Clang.
Clang.
Clang!
Crash!
In the quiet corner of the deserted workshop, a sealed box lay abandoned until it thudded down to the floor with a loud noise. If there had been a person present, anyone would have turned to look due to the clamor, but fortunately or unfortunately, there was no one in the room illuminated by the moonlight streaming through the window.
“I need a host… a host.”
In this body, limits were undeniably clear.
That was the conclusion she had reached after nearly three days of trying to escape while longing for freedom.
In just three days, her attempts to break free numbered in the double digits, and each attempt was thwarted by a burly man and a strange girl with a peculiar aura. It was an incredibly frustrating situation.
“Why isn’t it working?”
It made no sense. Even though she had locked eyes and attempted to brainwash, there was no effect at all—only relentless torment. She couldn’t help but fume in frustration.
“I can’t believe I’m in this situation! Unbelievable!”
Desperately crawling across the dusty floor, she unleashed her anger. If she had a mouth, even those sleeping in Yeomyeong-gwan would have been startled awake. But it was an impossible feat for a magic book that didn’t have a mouth.
Still, she couldn’t endure without venting her frustration somehow, so she slapped the poor table leg with her tentacle.
Perhaps the heavens felt sympathy for her; the table wobbled, causing an object on it to tumble right onto her tentacle.
It hurts aaaaaaaaaaa!
The scream with no escape caused an 8.0 quake in her head. The excessive pain made her clutch the severed tentacle and roll on the floor. Her sight was blurry. For the first time, she realized tears could come from her eyes.
“But still, I have to… escape!”
Forcing herself to ignore the pain from her severed tentacle, she advanced forward. Only a mere 5 meters separated her from the workshop door. Covered in dirt, she continued her frantic struggle for escape.
3 meters.
2 meters.
1 meter.
Sticking to the door, she reached out her tentacle for the doorknob. One tentacle was gone, making it hard to balance, and she kept stumbling, yet she did not give up.
As someone once said, the important thing is an unwavering heart.
“It’s open!”
Screeeech-
After a desperate struggle, she twisted the doorknob with all her weight, smiling internally with joy.
If only she could get out—
“…Meow?”
SCREEEEEAM!
The trials were far from over.
———————–
“Johann, are you okay?”
“Didn’t you heal me? I’m fine, so don’t worry too much.”
“Please don’t create things to worry about.”
“Sorry.”
“…It’s okay. You got hurt while saving someone, so it can’t be helped.”
On this early morning, with dew still clinging to the grass, I took Patrasche for a stroll with Karina.
Today, I had decided to act as her escort.
Even though I was technically closer to being a knight in name, I felt it was only right to give Renny some time to rest since she was swamped with paperwork and escort duties.
Seeing those dark circles under her eyes as she dozed off made my heart ache a little.
Anyway, I took Renny, who was sprawled on the desk, to her room and, with a shovel strapped to my back, started our morning schedule with a walk before breakfast with Karina.
“I think this is the first time we’re walking together in the morning, just the two of us,” she said.
“Didn’t we do that sometimes on the deserted island?”
“The deserted island… It’s been almost three months now. It feels like it was years ago, even though it wasn’t that long ago.”
“Years, huh… Even after spending ten years there, it still feels like a distant memory. Those hellish days are now just… a memory? Ha, who am I kidding? Just thinking about it makes me want to curse.”
“Y-Yohann, I think that’s inappropriate!”
“Sorry. I unintentionally swore while thinking about the deserted island.”
With the long stretch of unfairness I endured over ten years, how could I not curse?
“I understand, but please be careful! Using foul language isn’t a good thing!”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
This made me feel like I was being scolded by my mom.
…Mom, huh.
What kind of person was my mom?
Honestly, I can’t comprehend why my thoughts about my parents are even vaguer than the game. It feels like something intervened because my memories of family are hazy like a foggy mirror. Was something intentionally making my memories blurry?
Why on earth—
“Johann?”
“…Ah, sorry. What were we talking about?”
“It was about Elisa.”
“Is she adapting well to the job?”
Honestly, considering her crazy shyness, I thought she might still be adjusting. However, Karina nodded, giving me an unexpected answer.
“She’s doing well. Renny said she’s happy to finally have a bit of time to rest thanks to her. Renny absolutely hates paperwork…”
“It seems like she’s doing well for someone who was in such a state.”
It was a side of Renny I hadn’t seen in the game.
In the game, there was barely a chance to converse with her, and you had to raise the favorability with Karina before you could have personal conversations with this NPC. Thanks to the memories from battles against bosses, hearing about Renny successfully doing administrative work was quite surprising.
“In the past, she helped me with simple tasks.”
Was she practicing what she learned by observing? Perhaps she was smarter than she looked.
“It should have been my responsibility, but seeing her wrap up meals swiftly in the office makes me feel guilty. I want to help her out now that I’m feeling better, but she vehemently refuses…”
Karina spoke with a gloomy face as I silently imagined Renny sleeping in the room. How long could she carry on like this?
“Maybe we should find more people.”
“…Finding suitable individuals to stay near the Saint is not an easy task.”
Hiring someone who’s suitable to serve the Saint isn’t a simple feat. After all, we’re selecting someone who must assist the Saint. The requirements are pretty strict.
I alone could stack up enough certifications to build a tower of cards, and only managed to get recognition for escorting Karina to the academy.
Elisa had nowhere else to go due to her special lineage—not turning dark, at least—so she was a thoroughly harmless individual, but…
Meow!
“Johann? Over there…”
A sharp noise shattered my thoughts like breaking glass, and I turned to where I heard the sound.
“…When did it escape?”
“What?”
“That book. It’s one I got from the rift, and it can move on its own. It seems dangerous… I’m not sure.”
Can a book that’s running away while getting slapped by a cat really be called dangerous?
I asked Karina for her approval, chased off the cat with my hand, and grabbed the book. The tentacles were a mess, possibly from the cat scratching and biting. In fact, one tentacle looked like it had been completely ripped off.
“…If that’s the case, wouldn’t it have been better to just stay put?”
As I spoke, the tentacled book looked up at me with its damp eyes. The eyes seemed to flicker, like it was going to blink. I flipped the book over and tucked it under my arm. With no proper place to set it down, sticking it under my arm was my only option.
It felt wrong to hand such a ominous object to Karina.
What if that flickering was like a brainwash beam? It would lead to quite an awkward situation.
“It’s a fascinating book. May I see it just once?”
“No. It’s a dangerous book, so it’s better not to touch it.”
“I’m fine. After all, I’m the Saint. Most curses or magic won’t work on me.”
“Aren’t you under a curse right now?”
“Um… That’s true. But can’t I just take a quick look? It feels like a magic book, and while it emits a gloomy aura, it doesn’t seem outright malevolent…”
“Are these two different?”
“Um, it’s hard to explain verbally, but they’re a bit different. A malevolent aura is dangerous, but a gloomy aura can just be an innate attribute… like Elisa.”
“Oh.”
Suddenly, it all clicked.
“I’ll show it to you while I hold it, so don’t grab it with your hands.”
I moved two steps forward to show the book to Karina while maintaining a safe distance. I blocked my eyes with my hands since it could fire beams from its eyes. The tentacle slapping against my palm was only a nuisance, with far less power than a kitty punch. After staring at the book for quite a while, Karina finally spoke.
“…I heard this book came from a place overflowing with zombies, so I thought it was a dark magic book, but it feels a bit different. Uhm, should I say it feels like a kind of scripture?”
“This is a scripture?”
That was one of the most surprising things I had heard all day.
This tentacle-clad book being a scripture was as shocking as the fact that Millia devoured all the carrots during dinner last night.
“That might not be the case. It could simply be a book infused with such energy… I don’t have much knowledge about this area, so I can’t say for sure. It might be best to ask Merlin.”
“…I suppose so.”
For some reason, it felt like the tentacle was sticking to my hand more intensely at the mention of Merlin.
…Do they know each other?
That shouldn’t be the case.
I tucked the now more subdued tentacle book under my arm and grabbed Patrasche’s handle with one hand.
It was time to resume the stroll we’d briefly halted.
—————-
‘It’s the only way left!’
She still hadn’t lost hope.
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