Chapter 40 - The Magic Otaku Gets a Book
It was a place far, far away. A jet-black space, shrouded entirely in darkness.
Within that space, where neither sound nor presence could be felt, the silence was broken by the deep, resonant voice of an elderly man.
"Saki Adoni Arcalai has broken the Seal of the Four Archangels hidden in the Great Library of the Talgum Magic Academy."
As if in response, the grave voice of an ancient old man echoed.
"That riddle cannot be solved by one from this world. Without a doubt, he is an Outsider."
"An Outsider... one who visits this world bearing memories of another. This is the first I have encountered one. Or perhaps, it is not correct to say I have 'met' him."
There was no reply to those words, and silence once again dominated the space. After a period that felt both brief and eternal, the hoarse voice of the old man finally echoed once more.
"The boy has obtained one of the few remaining 'legacies' in that land. His importance has grown even greater. We wish to keep him from dangers like this last one, but that too is difficult."
"Our means of directly interfering with Assiah, the Material World, are extremely limited. Speaking of which, I believe Sister Magisa mentioned she had an idea."
As soon as those words were spoken, an indescribable atmosphere filled the darkness. It was a tension so lax that one could almost hear the phantom sound of an unvoiced sigh.
"...To be honest, I have nothing but anxiety about leaving it to her."
After a considerable pause, the old man's voice that followed was so devoid of energy that, even in this invisible space, one could almost picture him pressing his temples or covering his face with his hands.
"Why is that? I've been a god for five hundred years, you know. In fact, I'm worshipped far more devotedly than either of you."
Suddenly, the voice of a young woman, flat in tone yet carrying a hint of provocation, rang out. The men's replies, though calm, were tinged with clear irritation.
"We are not gods. How many times must I tell you that we are nothing more than magicians who have lived a little longer than most?"
"The revival of magic rests on the shoulders of Saki Adoni Arcalai. We cannot allow him to fall before his task is complete. We're counting on you, do you understand?"
"Leave it to me. I, Sister Magisa, will watch over my dear little Saki, up close and personal. You can rest assured."
This time, a great sigh, impossible to conceal, truly did fill the dark space.
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After the momentary flash of light and the voice echoing in my head faded, a single book remained on the altar in the center of the hidden room. The dome of light that had covered it was gone, and the magical particles that had filled the room had vanished as if blown away.
I held my breath as I quietly approached the pedestal and gently reached for the book placed upon it. I hesitated for a moment before touching it, but then I decisively took it in my hands.
...Nothing happened.
I let out a silent sigh of relief and carefully examined the book in my grasp. It was an antique parchment book, but the binding and cover were solid. As I flipped through the pages, they didn't crumble or fall out. At a glance, it contained text written in the old style with omitted vowels, which I was used to, and diagrams here and there. It was probably a grimoire.
"Amazing, Saki. Just, amazing."
An excited voice came from my side. I looked over to see Ruria staring at me with sparkling eyes. Even if she didn't understand the meaning of what had just happened, she seemed to have grasped that I had done something to obtain this book. Her gaze shifted back and forth between me and the book in my hands.
"Thank you, Ruria. Do you want to try reading it?"
When I gestured to the sealed book, Ruria nodded vigorously. Whether she heard my warning, "It's an old book, so be careful not to damage it," or not, she immediately opened the cover and began to read. It was, in a way, endearing. I watched Ruria with a wry smile and began to contemplate the recent events.
That riddle was based entirely on knowledge from my former world. AZOTH is a kind of magical term, a word often inscribed on magical weapons and talismans. Its origin is related to the "theory of elements," which seeks to understand what the substances of this world are made of.
What is the source of all things? For ages, various great sages have offered their own theories to this question. The most famous is probably the "four-element theory" of Empedocles or Aristotle. The idea that all things are composed of fire, air, water, and earth was supported in the West for a long time. This concept is also strongly reflected in magic.
There were also unusual theories, like the Archimedean school's proposition that "all things are number," and Democritus's "atomic theory," which proposed the existence of a smallest unit constituting matter—some of which even anticipated modern science. Among them, a particularly radical, or rather, insane theory was the one advocated by an extremist faction of mystics: "All things are composed of language."
Well, to skip the finer details, if everything is made of language, then its smallest constituent elements would be letters. Among the intellectuals of ancient Europe, three languages were considered important: Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Therefore, proponents of this theory claimed that the world is composed of these three types of letters: the alphabet, Greek letters, and Hebrew letters.
The alphabet begins with A and ends with Z. The Greek alphabet begins with Alpha (A) and ends with Omega (O), and the Hebrew alphabet begins with Aleph (A) and ends with Tau (T). Thus, the word
It's famous as the word inscribed on the pommel jewel of the sword owned by the wandering alchemist Paracelsus. Well, in his case, it ended with "Th" instead of "T." For these reasons, I concluded that the answer to the riddle's "I am the book and the world" and "I am the beginning and the end" was
I don't know why they chose such an answer, but it would have been impossible for anyone from this academy to solve the riddle and take the book, even if they stumbled upon this hidden room by mistake. Who other than me could possibly answer a question that required knowledge not of sorcery, but of magic—and moreover, knowledge of letters that don't exist in this world?
In other words, the creator of this seal expected a magician, not a sorcerer, to visit this place. It wouldn't be surprising for someone who knows magic, which has many similarities to that of my previous world, to have knowledge of AZOT. After all, the angel names on the talismans in this room are written in the alphabet.
This was made clear by the voice I heard at the end. The voice that identified itself as Brother Shimon, a new member of the magic society, the Holy Magicians' Order. Like Sister Magisa, he must be a great magician who has achieved spiritual existence. His rank is 9=2 Magus, higher than Sister Magisa, who is an 8=3 Magister Templi.
Since Sister Magisa is identified with the Goddess of Magic, Isis, I can imagine that Brother Shimon is probably the God of Hermits, Jefuty, one of the three main deities alongside her. Perhaps in the era of the ancient kingdom, they were respected as high-ranking magicians, but after the kingdom's collapse, they came to be worshipped as great beings—as gods.
Well, I can see how that could happen. If someone were to suddenly hear a voice echoing in their head from a completely unknown entity, as I just did, it's plausible they might mistake it for a divine revelation. A [Sending] spell can do something similar, but it never comes from an unknown person.
Oh, that's right. Something occurred to me, so I asked Ruria, who was engrossed in the book.
"By the way, Ruria, when I answered the riddle and the whole room lit up, did you hear anything?"
"Heard it. An old man's voice."
Ruria answered without looking up from the book. So it was true. Just like with Sister Magisa's voice during the entrance ceremony (or rather, the induction ceremony), both Ruria and I could hear the voices of the order's high-ranking members. It seems safe to assume that we are both considered official members of the order. Is it because we have actually used magic?
Whatever the case in the era of the ancient magic kingdom, the magic of this world has declined in the present day, so it's possible that we are the only members of the Holy Magicians' Order in this Material World of Assiah. I don't know, I kind of wished there was a senior member I could more casually learn from. Receiving revelations directly from a Secret Chief who is a spiritual being is usually the role of the order's founder or someone like that.
There's still a lot I don't know about the magic society we've joined (or are considered to have joined), the Holy Magicians' Order, but today I unexpectedly obtained what seems to be a very important book. This will surely lead to a great leap forward in my magic research. I prompted my childhood friend, who was currently absorbed in that very book.
"So, Ruria, what's the book like? Is there anything interesting written in it?"
Ruria's reply was tinged with a slight hint of dissatisfaction.
"Same as the scroll. I can read it, but I don't really understand what it means."
"I see. Well, I'll read through it first, and then I'll explain to you in detail what it's about."
"Really?"
When I said that, Ruria's lips curled into a slight, happy smile. When I held out my hand, she readily passed the book to me. What a relief. I was a little worried she might say, "I'm not moving until I finish reading."
Well then, let's head back to the dorm before dinnertime.
Passing through the only exit from the hidden room, Ruria and I returned to the library's main hall. When I looked back, the passageway we had just come through was gone without a trace, and there was only a bookshelf standing by the wall. I instinctively reached out, but unlike when we entered, this time my hand didn't pass through. Ruria watched, her eyes widening slightly in surprise. This shocked me as well.
What kind of magic made this possible? And more importantly, if the ancient magic kingdom used such advanced magic, why did it fall? That's the real mystery.
Well, I suppose the room's purpose was fulfilled the moment the mystery protecting this book was solved. The events of a moment ago felt like a dream or an illusion, but the book in my hand told me it was all real.
First things first, I need to get back to the dorm and thoroughly decipher this book. Savoring the joy of being able to open a new page in the world of magic, Ruria and I left the first-floor hall of the Great Library.
As usual, no one was at the reception desk, and Ayala-san was sitting behind the counter with her usual sleepy eyes. She noticed us coming out of the hall and straightened up slightly from her slovenly posture of resting her cheek on her hand, calling out to us.
"Oh, leaving already? You're quite a bit earlier than yesterday."
The moment I heard her voice, the blood drained from my face. That's right. To get back to the dorm, we had to pass this reception desk, and in my hand was the book I had just obtained from the hidden room. Doesn't this look like I'm trying to sneak a book out of the library?
What should I do? I could try to insist that this book is my personal property, but I came to this library empty-handed. It's a gamble whether Ayala-san remembers that, but as a librarian at the reception desk, it's highly likely she keeps a sharp, albeit sleepy, eye on books being brought in and out.
Damn it, should I have hidden it in my robe and snuck it out? No, the book is too big compared to my body. It would have been painfully obvious that I was hiding something, and I would have been stopped immediately. Ah, while I'm thinking about this, Ayala-san is looking at me with a suspicious gaze. This is bad, I have to say something.
"Ah, um, this book is…"
I opened my mouth to say something, anything, to try and talk my way out of this. But Ayala-san just glanced at the book in my hand and said in her usual tone.
"Oh, that book isn't one of ours. You can take it with you."
"Huh? You can tell just by looking?"
"I'm in charge of the librarians here, you know. No matter how many tens of thousands of books we have, there isn't a single one I don't remember."
What? Seriously? She said it so casually, but this woman just said something pretty incredible.
"You're not allowed to take out books from our catalog without permission, but if it's not a book owned by this library, I don't care. It's not like you stole it, right?"
I vigorously shook my head at Ayala-san's question. I solved the riddle, so the right to own this book should be mine... right? Probably.
"It looks pretty old, so I'm a little curious about what kind of book it is, but... I'll let it go for now. Your girlfriend over there has been glaring at me for a while, so you should probably head back soon, don't you think?"
I followed her gaze and saw Ruria clinging to my left arm, her usual spot, and staring at Ayala-san with a cold gaze. This is bad. If I leave this be, her wrath will be directed at me next. Unlike some dense protagonist, I've learned my lesson. It's time to make a swift exit.
"Excuse me, then. We'll be back."
With a brief farewell, we started walking toward the exit. Ayala-san waved at us from the reception desk. Instantly, Ruria's grip on my left arm tightened. I quickly called out to the guard and had him open the great doors leading outside.
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The great doors closed with a thud, and Ayala lowered the hand she had been waving beside her face. She let out a light sigh and muttered to no one in particular.
"Is this really alright, Academy Head?"
"Yes, you've been a great help, Head Librarian Ayala."
The reply came from behind her. Ayala turned to see the door leading to the librarians' office open, and a tall old man emerged. With his black robe and long white beard, it was the Head of the Talgum Magic Academy.
"I let them pass just as you said, but what exactly is that book? I really don't remember seeing it before. Oh, could it be from your personal collection, Academy Head?"
At Ayala's question, the Academy Head's face, buried in his white eyebrows and beard, broke into a smile.
"No, that is not it. That book was in the 'room that no one has ever entered.'"
"What, that rumor? The one about a secret room in this Great Library that no one has ever entered? Was that actually true? And why do you know about it, Academy Head?"
Ayala pressed him with more questions, but the Academy Head remained silent, his smiling expression unchanged. Ayala shrugged her shoulders with exaggerated flair, but then adopted a thinking posture and muttered.
"But still, that would mean Saki-kun entered that 'room no one has ever entered' and brought out that book. Even librarians who have worked here for decades would swear that no such room exists."
Without answering Ayala's muttering, the Academy Head gave a slight bow with a smile and disappeared through the door he had come from. Watching him go, Ayala let out a big sigh.
"He's really a hard person to understand. He rarely even meets with us librarians or the professors, so it's a mystery why he would go out of his way to tell me to let that boy take the book. Well, he is the head of this mystery-filled academy, so perhaps he has some profound thoughts that we can't comprehend."
Whispering to herself, Ayala propped her cheek on her hand again and leaned against the counter.
"Either way, it's none of my business. But I am curious about the book Saki-kun had. I wonder what kind of book it was?"
And then, Ayala let out a small, unladylike yawn and immersed herself in the silence of the library she so loved.