Chapter 71
Though it couldn't compare to Reinhart's library, which stretched over eight floors or more, it held a collection of books that was nothing like an ordinary neighborhood library.
They filled my field of view.
"Wow... it's really big..."
It was a large three-story building, and mana drifted faintly through it.
The mana was plentiful, making it a very comfortable space, but...
"Ugh."
For some reason, I felt uncomfortable.
"Why is that?"
"Because my dislike of books and this comfortable place are giving me cognitive dissonance..."
"Could you try liking books a little..."
"That's impossible."
My dorm room was already piled full of books.
"Still, we should look around first."
I scanned the shelves and pulled out a book about the magic I was using now.
[100 Basics Needed for Barrier Magic]
There were some pretty interesting things in it.
Oh.
Features like a sound that tells you when the barrier's duration is over, or a function that subtly lowers the mana cost.
"Why does that sound interesting?"
Maybe because it wasn't a full-on theory book; the mathematics of magic circles covered a good part of it.
"Domain Casting."
I took out my wand and held it in my hand, then recited the spell.
"Extension, buzzer, ten seconds."
Oh.
Something's working.
I set it to sound after 10 seconds.
"Beeeeep!!!"
"Whoa!"
That sound is seriously loud!
Linia said without even caring.
"I did say you could take only one book, but it's fine to bring a few. Of course, you'd have to return all but one."
Since spellbooks I'd already learned didn't have much use anyway, this was fine.
"When I was little, I used to play here. It's such a cozy place..."
Linia ambled over and lay down on a cushion in the middle, opening a spellbook.
[How to Handle Tilean Magical Substances]
"Isn't that a book that was in the library?"
It was a book from the school library, not this archive.
And it was from the potion studies section, too.
"I've already read all the books here."
"...What?"
She read all of these?
There had to be tens of thousands of volumes.
"The ghostwriting magic books are over on that shelf, so go look there."
After saying that, Linia stretched out.
Her long pale-pink hair spilled across the cushion.
I went to the shelf Linia had pointed out first.
One bookshelf was filled entirely with books about ghostwriting magic.
[50 Tips for Writing Beautiful Imperial Script]
[The Basics of Ghostwriting Magic]
[Let's Get Off Work Fast with Ghostwriting Magic!]
"Not bad."
There were quite a few kinds of ghostwriting magic.
From types that automatically produced sentences the moment you activated them to ones where I had to focus and write the words myself.
But the former only existed for Imperial script, so I ended up choosing the latter.
I took a notebook and a ballpoint pen out of my inventory.
The pen spun in my hand.
"Come to think of it, this is revolutionary even here."
Back when I took open-book exams, I used special quill pens to prevent cheating, and I thought I was going to die from how inconvenient they were.
Maybe I should hand these out to the professors later.
'Should I make a proposal to Karnarov?'
It'd be easy to supply, and it would bring in regular money too.
"Casting, Arc Pencil."
Thinking that, I tried the ghostwriting magic I could use myself first, but...
The letters twisted and curled however they wanted.
Aris watched and said,
"Ah, ghostwriting magic? My father is really good at that!"
So that old man was the one who was good at it.
Come to think of it, he'd written me a recommendation letter for the wand shop.
It had become pretty unnecessary.
"What is this corner?"
"Books about gods and demons."
[Demons, the Great Demons, and Demon Worshippers]
[Why Demons Are Bad.]
It was mostly stories about exterminating demons.
It also described ways to deal with demons and methods for drawing power from the gods.
Aris wandered off to look through another shelf.
As I looked over the books on the shelf like that...
I found a slightly odd title.
[Gods and Great Demons Are Actually the Same]
"What is this?"
'Whether it's gods or great demons, they're all definitely troublesome bastards. Except for the imperial family and a few races, contact with them is impossible, and both sides use humans as pawns.'
'But the reason you have to side with the gods is that, at the very least, gods have a minimum level of respect for humans.'
Hmm.
Judging by the title alone, I'd thought it was written by a budding demon worshipper.
'In wars between gods and demons, when something strange happens, blaming the demons is usually right, and the demons always invade first.'
So it didn't seem to be like that.
'There are many ways to tell when a demon invasion is coming.'
'The most common signs are a sudden surge of extremely large mana and casualties.'
...What?
I thought of Earth.
Before the Tower appeared, Gates had appeared on Earth first.
Naturally, monsters carried mana, and mana surges were observed all over the place.
...No way, right?
* * *
I got quite a haul from the archive.
The best spell was.
[A Spellbook That Tells You How Many Bugs Are in Your Room, What Kinds They Are, and Where They Are]
This one.
Bug extermination, solved with a click.
"Heehee, now you're all dead."
So when I came out into the hallway to head for the dining hall, Chris's voice echoed out.
"Find them quickly! We mustn't be late!"
"The eastern Adventurers' Guild says they don't have enough hands!"
"The western one is the same!"
"Tch. We need to find them quickly..."
Chris had an anxious look on his face.
Linia asked with surprised eyes,
"What's wrong?"
"Ah, my daughter. We've got a troublesome matter on our hands. Demon worshipper activity has been detected in two places. Thanks to that, monsters seem to be flooding the area."
"...And?"
"I have people I can send to one place. In fact, a single proper knight could probably handle it all. But the problem is that I don't have anyone to send to the other place."
"Can't we go?"
I looked at Linia with sparkling eyes.
"Let's go! Let's smash everything and come back!"
For now, I'd smash anything related to demons.
It seems like the one who caused trouble on Earth was a demon too.
If I take this kind of approach, that'll work!
"Why do you always want to go to dangerous places!"
"Because it's fun."
Isn't that obvious?
"Sigh..."
"I'll go too."
Linia chimed in as well.
"You want to go?"
"I was planning to work as an adventurer once I graduated anyway."
"...I'm fine with it too. If I can help even a little."
Aris seemed to be thinking the same as Linia.
"...I want to say no, but right now there isn't anyone better suited."
"How urgent is it?"
"Anything involving demons spreads incredibly fast, no matter how weak the ones involved are. If we don't catch it early, who knows what might happen."
"Oh? Then of course we should go. We can't just sit back and let those pests gnaw away at the Empire."
Chris looked at me as if he'd heard something unexpected.
"So you really are a member of the Empire. And it seems you even passed Karnarov's test."
Karnarov's test... ah.
He must mean when I used the lie detector before.
Since Karnarov had put a lot of effort into that spell, the suspicion about me was dispelled all at once.
"...Yumia isn't from around here, is she..."
Aris said quietly.
Ahem.
Patriotism, patriotism.
It's absolutely not because I want to try out my new wand.
"Then I'll give you one test."
"Yep?"
"Originally, mages are a profession that only truly shines when they have a melee combatant."
That's true.
I'm a hybrid, but this isn't how it's normally done.
The basic tactic is to send someone like Leokan up front and cowardly fire magic from behind.
"So it would be a problem if you couldn't handle close combat."
"I can."
That used to be my specialty.
"I know that. But a simple test is still necessary."
Clank, and a knight in armor stepped forward.
"This is Sir Ridan. He's a Rank 4 knight of the Empire. He'll be handling the demon worshippers that appeared elsewhere."
"Hmm."
"I'll judge your skill by having you exchange a few light blows."
"Sounds perfect for a warm-up."
"It won't be easy, young mage."
"We'll see."
And he did call me young, too.
Let's go back for a moment to when I was a first-generation hunter.
* * *
Chris had actually heard about this through Linia's letters or the rumor-like stories about Yumia.
No, more like ninety percent of it was rumors, and filtering them out had been a pain.
'She robbed all her classmates blind.'
'She took down a werewolf with just two people.'
'She solved all of Karnarov's mountain of assignments without any prior study.'
'The moment you lay a hand on her, top-grade potions pour out.'
Those were truly outrageous rumors.
To the point that they were unbelievable even when you heard them.
It felt like watching the return of a legendary archmage.
With accomplishments like that pouring out, there wasn't a single piece of information about where she came from.
All sorts of gossip came pouring out.
Just sorting out what was true, and what merely sounded true, was a huge headache.
'She broke into the third-years' exam and hunted down her seniors.'
I filtered out rumors this ridiculous for now.
"But I'll still need to see her skill."
His precious daughter, the young lady of House Script.
It would be troublesome if she couldn't handle melee fighters of Rank 4 or higher.
And so, a light test began.
The task was to block every one of the knight's rapid attacks.
How would Yumia solve it?
"Are you ready?"
Sir Ridan said in a solemn voice.
Yumia pulled a sword out of thin air.
"Yep."
A pure white blade appeared.
Oz Caster. Inventory.
That much wasn't surprising, but...
"She pulled out a sword."
The fact that she could face a knight with swordsmanship alone.
Her overwhelming confidence in her own skill.
So this is what being top of the class looks like.
But this won't be easy. Sir Ridan is an Aura Expert...?
Just as he was thinking that.
Blue sword aura wrapped around Yumia's blade.
"...Aura!?"
"...It's Aura."
The butler beside him, Hugo, also nodded with a sour expression.
"...At Reinhart these days, do they teach Aura to first-years too?"