Chapter 151 – Pride
“He hasn’t regained consciousness.”
Almark opened his eyes wide.
“What does that mean?”
But Ain shook his head.
“I don’t know. For the time being, there doesn’t seem to be any imminent danger to his life, but he seems to be asleep and won’t wake up.”
“He won’t wake up…”
“It seems the teachers still don’t know the exact reason. Is it an illness, magic, or something else?”
Ain looked into Almark’s eyes.
“Is it some kind of curse?”
“That’s not curse.”
As Almark spoke, he opened the door wide.
“That doesn’t seem like something we should talk about while standing. Please come in.”
“Sorry.”
Ain answered and quietly entered Almark’s room.
“This room is bleak.”
After giving a harsh comment, he sat down in a chair.
Almark sat on the bed and faced Ain.
“You really did tell Ficke to go to the library yesterday.”
“Yeah.”
Ain nods.
“Right after school. Ficke was amused as usual when he heard the story.”
“So that means,”
Almark says.
“So this story didn’t come from Ficke.”
“Yeah.”
Ain looks at Almark a little taken aback.
“That’s very thoughtful. That’s right.”
“Did you hear from Brenz, who told Morgen this story?”
“I did.”
Ain nods.
“Apparently he heard it from the middle school students.”
“Middle school.”
Almark frowns.
“Does Brenz have a connection with the middle school students?… Ah, I see.”
As he says this, he is convinced by himself.
“I only came this year, so I have no connection with them, but to you guys, They’re your friend who attended elementary school together until last year?”
“That’s right. The school buildings and dormitories are far away from the middle school, but it’s not uncommon for us to meet and chat when we meet in town.”
As Ain spoke, he looked out the window.
The roof of the middle school building could be seen small beyond the forest.
“What Brenz heard is almost the same as what you heard from Morgen.”
Ain said.
“Almost.”
Almark reprimanded.
“So there’s a difference.”
“Yeah.”
Ain nodded.
“Brenz only put one fin on.”
Almark looked at Ain’s face.
Ain looked back at Almark with a grim expression.
“Just as I expected. There is a magically glowing book in the general library. That’s all Brenz actually heard. If you read it, your soul will be taken away, that’s the fin Brenz attached.”
“No way.”
Almark took a deep breath and looked away from Ain.
“Then it’s just as you told me yesterday.”
Ah, Ain nodded.
“I was confident in my own assessment. That’s why I let Ficke go alone.”
“But then why did Ficke collapse? He didn’t regain consciousness, like…”
It’s like his soul was really taken away, Almark swallowed.
That’s too ominous.
“I don’t understand that either.”
Ain shook his head.
“But in the end, the same phenomenon as Brenz’s tall tale occurred. Something happened. In that library. There’s no doubt about it.”
Ain stood up from his chair.
“I’m going to the library to check it out this evening.”
“What?”
Almark looked up at Ain.
“By yourself?”
“Of course.”
Ain answered immediately.
“Did you tell the teacher? About Ficke, maybe?”
“No.”
Ain shook his head.
“It seems the teachers haven’t reached the conclusion that there’s any deep connection between Ficke’s current state and the general library.”
“Then tell the teacher first.”
“That’s not how I take responsibility.”
Ain interrupted Almark in a strong tone.
Almark grimaced at his intensity, but Ain continued regardless.
“Ficke. No, not just Ficke. The students in my class obey what I say. It’s not because I’m the class representative. It’s because my words are correct. It’s because their trust that I won’t say anything wrong.”
So, Ain said.
“My words carry responsibility. I will make up for my mistakes with my own actions. If I made Ficke do something wrong, and if that is why he is in danger, then it is my responsibility to save him.”
Ain looked at Almark with such intensity, and Almark felt he had seen him before.
Ah, that’s right.
Almark remembered.
The winter mansion. Wendy had the same look in her eyes, as she stood in front of the bodies of the guards lined up in the garden.
A child, yet not a child.
Somewhere, far away.
Not distance, but time.
A sense of responsibility, as if coming from the distant past.
The same gaze as Wendy had back then.
Come to think of it, I heard that Ain was also a nobleman from somewhere.
Perhaps all the children of nobles know this.
You always have responsibility for your words and actions.
And whether he wanted it or not, he would have to bear the responsibility for it.
“Don’t get me wrong, Almark. I didn’t come to you crying,” Ain said.
“If I mess up today. In other words, if I fail to take responsibility, then you tell the teacher. Tell them everything that happened, including my foolish mistake.”
Ain’s expression relaxed for the first time and he smiled.
“That’s what I came to ask of you today.”
Almark looked at Ain with some envy.
This pride of Ain’s probably doesn’t come from his own intelligence and strength alone.
The pride of being a strong, honorable family can be seen lurking behind him. Pride.
Nobility.
The difference in status between him and Almark and the others.
Almark slowly shook his head.
“I can’t accept that request.”
Ain’s expression became grim at his answer. However, this time it was Almark’s turn to speak regardless.
“Just as you have your own way of doing things, I also have my own way of doing things.”
Almark stood up.
He looked straight at Ain, as if they were equals.
“I was the one who first told you this story. I am also responsible.”
“No, that’s not true.”
Ain tried to refute it, but Almark didn’t give him a second thought.
“After all that, you’re going alone? You’ve got to show your pride. But the northern gods will not bless those who don’t show courage when it’s needed.”
{Don’t act cowardly just because no one is watching.}
The words of his father came back to him.
{The gods in the sky are always watching. Your courage. And how you show it.}
[Just as you nobles have the pride of your clan behind you, I have my father’s pride behind me.]
[The pride of the northern mercenaries behind me. To me, at least, that is in no way inferior to the pride of a noble.]
[So I won’t retreat.]
“I will show my courage. No matter what you say, I will go too. That is the way of the people of the North.”
Ain looked stunned and was silent for a while.
After a moment, he nodded with a wry smile.
“I understand. Let’s go together.”
Then, as if making a sour grapes, he added.
“Well, you’re in Class 2, after all. It’s outside the scope of my responsibilities.”
Chapter 152 – Right Hand
The news of Ficke’s collapse had already spread to the other two classrooms.
Nelson, Raido, and Pillman were talking about it, but no one seemed to connect it to what Morgen had said yesterday.
Nelson said jokingly,
“Torque, isn’t it because you stabbed Ficke in the torso with all your might at the martial arts tournament?”
To which Torque replied,
“Maybe. But Eston, who fought you, is in great health.”
This caused a tense atmosphere between the two of them, but no one seemed to take it seriously, thinking that Ficke had just collapsed because he felt a little unwell.
Morgen had also been talking endlessly about cooking with Byer today, and seemed to have completely forgotten what he had said yesterday.
Almark tried his best to avoid mentioning Ficke’s case.
During lunch break, he visited Illumis and asked him if he could miss today’s extra lessons.
After staring at Almark’s face for a while, Illumis give him permission without asking any questions.
When class ended and Almark was quickly getting ready to go home, Wendy saw him and called out to him.
“Hey, Almark. You don’t have any extra class lesson today, do you?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
As Almark nodded, Wendy’s face lit up.
“Then why don’t we go home together?”
“Sorry.”
Almark apologized.
“Not today.”
“I see…”
Wendy looked disappointed, and Almark was reluctant to leave, but he shook her off and went outside the school building.
Ain and I were supposed to meet in the library before sunset.
As autumn deepened, the sun was setting earlier.
He had to hurry.
Almark quickly returned to the dorms, got ready in his room, and left the dorms again.
By the time Almark arrived at the library, darkness was beginning to take hold.
However, the sun was still shining far to the west.
“So you were waiting?”
Ain, who was standing near the entrance of the library looking lost, nodded unhesitantly to Almark’s words.
“Yeah. I was nervous because I thought the sun would set.”
Then he added with a grin.
“But since you’d said that much, I figured you wouldn’t give up, so I held back and waited.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine. We made it in time.”
With that, Ain turned towards the entrance to the library.
Almark stood next to him.
“You’re prepared. Whatever happens from now on, it’s your own responsibility.”
Almark nodded at Ain’s words.
“Yeah.”
“Let’s go.”
The two of them walked side by side and entered the library.
Tamin was sitting at the reception desk, just like yesterday.
Today too, he just glances at them and says nothing.
The two pass the reception desk and enter the reading room.
Only a few students remain.
They then enter the general stacks.
Sunlight is still coming in through the light windows.
A red light. The setting sun.
There was one other student in the stacks, but he left just as the two of them left.
After seeing him off, Ain turns back to Almark.
“Now, we start from here.”
“Yeah.”
The two of them each took positions where they could get a good view of the new bookshelves.
“They say it will only be dark for a moment. Don’t miss it, Almark.”
“You too. Make sure you keep a close eye on the shelves I can’t see.”
They say this to each other and fine-tune their positions.
And then, there is silence for a while.
“The sun is setting.”
Ain muttered. The red light shining in through the skylight suddenly disappeared.
The sun had set.
There was probably still some afterglow outside, but the inside of the library was instantly enveloped in darkness.
Almark squinted his eyes into the darkness.
“There it is.”
“That’s it.”
They both spoke up at the same time.
In the darkness, there was undoubtedly a book emitting a faint light.
At that moment, with a buzzing sound, the lamp on the wall came on.
The inside of the library became bright once again.
Then, the light quickly made the faint light of the book hard to distinguish.
“Did you see it?”
Ain said, approaching the book.
“Yes, I saw it.”
As he replied, Almark also approached the same book.
It was a book with a sturdy binding and a deep green cover.
“Strange Plants.”
Looking at the title of the book, Ain muttered, “I thought so.”
“Look. It’s just as I thought. This is a book about plants. I think it introduces foxglove. And it’s a pretty stylish way of explaining its phosphorescent properties in the book itself.”
“That seems to be it.”
As he answered, Almark was inwardly amazed at Ain’s keen insight.
This boy, Ain, knows everything just by looking at one thing. And the confidence with which he asserts this is also incredible.
“I don’t sense any magic.”
Ain said, and picked up the book without hesitation.
He flipped through the pages and snorted.
“There it is. The entry on foxglove. An explanation of its phosphorescent properties. And it says that this pigment is used in this book.”
“That’s a perfect guess.”
Almark sighed in admiration.
Ain shook his head grimly.
“That’s right, but it doesn’t solve anything. What happened to Ficke?”
Saying that, he turned the pages of the book, trying to find some kind of clue.
Seeing his desperate expression, Ain was saying complicated things about responsibility and such, but Almark realized that in the end, he was just genuinely worried about Ficke.
“Ain, you are…”
Almark started to say, but suddenly stopped talking.
The book next to the one Ain had picked up.
It looked like an ordinary book, but from it he felt a strange magical power that he hadn’t felt before.
“Ain.”
Almark spoke in a sharp voice.
“Get away from there.”
Ain looked at Almark.
Too slow.
Almark grabbed him by the collar with his left hand and pulled him towards himself with one hand.
“Guh.”
Ain groaned in pain, but he didn’t have time to worry about it.
In front of Almark’s gaze, the book slowly opened by itself.
“Ain, look.”
Ain turned around and opened his eyes wide.
“That one is the real one. But that book.”
Ain muttered.
“There was no mark on the back cover. It’s not one of our books.”
In that instant, he saw so much.
“As expected. But what will you do?”
“It’s definitely not good to touch it. Keep your distance… Hey, Almark, what are you doing!”
Ain cried out in surprise.
Because Almark had reached out his right hand and was grabbing the book.
“It wasn’t me.”
Almark yelled.
“It’s your hand.”
Ain shouted back.
It was definitely Almark’s right hand.
Almark’s right hand suddenly moved as if it had a separate will of its own, and he grabbed the book.
A golden snake.
The snake ring flickered in Almark’s mind.
“Let it go, Almark!”
Ain shouted.
A black stain-like thing began to spread slowly across the surface of the book as Almark grabbed it.
The stain drew a strange pattern.
Almark saw something familiar.
The day of the martial arts tournament.
The copper and silver coins were the true identities of the strange magicians who had confronted Almark.
The pattern was similar to the one drawn on their surface.
“Tch.”
Ain waved his hand.
A strong, invisible force blasted the book away.
But it was too late.
Suddenly, countless hands reached out from the book that had fallen to the floor.
They grabbed Almark and Ain.
It wasn’t their bodies that were being grabbed.
Almark could sense it too.
It was their souls that had been grasped.
In an instant, the countless hands that had pulled Almark and Ain’s souls from their bodies disappeared into the book.
Afterwards, there was silence.
The book seemed to float gently, then settle back into its original place.
And then, only the two unconscious bodies remained on the floor.
Translator Notes: Hello dear reader, the story enter new arc and look like it has a connection with the enemy power. Please tell me for any mistakes, typos, and mistranslations. See you
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