Eugene stood there for a few moments, reading Sienna’s research journal. When it felt like his head was about to start spinning, he closed the book and looked around. It felt like there were about a hundred volumes of books stored here.
After glancing over all of them, Eugene opened his mouth and asked, “Aren’t there any of Sienna’s personal notes? Ones that don’t talk about magic.”
“There aren’t any,” Mer stated. “Right before going into seclusion, Lady Sienna erased all the personal notes that she had left in her mansion.”
“Looks like she was really thorough in covering her tracks.”
“That just shows how much she didn’t want anyone to know where she was going for her seclusion.”
“And what’s your opinion on that?” Eugene asked as he returned the research journal to the bookshelf he had pulled it out of. “There’s a lot of talk about where Lady Sienna might have gone into seclusion. Some say that she went to Helmuth, others say that she went to the Samar Forest… and a few even say that she was assassinated by the black wizards.”
“I believe that she went to Samar Forest,” Mer replied with a shrug. “Although many people think she might have gone to Helmuth, from what I recall, Lady Sienna wasn’t the type who would dare to do something so reckless and impossible. Of course… right up until Lady Sienna went into seclusion, she was the most beautiful and strongest person I know. However, to challenge Helmuth’s Demon Kings all by herself, Lady Sienna wasn’t someone who would do something like that.”
“I also agree with that,” Eugene nodded along.
“For the black wizards to have assassinated Sienna is also unthinkable. Although at the moment, powerful black wizards like Balzac Ludbeth can be found in Aroth, two hundred years ago, the black wizards who lived in Aroth were all insignificant and weak,” Mer sneered dismissively.
“But black wizards from Helmuth could have snuck in to assassinate Lady Sienna,” Eugen said, playing the devil’s advocate.
“Ha! That’s even more unthinkable. Sir Eugene, just think about it. Lady Sienna’s magical barrier was even able to block the black magic cast by the Demon King of Fury,” Mer shouted in agitation.
‘Although it wasn’t able to block Belial’s black magic,’ Eugene silently noted.
In terms of their magic levels alone, Belial the lich’s level was actually greater than that of the Demon King of Fury. Though that didn’t mean that Belial was stronger than the Demon King of Fury.
Mer continued her tirade, “If, just if, the black wizards of Helmuth had really snuck in to assassinate Lady Sienna, there is no way they could have taken down Lady Sienna so quietly. There would have to have been enough surges of mana to shake the entire capital city of Pentagon to its foundations. However, no such disaster happened when Lady Sienna went into seclusion! That means that Lady Sienna must have gone into seclusion of her own will and could not have been murdered by anyone.”
Without calming down in the slightest, Mer continued to glare at Eugene. Mer refused to accept even the slightest possibility that her creator, whom she loved and respected, could be murdered by someone like a black wizard.
“Lady Sienna must definitely still be in Samar Forest,” Mer insisted. “Although I don’t know where exactly the elven holy glade is within that vast forest, Lady Sienna is definitely… definitely….”
Unable to finish her words, Mer drifted off into mumbles. Two hundred years was a really long time. If you were an ordinary human, you would definitely pass away during that time. Even Vermouth couldn’t break free of the natural limits of his lifespan.
“…She has to just be comfortably… resting her eyes somewhere. Although… I’m not sure if she’s still alive,” Mer reluctantly admitted.
“I believe that she’s alive,” Eugene suddenly declared.
Mer’s slumped shoulders were bothering him. Although he wanted to pat her on the back, remembering Mer’s stern warning from earlier, Eugene kept himself from reaching out unwantedly.
Unsure how to continue, Eugene hesitated, “That’s… the Brave Sir Molon was also still vigorously living it up just one hundred years ago. So Lady Sienna should still be alive. She’s probably just stopped her aging with magic or something like that.”
“….It looks like Sir Eugene really does like Lady Sienna a whole lot?” accused Mer.
“You can’t really call it liking her.”
“Liar. You don’t know what kind of expression you were making, do you, Sir Eugene?”
Mer lifted up her drooping shoulders and looked up at Eugene.
“Every time I tell a story about Lady Sienna, your eyes twinkle brightly, and whenever you see something that belonged to Lady Sienna, you become extremely immersed in its history,” Mer listed the evidence.
“I’ve always had a liking for old stories,” Eugene protested.
“Is that so? Then you should like that book as well.”
With a grin, Mer headed to a corner of a bookshelf. She took out a book, whose cover had been faded by the traces of time. .𝘤𝘰𝑚
She read its title, “The Great Adventures of the Hero Vermouth.”
Eugene’s cheeks had started twitching from the moment he saw it.
“It’s a famous fairy tale, isn’t it?” Mer proudly held it up. “Since Lady Sienna and her other companions were always reluctant to talk about what happened in Helmuth, this fairy tale is actually the first book to tell the world about the legends of the Great Vermouth.”
“…It’s a damned book, is what it is,” Eugene grumbled.
“Huh? Why would you call it a damned book?” Mer asked, looking puzzled.
“I mean, the truth is that I actually like Sir Hamel the most, and I respect and admire him,” Eugene struggled to hide his embarrassment. “But in that fairy tale, Sir Hamel is really, really made out to look like such an idiot.”
“But Lady Sienna also called Hamel stupid, a son of a bitch, a fool, and a motherfucker?”
“No, he wasn’t really like that. Sir Hamel wasn’t stupid, a son of a bitch, a fool, or a motherfucker either. Instead, he was pretty nice and brave, and uh… um…. In any case, he was a great person.”
Why did he have to be the one to say such things? As Eugene felt a deep sense of shame, he sighed heavily.
“I’m afraid that Sir Eugene must have quite the weird personality. Usually, there wouldn’t be anyone who likes Hamel after reading this fairy tale, right?” Mer expressed her concerns.
“Sorry, but apart from me, our Patriarch also said that he happens to like Hamel the best,” Eugene defended himself.
Mer argued, “That just means that your Patriarch is also a bit of a strange person.”
“Are you really cursing my adoptive father right now?” Eugene became aggressive in the face of his losing argument.
“I’m just saying he’s a bit strange, so how is that cursing him? In any case, Sir Eugene, if you really do like old stories, then you should have read this book as well.”
“It wouldn’t be a lie to say that I read that book more than a hundred times while I was still young.”
“That might be the case, but this book is the first edition. It’s different from the revised version that is spread throughout the world right now. You might not be aware of this, Sir Eugene, but this fairy tale was actually first published in Aroth three hundred years ago.”
“Then who’s the bastard responsible for publishing it?”
“How would I know? After all, the author of this book is anonymous… He was probably a bard from long ago, no?”
How could the author have been a bard? Eugene snorted and shook his head. While he was wandering around the continent in his previous life, he had met quite a few bards, but he had never once encountered a bard in Helmuth.
“Or else, well, he might just be a novelist who gathered and connected all the rumors surrounding Helmuth. Although I don’t know why he didn’t leave his name on it.” As Mer waved the fairy tale book around, she continued speaking, “Lady Sienna also liked this fairy tale. Even though she wasn’t someone who often smiled, sometimes at night, when she couldn’t sleep… she used to smile briefly while reading this book alone in her bedroom. I know because she read it to me as well.”
“…Did you say that the contents of the first edition are a bit different from the modern versions?” Eugene asked.
“Ummm…. It’s also been a while since I last read the latest revised version, so I can’t be sure that it’s exactly the same as the one you read…. But as the first to come out, the first edition is… a little more… how should I put it… it’s a little crude.”
“…Crude?”
“There’s a lot of cursing. The anecdotes about Vermouth and his comrades are also slightly different…. Should I say that they’re a bit more pessimistic?”
“Let me have a look.”
Eugene quickly walked over and took hold of the fairy tale book. It might be because the book was from three hundred years ago, but the pages seemed really worn out. That was probably a sign of how many times it was read over and over again.
[Hamel was an asshole. Although that asshole fought so excitedly with Vermouth upon their first meeting, he couldn’t even touch Vermouth’s collar, and his face was thrown into the ground so hard that he cried.]
“This son of a bitch,” Eugene’s face contorted as he cursed.
Mer had said that it was crude and full of curses, and it really was. The version of the fairy tale that Eugene had read said that Hamel was an idiot, but at least it didn’t call him an asshole like this one.
‘Could the bastard who wrote this have been Anise?’ he wondered.
Recalling Anise, whose eyes were always stuck in a cheerful smile, Eugene ground his teeth angrily. Although he considered comparing the handwriting to Anise’s, the fairy tale book seemed to have been made by magic or using a printing press, so the writing was neat and mechanical.
‘It’s true that I was thrown into the ground face first, but I did at least manage to brush his collar. Vermouth even said that he shed a drop of blood because of me. And crying because my face was smashed? Where does this person get off with spouting such bullshit?’
As he tried to cool the boiling rage inside, Eugene placed the fairy tale back onto the bookshelf.
After he had gotten a hold of himself, Eugene asked, “…What’s on the fourteenth floor?”
“The thirteenth floor is for research journals, so the fourteenth floor has the magic books that organize and connect all this research together. Although those will still be difficult for Sir Eugene to read, they’ll still be easier to handle than these research journals. Because the explanations are a lot clearer,” Mer eagerly recommended them.
“But aren’t they still a lot worse than Witch Craft?” Eugene questioned why he should even bother with them.
“Heheh…,” Mer snickered, her cheeks twitching as she tried to avoid sneering. “Of course, they’re a lot worse. But this… rather than trying to explain with words, it’ll be better if you try to read Witch Craft yourself. Well, to put it simply, let me explain the difference between the two. Witch Craft is harder to understand than it is to read, but as for the magic books on the fourteenth floor… if you can read them, you can at least understand them slightly. Although it might be unreasonable to expect that much from you, Sir Eugene.”
Turning around, Mer headed towards the elevator.
“For now, why don’t we go up to the fourteenth floor,” Mer suggested. “You would probably prefer that floor to this one.”
“Why so?” Eugene asked cautiously.
“Because you said that you like old stories, right? And that you like Stupid Hamel as well.”
Although Eugene couldn’t comprehend these words, when they arrived on the fourteenth floor, he immediately understood what Mer had meant by that.
“Take a look,” Mer giggled as she waved her hand forward. “Those are the personal memories that Lady Sienna extracted for her own recollections. Those aren’t just simply portraits, but are the real versions of Lady Sienna’s comrades as she remembered them.”
Within the walls of the fourteenth floor, the figures of four people were clearly reflected.
“Over there, the handsome man standing in the center is the Great Vermouth,” Mer eagerly pointed him out.
Vermouth looked exactly as he did in Eugene’s memories.
“Beside him, the blonde woman whose eyes are smiling so much that it’s impossible to see her pupils — that’s Faithful Anise.”
The saintess, who carried around bottles of wine while calling them holy water.
“The macho causing you confusion about whether he’s a troll or a human is the Brave Molon.”
Even though his body was already so big, he was always carrying around an ax that was even bigger than his own body, and he was a fool who kept causing problems in every fight.
“And over there, the man who looks like he has a bad personality, with a frown on his face, is Stupid Hamel. This is the one and only sole record of Hamel’s appearance. You can only find his face here, in Lady Sienna’s Hall.”
At that moment, Eugene couldn’t find any words.
Hamel, who had died in Helmuth, hadn’t left behind even a single portrait for the world to see.
“….Puhahaha,” as he continued to look at this appearance from his previous life, Eugene eventually burst into laughter. “If you were going to leave something like this behind, wouldn’t it have been better with a smile on his face?”
As Eugene chuckled, he shook his head.
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