"This is...."
The man's expression stiffened as he recognized the Roam emblem.
He wouldn't know whether the owner of this brooch was the eldest daughter, second daughter, youngest, or someone else entirely. But he would have at least realized it was genuine.
"If you recognize it, hurry up and call your superior."
At my cold words, the man scrambled to his feet. However, there was no need for him to go fetch anyone.
Before he could, a woman who had been listening to our conversation from behind the curtain revealed herself.
"It seems the staff member wasn't to your liking. Please speak with me instead. I am Bellona, the owner of this shop."
Thin and heavily wrinkled, she was decked out in gaudy clothing and accessories.
A strong scent of cosmetics wafted from her as she took the seat the man had occupied. A bit older than I remembered.
"The emblem is genuine."
She identified the brooch as authentic just by glancing at it. I responded in an imperious tone.
"That's right. I've come on Duke Roam's orders."
"His Grace wishes to purchase all the items in our shop?"
Bellona's voice was smooth.
"It's my first time welcoming such a grand customer...."
Trailing off, she soon smiled as she regarded me.
"I haven't received any separate notification. Perhaps there was a letter or message?"
Compared to the staff member from earlier, Bellona's attitude was flawlessly natural. However, I could tell she was inwardly skeptical.
That was natural enough. Father had never purchased goods in this manner before. Magic tool craftsmen would personally bring their wares to present before him, begging him to buy them before they could cross Roam's threshold.
The line of such magic tool craftsmen had always been quite long. Certainly, neither Father nor Frisian would have visited a shop directly like this.
But the situation is different now, isn't it?
"A few days ago, the young lady was discovered in a nearby town."
Feigning reluctance, I began to speak calmly.
I may no longer be Roam's child, but that didn't mean I wouldn't use Roam's name.
If they're going to use me, it's only fair that I use them as well.
"She could have been brought home safely, but the search party botched the job. His Grace was greatly angered by this."
Bellona and others in the underworld wouldn't believe romantic rumors about me being kidnapped by monsters anyway.
Rather than fabricating tales to match public gossip, mixing lies with an appropriate amount of truth was safer.
"Oh my, such a thing happened."
Bellona let out a small exclamation and widened her eyes. However, her gaze remained steady, and her gestures were exaggerated.
As expected, she had already heard news of the search party.
"His Grace has ordered that since the young lady will soon appear in this city, we are not to leave any unofficial goods in stock. He wishes for her to be unable to purchase anything. And when she does come later, he wants you to detain her on the pretext of having no inventory."
"If that's the case, wouldn't it suffice for us to simply claim we have no goods? There shouldn't be any need to go through the trouble of purchasing everything like this."
"She was born and raised in Roam. Do you believe clumsy lies could deceive her?"
Bellona would have heard plenty about how viciously I had tormented Lilia. She must have considered the possibility that I might throw a tantrum if told there were no goods.
"...Then, should I provide the items right now?"
"Yes. It's urgent, so bring them out immediately. Mark everything at regular prices and send the final invoice to the Roam main house. They'll handle it."
Magic tools are expensive. Not just one or two—if I swept up the entire shop's inventory, it would take a toll even on my ample finances.
So this was precisely the moment to stick the Roam family with an enormous bill.
My not-fully-healed arm was subtly uncomfortable, and it felt satisfying to extract compensation for damages in this way.
"Of course, I am well aware of the Roam ducal family's excellent character, but as a business owner, how could I hand over all the goods without any collateral?"
"That's why I'm providing this brooch."
I gestured toward the brooch with my chin. Bellona looked at the brooch with widened eyes, apparently genuinely surprised that I would offer it as collateral.
"Or perhaps you lack the discernment?"
This brooch is genuine. With this, one could enter anywhere and use the Roam name as if it were their own.
Offering as collateral something money couldn't buy—naturally she couldn't refuse. She surely couldn't imagine I would spout nonsense while staking the Roam emblem.
I hoped the family, when they eventually got this back, would properly understand my intentions. And stop with all that nonsense about Roam's lost daughter.
"I will prepare it immediately. Please wait a moment."
"Ah, while you're at it, save yourself some trouble and gather goods from nearby shops too. Of course, calculate those properly as well."
"...Yes, I will do so."
She rose to her feet with a faint smile. I crossed my arms and leaned back leisurely. After a while, a small bag was placed before me. A small crossbody bag connected to a spatial dimension.
Naturally, it was filled with illegally circulated magic tools.
* * *
Before I died, I had secretly visited the Great Library once.
I had come hiding my identity for one purpose. To find a way to cure my incurable disease.
Looking back now, it was natural that I found nothing, seeking a cure for a disease that didn't exist in the first place.
But at that time, I was truly desperate, and accordingly, I despaired even more deeply.
In my anger, I believe I vented a bit. I remember getting angry that a repository said to contain all the world's knowledge had nothing useful. Well, there was some property damage in the process.
Because of that incident, the proud imperial dispatch mages and researchers formally sent a letter of protest to Roam.
'I ignored all of it, though.'
The Great Library I visited again was still enormous. Having changed my appearance as soon as I left the shop, I entered the building as an ordinary woman with dull red hair, green eyes, and freckles.
The building was organized with various books arranged by category, centered on a circular space that extended all the way to the ceiling.
[Twelve knights sat at the round table, two among them sank into eternal darkness, and the remaining ten shall wander without seeing the rest before their eyes; the one who will illuminate the chaos is the captain.]
Nadav had certainly said that. There must be a reason he specifically expressed it as twelve knights of the round table.
However, searching through countless historical texts for materials using the words "round table" and "twelve knights" was too broad a scope.
It wasn't something that would take a day or two, so going through all of that today was frankly impossible.
So I decided to first look into the monster called Dullahan.
If I knew the circumstances of how Dullahans were born, I could guess at Nadav's past. Information about their origins or habitats would be helpful.
When I reached the library filled with monster-related texts, a sigh escaped me naturally. There are this many monsters in the world, so why did Nadav have to be a Dullahan?
If only his appearance were slightly more normal, bringing him around would have been much easier. At the very least, if he were smaller.
"The classification is...."
Not beast-type, is it human-type? Or should I search by attribute? If it's a Dullahan, it would be dark attribute?
The monster section was popular, with people packed between the bookshelves. I craned my neck among them, looking around, but couldn't find the title I wanted.
The dark attribute bookshelf was full of Black Dragons. Occasionally there were undead or hell's beasts mixed in, but I didn't see any book dealing exclusively with Dullahans.
Even the titles were all ridiculously childish. They looked more like novels than research papers.
"Hah, the book organization is really...."
Terrible. Whether in the past or now, finding books is too difficult.
For the higher-ups, librarians would find everything one by one, but books in spaces open to the public like this had to be found and shelved by oneself.
As a result, books were sometimes shelved in wrong places, and the condition of the books was woefully poor compared to what was provided for the higher-ups' exclusive use.
Opening books to the masses like this was revolutionary in itself, but if they're going to do so, wouldn't it be nice to make it a bit more convenient?
And why are there so many visitors? This isn't a marketplace, shouldn't they limit the number of people entering?
"Librarians just embezzle funding and don't do any actual work."
Annoyed, I bent down to scan the lower bookshelf, grinding my teeth. I hadn't expected to find it immediately.
But at this rate, I really didn't know if I could even skim a single book today.
After checking three bookshelves, frustration began to rise. My heart was anxious because of the possibility that Samuel could reach this city as early as tomorrow.
I had planned to roughly check important information today and leave the city tonight.
Chewing my lip as I glared at the bookshelf, someone suddenly spoke to me.
"It seems you're looking for something specific."
It was a plump man wearing thick horn-rimmed glasses.
"May I help you?"
His intention as he asked with a flushed face felt all too obvious. I hesitated briefly, but soon nodded.
I wasn't in a position to be picky. I had no choice but to use every method available.
"That would be appreciated."
Smiling faintly, I launched into a tale of nonexistent family circumstances and circumstances, all without so much as wetting my lips with saliva.