"Mother...I think young Master Nicokel is very dangerous."
Jane's eyebrows rose, hearing Katlyn's assessment of Nicokel. It was unexpected for her daughter to reach such a conclusion.
"Do you think making a connection with young master Nicokel, is harmful to us?" Jane was all ears, she never thought herself to be perfect. And Jane knew that Katlyn had a natural talent for business from a young age.
"No...I consider making a connection with young Master Nicokel very beneficial in the future. He also showed a positive outlook toward my approach."
Katlyn calmly explained, glancing at her hand. The stinging fragrance of the medicine still stuck to her hand.
"Then what are you worried about?"
Katlyn froze hearing Jane's words, memory flowed into her head. Just remembering the scene made her feel breathless, it felt like her heart was being squished.
The sight of Nicokel's eyes which held no semblance of human emotions flickered before her eyes. Only a single intent was visible in those eyes, to kill.
A stroke of enlightenment flashed through Katlyn's eyes. 'I felt that young master Nicokel felt familiar for some reason. The presence around him... it's the same as the Verskein family's army commander. Their eyes felt hollower than all the knights and normal soldiers.'
Katlyn opened her small mouth slowly, replying to Jane's question.
"I don't know either. I felt instinctual that if I were to harm or betray him, I would be swallowed with no bones left."
Jane's eyes widened considerably. The ability to judge the character of a person was very important in being a merchant. Katlyn could judge others' personalities to an extent too.
Jane had found Nicokel to be abnormal in many ways herself. She strangely felt that he had the atmosphere of a veteran soldier and had a mature way of looking at things too. However, from Katlyn's description, it's almost —
"Like he is a monster..." Jane blurted out with a blank face.
"...I guess. And he said he will visit Mother in the evening too." Katlyn spoke honestly while stopping herself from thinking about Nicokel.
Calling the heir of an esteemed family like Verskein a monster was too much after all.
"Ohh~ I look forward to it. For the rising star of the Verskein family to visit me, such an honor."
Katlyn proceeded to ignore her mother.
.....
The librarian greeted Nicokel with a smile, unlike his initial cautious expression. He had grown to see Nicokel visiting the library every day, taking books back to his room.
It had been so frequent that the librarian couldn't help but doubt that Nicokel completed them all. Hence he had respectfully asked Nicokel a question a few weeks ago, it was from one of the books Nicokel borrowed. Unexpectedly, he received an answer and a perfect one at that.
The librarian couldn't help but smile bitterly remembering Nicokel's expression from back then.
It was clear that Nicokel looked at the librarian like he was some kind of idiot.
"Don't disturb me. Just read the book if you have some doubts. Or what? Are you testing me right now?"
"Of course not, young master Nicokel! I-I was just curious."
The librarian's nervousness gave away his intentions to Nicokel though.
Remembering the conversation from that day, the librarian treated Nicokel carefully.
"How can I help you today, young master?" The librarian closed up to Nicokel's location.
"Take me to section one of the restricted library." Nicokel's answer was immediate.
"Please this way."
As if expecting such an answer, the librarian began leading Nicokel toward the door at the end of the library.
Being in charge of the library, the Librarian was informed by the head butler yesterday. He placed his hand on the door, and with a beautiful manifestation, a magic circle rose from the door.
Feeling a headache, Nicokel closed his eyes. Information flowed through his eyes, pointing at the difficulty of the magic spell.
'I can interpret magic circles too? Good. Still, what's with this monstrously complicated magic circle? It's more complex than the hardest math sums back on earth. Do magicians learn those? Interesting.'
Nicokel decided to look into magic once he was done with the informal challenge.
"What kind of book might you need, young master?"
Nicokel opened his eyes, finding the door to be open.
"All the books about the basics of mana sword techniques and mana control." Nicokel looked around the library, which didn't appear much different from the general section.
"I see, then this way." The librarian quickly began leading Nicokel to his desired books.
Nicokel arrived before a bookshelf neatly arranged together. Without any hesitation, he began looking through the book's titles.
{Fundamental nature of mana — Author: Jiephelt Rectrus.}
{Basic understanding of mana manipulation stages — Author: Carlete loterer.}
{Efficient mana control, basic level — Author: Jiephelt Rectrus.}
.....
A spark appeared in Nicokel's eyes looking at the name — Jiephelt Rectrus.
From the ten books Nicokel saw, three of them contained this very name.
"Who is Jiephelt Rectrus?" Nicokel glanced at the librarian with curiosity.
"Ah, Sir Jiephelt Rectrus is the president of the academy in the capital. He is very famous, he even has a title calling him a great scholar. Many have gotten enlightened by reading his books."
"I too have read them. It was very hard to understand at first, but my perception of mana grew greatly by the end. Though it's for beginners, I don't recommend...."
Nicokel lifted his finger, pointing at the name Jiephelt Rectrus on the book. "Give me all of his books on this shelf."
Nicokel grew interested in Jiephelt Rectrus, deciding to read his books. He was confident in finishing them in half a day anyway.
"Ah...I understand." The librarian did as Nicokel ordered and handed him 12 books in total.
"Send them all to my room through some servant." Nicokel couldn't carry this many books by himself, he was out of mana too. Picking up one book, he began walking to his room.