Published: August 10, 2026
Just imagining Solange collapsed like Ferdinand had been in the supply room made my breathing turn rough and my whole body start trembling.
"I-I have to hurry to the library..."
When I turned back toward my guard knights, the guard knights who had heard Ferdinand's words with me all nodded. Their ability to act at once without panicking, even in the face of sudden developments, was very reassuring. Thinking that, I stepped toward Brother Cornelius.
"Wait. There are many things that must be decided first: who to leave here, who to take with us, and who to send ahead."
Ferdinand grabbed my arm and stopped me, and I turned back to glare at him.
"This is no time for leisurely discussion, Lord Ferdinand. I must go to the library at once and see to Teacher Solange's..."
"I understand that we do not have time to be leisurely. However, before rushing in blindly, we must share information and decide what to do with the prisoners we captured. Who has the key to this detached palace? It is not impossible that Gervasio and the others may return while we are on our way to the library."
They might be circling around the shrine. They might be in the library. They might even be taking part in the fighting at the royal palace and trying to eliminate the royal family.
Ferdinand said that everything about where Gervasio was and what he was doing was nothing more than speculation.
If we could obtain information from the prisoners about their objective and movements, we might be able to respond in advance. If we left too few people behind to guard this place, we might be defeated and the prisoners released. If they recovered the confiscated tools and armed themselves, we would be at a tremendous disadvantage. Ferdinand listed possibility after possibility.
"The reason we won so easily this time was that we launched a surprise attack in the middle of the night, when they were asleep and defenseless because they had overestimated the protection of the god of concealment, Fairburken, and we outnumbered them overwhelmingly, Dunkelfelger included. If we faced them after they had properly armed themselves, we do not know how it would have turned out. And now Dunkelfelger has also gone to the royal palace, so keep in mind that we cannot rely on them."
It seemed that, because I had not yet finished making the brooch needed to enter the dormitory as aub arensbach, we could not even move the prisoners or the tools to a safe place.
"Teacher Solange is necessary both for entering the library and for opening the door to the underground archive. That is precisely why she has not been contacted. She was probably not killed. Wait a little longer until I finish giving instructions."
"But what if waiting makes us too late!? There are many cases where even a tiny delay leads to irreparable consequences. Isn't it only natural that I would want to respond to Teacher Solange's danger as quickly as possible? Please, let me go by myself."
I pleaded desperately to Ferdinand, who still would not let go of my arm. I could not possibly stand there calmly and wait until all the arrangements were finished. Ferdinand looked at my guard knights with something like sympathy and said, "So you rushed into Arensbach with that same momentum?"
"If you truly cannot wait, then send a knight who has not offered you his name to check the situation. You alone must never go near the library until we have confirmed whether enemies are present."
"Why not?!"
I was the one who felt so strongly that I had to go, so why was I the only one forbidden to approach it? When I snapped at him, Ferdinand looked at me calmly and pinched my cheek.
"You are too excited. Calm down."
"There is only one reason why only you must not approach it. The magic tool in the library can sense the approach of its master, which is you. I am not sure what happens to those who have offered their names and are affected by your mana, but it seems safest to avoid it."
I blinked when I was told that if Schwarz and his group came out to welcome me with "Princess, come," any enemies in the library would notice our approach, making it highly likely that we would be ambushed or that Solange would be taken hostage.