Chapter 98
Just a few short sentences.
I had been staring down at that arrangement of type for quite some time.
[Delkirn.]
[A designation compiled by the sages of old, used as a shortened name for the evil god ‘Delkirnos.’]
[However, to erase the horror of that name, all mention of it was forbidden in the present age.]
The evil god, Delkirnos.
Delkirn was the name used for it in ancient times.
It was the identity of ■■■, which had been displayed above the status window all this time.
Amid the hastily scrawled ancient words, only the name Delkirn glowed faintly.
“······An evil god?”
A dazed murmur escaped me.
An evil god.
In the original, it had been an existence shrouded in mystery.
‘Even after rummaging through several setting books, I couldn’t learn so much as its name, let alone its identity···.’
The source of every calamity taking root in the world.
A god at the foundation of the cult, called the mother of the Black Apostles.
It delighted in the pain and screams born from living things and wished for the continent to be engulfed in flames someday.
That was the extent of the explanation in the original.
‘Delkirnos··· so that was its name.’
I was learning its name for the first time.
The reason it had been so difficult to find records about it seemed to be that all mention of it had been forbidden since ancient times.
‘Even the sages of old forbade mentioning it? Just what on earth is this evil god···.’
My brow furrowed deeply.
I turned a few more pages, but after the second page, only blank white sheets continued.
As I searched through those blank spaces one by one, I found another sentence written on the final page.
This time as well, it was a sentence scrawled in the ancient language.
[You who are being tested.]
[Now, only your choice remains.]
“······.”
One who is being tested.
Choice.
What could that mean?
The sentence had been left behind like a message addressed to someone.
I flipped through the pages several times, searching for anything I might have missed.
‘There’s no name mentioned besides Delkirn···.’
The person who wrote this book must have been the owner of this archive.
Raziel, who was known as an ancient sage and whose name was still remembered to this day.
‘Surely··· would an ancient sage leave behind a record like this for no reason?’
Besides, this archive was a space encompassing all of his knowledge.
Was there another reason for such a book to be placed in a place like this?
The entire thick volume was blank, with only a few sentences written on the first page, the second page, and the final page.
‘And even those are full of incomprehensible words.’
I fell silently into thought.
Just then, a status window notification rang beside my ear.
Ding-!
[■□ Quest Cleared!]
-Title: About the Truth
-Content: Visit the ancient archive. Find a book related to ■■■ among millions of books.
[You have found a book related to ■■■!]
-The reward has not yet been provided.
Ding-!
[Chain Quest Cleared!]
-Title: The Ossuary of Old Records and Type.
-Content: Break through the field ‘Raziel’s Library’. Hunt the boss monster ‘Watcher of the Highest Knowledge’.
[You have successfully broken through ‘Raziel’s Library’!]
[Through your astonishing performance, you hunted ‘Watcher of the Highest Knowledge’!]
-A special reward will be provided. Check your inventory.
“Hmm···.”
A message announcing the completion of the quests.
I would put off checking the rewards until later.
Still, seeing this appear, it seemed that ■■■’s identity really was Delkirn.
As I continued examining the book for quite some time, Carmilla, who had been looking around the bookshelves, suddenly poked her head out.
“Victor.”
“······Ah, Your Highness.”
“Should we be heading back soon? If we delay any longer, I don’t think we’ll make it back by morning···.”
It had already been several hours since we left the hotel.
If we wanted to return before sunrise, it was time to depart.
I wanted to stay in the archive a little longer, but the heartless morning would not wait for the night.
I gave up and tidied the area around us.
‘This···.’
I looked down at the book in my hand.
Just in case, I tried putting it inside my robe to take it with me, but···.
‘I suppose not.’
Raziel’s Library.
The items in this archive could not be taken outside.
Even in the original, it was a place the player occasionally visited to gather various information, but only checking the information was possible; bringing the books outside was impossible.
Ding-!
[Raziel’s Record]
-Classification: Book
-Grade: ???
-Condition: Old
-Description: Cannot be taken outside the archive.
It would have been convenient to use a bug to take it with me, but unfortunately, there weren’t many bugs that worked here.
In the end, the best I could do was confirm it with my own eyes and leave.
Leaving behind a lingering sense of regret, I put the book back on the shelf.
Just as I was about to turn away, a broken status window floated up as if blocking my view.
Ding-!
[Tip. Can humans live again҉̡̮͍̪̯͔̪͎̉̄͆̍̉͗̚͞ ҈̡̰͈̖͉̗̰҇͗͌̑̌͂̉̈́̚ ҉̡̝̮͍̣̱͒̀͆͠ ҈̡̛͇͈̰̣͕͉́̄?]
It was a message I had already encountered several times.
But the few sentences that followed it were entirely different.
[Tip. Child.]
[Tip. What makes you think that power belongs to some҉̨̜̰̳͉̳͓҇͌̇̑ͅone҉̲͈̣̬͙͎̽̈́̅̿̅̅̓̑́̕͢ͅ?]
My breath stopped for a moment.
The message was written like a question from someone.
I couldn’t answer for a long time and could only stand there.
“······.”
I stared at the blinking message.
***
As always, the status window soon returned to normal.
The corrupted text was restored, and it regained its original blue glow.
I waited afterward as well, but there was no follow-up action or anything of the sort.
‘Even its manner of speaking returned to normal···.’
The status window’s tone had changed, if only for a moment.
I had been with the system for nearly half a year, but this was the first time something like this had happened.
And then it had even returned to its original mechanical speech as if nothing had happened.
‘What was that? That.’
I could only sink into thought.
Meaningful words, and a meaningful situation.
I groaned over all of it.
Leaving various questions behind, we returned to the hotel.
Fortunately, we made it back to our room on time, before morning arrived.
“······.”
Morning dawned.
Without even having time to rest, the second day of the field trip began.
Unlike the first day, when we had been free to rest, the second day was packed with activities.
-Today’s activities will involve touring the Sea of Geltin and visiting the ruins scattered around it.
-We’ll be traveling by cruise ship all day today, so please keep that in mind.
-Then, everyone, please board the cruise ship within the hour.
All the students boarded the cruise ship.
The activity involved touring the nearby coast and admiring the diverse maritime ruins that had survived in various places.
We would probably spend the second day drifting across the sea and appreciating Geltin’s history all day long.
“Whew···.”
I stood on the broad, open deck.
I leaned against the railing, enjoying the fierce sea breeze.
Perhaps because I had stayed up all night, yawns kept slipping out.
‘I’m tired.’
Two quests had been assigned during this field trip.
Still, I had succeeded in handling one of them from the very first night.
There was some lingering unease, but I had secured the reward, so it wasn’t a particularly bad situation.
‘Come to think of it, I have to deal with the other one too···.’
The field trip lasted a total of one week.
I had to clear this one as well during the remaining time.
‘Actually··· this is the main quest.’
Unlike the highly personal quest from last night, the second quest concerned a matter with the lives of countless people at stake.
It was an event that had existed in the original as well.
It could be considered the core incident of the field-trip episode.
If the player failed here, they would suffer an enormous loss.
Ding-!
[Main Quest]
-Title: Calamity from the Deep
-Content: Infiltrate the cult branch hidden in the deep sea.
-Penalty for Failure: The end of the coastal city ‘Geltin’.
-Reward on Success: ???
[Time Limit: Before the field trip ends]
‘Well··· put another way, it’s a good opportunity.’
Geltin was a large-scale coastal city.
Protecting a single metropolis should earn me an enormous number of good-deed points.
‘I have to do this perfectly, without a single mistake.’
I muttered calmly.
As with the last one, I had already worked out the entire plan in my head.
While I was lost in thought, someone suddenly tapped me on the shoulder.
“Vic, Victor···.”
“Sir Victor!”
They were the group members who had been standing beside me all along.
Among them were a black-haired girl and a blonde girl.
“Ah··· Miss Alice, Miss Ranne.”
I answered a beat late.
“What is it?”
“Um, we were wondering if you were all right···.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s just··· you seemed, um, strange since this morning, I suppose···. You hardly spoke, so···.”
Alice asked hesitantly.
Apparently, my continued silence had been bothering her.
I hadn’t shown any particular expression, but had she noticed from the atmosphere alone?
The girl seemed worried about me.
Likewise, Ranne added her voice.
“Indeed! Your gaze is especially filled with deep concern today! Is something troubling you?”
“My gaze? But I’ve been wearing a mask the whole time···.”
“Hmm! I saw it with the eyes of my heart!”
Was she the Little Prince or something?
I chuckled behind my mask.
Afterward, I added a few words to assure them that I was fine.
“It’s nothing. I was simply tired.”
“Hmm! Did you perhaps miss your sleep?”
“You could say that. It’s nothing to worry about.”
“Was your bed uncomfortable? Or did you, um, do something separately···.”
Ranne accepted that easily, while Alice still looked worried.
Just then, Lua, who had been listening closely to our conversation, chimed in.
Perhaps she had noticed their concern.
The girl peered over and tugged firmly on both their sleeves.
“Big sister! Big sister! Lua knows why Dad is tired!”
Perhaps she wanted to help me, so she drew the sisters’ attention toward herself.
Thanks to that, Ranne and Alice’s attention shifted to Lua.
The two of them looked down at the little girl with puzzled expressions.
“The reason Sir Victor is tired?”
“What is it, Miss Lua?”
“Well, you see···.”
Lua spoke in a small, whispering voice.
The two of them already knew about Carmilla, anyway.
Since it was only a matter of saying that I had gone out with Her Highness, there was no particular reason to stop her.
‘I wonder how she’ll explain it.’
Perhaps I found it endearing that she had stepped up for Dad.
I didn’t stop Lua and quietly listened to what she was about to say.
“You know, Dad was stuck right next to the princess.”
=Father accompanied Her Highness throughout the night.
“Yes···?”
“All night long. He even panted like he was tired, and sweated a whole lot.”
=He was busy moving about all night. He grew tired from the fierce battle and sweated a great deal.
“Huh? Wha···?”
“And then··· Dad and the princess held hands, and Her Highness even climbed on top of Dad!”
=The two of them joined forces, and Her Highness climbed onto Father in bat form.
““······.””
Had their brains frozen over at that cutting phrasing?
Ranne and Alice froze in place.
Soon, their faces heated up and turned red.
“Sir, Victor··· with Her Highness, all night, panting···?”
“Sweating, and climbing, climbing on top of Sir Victor···.”
“Sir Victor···?”
“Sir Victor···?”
Their wavering gazes converged on me.
Alice began to tear up.
Ranne’s face flushed hot as she completely short-circuited.
“Everyone, it’s a misunderstanding.”
No.
Technically, everything she had said was true, though.
“Don’t tell me the reason you stayed up all night was because you and Her, Her Highness did something···.”
“Sir Victor! I don’t think that sort of thing is good for Miss Lua’s education!”
“Since when exactly···?”
“And during a field trip, no less···!”
It wasn’t like that.