The Regressed Son of a Duke is an Assassin

The Book of Holiness : A divine magical scripture bestowed upon humanity by the gods.

The Tome of Darkness: A divine magical scripture forbidden by the gods.

With just one word of difference, they can be succinctly defined in a single sentence each.

This one word alone is enough to clearly distinguish human perceptions of the two books.

For starters, I am not a mage.

I’m neither a magical knight specializing in combat nor a scholar studying magic.

Although I’ve reached the highest level in dark magic due to my absurdly high attribute values, I’ve never been one to study magic as a primary focus.

Let alone being interested in divine magical scriptures like the Book of Holiness or the Tome of Darkness.

In fact, I hadn’t even heard stories about them.

A divine magical scripture, huh?

Certainly, it’s an intriguing item, but whether it’s something I, an assassin, need is doubtful.

Although Aeru didn’t explain it in great detail, if he mentioned it directly, it would be hard not to listen and forget about it.

So, I should at least try to find out…

[Oh, you really don’t know? How could I possibly know something that even that rotten god doesn’t know?]

Kaeram exclaimed in frustration, almost jumping up and down.

[I’ve been asleep for a whopping 300 years! And then, not even a moment has passed since I woke up and you and I were together! How would I know what that guy is up to?!]

Well, she does have a point.

Still, seeing her unfairly indignant, I hesitated to press further.

“What’s the name?”

[What?]

[You don’t know the name? It’s supposed to have a name like the Book of Holiness, right?]

As if reluctant to answer, Kaeram pursed her lips and looked away.

Nevertheless, it wasn’t long before she opened her mouth.

[Remiharam…]

“Remiharam?”

I searched through my memories to see if it rang a bell, but nothing came to mind.

Well, the name is one thing, but ultimately, the important question is where this Tome might be.

There was one assumption I could make.

If this Tome of Darkness is still dormant or sealed somewhere like Kaeram, then it’s likely to be near where the Book of Holiness was.

Wasn’t the place where I found Kaeram the temple of light where the holy sword was?

Assuming the same principle, it’s possible that the Tome of Darkness is also hidden somewhere near where the Book of Holiness was.

So, I could speculate.

Then, we should start by finding the place where the Book of Holiness was, and to do that, we need to prioritize finding the one who possesses the Book.

In any case, I must find Boris as soon as possible.

With various thoughts swirling in my mind for a moment, my body soon arrived at a specific location.

It’s supposed to be the place with the most information within the academy.

The library.

Returning to the library after so long.

As someone who doesn’t particularly enjoy reading books, I rarely come here.

Still, out of curiosity and the slight hope of finding information about the Book of Holiness or the Tome of Darkness, I decided to come and look around.

Glancing at the abundant array of books laid out before me, the task of finding a book seemed like it would take ages.

I wasn’t particularly inclined to do so, but should I ask the librarian for help?

“….?”

Just as I absentmindedly reached for a book that caught my eye, I noticed familiar eyes peering through the empty shelves.

They held a piercing gaze, dark and unsettling, capable of making anyone uneasy.

There was only one person in this academy who had eyes like that – Luna Rainriver.

I asked with a dry expression and no sign of surprise.

“What are you doing?”

I’m not a voyeur and it was quite burdensome to be watched.

She ignored my discomfort, sniffing around like a puppy and said.

“I smelled a senior while I was reading a book, so I came to find you. My nose was right, as usual.”

For some reason, I felt dirty.

Should I wear some perfume or something?

I should tell Brian to get one later.

“Did you come to find a book?”

“Well, sort of.”

“I’m surprised. I didn’t think Senior was into books.”

“I’m not particularly fond of them.”

Truth be told, if it weren’t for Aeru, I wouldn’t have set foot here until graduation.

“What book are you looking for? Just tell me, and I’ll fetch it for you.”

I raised an eyebrow at her words.

“Did you become a librarian?”

“Not exactly. I’ve just read all the books here, so I roughly know where everything is. If you don’t know the title, just describe the content.”

What?

If that were true, isn’t she almost like a walking library?

I didn’t think she was such a know-it-all, considering who she was.

Should I play along and see where this goes?

“I’m looking for something about the Tome.”

Perhaps sensing my discomfort, she furrowed her brows at the mention of Tome.

Then she stared through me for about three seconds, abruptly turned away, and disappeared somewhere.

A moment later, she reappeared in front of me with a stack of books.

[Inspector Pernelon’s Chronicles]

[Human Mysticism]

[Imperial Classic Literature]

Most of the books had nothing to do with Tome, let alone magic.

“These books have something to do with Tome?”

“Wait and see. Looks can be deceiving,” she replied cryptically.

She picked up a book from the top of the stack and began flipping through it in a flashy manner, as if performing some kind of trick.

While I was momentarily mesmerized by her actions, she eventually found what she was looking for and extended the opened page towards me.

It was an excerpt from the Chronicles of Inspector Penelon, dating back a hundred years in the Ushif Empire.

[Looking for a Black Wyvern? Then head to the middle of that mountain. Whatever your reasons, be cautious. The anger of the creature summoned through Tome during the past War of Gods still lingers.]

Though not directly helpful, it seemed like information worthy of consideration.

Similar snippets could be found in the other books as well.

While mostly brief, they provided moderately useful insights when compiled.

“There aren’t any books directly authored about divine scriptures like the Scriptures or Tome here. In fact, I’ve never even heard of such books existing. The knowledge available here likely has its limits.”

Even so, this was impressive.

Gathering information that would take a month’s worth of searching in just under ten minutes was truly remarkable.

“But why are you searching for information on Tome? Are you researching it yourself?”

“Not exactly, I just suddenly became interested…”

While I read the portion she found, her gaze bore into me with suspicion.

“I don’t know why you’re doing this, but it won’t be easy. Even our society has been searching for divine scriptures like the Bible or the Tome for quite some time, but we haven’t gained much.”

“Is it okay for you to tell me this?”

“It’s fine. You wouldn’t tell anyone else, would you?”

Maybe it’s best not to talk to her.

“If you happen to find it, please show me too. There are two books I’ve always wanted to read in my lifetime, and one of them is the Tome.”

“What’s the other one?”

“The Bible.”

I had a feeling she’d say that.

Considering her status, it’s believable that the only two unread books in the world to her are those.

As I read, most of the content was compared to the Bible.

While the Bible was usually properly spelled with the name Hishkrea, the Tome was not.

Without precise spelling or mention of the name, it was simply written as Tome…

Continuing to search, I couldn’t find a single place where Remiharam was properly written.

“But unlike the Bible, the Tome doesn’t have its name written? Is there a special reason for that?”

“Well, um… do you know the name of the Tome?”

I replied nonchalantly.

“Remiharam.”

Her face momentarily froze at this.

“Oh, really?”

Slightly flustered, I quickly responded.

“Yes, you know it well.”

She returned to her reserved expression as if nothing happened.

What’s with this uncomfortable feeling?

“Is it okay to ask you something?” she continued.

“What?” I replied.

“I heard some interesting rumors about you lately…”

“Well, there have been more than a few stories circulating about me.”

Of course, they were mostly just nonsense that bordered on swearing.

As someone who had already achieved liberation, I didn’t really care what I heard.

But then, she dropped a bombshell.

“Are you engaged?”

There was a sound of a book hitting the floor, but it wasn’t me who made it.

It was as if a ghost had suddenly appeared, causing the princess of a certain empire to tremble all over, standing just five steps away from me.

She seemed so shocked she couldn’t even say my name.

“Wha… Wha… What?”

She stammered, too surprised to even call out my name.

Sensing the discomfort, I thought it best to leave for now.

“Thanks for finding the book. I’ll go ahead.”

I said, departing.

“See you later, Senior.”

Luna responded with a wave, glancing nervously between us.

As I passed by, I glanced at the bewildered princess, but she seemed too lost in her thoughts to notice me.

I just left the library.

* * *

She found herself thinking about Cyan.

He was a well-known figure in the academy, known for his academic prowess.

She had never seen him sit down and study in the library before, so the chance encounter was unexpected.

But what could it mean?

Still feeling perplexed by the unexpected meeting, she couldn’t muster any words, when she came to her senses Cyan had already left.

Luna, still by her side, seemed concerned.

“Are you okay, Senior?”

“Yeah! Of course!”

Arin replied, trying to calm my racing heart.

“Why are you so surprised to see Senior Cyan? You see him all the time.”

“Huh? Oh, no! It’s not that! I’m just a bit flustered…”

She nodded, seemingly understanding.

“So, what were you talking to Cyan about?”

“Oh, I was just helping him find some information he was looking for.”

“I see…”

Arin said, but her expression seemed to betray her thoughts.

Now feeling unsure of why she had come here in the first place, she stood there in silence, staring at Luna.

“Um, can we talk for a bit, Luna?”

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