[V15C6] Eyes of Black

“After the weight of the main melody, the following verse responds to the initial call with a delicate yet buoyant tone, beautifully capturing the charm of a girl responding to her lover’s call. The technique of repeating the same melody with slight shifts is something often heard in modern music as well, but the way it adds a sense of lightness to the weighty nature of classical music is truly exquisite. Moreover…”

After finishing the seal repairs and cleaning in the Deepest Forbidden Section, Cyril said, “Give me a moment,” and began reading aloud a paper he pulled from his pocket.

Monica listened from the edge of the room, tightly gripping the handle of her broom while confronting the emotions welling up inside her.

(Did I just think that the Lorelei was unfair…?)

How could she be so mean?

The Lorelei hadn’t done anything wrong. She simply performed a wonderful song and asked for feedback.

In response, Cyril shared his sincere thoughts on the song.

(It must be because Lorelei can sing while I can’t… So I got jealous of her…)

After touching the murky feelings in her chest, Monica understood.

Her true feeling was “I wish I could do that too.” It was jealousy, plain and simple.

The flood of emotions from back when she heard about Cyril’s engagement had been the same thing.

(Jealousy is bad. But how do you deal with it when it doesn’t go away…? Maybe everyone else is holding it back too.)

Though a bit late, Monica realized that she had been indifferent not only to others but also to herself. That’s why she sometimes needed time to understand her own emotions.

And how could someone who didn’t understand their own emotions possibly understand someone else’s?

(It’s not good to unleash these kinds of emotions at others. But it’s also bad to look away and pretend they don’t exist.)

Monica accepted the fact that she was feeling jealous, and with a grunt, did her best to swallow it and push it down into the pit of her stomach.

Meanwhile, Raul looked at Monica with concern.

“Monica, are you okay? Does your stomach hurt or something?”

“Ah…! No, I’m fine, really!”

During this exchange, Cyril had finished reading his essay.

Lorelei looked pleased inside her glass case.

—— “Very well. Put it in the usual place.”

“Got it.”

Cyril opened the drawer on the bookstand and placed his essay inside.

Monica almost blurted out “I wish I could get one too,” but quickly gulped the words down.

＊　＊　＊

After leaving the Deepest Forbidden Section, the three headed to the Fifth Forbidden Section.

They climbed the stairs in the same order, Cyril in the lead with Monica and Raul following behind him.

“Come to think of it…” Raul murmured from his position in the back. “We visited the Forbidden Archives every day during the Gluttonous Zoe incident, but we never entered the Fifth Section, did we?”

“Well, that is only natural, given the nature of the Fifth Section.”

Sophocles glowed on Cyril’s hand as he explained.

“The Fifth Section is for tomes containing spaces sealed with Old Era magic. Each book is a labyrinth in its own right, which is why some call it the Archive of Labyrinths… If you accidentally break the seal on one, you’ll find yourself trapped inside.”

“Urgh… The seals must be really complicated then. Um, Monica, how different are the seals for the Fifth Section?”

Monica recalled what she had read about the seals used in the Fifth Forbidden Section.

“There is one seal covering the entire room, three on the bookshelf, and one for each of the twelve tomes. Also, portions of the formula have slight variations for each room…”

“Eep…”

Raul let out an uncharacteristically weak groan and put a hand on his forehead.

Cyril, who had been walking ahead, slowed his pace a little to ask Monica and Raul a question.

“Have you managed to teach Raul anything about barriers?”

“Uh, well, that’s…”

As Monica stumbled over her words, Raul put on a lifeless smile, a rare look for him. His green eyes stared vacantly into space.

“Imagine you lay out a bunch of ingredients on a table, right? Then the next moment, the food’s already cooked. You’re staring at the finished dish and thinking, ‘Huh?’ then the second and third dishes come out… It was just kinda done before I realized it…”

Apparently, Raul was referring to Monica’s earlier work on repairing the seals.

Cyril stood in silence as the ring on his finger blinked slowly.

Monica realized that this was Sophocles’s equivalent of a cold glare.

“Girl. His response is the normal reaction.”

“I-I-I’m so sorry… I’ll, um, do it slower next time…”

Monica intended to explain every step of the process, but it seemed her eagerness to finish quickly had gotten the better of her.

Her lack of control over her emotions led to her doing Raul a disservice. This was something she needed to reflect on.

“…That’s a little surprising,” Cyril muttered quietly.

What exactly did he mean by surprising? Monica and Raul tilted their heads in confusion.

“Sorry,” Cyril said, looking a bit uncomfortable. “I was just thinking that the usual Raul would say something like, ‘I didn’t get it at all!’ and laugh it off…”

Now that he mentioned it, Raul was acting unusually modest today.

He showed a real effort to learn from Monica and looked discouraged when he couldn’t.

Monica quivered her lips in realization.

(T-This is my fault for being a bad teacher…!)

Meanwhile, Raul ruffled his red curls.

His usual cheerful smile and relaxed grin were gone. What remained was the conflicted expression of a young man facing his troubles.

“I guess I’ve never actually been serious until now. This is the first time I’ve gotten frustrated after failing at magic.”

Monica knew why Raul avoided learning magic other than plant manipulation. Because he would be feared if his immense mana capacity could be used for offensive spells.

Louis had contorted his face in displeasure when he heard that.

But it seems the Gluttonous Zoe incident had changed Raul’s mind.

“After I started taking things seriously,” Raul continued. “I’ve gotten frustrated at my constant failures. So this is how other people feel all the time.”

Raul felt discouraged, yes, but that wasn’t all. He was someone who could swallow that frustration and keep moving forward.

Even now, he climbed the staircase with firm and resolute steps.

Raul put on a bright grin and looked up at Monica and Cyril.

“So basically, Cyril, I think you’re amazing for taking everything seriously and overcoming your constant failures!”

Monica was at a loss for words.

She understood what he meant. She really did. But his wording was sorely lacking.

He made it sound like Cyril failed at everything he did.

Sure enough, Cyril paused to turn and scowl at Raul. The light of the lantern cast a shadow on his face, making him look scarier than usual.

“…Was that supposed to be a compliment?”

“Yeah! I seriously respect you!”

As Monica stared at Cyril’s scary face in surprise, he suddenly turned around and resumed climbing the stairs.

Monica watched his back and thought to herself with quiet fondness… It’s the usual Cyril-sama.

＊　＊　＊

The Fifth Forbidden Section was a small room, not much bigger than the Deepest Forbidden Section.

A large shelf stood right in front of the entrance. But rather than a bookshelf, it looked more like a display case for showcasing collectibles.

The upper half had glass doors like a collector’s cabinet, and the bottom half was a few wooden cabinets.

On the other side of the glass were the twelve forbidden tomes, propped up diagonally. Perhaps this was to display their elaborately designed covers.

Even the shelf itself was decorated with beautiful carvings, in particular, the goddess motif carved into the overhang at the top was magnificent.

“Doesn’t really feel like the Forbidden Archives in here,” Raul commented in a casual tone.

The cover of each book was adorned with borders of gold or silver, as well as intricate illustrations. However, it was actually rare for ancient books to have such decorated covers.

—— “These are stories that have reached their end.”

—— “Stories that have been closed and shut.”

—— “Shall we play again, together?”

The monsters sealed within the forbidden tomes began their whispers. They were as light as a song, but also icy cold.

—— “Let us begin. Let us begin. Start with ‘Doll Certification’.”

—— “Don’t you want to hear ‘The Legend of the Crystal Dragon’?”

—— “‘Rain, Rain‘… Have you resolved yourself to make the world your enemy?”

“Sorry,” Cyril interjected. “But we’re not here to read today. Our job is to inspect the seals and do a quick clean up. Could you keep it down?”

After rejecting the whispers of the monsters, Cyril picked up his duster.

His intention was to dust off the shelf, but he quickly frowned once he approached it.

The shelf was quite tall, so he could not reach the top no matter how far he stretched his arm. In addition, there was nothing in the room to serve as a step stool.

Noticing this, Raul made a suggestion.

“How about I lift Monica up? She’d probably be able to reach, right?”

This sounded like a sensible plan. Monica could easily dust the top of the shelf if Raul lifted her.

Monica agreed and took up her duster.

“Um, okay Raul-sama, if you would please…”

“…Wait! Absolutely not!”

Until Cyril suddenly interrupted.

Startled by the volume of his voice, Monica and Raul turned to Cyril with wide eyes.

“Why not?” Raul asked with genuine confusion.

“Because… lifting a lady so carelessly is just… improper…”

“Then how about I lift you instead, Cyril?”

“…”

Cyril fell silent, his face contorted in extreme dissatisfaction.

Seeing this, Raul turned to Monica again.

“Fine. Lend me the duster, Monica.”

“O-Okay, here you go.”

Monica handed the duster to Raul, wondering what he was going to do with it.

Since lifting Monica or Cyril was no good, were they going to have to lift Raul up instead? Would her feeble arms even be of any help there?

Meanwhile, Raul clutched the duster and approached the bookshelf.

“Watch this. I’ll just jump and… there!”

Raul jumped up and performed a quick sweep on the top of the bookshelf.

However, the tip of the duster went too far and struck the intricate goddess carving jutting over the bookshelf. The head of the goddess came tumbling off.

“…Huh?”

“Wha-…!?”

“Wah…!”

After landing on the ground, Raul quickly stretched out his arms to catch the goddess’s head. Cyril, too, reached for the falling head.

Monica, acting on instinct, used chantless magic to summon a gust of wind, hoping to cushion the fall.

The result was tragic. The head, Raul, Cyril, and the mass of wind all collided with each other.

The wind caused Cyril to lose his footing, falling forward and slamming his head into Raul’s nose. Raul fell on his butt with a bloody nose, and Cyril collapsed unconscious, eyes rolled back into his head.

Monica rushed over to them in tears.

“Cyril-sama! Raul-sama! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

“I’m fine! But Cyril is…”

As Raul turned around, a drop of his nosebleed fell onto the goddess’s head, which now lay on the floor.

—— “The goddess has tasted blood.”

This voice did not come from a book, but from the bookshelf itself.

It was like the starting signal. All of the forbidden tomes began to stir.

—— “Come, come, to the bottom of the sea.”

—— “Come, come, to the rainy town.”

—— “Come, come, to the collection room.”

As if in response to the murmuring tomes, the bookshelf began to sing as well.

—— “No, no. The goddess has tasted the blood of the witch… For that, only one tale is suitable…”

From the hand of the unconscious Cyril, Sophocles cried out, “No! Everyone, get out of this room immediately!”

Raul and Monica grabbed Cyril and attempted to carry him out.

But the bookshelf was faster.

—— “The Botanical Specimen Garden.”

Everything went black.

In the pitch-black world, Monica heard only the voice of a young boy.

“Welcome back, Great Witch.”

＊　＊　＊

Monica found herself in a world made entirely of black.

Her head felt like the time she wrote a thesis for three consecutive days without sleep, both sharply alert and incredibly dull at the same time.

Her strangely heightened senses detected the flow of mana, weaving into a beautiful and intricate form: the shape of leaf.

Tendrils of green spread out from that leaf, slowly adding color to the rest of the world.

“W-Where… am I…?”

Monica croaked out in a hoarse voice and turned her head.

It was a forest. Trees to the right, to the left, even overhead. Everything was covered by their leaves, making it into a deep, deep green.

Monica was sitting on the ground of the forest.

She saw Raul sitting a short distance away, with Cyril collapsed in between them.

It seemed Raul’s nosebleed was already dried, as he scratched it off before looking at Monica. Then, he suddenly shouted.

“Monica! Behind you!”

“Huh… Eh!?”

The vines wrapped around a nearby tree suddenly surged toward them.

Monica tried to cast a defensive barrier with her usual chantless magic, but it didn’t work. There was a strange sensation blocking her magic, as if her body were coated in an invisible film of oil. For some reason, her mana refused to leave her body.

(W-Why…!?)

The vines crept closer to Monica’s feet.

In a panic, Monica tried to get up and flee, until her usual clumsiness kicked in. She twisted her ankle and fell back to the ground.

“Pugya!?”

Even so, Monica did her best to lift her upper body and crawl away… when someone stepped up to defend her.

A slender man with silver hair tied behind his head… Cyril. He put his right hand forward, forming the defensive barrier of Sophocles to protect Monica and Raul.

The vines slammed at the barrier for a while, before eventually giving up. They retreated back into the forest.

“Cyril-sama…”

Monica wanted to say “Thank you for saving me” or “Are you hurt?” But since she couldn’t decide which, she ended up trailing off at his name.

Cyril turned around and looked down at Monica with obsidian-black eyes. He lifted the corner of his mouth and laughed.

“Heh… Hahaha… Fwahahahahaha!”

“C-Cyril-sama?”

The man standing before her was Cyril Ashley. His height, shoulder width, finger length, shoe size, even the shape of his ears—everything matched Cyril.

But the eyes looking down at her were no longer a beautiful jewel-like blue.

As Monica went frozen in confusion, Cyril put on a crude smirk.

“I suppose I have no choice but to protect you youngsters this time! You had better be grateful!”

Both Monica and Raul contorted their faces into their most miserable expressions yet.

This is the exact situation Claudia was worried about in Gaiden V8C7.

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