Chapter 122 – Microwave Oven (12)

Puuuuu———

The 7th day of training ends.
Liv awoke to the faint sound of a tram horn coming from beyond the ceiling.
Proof that Ujet’s time is running out.
She began her last day by waking up her son, Luis, who would not take his hand off her lower abdomen even while she was sleeping.

“Boss, wake up.”
“Umm… “Baron?”
“Yes, the Baron.”

Since he is going to become a count soon, I wanted to change this title to a name.
But that’s not the case right now.
While he washed, Liv hand-knitted an imperial permission slip to enter the top-secret archives.
Clusters of blue light appeared in the geometric magic circle, and the parchment took shape as if a loom was moving.
Ink was smeared on the white paper and the imperial brand was stamped underneath.
Finally, she rolled up her paper and wrapped it with her silk string, and she was ready to go out.

“Let’s go now.”
“Yes. “What time?”
“There are probably two hours left. “It will take less than an hour for the library guards to check the authenticity of the permit with the imperial family and receive a response.”
“… “It’s too short.”

He dried his wet hair for a moment and was lost in thought.
The serious side Louis showed sometimes was so cool that Liv also kept her mouth shut.
She was unconsciously massaging her stomach as she was tapping her fingers, but when Lewis raised her head, she quickly put her hand away.

“The level 1 library is further inside than the level 2 library we were in, right?”
“Yes!? Yes that’s right. Of course, security is tight, so the two spaces are completely separated.”
“Then I will guard the outside. “You may discover that the permit was forged sooner than expected.”
“But then the boss…” …”
“You know I’m fine. And… “Because there are things you are looking for.”
“Ah.”

Come to think of it, Lewis was also diligently searching for the magic book in the library.
From what I remember——was it a microwave?
It was his first time hearing the word, but he knew archaic words that he didn’t even know, so there was nothing strange about it.

“All right. Then… “I’ll be back.”

In the end, Liv decided to go into the library alone.

***

Puuuuu———

“Found.”

After searching through her library for several days using the pass given to her by an imperial saint, Caroline found the document ordered by the church.
It was a map showing the location of the Sacre Dragon’s nest.
Among the four secret places, Sacreure has particularly strict security.
The Louvre Shrine and the Great Library of Ouzet are operated by the imperial family, and the Sandalphonia Observatory cannot be visited by anyone even if they know its location.
On the other hand, if Sacre’s location is known to be full of gold and silver treasures, he could immediately become dangerous.
It was a small mark placed on a book gathering dust at the edge of a corner bookshelf that wasn’t even listed in the book list.

“Finding… I found it…”

Should I really report this to the church?
That was my concern.
Originally, if she had been just a few months ago, such concerns would not have been worth thinking about.

Ask with blood, answer with blood.
Caroline Magdalena, the heresy inquisitor of the Blood Gate Brigade Inquisitio, did anything for the sake of the church.
To her, her faith was her command and it was absolute.

‘But can I say that I am now a member of the brigade?’

An ugly body is reflected in the glass window.
After she became a saint, the church half abandoned her.
Her body had changed, and the firm beliefs that had supported Caroline through the current situation were breaking apart little by little, like a boat swaying in the waves.
Ironically, for a woman who had lived self-destructively all her life on the street, the person she was relying on was very close at this moment.

“How to do?”

A beautiful voice spreads in a quiet library.

“Can you give me this? Roll it up?”

It was a question to the God who chose him.

“Is this moment the choice you spoke of?”

But the revelation did not come.
Even when I knocked on the window or dropped a few books on the floor, there was no response.

Caroline gritted her teeth.
I know that God’s revelation never interferes with human free will, but I didn’t like it when he urged Lewis to stick together and was silent at really important moments.

“If you keep doing that, are you really doing what I want? “I don’t care if the world is going to end or not!”

She clicked her tongue and brought her two fingers together, running them through her red hair and bringing them to her own forehead.

〈Baekmado: Black Hypnosis·Memory Preservation, Locking ⌜Hypnosis⌟〉

The brigade’s assassins were prepared for their outstanding ability to torture their opponents and extract information.
Now, no one can know the location of Sacre Leir unless Caroline reveals it of her own volition.

She hid the old booklet again and returned to the lounge in the center of the library.
As I sat on the sofa and looked up at the thunderous sky, two familiar men and women came into the library accompanied by security.

Louis, Liv Labre des Greenwood.
And even one of her ice ducks that attacked her from the first time they met.

‘But hasn’t it gotten a little bigger?’

It certainly seemed to be big enough to fit in the palm of my hand, but before I could see it, it had grown to a size that I could barely hold with both arms.
Liv went further inside, under the keen gaze of the guards, and Louis brought a few books as usual and sat down next to her.

Puuuuu———

She made eye contact with him for a moment, but when Caroline heard her horn honking, she turned her gaze skyward and avoided her greeting.
Because it was not unknown to him that Lehel Darad, the reincarnator, was closely acquainted with the owner of her stall.
It was clear that the information she now had in her head would lead her to her destruction.

“…”
“…”

Lewis also did not show any reaction other than reading a book as he was wary of the guard guarding the entrance to the top-secret archive.
Beep-! Beep-! Only the ice duck made pleasant noises as it rolled and skied on the marble floor.

Tick, tick.

At that time, when only the wall clock under the calendar indicating September 17 showed the meaningless passage of time——

Wow!!

Suddenly, a loud vibration rang out.

— What, what’s going on!?
— Contact the outside world!

As her guards panicked and books danced off the shelves, Caroline sensed that her last week in her empire was coming to an end.
The sky, which had been covered by thick clouds, radiated light, and the brilliance that seemed like a lightning bolt soon spread throughout the upper clouds, announcing the end of the world.
A dazzling brilliance pouring down as the sky shatters.
The shaking vibrations I felt in the soft sofa cushions were the same as the ones I felt in the bed I fell on while holding Skandal’s bookmark in my hand.

Quang! Kwaaaaang—!

At that time, the bell tower of the Temple of Light, high in the sky, collapsed and shards of broken glass flew everywhere.
As Caroline lowered her body to gain her balance, her fingertips touched a curled book.
Several thick books that had clearly been taken out by Lewis, who was sitting next to me.
When she confirmed the contents, her eyes became distorted in embarrassment.

“Hey.”
“…”
“Hey, Louis… !”

It was difficult to stand as the vibrations grew stronger, but Caroline approached Lewis and forcibly snatched the book he had been fixating on.
Only then did she meet the black eyes and shook her head.

“There is no such thing, you idiot.”
“What?”
“Whether it is a warlock who sold his soul to a demon or a priest of a religious order who studied all kinds of sacred magic, they have never created the magic you are looking for… !”

She pointed with her finger at the bookshelves that were starting to fall like dominoes with a roar, and the books that were falling down the cracked floor.

“Not even Necromancer Baragall’s necromancy, Hymn Orchestra Hylaronian’s Holy Descent, the Saint’s Twelfth Holy Spirit, or the famous Terra Ernesten’s great magic can bring the dead back to life! Wouldn’t you know it when you see things like this lying around in the second-grade library!? “All attempts failed from the beginning!”

Rattling, rattling.
Rattling, rattling.

The rising morning star is reflected in the black eyes.
The scenery outside the window and the remaining lights in the room.
The point at which the chariot passes through Skandal and heads toward Parencia.

Until that moment when nothing existed, not the library, not the empire, not even the stone dust falling from the ceiling and the sofa I was resting my hands on.
Caroline looked all the way into the inner world of this man whom her Goddess had brought to her.

“I don’t know what sad thing happened to you… “You should never touch something like that.”

The apostates she had seen most during her time as an inquisitor were not the devil’s servants, crazy about blood and slaughter.
They were people who lost their families and friends during the Great War and could not get their hopes and lives back no matter how much they prayed to God.
Usually, such people sacrificed everything to the demons for a dream that could not be achieved.
Could it be that the choice foretold by the Imperial Saint was to prevent the destruction of Lewis, who was trying to go astray like them?
That thought vaguely occurred to me.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

But in a world where all light was blinking and heading toward darkness, Lewis quietly picked up a fallen book and spoke in a tired voice.

“I was looking for a way to make a microwave oven.”

It sounded as if someone’s death was being denied from the beginning.

***

Puuuuu———

The moment the train left Skandal, all the students in the car opened their eyes at once.
7 days in Uzet time.
However, it had only been two days since we left Parencia.

The hallways and cafeteria soon became crowded with students yawning and looking for food.
Some people discussed exciting experiences from the past week or topics to write about in reports.
However, as time passed, those students seemed to have noticed that something was strange in the atmosphere, and they became less and less talkative.
The reason was that certain women, whose influence was many times stronger than that of other nobles, seemed uncomfortable.
Even after finishing the training, which was almost like a festival, they seemed to have more to think about and did not even touch the meal.

“Pippee—?”
“It’s noisy. Shut your mouth.”
“Blood-“

Erzébet was plotting her future direction, her relationship with Louis, and her plan to ask the royal family about his identity.
It was a seriousness that made even her familiar, who was thinking of attacking her out of boredom, tilt his head.

“Liv, did you have a good time?”
“…”
“Live?”
“I’m busy so just a moment.”

Liv, who had her eyes closed and was constantly muttering something, was concentrating to perfectly memorize the production technique of the iron soldier she had seen until the end.
Various spells and mana flow spread and gathered around her repeatedly.

“Chairman. “Did you win a lot of money?”
“Yes!? Ah, ah, uh, that…”
“Now that I think about it, you said you would come visit me, but I ended up not being able to meet you.”
“Iknow, right… Ah, unfortunately… Haha! “I’m going to take a shower and come back!”

Lehel, who ran into Louise in the hallway, looked a little embarrassed, but instead distanced herself from him and pulled down her hat.
She backed away, checking her robes again and again to see if they smelled musty, and then she ran all the way to the guest room.

“…”

Caroline passed Lehel, who was as close to the wall as she could and bowed her head, but she also kept her mouth shut.
As she closed the door, raising her middle finger at Louise, who shrugged her shoulders with a calm expression on her face, Ansen came up behind her.

“Saint.”
“…”
“Saint Caroline?”
“Why?”

Ansen cast her soundproofing spell and asked as she responded angrily by turning her head.

“Have you found Sacreure’s location?”
“… “Do you really have to tell me now?”
“Wouldn’t it be good to know sooner? “Before arriving at Parenzia, I will contact the church in advance through a communication modification.”
“…”

At that moment, Inquisitor Caroline’s keen senses confirmed that Ansen’s eyes had crossed for an instant and turned to her Khan’s Louise.
Whether it is the will of the goddess, loyalty to the church, or concerns about Lewis, a choice must now be made.
She let out a small sigh, crossed her arms, and opened her mouth.