CHAPTER 56: THE NAME OF THAT SPELLBOOK IS— (BEGINNING)

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Back to when it was still around mid-summer—

We must’ve cleaned up around 6 request papers.

We stopped by the town of Grehala, located in the Luminous territory.

“This place has a huge town as well, Albert!”

Laura spoke while looking at the surrounding scenery, her eyes darting about.

“This town is called the second Luminous city.”

“Really… But the atmosphere is kinda different.
The capital had more of a lively feeling to it, but this place kinda feels more… relaxed, I guess.”

“It’s probably because of how the people here act.”

I shifted my gaze to the attire of the people making their way across the town.
Compared to everybody in the capital, there were a lot of people wearing more formal, stiff-ish clothing.

“You see, this place is an academic city.”

“An academic city?”

“The Luminous capital is the center of commerce, and Grehala is the center of scholarship.”

“Aah, so that’s how it is… Wait, did we have a request to do in this town?”

“No, I didn’t come here to do a request.”

“Huh?”

“There’s a place I’d like to take you to.”

When I decided to return to the Luminous territory with Laura, I wanted to stop by here if I had the time.

“Wah, there’s a place you want to bring me to!? I’m so happy! Where is it!?”

“We’re almost there.
Look, it’s right over there.”

This was the center of Grehala.
Among the numerous new and beautiful buildings, a large building laid in front of us.
We could feel how historic it was at a glance.

While we made our way to the entrance, I talked to Laura.

“You see, this building is the Luminous household’s storehouse.”

“Storehouse!? A storehouse in the middle of a town!?”

Laura was taken aback.

“Also, isn’t it a little too big!?”

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“Ah… A part of it is being used as an art museum, so the townspeople might think of this place as an art museum instead of a storehouse.”

…Someone from the Luminous household would consider it a storehouse, so I thoughtlessly referred to it as one…

I showed my Luminous crest board to the art museum receptionist.
We were treated very courteously, and we were led through a special entranceway to the back of the building.

We were guided to a room at the innermost part of the building.

“We have arrived, Lord Albert.”

The woman in charge who guided us handed me a key.

“Thank you… I’ll be giving the key to this girl later, but is that alright?”

The woman in charge quickly glanced at Laura and answered.

“It’s of no issue if Lord Albert has trust in this lady… Nevertheless, in the event that something were to happen—”

“Naturally, I’ll take responsibility.”

“Then there is no problem.”

The woman in charge bowed to me and went back to the hallway.

“I-… I-I-I-Is this some super amazing place or something?”

Laura spoke as her shoulders trembled.

“There’s something here that I’m sure you’d be pleased with.”

I opened the door with the key, and we went inside.

An innumerable amount of bookshelves lined the room.
Each and every one of them were packed with books.

“There’s so many books…!”

She entered the room and looked at the surroundings, then approached one of the bookshelves and stared at the binding of a book.

“Is this a spellbook?”

“Yeah.
More precisely, they’re books related to magic.
I hear the previous head of the Luminous household from some generations back collected these.”

The person in question didn’t have talent for magic, but for some reason he was possessed by the charms of magic and obsessively collected books related to magic.

Ever since childhood, I came here to study as well.

…I never managed to retain any of it whatsoever, though…

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However, I believe Laura will put this place to good use.

“There’s a large library in the academy as well, but this is all privately owned, so there are tons of books that only exist here.
Laura, you can enter and exit whenever you want, so how about studying here for around a week? I’m sure it’ll be beneficial to you.”

“Y-You’ll do that for me!?”

Laura had a happy look on her face, but bewilderment soon replaced it.

“But your conversation from earlier made it sound like I’d be receiving the key… What are you gonna be doing?”

“I’ll be working hard at taking care of the request papers.
Let’s meet again after a week.”

…It’s already been proven that I won’t be seeing any growth by studying here anyway…

Besides, I’ve already gotten quite accustomed at interacting with the villagers.
I also wanted to test whether I could manage without Laura acting as an intermediary.

“…Is that so…”

Laura looked disappointed, but she immediately changed her expression.

“I would’ve preferred to be with Albert, but this is a rare opportunity! I’ll do my best!”

“Yeah, I’ll be glad if you do that for me.”

I handed Laura the key and exited the room.

From there, Laura studied hard in the innermost room, day after day.

As expected of the library of the Marquis Luminous.
The shelves were packed with books that the average student at the academy wouldn’t ever see.

Laura scanned her eyes over the books, devouring the knowledge within.

All of a sudden, for some odd reason—

She lost her concentration.

Then, she thought like so:

I wonder what Albert’s doing around now…

Her thoughts ended up straying from her studies.

Laura thought back to everything that’s happened so far.

Then, she muttered to herself, the words spilling from her mouth.

“Everyday has been like a dream…”

Ever since she met Albert, her days have gone by in the blink of an eye.

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Until now, she’s lived an unchanging life as a villager who was slightly skilled at magic.

The one who invited Laura to this mysterious everyday life was Albert.
At first, she thought he was a regular person, but—

She never once thought he was the son of a marquis.

“I’m pretty blessed.”

Laura said that as she looked at her surroundings.

She was warmly welcomed to a marquis household, and she was even allowed to study in this treasured library.

She enjoyed every second of traveling around the territory as well.

However—

She, just a little bit, felt disappointed.

It was when she was invited here.

Laura recalled how she felt when that happened. 

—There’s a place I’d like to take you to.

After Albert said that, she unconsciously had a thought:

I’m sure it’ll be a wonderful place fitting for the two of us to go, somewhere that’ll make for nice memories.

That same place was this bleak library.

There wasn’t a single shred of romance.

—!?

After thinking that far, Laura shook her head back and forth.

W-W-W-What are you thinking, Laura!? Albert is a friend, isn’t he!? It’d be weird for him to think that, considering we’re friends!

After calming herself down, Laura spoke.

This time, in a lonely-sounding voice.

“Besides, I can’t be thinking about stuff like that…”

The reason being that Laura was a commoner.

The reason being that Albert was a noble.

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There was no way they’d be able to be like that.

Just being friends is more than enough.
Albert, who has such a prestigious background, is keeping someone with a cursed bloodline like myself company.

Laura breathed a small sigh.

Just then, she unconsciously removed her ring and started fiddling with it.

That was the ring she wore on the index finger of her left hand.

Apparently, it’s handed down in the event that a magician with white hair is born in the village.
Whenever Laura lost concentration, she had a habit of taking it off and touching it.

At that moment—

Clink.

“Ah.”

The ring fell to the ground and made a noise.
Without tipping to the side, it rolled vertically on the floor.

“W-Wait up!”

Laura stood up in a panic.
That ring was handed down from generation to generation; She couldn’t afford to lose it.

The ring didn’t stop.

It rolled and rolled and rolled.

It was if—

It was being guided by something.

Before long, the ring lost its momentum and stopped moving in front of a certain bookshelf.

“Aah! What a relief!”

Laura retrieved it in a panic and put it back on her finger.

Just then—

Right when Laura crouched down, the title of a single book flashed into her eyes.

It clearly reflected in her consciousness as if it were searing itself onto her brain.

“T-This is—”

Laura stared at the title. 

The Witch of Calamity.

There laid a book written like so.