Chapter 65

I am currently holed up in the book repository, reading a book. To avoid confusion, I'll say it again: it's the book repository, not the library.

After the school festival ended, the principal distributed luxurious prizes, but the luxurious prize I received was unexpectedly amazing.

Everyone else received a "free meal ticket for a year" for the school cafeteria. The cafeteria here even has high-end dishes that cost three gold coins, but with the free ticket, you can eat them for free, which is incredible.

Since you can eat one meal per ticket regardless of the price, it's a great deal for commoners and even allows nobles to use their meal money as pocket money.

As for me, I've lost interest in the cafeteria and usually bring my own lunch.

I often eat lunch with Mirei. She always comes to invite me when it's lunchtime, so we eat in various places like the courtyard or the rooftop.

To get back on track, the prize I received was "permission to enter the book repository." It seems that this school has a vast collection of rare books, and their rarity is immeasurable.

I was able to choose this option thanks to senior Mireconia.

During the school festival, when I was serving customers, she came to buy something, and we had a brief conversation. It was then that she told me about the existence of the book repository.

This option is not well-known among students, and even Professor Monica was surprised.

When I actually read books in the repository, I found that the books stored there are quite valuable, I think. I say "I think" because I haven't finished reading all the books yet, so I can't make a definitive judgment.

Right now, I'm reading about the history of this country, written by the founder of this school, Luina Ednent.

For some reason, I couldn't stop thinking about this book, though I can't quite express why. It's just an old, dirty book, but...

Luina Ednent's book contained many fascinating research findings. However, some of the text is faded and unreadable. Still, as I lost track of time and continued reading, I came across a sentence that caught my attention.

"After years of research, I discovered that a malevolent evil god is sealed in this world.

To break the seal, you must defeat the guardians of the 10th to the 1st location in order. Conversely, to strengthen the seal, you must defeat the guardians of the 1st to the 10th location in order.

If you, who found this book, love this world, then strengthen the seal. If you hate this world, then break the seal. In any case, the seal will eventually break if it is not renewed, but the damage if it breaks naturally will be unimaginably great.

However, I could not determine when the seal would break naturally. If you break it yourself, you might gain a portion of the malevolent evil god's power, but I don't recommend it. As for the locations..."

The text faded and became unreadable from there. In summary, it seems that there is an evil god in this world.

I don't know if it's true, but it might be interesting to go on a journey to find the 1st to 10th locations.

However, there are too few clues, so it seems difficult to search. First, I need to find someone knowledgeable about history.

For now, I'll take notes on the parts that caught my attention and continue reading.

......

In the end, as I continued reading, it was mostly research results, and there wasn't much of an interesting story.

The book seems to have been written a long time ago, and it contained the magical theories that Luina Ednent was researching at the time.

He called the phenomena activated by magic circles "magical arts" and the ones activated by incantations "magic."

I can basically cast magic without incantations, but the current basic method is to use incantations. However, Luina Ednent advocated the theory of magical arts using magic circles.

Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages, so it's hard to say which is better.

Magic circles require you to draw them each time, and even if you pre-draw them on parchment, they become quite expensive. However, the advantage is that they have high secrecy and powerful magic.

On the other hand, incantations can be cast immediately and are usable by anyone, making them highly versatile. However, they have lower secrecy and weaker magic compared to magic circles.

However, magic circles might be quite interesting. If applied to golems, it could create even more interesting creations and have a wide range of uses.

Or are magic circles basically used in magical artifacts?

This is something I can learn as I advance in my studies. The first year is all about basic studies and physical training, which is boring.

In the second year, you can choose your classes, so I'll have to endure a bit longer.

I want to learn about magical artifacts soon. My current works are mostly brute force... but I think they still have good performance.

It took me a few days to finish reading the book, and I searched the repository for books that mentioned the "1st to 10th locations," but I couldn't find any.

"I'm getting pretty tired. The place is underground, and it's depressing... I think I'll end my reading week here."

Since tomorrow is a day off, it might be nice to change my mood and explore the dungeon with the two of them.

I might invite Mirei too. I want to give her the ring I made.

I also need to visit the border lord's mansion and talk about Mirei. I got so absorbed in the book that I completely forgot.

No wonder she's been giving me the side-eye lately. That was close.

So, I went to make an appointment at the border lord's mansion.

"Stop there. That uniform, you're from the school, right? What business do you have at the border lord's mansion?"

"My name is Aul. I'm from a village in the territory governed by the border lord. I came to see Mirei and to talk to the border lord. I'm here to announce that today."

"Oh, you're Aul! I've heard about you. You're to be admitted immediately when you come. Do you have a student ID or something to prove your identity?"

Student ID...? Oh! I remember, it was sent with the uniform! I think I put it in my storage.

"Is this okay?"

"Let me see... Yes, it seems to be in order. Follow me."

I followed the guard, who seemed to be a gatekeeper, into the border lord's mansion. Now that I think about it, this might be the first time I've entered a mansion in the capital.

"Hey, it's Aul! You finally made it?"

I was greeted with a sarcastic comment from Mirei, who happened to pass by.

I can't argue with her since it's my fault...

By the way, I'm curious about her maid uniform. Is she working as a maid in exchange for living here?

"Sorry for being late. I'll treat you to some delicious sweets next time."

"Hehehe, it's a promise! Then I'll leave it to you! I'll go prepare!"

She said this and ran off, flipping her maid uniform. Beauty really does make a picture, no matter what they do.

"Tch..."

I heard a sigh from the gatekeeper, but it must be my imagination, right?!

"Wait here. I'll go call someone."

...Yeah, it must have been my imagination. This gatekeeper has a great smile, so it must be my imagination.

I was waiting in the entrance hall of the mansion when I saw a familiar butler.

"Hey, isn't that Jimon Laurent?"

"Oh, you know my brother. I'm Jimon Rouran, his older brother. Nice to meet you."

Older brother?! He looks exactly like his brother. By the way, Laurent and Rouran...

...Do I think there might be three more siblings?

"By the way, I have five siblings: two older brothers, one younger sister, and one younger brother."

"?! Is it that obvious on my face?"

"No, just a hunch. Please follow me this way."

Butlers might have some kind of superpower.

As I walked behind Rouran, I looked around the mansion, which was elegantly furnished with expensive items.

It's not pretentious, and the arrangement is engaging. The person who put this together must have great taste.

"All the furnishings were chosen by the lady of the house."

"...Did I say that out loud?"

"No, it's just a butler's intuition."

Butlers are truly amazing. I even think I want to become someone amazing enough to have a butler.

"Please wait here. I'll go call him."

Rouran left, and a maid came in to serve tea.

As usual, the maid was a beastgirl, which might be because they sensed my secret fondness for animal ears.

I tried not to stare at the beastgirl maid in front of Rouran...

After waiting in what seemed like a reception room for about 15 minutes, Lord Randal, the border lord, arrived.

"It's been a while, Aul. Well, we did meet once at the school festival, so it's not really that long, is it?"

"No, I'm sorry. I couldn't properly welcome you then. I heard from Mirei that you're in the capital, so I came to pay my respects."

"You don't have to be so formal. Your business is about Mirei, right? I've heard from her."

"Ah, that's right. Mirei is my childhood friend, and I think it's not right for her to keep being a burden to you."

"Actually, she's a recommendation from me, so it's fine. But..."

Huh...? I thought it would go smoothly, but it seems to be getting complicated. What is he thinking?

"Besides, it might be a bit of a problem for young people like you to live under the same roof, don't you think?"

Lord Randal seems to be holding back, but his lips are slightly relaxed, and it's clear he's enjoying teasing me.

In such situations, it's best to be bold. If I act confidently, he won't be able to tease me.

"No, it's not a problem. I like Mirei, and I'll take responsibility if anything happens."

"Ho! Well said, Aul. That's what a man should do. ...So, Mirei! From today, you'll be staying at Aul's house. I'll cover all the expenses for the school, so don't worry."

...Wait a minute. What does "so" mean? There's no reaction from my presence detection!

"Oh, Aul, you're getting flustered? Mirei was here from the beginning."

The only people here are me, the border lord, Rouran, and the beastgirl maid.

"My disguise magic isn't that bad, you know."

After Rouran finished speaking, he snapped his fingers, and the maid, who was a beastgirl just a moment ago, turned into Mirei.

"What?!"

"Surprised? Disguise magic is my unique ability."

Mirei, the subject of the transformation, is blushing and looking down, and I've really messed up!

You border lord, you...!!

You're smirking... I'll definitely pay you back double for this!

"Um, that... P-please take care of me...!!"

"A-And I... please take care of me...!"

Somehow, I ended up proposing, with the border lord's intervention.

Since I had the ring prepared, I decided to give it to her, and Mirei ended up crying.

"Aul, did you know this would happen when you prepared the ring? And such an expensive one. You're not as predictable as I thought."

"......"

At that moment, I decided to stop respecting the border lord.

While Aul was proposing at the border lord's house, the book he read in the school's repository, written by Luina Ednent, was mysteriously flickering.

I'll update this bit by bit.

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