elsa. Kill him for Meili. Kill him to become Meili.
Onii-san let out a nonchalant sigh–a moment of weakness where his muscles relaxed. Her tiny arms pushed forwards. They gave his back a pat, a tiny nudge, and a push in the right direction.
Her caution was unwarranted, for Onii-san's body easily went off the ground.
I did it. I pushed him.
She watched him fall, but neither did she understand the feeling in her heart nor did she comprehend the simplicity of the task. Having killed an uncountable amount of people since a young age, even this murder was no different in the end.
Onii-san's body spun around as it fell, and immediately gained a repulsive speed. He spun and spun.
And spun and spun.
And spun and spun and spun.
"-Mommy," she heard a mutter like that. It came silent from the depths and echoed off the walls. It made her feel nothing.
Natsuki Subaru's body went splat on the ground, and then the world collapsed away.
# #
Meili woke up with all the air knocked out of her body. Her hands immediately clutched her braids, twirling them within her sweaty fingers.
"What? What was that just now?"
Just now, she had been at the spiral staircase, and had pushed Onii-san off to his dea–
She had pushed off who? Onii-san had been pushed off. It had been her tiny hands that had committed the crime. The texture of his upper garment was alive on her hands right now.
Everything was alive in her memory.
The sigh he had let out, the absurdly low difficulty of the task, and his last mutter before his body splattered into a red blotch on the hard ground. This experience that came like a dream was far from being a simple dream. However,
"There is no way that is true. How ridiculous!"
She pulled herself off the bed, wiped her sweaty brow, and blew out the single dim candle in her appointed living quarter.
Leaving little scorpion-chan and her dyed cape behind, she headed out for the exact location in her dream.
"All of this doesn't make any sense! What was that strange dream, and why did I have it? I mean, yes, I wanted to push Onii-san off the moment he turned amnesiac and all that, but he saw it coming and everything else happened! The real Onii-san was completely different from the moronic one in my dream!"
The conclusion was simple: this was a well-constructed dream and nothing more. It was fake regardless of how real it felt, and everything in it was completely different from reality.
Yet her stride was faster than needed and she was out of breath when she reached the exact spot.
"This is it. But calm down, Meili. You did not push Onii-san. You did not murder anyone that day. Even if you l-look down, you won't find the red blotch there."
Her heart thumped in her ear. She took silent steps forwards, shook away the illusionary image of Onii-san's corpse, and peered down the great abyss.
There was nothing on the ground floor except for the resting ground dragons. There was no blood, no splattered chunks of meat, and no evidence of Onii-san's impossible death.
After all, there was no way that person could die so easily.
"The lack of evidence does not prove actual absence!"
Why? Why was the head teacher's words pouring into her head right now?! It wasn't even related to this situation at all. There was something else among those words, something which burned red in the back of her eyes.
[菜月・昴] [菜月・昴] [菜月・昴]
Three times. Those letters flashed thrice.
Footsteps sounded behind her. She swiftly turned around. Though she had no weapons and witch beasts by her side, she wasn't about to let someone push her into the abyss. She wasn't going to spin around and around, over and over. She wasn't going to mutter, 'Mommy,' before her death.
"Uh? You are," she muttered.
"The witch beast girl?" It was one of the soldiers. His way of calling her was due to the rude title given to her by the soldiers.
He eyed her for a few seconds, but quickly shook his head and rushed towards the staircase leading up to the Taygeta library. Other soldiers rushed up from the ground floor, while distinct shouts came from the upper floor.
"W-What? What is going on?" Her demeanor was already disturbed; she could not place her deceptive mask back on her face.
She followed the squad of soldiers and reached the library's entrance. The chorus of voices greeted her before anything else.
"Please stop this!" "Don't trash this library!" "Our research!" "Stop her already, you useless soldiers!"
"D-Don't be unreasonable!" "That's right!" "She's a candidate, you know!" "We don't want to deal with the consequence of putting our hands on a candidate."
Both scholars and soldiers were at the entrance. The library itself was filled with the sounds of books being thrown, shelves being shattered, and paper being shredded. And within those sounds were indecipherable screams from an oddly familiar voice.
The head teacher was kneeling on the floor, his eyes filled with tears. He slowly said,
"Why, Felt-sama? Why would you rampage here?! Someone, please stop Felt-sama from destroying anything more!"
She was stupefied at that, and asked, "Felt-chan? Is Felt-chan the one trashing the library? But why?"
One of them answered her, "We don't know! She came up a few minutes ago. She was disoriented, a-and mad! Then someone said something to her and she started going on a rampage. We all ran away from there, and these bloody soldiers don't dare move against her! Please, young lady. Please go and quiet her down."
"Huh?! Me?!"
"You're the only one here who can. You're not only on good terms with Felt-sama, but you are also a member of the Emilia-camp. In addition, you showed plenty of interest in our research. Please," his bow of the head was followed by everyone else's.
Pushed into this sudden situation, she gritted her teeth and headed off into the library without another word.
"What is all of this? The day had been great, but now it's all a mess! However, if Elsa's book is in here then I can't let anyone harm this place. That's right. If I can have the book then maybe I'll understand what to do. Maybe I can make sense of this dream. I just have to stop Felt-chan."
As she reached near the source of the clatter, Felt-chan's voice started to become clearer.
"-How dare you?! How dare you fool me?! You bitch! Whore! Sadistic piece of shit! I won't forgive this! H-How dare you!"
The voice was a blood-curdling note of rage. It was pure hatred brought to life. But within the rage was a quiver that she perfectly recognized. It was the same quiver many of her victims had let out on their last breaths.
It was the voice of fear, of a person screaming against the unfairness of life, and of a person realizing the terror of death.
"I'll get you for this! What you did to old man Rom! T-To him! And to me! I'll get you for all of it. I'll make you pay, you bitch. I'll definitely kill you, - - - -!" She screamed the name of the person who was the object of her hatred.
Her feet froze. A tremble ran up her spin. Why had that name just come out of Felt-chan's mouth?
It was the name that she loved, admired, longed for, and wished to see again. It was a name inseparable from her life. But now that name came out from a person she least expected to hear it from.
It was,
"Elsa!"
Chapter end.
A.N: A way longer chapter than I had expected.
Also, I wonder if I got Meili's character voice right. Feels like something may be missing, or maybe I am just overthinking it.
Side note: That whole Book of the dead plot threat and premise could literally be its own independent fic, lol. I remember that there was once a great fic that discovered what would happen if the cast of Arc 6 discovered Subaru's books of the dead. Sadly, I think it's been years since it was updated.
Extra note: [菜月・昴] is Natsuki Subaru's name as written in Kanji.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter and see you in the next one.