……Sylvia studied Epherene’s note.
The mana imbued in the paper was neither letters, nor any kind of drawing, but truly nothing more than a simple “trace.”
And yet, to look into the “meaning of Epherene” contained within it—to fathom the thoughts of that idiot—required an immense amount of mana indeed.
“……Julie.”
Sylvia looked back at Julie. The answer came without the slightest delay.
“Yes!”
Right now, Julie’s trust in Sylvia was at 100%. Since Julie had revealed her own existence, Sylvia too had confessed that she was not Sephin, but “Sylvia of Iliade.”
“……Can you carry me on your back?”
Sylvia was sitting in a chair, but she could not so much as lift a finger.
All she had done was communicate with Epherene for a very brief moment—something that could hardly even be called communication—and be exposed to a tiny fragment of “time energy.” Yet the result was mana exhaustion.
Every last drop of mana in her body had been wrung out.
“Of course. Right now?”
“There’s no time to waste.”
But thanks to that, she had understood Epherene’s intent with certainty.
“Yes.”
Julie immediately carried Sylvia on her back.
“What is our destination?”
“……The Imperial Palace Library underground.”
Now that she was actually being carried, it was humiliating enough to make her sigh, but there was nothing to be done.
Sylvia buried her face against Julie’s back.
“Yes.”
Julie opened the guest room door. The corridor of the Imperial Palace was still eerie.
“We’re going!”
There was no reason to hesitate. Holding Sylvia’s body tightly, she ran.
Whooooo……
And yet, the sound of her running feet was quiet.
Her speed was not; was this why mages received protection from knights?
“Is this the place?”
They arrived in the instant she was thinking that.
Or perhaps she had fallen asleep for a moment without realizing it.
Sylvia lifted her heavy eyelids.
A great door, and on either side of it, two statues of scholars standing firm.
“Yeah. That’s right.”
“Yes.”
Creeeeak—
The great door opened.
Julie entered, sharpening her senses and nerves just in case.
“……It is quiet.”
The library was indeed like a library. There was no one there, and silence reigned.
Julie too asked in a quiet whisper.
—By the way, what was it? The content of the note that the benefactor named Epherene gave you.
“There wasn’t any.”
—……Pardon?
“There was nothing. No content either. Just a little of that girl’s mana on it.”
Julie blinked. Sylvia swayed with a tired face.
“Put me down now.”
“Yes.”
Julie seated Sylvia in a chair.
“Take the note out of my pocket.”
“Yes.”
She took the note out of Sylvia’s pocket.
“Now find it.”
“……Pardon?”
Julie asked back for the first time. Sylvia answered, already half-asleep.
“It’s a piece of a book.”
“A book……”
Julie involuntarily looked around.
It was vast. It was immense.
Everything was books. It was a sea made of books.
“……What book do you mean?”
“The book that note was torn from. There’s a high chance it’s a luxury binding or a picture book. Since the material is similar to canvas.”
Julie held up the note. To her eyes, it was merely paper. A neatly cut piece of paper with nothing written on it.
“But be careful. It might be a book from the future.”
“A book from the future?”
“Yeah. That girl handles time……”
That was the last of it. Sylvia buried her face in the desk. After that, she said nothing more.
She had fallen asleep.
“……A book.”
The book that had held this tiny scrap of paper.
Could she find it?
Julie looked around the overwhelming Imperial Palace Library.
However, Julie’s principle had not changed, now or before.
“If I keep at it, it’ll work out.”
Julie reached her hand into the bookshelves.
…….
Tick— tock—
Time flowed. Within it, Julie was still searching for the book, and Sylvia was still sleeping.
Whether it was thousands of books or tens of thousands, the texture and smell of paper clinging to her hands had now become familiar.
Fortunately, the process of finding the book was not particularly difficult. She simply had to take one, flip through it—frrrrt—and she could tell whether there was a torn part or not.
“……?”
Then, at that moment.
Julie absentmindedly pulled out a certain book and flinched in surprise. To be precise, it was not a book but a “record.”
[Record of the Demon: Voice]
A record concerning Voice.
Julie glanced at Sylvia.
Koooh……
Judging by the sound of her snoring, it would be a long, long while before she woke.
Then perhaps it would be all right to have a little free time. She felt as though she had been focused for quite a long while.
Flap—
As soon as she turned one page, a certain name caught her eye.
[Author: Deculein von Grahan Yukline]
Deculein’s handwriting, which had become familiar before she knew it.
It was handwritten.
─This is a record concerning “Voice,” which has covered the continent.
After a brief introduction, numbers and calculations of some sort followed.
It seemed to be a section summarizing, in figures, the damage and power of the demon called Voice.
─……This phenomenon known as “Echo” occurred, throwing nations and humans into confusion. The living came to avoid conversation with others, and the memories of the dead tormented the living.
Echo.
A phenomenon in which voices from the past arose like lingering reverberations.
Julie’s eyes widened as she looked at it.
─The Echo that originated from the Isle of Voice was brought to an end by its caster. The Echo phenomenon that has already spread across the continent will gather on the Isle of Voice.
“?”
However, the report’s ending was far too abrupt.
One line explaining the phenomenon, three pages of spell formulae to explain Echo, and then an immediate conclusion.
─As more detailed and confidential contents have already been stored in the Yukline archives, I will conclude the record to be released to the public here.
Creeeak—
At that moment, the sound of the Imperial Palace Library door opening.
Julie straightened her body.
She was about to hurry to Sylvia, but after confirming the silhouette of the person visible between the bookshelves, she hid herself again.
Step— step—
The footsteps echoing through the library were solemn.
The heels of his shoes came down with dignified weight, and a fragrance that could not be forgotten after smelling it once reached Julie’s nose.
Step— step—
Deculein.
He walked without saying a word, then suddenly stopped. His gaze was fixed on Sylvia, who was sprawled over the desk.
“……Was she studying?”
Deculein murmured so. Then he quietly looked around.
Was there some book he was searching for?
“The one hiding there. Come out.”
He spoke. For an instant, Julie’s heart pounded, but she soon stepped out bravely.
She took one step forward and faced Deculein.
“Hm. We meet often, do we not?”
Deculein spoke as though sneering, and Julie stood at attention beside Sylvia.
“Yes. I am Mage Sephin’s escort knight.”
“Are you looking for a book?”
“……Yes.”
She maintained her guard as much as possible, but she did not lie.
Deculein also nodded faintly. Then he took off his coat.
“It seems you can serve as an escort, but not as a physician.”
The moment Deculein said that, Julie’s eyes flew wide open. She immediately checked Sylvia’s condition. She placed a hand on the back of her neck.
It was hot.
“……Ah!”
“Leave her be. She is not in a state where the likes of you can do anything.”
Deculein merely draped his coat over Sylvia.
“If you wait, she will heal naturally.”
“…….”
Julie only blinked.
She would heal because he covered her with his coat? Was it some kind of magic coat?
“It seems she has gone beyond mana exhaustion into overwork and overload as well. I can roughly guess what she did…… This coat has natural healing and calming functions, so she should recover in a day or two.”
“……It really is a magic coat?”
“You could say that.”
Julie silently looked at Deculein.
In the way he treated her now, there was an unconscious “aversion.” When he looked at her or said something, he faintly revealed an instinctive reaction of reluctance.
……As expected, did he know?
That I am Julie.
“By the way, what have you come here to do?”
Julie asked. Deculein shrugged.
“Is there anything in a library besides books?”
“What book……”
Deculein reached out his hand. Then 「Psychokinesis」 manifested, and a record was pulled out from somewhere on the shelves.
It was the one Julie had just read.
“What is it?”
“You need not know.”
Fwoosh—! Deculein burned it.
Julie asked again.
“Why are you burning it?”
“Because it was a record that should have been incinerated long ago to begin with.”
“…….”
“I will leave Mage Sephin to you. Tell her that I read her paper as well. It is a talent rarely seen of late.”
Deculein turned away.
As though nothing had happened, as though dealing with someone who was nobody at all.
“Count Yukline.”
Julie called him. Not by the name Deculein, but by the name of his house.
He only turned his head to look at Julie.
“What kind of knight was the knight called Julie?”
At that, his brow furrowed. He clenched his teeth and shook his head.
Was the reaction he was showing now an act?
“……I do not speak of those who are already dead.”
Deculein said. It was a sentence that pierced Julie’s heart.
“……”
Julie realized it belatedly.
Whether Deculein knew of her existence or did not know, to him, Julie was already a “dead person.”
The reason was simple.
Because she was Julie, and yet not Julie. Because she did not have the ten years of time that Julie ought to possess, nor the record of them. If she lacked those memories, then she was nothing more than a copy……
Thud——!
At some point, the door had closed.
Deculein had already left, and Julie, alone, looked up at the ceiling and let out a sigh.
“……He knows.”
Deculein might know. That I am Julie.
That was why……
“I need to know too.”
Who Julie was.
What feelings she had harbored, and what kind of life she had lived.
Only by knowing her own past could she continue into the present and the future.
“A fresh start by forgetting everything” did not suit Julie. She did not want it, either.
Whoooo……
For an instant, a draft brushed Julie’s shoulder.
She turned toward the direction the wind had flowed in from, then flinched in surprise.
There was no window.
No, this place was underground, where there could not have been a window in the first place……
“Ah?”
Julie let out a small exclamation.
On the floor of the library, as if shaken by the wind that had just blown, a small notebook lay there.
Julie slowly approached and took hold of the notebook. She lifted it with one hand.
There were only three letters on the cover.
[Diary]
A diary.
Beneath that, the name of someone Julie also knew.
[Julie]
“…….”
In that instant, her mind went blank.
For a moment, the world drifted away from her.
Julie’s diary.
Her own handwriting, which she had no memory of writing.
“Then.”
There was only one answer.
With a rather complicated expression, yet steeling herself with a certain resolve, she opened the notebook.
“——Guh.”
And then she fainted.
The diary, “not an object of the present,” had sucked away every last bit of her mana…….
* * *
The Imperial Palace Library.
Early in the morning, Sylvia opened her eyes. The first thing she felt was a certain warmth embracing her.
“…….”
It was because of a coat.
Some large coat was wrapped around her body.
Sylvia stared at it blankly, then, for no reason, sniffed—sniffed—and her face immediately turned bright red.
“Ah!”
She could tell just from the smell.
It was Deculein’s. Her heart pounded, thump thump, and heat rose to her forehead in a fsssh—but she calmed herself.
Sylvia shook her head vigorously and searched for someone who might know what had happened……
“……What are you doing?”
Julie.
She was lying on the floor, looking up at her.
Blink— blink—
Blinking her eyes like a goldfish.
“I apologize. A problem has occurred.”
“It looks that way. What happened?”
“……”
Julie indicated the other side of Sylvia’s desk with her eyes. There was a [Diary] there.
“What’s this?”
“It is my diary. A diary written by the me of the future—no, the past. Most likely, I knew I would lose my memories and prepared for it.”
“……”
Sylvia nodded and hugged the coat close. Truly, it was filled with Deculein’s scent.
“……Are you listening?”
Julie asked. Sylvia glanced at her and put the coat on again. She slipped her arms into the long sleeves and buttoned it up.
It was so large it seemed to swallow her.
“I’m listening.”
“I do not believe you are.”
Sylvia toyed with a sleeve button and furrowed her brow.
“Talk. Why are you in that state?”
“…Yes. I tried to read it, but every time I did, my mana was consumed so immensely that I only managed two lines before ending up like this.”
Silbia sneered faintly.
“Because it’s not an object of the present. Most likely, only you will be able to read it.”
“Why can only I read it?”
“It’s your item to begin with, and you yourself are a being made of time energy. You might experience side effects, but they’ll be far fewer than others.”
“…Ah.”
Even Yulli was convinced by that, but the most crucial solution was still nowhere to be found.
Silbia was rubbing her face against the collar of her coat.
“…If so, it’ll take decades to read this entire diary—”
“Build up your background knowledge.”
“…?”
Silbia said to Yulli, who tilted her head in confusion.
“Background knowledge. It’s your item anyway. The more you learn about yourself, the less mana it will consume.”
“Yes. Understood. I suppose I must continue learning about myself.”
“But are you sure you’ll be okay? You might regret it. The old you hated Dekyullein quite a lot.”
“….”
At those words, Yulli’s face stiffened, but then, as if she had just remembered something, she broke into a bright smile.
“Ah, right, Mage Silbia. I found it.”
Silbia asked back.
“What.”
“The scrap of paper you mentioned. Where it came from.”
“…I thought it came from the diary.”
Silbia placed Yulli’s diary into Dekyullein’s inner pocket.
As expected of a magic suit, its storage space was vast.
“No. The paper was not the same material as the diary. Surprisingly, it was an easy paper to find.”
“Easy to find.”
“Yes.”
Creak— Yulli turned her stiff neck and pointed somewhere.
“It’s that.”
Silbia turned to look as well. Her eyebrows twitched slightly.
“The frame.”
“Yes. The canvas. It was a piece of canvas.”
A canvas hidden behind the library bookshelves. It had no picture on it, and as Yulli said, it was nothing more than a bit torn at the corner, but…….
Silbia approached it and placed the paper over it.
It fit perfectly.
“It does.”
“Yes. I finally found it.”
As the two muttered, smiling at each other,
Whiiiiish───!
A whirlwind erupted from the canvas.
Yulli and Silbia flinched and stepped back, but it was already too late.
Kwaaaaaaah────!
The mana surging from within swallowed them both.
* * *
At the same time.
Al Roseu, Jaiteu, Kalla, and Jakal were still inside Kwei’s oil painting.
“…Can we actually get out of here?”
Jaiteu asked.
All those trapped in the human prison could do was walk all day long.
Inside a landscape that was like a painting—no, not a metaphor, but a real ‘painting’—Jaiteu and his group did nothing but walk.
“Why ask me. This happened because of you.”
Al Roseu glared at Jaiteu with a reproachful look. Jaiteu gave a small cough and scratched the back of his neck.
“Anyway, you’re the only mage here. And Kalla said she’s no help.”
“I seem to far surpass Al Roseu in knowledge. I simply can’t execute it.”
“That’s right. Don’t mess with my sister. Huh?”
Kalla and Jakal. Neither of them was any help either.
“Good grief. Really now.”
Just as Jaiteu was shaking his head,
────Kwaaaah!
From above—whether it was the sky or the ceiling, whatever it was—a tremendous roar rang out, and two people came crashing down.
Thud—!
“Hup!”
“Ugh.”
The two groaned.
“Huh?”
Seeing Yulli and Silbia who had appeared out of nowhere, Jaiteu’s group could only blink blankly.