Sunlight poured in through the bare window, with the broken curtains scattered on the floor, casting a warm glow over Irina's sleeping form. She tossed and turned beneath the covers, mumbling weakly, "Stupid sun… why didn't I fix the curtain yesterday… Oh, right… I met Amon… Amon…"
Suddenly, she shot up in bed, eyes wide, as if her life depended on it. "Amon!," the memory hitting her like a bolt of lightning.
Without wasting another second, she traced the letters for 'Alexandria' in the air, entering the Sefiroth. Once settled on the comfortable sofa in that mystical realm, she let out a deep sigh of relief. "I can't believe I survived that. I met Amon, the Amon. Mischief and Trickery, the Angel of Deceit… and I'm still here to tell the tale."
She scanned her surroundings, checking herself for any strange feelings or lingering effects. "I didn't sense anything when I entered… so 'He' shouldn't have left anything on me. I truly hope I didn't catch 'His' interest."
To be cautious, she'd spent the previous night focusing on nothing but novels, even writing down entire plots from the ones she'd read in her past life. "Hopefully, I didn't think of anything incriminating like Sefiroths, Adam, or any forbidden knowledge. My mind was probably like that of a creep…"
She groaned. I even talked about myself like a normal Beyonder, just in case. I can't forget about the new sequence. It's a variant I always have to consider. What if he's curious because I'm a Sequence 6 of the Equilibrium Pathway? Nah, I doubt it. I'm just a 6. Still, who knows how many higher Sequences there are… Also, there's a chance 'He' didn't realize my true Sequence... Hopefully.
She paused for a moment before shaking her head, deciding it was irrelevant. Whatever. I survived, and that's what matters.
After a brief silence, Irina's voice echoed in the empty library. "Screw it. It's in the past; it's not my problem anymore. Back to the present. Today's Monday, so no work… which means it's study time!"
Her eyes gleamed with excitement. The books I picked up yesterday were just light novels to pass the time while I recovered from my injury, so I need to head back to the library. Let's start with Ancient Feysac. In this Kingdom, Leon, it's customary for noble and wealthy children to learn it from a young age. I may not be a noble, but there's no way I'll let those snobs know more than me! To the library I go!
She stood up with renewed determination. Alexandria can wait, it's not like it's going anywhere anytime soon.
The next day, Irina entered the Security Company on a sunny Tuesday morning. Rozanne, the absent-minded receptionist, greeted her with a distracted, "Good morning Irina! Captain Dunn said to send you to his office when you arrived."
Irina raised an eyebrow, noticing Rozanne's attention was more focused on a poorly hidden novel beneath her desk. "Oh my~ The way you say that makes it sound like I'm getting fired."
The receptionist snapped to attention, eyes wide with alarm. "WHAT?! No, no! Sorry, I was just, um, focusing on these documents—"
Irina smirked. "Documents, huh? Or novels? Did you finally take my recommendation from the other day?" She then waved it off with a chuckle. "No matter. We'll talk more during lunch if you want. I'd love to hear your thoughts~"
She strolled off, leaving Rozanne fumbling with excuses behind her. As she walked away, Irina called out teasingly, "Don't worry! Your secret is safe with me!"
Moments later, Irina arrived at Captain Dunn's office and knocked firmly on the door. After hearing a short "Come in," she entered to find the Captain sitting at his desk, cigar in hand, reading what appeared to be a report. Not surprised, she greeted him with a chipper, "Good morning, Cap~ You called for me?"
Dunn ignored her casual tone and got straight to the point. "Just in time. I know it's early, but I've got a mission for you. You and Leonard will head out together. There's an old cemetery just outside the city where some civilians reported seeing strange humanoid shadows moving around at night. Normally, this kind of thing would be ignored by the church, but this isn't the first report. They claim the shadows pushed them around, and they even fell multiple times."
Irina tilted her head slightly. "A group of civilians gave all that detail? Sounds unusual."
"It was a group of teenagers," Dunn clarified, waving off her concern. "Irrelevant. If they were lying, they wouldn't have gone to the church, they could've just talked to their parents and left it at that."
Irina shrugged, accepting the explanation. "Fair enough. Anything else I need to know?"
Dunn shook his head. "Not much. The cemetery's been there for ages. Sometimes a tombstone gets added, but no one knows by whom. It's outside any church's jurisdiction, which is why it came to us, the attack was on the believers of the Evernight Goddess. Leonard's already waiting for you. Head out immediately."
Irina grinned. "Sweet! I'm on it. See ya~"
She sped out of the office, leaving Dunn muttering to himself, "…'Sweet'? What does that even mean? And 'ya'?"
An hour later, Irina and Leonard arrived at the overgrown, abandoned cemetery on the city's outskirts. Weeds reached knee height, and most of the gravestones were hidden beneath them. While Leonard began inspecting the area, Irina stood at the entrance, arms crossed.
The poet looked back at her with a raised brow. "Are you planning to stand there all day?"
Irina met his gaze, dead serious. "You don't seriously expect me to walk in there with these clothes, do you? I just bought this outfit! Grass stains are a nightmare, and who knows what bugs or snakes are crawling around in there."
Truth be told, the aura here is a bit oppressive… It's not exactly a warning, but something's off. Can't ignore my spirituality just because it's work. Still, Captain sent both of us.
Leonard sighed, exasperated. "Are you serious?"
Inside his head, Pallez Zoroast chimed in, She's got a point.
Leonard mentally groaned, When did the old man wake up?
Irina scoffed, adjusting her blouse. "But, since I can't let you do all the work…" She lifted the hem of her skirt and began tucking it into her belt.
Leonard quickly spun around, face flushed. "What are you doing?!"
"Oh my my~" Irina teased. "Is our little poet shy? I'm just shortening it so it won't get dirty. You can turn back around, unless you're scared of knees~"
Leonard slowly turned back and gave Irina a once-over, his gaze critical. "You look like a balloon. So unladylike. But that's on me, I shouldn't expect much from you."
Irina wiped away an invisible tear, playing along. "You wound me, dear Poet. After I poured my heart out telling you about my novels, you still treat me this way."
From just above my knees down, I'm completely exposed. Not that it matters, I'm wearing high boots, and there's also no one around.
Weren't knees considered sexy in the Victorian era? Or was it ankles? Whatever. Leonard isn't reacting strangely, so I guess I'm safe.
Long skirts are comfy, but short ones are unbeatable in the summer. It's odd I haven't seen any ladies wearing them in the city. Though they do sell skirts with slits, like mine, so maybe it's not as scandalous as it used to be in Victorian times.
Stepping into the cemetery, Irina smirked. "How about letting this 'balloon' give you a hand? You're quite the disrespectful gentleman, dear Poet~"
Leonard, already searching again, glanced over his shoulder. "You've got quite the personality. Sometimes you remind me of Madam Daly, so it's nothing I'm not used to."
She chuckled. "Fair enough. I'll take the left side, fewer weeds over there."
An hour into her investigation, Irina found herself deep in the forest. Not that she had lost herself, quite the opposite, she had followed a strange trail. Her spirit vision revealed faint traces, different colors on the ground, not quite footprints but close enough. The path led her to a small, abandoned mausoleum. The sign at the entrance, written in ancient Feysac, read: "Here rests the family of XXX."
Well, my studies paid off! she thought, impressed with herself. This place is ancient. My ability tells me it's at least 1,000 to 1,500 years old, definitely from the Fifth Epoch, maybe even late Fourth Epoch. What does that mean? No idea. This wasn't in the novel, so it probably isn't important, right?
Her gaze fell on an open tomb. "Oh, look. The tomb is open."
Cautiously, Irina approached and peeked inside, where a skeleton held a book in its bony grasp. Using her spirit vision, she saw the white bones emitted no color, but the old tome radiated a yellow glow.
I still don't fully understand what each color means, but I'll figure it out eventually, she mused. For now, this is helpful.
Carefully inspecting the tome, she estimated it to be at least 3,000 years old. "Second Epoch, an antique if I've ever seen one."
Her thoughts raced. Wait. Second Epoch items are supposed to be nearly impossible to find outside the City of Silver! No way I'm letting this chance slip by.
Without a second thought, Irina pried the book from the skeleton's hands, not the least bit fazed by the eerie situation. "You've had this long enough. Time for a new owner."
It's going behind Chanis Gate anyway, she reasoned. Or maybe it'll be relocated to another city. Either way, I'll get a chance to read it before… wait…
Irina's excitement dimmed as she inspected the book's cover, flipping through page after page. Her expression gradually darkened.
"Damn it. Why do I always make the stupidest of choices?" She muttered. Of course, it's either written in Jotun, Dragones, or Elvish—nothing I can read! Why did I even think a book over 3,000 years old would be written in Leon, or even Ancient Feysac? Maybe it's in Ancient Hermes since that language was invented in the Second Epoch… But that doesn't change the fact that I can't read it! Lying to Leonard with Pallez in his head is a bad idea. Guess I'll have to simply hand it over.
She sighed in defeat, glancing around for anything else of interest, but found only overgrown vegetation and crumbling walls. "Well, that's that. Time to head back. Maybe Leonard found the source of those human-shaped shadows. Still… I really wanted to read this book. How can I be a History Teacher if I can't even uncover history?"
After one last look at the open tomb, she turned back toward the cemetery. Following the remaining traces of spiritual energy on the ground, she took multiple detours, investigating them as well. But this time, they grew fainter and more sporadic, fading into nothing.
Nearly two hours later, Irina finally reunited with Leonard, who looked both relieved and furious the moment her figure emerged from the forest. "Where have you been?! I've been looking for you for two hours! This cemetery isn't that big—what were you doing for four hours?!"
Leonard, clearly worried, rushed over, but Irina waved him off. "Calm down, Leo. I was following some traces on the ground. Found a mausoleum in the forest, and the skeleton inside was nice enough to gift me this tome. Look!"
Only now did Leonard notice the large book tucked into the makeshift 'balloon' of her skirt. He stared at her like she was insane. "You've been carrying it like that?"
Irina grinned. "What? It's practical! Why carry it when I've got a perfectly good pocket?"
Leonard, now more annoyed than worried, shot a glance back at the forest. "Forget the 'pocket' for a second. A skeleton gave you a book? A moving skeleton? And you just… accepted it? I get that you love books, but—"
"Relax," Irina interrupted, her eyes darting to the dense vegetation. "It's not like that. He was just holding it. When I took it, he didn't resist, so… I'd call that a tacit agreement, right? Besides, it's not like he needed it anymore. What about you? Did you find the source of those shadows?"
Leonard gave her a long, tired look before sighing in resignation. "Yeah, I did. There were remnants of a ritual. I prayed to the Goddess and performed another ritual to overwrite the old one. The negative energy dissipated afterward. Let's go back."
He started heading toward the carriage, and Irina followed, curious. "You're not interested in checking out the place where I found this?"
Without turning, Leonard responded flatly. "No. You've been carrying that book long enough, and we don't know if it has any side effects. For all we know, it could be a sealed artifact. Best to head back for now."
Well, that wraps up this mission, Irina thought as she followed him. No wonder it wasn't mentioned in the novel, it was an easy one, after all. It happened before Klein arrived, too. But this book… I'm pretty sure it wasn't supposed to be found.