9. Menosorpo (2)

After arranging to meet Saibel again later, I left the hospital and headed for the library.

My original reason for visiting Saibel hadn't been Menosorpo, but Artemis’s Bow. I'd wanted to check whether only women could use it, but hadn't managed to.

As the next best option, I decided to look for information about Weaving in the library.

“Ugh, Frondier.”

That was what greeted me the moment I stepped into the library. Einen, the librarian, was looking at me.

“Hello, ma'am.”

“Hmph.”

Apparently in a bad mood, Einen turned her head sharply away from me.

Or perhaps she wasn't in a bad mood and simply disliked me.

“You've been lucky, Frondier.”

“Pardon?”

“Mistilteinn. Your bluff is still holding up, for now.”

“... Oh, right.”

Come to think of it, Einen had tried to pull one over on me here in the library. When an adventuring party discovered Mistilteinn, she'd casually sounded me out, hoping I'd have to retract my claim that Mistilteinn didn't look like that.

But, well, that Mistilteinn had turned out to be a fake, so my bluff remained intact.

Not that it had ever been a bluff.

“Anyway, why do you keep coming to the library? It's not like you.”

“There's a book I'm looking for.”

“Do you realize you gave me that exact same answer last time?”

Had I?

But this time, I meant it. I needed to find books related to Weaving.

Among the branches of magic, would that be... illusions?

Since Weaving was my unique skill, finding useful information would be extremely difficult. Still, I'd give it a try, like searching for a needle in the sand.

“Yes, yes. Good luck finding it.”

Einen waved me off as though shooing away a fly.

Her opinion of me seemed to have dropped even further.

'That's a bit of a waste.'

As I'd mentioned before, Einen was a good source of information. Not only was she the librarian at a place where news from both inside and outside Constel converged, she also loved a good story.

That made her a valuable ally who tipped me off about minor events, or important ones I might otherwise miss.

... If I were Aster Evans, that is.

'Hm?'

Just then, my gaze fell on the paper Einen was looking at. It appeared to be some sort of quiz.

Had she always liked these things?

“... Are you doing a quiz?”

“You're still here?”

“I didn't know you liked that sort of thing.”

When I pressed on with the conversation, a little forcefully, Einen sighed.

“I'm not doing it because I like it.”

“Then why?”

“Look here. It says anyone who answers every question correctly gets a gift certificate. As a housewife, I can't just pass that up.”

Sure enough, where she pointed, a department store gift certificate was listed as the prize.

And when I looked at the quiz...

'... Oh.'

The questions weren't difficult. They were just trivial.

The theme was “General Knowledge Every Adventurer Needs,” but none of it looked remotely necessary.

1. What is a goblin's average lifespan?

2. When do griffins lay their eggs?

... That sort of thing.

“Which one are you stuck on?”

“Why? Would you know the answer if you saw it?”

“I might.”

Einen pointed to the last question.

12. What does “dragon heart” refer to, and what happens if a human eats one?

Looking at that question, I had a thought.

They really didn't want to give away those gift certificates.

There were exactly two actual dragon hearts in the entire Terst Empire. One was in the Terst emperor's resting place, and the other was in Vamies Church, where Pope Ansproi resided.

Most people had therefore never seen one, and there were no publicly available photos or videos of them.

Even throughout history, only a tiny number of humans had ever seen or used a dragon heart.

This was far too difficult a question for a department store gift certificate.

'Does whoever wrote this even know the answer?'

I had my doubts. There were so few people who could possibly know.

Below the question, Einen had written:

- A heart?

“... You've only answered one part.”

“How am I supposed to know what happens when a human eats one?”

Einen clutched her head as she spoke. I couldn't tell whether she was asking me or talking to herself.

I smiled.

“Would you like me to tell you?”

“What? You know the answer? Really?”

“Of course.”

I certainly did.

I'd seen a dragon heart for myself. I'd even eaten one.

Einen looked at me pleadingly.

“What happens if someone eats one? Hm? Tell me. If I win, I'll share the gift certificates with you.”

“Before that, though...”

“Yes?”

“The answer you've written is wrong too.”

Einen stared blankly at me, then her mouth fell open.

“A dragon heart... isn't a dragon's heart?”

“No. It's a Mana crystal. When a dragon dies, all its Mana condenses and crystallizes. That crystal is located in its heart, which is why it's called a ‘dragon heart.’”

“Wow, what's gotten into you? This isn't like you at all. How do you know something like that?”

“I happened to come across it in a book I read a while ago.”

“There's a book like that?”

A book like that.

Surely one existed. At least one among several million books. Probably.

Not that I'd seen it.

“Then what happens if a human eats one?”

“They're left an invalid.”

“... Really?”

“Yes.”

Despite her doubts, Einen dutifully wrote down what I'd said.

... Actually, that was only half right.

I'd eaten a dragon heart as Aster, after all, despite knowing the risk of being left an invalid.

If you knew the proper method, a dragon heart could increase your total Mana capacity.

'But if she wrote that, they'd probably mark it wrong instead.'

That truly was knowledge only I possessed.

* * *

“Hmm. Not this one either, I guess.”

After giving Einen the answer, I searched through the library's books for hints as to whether I could modify woven weapons.

I looked through books on fantasies and illusions, magical theory, memory techniques, and the construction of various weapons.

But none of them offered any clues about Weaving.

I leaned back in my chair and folded my arms.

There was one thing I'd at least confirmed: the images of objects in Frondier's Workshop had exactly the same structure and framework as their real counterparts.

In other words, the Workshop didn't simply “remember” images. It actually replicated and stored an object's underlying framework.

Well, that was presumably why I could bring them into reality, however briefly, and imitate their physical forms with Black River.

“In that case, I would think modifying them should be possible...”

“Modifying?”

I turned toward the voice. Elodie had taken the seat beside me without my noticing. Her blue eyes were trained on me.

“What do you mean, modifying?”

“What brings you to the library?”

“Could you be any more obvious about changing the subject?”

Elodie leaned her face closer to mine.

... Lately, she'd been taking much more interest in me.

In a very bad way.

Whatever conclusion she'd reached on her own, she was suspicious of something about me.

“You keep getting into trouble lately.”

Elodie frowned at me.

“First the dungeon, and I hear you were involved in that Golem incident a few days ago too?”

“I wasn't involved. I got caught up in it.”

Her mouth fell open at my answer. Eyes round, she spoke with a serious expression.

“Wait, that's true?”

“Hm?”

“I thought your involvement was just a rumor.”

Ah, damn it.

Edwin's Golem incident had been such an unexpected event that I hadn't thought it through carefully.

Come to think of it, it was extremely strange that I'd been caught up in it at all.

So it had only been a rumor.

'How would Elodie react if she knew I'd cut down the Golem?'

I was a little curious, but I'd resist the urge.

I offered a convenient excuse.

“I told you. I just got caught up in it. I ran away as soon as I saw it.”

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I said I ran away.”

Despite my words, Elodie looked me over for injuries. Her face was serious, her gaze attentive, searching my expression for any sign of bravado.

... She meant it.

She was genuinely worried about me.

“... Well, as long as nothing happened to you.”

Elodie cleared her throat, looking somewhat embarrassed.

* * *

A few days later, I headed to the address Saibel had given me.

Come to think of it, this was my first visit to a girl's house since coming to this world.

That thought had barely crossed my mind when I reached the front gate.

“So you're the idiot who's been pestering my daughter?”

“Dad! I told you, it's not like that!”

Saibel shouted, her face bright red.

I hated to say it, but that remark sounded like an insult to Saibel. It was almost as though he was saying only an idiot would be interested in his daughter.

This was Saibel's father, Daud Forte.

In contrast to Saibel's delicate beauty, he boasted a large, muscular frame, with a scruffy beard and equally unkempt hair.

Judging by his face alone, he looked like a blacksmith whose hand might easily slip, but Daud was actually closer to a meticulous sculptor.

Engraving magic circles onto weapons was that difficult a task.

Well, that aside, I was honestly glad to see him.

Even if he didn't know me.

“Hmph. Dead eyes, and he doesn't look like he's got an ounce of strength in him. Saibel! What do you see in a boy like this, bringing him home?”

“I keep! Telling you! It's not like that!”

Saibel punctuated her words with little swats at Daud.

Naturally, he paid her no attention.

“Frondier, was it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Hmph. I've heard what you want. My daughter begged me so desperately that I'll oblige, but once we're finished, you're going straight home!”

“When did I beg you desperately?” came Saibel's voice from beside him.

“I won't approve of the likes of you!”

With that, Daud spun around.

... Perhaps it was just my imagination, but ironically, I felt as though Daud was actually bringing Saibel and me closer together.

* * *

I went inside and explained the circumstances in one of the rooms.

Daud spoke.

“So you want to know what this magic circle is?”

“Yes. I got it as a dungeon reward, but I can't figure out what it is.”

“Did it activate?”

“Yes. It consumed Mana too. But nothing happened.”

Daud stroked his chin for a moment.

“Well, I can't tell just from hearing about it. Draw it.”

He handed me a sheet of paper. I took it and hesitated.

“What are you doing? Get drawing. If you're about to tell me you left the notebook with the circle in it at home...”

“No, it's just... I can't draw it on this sheet.”

“What? Why not?”

“It's too big.”

Daud's eyebrow twitched. Beside him, Saibel drew a breath, looking a little surprised too.

“How big are we talking?”

“Well, I certainly can't draw it in here.”

A room like this wouldn't do. I needed a wide-open space, at least.

“We have a backyard. Would that do?”

“Yes, that should work.”

“Hmph. You'd best not overdo the boasting.”

With that, Daud stood.

It certainly would sound like boasting. A magic circle wasn't impressive simply because it was large. In fact, the same circle produced the same effect regardless of its size.

But what I'd said was that I couldn't draw it small.

That was how densely Menosorpo was packed with symbols and patterns.

Magic circles that complicated were exceedingly rare. At least, I'd never seen one.

That was why Daud suspected I was boasting. Even if I wasn't, he probably thought it couldn't possibly require an entire open area.

Daud, Saibel, and I went out to the open space behind the mansion.

I took out a dagger, retrieved the Menosorpo magic circle from my Workshop, and overlaid it on the ground.

... It would fit, just barely.

Once again, I was reminded what a damn huge magic circle it was.

I bent my knees and began tracing lines in the dirt with my dagger.

“... What are you doing?”

“Pardon?”

“Don't you need a notebook, a phone, something with the circle drawn on it to copy from?”

“I don't have anything like that.”

“You can just draw the circle? Without even a picture?”

“Yes.”

The moment he heard my answer, Daud shouted almost reflexively.

“Nonsense! Even someone who's thoroughly studied the theory can't fully memorize a magic circle's irregular patterns and geometry. Large-scale circles are even worse! How do you expect to draw a circle you haven't even saved on your phone?”

Because it was in my Workshop, of course. That worked better than saving it on a phone.

I diligently copied out the magic circle I'd retrieved from the Workshop.

It took quite some time, but Daud and Saibel watched quietly so as not to disturb me.

“Whew.”

When I finally finished and looked up, they both wore strange expressions.

Saibel's mouth hung open in simple astonishment, while Daud looked at me as though I were some bizarre life-form.

“You really drew the whole thing. Without even looking at a picture.”

“Yes.”

Actually, I had been looking at one.

“What do you think, sir? What kind of magic circle is it?”

I asked Daud respectfully.

“Hmm.” He walked over to the circle.