Chapter 347 – Wayward Butler

Chapter 347 – Wayward Butler

Kai sat at the table in the reading room; his arm rested on the lacquered wood, drumming his fingers. The library wards kept every surface clean of dust, although the lack of markings suggested that few students came here.

The cozy space was tucked past the shelves of the mathematical section. Aside from the round table and four plush chairs, the room held only empty shelves and a low velvet divan below the window that let in the morning light.

She must have gotten the note. Unless she’s too busy to come. Uhm, I should have picked an easier place to meet.

His free day was usually spent scrambling to catch up on classes for the next week. Raelion gave no time to loaf around, not if he wanted to pass the year.

That was usually. Since Rain told him about Valela’s research yesterday, his mind started churning with possibilities, unable to focus on his dry textbooks.

Due to the sound wards, Kai only realized someone’d arrived when the door opened.

Valela peeked inside, and her face lit with a relieved smile. “You’re here! Sorry, I’m late. I’ve used this library for months, and I didn’t know there was a reading room here. How did you find this place?”

“Just wandered around the least popular sections,” Kai said, reciprocating the expression. His chair rattled on the floorboards as he stood up. He considered walking around the table to her, but she’d already reached it. “Thanks for coming this early. I shouldn’t have set the time without giving you a chance to reply.”

“Well, I’m glad. I did ask you to meet.” Her spatial bag made a low thud as she put it down and took a seat. “It was nothing urgent, though. I’ve been looking through the journals you lent me and had a minor breakthrough. I must have been too excited when I told Rain. I know we agreed to stop poking around after what happened, but I’ve been careful. I only take out the books in my room. No one else knows. No one new, at least. Lys found I’m working on something, but I made it appear boring enough to lose her interest…”

Her eyes gleamed excitedly as she continued speaking without pauses; Kai wondered if she had ever stopped investigating. Not that he could blame her.

They’d cut it too close with the Stygian Cult in Limgrell, especially with the crazy praetor. Luck and Aela’s hubris were the only reasons they escaped. It was all still there. Closing his eyes, he could feel the biting cold and dread running through the endless tunnels, hunted and surrounded. Every moment had been carved in his mind deeper than Mnemonic Master could.

They made it out alive; Niel and many others hadn’t.

It was part of what prompted him to enroll in Raelion. His skills and knowledge had been wholly inadequate.

Never again.

That was a promise he intended to keep. He needed to get stronger. Smarter. The journey to the academy and his classes kept him busy, but he hadn’t forgiven or forgotten the horrors—he couldn’t.

Next time, I won’t be the one getting hunted.

Noticing himself zoning out, Kai focused on the present. The cozy reading room, Valela’s worried reassurances, the smell of old paper… sandalwood and strawberries? Uhm, that must be her. A new scent. He smiled at her. “It’s okay. Just be careful. We already have those journals. Studying them can’t be more dangerous than just having them. I doubt they’ll bother with us even if they knew.”

The journals were the reason he wanted to meet her so soon, despite their slightly differing goals. If he wasn’t willing to drop them, how could he ask it of her?

“Yeah, you’re right. If someone could get into Raelion, we’d certainly not be the targets,” Velala said. “Is there something you wanted to ask me?” She must have caught on to his thoughts as her forehead formed a cute crease. “I mostly rambled when I spoke with Rain. I don’t know how much he told you.”

“I… maybe,” Kai said, considering how to breach the topic. “Rain said you tracked a few repeating names and had some theories to discuss.”

He knew the one in the diary recovered from The Intrepid, but he never suspected there would be more.

“Well… Honestly, they are more questions than theories.” Valela picked up her bag. Stretching both arms inside, she started piling weathered leather books on the table. “Half of them detail disturbing experiments of questionable value, except for making me lose sleep. I’m really glad those cul—”

“Wait.” Kai raised a palm to stop her, taking a black pearl speckled with gold from his ring. It was a privacy artifact Rain gifted him months ago. The workings behind foreign runes remained a mystery, but Kai trusted it more than anything he could get his hands on.

Layers of ward bubbled around them as he channeled his mana. With some fiddling, the enchantments covered the entire room, adding on top of those from the library. “Better to be safe,” he said.

“Yes…” Valela stared with wonder at the patterns of golden lines glimmering over the pearl. “I’d say you’re being paranoid, but you can never use too many wards. Huh… Where did you get that pearl? I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it. The runes are quite—”

“It was a gift.” Kai quickly dropped the artifact in his pocket. The origins of the pearl were why he rarely used it in public. “You were saying? About the journals…?”

“Uh, yes…” She blinked. Realizing she was holding a dark leatherbound book, she added it to the growing stack. “The notes of the experiments I deciphered are mostly useless. They record the administrations and results with very graphic details, but not the rituals and alchemical solutions they injected their subjects with. They’re…” She winced in disgust. “I was never tempted to rip or burn a book before them. They’re revolting. I don’t think I can stomach reading more. Maybe we should just hand them over to the officials. A professional might find some clues. Or they’d at least serve to show the nature of their crimes.”

That’s a long shot.

“Maybe,” Kai said, noncommittally. “They must already know. We told them where the hideout was and there were other survivors in Limgrell.”

If the Republic wasn’t completely incompetent, they must have better intel than the journals he randomly picked up. His Favor might tip the scales for him, but good for him didn’t mean good for the country.

It wasn’t like he could anonymously mail them to a precinct. He’d rather not get involved with them again.

“Yes, you’re probably right,” Valela said without pressing the issue, continuing to take books from her bag, forming a second pile. “These are the personal journals. It varies, but they’re generally more interesting. They contain unsanctioned research, notes on the author’s status paths, and a lot of swearing and delirious ramblings about salvation and the purity of… something. The word was capitalized. So perhaps a deity. I’m not entirely sure. They’re all encrypted with a different code. It’s like they didn’t trust their own companions. Some are easy to decipher, while some are beyond my current skills. With the time I can spare between classes, I’ll need months to fully decipher the parts I can.”

Despite her grim words, Kai could see a pleased smile peek through her facade. “I’m assuming you found a way around it?”

“I did.” She laced her fingers on the table, poised and collected. Only her eyes reflected her giddy triumph. “Proper nouns and names stand out in the texts. Most authors are terrible at encrypting them. And some didn’t even bother. I started underlining them. I wanted to look for sections worth deciphering, but then I noticed some patterns…”

Her cool front melted off as she explained her deductions, showing him the passages from a dozen different journals as she grew more animated.

Aside from the journal from The Intrepid, Kai had barely found any time to skim the rest. He listened without interrupting and found himself engrossed in her theories, following her reasoning and adding some of his own.

An hour later, open journals and scribbled notes with relevant passages covered every spot on the table. He’d also learned two things.

First, he’d underestimated Valela’s ability to puzzle out mysteries when she worked with physical books. Watching her work was incredible. Analytical Focus and Voracious Reader must play a part, but he didn’t think it could be reduced to just her skills. Her mind wove connections so fast he could barely keep up. He enjoyed the spark in her eyes when she pieced something together, or the quick, confident way she laid out how it all fit.

And secondly, Kai learned he might have a bit of a hoarder problem. He hadn’t realized how many damn journals he’d salvaged from the cultists before seeing them together—all while running for his life.

I mean, can having too much stuff really be a problem? Leaving loot behind if I have space in my ring would be a waste.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Kai shook his head with a rueful smile, looking at the paper in his hands. It was a short list, containing the names Rain had told him, as well as a few more Valela had figured out in the meantime.

Names with three or more entries in different journals (1-14):

• Aela (crazy praetor, in all but n. 1)

• Rowan (n. 2,4,8)

• Eselya (n. 1,3,9,13)

• Salmen (n. 2,7,11)

• Elijah (n. 1,5,14)

• Kyvenne (n. 4,7,8,10,14)

• Malryc (n. 7,10,11)

They’d number the personal journals for convenience, starting with the one recovered from The Intrepid, recording any individual who appeared more than three times.

“Do you recognize any of them?” Valela asked, though she likely already knew the answer. He hadn’t guarded his reactions during their talk and caught her mouth hanging in silent question more than once.

“I recognize one…” Kai said, unsure why he felt so hesitant. “Elijah. He was my teacher.”

“Your… teacher?”

“One of them, yes.” Despite her calm tone, Kai could tell she was quivering with curiosity. The sight of it drew a smile to his face.