Chapter 119. Have You Ever Gambled?
‘The pinnacle of all grimoires…….’
The library director’s voice lingered at my ear.
Yeokcheon (逆天). This worn-out old book I’d shaken out of Deculan’s Bigo was the pinnacle of grimoires?
“Seems like you can’t quite feel it.”
“……No.”
I shook my head.
I’d already seen Yeokcheon’s authority several times.
The fact that I could even be sitting here right now wasn’t it because of Yeokcheon’s Regression (回歸)? That transcendent phenomenon?
It was just that remembering the moment I first obtained Yeokcheon made my feelings new.
But after hearing this far, a question arose.
‘Isn’t it too convenient?’
The situation wasn’t bad.
In the first place, I’d come to Lapiter to get clues about Yeokcheon.
But as I listened to the library director, a strange dissonance formed.
In other words…… yes. That nuance wasn’t like he was conveying widely known “common knowledge,” but like someone who had studied Yeokcheon for a long time was speaking “specialized knowledge.”
“May I ask you one thing before we continue?”
“Shall I guess what that question is?”
Answering a question with a question, the library director smiled gently.
But whether he’d thrown it out expecting my answer or not, regardless of my reaction, his mouth opened.
“You’ll find it suspicious. Too convenient. Information about ‘grimoires’ is treated as the kind of secret even noble houses classify as confidential—so how does that old man know such details? Ah, you might be thinking something like this as well.”
Tap, tap.
His bony fingers drummed on the armrest.
“If Yeokcheon (逆天) is such an incredible grimoire, then could that old man…… be someone aiming for Yeokcheon?”
I hadn’t thought that far.
But hearing the library director, it wasn’t a possibility that could be dismissed entirely.
As he said, if Yeokcheon was the pinnacle of all grimoires, there was no reason for noble houses not to covet it.
It had value worth searching for over a long time, investing astronomical resources and manpower.
And that wouldn’t be limited to noble houses alone. The Imperial Family, aristocratic houses—anyone would crave it.
But.
“You might think it’s ‘convenient,’ but for ‘us,’ it isn’t convenient at all.”
Us?
Regardless of my question, the library director continued.
“Have you ever seen Yeokcheon’s physical form? Looking at you now, it doesn’t seem like Yeokcheon exists in the form of a ‘book,’ does it?”
“……I have seen it.”
“Then have you seen torn pages?”
“……?”
I traced my memory in silence.
‘Definitely…….’
Now that he mentioned it, something came to mind.
Back when I thought Yeokcheon was nothing more than an old book, I had skimmed it. Of course, I couldn’t read the contents. But there were a few peculiar parts.
‘……Missing chapters.’
There were sections with teeth knocked out here and there.
At the time, I’d thought it was simply lost because it was such an old book—why bring that up now?
“Looks like you have.”
“……Yes.”
“Then have you ever thought about it? Those missing pages. Where did those fragments go?”
“……!”
The library director continued with his eyes gently closed.
“Since long ago, there have been those who have protected the fragments of a grimoire. They called themselves Endurance.”
Endurance. Endurance.
Even they did not know when they had begun protecting the fragments, or why. That was how unfathomably long the time had passed.
But one mission alone reached later generations without fading.
— Protect the fragments for the owner of Yeokcheon who will come someday.
“Truly…… truly, we have waited a long time.”
“…….”
“You called it convenient? Not convenient at all. In the first place, Lapiter is a place built to wait for Yeokcheon’s owner.”
While wandering the continent for thousands of years, one of Endurance’s predecessors thought this.
If Yeokcheon’s owner appears, they will wander the continent to find clues.
Then…… instead of us searching, let’s call Yeokcheon’s owner to where we are.
The library, Lapiter.
The library called the greatest on the Eastern Continent began like that.
So that Yeokcheon’s owner, seeking clues, would inevitably come at least once.
“Do you understand now? It might be convenient for you, but for us, your visit was an event foreseen centuries ago.”
The scale suddenly grew huge.
‘……What the.’
Endurance? People who had protected Yeokcheon’s fragments for ages?
And…… Lapiter, the greatest library in the East, was built to wait for Yeokcheon’s owner?
Was it because unexpected information flooded in all at once? My head spun.
But wait.
After steadying himself, Aster asked a question.
“……If what I heard is correct, then right now, Yeokcheon’s fragment is with you, Director…….”
“It is. I have it.”
“Then…….”
“But only one page.”
At Teheman’s words, Aster tilted his head.
“Yeokcheon’s fragments aren’t just one page. I don’t know the exact number, but there are several more. However, what I keep is only a single page.”
“Then the other fragments are…….”
“I don’t know.”
Teheman took a sip of tea, then opened his mouth again.
“Not all Endurance shared the same will. Depending on their circumstances, they took the fragments and scattered.”
Just as Teheman’s predecessor built the library and waited for Yeokcheon’s owner—
Some Endurance wandered the continent, searching for Yeokcheon’s owner directly. Others cut their ties with the world and buried themselves deep in the mountains.
After hearing this explanation, Aster pressed his temples tightly against the pounding headache.
‘……So in the end.’
“Are you saying I have to roll around like a dog and find them?”
“Surely it isn’t that hopeless. That part won’t be as stifling as you think. We, in our own way, have also tracked the whereabouts of other fragments.”
After Teheman’s predecessor decided to establish the library, and after building it with the help of the Academy’s first Chancellor and a sage, the very first thing he did was that.
For the Yeokcheon owner who might never come—identify the locations of the other fragments.
“Of course, nothing is pinpointed. But we’ve sifted out information with high probability, so it should help quite a bit.”
“……Ah, yes.”
It wasn’t exactly comforting.
‘I didn’t think it would be easy, but…….’
Digging into Yeokcheon was far harder than expected. Still, it wasn’t as if there was no method at all.
If it was hard to go find them, having the Endurance come find you was also one method.
But that was for a more distant future. It was something for after I grew strong enough to handle a grimoire.
Aster set aside his thoughts and returned to the main point.
“But then, Yeokcheon’s fragment is…….”
“Yes, we should talk about that. But before that, there is something I want to ask.”
“……?”
“Should I call it a kind of test? It’s simple. You just need to present your own answer to my question.”
At that moment, an intangible pressure rose from Teheman.
“……!”
Ssssss—
Magic? No—slightly different. It used magic power as a medium, but it was an alien flow.
“Ancient magic. Designed over generations, solely to face Yeokcheon’s owner.”
Teheman said so, then fixed Aster within his hollow eyes.
Blind. In a world that has lost light, living letters are engraved in the air.
This is the ancient magic Teheman inherited as Endurance. Reading.
He senses the letters themselves and reads them with his eyes.
Within that world.
‘…….’
Aster was a human formed of the bizarre living letters unique to a grimoire.
Teheman, quietly gazing at that grotesque form, opened his mouth.
“Yeokcheon is a grimoire that defies the natural order. Even if you are the owner acknowledged by Yeokcheon, we cannot hand over the fragment we have protected for generations to just anyone. So I will ask you.”
Within the flow of ancient magic filling the entire space, Teheman’s voice settled low.
“What do you intend to do with Yeokcheon?”
In suffocating silence, a bleak tension descended between Aster and Teheman.
‘What I intend to do with Yeokcheon……?’
Even within the pressure that seemed to slice into his skin, Aster didn’t flinch and chewed on the question.
The moment he heard it, several answers flashed through his mind.
Deculan.
Give that damned Paharen a hard blow.
A grand goal that had never changed even once—from his past life, through regression, and up to this very moment.
Here, Yeokcheon is a blade.
A sharp sword that will sever Paharen’s lifeline.
Is that all?
‘……I have to build a tower too.’
Back then, I’d sworn I’d fill the tower with the secret arts of all kinds of noble houses. If so, shouldn’t I have the power to protect it?
Here, Yeokcheon is a shield.
Power that will protect the tower from the noble houses’ onslaught.
There were a few more things that came to mind.
‘It wouldn’t be bad to found my own house.’
Build a family myself and create a new magecraft noble house. Of course, the main enemy would be Deculan.
‘It wouldn’t be bad to live my whole life carefree.’
When you have power, authority follows.
Wealth and honor…… no, forget honor—more wealth! Accumulate vast wealth and live in luxury for a lifetime.
In truth, there were far too many answers to the question, “What do you want to do?”
Because that’s what a grimoire is.
‘A power that lets you do anything, if you want to.’
But.
‘……Think.’
With grave eyes, Aster fixed Teheman in his gaze.
‘There must be intent, intent…….’
It wasn’t the kind of question that had a correct answer. If it were, the question would have been more specific.
‘Then is what he wants to see the ‘answer’ itself?’
That could be it.
Even if you don’t intend it, the unconscious bleeds into your words. Subtle differences in wording, nuance—every tiny detail represents a person…….
‘……Bullshit. Damn it.’
What the hell is this.
With a deep sigh, Aster shook off the thought.
That kind of inference is what snake-like guys like Henji are good at. It didn’t suit someone pure like white snow.
“Hoooooo…… Yeokcheon, what I want to do with Yeokcheon.”
“……?”
At Aster’s sudden change in attitude, Teheman tilted his head.
The eyes that had been grave just a moment ago now twisted askew.
At the inexplicable shift, Teheman furrowed his brow—
And at that very moment, Aster’s answer came.
“I’ve never thought about it.”
“……What?”
At that answer, Teheman’s sharp pressure that had been cutting in faltered.
“No, I mean, there are lots of things I want to do…… but if you ask whether they’re things I can only do if I have Yeokcheon, then not really.”
Most of the goals Aster had set so far were like that.
Regardless of whether Yeokcheon existed or not, purely by his own will—he’d simply set goals for things he felt he should do.
Here, Yeokcheon was nothing more than a supporting tool that helped him achieve those goals more easily.
‘But now you’re asking what I want to do with Yeokcheon?’
There was no way there’d be a fitting answer.
“Hah, now I feel a bit better.”
After saying everything he wanted to say, Aster leaned back against the sofa as if refreshed.
A perfect back-alley thug.
Teheman stared at him in disbelief, then asked again.
“……Truly, truly nothing? If you think carefully even now—”
“Do I have to answer?”
Teheman couldn’t continue.
This is a kind of test. But like this, doesn’t it make it seem as if he’s the one begging for an answer?
His embarrassment welled up. Still, Teheman suppressed it and opened his mouth again.
“……You must answer.”
“Hmm. Then, well. Can’t be helped.”
At Teheman’s firm attitude, Aster organized his thoughts again. After a short while—
“……Ah! I do have one.”
“What is it? Hurry and say it.”
A voice that had somehow grown urgent. Feeling awkward, Teheman cleared his throat—“Ahem.”
At that very moment, Aster opened his mouth.
“Have you ever gambled?”
“……?”
All of a sudden?
“This thing called gambling is a con game where everything’s rigged, but even then, there’s still a minimum level of propriety. So what that propriety is, is—”
“No, no, no. Wait, wait a moment.”
Unable to listen anymore, Teheman waved his hand and cut him off.
“So…… are you saying you’ll gamble with Yeokcheon right now?”
“Do you take me for a punk?”
“…….”
His insides boiled. Teheman endured again. It was truly superhuman patience befitting Endurance.
“So what’s the conclusion?”
His words finally fell. This time, if you don’t give a proper answer, I will butcher you—he vowed it.
And it was just then.
Aster’s answer was so bizarre it made even that vow meaningless.
“Grimoires.”
“……Grimoires?”
“I’m going to burn them all.”
Teheman closed his eyes, pressing them tightly against his surging blood pressure.
