Chapter 378

*Fwoosh!*

The flame on his eyebrows, a sign that his words had been understood.

Roan nodded.

“I thought it was about time for it to appear… Sure enough, timing is everything.”

“A book thief?”

Sion, who was listening from the side, asked.

How could anyone dare steal a book from the Elont Grand Library, of all places?

On Earth, there was a saying that ‘a book thief is not a thief,’ but this was the Empire.

Since the lore of this world dictated that all books were written in the holy name of Hiloa, it was a major crime.

Furthermore, the books in the Grand Library were the property of Harden, so if one was caught touching them, it would not end peacefully with just a simple death penalty.

Well, Harden’s attitude was along the lines of ‘who cares if a book or two goes missing,’ but the people of the Empire themselves thought this way.

“Maaaa…”

“Did you come all the way to me because there are only fools around who can’t communicate?”

*Fwoosh!*

‘He… actually said that much…?’

“I am grateful that you think highly of me, but I respect my seniors from the bottom of my heart.”

From what she had seen so far, Sion did not feel that way at all.

At any rate, as if his business was finished, Morlay tossed something shiny to Roan.

*Clink!*

It was a bunch of keys with two keys bound together.

Roan put the keys in his breast and bowed his head.

“Yes. I do not know if it is possible, but I will do my best with my lacking abilities to catch the book thief, risking the honor of the Darc family.”

…

Roan spoke seriously, but Morlay only stared at him blankly without any response.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Juuuuk…”

“I won’t kill them, so do not worry.”

*Fwoosh!*

Roan felt slightly annoyed by Morlay’s relieved reaction.

It would be one thing if he had a criminal record, but he had been behaving well to avoid drawing attention, so why was everyone being so dramatic?

Besides, catching a book thief was not a matter of life and death anyway.

“Neeee…”

“Yes. I have captured many mages, but I have never killed a single one, have I?”

*Fwoosh!*

Morlay seemed somewhat reassured by Roan’s repeated excuses.

He must have thought that even if it was a book thief, there would be no bloodshed in the library he guarded.

‘…But is that something coming from someone who shoots offensive holy magic at students every day?’

Roan felt even more aggrieved, but what could he do?

In a library, one had to listen to the librarian.

Having finished his business, Morlay adjusted the surrounding humidity and vanished in an instant.

When Roan raised his head, Sion was looking at him from the side with a very ambiguous expression.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Just… if you are lacking, Roan, I wondered who else could catch a book thief.”

Fortunately, unlike Morlay, Sion knew to some extent that Roan was a pacifist!

Roan relaxed his frowned expression slightly and spoke.

“Well, there are plenty of people who can.”

Dozens of people immediately came to Roan’s mind.

However, to proceed with Morlay’s ‘Book Thief Event,’ one of the essential requirements was the ability to understand his words.

That was the reason why Morlay had gone out of his way to find Roan, a mere freshman, even though there were plenty of people in the library, including professors.

Roan shrugged his shoulders once, then began to organize the books he had pulled out.

“I think I’ve found enough materials, so let’s go catch the book thief. Thanks for your help.”

“Ah, don’t mention it. It’s getting a bit late, so let’s do this quickly and go.”

Sion also helped Roan organize the books they had pulled out.

*Tap—*

Then, after putting back about five or six books, a thought occurred to her.

‘What did he find?’

He had said he already knew everything she told him.

But Sion soon decided not to worry about it.

‘Well, they say the real information comes from combining the primary data rather than the raw data itself.’

Since Roan was so smart, he would have interpreted it well on his own.

She was confident she would not be surprised even if he had already drawn up a rough blueprint for the territory’s reconstruction.

Besides, there was something else Sion was more curious about.

“By the way, a book thief… Does such a thing really happen in the Grand Library?”

“It seems to be true… that there is a book thief. Stories about it have been circulating since a while ago.”

Stories had been circulating?

Sion tilted her head.

If it was a rumor that Roan would know, there was no way she hadn’t heard of it.

After all, Sion had much better relationships with peers than Roan, who was hated and envied by all the students.

If Roan had known of this thought, he would have said, ‘And whose fault do you think that is!’

Roan contemplated for a moment before speaking.

“Well, even if I say it was a while ago, it was about three years ago. It has appeared after a long time.”

????

Sion tilted her head even further.

‘Then how does Roan know?’

Was he at the school three years ago?

‘He… really was repeating his first year for the third time! No wonder his holy power was awakened and he didn’t receive baptism…’

Even though she did not say it out loud, it was written all over her face, causing Roan to make an exasperated expression.

“I also enrolled for the first time this year.”

“Ah, ah. I didn’t say anything, though?”

‘You said it with your face…’

As that thought practically dripped from Roan’s face, Sion felt she could roughly understand how he managed to guess her inner thoughts every single time.

“Still, there is no need to worry too much. It is not dangerous, and it always returns the books to their proper places.”

“Ah, is that so?”

“Yes.”

Sion breathed a sigh of relief and asked.

“Then it must not be Professor Pluvang, right?”

“…?”

Roan turned back to look at Sion with an absurd expression.

Sion double-checked as if asking what was wrong.

“Huh? Could it be him?”

“Ah… No. Of course it isn’t Professor Pluvang.”

“Ah, I thought so.”

Wasn’t it a bit too much for a student to ask so confidently, ‘Thief? Is it Pluvang?’

Granted, if any object disappeared in Acherandir, Pluvang was indeed the primary suspect who should be doubted first.

In any other case, Roan would have immediately headed to Pluvang’s laboratory as well.

‘But I am a black mage, and she is a saintess candidate, right?’

In any case, no matter how audacious Pluvang was, he could not lay a hand on the school library guarded by Morlay.

Roan took Sion down to the first floor.

Sion, who was following quietly, asked.

“Where are we going?”

“Well, I plan to stop by the library’s equipment storehouse.”

“Aha, so the key the librarian gave you earlier is…?”

“Yes, it’s the key to the equipment storehouse. I’ll pack the necessary tools there.”

*Shiver—*

At the word ‘tools,’ Sion’s expression rapidly grew serious.

It wasn’t as if Roan had smiled or released any aura, but the atmosphere chilled rapidly with that single word!

—Hey, did you hear what Darc just said?

—Yeah, he said he’s going to pull out some tools.

—Heeek! In… the library?

—Should we call the librarian?

‘That librarian is the one who gave it to me…’

The other students passing by were equally startled.

If a normal student had said those words, they would have thought, ‘Hmm, it seems something needs fixing. I wonder which bookshelf it is.’

But since it was Roan, they couldn’t help but suspect, ‘Hmm, it seems he’s going to teach someone a lesson. It won’t be me, right?’

Sion spoke with a determined expression.

“You told the librarian earlier that you would end this quietly.”

“I did.”

Roan replied as if nothing had changed.

Sion came to a grand realization.

‘Catching and killing a thief is considered quiet?!’

Indeed, if he didn’t dig out the thief’s backers to wipe out their entire organization, and went even further to attack the cancerous forces of the Empire, it could be considered ending quietly…

In truth, it was nothing more than a delusion masquerading as a realization.

Roan let out a deep sigh and quickened his pace.

The book thief event was actually a very peaceful process, contrary to her worries.

“Stop thinking useless things and let’s go quickly. It’s late, just as you said.”

“Ah, y-yes.”

Sion set a grand goal to step forward and stop Darc whenever he was about to run wild.

Because it was always a leader’s duty to make sure the world did not lean too extremely and walked the middle path!

The equipment storehouse on the first floor where Roan and Sion arrived while harboring such completely different thoughts.

*Click—*

Roan used the key he received from Morlay to open the door to the equipment storehouse and stepped inside.

As if it had been a long time since anyone entered, the accumulated dust billowed up.

“Cough, cough!”

Sion coughed.

“There is dust, so you may wait outside. I will grab it quickly.”

“Ah, no. *Cough!* I’ll go with you!”

Sion covered her mouth and nose with her hand and resolutely followed behind Roan.

“Because you might pull out a dangerous (?) item!”

He couldn’t even begin to guess what kind of dangerous item she was thinking of.

And no wonder, since Roan was already carrying a staff that could double as a club and the demonic sword Mosquito.

There was no way there would be a weapon worse than those in a library equipment storehouse.

“Do as you wish then.”

Roan shrugged his shoulders as if telling her to do whatever she wanted, then approached a chest resting on the floor in the depths of the storehouse.

The second key Morlay had given him was for opening this chest.

*Creak—*

Contrary to Sion’s expectations, the worn-out chest did not contain any dangerous items at all.

Instead, a few monocles with gold frames were simply laid out on red silk.

“Huh? It’s not a mace, a saw, or a club?”

“…Why would anyone use those to catch a book thief?”

“Ah…”

Only then did Sion realize her suspicions had been overly specific.

Roan took two monocles and exited the storehouse.

Sion, whose face had turned red, hurriedly asked.

“T-Then why do you need monocles?”

“Because the book thief is easier to see through these.”

“Through those?”

It had been a bit suspicious that Morlay asked a student for help, but what in the world was the book thief’s identity?

“Have you ever heard of Librarian Morlay’s race?”

“Yes, I heard he is a hybrid of a fire elemental and a glacier sloth.”

Roan nodded.

“There is a characteristic shared by elementals and those with elemental blood.”

“Hmm…”

“They don’t get along very well with ghosts—that is, spiritual bodies.”

…!!!!!!

The moment the word ‘ghost’ was mentioned, the blood rapidly drained from Sion’s flushed face.

“Well, to be exact, ghosts run away just from an elemental being nearby, but since the book thief is a ghost, Librarian Morlay can’t catch them.”

“I-I see…”

It was certainly information Sion had studied before.

Then, something suddenly occurred to her.

“Ahahaha… Roan, you’re joking, right? You’re doing this because you found it funny when I got scared in Saint Ciotric Hall, aren’t you?”

Come to think of it, Roan was actually quite good at joking.

…In truth, she didn’t really think so, but she had to believe it for now.

“It’s obviously just a normal thief, but a very swift one that even the librarian can’t handle, right…?”

Sion sent Roan a look that practically begged him to say yes.

Roan shrugged.

“I think a normal ghost would be less scary than having a thief in Acherandir whom even the librarian and the principal cannot catch.”

…

Sion had no choice but to agree with those words.

But what if it was a ghost thief that even Harden couldn’t catch?

*Sink…*

“…Get a hold of yourself.”

Roan barely managed to pull back Sion’s drifting mind.

Roan pointed to the rules of use at her waist and spoke.

“If you don’t believe me, look up rule number 666.”

“Number 666…? But the library rules only go up to the 500s.”

“It should be there now.”

“…*Hiccup!*”

Sion opened the rules of use and read with trembling eyes and hands.

—665. If there is a rule number 666, please do not read it if possible and leave the library. Under normal circumstances, rule number 666 is not activated.—

It was already terrifying starting from rule number 665.