———Orrel———

  <12: 24 pm>

  “Hmm…” I mumbled to myself as I analyzed the content of the book.

  “You’ve been looking at that for a long while now.” Useph remarked. He seems to have a hard time understanding why I find it rather fascinating.

  “I have to be. It might not be a lot of content, strictly speaking, but it is a bunch of new information that needs some time to process.” I gave him the short rundown of my reasoning. When you have not much else to equate things to, you need extra time to process the information.

  …Then again. It is less that there’s nothing to use as a basis for understanding these concepts, and more that I need some time to accept that this is all connected in the first pce.

  “Huh… So what’s that device on the back of the book?” He said, pointing at the device.

  “It’s a device that will return the book back to the library. A small teleportation device that encompasses this specific book.” I expined. “Basically, once the book must be returned, the device will forcibly take this book back to its shelf.”

  “...Seems a bit overkill ain’t it?” He said while scratching his head. “Why isn’t this like… a digital book? That way people can’t actually steal them. Also I thought borrowing library books would stop being a thing for a few years by now.”

  “Can’t say I know why.” That part still eludes me. I have read through all the guidelines when it comes to the content in the library, and there isn’t anything stopping me from taking a picture, summarizing the content, or anything that would leak the information to the wider public. “As for your second question, it’s not like that practice has stopped. It simply becomes way less utilized.”

  “So what are you reading about right now?” He said, not intending on pursuing either line of questioning further.

  “The mechanics of monsters.” It seems plenty important. After reading through some basics of magic, this seems like the logical next step, learning about the things we’ll be using them on.

  “Oh! Is it like an encyclopedia?” He asked, not actually looking at the book’s cover, which is about all sorts of supernaturals, not just monsters. I’m sure there is a book dedicated to them, but this one isn’t it.

  “Not exactly. This book in particur is about the different kinds of supernatural beings that exist in reality. They are quite detailed in their expnations, but do not go over all the intricate details or history.” Looking through it does help expin some of the urban legends that popped up over human history. It gives more insight into these things we always talked about but wasn’t able to definitively prove existed.

  “What kind of beings?” He asked, probably to keep the conversation going more than anything.

  “Plenty. It talks about non-homosapiens, of course. Golems, monsters, demi-humans, demons, elves, dragons, and so forth.” There are many names that are easily recognizable, and some terms I haven’t heard of before. “Though it does talk about certain types of people as well, but those have only a few passages. I need to look through other books for more details.”

  “Those all exist? Talk about scary.” He said with an understandably shaky tone.

  “If all of these books are to be believed, yes.” Obviously we cannot be certain. There is no eye-witness account to confirm this for me, not even my own. But the fact remains that these are books that exist in an educational institution, and there is no discimer that says that the information is of nebulous sources or for entertainment purposes. These books are very confident that the information in them is in fact, factual. “We can confidently say that monsters exist and that many of us are now demi-humans, of course, but the others still elude us.”

  “...Is that the official term for animal people?” He asked, surprised that there is such a thing.

  “It seems so, but I believe it is more of a bnket-term for humanity-adjacent beings.” I crified. An elf could be considered a demi-human considering their simirities to humans, but they are more established both in history and myth, from what this book is saying. “But interestingly, there is a term that opens up a can of worms for me.”

  “Really? Something about the monsters?” He naturally asked, since that’s how we started the conversation, but it’s not what I’m getting at right now.

  “It’s about something I read before getting to the monsters section, actually.” Not that there isn’t anything monster-reted not worth talking about, but I haven't even finished reading it yet. “It talks about ancient beings who exist for centuries, those who accumuted knowledge and skill over their inhumane lifetime. They practice magic, travel all around the world, and gather a rge amount of power that no normal man can achieve.”

  “Like… some sort of living legend?” He asked, starting to look more genuinely interested.

  “Indeed. There is even a term for them. Ahdeid.” I’m not sure about the entomology, it wasn’t discussed here. However, there is something important it sorta off-handedly mentioned. “But what is important is who, or rather, what group coined the term. The Mage Remnant.”

  “The Mage Remnant? What is that?” He asked, obviously confused at new terminology thrown at him.

  “It seems to be an underground group of people who cling on to the practice of spellcasting. The book didn’t go into it, since it’s just about a group of people not really reted to all these supernatural beings. It just has notes about how they exist as a secretive group researching the lost arts.” I didn’t expect to read about something that sounds like it came out of a fantastical conspiracy, but then again, all of this is rather fantastical. “Now that means that whoever orchestrated the reconstruction of this pce belongs to one of two camps. Either an Ahdeid, beings who have lived a long life with great power behind them, or a part of The Mage Remnant, which seems to have a good deal of numbers and have experience in recreating the power thought to be lost to the masses.”

  “...So which is it?” He asked, thinking I have an answer already. And in fact, I have my own conclusion already.

  “It is the former, no doubt about it.” The very brazen act and the absurdity of creating it in such a short period of time doesn’t paint a picture of a secretive group desperately trying to recim the great power humanity as a whole has lost, probably wanting it for themselves. Whoever did this is powerful and not afraid to show off. “Now this does raise the question about Wiina, who has admitted to be involved with this mastermind. I do think she is a trustworthy character, but that doesn’t mean she’s willing to tell us everything just because of that.”

  “She is a weird character, I think that’s plenty clear.” Useph remarked.

  She hasn’t shown up often, if at all. Whenever she does, there seems to be a reason behind it. There has been no sighting of her in the area at all. It was like she’s a ghost, choosing to appear when she feels like it, but is completely invisible and intangible if she so chooses.

  The fact that no one really caught sight of her unless she wills it seems to imply some sort of ability reted to concealment. Now what it could be is a matter of debate, as there is no evidence present to work with.

  “She is very enigmatic despite appearing in front of us a few times. At times it seems like she appeared out of thin air. For example, during that fateful buffet, she appeared while not being noticed by the security. You did say the staff members never spotted her entering or leaving.” That particur incident is unsolved, as far as the method goes. The most simple answer would’ve been her using a teleportation spell, and that is what we all thought to this day, but it isn’t the only possibility, just the most simple one.

  “You would think she’d be a bit kinder and tell us how to teleport.” He said, going with the idea that she is warping around.

  “In her defense, that sort of magic is simply too advanced.” I’ve already read about it, and it’s clear that there is a lot of potential problem with even accessing that kind of spell, let alone using it without repercussions. “There seems to be some sort of ‘enlightenment’ needed in order to use it, as well as enough mastery needed to not teleport into walls or other people.”

  “...How much have you been reading?” He asked, as if he expected anything else.

  “Just about as much as I’ve always had. A lot.” I didn’t keep track of all the books I’ve read, but I am confident it is more than most in this school.

  Now I will admit that I am probably reading into things that the school expined officially at some point, but… Hm?

  “Eh? What are they doing down there?” Useph asked as he also took notice of the commotion a few floors below. “...Are those massive stacks of ptes?”

  “It looks like there are a few people in an eating competition, for whatever reason.” I said, bewildered at what they’re doing. I know the food is free, but what the hell are you guys doing? “At least it doesn’t seem to be anything disruptive. Last thing we want is for the canteen building to go up in fmes.”

  “...Speaking of that, should we move?” He asked, due to both of us already finishing our meal before this long conversation started.

  “I guess we might as well, even if there is still plenty of space.” I said, not minding the change of scenery.

  ———Lynda———

  <12: 59 pm>

  “Haaa… Haaa…” Why is this so damn hard? D+ Rank shouldn’t be anything special, and yet it is such a long and grueling fight.

  There are still seven levels to go through after this. Are those just gonna ft out kill me?

  “I’m… beat.” Rousi said before colpsing on the ground.

  “Same… By the way, your fur is dirtying the floor.” I said, looking at the lower-half of his body. Red cat fur covering only half of his body is still so weird, but I have seen some people also having a simir affliction.

  At least he also has cat ears and tail, so it looks less jarring overall. Some of them look like their body got cut in half and stitched to the half of another animal.

  …Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit on that front, but let’s put that thought on hold for now.

  “Let’s go back to the cssroom.” I said, putting the axe away and clumsily walked over to Glery. This auto-healing spell doesn’t really help much with fatigue does it… “By the way, Glery. Are you not gonna try fighting? You are still training, I know that much.”

  “I have been, but I don’t want to fight unless it’s necessary. I’m not enthusiastic about it like you do.” She answered, making it pretty clear she still thinks it won’t become a problem if she doesn’t know how to fight. There is a big difference between training and practicing.

  Obviously it is kind of my idea to be so gung-ho about fighting, so I’d rather not force this kind of perception on her. I am the one who feels like this sort of practice will come in handy sooner or ter, and I was always one to get into scuffle for her sake, or just because of bad luck.

  “Well, at least it could be worse. You’re still nice and healthy, yeah?” I said to remain optimistic about her situation. “Anyway, let’s go before it gets too te. Don’t wanna get scolded now, do we?”

  ———Kenni———

  <3: 17 pm>

  “I can’t be the only one who feels like this has been… ultimately rather mundane still?” I said, telling everyone my grievances.

  “In my opinion, a slow start is quite a good approach. Otherwise a lot of accidents may occur.” Gregori quickly opposed my viewpoint, jackass.

  “You said that, but let’s not kid ourselves, they’re definitely cooking up something interesting.” There’s no way that isn’t the case. We all know it to be true.

  “Take a chill pill, Kenni.” Karra said, also opposing me.

  “Come on guys, you can’t be serious. I’m bored to death over here!” I said, exaggerating my disbelief. It has gotten rather monotonous for me, so of course I’m pying up my frustration.

  “Just… Go fight other students in the combat room or something.” Karra said, knowing full well those chumps are way below my league.

  “Ugh! Don’t come and compin once I tell the victims it was your idea!” I replied, just to mess with her.

  “Like they’re going to believe you!” Qyunda chimed in. I’m really getting dogpiled right now.