Published: February 1, 2026
In the center of a room that was both vast and cramped from the sheer number of books overflowing within it, the only round space without a bookshelf bulged as a lump of cloth wriggled faintly.
Broad swathes of fabric, embroidered in the unique Astarnia style, were layered over and over, completely hiding the person inside. Now and then, a brown arm adorned with gold ornaments slipped out from the folds, proving that someone was indeed within.
“See, I knew it—you really did clear it.”
If one wanted to learn about the party that brought the orichalcum shark into the harbor, it was simple.
Even without doing anything special, they were the sort of party that naturally drew attention. And this time, they had leisurely shown up at the harbor right as the disassembly of the orichalcum shark was finished. There was no way they wouldn’t stand out. Rumor had it that they themselves had no such intention, and were merely behaving as usual, so they weren’t show-offs—but it also didn’t seem like they were trying to hide.
Those very people, who had treated it as natural that the long-unconquered “Mermaid Princess’s Cave” remained incomplete, had now cleared it—and the city was in an uproar. It sounded less like confusion and more like a festival.
“Thanks to that, information keeps coming in, though.”
For him, rumor-level information was enough.
No matter how much one tried to dig, information about people of that sort would never come out easily anyway. He had no interest in detailed personal data. He cared about one single point: whether they had actually managed to decipher the ancient language.
If someone had mastered the ancient language, he would take keen interest in them. If they hadn’t, all his interest would vanish. For a man like him, that was the only thing that mattered. Which was exactly why there were parts he couldn’t make sense of.
“Why didn’t they announce the completion themselves, I wonder.”
It had only become widely known because a guild staff member had finally noticed the record; that was anything but typical adventurer behavior. Then again, simply being able to understand the ancient language was already un-adventurer-like to begin with.
Perhaps they had someone else help with the mechanism on the deepest floor and felt guilty about it—he thought that far and then gave a small shake of his head. From what he’d heard, it sounded far more believable that they had simply thought “eh, whatever” than that they had bothered with such tricks.
Which only made them even harder to read.
“Probably not the beastman, not the swordsman, but the other one.”
The one who had solved the ancient script was most likely that rumored man who “doesn’t seem like an adventurer at all.”
He was said to carry an air of intellect, to buy a large number of books, and to be seen reading outside. With those rumors, there could be no mistake. A true book-lover should be interested in this archive, which boasted one of the largest collections in the country. And if he could read the ancient language himself, then he should be aware that there was someone here who also knew it—yet he had made not the slightest move to approach.
They studied the same field; they should want to meet and talk. For an adventurer, this would be a chance to connect with the royal family. He wasn’t trying to be full of himself, but… wasn’t that the normal way to think?
“But if I sent for him, I get the feeling he’d just refuse.”
A soft “ufufu” laugh drifted out from under the cloth, accompanied by the sound of pages turning.
He wanted to enjoy this situation a little longer. After all, unravelling the unknown was the true calling of a scholar.
Faced with someone who refused to move as he expected, he resumed thinking: what could he do to bring that man within the range of his predictions?
Lizel strolled leisurely through the city alone.
Yesterday, after returning to the guild at the end of the request, he’d been bombarded with questions about the completion of the labyrinth by the guild staff. They’d just come back from a labyrinth, and Gill had looked unusually tired, so they’d agreed to come again another day. That “another day” was today, and he was now heading back.