I continued talking with the principal and Master Yervock for a good ten more minutes, then I finally left the room after feeling my bracelet vibrate, leaving the two old men laughing together.
It was noon when I came out, which left me about an hour to get to the library to search for something about those strange words written on the documents that Professor Verdajin had entrusted to me.
But you're probably wondering why I'm fussing so much over this, right? Well, honestly, I don't know why I'm doing all this just for a few words written in another language scattered across the documents.
Let's just say it's my instinct telling me to be this cautious about these words.
'Besides, finding something related to what I'm looking for surely won't take too long.'
I cleared my mind of any thoughts, then started walking briskly towards my destination, which was the library.
At that moment, about three good kilometers separated me from the library. Therefore, I had to hurry to get there so as not to miss my next class.
"I guess I won't be having lunch today..."
I said to myself with a sigh and slumped shoulders.
As I was walking towards my destination, I came across Princess Analya. She stopped in front of me and looked at me. I glanced at her for a few seconds, then, just as she was about to open her mouth to speak to me, I started walking again, leaving her behind.
Maybe it was out of guilt, but I didn't really want to talk to her, except under circumstances that would force me to.
After resuming my walk, I could hear someone following me from behind, but I simply acted as if I didn't hear anything.
Then, after a good ten more minutes, I found myself in front of the grand, imposing door of the library.
"Y-You... Huff, huff"
The third princess, who had been chasing me the whole time, finally caught up with me and spoke with difficulty.
She caught her breath, then scolded me.
"Did you just ignore me?"
I said nothing and continued to look at her silently.
"Do you know who I am?"
"Yes, you are the third princess of the Empire, Analya Diospyros Skalvium"
"You know that, and yet you still ignore me!"
Just like earlier, I ignored her a second time and pushed open the grand, imposing doors of the library.
Once opened, I was greeted by tall, long shelves filled with different books.
"What could a ruffian like you possibly want in a library?"
"That is none of your business, Your Highness, and I kindly ask you to leave me alone now. Your presence is a great inconvenience to me"
I told her with an annoyed expression.
Then, after saying that, I went up to a librarian. I asked her where I could find a book on foreign or ancient languages, and she led me to the farthest section of the library, with Analya following us from a distance.
"Here are the books we have on the different languages that exist or once existed in the world. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to work"
She said, bowing her head slightly. I just gave a slight nod before finally picking up one of the books in front of me.
'Ancient Book of Dead Languages'
That was the title of the book I had picked up.
"Y-You're really going to read that book?"
"Why would I have picked it up if I didn't intend to read it?"
"I-I just didn't think someone like you would enjoy reading..."
After those words, I just turned my head and focused on the book in my hands.
I opened it and started skimming through a few unimportant sentences. The princess standing next to me glanced at the book in my hands for a few seconds, then spoke again, interrupting me.
"Can you read it?" she asked, a little surprised and wary.
"Did you take me for a fool who can't read?" I asked, with barely concealed anger.
"W-Well, that wasn't my intention, but... this book isn't written in our language"
She stammered slightly after realizing she had upset me.
"You... can't read this?" I asked, slightly curious.
"Well, it's written in an ancient language. Only a few people who have studied for several years could read it as easily as you're doing right now"
"I see..."
"So, what's the book about?" she asked me, with unmistakable excitement in her eyes.
"This book discusses different languages that existed millennia ago, how and why these languages were created. For example, it talks about an ancient tribe that existed over a thousand years ago and created a language to communicate with gods, so the tribe could survive the third cataclysm.
Unfortunately for them, it was all in vain, as they were wiped out by a demon army during a ritual meant to summon the spirit of a god. The language they had painstakingly created with much sacrifice became a dead language, as no one dared to speak it anymore out of fear of demons.
Except for one person, who wrote everything there was to know about this dead language in a book. Unfortunately, that person died suddenly a week later from unexplained causes. The book was then burned, and no trace of the language remained"
"..."
"What's the matter, Your Highness?"
"You're mocking me, aren't you?"
At the princess's words, I couldn't help but let a smile form on my lips.
"Indeed, I'm mocking you. That story never happened."
"I really feel like hitting you..." she said, with barely concealed murderous intent.
After finishing my conversation with the princess, I simply picked up a stack of books and went to sit at a table a little further away.
"What exactly are you looking for? Because I suppose you didn't come here just for the pleasure of reading?"
'I don't particularly want to get closer to her... but I guess this will go faster if I have someone to give me a hand.'
With that thought in mind, I took something out of the storage space in my mana bracelet.
I was about to hand her the sheet, but I spoke up before doing so.
"Promise me you won't tell anyone about what might happen later."
"I, the third princess of the Empire, won't say a word. I swear it on my name~" she said, rolling her eyes and jokingly.
"Sigh..."
I finally handed her the sheet and explained what I wanted to understand by reading these books.
She looked at me before speaking.
"Are you really getting caught up in something like this?"
"Indeed."
I simply nodded, then went back to reading.
"It's true that these strange words are scattered in different places, but aren't you going too far?"
"Well, maybe, but I'd rather be sure of what it is."
"Aaargh..."
"I'm not forcing you to read, Your Highness. You can leave if you want; it doesn't bother me."
'The opposite would probably be more pleasant.'
"No, I'm going to help you," she said with an innocent smile, surely unaware of my true thoughts.
After that, neither of us spoke another word, immersed in our books, which made the atmosphere rather calm.
Without me noticing, my bracelet vibrated to notify me of my next class. I hesitated a bit, then, realizing I hadn't made much progress in my research, I decided to skip my martial arts class.
I glanced at the princess, who was also absorbed in her book, then asked in an inquisitive tone:
"Don't you have other classes, Princess?"
"Don't worry, I'm excused."
"I see."
I went back to my reading, letting a comfortable silence settle around us.
Lost in our books, it was finally a librarian who came to see us around six o'clock to tell us that the library would close in less than an hour.
Shortly after she left, the princess exclaimed:
"Found?!"
"What are you talking about?" I asked, almost falling asleep from reading too much today. In fact, I'm not much of a reader, so it's unusual for me to read this much.
"Those strange words."
What she had just said woke me up instantly, and I sat up before asking her with a small smile:
"Oh, well done, Princess. So, which language is it?"
She hesitated a bit but finally answered with a frown:
"...The demonic language..."
At those words, I felt a chill and immediately furrowed my brow before standing up. I walked over to the princess and positioned myself behind her. Surprised, she placed the book she was holding on the table, then looked at me, her face now red.
"W-What are you doing?"
Ignoring her, I placed the sheet next to the book and quickly studied the language. It was actually quite easy to understand what was written, and it didn't take me long to decipher the words. After a few more minutes, I wrote down the sentence that the assembled words formed:
"Meet in the southern forest at eight o'clock tonight. The King will be waiting for you."
"This situation stinks..." she said with a deep frown.
"Indeed, Princess. All this research wasn't in vain after all," I replied with a smile.
"What are we going to do?"
"We?"
"Did I say something strange?"
"I will handle this matter alone, Princess. Don't get in my way."
She frowned slightly, showing her disagreement, but eventually nodded.
"Fine, then what's your plan?"
"I will simply give these documents to the person who was supposed to receive them, then follow them discreetly and kill everyone present if what happens there is dangerous for the Academy's students."
The princess stared at me, stunned, but eventually fell silent.
In the end, I walked away from her. I thanked her for her help, then left the library after putting away all the books I had taken.