"So if you need anything, call me."
Mason guided her there and left.
As she opened the door and entered, the view of a large room with the walls completely covered with bookshelves unfolded before her.
The library was spacious and quiet, and at first glance seemed clean, but if you looked closely, there were unordered books here and there.
Since only Herdin used this library, it would be the books he was reading.
Blair, amazed by this unexpected aspect, looked around the library and found the shelf where the history books of each country were gathered.
There were the books I was looking for.
Normally, the classification of the books is indicated in the center of the shelves, but there was nothing written on this one.
That's why she found it even more curious.
There were piles of books written in an unknown language.
Blair immediately recognized what language it was.
—Ancient language?
Books written in ancient languages are usually grimoires.
That meant that all the books on this shelf were grimoires.
Suddenly, he remembered his image at the New Year's ceremony.
The image of wielding the sword and magic at the same time.
Those who are chosen by mana from birth learn magic through grimoires and become true magicians.
Herdin was both a swordsman and a wizard, so he too would have studied grimoires like any wizard.
He suddenly became aware of the fact that he was the only magic swordsman in the Empire with overwhelming power.
At the same time, he became interested in the grimoires before him.
Because suddenly a childhood dream came to mind.
As a child, before she knew that not everyone could be a magician, Blair wanted to be a magician.
Because she thought that if she were a magician she could fulfill any wish that was physically impossible.
So once he dedicated himself to reading the grimoires in the library of the Imperial Palace.
Because she believed that if she learned the grimoires she could be a magician, translating with a dictionary the ancient language that she couldn't even understand.
Although in the end she did not become a magician, thanks to that she was able to learn to interpret the difficult ancient language a little.
Blair, who was examining the bookshelf full of grimoires, found one that was on top of the other books.
It had been like this for so long that dust had accumulated on the cover.
Blair coughed, brushed off the dust, and examined the cover.
<∞>
Unlike normal books that usually have titles, there was only a small symbol drawn on the black cover.
It was the symbol of infinity.
What kind of magic will it be to have that cover?>Full of curiosity, she flipped the cover and the first page appeared.
As proof that it was a very old book, there was writing in the ancient language on the yellowed paper.
Blair, remembering his childhood, translated those characters.
—Magic of… time.
What kind of magic would be time magic?
Although she managed to read the title of that grimoire, she felt even more confused.
-Lady.
He heard Rina's voice along with a knock on the door.
Blair closed the book she was reading.
—Come in.
As soon as Blair gave her permission, Rina entered the library.
With a solemn expression, as if he had an important mission, he approached Blair and handed her a letter.
—It's a letter from the guild.
It was the news I was waiting for.
Blair put down the book she was holding and unfolded the letter.
The letter, so that no one else could see it in case it was intercepted, omitted the information of the sender and recipient, and only briefly contained the message to be transmitted.
⌜I have found out the origin of the phrase that he ordered me to investigate at the time.
That phrase is…⌟
Blair's eyes, as she continued reading the letter, began to shake uncontrollably.
—
—It's coming!
The knight's voice echoed in the silent winter forest.
At the same time, from afar, the earth began to roar and something was approaching.
There was something huge underground.
Herdin, with an icy gaze, observed what was rushing towards him, and stabbed the sword he was holding into the ground.
A magical circle of blue light unfolded around the sword.
He had changed the direction of the release of the freezing magic, not towards the surface but towards the underground.
Under the magic circle, a sharp ice that went deep into the earth pierced that which was approaching hidden beneath the ground.
Then, a magical monster shaped like a giant worm jumped to the surface.
-Now!
The knights who were hiding in the forest waiting, upon hearing the order of the Corps commander, fired their crossbows in unison.
The dozens of arrows stuck in the monster's body had ropes made of a thin and resistant wire attached to them.
The monster shook several knights to get rid of the ropes and hide underground again, but it was impossible to get rid of all of them.
The knights gritted their teeth to withstand the monster's strength.
—Ugh!
One of them could not resist the force of the monster and was thrown away.
The monster's mouth opened to swallow that knight.
The moment the knight was filled with fear, Herdin approached in the blink of an eye, caught the knight first and threw him into the forest.
In an instant he reached the head of the monster and quickly decapitated the worm.
There was no superfluous movement.
The monster, split in two, writhed and the head began to regenerate the body, and the body, the head.
Then, the shape of a sword made of light appeared in the air.
The sword of light stabbed into the monster's body like a downpour.
The knights looked with renewed admiration at the figure of Herdin fighting, although they had already seen it countless times.
Magic, because it requires a high degree of concentration, is difficult to use while moving.
For the same reason, two magics cannot be used at the same time.
But Herdin not only did not stop moving while using magic, but he also chained her.
Anyone who saw that could not help but recognize it.
That he had a power that far surpassed that of a human.
Herdin landed lightly and stabbed his sword into the monster's head on the ground.
When the core of the monster in the center shattered, both the body and head stopped moving.
The knights who saw that breathed a sigh of relief.
It was the end of the fight.
Herdin sheathed his sword and looked at his own palm.
He felt the mana inherent in his body move.
Since he had problems with mana management at the New Year ceremony, he had checked his status periodically, but had not found anything abnormal.
Even searching the grimoires, he did not find any cases of mana temporarily evaporating and then returning.
He could not reveal his unstable condition to anyone.
Because his weakness would be Delmarck's weakness.
So he had no choice but to monitor himself as much as possible and try to understand his own state.
…To be continued