“What? What is it? What happened?”
Ian asked, his head turned away.
A person who possessed a grimoire of an Outer God could not read an ordinary grimoire. More precisely, they could read it, but the grimoire wouldn’t be able to withstand it. Ian himself had once tried to read the Book of Moses and ended up bursting a perfectly intact grimoire like a balloon.
The same applied exactly to the [Repository of Knowledge] Ian had written, so the moment the grimoire opened, he turned his head away. Thanks to that, he saw the Repository of Knowledge devour the bubbles, but he hadn’t been able to confirm that it had absorbed rune magic.
“Did the grimoire break, maybe? Or did it tear?”
“N-no. It’s not that. It’s just……”
Amelia somehow calmed the confusion filling her head, snatched up the fluttering grimoire, and explained what the Repository of Knowledge had done.
“This is insane.”
Ian was aghast.
“That damn grade-schooler ability is in the grimoire?”
“Y-yes…… I didn’t know either. The grimoire didn’t tell me……”
Before they knew it, the Repository of Knowledge had long since closed its cover. Only then did Ian turn his head and face Amelia.
Covered in a thick layer of dust, she hugged the faintly vibrating grimoire to her chest and continued in a slightly excited voice.
“Is this also some arrangement you prepared, Oppa……?”
“No, I don’t know either. What even is that? I want to learn it too.”
“Ah, aah. Really……?”
“More importantly, did you check what the principle behind it is? Since it activated once, I feel like the conditions and such would have been written down anew.”
“Ah, I’ll check.”
Amelia opened the grimoire and quickly flipped through the pages.
“Ah, here it is.”
Before long, she found the section concerning magic absorption. Amelia gripped the grimoire tightly in her small hands, cleared her throat once, and explained.
“Plunder and Recording of Magic. The second signature magic possessed by this grimoire, and something akin to its symbol. It is also a conditional magic that is unlocked only after the owner of this grimoire has dealt with one or more other magicians…… Ah, in my case, it says it was unlocked because I directly assisted in dealing with a magician.”
“……”
“And…… the magic this grimoire can absorb is basic magic that has not been recorded in the grimoire. It is impossible to seize another grimoire’s signature magic, and high-grade magic also cannot be absorbed.”
“……Probably because, from the time I designed it, its nature was that of a notebook organizing basic magic.”
“I guess so.”
Amelia nodded and continued checking the sentences.
“In order to record a magician’s magic in this grimoire, one must either forcibly extract that magician’s magic, or remove their heart and brain and perform a ritual. For the ritual, on a night with a full moon, carve the magic circle written below in a place more than one hundred meters above the ground, then place the acquired heart and brain upon it.”
“……”
“Then scatter powdered meteoric iron over them. When this is done, the heart and brain will be dyed silver. At that time, gently place this grimoire in the center of the magic circle and sprinkle the owner’s blood in a circle. Finally, so that the Mothers may witness the plunder of this grimoire, set up fifteen high-quality candles each of black, white, and blue around the magic circle. With this, the preparations for the ritual are complete……”
Amelia tilted her head.
“Mothers? Who are the Mothers mentioned here? The authors who wrote the grimoire together with you, Oppa?”
“……Well, something like that. Just think of them as roughly very impressive people.”
Ian wore a bitter smile. The grimoires inside his coat and bag vibrated with a low hum.
There was no need to think deeply about who the “Mothers” the Repository of Knowledge referred to were. No matter how one looked at it, it meant the Outer Gods.
‘I thought it was a completely separate grimoire with nothing to do with the Outer Gods, but apparently not.’
Ian took out a cigarette, placed it between his lips, and looked back at Amelia.
“Is that the end of the content?”
“Uh, no. There’s a little more. Um…… The plundering of magic is only possible when the owner has been deeply involved in the magician’s death. If the heart or brain of a magician with no connection to the owner is used, it will instead cause the owner permanent disability.”
“……”
“It requires a total period of one week for the plundered magic to fully melt into the grimoire and become usable by the owner. One may simply think of it as a period for digestion. Also, just like this grimoire’s proud signature magic, autonomous magic activation, this magic also requires a price.”
“A price?”
“Yes. The price is…… it says that during the one week in which the magic is being recorded, there will be a regression of intelligence.”
“What.”
Ian furrowed his brow. Amelia laughed sheepishly and scratched her head.
“It says the effect begins twenty-four hours after the magic is plundered. Hmm…… I don’t really know how the regression of intelligence will manifest…… but I hope I don’t cause too much trouble for you, Oppa……”
“Ooh-ooh, ttyuttya……”
“Yes?”
“Don’t worry. You probably won’t cause much trouble.”
Ian neatly ignored Amelia’s question and lit the tip of his cigarette, exhaling at length. A sweet apple scent spread out with a whoosh. Amelia muttered “Ttyuttya……?” to herself, then checked the final sentence written about magic plundering and opened her eyes wide.
“Ah, Oppa. About this last sentence here.”
“……? What is it?”
“It says here that due to a trait called ‘Faust’s Notes,’ newly recorded magic in the grimoire can also be learned by the author of this grimoire.”
“……!”
Ian’s eyes flew wide open. He held the cigarette between his fingers and approached Amelia with a startled expression.
“Is that true?”
“Yes. I’m not sure what Faust’s Notes is, but in any case, it says the author of the grimoire can also use the magic. The knowledge is transmitted into their head too.”
“Huh……”
“However, it says you can’t use it without any conditions. It’s only possible when you’re in contact with me or when you’re holding the Repository of Knowledge. The same goes for the transmission of knowledge.”
“……So it means I can’t use it whenever I please. But even that is enough.”
Ian grinned and tousled Amelia’s hair wildly.
“Thanks. You’ve opened up several possibilities for me.”
“R-really? Hehe…… I’m glad I was of help!”
Amelia smiled brightly. Ian gently tugged her cheek with one hand.
In the case of common magic, as long as one knew the magic circle, effect, and conditions, any magician could use it. There were occasional cases where a person couldn’t use it because their wavelength didn’t match, but most were not applicable. It was not called common magic for nothing.
On the other hand, rune magic, necromancy, elemental magic, astrology, and the like—magic that had to be learned through special conditions—could only be used if one’s very initiation into magic began in that direction. Even if one fulfilled the conditions, they could not so much as imitate it.
The Repository of Knowledge could shatter that restriction as if it were nothing.
Although it was a method of killing and plundering from the opposing magician, if one abandoned a little morality or only dealt with magicians who attacked first, then learning every basic magic in this world was not an impossible tale.
‘It’s literally an encyclopedia of magic. Even if it only has basic magic, that alone gives it an enormous number of uses.’
If Amelia continued to stay by Ian’s side, it would be practically the same as Ian being able to use the Repository of Knowledge himself. Even if he could not read its contents, he could still use the magic.
To begin with, the contents were not that important to the Repository of Knowledge as a grimoire. He had never read it, but that was the impression he got from the explanation. Since the magic recorded in the grimoire was in Ian’s head anyway, it did not matter much even if he could not read it.
‘For now, we should rest comfortably for a week, then act afterward. Amelia’s magic practice will have to wait until the intelligence regression is completely over too.’
Just as Ian finished sorting out his thoughts and brought the cigarette to his mouth, the distinctive siren of a police car suddenly rang out from afar.
“……Did they come after hearing the commotion?”
They had caused enough of a ruckus to nearly demolish the entire factory, so it was not strange for the police to arrive. Ian loosened his stiff wrist and looked back at Theovaran.
“We should get going. Can you avoid the police pursuit on your own?”
“No problem.”
“Then that’s fine. Leave me a number to contact you, or some other method, before you go.”
“Mm.”
Theovaran gave Ian his number.
It was not a particularly special number. Ian nodded and moved with Amelia toward where they had parked the bike.
“Answer when I contact you. I’m leaving.”
“Right. Thanks for saving me. I’ll see you later.”
With those words as his last, Theovaran turned around.
Ian did not bother looking back. Leaving behind the sound of the sirens drawing closer and closer, he mounted the bike parked inside the factory and used the concealment magic written in the Book of Contract. Thanks to that, there was no need to worry about being caught by the police or CCTV.
“Shall we go, Amelia?”
“Yes!”
Amelia sat behind Ian. The two of them started the engine without hesitation and leisurely slipped out through the main gate, which was crawling with police.
“……Huh? Didn’t you just hear the sound of an exhaust?”
“Quit talking bullshit and get ready to enter. Even at a glance, it looks like terrorism.”
The voices of the police officers cut vainly through the air.
*
And so, the next afternoon.
Exactly twenty-four hours after the Repository of Knowledge had absorbed rune magic.
“Oppaaaaaa!! Kiss on the cheek! Kiss! If you don’t, Ria’s gonna lie here and throw a tantrum all day! Waaaaaaah!!!”
“……This is insane.”
“No bad words! As punishment, kiss! Kiss! Kiss Ria!”
Amelia, who had been reading the grimoire with an intelligent look just moments ago, lay down on the floor and rolled around.
“Do ittttt! Give me smoochies!”
“……”
“Ah, Oppa’s face looks handsome from below too. Oh my gawd.”
Amelia flailed her arms and legs.
“……”
Ian’s eyebrows also flailed like waves.