Chapter 175 - Episode Two - Reformation of f.a.ge Territory (2)

We descended the bas.e.m.e.nt staircase of Larks mansion, with Mea leading me down the bas.e.m.e.nt stairs, and arrived at the art warehouse or something like that.

Although it was now left open, the entrance door was thick, perhaps to prevent intruders.

The walls and ground were painted with a magic circle to prevent the deterioration of the artworks, and the magic stones that power the magic circle were placed there.

It was quite an authentic warehouse.

It must have cost a lot of money to build it.

There were several shelves with bags of what appeared to be antiques on them.

The walls are filled with paintings.

There was also a book that looked like an old magic book on the shelf.

For me, that is the one Im most interested in.

Lark and an unfamiliar old man were talking among the servants who were organizing them.

From the looks of Lark, he seems to have generally recovered from Marias shock, though not completely.

Maybe he just doesnt have the time to be pessimistic, though, since he has a lot of work to do.

The old man wears gla.s.ses with thick lenses, his nose is red and his waist is bent wide.

Hmm, as Ive said before, I can only do a really simple appraisal. Im sure Lark-samas grandfather, who bought them all, knew a lot more about them than I do.

Having said that, Im afraid I didnt talk to my grandfather much. Jozef can just give me a general idea of what to expect, Ill pick a few things and get another scholar from the city to appraise them.

I see, that old man Jozef was called in to be an appraiser.

As soon as Lark noticed me and Mea, he came over to me.

Oh, Abel-kun, you came. If you find something you like, you can take it with you.

No, that is a bit

He says something outrageous so easily.

The artworks that the n.o.bleman collects as a hobby must be quite expensive.

I dont think it is right to give them away so casually.

You dont have to be so reserved. Youre not just my lifesaver but a hero of the entire f.a.ge territory.

If you ask me that, is it so?

Ive been doing whatever I wanted to do, depending on my emotions, so I dont really feel like Im doing it at all, and in fact, it would be awkward or even kinda itchy if I were to be strangely thanked.

Then can I take a look at the magic book around there?

I wanted to talk with Lark about the future of the territory, but it looks like theres still some discussion left with Jozef.

Todays education of the Alchemy Division ended in the morning session anyway, so theres no need to hurry.

Let me take my time and look at things first.

Hm? Yeah, thats fine. But I dont think thats a priceless thing. I showed Icarus a couple of books once, and he snickered back at me.

That he simply couldnt read it

If its an old magic book, its not uncommon for the quirks and conventions of the times to be broken off.

It would take me a long time to decipher my own array of characters, especially if they were written for my students.

I picked up one of the magic books.

On the cover, it says Anorga Style Magic Formation Formula I in a rather old handwriting.

I flipped through the pages.

What do you think? Is it worth it?

Mea tries to look at the contents of the magic book from the side.

I decided to spread it out on an empty shelf so that Mea can see it easily.

From the habits of the array letters, its about a hundred years old. The magic circle mold also looks like something that was popular in that era. Im confident I can set up the magic formula more efficiently than the text describes.

Why are you a.s.suming that youre going to compete?

Theres a part of me thats curious, but it doesnt look like its worth writing down.

I close the book and put it back on the shelf.

Im starting to feel like I cant rely on Abels standards to a.s.sess at all.

Really? I was pretty confident in this area

It would be quicker if Abel wrote and sold a book on sorcery rather than scavenging through old books

I then took out two books from the shelf that I was curious about.

The t.i.tles were Golem Making Applications and Artificial Small Spirits.

I had never made a golem before, and the practical precautions were detailed, so it seemed useful.

The golem is a bit pricey, so I couldnt get my hands on it, but Im sure Lark will invest in it if I ask him.

The Artificial Small Spirit is also amazing.

Although the book is technically protected, its quite old, so theres some deterioration in places.

On top of that, the handwriting is very different from what we have now, so it may take some time to decipher it.

But its worth the time and effort to decipher it.

The manufacturing of spirits is a taboo subject within the Dinrat Kingdom, so Ive rarely heard of it.

Lark-sans grandfather had good taste, didnt he?

Is that an okay book? Mea have a bad feeling about this, though.

Lark-san, can I borrow this for a while? If we put this one up for sale, it will be a mess, and I dont think well be able to sell it easily.

As I thought, it was the bad type, isnt it!

Lark looked somewhat puzzled, but he gave me permission to take it out.

Mea was fidgeting anxiously.

After that, I continued to fish through this and that magic book.

I wasnt really interested in them at first, but I didnt expect to find those interesting-looking books lying around.

There might be something else I could find if I looked for it.

Oh, theres one over there that looks awesome!

Mea pointed to the slightly deeper part of the warehouse.

On a shelf where the servants were organizing it, there was a book so big and stupid that you could kill someone if you hit them with the spine.

Difficult? Expensive? Up? Is it a manual on demons?

I saw the cover of the book, but it was too old to understand what it said.

It must be over five hundred years old.

There may be a protection technique, but I am amazed that it has not lost its form as a book.

It must have been written on special paper.

As I stared at the words with my eyes, a string of letters suddenly interlocked in my head.

A high-level spirit chart!

In short, it is an old demon commentary.

Demons are not only highly dangerous, but they are often smart, and there is little time to observe them at leisure.

In addition, if they die, they lose the power to maintain their bodies and disperse as countless spirits, so if they are not protected, there will be no corpses left.

Therefore, in many cases, the books on demons are just a simple compilation of rumors, lore level stuff, and records of subjugation.

But if its that thick, it should be quite detailed.

Im very interested in it. If its not horsesh*t, it can be seen as something quite valuable.

Wait, let me see that one!

I couldnt help but run over and on the way came to myself and slow down.

If I ran here and knocked over an expensive piece of art, Id be in trouble.

Excuse me, this one is being sorted out right now

Im sorry. Let her through.

The servant almost held me back, but Lark was flexible.

I held my trembling hands and gently opened the cover of the book that had been knocked over on the shelf.

There are incomprehensible figures that dont make sense, ill.u.s.trations that look like oddly shaped monsters, and an incomprehensible string of letters that seem like horsesh*t at a quick glance that are too detailed.

I cant say that its definitely but if its just a prank, theres no way it would have been set up with such a robust protection scheme.

La, Lark-san this, this could I have this! If its money, I wish I could pay it back somehow over the course of a decade!

I said and bowed my head to Lark as quickly as I could.

Eh ah, ahhhhh, yeah I dont mind, but a-, anyway, raise your head up

Thank you!

I took the book down from the shelf and held it in my arms.

Oh.

As it was, defeated by the weight of the book, I flipped it over on the spot.

Reflexively, I knew I had to protect the book and held it on my stomach.

After hitting my back on the ground, the books gravitational acceleration gouged my lower abdomen.

Goof!?

The unexpected shock s.h.i.+fts my consciousness away from me.

Abelll! Abelll!

Mea rushed over to me in a big hurry.

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[Activity report] Two volumes worth of character roughs have been released!