49 . Witch (5)
Late at night.
When Flame arrived at the library, the librarian immediately said one thing to her.
“You’re too late. Borrowing books isn’t allowed now.”
“That’s fine.”
She had not come planning to borrow a book in the first place, so she nodded and looked around.
Very few people came to Stella’s library this late at night, and because of that, a ghost story called the “Midnight Library Ghost” had once become popular among the students.
It died down quickly once people discovered that the “ghost” was not a ghost at all, but just the wretched-looking third-year seniors studying all night to get into the university magic towers.
‘There’s no one here…’
“Are you looking for a particular book?”
“No, it’s just…”
Flame was about to say that she had come because she wanted to ask something, but she shut her mouth.
Now that she thought about it, coming all the way here just to ask after Baek Yuseol’s whereabouts looked pretty ridiculous in itself.
‘This is kind of embarrassing…’
Should I just go back?
Just as that thought crossed her mind, the librarian, who had been staring at the name tag on her chest, clapped his hands and said,
“Ah! You’re Student Baek Yuseol’s girlfriend, right?”
“What?”
Why had the words No, I’m not come so naturally to the tip of her tongue, only to never actually come out?
“There’s a book he forgot to take earlier. It’s the kind Student Baek Yuseol was looking for, so I think he’d probably like it… Would you mind passing it on to him later?”
With that, the librarian handed her the book, and Flame took it.
[Witches and Truth]
So in other words, the information Baek Yuseol had been searching for in the library all this time had, in fact, been about witches.
“…Okay. I’ll give it to him.”
Holding the book, Flame left the library and walked down the street, thinking.
‘Witches are real.’
Because she had read the original romance fantasy, she knew that very well. Witches were the kind of beings who were always being mentioned and always appearing, even while people kept saying they were hidden away in the shadows of the world or whatever.
And probably, before long, a major uproar caused by a witch would break out in Arcanium. If things had gone as originally planned, Eizel would have gotten swept up in it, but thanks to Baek Yuseol blocking it in advance, she was safe.
But even if Eizel was safe now, the future in which the witch caused trouble still remained. Baek Yuseol was probably planning to stop the witch, but…
‘Do I need to look into witches?’
No matter how many books about witches one read in the library, it would be useless.
There were no books that properly recorded what witches really were.
Baek Yuseol would know that better than anyone, and yet the fact that he was still going around searching for books and reading them meant there had to be a reason.
‘Either he lost some knowledge, or some mystery has come up that even Baek Yuseol doesn’t know.’
If it was the former, then there was no need to worry.
But if some mystery had arisen that even Baek Yuseol did not know, then that was something Flame could help with.
In the original romance fantasy, the setting regarding witches had been so detailed that Eizel had nearly turned into a witch herself, so in a way, Flame possessed knowledge close to an expert’s.
‘Hmm…’
Flame, who had originally been heading back to her own dorm, changed direction and walked toward the boys’ dormitory.
It was late, but in any case, Baek Yuseol would return there to sleep sooner or later, so she decided she would wait for him in his room.
Arain, Commander of the Stella Knights.
If I had to define his personality in the original game with a single word, it would be “psycho.”
“So you came.”
“Yes.”
When I arrived at Arain’s office, I quietly looked around.
As far as I knew, he had a personality bordering on madness, so it felt very strange to see that the office interior was bright and tidy, the exact opposite of what I had expected.
A guy with that sort of personality having a hobby of liking decorations. I just couldn’t believe it.
“Have a seat here.”
Without even the customary tea or coffee, Arain sat down and immediately got to the point.
“I heard that recently, you have been investigating witches on your own.”
“…Yeah. More or less.”
“Do you have a particular reason?”
How should I answer that?
Just because I got interested?
No.
Arain wasn’t the sort of person who wanted a cliché answer like that. He never wasted his time on anything pointless, so it would be better to tell him the answer he wanted to hear.
“I want to hunt witches.”
“That is a foolish thought.”
…Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.
Arain kept his stiff expression as he rubbed his wrist and said,
“Mages cannot hunt witches. You know that well enough.”
“Yes. I know.”
Witches, who primarily used illusion magic, were the absolute worst possible matchup for mages, who dealt scientifically with tangible magical phenomena.
You could summon all the flames you wanted and roll all the ice you wanted, but if your mind got tampered with and broken, you became nothing more than a fool incapable of doing anything.
And as far as I knew, Arain himself had once fought against a witch twelve years ago and suffered a grievous injury.
Since he had faced a witch personally, he would understand better than anyone how stupid it was for a mage to try and fight one.
“But… you may be a little different.”
Arain looked straight into my eyes.
“Mana Leak Body.”
“Your body is structured differently from other mages. Yours is a physique extremely ill-suited for using magic… but looked at the other way around, it also means you are at less risk of being affected by magic.”
“That’s right.”
In reality, I had been able to completely shrug off illusion magic.
“So, I would like to make you a proposal.”
Arain placed a pocket watch on the desk.
Pocket watches were usually what mages used to prove their affiliation, but unlike the cadet pocket watch I currently had, Arain’s gleamed gold and had an embossed star pattern on it.
‘A Stella Knights pocket watch.’
He opened his lips in a flat voice.
“It is a pocket watch that can temporarily prove your qualification as a member of the Stella Knights.”
“If that means…”
“You have been acting alone until now, and despite that, you have accomplished many things. But there are definite limits to what one person can do alone.”
After saying that much, Arain pushed the pocket watch toward me.
“If you take that and become one of the Knights, I will promise you treatment equal to that of an official knight, and I will also provide information unavailable to ordinary people.”
“…Are you offering me a place in the order?”
“Yes. Even within Stella, your presence is exceptional. It is only right that I offer terms of this level.”
The Stella Knights were the greatest martial organization in the world—so much so that they were often called a kind of “world police.” It was not a place that just anyone could join.
Not only did one need to possess a high level of magic, but one also had to build up years of actual experience—hunting dark magic users, subjugating magical beasts, and proving one’s own ability—just to barely set foot inside.
Which made this all the stranger.
Sure, I had solved a lot of incidents up to now, but compared one by one against the achievements of actual Stella Knights, mine were really nothing much at all.
“If you accept this pocket watch, then even as a student you will be able to use some of the rights of a knight, and upon graduation you will be able to become a full official knight immediately. I will personally guarantee it.”
“For me… that’s far more than I deserve.”
“You may think of it that way.”
I stared at the pocket watch.
‘This is actually really good.’
The reason I had been acting alone in the first place was simple: I had no one I could move together with.
Of course, even if I joined the Knights, it would still be impossible to reveal future information, so fundamentally I would still be working alone in many ways.
But the fact that I could at least receive some help from the Knights was definitely a huge advantage.
On top of that, there was also a practical issue involved. This would solve the question that I was always worrying about—what would I do after stopping the destruction of the future?
Since I couldn’t use magic and couldn’t use alchemy either, the Magic Knights, whose rankings were decided simply by individual combat strength, were probably the organization best suited to me.
“Of course, there is one condition.”
“…A condition?”
“At present, the Stella Knights are an armed organization without a nation, doing the work of cheap fixers.”
That statement contained not the slightest trace of pride in the profession of being a magic knight.
“You too will normally continue acting in the identity of a student, but when a mission is assigned, you will have to move according to orders.”
…
That part wasn’t great.
The moment my face showed that I wasn’t pleased, Arain immediately revised the condition.
“However, at your age, when you must focus on your studies, frequent missions would be difficult. I will therefore assign you only missions related to incidents that already interest you, like now. Will that suffice?”
“More than suffice. It’s almost too much. Why exactly are you treating me this well?”
“I evaluate you very highly. For the future of the Stella Knights… I need you.”
“Come on. I haven’t done anything that impressive. You don’t have to go that far.”
I said it jokingly to lighten the atmosphere because it felt like he was overestimating me too much, but his expression remained stiff, and he did not waver in the slightest.
“…Are you really being serious?”
“Yes.”
If he was saying that much, then there was no longer any reason for me to hesitate. The terms were good enough, and though I had no idea why, Arain clearly trusted me a great deal. All I had to do was make use of that.
“I’ll do it.”
When I took the pocket watch, Arain’s expression finally eased—only a very, very little, but still.
“Congratulations on becoming a provisional Stella Knight. Then I suppose we should discuss your first mission immediately.”
“…Wait, you’re giving me a mission before I’ve even received any official appointment document?”
“It is a mission that should interest you. It concerns witches.”
Every time he said the word witch, he kept touching his wrist.
“That… yeah. It interests me.”
When I answered positively, Arain, as if he had expected that, took out a set of documents he had prepared in advance and placed them on the desk.
“The mission you will take is to secure evidence of the witch’s actions throughout Arcanium, and if possible, eliminate her.”
After saying that much, he laced his fingers together and asked,
“Can you do it?”
Without a moment’s hesitation, I took the documents and nodded.
“Of course.”
After that, I only managed to leave once I had talked with Arain for quite a while longer about what witches were.
‘As you already know, witches do exist.’
That was how Arain had begun, and while never once bringing up the fact that he had once been defeated by a witch, he still tried to provide me with as much information as possible.
Unfortunately, most of it was information I already knew.
Still, among it, there had been one rather interesting thing.
It was probably directly related to why those auditory hallucinations kept whispering in my ear—
something about how a witch who carried resentment would bind her soul to an object.
“Hm?”
When I returned to the dormitory, I found that the door was slightly open.
Had I not closed it properly?
‘Who cares.’
There were security cameras anyway, so the chances of a thief getting in were slim to none.
I went inside, took a quick shower, then hid the document envelope tightly away in a simple storage compartment.
After that I turned off the light and was just about to collapse onto the bed when I felt the soft, warm touch of something beside me and jolted upright in surprise.
“W-what the hell…?”
I hurriedly summoned my glasses to brighten my field of vision, and what do you know—
“…Flame?”
A small girl with short hair was curled up like a shrimp, breathing softly in her sleep.
‘Did I come back to the wrong room…?’
No. That wasn’t it. The layout was definitely my dorm room.
‘What the hell is she doing here?’
Looking at her occupying one corner of my bed while peacefully asleep, I didn’t really feel angry so much as simply dumbfounded.
Should I sling her over my shoulder and take her back to her own dorm? Or was I the one who’d have to sleep somewhere else?
“Ah, whatever.”
But when I thought about it, all of those options were annoying.
Starting tomorrow, I was planning to roam all over Arcanium every day, so I at least wanted to rest properly. In the end, I shoved Flame further into the corner and flopped down onto the bed myself.
It was… really distracting, and uncomfortable.
Still, I’d probably fall asleep anyway.
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