[V11C19] Walking Together as Friends

Cyril returned to the royal capital for the first time in a few weeks, and the entire city was covered in a tense atmosphere.

Soldiers were stationed at every corner, and anxiety darkened the faces of everyone walking down the streets.

As Cyril made his way to the Ascard Grand Library, he was thinking about the ‘honorable and esteemed noble’ he respected so much.

(He should be okay… I didn’t hear anything about him being involved…)

A few weeks ago, Cyril attended a Library Society gathering at the palace. At that time, Second Prince Felix Arc Ridill was also in the palace, but Cyril never got the chance to offer his greetings.

Thus, the last time Cyril saw him was during the Key of Knowledge incident, when they visited House Roseberg and saw a play with Raul and Monica.

Cyril sent a letter of apology after that incident, but he had yet to receive a reply.

(Is he still angry with me…?)

Perhaps Cyril needed to use additional adjectives to describe how much respect he held.

As Cyril contemplated his next approach, he arrived at his destination, the Ascard Grand Library.

The Ascard Grand Library was a towering stone building, reminiscent of a temple.

The pillars at the entrance bore statues of the Spirit Kings of Light and Darkness, with the magical formulas protecting the building engraved directly below them.

While the first and second floors of the Ascard Grand Library were open to the public, there seemed to be more visitors than usual today.

After the turmoil of the large-scale dragon disaster, perhaps they had come in search of books to enjoy from the safety of their homes.

Setting aside those thoughts, Cyril surveyed the floor.

It did not take long to find the man he was searching for. After all, his striking appearance made him stand out regardless of location. He possessed a beauty rivaling that of the ‘esteemed noble’ who Cyril respected so much.

“Hey, Cyril. Long time no see.”

The man, who was seated on the bench near the reception counter, greeted Cyril with a raised hand and a smile.

Though he was not dressed in his usual farm attire, the man was clearly Raul Roseberg, the Fifth Thorn Witch and one of the Seven Sages. Cyril’s job was to guide Raul to the Deepest Forbidden Section.

“Not wearing your robes today?” Cyril asked.

Raul Roseberg tended to throw his Sage robes over his farm clothes, but today he didn’t have his robe or his staff.

He wore a white dress shirt, suspenders, and clean leather boots. When combined with his attractive appearance, the clothes made him look like a true noble. Well, though he was already the scion of one of the most prestigious lineages in the magical world.

Raul put on a wry smile while hooking his fingers against the suspenders.

“Yeah, there are… various reasons. I’ve been told to avoid wearing anything that would identify me as one of the Seven Sages.”

For some reason, Raul seemed unusually subdued today. The usual Raul would have called out to Cyril at a distance, along with an energetic wave of his hands.

(Is he being considerate of the surroundings since we’re in a library?)

Cyril felt like that wasn’t the only reason. His intuition was telling him that Raul seemed downcast or possibly even depressed.

As Cyril was pondering the meaning of this, Raul examined Cyril’s coat.

“Cyril, is it just me, or did you put on a bit of weight? Maybe you ate too many carrots?”

“…”

As someone who always had trouble gaining weight or muscle, Cyril frowned and went silent.

Meanwhile, his jacket fidgeted as two small weasels peeked out from the collar on either side.

“Are we there yet?” Pikeh asked, glancing around curiously.

“Oh, it’s Raul. Hello,” Thule followed, waving a small hand at Raul.

Cyril definitely appeared wider than usual, but that was due to weasels hiding under his jacket.

He quickly pressed down on the heads of the weasels, scolding them in a whisper.

“Don’t come out yet… And it tickles, so try not to move around too much.”

“Is that so? Sorry.”

Thule gave a sincere apology and withdrew his head. In the process, the weasel’s fluffy tail grazed Cyril’s side, causing him to twitch his shoulders.

The weasels scurrying under his jacket were also unbearably ticklish. This was only one layer of cloth different from them scurrying on top of his jacket, but that difference turned out to be significant.

While watching Cyril fidget, Raul observed his jacket again.

“The sun is pretty strong today, so isn’t it too hot to wear a jacket?”

“No, that’s…”

Cyril was about to explain, but Pikeh poked her head out of the collar again, interjecting in a proud tone.

“It’s always pleasantly cool with me here.”

“I told you to stop moving around so much…!”

Cyril quietly scolded Pikeh, pushing her back under the jacket.

The sudden force caused Pikeh to slip into the sleeve portion of the jacket, which formed an unnatural bulge on Cyril’s upper arm. Pikeh flapped her short limbs with her head visible at the edge of the sleeve.

“I got stuck,” Pikeh said.

“Ugh, if you had just listened to me.”

Cyril carefully pulled out the stuck Pikeh from his upper arm, then returned her to her original position.

Naturally, animals were not allowed in the library. As a stickler for the rules, Cyril had intended to leave Thule and Pikeh at the inn, but the weasels insisted that they would sneak in on their own.

That would be certain to cause a commotion, so Cyril reluctantly brought them along by hiding them under his jacket.

Even on a warm day, Pikeh could generate cool air whenever she wanted, so Cyril always felt a comfortable temperature under the jacket.

Once the two weasels fell silent, Cyril turned his attention toward the “Authorized Personnel Only” door at the back of the library. By passing through that door and walking to the end of the corridor, they would reach a staircase leading underground.

“Father told me about what happened to Lady Abigail Roseberg and Lady Paulina Roseberg.”

Abigail and Paulina were witches of House Roseberg who had fallen victim to Gluttonous Zoe. Both were also prominent figures in the Library Society.

It was only after losing them that the Library Society finally understood the severity of the situation, and granted access to the Deepest Forbidden Section.

Raul’s depression seemed related to what happened to his relatives. He slowly lifted his head and gave a slight nod, but his face looked extremely awkward, as if he had tried and failed to put on his usual smile.

This only furthered Cyril’s suspicions of something else going on.

“I’ve heard that many others were affected as well. Let’s do our best to save them,” Cyril said.

“…Yeah, you’re right. I have to do my best,” Raul muttered, as if trying to convince himself.

Raul slowly lifted himself from the bench and started following Cyril.

Whenever Raul was with Monica or Cyril, he always made sure to walk side by side. Yet now, he was walking a few paces behind Cyril.

Perhaps this was because Raul didn’t want him to see his downcast expression. As Cyril pondered this, his ears caught the whispers of the other library visitors.

“Wait, isn’t that the Thorn Witch?”

“W-Why is the Thorn Witch here of all places?”

“I can’t even read a book in peace.”

Cyril immediately paused and turned back to Raul, who wore a troubled smile.

“Come on, let’s hurry up and enter the Forbidden Archives,” Raul said.

However, Cyril’s head was overflowing with anger. Half was directed at the gossipers, and half at himself not realizing it.

How stupid he had been, worrying about keeping Pikeh and Thule hidden when he had not even taken a look at his surroundings. He had failed to notice the malicious stares and whispers being directed at Raul the entire time!

Cyril found himself shouting in anger before he realized it.

“Which one of you just insulted my friend?!”

His angry roar echoed across the silent library, drawing all eyes to him.

Raul quickly grabbed Cyril’s shoulders from behind, to prevent him from running off on his own.

“Cyril, Cyril, I really don’t mind!”

“Whether you mind or not, I do!”

“You’re a member of the Library Society, you can’t make a scene in the library!”

“…Mrgh.”

In an unusual turn of events, Raul had silenced Cyril with a logical argument.

Seizing this opportunity, Raul quickly pushed Cyril through the door marked “Authorized Personnel Only.” Once they had escaped and closed the door, Raul put on his usual carefree smile.

“Dang, I thought it would be fine since I wasn’t wearing my robe today… but I guess they caught me. Sorry about that, Cyril.”

“…You’re not the one who should be apologizing.”

Cyril clenched his fists and bit his lips, as if to vent the anger with no outlet.

Seeing this, Raul scratched his red hair and continued in a conversational tone.

“After my grandmas and Ray’s fiancé collapsed, I wanted to be able to help them… That’s why I used the Rose Fortress to protect the capital from dragons… at full power.”

The capital had been attacked by wyverns, earth dragons, and fire dragons at the same time. However, Raul invoked the Rose Fortress to prevent their invasion and keep casualties to a minimum.

Though the incident left several people injured, there were zero deaths. Considering the number of dragons, there could have easily been hundreds or even thousands of casualties. This outcome was practically a miracle.

(Raul performed a historic feat. One worthy of celebration and praise.)

And yet, the citizens of the capital were not grateful. They feared the Thorn Witch, and the legendary Rose Fortress once wielded by history’s greatest evil.

“I’m borrowing the First Thorn Witch’s power, which is, well, pretty scary. It can’t be helped.”

“It can be helped!” Cyril shouted, letting out his rage.

Evaluation should always be fair and just. Cyril could not tolerate the fact that someone deserving of proper recognition was being whispered about behind his back.

“You have performed your duty as a Sage! Your efforts should be rightfully acknowledged!”

Raul stared at Cyril with his eyes wide.

Meanwhile, two weasels popped their heads out from Cyril’s jacket collar.

“It’s the usual Cyril.”

“The usual Cyril, indeed.”

“…Like I keep asking you, what does that even mean?” Cyril interjected.

They wouldn’t bump into anyone past this point, so there was no need for Thule and Pikeh to continue hiding.

Cyril placed the weasels onto his shoulders, then turned back to the stunned Raul and continued.

“It was unacceptable for a Library Society official like me to raise my voice in the library, and I regret doing so. However, I have no intention of retracting my words.”

Upon hearing those words, Raul’s face broke down into a crinkled smile, ruining the beautiful features he had inherited from the First Thorn Witch.

“Haha, hehe, ehehe… heh…”

“…What’s so funny?”

“Nothing really, ehehehehe…”

Cyril furrowed his brow and scowled at Raul.

“How long are you going to just stand there and laugh? In case you forgot, we have important business in the Forbidden Archives!”

Cyril picked up one of the lanterns hanging on the wall, then walked off at a brisk pace.

Raul also took a lantern in hand, following after Cyril while muttering to himself.

“If Monica were here, she’d probably say, ‘It’s the usual Cyril-sama.’”

Hearing that caused Cyril to almost drop the lantern, but he quickly caught it with his other hand. In the meantime, Raul had caught up.

“Alright, Cyril, let’s go,” Raul said, walking alongside him.

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