Mistaken for a Masked Munchkin

Old Records, Ossuary of Letters (3)

Just a few short lines.

I stared at that sequence of text for a long while.

[Delkirn.]

[A term coined by the sages of old, a shortened way of referring to the Evil God 'Delkirnos'.]

[However, in that era, all mention of the name was forbidden to erase its horror.]

The Evil God, Delkirnos.

Delkirn was the ancient shortened form of that name.

So that was the true identity of the ■■■ that had been displayed on my status window all this time.

"...An Evil God?"

A dazed murmur escaped me.

The Evil God.

In the original story, it had been a veiled existence.

'Even after digging through volume after volume of setting books, I couldn't find even its name, let alone its identity...'

The root of every calamity in this world.

The foundation of the cultists, and the god called the mother of the black apostles.

A being that delighted in the pain and screams of living creatures, and wished for the continent to one day become a sea of fire.

That was all the original story ever explained.

'Delkirnos...'

It was the first time I had even learned its name.

If there was a reason records about it were so hard to find, it was probably because mention of it had been forbidden since ancient times.

'If even the sages of old banned mention of it, what exactly is this so-called Evil God...?'

My brow slowly furrowed.

I turned a few more pages, but after the second page, there was nothing but blank paper.

As I scanned those empty pages one by one, I found another sentence on the final page.

This one too had been hastily scrawled in ancient script.

[You who are being tested.]

[Now, only your choice remains.]

"......"

One being tested.

A choice.

What was that supposed to mean this time?

The sentence sat there like a message left for someone.

I flipped back and forth through the pages a few times, checking if I had missed anything.

'There isn't any other name mentioned besides Delkirn...'

The one who wrote this book had to be the owner of this archive.

Raziel, the ancient sage whose name was still remembered to this day.

'Would an ancient sage really leave a record like this for no reason at all?'

And this archive was a place that compiled all of his knowledge.

Was there some other reason a book like this had been placed here?

The thick volume was almost entirely blank, with only a few lines on the first page, the second page, and the last page.

'And even those are full of things I can't make sense of.'

I sank into thought.

Then a status window alert rang by my ear.

Ding-!

[■□ Quest cleared!]

-Title: About the Truth

-Objective: Visit the ancient archive. Among millions of books, find a book related to ■■■.

[You have found a book related to ■■■!]

-Reward has not been provided yet.

Ding-!

[Chain Quest cleared!]

-Title: Old Records, Ossuary of Letters.

-Objective: Break through the field 'Raziel's Library.' Hunt the boss monster 'Sentinel of the Highest Knowledge.'

[You have successfully broken through 'Raziel's Library'!]

[With outstanding performance, you have hunted 'Sentinel of the Highest Knowledge'!]

-A special reward will be provided. Please check your inventory.

"Hm..."

Messages announcing quest completion.

I put off checking the rewards for later.

Still, if this popped up, then ■■■ really did seem to be Delkirn after all.

As I kept poring over the book, Carmilla, who had been looking around the shelves, suddenly leaned in.

"Viktor."

"...Ah, Princess-nim."

"Should we head back now? If we delay any longer, I don't think we can return before morning..."

It had already been hours since we left the hotel.

If we wanted to get back before sunrise, it was time to leave.

I wanted to stay in the archive a little longer, but morning would not wait for us.

I gave up and tidied my surroundings.

'This...'

I looked down at the book in my hand.

Just in case, I tried slipping it into my robe to take it with me, but...

'As expected, no.'

Raziel's Library.

Items from this archive could not be taken outside.

Even in the original story, it was a place I visited from time to time to gather information, but you could only check information there. Taking books out was impossible.

Ding-!

[Raziel's Record]

-Category: Book

-Grade: ???

-Status: Old

-Description: Cannot be taken outside the archive.

Using a bug to take it would have been convenient at times like this, but sadly, not many bugs worked here.

In the end, the best I could do was check it with my own eyes and leave.

With lingering regret, I slid the book back into the shelf.

Just as I was about to turn away, a broken status window rose and blocked my vision.

Ding-!

[Tip. Can hu҉̡̮͍̪̯͔̪͎̉̄͆̍̉͗̚͞mans live agai҈̡̰͈̖͉̗̰҇͗͌̑̌͂̉̈́̚n҉̡̝̮͍̣̱͒̀͆͠?]

A message I had already seen several times.

But the next few lines were completely different.

[Tip. Child.]

[Tip. Whose power do you think that po҉̨̜̰̳͉̳͓҇͌̇̑ͅwer is҉̲͈̣̬͙͎̽̈́̅̿̅̓̑́̕͢ͅ?]

My breath caught for a moment.

A message written like someone's question.

I stood there for a long while, unable to answer.

"......"

Staring at the blinking text.

***

As always, the status window quickly returned to normal.

The broken text recovered, and its original blue light came back.

I waited after that too, but as expected, there was no follow-up action.

'Even the tone went back to normal...'

The status window had changed its manner of speech, even if only briefly.

I had been with this system for almost half a year, and this was the first time.

Then it went right back to its usual mechanical tone as if nothing had happened.

'What was that?'

I could only sink into deep thought.

Loaded words, and a loaded situation.

I let out a low sigh at all of it.

Leaving those questions behind, we returned to the hotel.

Thankfully, we made it back to our rooms before morning.

"......"

Morning broke.

And without even time to rest, the second day of the school trip began.

Unlike the first day, when everyone had free time, the second day was packed.

-Today's activity will be a tour of the sea around Geltin and visits to ruins at various spots.

-Today we will be on the cruise all day, so please keep that in mind.

-Then within one hour, everyone must board the cruise.

All students boarded the cruise.

The activity was to circle the nearby coast and view the many marine ruins still scattered around.

The second day would probably be spent out at sea, taking in Geltin's history all day.

"Whew..."

I stood on the wide-open deck.

Leaning on the railing, I let the strong sea wind hit me.

Maybe because I had stayed up all night, yawns kept slipping out.

'I'm tired.'

There were two quests assigned during this school trip.

Still, from the very first night, I had succeeded in clearing one of them.

It left a bit of unease, but I got the reward too, so it was not a bad outcome.

'Come to think of it, I still have to handle the other one...'

The school trip lasted a full week.

I had to clear that one too within the remaining time.

'Actually... this quest is the real main one.'

Unlike last night's quest, which had been very personal, the second quest involved the lives of countless people.

An event that existed in the original story.

An incident that could be called the core of the school trip episode.

If you failed here, the player took massive losses.

Ding-!

[Main Quest]

-Title: Calamity from the Deep Sea

-Objective: Infiltrate the cultist branch hidden in the deep sea.

-Failure Penalty: The end of the coastal city 'Geltin'

-Success Reward: ???

[Time Limit: Before the school trip ends]

'Well... looked at another way, it's a good opportunity.'

Geltin, a major coastal city on a huge scale.

If I could protect a city of this size, I could secure an enormous amount of Karma Points.

'I have to do it perfectly, without mistakes.'

I muttered quietly.

This time too, the entire plan was already laid out in my head.

Right then, while I was lost in thought, someone suddenly tapped my shoulder.

"V-Viktor-nim..."

"Sir Viktor!"

They were my teammates who had been standing beside me the whole time.

The black-haired and blonde-haired girls in particular.

"Ah... Miss Alice, Miss Ranne."

I answered a beat late.

"Is something wrong?"

"W-we were just wondering if you're okay..."

"Hm?"

"It's just... since this morning, your mood felt s-strange. You weren't talking much either, so..."

Alice asked, fidgeting.

I must have been on her mind since I had stayed quiet the whole time.

I hadn't really shown any expression, so had she figured it out from atmosphere alone?

She clearly looked worried.

Ranne added as well.

"Exactly! Today your gaze has been especially deep in thought! Are you troubled by something?"

"My gaze? But I've been wearing a mask the whole time..."

"Hm! I saw it with the eye of my heart!"

Was she some kind of Little Prince?

I let out a small laugh inside the mask.

Then I added a few words to tell them I was fine.

"It's nothing serious. I'm just tired."

"Hm! Did you lose sleep last night?"

"You could say that. Not enough to worry over."

"Was your room uncomfortable? Or did you do something else separately...?"

Ranne accepted it easily, but Alice still looked worried.

Then Lua, who had been listening closely, cut in.

Maybe she noticed how worried the two of them were.

The little girl leaned in and tugged firmly on both their sleeves.

"Unni! Unni! Lua knows why Daddy is tired!"

Maybe she wanted to help me, so she pulled their attention toward herself.

Thanks to that, Ranne and Alice shifted their focus to Lua.

Both girls tilted their heads and looked down at the little girl.

"The reason Viktor-nim is tired?"

"What is it, Miss Lua?"

"Well..."

Lua lowered her voice and whispered.

Both of them already knew about Carmilla anyway.

If it was just that I had gone out with Princess-nim, there was no reason to stop her.

'I wonder how she'll explain it.'

Maybe because I was proud she stepped up for her dad.

I did not stop Lua and quietly listened.

"You know Daddy? He stayed really close to Princess-nim."

=Father accompanied Princess-nim all through the night.

"...Huh?"

"All night long. He was panting like he was exhausted, and he sweated a lot too."

=He moved nonstop all night. The fierce fighting exhausted him, and he sweated heavily.

"Eh? Huh...?"

"And then, like... Daddy and Princess-nim held hands, and Princess-nim even climbed on top of Daddy!"

=They cooperated closely, and Princess-nim climbed onto Father in bat form.

""......""

Did that brutal phrasing short-circuit their brains?

Ranne and Alice froze in place.

Then heat rushed red into their faces.

"V-Viktor-nim... with Princess-nim all night, panting...?"

"And sweating, and then she c-climbed on top of Sir Viktor..."

"Viktor-nim...?"

"Sir Viktor...?"

Their shaking eyes snapped toward me.

Alice started tearing up.

Ranne's face burned hot enough to look broken.

"Everyone, this is a misunderstanding."

No.

Technically, none of it was wrong, but still.

"Could it be that the reason you couldn't sleep all night was because, with P-Princess-nim, you did that kind of..."

"Sir Viktor! I-I do not think that is good for Miss Lua's education!"

"Since when, exactly..."

"And during the school trip too...!"

I'm telling you, it's not like that.

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