“Your family name…do you mean?”
[Do you not know the meaning of your family name?]
“I don’t know.”
How would I? I only learned my name thanks to the Status Window.
[Has even his descendant forgotten the meaning of the family name…███…]
What on earth is my family name? I’ve never seen this name in the original story. What could be hidden here that would elicit such a reaction? I had no choice but to throw a question at Andras.
“Is there some hidden secret about my family name?”
[Ha…your family name is…██████.]
…What?
“Could you say that again?”
[███████.]
I didn’t hear a thing. Andras’s voice came to me as nothing but an unpleasant noise, unable to convey any linguistic message. All I figured out was that my family name “Quartz” has a huge secret hidden within it.
Why is a family name subjected to censorship?
In the knowledge I remembered from the original story, I hadn’t heard of any character with a name like that.
…No way, is this related to the True Ending DLC?
But how on earth did the story turn out like this, being trapped on a deserted island for ten whole years?
“I can’t hear anything.”
[Oh dear. Have I reached out too far…? My apologies, I seem to have troubled you for no reason. If it’s still ████, then it should be █████…]
“I understand something is blocking a message from reaching me. Is there any way to bypass it?”
Andras pressed his forehead, lost in thought, then finally opened his mouth with an expression indicating this much should be possible.
[The Demon Cult probably knows about your family. Go shake them down for information about your clan. This is about all I can convey without interference…it’s a sad situation. Not even being able to speak to the descendant of that person, I feel ashamed…]
“A Demon Cult…you mean?”
Are you referring to something like the Halphas Cult…?
[Yes, I’m talking about those foolish ones serving the likes of Harpas that you are familiar with.]
“Harpas…”
Come to think of it, unlike the original story, the Halphas Cult was rampaging. Does it have something to do with my family?
[That’s all I can share. My apologies.]
“That’s…fine.”
Gaining even this little bit of information wasn’t a bad reward. Although it just raised more questions, at least it established some sort of direction.
[Take this book and feel free to use it.]
With that, the appearance of the entity faded away like dandelion seeds in the wind.
Even the body I possessed had secrets.
Looks like my homework just increased.
I picked up the book that had somehow lost its case.
With a troubling story, the book that grants any wish finally landed in my hands.
——————–
“Wow, blood stains…”
Exiting the Secret Archive and arriving at the library in the dead of night, we were greeted by broken nails and blood marks.
How much scratching did it take?
“…We should probably clean this up.”
“I’ll help.”
“Me too…”
We utilized magic to quickly erase the traces. Now, no one would know that someone had scratched the walls enough to draw blood here. We moved through the secret tunnel I had hidden to my workshop.
“I can’t believe there’s such a secret passage in the Academy…”
“Hehe, it was made by Johann!”
“Johann did this…?”
Some members of our party, who had no clue about the existence of my secret passage, looked at me with wonder. Their faces seemed to ask how I made something like this. I shrugged and replied.
“If you have enough time and budget, you can do it.”
“It doesn’t seem like a passage you can create just because you have time and budget…”
Viola countered my words, but I cheerfully ignored her.
“Y-You know, Johann is amazing…”
“He really is incredible.”
“Y-Yeah!”
Why did the atmosphere suddenly turn to compliments about me? I glanced at the party members who were full of books in their arms and casually perched myself in the workshop chair. Normally, it wouldn’t be bad to disperse by now, but there was something I had to say first.
“I will keep this exploration a secret. Someone might have caught on, but if we keep quiet, no one outside will notice. If anyone asks about the source of that book, just make up something. Depending on the situation, you can even use my name.”
After all, no one would be coming to ask me. I planned to say I merely lent a book from the Yeomyeong-gwan.
They wouldn’t even come to bother asking for such excuses anyway.
“If you look at the books we brought, it wouldn’t be strange to give Johann a fortune…”
Martina looked at me with a face that seemed somewhat guilty. Is it because we brought five thick books? Honestly, I didn’t mind as long as getting stronger party members was beneficial.
“Don’t worry about it. You getting stronger is enough for me.”
As long as they became strong enough to handle the variety of insanity that came pouring in later, I had no desires beyond that. Owning the books would only contribute to my funds, and since I already had a good source of money, I was not worried. I could earn more through the prosthetic business.
“Now that it’s settled, everyone go home. It’s almost curfew, isn’t it?”
“Thank you, Uncle.”
“I won’t forget this favor!”
“Thank you. Thanks to you, I feel like I can reach a higher level.”
I waved my hands as praises poured in.
“Go get some rest.”
“See you next week!”
Everyone except those staying at Yeomyeong-gwan left the workshop. It was just me, Karina, Millia, and Elisa left. Karina sighed as people disappeared and spoke up.
“That was quite the adventure…”
“Do all explorers fight like that?”
“No. It’s rare to have this many mages.”
Would there really be a party consisting of three mages? One single silly mage’s price is worth dozens of gold coins. That’s how rare mages are considered.
“I see…but where did Kiki go?”
“She’s probably sleeping snugly in some corner like a cat.”
“I wanted to pet her…”
Millia looked disappointed that she hadn’t gotten to touch Kiki.
“You can see cats anywhere, so don’t be sad. From what I’ve seen, there are cats wandering around near Yeomyeong-gwan.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Is it that cat I saw during my last walk?”
As she said that, Karina was looking at Rue. Upon mentioning that cat, Rue began to shake and suddenly yelled out.
[I won’t forgive that cat! I will take my revenge!]
A magic book and a cat, if there was an X-Tube here, it would surely gather around 100 million views. While I entertained such foolish thoughts, I stood up.
“Well then, let’s go back.”
“I think I’ll sleep well tonight.”
Karina’s voice was thick with exhaustion she couldn’t hide. Although all she did was heal, was that still too much for her weakened body? I glanced at the top of Karina’s head and grabbed the handles of the wheelchair.
“Johann, tomorrow is the weekend, so let’s go out!”
“I…I also want to go… with you…”
“Let’s talk about tomorrow when tomorrow comes.”
I just wanted to sleep comfortably today.
———————–
‘I can’t let this happen…’
As time went by, the rumors about the Secret Archive had quieted down.
The party that spread the rumors couldn’t fulfill their goal, and those who entered the Secret Archive remained silent about it, leaving no room for rumors to circulate among the people any longer.
Unless there were new individuals who would be entering the Secret Archive, it was unfortunate that only Johann’s group had gone inside.
“I can’t let this happen…”
Bella unconsciously bit her nails. She hadn’t realized that her terrifying face made those around her flinch and back away, as she blankly stared at the midterm rankings pinned to the bulletin board.
4th place.
She was ranked 4th.
The name beside the 3rd place, “Martina Raymond,” overshadowed her own. Bella couldn’t make sense of this reality.
During the first semester final exam, Martina was in 5th place. Given how large the gap was between the top three and those below, it was absolutely abnormal for her to be overtaken like this.
‘The Secret Archive…!’
Bella recalled the memory of the Secret Archive that she had forgotten, or rather, one she had tried to bury, grinding her teeth. For now, this was all she could do.
“How much effort did I put into this…”
Tears mixed with dark energy dropped to the floor. The makeup on her face was melting away along with her tears.
She knew she shouldn’t be like this, but she couldn’t hold back her sobs.
Thus, the sound of cries echoed through the corridor.
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