It's Not the Carrots That Are Amazing, but the Producer (7)

Cyril and Monica's story, summed up briefly, went like this.

While Isaac was away, Monica visited a secret salon dealing in illegal drugs to help Melissa Roseberg, the previous 〈Thorn Witch〉, with her work.

Cyril witnessed what was happening and stormed the salon alongside Raul Roseberg, the fifth 〈Thorn Witch〉.

In the midst of the commotion, the Ice Spirit Asher Pike took an interest in Cyril, forced him into a contract, and took him to Mount Karug.

To prolong the life of Ture, the White Dragon of Mount Karug, Asher Pike tried to sacrifice Cyril, but Monica joined forces with the Roseberg siblings and rescued him.

Cyril then made a contract to prolong Ture's life.

...After hearing all that, Isaac said one thing with a smile.

"Is this one of Dustin Günther's adventure novels?"

Cyril and Monica groaned in unison and shrank back.

Claudia gave the two of them a hollow smile.

Claudia usually smiled like that when she was about to flatter someone before bringing them crashing down.

"Oh, how lovely. You're just like the hero Bartholomew Alexander, dear brother... Heroes in stories are dangerous people in real life, aren't they?"

"I-I am a dangerous person?!"

Claudia bluntly replied to Cyril, whose voice had cracked.

"Having a dragon, not to mention a high-ranking spirit... People would be justified in thinking you planned to conquer the kingdom."

Her words were harsh, but correct. To be honest, Isaac agreed.

A dragon was a major military asset. If Marquis Hioone owned one, people might suspect him of treason.

Even if he had no such intentions, there were countless people at the palace who might harbor suspicions of their own or try to exploit that power.

That was precisely why Monica was keeping Nero a secret.

(Still... I'm glad Nero had run away from home.)

If Nero had been here, things would undoubtedly have gotten even more complicated.

Isaac secretly breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at Cyril.

Cyril, who had even been called a dangerous person, had bowed his head, looking deathly pale; Claudia's words must have hit him hard. She showed no mercy to her brother.

"As you are now, you're a threat to this country... Someone who could destabilize the royal family at any moment."

Cyril opened his mouth as if to argue, but in the end said nothing and fell silent.

Just then, a white weasel hopped onto Cyril's shoulder.

The white weasel—Ture, the White Dragon of Karug—stared up at Claudia with golden eyes.

"Cyril wouldn't do that."

"...Whether he would or wouldn't isn't the point. It's what others might think."

"Then keep it a secret, okay?"

Ture tilted its little head to one side.

Claudia gazed at the adorable White Dragon with blank, unreadable eyes.

"...I had no intention of spreading it in the first place. I'm just appalled by the carelessness of a certain someone."

Just as Isaac was about to speak up and offer a way out, Monica cut in, looking desperate.

"Um, um... Cyril-sama isn't at fault! He was just caught up in all of it!"

Monica clumsily but desperately pleaded Cyril's innocence, but he shook his head and said, "No."

"Claudia is right."

"But, Cyril-sama, you didn't do anything wrong!"

"But..."

Cyril clenched his teeth and furrowed his brow, murmuring bitterly with an expression of deep regret.

"If only I'd trusted the carrots back then..."

Isaac and Claudia looked at Cyril with slightly less warmth in their eyes.

It was the kind of look that said, "What on earth are you talking about?" but Cyril and Monica didn't notice.

Monica nodded with a completely serious expression.

"The carrots... They really were amazing. The carrots were what saved Cyril-sama, too... But I never imagined you could do something like that with carrots..."

"Damn it, if only I'd believed in the carrots sooner, none of this would have happened...!"

Isaac thought back over Cyril and Monica's explanation.

There hadn't been a single mention of carrots in their account. So why were they talking about carrots?

If it had been anyone but Cyril and Monica, he would have suspected they were joking to deflect the conversation, but both were utterly serious as they passionately explained just how amazing the carrots were.

The gap between Isaac and the two people involved, who kept repeating "carrots, carrots" with tragic expressions, only grew wider.

Isaac spoke to Claudia in a low voice.

"Your brother's gotten himself into quite a mess."

"...He's your right hand and your master, isn't he?"

Claudia listlessly brushed back her hair and muttered as if she'd had enough.

"I'll bet some Seven Sage who moonlights as a farmer stirred things up by calling it carrot divination... I think I understand the situation now. And why that person upset the 〈Knowledge Keeper's Key〉, too."

Right, the existence of a White Dragon and a high-ranking spirit was so overwhelming that it was easy to forget, but the 〈Knowledge Keeper's Key〉 was the real subject at hand.

Isaac turned his attention to Cyril, who regretted not believing in the carrots.

"Let's get to the main point. Cyril, why did you come all the way to Southdoll?"

Prompted by Isaac, Cyril straightened up.

"Yes. Actually, starting this year, I've been involved in the administrative duties of the Ascald Library. As part of that, I was going to be taught how to handle the 〈Knowledge Keeper's Key〉."

"The 〈Knowledge Keeper's Key Sophocles〉... The ancient magical artifact with sealing abilities that manages the Forbidden Books Chamber, right?"

"That's correct. The Hioone family has inherited the 〈Knowledge Keeper's Key〉 for generations and managed the Forbidden Books Chamber."

Some ancient magical artifacts had lifelong contracts, meaning no one else could use them until the contractor died, while others required a new contract each time they were used. The 〈Knowledge Keeper's Key〉 was the latter.

"I borrowed the 〈Knowledge Keeper's Key〉 from my father-in-law so I could learn how to handle it, but..."

Cyril looked down at his right hand, wrapped tightly in cloth, and began to speak somberly about what had happened.

＊　＊　＊

The 〈Knowledge Keeper's Key Sophocles〉 was a lustrous jet-black ring. Its band was rather thick, and its design was a little too rugged for a woman to wear.

Set into the ring, whose pure black seemed to have been rendered without a hint of impurity, was a black opal that shimmered with iridescent colors depending on the light.

"So this is the 〈Knowledge Keeper's Key〉..."

Cyril opened the case he'd received from his father and felt his heart stir with emotion.

This ring was the guardian of knowledge that had continued to protect the forbidden knowledge sleeping in the Ascald Library.

The 〈Knowledge Keeper's Key〉 had two features.

The first was its ability to create an exceptionally powerful sealing barrier within a limited area.

Its second feature was that it could control every book within the sealing barrier.

In other words, the 〈Knowledge Keeper's Key〉 was also a catalog of all the knowledge kept in the Forbidden Books Chamber.

(That's why I must treat it with respect.)

Ancient magical artifacts were tools with wills of their own. This was a venerable predecessor who had protected books and knowledge for an impossibly long time.

Cyril reverently took the 〈Knowledge Keeper's Key〉 out of its case and, as his father-in-law had done, slipped it onto the middle finger of his right hand.

The black opal glittered in rainbow colors in response to Cyril's magic.

Cyril naturally straightened his back, raised his right hand to face level, and addressed it.

"It is an honor to meet you, great sage 〈Knowledge Keeper's Key Sophocles〉. I am Cyril Ashley, son of Vincent Ashley, and..."

'...Idiot.'

A low voice came from the ring.

Hearing the words of the 〈Knowledge Keeper's Key Sophocles〉 for the first time, Cyril strained to listen, not wanting to miss a single word.

'You idiot! Who would lend power to the likes of you?!'

A resonant, dignified man's voice screamed insults that were anything but dignified.

'You're hopeless! Claudia, bring me Claudia! As I thought, only Claudia is worthy to be my master! Oh, me nestled on that beautiful woman's finger... Yes, yes, what a wonderful sight. A beautiful woman is the only proper master for me!'

Cyril's mouth opened and closed as he looked back and forth between the ring and his father-in-law.

His father-in-law, who had been watching silently, stroked his mustache with his fingertips and spoke in his usual calm voice.

"Sophocles."

'Enough, Vincent! I've made up my mind, and that's that. Claudia will be my next master.'

"Claudia has already married into the Maywood family."

'Then divorce her! After that, have Claudia take a husband into the family! The husband can inherit the title, while Claudia inherits me. That solves everything!'

Cyril went pale and clung to the ring. He was desperate.

"D-do you mean I did something to offend you?"

'………………'

The 〈Knowledge Keeper's Key〉 was, after all, just a ring.

Yet Cyril had the sensation that the beautiful black opal was glaring at him with hostile, narrowed eyes.

'You're nowhere near Claudia's equal! If you intend to call yourself the next Marquis of Hioone, surely you can recite the Old Library Act from memory with ease, hmm?'

"T-the Old Library Act...?"

The sudden demand left Cyril flustered. As someone involved in the Ascald Library's administrative duties, he had memorized the entire current Library Act.

However, though he'd read the Old Library Act, repealed more than seventy years ago, he hadn't memorized it perfectly.

'What, you can't recite it? Claudia could rattle it off without a second thought. It's laughable that you think you can be my master when you can't even do that! Bwahahaha!'

Claudia could do it, but he couldn't.

The words pierced Cyril's heart. His heart pounded wildly, and his thoughts creaked under the pressure.

No matter how hard he worked to gain confidence, or how proudly and arrogantly he carried himself, the moment he was compared to Claudia, Cyril's footing began to crumble.

'And you, you already have contracts with other beings, don't you?'

"Y-yes, with a high-ranking spirit and a White Dragon..."

'A human already contracted with something else cannot contract with an ancient magical artifact! Until you cancel those contracts and beg, "Lord Sophocles, please contract with me," in tears, you are utterly, completely, and entirely out of the question!'

＊　＊　＊

Claudia smiled with an expression that showed she wasn't enjoying this in the slightest.

"...You were so deferential to the ancient magical artifact, yet the moment you were in front of His Highness, you immediately lost your temper and shouted at it. That's so like you, dear brother."

Cyril had shouted at the ancient magical artifact, "Don't interrupt His Highness!" just a few minutes ago. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

Isaac smiled wryly and urged him to continue.

"So how did all that lead to you coming to Southdoll?"

"Yes, after that, I searched through old records to see if anyone had ever contracted with all three: an ancient magical artifact, a high-ranking spirit, and a dragon, but I couldn't find anything..."

Everyone there thought the same: Of course you couldn't.

To begin with, a contract with both a high-ranking spirit and a dragon was unprecedented.

The White Dragon in question, perched on Cyril's shoulder and swishing its fluffy, plush tail, said,

"Cyril, you never considered ending your contracts with me and Pike?"

"I decided I would take responsibility for looking after you two. I don't casually go back on something I've declared."

Isaac smiled wryly at Cyril, who gave a haughty snort.

(...He's still soft on anyone he's taken into his heart.)

And he's still inflexible, unable to go back on a decision once he's made it. He hadn't changed since they first met.

Cyril narrowed his eyes, looking a little ticklish as the tail stroked his cheek, then put on a dignified expression and continued.

"I thought the reason a triple contract was impossible might lie in the construction of the contract formula, so I investigated that as well, but I still couldn't figure it out... I came to Southdoll to ask Monica, who created the contract formula for Ture, to teach me about contract formulas."

Isaac, who had made a contract with a high-ranking spirit himself, understood very well how complicated such contracts were.

Honestly, he couldn't even imagine what kind of formula would be needed to add a master-servant contract with a dragon on top of that.

Only one of the Seven Sages could create such an outrageous spell formula. It would be utterly unreasonable to call Cyril ignorant for not knowing how.

(Could this be...)

Isaac glanced at Cyril's right hand.

Claudia had grumbled that she could guess why the 〈Knowledge Keeper's Key〉 was upset.

Isaac's guess was probably not far off the mark.

But Cyril, who hadn't realized the reason, said with a serious expression,

"That's why I came to visit Monica. And... why are you here, Claudia?"

When Cyril looked at Claudia, she slumped back against her chair.

"...A letter."

"What?"

"...You didn't read it. I see."

Claudia, who had been leaning against the backrest, slowly—very slowly—raised her upper body.

"...Dear brother, did you know that ancient magical artifacts sometimes take over contract holders with low magic resistance?"

"I know there have been cases of that in the past, but..."

"...When Father told me you'd upset the 〈Knowledge Keeper's Key〉, I considered the possibility that it might take over your body and come barging into the Maywood estate."

There were several accounts in old legends of ancient magical artifacts taking over their contract holders and controlling them.

This was something even someone without Isaac's royal education would know.

The story of an ancient magical artifact once called a demon sword taking over its owner and going on a killing spree was still famous.

It would be disastrous if the 〈Knowledge Keeper's Key〉 took over Cyril's body and came barging in. So Claudia decided to be extra cautious and retreat to somewhere safe.

But the 〈Knowledge Keeper's Key〉 knew the locations of the Ashley family's villa and relatives' homes.

"So I wrote this in the letter addressed to you: 'I'll be staying with Monica for a while. Contact me once everything is settled'..."

If she'd included the name Southdoll or the title 〈Silent Witch〉, the 〈Knowledge Keeper's Key〉 might have figured out where Claudia was headed.

That's why Claudia had only written "with Monica." That way, she could tell Cyril where she was without revealing her location to the 〈Knowledge Keeper's Key〉.

At Claudia's words, Cyril furrowed his brow suspiciously.

"I didn't see any letter... Ah."

As if he remembered something, Cyril's cheek twitched and he fell silent.

The white-and-gold weasel hopped onto the table and looked up at Cyril.

"There was one."

"There was."

"Was it the day before we went out?"

"That's right. Ture handed him a letter and said, 'You've got a letter,' and Cyril said, 'I'm busy. Leave it for later.'"

"Cyril was busy muttering some law or other the whole time, so he just forgot about it."

Claudia looked at Cyril.

Cyril had gone so pale it was almost pitiful, and his eyes darted around as he sweated profusely.

Claudia tilted her head as if even holding it up was too much effort, yet her face alone wore a beautiful smile.

"...I was a fool for not realizing just how very, very much you rely on Monica."

"No, well... I-I'm sorry..."

"...You wanted to see Monica so badly that you couldn't spare time to read your little sister's letter."

At Claudia's words, Cyril's mouth opened and closed around "Wha—?!" Monica let out a strange "Heh?!" and Isaac froze with a smile.

This beautiful madam, so adept at piercing the hearts of everyone present with a single remark, calmly tilted her glass of fruit water to her lips.