Chapter 47: Altra’s long cherised wish (2)
“Lecture and study on the grimoire ‘Goetia’? Why are you looking for a book like that, student Ferdinand?”
“Haha, it’s certainly a peculiar choice.”
The question from the female librarian, who was sitting at her designated seat and organizing the book list.
At this, the prince, Ferdinand, who had visited the grand library again today, smiled slyly and made an excuse.
“There’s no special reason, let’s just say I have a peculiar hobby. I’ve been interested in the occult and grimoires since I was young.”
“Hmm, is that so? But it’s a rather dangerous book for a student to handle. Especially for a freshman.”
The librarian paused for a moment and asked further.
“Do you have a separate permission from a professor? Like a signature from your housemaster, or permission from an academy professor?”
Occultism, the study of the hidden realm of magic.
And grimoires, the related books and treatises.
Although not as wicked as black magic, occultism is also a mysterious knowledge with considerable danger.
In a way, it could be much more harmful than being corrupted by black magic.
Therefore, unless there was a special reason, it was a basic principle not to disclose it to a student arbitrarily.
“Ah, of course.”
At this, Ferdinand smiled warmly and handed her a note.
Professor Georgios of Practical Magic, the housemaster of the Topaz dormitory.
It was a document permitting Ferdinand von Hohenlaufen to read the occult grimoires.
“Hmm, Housemaster Georgios gave his permission, did he?”
The librarian trailed off, looking at the note with a somewhat suspicious eye.
It had only been a short time since the new semester had started.
And for the notoriously strict Housemaster Georgios to readily give a freshman permission to read an occult grimoire?
“…Please wait here for a moment, student Ferdinand. I’ll just check a few things.”
She was about to verify the authenticity of the note, as she found it hard to believe.
“By the way, the weather has been very nice these past few days, hasn’t it, Librarian Claire?”
Suddenly, Ferdinand leaned towards her.
Then, his strong hand gently held the back of the librarian’s hand.
“S-student Ferdinand…?”
Looking at the flustered librarian, the prince smiled, a mischievous grin on his face.
His brilliant golden hair, like the sun, and his dazzling eyes, like fire, gleamed as he whispered to the librarian.
“I found a nice cafe in Lapland Town a while ago. How about having a cup of tea after work today?”
“M-me? A-are you joking? D-don’t tell me now…”
“To put it bluntly, shall we call it a date request? Since we’ve seen each other often while I’ve been coming and going from the library, it would be very beneficial to get to know each other better.”
“D-d-da… th-that, that’s…”
The librarian just stuttered, her face as red as a beet.
Although he wasn’t a top student, wasn’t he a man who was very popular with female students due to his handsome appearance and sociable personality?
And for the prince of Vǫlsunga to approach her, who was neither a noble lady from a famous family nor a peerless beauty?
Due to the intense palpitation, a large gap opened in the librarian’s heart.
“So, Librarian Claire?”
Without realizing it, she had given the prince an opening to play his ‘trick’.
“There’s no need to verify the authenticity of the note. I’m right, aren’t I?”
“Ah…”
At that moment, the light suddenly disappeared from the librarian’s irises.
With a blank expression, as if under some kind of suggestion, the librarian quietly nodded.
“Yes, that’s right. There’s no need to check. Here, I’ll give you the key, so please read as you wish, student Ferdinand.”
“Thank you, Librarian. Then I’ll see you this evening.”
Letting go of her wrist, Ferdinand took the copper key and turned his back.
As the prince walked briskly towards the restricted section.
“…Hmm?”
The librarian, who had regained her clear mind, rubbed her temples and muttered in confusion.
“That feeling just now… what on earth was it?”
“How was it? Did you get through alright, Boss?”
Watching the prince enter the restricted section, a student who had been leaning against a nearby bookshelf asked playfully.
At this, Ferdinand replied with a sneer, a mischievous grin.
“Of course, it was your handwork, wasn’t it, Bianca? A forged document made by a person of the Monferrato family, so the sophistication was impeccable.”
Then, click, he added nonchalantly as he unlocked the latch with the copper key.
“But she was surprisingly cautious, so I added a little ‘finishing touch’. So that it could be handled cleanly without any unnecessary noise.”
“What, you pulled that trick again? You’re just throwing it around whenever you think it’s going to be a nuisance, aren’t you?”
Tsk. Bianca di Monferrato, a delinquent student with a blazer slung over her shoulder, approached, clicking her tongue.
The direct descendant of the pirate king Benito, and a 10th-ranked girl who was active as a close aide to the prince of Vǫlsunga.
“But how are you going to handle the aftermath? Aren’t there already a dozen women you’ve seduced in a similar way? You’re going to get a bad reputation as a womanizer on campus.”
“What’s wrong with a bad reputation? It’s not like it’s a false rumor.”
Thump. Ferdinand sneered, opening the forbidden door.
“Besides, for simple-minded people, all you have to do is treat them simply. Just give them what they want and act like a prince on a white horse, and everything will be fine. The rest is none of my business, Bianca.”
“Wow, you’re such a piece of trash. This is why Princess Krimhild doesn’t even want to associate with you.”
Bianca’s sneer, her lips curling up coldly.
She followed the prince into the restricted area and shot back mercilessly.
“You’ll get burned badly one day for playing with a lady’s heart like that. Don’t you know that when a woman holds a grudge, frost will form even in the sixth lunar month, Boss?”
“There’s nothing to get burned about. After all, at this Klomes Academy, there’s only one thing I want.”
So saying, Ferdinand quietly stopped in front of the section he was looking for.
What he took out, reaching out his arm, was an old, thick book, ‘Lecture and Study on the Grimoire Goetia’.
Opening it and flipping through the pages, Ferdinand quietly frowned.
And Bianca, the young lady of the Monferrato family, just stood there with her arms crossed, observing him.
‘…Is this really a good idea?’
A single word she repeated, chewing gum instead of a cigarette.
Although she had colluded with the prince and had entered the academy against her will, she was not sure if it was a wise choice.
The destination Ferdinand was aiming for.
And the ultimate wish he wanted to achieve.
Even from Bianca’s perspective, who was the only one who shared his inner thoughts, it was not a plan that could be pursued with a sane mind.
“Hmm, yes. That’s right, that’s the answer.”
As she was lost in deep thought, she heard the prince muttering to himself.
“Hey, Boss? When are you going to fix that habit of talking to yourself? You’re a handsome guy, but sometimes it’s a little creepy when you do that.”
At this, Bianca said with a look of disgust.
“Are you like this when you’re on a date with a woman? Muttering to the air, as if there’s something there?”
“…Talking to myself.”
“Huh? What?”
“It’s nothing.”
Ferdinand mumbled, his eyes somewhat bitter.
He concluded, staring intently at the yellowish page.
“Certainly, it might sound strange on the surface.”
What’s he talking about? It’s an abnormal habit no matter how you look at it.
“…Bianca.”
Ferdinand’s call as he flipped through the pages.
As she frowned, the prince asked in a low voice.
“You already know this, but what I’m pursuing won’t be of any benefit to the Monferrato family.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Of course, if I successfully ascend to the throne, I can reward you. But considering the risk of the plan, it’s practically a life-or-death gamble. What you gain will be a few interests, but what you lose could be your entire life.”
“Boss, are you some kind of answering machine? I don’t know how many times you’ve said the same thing.”
Glancing at the nonchalant Bianca, Ferdinand bit his lip.
Then, he asked in a much more serious tone.
“This is your only chance to back out, Bianca. Decide carefully what you want to do.”
“Ha, you crazy lecher.”
Bianca sneered, spitting out a vulgar curse at the prince.
“After bringing me all the way here, what’s with that? If you were going to be like this, you shouldn’t have dragged me in from the beginning. Are you teasing me for ruining my life, or what?”
“…”
“Don’t worry, Boss. I have no intention of whining to be let down now.”
Hoo. Bianca let out a sneer, pretending to smoke a cigarette she didn’t even have in her mouth.
“I’m a bit of a weirdo myself, so I have no intention of abandoning my loyalty to the boss at this point.”
“Pfft, loyalty. Is that a word that even suits your Monferrato family?”
“A weirdo, a weirdo. I’m going to smash your mouth with a whip.”
Sighing briefly, Bianca recited the fish that were both her family’s symbol and a part of their motto.
‘Sharks and piranhas.’
The virtue of the Monferrato, the giant star of the underworld, was to smell blood and chase after it.
The clear course of action was not to act without gain, and not to help without reward.
In the face of profit, there was no loyalty or friendship, that was the essence of the Monferrato, the descendants of the pirate king.
That’s why.
Bianca could only think that she was truly crazy.
‘Well, I have to see it through to the end.’
Although she hadn’t made her choice like a Monferrato, she could act like one.
It was her family’s specialty not to let go of something they had started until they saw the end of it.
“…Hmm.”
Ferdinand, who had been looking at Bianca, soon turned his head back to the book.
To the mysterious table of contents with the subtitle ‘Study on Sacrifice and Resurrection Ritual’.
‘So that’s what Altra looks like?’
I muttered to myself, looking at the beautiful woman with a blue crystal embedded in her chest.
She, who had torn apart the magician and the warrior with a gust of wind, just looked at me with a meaningful smile.
Without saying a single word, she just stared at me.
I frowned, looking back at her smile.
‘What on earth does she want?’
I had no way of knowing why she had shown me the previous scene.
It was just a fragment of the past with no meaning or context.
‘…Is she asking for sympathy?’
If so, she had come to the wrong place.
It seemed something had happened in the past, but I, her descendant, was not interested.
Because I had lost too much in the name of Altra to be interested.
‘Both I and Rice suffered our entire lives because of you.’
The unimaginable evil deeds committed by you and your bloodline.
Because of the madness and evil deeds of the ancient witch who almost destroyed the world.
Whatever happened to the Altra of the past, I had no desire to know.
It wouldn’t offset all the sins she had committed.
It was then.
…
Mouth, mouth. Altra moved her lips and said something.
‘What?’
But I couldn’t hear a single word.
Like a ventriloquist with a cloth doll, she was just moving her lips, but no voice reached me.
‘What on earth does she want to say?’
As I was narrowing my eyes and glaring at her in disbelief.
Grab!
Altra’s hand grabbed the bluish crystal embedded in her chest.
Trying to pull it out, she looked at me with a still meaningful smile.
And I…
“Heuk…!”
Feeling the same pain I had felt in the lab, I collapsed.
‘My lungs… it feels like they’re burning…!’
A pain twice as great as when I was hit by the light arrow in the abdomen.
It felt as if someone had cut open my chest with a knife and was scorching it with a blazing torch.
And that pain.
Swoosh-!
It only subsided a little after Altra had completely pulled out the crystal.
Of course, it was just a little, just enough to be able to get a grip on myself.
“Kuh…”
Clutching my chest, I looked at Altra, who was standing there holding the crystal.
The ancient witch, with black blood flowing from the hole in her chest, holding the long crystal like a spear.
Her yellowish eyes flashed, and she slowly extended the hand holding the crystal.
Thank you.
‘…Huh?’
A voice that suddenly began to be heard.
Startled, my breath became ragged for a moment.
Thump, thump. The sound of someone walking came from behind me.
Then, a translucent, shapeless shadow appeared.
It passed through me as if to show off and went straight to the ancient witch Altra.
Then, the moment the shadow grabbed the ‘crystal’ in Altra’s hand.
Fwoosh-!
A faint glow enveloped the crystal, and it disappeared.
Instead, a long, unidentified weapon appeared in its place.
Its appearance and purpose were unknown, but I instinctively knew that it was an ‘artifact’ for Altra.
At the same time, the tremendous pain that had been tearing at my chest also subsided as if it were a lie.
‘…Don’t tell me?’
Is that related to the reason I vomited blood and collapsed?
Gasp, gasp. I muttered, stroking my now comfortable ribs.
Currently, I am, presumably, in the same shell as my ancestor Altra.
It wouldn’t be strange if I shared some of her serious physical defects.
And the fact that the intense pain only subsided after the crystal was pulled out and transformed into an artifact…
‘…Is she telling me to find my own artifact?’
The unique weapon of Altra, recorded in the memorandum on the wall of the Coral Hall.
Do I have to obtain it to fully recover my body?
Thank you.
Then, Altra whispered with a cold smile.
On the one hand, it was gentle and kind, but on the other hand, it was an eerie tone, as if she were addressing a pig about to be slaughtered.
She caressed the part that was presumed to be the shadow’s face and said in a sweet yet somehow menacing voice.
It’s all thanks to you, Belanian. I will never forget this kindness.
‘…What?’
Who did she just say? Belanian?
The witch, talking to the faint shadow that did not answer.
Looking at her, I couldn’t say a word out of confusion and shock.
‘What on earth… what on earth is this situation?’
Why are you showing me this, Altra?
Is the identity of the shadow that helped turn the crystal into an artifact just now Belanian?
‘No, that can’t be.’
Of course, not much is known about Altra’s life.
Not only me, the only survivor, but also the other family members, including the Flame Witch, didn’t know much about our ancestor’s history.
Nevertheless, I could say with certainty that this was an impossible situation.
Because the name Belanian is none other than…
‘The name of the first Hero who defeated you, Altra…!’