Chapter 77 – The Forbidden Archive

When the illusion shattered, a pure white mask filled my vision.

Behind me… the cold, hard floor.

And at the back of my head… something soft. A thigh?

Am I lying down?

“…Did I lose consciousness?”

The Commander of the Nameless nodded, a look of concern on her masked face.

“Um… I’m sorry for troubling you.”

I rubbed my throbbing temples and tried to sit up, but,

Tap.

The Commander’s hand stopped me, gently pressing down on my shoulder.

She shook her head.

“No, I’m fine.”

I brushed her hand aside and sat up. Letting out a long breath, I examined my body.

Nothing felt out of the ordinary, except for my mana being completely depleted.

Mana exhaustion, perhaps?

“How much time has… passed… wait, what?”

I looked over at Balamir, my ever-reliable human alarm clock, and froze.

“…Wh-why is he lying unconscious over there?”

I blinked in confusion before looking at the Commander.

“C-Commander… did you do that?”

She nodded.

“…Why?”

She shook her head.

A secret? But even so, was it really okay to just knock out the captain of the Royal Guard like that?

“…Are you saying you think he did something wrong?”

She shook her head again.

After a brief pause, seemingly in thought, the Commander pulled out a small notebook and quickly scribbled something on it.

[Look behind you.]

Behind me?

I slowly turned my head.

A shiver immediately ran down my spine.

“…Oh.”

Arisa’s manuscript… the last page was torn.

The page with the scribbles on them.

The page that had shown me the illusion, was torn to shreds, and one part was scorched black, as if burned by fire.

“Th-then… you’re saying he… did this too?”

She shook her head.

“You knocked him out before he could see it?”

She nodded, this time, a little more proudly.

“Commander… you’re really strong.”

This time, instead of nodding, she just lifted her chin. I could even hear a small scoff coming from behind that mask.

I stared at her absurd behavior for a while, before bowing my head slightly.

“For now… thank you. But… what do we do with this?”

The page looked so fragile that it seemed like it would crumble if I even touched it.

As I was thinking, pat, the Commander started patting my head.

“…Wh-what are you doing all of a sudden—”

The Commander patted her chest twice.

“You’re saying you’ll take care of it?”

Nod, nod.

“…Are you sure? You don’t have to…”

She shook her head, fixed my messy hair, and then patted my back lightly before pulling out a pocket watch and showing it to me.

“…Less than an hour left, huh.”

Nod, nod.

“Um… thank you for everything.”

I bowed my head towards the Commander and stood up. Although I felt a wave of dizziness, it wasn’t enough to make me collapse.

The Commander returned to her spot and hit Balamir, who seemed to be stirring awake, on his throat again.

…Was she increasing the duration of his unconsciousness?

It seems that the Commander is also not entirely right in the head.

“Hoo…”

I let out a shaky breath and reopened [The Sealing of the Demon King].

I could see familiar handwriting.

Was it because I saw the illusion? It also seemed like I could hear their voices.

And, the final scene.

Before the illusion was broken, what I saw, heard, and felt, Arisa’s expression, voice, and emotions,

It hadn’t disappeared, but remained clearly within my mind.

Arisa and I.

We had faced each other.

Though it was brief, we had definitely spoken.

Arisa had recognized me.

Even though my appearance had changed, she knew I was Ronan. She didn’t seem surprised. It was as though she had already expected it.

Well, maybe she was a bit surprised.

Was it because I was prettier than expected?

Well, I am quite handsome.

And Arisa Eustetia.

She had known about my reincarnation.

She thought that I would read this record.

Even though it was locked away in the Forbidden Archive, Arisa believed that I would eventually read it.

That’s something I could have guessed.

If it were me, I would hide that kind of information in the Forbidden Archive.

So, it wasn’t just an illusion.

It wasn’t her predicting my response and leaving a message behind.

Her expression, voice, tone, even the tremor in her voice was real. It was Arisa. She wasn’t acting.

Then, was that Arisa’s soul? Or Arisa herself?

I don’t know. Something like that was beyond Arisa’s power.

To cause something of that scale and to have maintained it for over 400 years, Kaloso, Luna…

It means that even they are still alive.

If Luna is alive, then Paulo also has to be alive.

I’d heard that the holy relics didn’t return.

All of them, are still alive.

I couldn’t be sure about the others, but, Arisa was certainly alive.

Arisa, who knew all the secrets, was still alive.

The Arisa I saw at the end, was real.

That was all that mattered.

I closed the book, put it on the pedestal, and retrieved it without any regrets.

Although I felt a slight headache, there was still something I had to do.

What I’m about to check isn’t for the distant future, but for right now.

I placed my hand on the crystal, and focused on the keywords.

‘Eustetia, branch family.’

‘Verheigen.’

‘Black Tower.’

‘Capital’s Southern District, Sewers.’

***

The allotted time ended.

Balamir, who had regained consciousness, glared at the Commander, but the Commander, with her usual cynicism, ignored him and walked away.

As soon as we came out of the Forbidden Library, the first person I saw was…

“…Ellie.”

…My father, with a worried expression.

He didn’t know that I had collapsed earlier.

Then that must mean… he’s worried I would feel betrayed after finding out the secret about the Eustetia family.

I knew that my father didn’t hide the secret to betray us. At least, I wanted to believe so.

So I shook my head, and said to my father as gently as I could,

“It’s okay.”

“…Really.”

“Yeah. You don’t need to worry.”

I didn’t specify what was okay, or what he shouldn’t worry about.

But my father understood perfectly and nodded weakly.

Soon, the stern woman behind him spoke up.

“With this, today’s schedule concludes. It was an honor to accompany the spring of the Empire, Eustetia, and the dagger of the Empire, the Nameless Commander. I am Julai Petrona, thank you.”

The stern woman’s name was Julai Petrona.

I bowed slightly to Julai, and then I also nodded to Balamir, who was still fuming.

“Thank you.”

Balamir, who had a hardened expression, regained his usual gentle appearance and knelt on one knee.

“It was an honor to serve Lady Eliaernes Eustetia, the cherry blossom of the Eustetia family and the spring of the Empire.”

That greeting felt very heavy.

“Um… yes. Regarding what happened earlier… you’re not going to tell anyone about what I looked up, are you?”

“Of course not. However, I must submit a handwritten list of what I’ve seen to His Majesty. And although I swear not to divulge what I know, if you wish, I can accompany you to the audience chamber to assure you of my trustworthiness.”

“No, there’s no need for that. If I can’t trust the Imperial family, then who can I trust?”

Of course, I don’t trust them.

But, I didn’t see the need to deliberately hide anything.

So, I just nodded vaguely.

“I’ll see you again if I have the chance.”

“Yes.”

Balamir stood up and headed toward the audience chamber with Julai.

Now, the only ones left in front of the Forbidden Library were me, my father, and the Nameless Commander.

“It seems Uncle Kerian is busy.”

“It seems so. He’s handling all the Nameless business himself, so he’s bound to be busy.”

My father’s words trailed off. He looked at the Nameless Commander for a moment and then looked back at me.

But he didn’t say anything.

It was like he was waiting for me to speak.

I looked at my father for a moment and then took a step closer.

“It’s okay. Really.”

“…Weren’t you surprised?”

“Well, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t. But honestly… I don’t care.”

That’s right. I don’t care.

Even if I’m not a direct descendant of Arisa Eustetia, so what?

It’s not as if I’m strong because of her blood.

Nor did I awaken the Eustetia vision.

And I didn’t inherit any of the Eustetia family’s secret medicines, traditions, or businesses.

And I’ve never tried to flaunt the name of Eustetia, or used being the descendant of a hero for personal gain.

I am just strong as a person.

I’m dignified as a person.

And I’m naturally brazen.

And our family has nothing to be ashamed of.

Well… actually, I don’t know about that part for sure.

There was information about the Eustetia family in the forbidden archive, but I didn’t read it.

I wanted to hear about it from my father instead of reading about it from a book.

I didn’t want to read it and make my own assumptions and judgments before I heard my father’s story.

…Well, how do I say this…

Still… well,

Because he’s my family.

I wanted to trust him and listen to his words first.

Anyway, the way I see it, leaving the past aside, the current Eustetia family has nothing to be ashamed of. We can be proud.

So, it doesn’t matter.

Well, it doesn’t, but there were still things I wanted to talk about.

A lot of things.

I raised my head to look at my father.

He seemed to be exchanging silent words with the Nameless Commander.

I tugged on my father’s sleeve.

“Dad.”

“Hmm? Yes, my daughter, what is it?”

“Are you busy today?”

“Well, yes. I’m meeting the imperial faction nobles in 30 minutes.”

“Hmm… then I guess it can’t be helped.”

“What is it?”

“I wanted to eat dinner with you. But if you’re busy, then let’s do it next time.”

My father’s breath hitched at my words. Then, after a moment,

“It seems I have some free time today,” my father said in a serious and grave voice.

“What? But you just said you had a meeting in—”

“Now that I think about it, it’s tomorrow, not today. Haha, this old man is getting old so I mix things up a lot now. Hahaha!”

No matter how I look at it, he’s clearly just skipping work.

“…Really?”

“Of, of course! I’d never lie!”

“Hmm…”

I looked at my father with suspicion in my eyes.

My father seemed guilty as he avoided eye contact.

Seeing that, I chuckled slightly.

Well… It doesn’t matter if he skips work every now and then, does it?

He’s the head of the Eustetia Ducal House.

If anyone has a problem with it, they can take over as the duke themselves.

And… I mean, it’s not like this is an abuse of power or anything.

“Alright.”

“Yes! Good! Let’s go! What does my Ellie want to eat? Your dad will buy you anything! I’ll even rent out a whole store! Hahaha!”

“I’ll eat whatever you want today, Dad. And before we go, I’ll take Yurasia back to the academy.”

“Hmm? Won’t she have dinner with us?”

“…She’s not feeling well.”

I could have a meal with my parents without a problem, but Yurasia would be nervous about eating with her employer… an employer of ridiculously high status like my father.

“Hmm, alright then. It can’t be helped. I’ll be waiting outside the palace.”

“Okay. I’ll be back soon.”

My father walked away with cheerful steps.

And then, the Nameless Commander followed.

…?

“Commander, are you leaving too?”

The Commander flinched, her body shaking dramatically.

“No, it’s not like I don’t want to go with you… but… you can’t eat because of your mask, can you?”

Nod, nod.

“But why are you following him?”

The Commander tilted her head.

She seemed depressed.

“…Well… I get it. Let’s go together.”

The white mask seemed to brighten slightly.

…She’s a strange one.