CHAPTER 57: THE NAME OF THAT SPELLBOOK IS— (END)

Laura, having returned to her desk, stared at the singular book she placed thereon.

The Witch of Calamity.

Her eyes were locked on the title.

“Uu…u…”

For the past several minutes, Laura has been repeating the process of trying to extend her hand to the book and retracting it countless times over.

The Witch of Calamity—

A magician with hair as white as bone and eyes as red as blood.

She acquired enough offensive spells to surpass Magnus—the legendary magician of 1000—in sheer number and wielded that immense power to wage war with the kingdom.

She was defeated in the following violent battle, but a vast amount of citizens lost their lives, and the kingdom was left in ruins. It took many moons for the kingdom to fully recover.

A symbol of evil within the kingdom; An existence so detested and hated that her very name was erased from all records.

That was the witch—

And the descendants inheriting her blood were the inhabitants of Laura’s village.

Laura covered her face with both hands.

Her snow-like white hair swayed, and her azure pupils akin to the clear sky peeked at the book from the cracks of her fingers.

“Haah…”

She let out a sigh for the umpteenth time.

The instant she laid eyes on the book’s title for the first time—

I shouldn’t look at it!

—She reflexively had that thought. Talking about the Witch of Calamity in her village was taboo.

“Laura, if you aspire to become a magician, then you must remember: Never become like the Witch of Calamity. Treat other people with compassion, never forget to be kind, and engrave your loyalty to the kingdom onto your heart.

She was told that over and over and over.

That’s why she immediately tried to leave the bookshelf behind, but—

Her body wouldn’t move.

She couldn’t avert her eyes. It was as if her eyes were firmly glued onto the book, and she couldn’t look away.

It’d be a lie to say she wasn’t interested.

The witch was someone related to her ancestors.

Someone that everybody taught her was evil.

Someone that she was told to never know about.

That very information laid right there.

I… want to look…

Laura couldn’t go against that desire. Releasing the tension from her firmly clenched right hand, she stealthily took the book from the bookshelf.

Then, she returned to where she previously was.

She walked back as if she were escaping from something frightening.

She then placed the book on top of the desk—

And never once opened it.

Until the very last moment, Laura couldn’t make her mind up.

…I shouldn’t do this, after all…

She was told countless times over at the village.

Don’t involve yourself with the Witch of Calamity.

Those words held Laura back from what she was about to do.

Even so, Laura felt it.

With each passing second, with each passing minute—She felt the resistance in her heart gradually weaken.

—Isn’t it fine?

Such feelings made their way through her heart.

—Can’t I just take a peek?

She heard such voices whisper into her ear over and over.

Laura audibly swallowed her saliva, her white throat quivering.

“…It’s not… that big of a deal… I mean, I’m just gonna look at it…”

She muttered to herself.

It was almost as if she was persuading herself.

However, those words lightened the doubts in her heart. I’m just gonna look at it—That’s all she was going to do.

That was all.

Extending her quivering right hand—

She resolved herself and opened the book.

“T-This is—”

The book was a spellbook.

“Huh!? The Witch of Calamity’s magic—!?”

Practically all magicians only learn publicly available spells. Such spells circulate widely for all to know, like Magic Arrow.

That alone is a huge deal.

However, the same doesn’t apply to the brilliant magicians who carve their names into the annals of history.

As if to test their talent, they construct magic that doesn’t exist in this world.

In other words, they construct magic that only they know.

Magic is similar to cooking. If you know the recipe, you can make use of it depending on your training and mana.

As a result, they keep the recipe a secret.

Consequently, a large amount of Original Magic ends up vanishing along with the creator’s death—unless they leave it behind for future generations out of kindness.

The Witch of Calamity, a genius who manipulated offensive spells akin to natural disasters.

Those very spells laid right there.

Laura flipped through the pages.

She flipped and flipped and flipped and flipped and flipped and flipped and flipped and flipped and flipped and flipped and flipped.

She was unable to take her eyes off the book any longer.

Her head was vacant. She couldn’t think of anything. An enormous amount of information flew into her blank head.

She breathed violently as she pored over the book.

Little by little, her consciousness faded away. It was like she was becoming something that wasn’t herself—something that existed only for characters to flow into—

Laura’s blue eyes…

Slowly became a blood-red—

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“U-Ugh…”

Before she knew it, Laura lost consciousness. She slowly woke herself up.

“Ow!”

Her head felt like it was splitting into two. She placed her hand on her white hair.

After waiting for the pain to subside, she slowly opened her eyes.

The color of her opened eyes was—

Azure, like the clear sky.

Laying in her field of vision was the closed book of the witch.

I should’ve been reading that book, but… I wonder what happened?

She couldn’t recall.

Suddenly feeling a sense of unease, Laura left behind the pile of books she used for studying and hid the book of the witch.

“Hey, Laura. It’s been a while.”

She heard a voice.

Laura, who was in the middle of studying, jolted her head upwards.

“Albert!”

Albert returned exactly a week after they parted, just as he had promised.

“Are you progressing with your studies?”

“Yes! Thank you for the valuable experience!”

After she cheerfully spoke—

“U-Um, Albert—”

—Laura continued in an unsteady way of speaking.

“What’s wrong, Laura?”

Albert tilted his head to the side.

Ever since that day, Laura had been constantly worried. 

Should I tell Albert? Should I discuss what happened with him?

I should probably discuss it—

However, she was a little scared.

—Hey, it’s the witch girl, it’s the witch girl! Don’t get near her white hair, you’ll catch her curse!

When she was a child, she was discriminated against in the nearby town.

Those memories fluttered past her mind.

Albert would never take that attitude—Laura firmly believed that. With a worried expression, he would surely say like so:

—Are you alright, Laura?

He would absolutely do that.

There wasn’t any mistake that he’d do that.

She had full faith in that. And yet, for some reason, she couldn’t speak. It was like her vocal cords were being constricted by someone, and she couldn’t say a word.

Silence persisted throughout the library.

The female receptionist behind Albert must’ve surmised that their talk was over, as she held out her hand to Laura.

“Miss Laura, may you return the library key?”

The moment she said that, Laura snapped out of her daze.

“Ah, y-y-y-…yes!”

Laura presented the key she was entrusted with in a panic. Once the female receptionist received it, she spoke to Albert.

“Lord Albert, I’ve been informed of the talks concerned with your inheritance of the marquis estate. I shall be giving you a simple explanation regarding this building, so may I receive some of your time?”

“Yeah, I don’t mind, but…”

Albert gave a quick glance at Laura.

The female receptionist looked at Laura and smiled sweetly.

“I shall lead you to a separate room. Sweets shall be prepared for you, so please rest your mind fatigued from studying. The staff shall take care of cleaning up the books.”

“…Understood.”

Laura nodded.

Albert and the female receptionist began leaving the room.

Laura took the unease dwelling in her heart and quietly tucked it away.

That’s right… It wasn’t anything, nothing at all. I was just feeling a little under the weather, that’s all.

Laura convinced herself—forced herself to believe that—

This is an important time for Albert. There’s no point in talking about something like that… I’ll just end up bothering Albert, anyway…

She told herself that—

And followed behind Albert.