Academy’s Genius Swordmaster - Chapter 91

[ 91. Shoot at Dawn (4) ]

#91

I didn’t think I would be that surprised if I ran into a dragon while taking a walk. The librarian, who was looking at the ring and Ronan alternately, grabbed his wrist and said.

“I know better than anyone. Follow me.”

“Hmm…?!”

Ronan’s eyes widened. The strength of his grip was unusual. The unbelievable grip power that came from her bracken-like hands almost reminded me of Marja.

The librarian dragged Ronan to a corner. Before long, she stopped in front of a built-in bookshelf and looked around.

After making sure no one was looking, the librarian pulled out a book titled [Secrets and Beliefs] from the shelf. Kugu Palace! The bookshelf was pushed aside to reveal a hidden space. Ronan laughed at the directing that seemed like he had seen it a lot.

“Damn, it’s fashionable to hide behind books these days.”

“Come on in. Who will see this?”

The librarian, who let go of his wrist, pushed Ronan’s back with both hands. It seemed to be pushed by something like a bison, not a human being. Darkness arrived as the bookshelf returned to its original position. A whispered voice echoed through the darkness.

“wait a minute.”

Soon, the surroundings brightened. A cluster of light the size of a fist floated above the librarian’s palm. As she blew on the wind, the halo of light scattered like dandelion spores and spread in all directions.

The secret space with all sorts of odds and ends gave off a warehouse-like feel. After confirming that the door was locked again, she approached Ronan with an impatient look on her face.

“I am not mistaken. Show me one more time.”

“I just ask you a few questions. Tell me who this ring is.”

Ronan shook his head. No one could be offended. The librarian took a deep breath and answered calmly.

“Sarante. I am Sarante Remation, the top mage of the Dawning Mage Tower.”

“librarian? top mage? Was that person from the Dawning Tower?”

“yes. He was the first top mage who couldn’t handle fire magic.”

“Huh, I didn’t know that… Then of course you know about the goddess Sarante believes in, right?”

“goddess? Uh…has the god you believe in now changed? You worshiped some stone until you were with me.”

Ronan shrugged his eyebrows. There seemed to be no point in further interrogation. He handed the ring to the librarian and said.

“Look at me slowly.”

“thank you.”

“Come to think of it, I haven’t even heard the name. It’s Ronan.”

“My name…Please call me Aire, because everyone calls her that.”

The librarian, who introduced herself as Airera, took the ring in. She looked at the ring with yearning eyes and opened her mouth, “…This is

really a Sarante ring. I always wear it on the ring finger of my left hand.”

“Come to think of it, what’s the relationship between the two of you? You speak like friends.”

Ronan tilted his head. It was one of the things he was curious about. Aire had been calling Sarante as if he were a friend, but she didn’t show the characteristics of a longevity race. She was short, but not the level of a dwarf, and she was not a dwarf

. It wasn’t even an elf because the protruding ears were normal. If so, is it a vampire? Ronan was deducing. Aire tilted his head. “Oh, it’s the first time you’ve come here, so you didn’t know. I’m a spirit.

”

“Yes? Spirit?”

“Yes. Few people know about her relationship with Sarante.”

Ronan was about to say what nonsense it was. All of a sudden, Aire’s body turned translucent and floated up in the air. She kept eye level with Ronan and continued, “I’m sorry. The space is so small that I can’t show you my real face

. I think that.”

“…enough.”

Ronan laughed. There was a reason why his strength was so strong. Aire’s translucent body was oozing with mana comparable to that of Aun Pillar. He asked again, “Why are you doing this here?

”

It was a fairly high-ranking spirit even at first glance. I couldn’t understand why a being who could do much greater things was staying in a place like this. After returning to normal, Aire said, “Sarante sealed me here

. On the condition that if you buy it and do the right thing, you will release it someday.”

“Seal? Not a contract?”

Ronan frowned. She averted her gaze in disdain, scratching her cheek,

“Ahaha…yes. How can I say it…I used to be a little… immature.”

Aire explained that he was caught by Sarante and sealed in the Dawning Mage Tower hundreds of years ago while running amok.At first, I wanted to destroy the library and everything, but as time passed, reading books was fun and the job suited my aptitude, so now I live with satisfaction. ‘What the hell are you

doing, old man?’

Ronan realized again that he didn’t know anything about Sarante. Sealing a spirit of this size wasn’t enough, so he bought it and made it work for him. Suddenly, Aire asked with a twinkle in her eyes, “So how is Sarante? The

priest You left the Tower of Dawn, saying you wanted to become one, but do you still worship that stone as a god?”

“ah.”

For a moment, Ronan was speechless. Apparently, she didn’t know what had happened to Sarante. After thinking for a moment, Ronan opened his mouth. “…Yes, I live

in the Baidian Mountains. That ugly stone is stuck in the middle of the temple. There is.”

“Ahaha, really. Can you tell me what happened with Sarante?”

Aire’s eyes twinkled. Ronan’s lips twitched at the sight reminiscent of a daughter asking after her dead father. He didn’t have the courage to

tell the truth. Judging from Aire’s attitude, it was not a contractual relationship, but Sarante. How can

you talk sober about a friend of at least hundreds of years split in half and turned to stone? Ronan shook his head, “Later. I’m in a hurry right now.

” ”

“Ah, that’s right. I’m sorry. What’s the matter with you? I’ll do my best to help.”

Sarante said that the last words he left were to help the person carrying his belongings. Ronan briefly explained how he had come this far. That he was cursed. It was different from normal curses, so he couldn’t do it in the usual way

. Impossible. Upon hearing his circumstances, Aire nodded,

“I see. You are cursed.”

“Yes. He said that if you show him his ring, he’ll get some helpful information. Do you know anything?”

“Umm…I don’t know much about curses, but I know where the books dealing with them are.”

Ayre explained that there are 289 books that deal with curses professionally. There are more than a thousand books that can only be pointed out as a side note. Ronan, who heard the terrifying number of people, spat out a curse

.

“It’s not normally possible, but I can bring you books that are only allowed for high-ranking mages. And you can enter all places except the Forbidden Books area.”

The existence of forbidden books was mentioned again. Aun Pillar told me to be careful, and seeing that they were managed separately, it seemed that they were quite dangerous books. Aire continued, “Don’t worry too much. Probably by the time you leave the Mage

Tower You will find the answer.”

“Please, I hope so. Please take good care of me.”

With those words, Ronan’s hardships began. The moment he left the secret space, he settled down in the most sunny place. Soon after, Aire flew in and piled books in front of him. “First, the most basic books

. .[Beginning of hatred] [100 list of evil curses]…”

“It’s not easy.”

“Tell me when you’ve finished reading. I’ll bring you a new one.”

It looked like this even though I only asked for books that could only be found in the Tower of Dawn, not anywhere else. Seeing the books piled up to eye level, I sighed. But I couldn’t beat them. I already had a lot of work to do, but when I arrived, I pulled out as much information as possible

. I had to go. Ronan, who had washed his face dry, picked up the book lying on top

.

****

So three days have passed. Since the shooting down of the airship ended in an attempt, nothing special has happened. The culprit has not yet been caught, and Phileon’s students, including Erzebet, are still staying in the Mage Tower.

Ronan All of her time, except for sleeping, eating, or going to the bathroom, was invested in researching data. Aire, who had flown into the air, put down the pile of books in front of Ronan again and said, “Have you read all the academic books written by Mandole?

”

“When Volume 3 is over.”

“Then there are two more books left.”

Aire flew away again. Ronan cursed at the paper wall rebuilt in front of him. Even when the book was closed, the writing seemed to be floating in front of his eyes. “Damn it…” Aire said he would do his best to

help

. It was true. She was literally constantly bringing books to help with healing.

Thanks to her, Ronan learned hundreds of curses and magic tricks. Suddenly, Asher woke up and saw goat horns growing on his head. Even if he came running crying, he was able to release the curse in one sitting, as long as he had the ingredients.

The problem was that the most important substance did not come out. There was no precedent comparable to the curse dwelling in his body. Suddenly,

in his inner pocket Ronan put his hand in and touched the metal case. Inside were the fire magic scrolls made by Aun Pillar

.

He was seized with the urge to set fire to the library dozens of times a day. Because there was no progress, his personality was becoming sensitive. Also, that was not the only

problem. As he was about to open the book again, he heard someone whispering from behind. Three wizards who looked to be in their late teens were pointing fingers at Ronan

.

“Be careful. The curse will spread.”

“Isn’t it going to explode again?”

Ronan sighed. It was a pity that he had no time to catch it. He turned his head and roamed with his red eyes

.

“Hee hee hee…!”

The frightened wizards ran away. I don’t know how many times this has happened. Just in time, Aire flew in with the other two books. Seeing Ronan groaning while holding his forehead with his index finger, she asked anxiously, “Why are you doing that

? “Where are you sick?”

“Damn, my brain hurts. Aire. I have a question.”

“yes?”

“What happened to the Mage Tower? Besides the almost dropping the airship.”

Ronan talked about the strange atmosphere he felt from the day he arrived at the Tower of Dawn. He was fed up with dealing with the whispering mages who roamed around like vultures eating corpses. After hearing his explanation, Aire nodded her head

. ..That’s right. There’s definitely an atmosphere like that. I think it’s because incidents, big and small, keep happening.”

“Big and small incidents?”

“Yes. Things like experiments that couldn’t fail… things like animals raised in the tower dying… people who were fine until yesterday suddenly disappearing.”

Suddenly, Ayre stretched out her arms in the air, and from downstairs, with a clatter, scraps of paper flew into her hand and Ronan accepted the bundle she handed her,

each with a detailed portrait of the person in question. Ayre said,

“This is the list of missing persons. There are already six of them.”

Ayre informed me that there had been a steady stream of missing people since a few months ago

. isn’t it?”

“I’d like to think so, but no one’s seen it.”

“There are all sorts of bizarre things.”

“Right. I think the fact that the tower lord is not coming back also plays a part.”

“The top lord won’t come back?”

Topju, who left for a training trip at the end of last year, had originally planned to return this spring. However, he did not return until midsummer, and Aun Pillar was still in charge of the assistant manager position. Aire said worriedly.

“Since he is such a strong person, nothing special will happen, and Aun Fila-sama is also doing a good job acting as an assistant manager… but since he doesn’t have a head, it’s unavoidable that his body feels uneasy.”

“What if the top owner doesn’t come back until the end?”

“yes? Hmm, I understand that if there is a continuous absence for a year, the wizard in charge becomes the owner of the tower.”

“Huh…”

Ronan touched his chin curiously. It was said that if the existing pagoda owner did not return by this winter, Aun Pillar would become the pagoda owner.

‘no way.’

Suddenly, a number of disturbing cases flashed through my mind. But he wasn’t sure, so Ronan decided to ask another question.

“What’s in the Forbidden Zone?”

“Literally, cursed books are sealed. It is a very dangerous place.”

“I guess I’ll have to look around there sooner or later. There is no progress at all.”

“never.”

Ayre said. The smile had disappeared from his always smiling face. She spoke with a straight face.

“Even if everything else is done, we can’t let you in as much as the Forbidden Zone. If there’s a reason I’m buying and working besides being sealed, it’s because I’m the only one who can manage those forbidden books.”

“Anyway, it’s a book. Do you even eat people?”

“yes. Eat it.”

She nodded firmly. Ronan’s face hardened. Aire continued before he could ask a question.

“Many of the powerful forbidden books are ego-infused. It seduces or manipulates the reader and eventually brings ruin. Besides… the book is sealed in the Dawn Tower. You know.”

“That book? Aha, that baju line or something.”

Aire muttered. Ronan was a book I found out about yesterday while researching the data.

Vajra of Destruction, one of the three books said to have been written by the devil. It was a rare forbidden book that once deceived the emperor and destroyed the country. If you read that explanation, you could understand why Aire was so strong. Ronan twitched his lips.

‘It’s not that I don’t understand.’

He was in no position to cover up the situation. If there was a clue to solve the curse in the forbidden book, he was willing to say baju and read it completely. In nine years, the world will be destroyed, but is that a taboo?

But even if I wanted to sneak in and read it, I couldn’t figure out where to go. Unless Aire cooperated, there was no way to enter the Forbidden Zone. After the conversation, Aire turned her back.

‘First of all… I guess I’ll have to read the rest of the books.’

Even if banned books were excluded, there were mountains of books to read. Besides, there were still a few days left to return to Phileon.

Ronan decided to do what he could before looking for a forbidden book. In fact, the best thing was to find clues in non-banned books. He sat back down and started reading.

.

.

.

“……ah.”

Ronan opened his eyes. It was dark all around. Moonlight was slanting through the windows scattered throughout the library.

“…you fell asleep.”

Ronan, who stretched all the way, smacked his lips. It seemed that he had fallen asleep. Waking up on the desk was getting used to it by now.

Seeing that Aire was nowhere to be seen, it must have been quite late at night. It didn’t matter anyway. Ronan, who pressed his eyelids to get rid of his drowsiness, picked up the book again.

-Beok…beok…

“Hmm?”

I could feel the presence down there. Ronan turned his head in the direction of the sound. A certain shadow was walking somewhere.

‘Did you come to do an overdue assignment?’

Ronan shrugged his eyebrows. It wasn’t unusual for a mage who was obsessed with research to wander around the library late at night. It was the moment he was about to infuse mana into the reading glowstone. As the shadow passed under the moonlight, a certain woman’s face was revealed.

“…uh?”

Ronan’s eyes widened. It was definitely someone I had seen on the list of missing people. Was it Parte, the 5th circle mage? I remember it being that name. Just in case, I looked at the leaflet again, but as expected, she was right.

‘It must be.’

After escaping from the moonlight curtain, she became a shadow again and entered the depths of the library. Ronan slowly got up.

‘Where are you going…?’

I couldn’t figure out why the person who had disappeared was wandering around here. But Ronan instinctively realized what he had to do.

He walked with his feet as relaxed as possible. Sabaksabak. The sound of footsteps, soft as if stepping on dust, followed her.