Chapter 74
Chapter 74
An Appropriate Clue (1)
Winter Seraphist had been spending unusually busy days. Her face, buried in books, was filled with a smile.
“Hmm~”
She hummed as she flipped through the pages. Sitting in the lounge prepared inside the library, she kept turning the books one after another.
“Stay still.”
She restrained the Holy Brush, which occasionally scurried about, and kept her eyes sharply focused.
Davide had handed over the Holy Brush as if it were nothing special, but it was a far more remarkable item than it appeared.
‘I should work hard.’
Thanks to that, Winter studied even more diligently. Right now, she was searching through various ancient texts, tracing the footsteps of Anaye.
Whenever she encountered passages that were difficult to interpret, she sought clues through the Holy Brush.
“Hmm? Winter?”
“…….”
“Winter?”
“Huh?”
Only then did Winter lift her head. These days she was so often called by the title Winter that her own name felt unfamiliar.
Even the Vice-Commander, who at least used to call her Winter, had done so less frequently lately.
“Oh. It’s been a while.”
“May I interrupt you for a moment?”
The red-haired twins had come to see her. It was Regi, the older twin brother, who spoke in a friendly tone. Winter hurriedly gathered the clutter around her.
“Studying? Midterms ended ages ago.”
“Ah, it’s study related to the Order.”
The twin sister, Rera, clicked her tongue as she looked at the thick books surrounding Winter. There were twenty of them, each as thick as a dictionary.
“Oh, right. You said you were a priest.”
Regi looked at Winter anew. Winter awkwardly smiled as she brushed her snow-white hair behind her ear.
“What brings you here?”
Winter visited the library often. She was passionate about studying itself, and religion in particular required a great many books.
Yet among her countless visits, she had never seen the twins here before.
“We found something interesting not long ago.”
Regi grinned brightly and pulled a book from his coat. It had a red cover that bore the weight of time.
“We found it while carrying out a request. It looked like a magic book. So we came to look into it.”
“…Oh. How about having it appraised?”
If it was a book containing recorded magic, it would be quite a rare item. And judging by how worn it was, it might be Ancient Magic.
Most Ancient Magic had been lost, so its value was significantly higher.
“We didn’t quite trust it. And it’s expensive.”
Winter nodded. If that was the reason, then it made sense. She glanced at the book.
“If you’re interested, want to take a look?”
Rera readily handed it over. After hesitating for a moment, Winter accepted the book.
A chilly sensation ran through her fingers. When she opened it, the smell of old paper wafted out.
“Huh?”
“What is it?”
The moment she opened the book, the Holy Brush reacted. The one that had been lying on the desk when the twins arrived suddenly sprang upright.
Seeing the moving writing instrument, the twins’ faces filled with shock.
“Ahh! No! Mm!”
The Holy Brush began scribbling over the red book on its own. Startled by the sight, Winter let out a scream.
Rera, glancing nervously at the librarian, quickly covered Winter’s mouth. Regi hastily grabbed the Holy Brush.
“…….”
“…….”
Regi, the older twin brother, wore a devastated expression. Winter burst into tears out of guilt.
Rera, who looked equally stunned, patted Winter’s shoulder.
“Wait.”
Regi, who had been blankly staring at the book, suddenly brightened. Unlike his usual self, he read the book with utmost seriousness.
“This might actually be fine.”
Rera received the book Regi handed her and looked equally surprised. The scribbles made by the Holy Brush were translations.
Parts of the magic book, originally written in indecipherable script, had been interpreted in red letters.
“…….”
“…….”
“……”
The three of them looked at one another before lifting the Holy Brush. It moved energetically, like a fish in water.
“I wish the Holy Scripture was like this too.”
In truth, Davide already knew how to read the text of the Holy Scripture. There was even an interpretation copy he had written down, but it was not perfect.
Davide’s interpretation only recorded phonetic readings, and much of it consisted of idiomatic expressions.
“Where did you get this book?”
“From the Poison Swamp. Once we got used to it, it turned out pretty profitable.”
The twins now moved through the Poison Swamp with considerable skill.
“So it wasn’t a magic book.”
After chatting quietly for about ten minutes, Regi finished reading first.
The Holy Brush, which had not yet completed the translation, wriggled about, but after Winter stroked it a few times, it quickly calmed down.
Clicking his tongue, Regi set the book down.
“Yeah. It’s a diary.”
The red book was a kind of diary. More precisely, it was an autobiography recording one person’s life.
“Winter.”
“Yes?”
“What was the name of the god your Order believes in again?”
“Anaye.”
Winter answered proudly at Rera’s question, as she had been reading the book intently.
Tilting her head, Rera handed the book to Winter. With a puzzled expression, Winter read the opened page.
“What is this? What is this?”
The name of the protagonist who wrote the book was ‘Thunder Lord, Anash.’ At the beginning of the book, Anash introduced himself as the son of ‘Anaye, the Thunder Deer.’
It was an unexpected clue.
***
“Ugh.”
Worden clutched his throbbing head. He had never been particularly smart, so theoretical classes like this were even more of a headache.
He lacked motivation to begin with, and his body sagged. Before he knew it, his thoughts drifted to the chapel.
“It was warm.”
He pulled his clothes tighter against the chilly air.
The chapel, which did not even have a single statue bearing the form of a god, was not much different from an ordinary club room. In fact, it was far older than most club rooms.
“Yaaawn.”
Yet traces of having long enshrined divinity still remained. Once one grew accustomed to it, the atmosphere quickly became tranquil. Worden enjoyed that kind of ambiance.
A place that received the freshest breath of nature. The crackling sound of the current Davide unconsciously emitted, and the ringing of the bell Winter sounded.
Whenever he heard such things, his body and mind settled, and he felt at ease.
“Phew.”
It probably wasn’t what Davide intended. Even though he had joined the Order half by force, Worden liked the Anaye Order.
There was nothing it forced upon him, nothing it demanded. Yet in Davide’s actions and words, one could sense that he was looking ahead toward the future.
“Class? It’s not over.”
A hellish streak of consecutive lectures. As soon as his morning class ended, Worden headed straight to the next one and took a seat in the very back row.
Still, this class was worth attending. ‘Effective Basic Tactics’ was far more useful than something like ‘The Definition of Chivalry.’
“Huh? Aren’t you a sparrow?”
Ten minutes before class began, Worden sat absentmindedly, killing time. Amid the chatter of students, a clear voice reached his ears.
That voice sounded familiar. Why was someone looking for a sparrow? Had a sparrow wandered into the lecture hall?
“Sparrow. Are you ignoring me?”
“Hm? Huh?”
Only then did he realize that the sparrow in question was himself. The hand resting on his shoulder was small, yet carried weight.
Startled, Worden turned his head. The mere touch of that hand triggered Adrenaline. A face identical to Davide’s met his gaze.
“Bereninche?”
More than her refined features, it was her sun-kissed skin and sea-colored, distinctive hair that drew attention.
Then Worden noticed the golden eyes staring at him and quietly let out a sigh. A calamity that devoured humans had appeared.
“You’re the one who was next to Davide back then, right?”
“That’s true. But are you calling me that sparrow?”
“Yeah. You’re brown. Sparrows are brown too.”
Worden recalled the notebook Winter had shown him. The so-called Death Note, a compilation of people one must never get involved with.
She had proudly taken first place in it.
“Hm.”
Bereninche narrowed her eyes. Worden’s reaction felt unfamiliar, different from the usual responses she received.
Worden, on the other hand, looked rather delighted.
“I’ll sit next to you.”
“What? Suit yourself.”
Worden understood why Bereninche ranked first in the Death Note. A sharp aura that was threatening by mere existence.
“You’re smiling.”
Bereninche stared curiously at Worden, who was grinning brightly.
The greatest martial talent in history. He began to feel exhilarated by the intense presence of someone trained in combat. She carried a scent of death comparable to Davide’s.
“Does Mr. Sparrow know me?”
“Of course. The Cult Leader’s younger sister. The greatest talent in history. Hunter of the Waves. Bereninche Duhein.”
“You know quite a lot?”
Bereninche looked at him anew. The way he spoke awkwardly and stared blankly had made her think he was an idiot.
She continued speaking more smoothly than he had expected.
“Are you affiliated with the Order? Or are you Davide’s friend? Ah, since you called him Cult Leader, I suppose you’re part of the Order.”
“Something like that? The Cult Leader came to find me and told me to join.”
“Oho. A personal recruitment.”
At Worden’s words, Bereninche stroked her chin and fell into thought.
Sitting in her chair with one leg crossed over the other, her knee pressed into Worden’s thigh.
“Oho. A personal recruitment.”
Why was his body so solid? It didn’t seem like he would be easily pushed aside, so she slightly withdrew her leg. Then her sixth sense let out a fierce scream.
An excessive danger that made his eyes redden on their own. Worden, who sensed it faster than anyone, trembled.
“Phew.”
Certain death. Worden instinctively rose from his seat.
His chair toppled over with a loud crash. The other students’ gazes gathered on him.
“Your instincts are pretty good? Where did Davide pick up something like you?”
Bereninche showed a truly charming smile. It was an expression that could set many men’s hearts ablaze, but Worden had no interest in that.
“It’s… thrilling.”
The tremor filling his entire body and the tension that sent a sharp chill up his spine. All of it stemmed from Bereninche having ‘slightly’ released her killing intent.
An overwhelming monster. Simply deciding to kill was enough for her to emit that level of killing intent, and in the very next instant, she could withdraw it completely.
“Sparrow? You should sit down. The other kids are startled.”
Her voice was filled with mischief. Not the tiresome pranks of Canis, but a joke made with one’s life on the line.
Worden righted his chair.
“Hey.”
“Hm?”
“How did you react just now? That wasn’t easy.”
Once the students’ attention had quickly faded, she asked casually. Her nonchalant demeanor made him wonder if what had just happened had been an illusion.
“Since I was young? I just have good instincts.”
By now, it would have been natural for his senses to stay on guard, but his sixth sense had not reacted strongly since that burst of killing intent.
Compared to the Vice-Commander, who constantly triggered it, or Canis, who set it off frequently, Bereninche felt more reliable.
‘That’s strange.’
Worden, who trusted his instincts more than anything, found Bereninche’s presence rather fascinating.
“Good instincts. Mind’s Eye?”
“That? No.”
Bereninche mentioned something outrageous. Mind’s Eye was not something to speak of lightly.
It was a kind of realm attained through endless effort and real combat experience by those with talent. A state that those who revered martial arts dreamed of reaching.
“Right? I didn’t think so either.”
“And you, Bereninche? Feels like you might reach it.”
“That, we’ll have to see. Hehe.”
Only when the professor entered did their one-sided conversation come to an end. Yet Worden felt strangely intrigued.
Bereninche, who was not listening to the lecture at all, was staring intently at his face.
‘It’s… thrilling.’
Whenever he subtly turned his head to see why, their eyes always met. Each time their gazes locked, Bereninche flashed a bright smile.
Every time that happened, Worden shuddered. No matter how many times, that gaze was electrifying.
“Do what you’re supposed to.”
Bereninche spoke as if it were nothing. Worden laughed in genuine delight.