Chapter 24 - The Palace Of Knowledge

There it stood, in the middle of space as if leading to the very next step he would've taken--but even he could feel the enigmatic door's magical presence and where it led.

"Open up, Hodwin," Norbert ushered his words in a quiet yet stern tone directly to the door.

After a few moments of silence, the door flung to reveal the sight of an entirely different room behind it.

--Magic is pretty hard to get used to. Ren thought to himself as he stared blankly at the now open door, trying to make sense of how that room could be there while the courtyard was here.

"Act in haste, Ren--Listen to Hodwin as if he were me. He even outranks me within the estate," Norbert placed his hand on Ren's shoulder.

"What about you?" Ren asked as he looked up at the butler.

"I must be by the lord's side, that is my eternal duty in this life," Norbert answered with a wrinkled smile, "Now go, boy."

He gave the boy a slight push, causing him to stumble into the magical doorway. Ren glanced back to see Norbert's rare smile once more for just a brief second before the door slammed shut behind him. The door then dissolved into golden particles of mana, fading away into space.

The courtyard he stood in was completely gone, instead, an enormous library surrounded him. The ceiling reached a few stories high with the sight of books filling his sight at every turn. The walls themselves were made of some sort of white and gold marble material, with a glance it seemed to be magical in origin. The vastness of the library put him into further awe than even the mansion—the size of which made him feel like a speck in space.

Besides shelves stocked full of books, there were antiques on display through the middle of each aisle. It definitely matched the description of something that Althaus would own in its ridiculously over-the-top display of wealth and status, but even this seemed out of the nobleman's pay grade.

--Just what kind of person is Althaus really?

"I am to assume you are "Ren", yes?" A voice suddenly spoke up from behind him.

He quickly turned around to meet eye to eye with a man of pale complexion—even paler than himself. His stern azure gaze behind his glasses looked at him as if he had just been woken up. One thing definitely stood out to Ren though, the man's long, pointy ears.

"Are you...an elf?" Ren asked slowly, vaguely pointing towards the man's ears.

"Are you a "Ren"? Answer my question first, human," The man reinstated his question, his gaze not softening in the slightest.

He could tell the man lacked patience—or rather, he probably just didn't like him.

"Yeah, that's me," Ren answered in a huff as he looked at the man.

He wore a long-sleeve black shirt with a ruffled blouse. His cream-colored trousers cut off just above his ankles, wearing black bucklers on his feet.

—He looks like he's dressed for some sort of formal gathering, but the dude is in a library. Ren thought to himself as he looked the mysterious librarian up and down.

"I see. For your question—I am not an elf, but a high elf, don't make such rude assumptions," The elven librarian confirmed.

Oddly enough, he expected an elf—or "high elf", would have long, illustrious golden hair. This man had somewhat short pitch-black hair that matched the tone of his shirt.

"Right, right…" Ren gave him a smile, not wanting to provoke him.

"Well, if you know, then that is fine with me. I am Hodwin, the librarian and keeper of this library," The elven man introduced himself.

"Right, well—why was I even brought here in the first place?" Ren asked, looking around as he adjusted to the change in environment.

"Are you dim-witted, ignorant, or both? Clearly, there is an immediate risk to your life and that is why you were brought here to my library," Hodwin adjusted his silver-rimmed glasses before sitting down on the chair behind him.

"I understood that much, alright? You don't have to be so rude, jeez. What I meant to ask is why this library exactly?"

The elven librarian took his time to answer the question, remaining silent as he got comfortable in the luxurious seat. It seemed almost like more of a bed rather than a chair—lined with comfortable-looking velvet cushions, supported by a fine wood structure.

"Yes, yes, maybe my patience is a bit short for an otherworlder. I forgot that you're ignorant to the ways of this world—how forgetful of me," Hodwin muttered a sarcastic apology, "this library exists in a subspace separate from the manor itself. The only way in is either through my allowance of it or by possessing a special bookmark."

It sort of made sense to him now why it took Meinhard so long to go to and from this library--and why he warned him about this librarian being "different". Between his nasty attitude and his sharp glare full of contempt, the best way to summarize his first impression of the librarian was "prickly".

"So what do I do? Just wait here?" Ren asked, looking down at the tan marble floor, etched with long-stretching paintings that seemed to run across the entirety of the marvelous floor.

"Do what you want, there are plenty of books here for you to read to pass the time, obviously. Just stay away from the restricted sections--I won't hesitate to bind you with magic," Hodwin glanced up at him from the book he held on his lap.

"So...any books that can help a complete novice with me learn some simple magic?" Ren asked, hopeful but not expecting the elf to be of much help--or at least, choose not to be.

Prying the librarian's eyes away from the pages of the book he was reading was a daunting task, but the man seemed to oblige as he raised his hand, snapping his fingers. As his snap echoed through the vast chamber of literature, the sound of something flying through the air hissed.

Suddenly--a blur appeared in front of him before a solid object collided directly into his chest, knocking him over as his breath escaped his lungs unwillingly. Gasping for air while he looked up to the high-reaching ceiling, he placed his hands on his chest to find a book resting on his aching sternum.

"You could've just pointed me to the proper section, or you know--give it to me like a normal person," Ren complained in a quiet voice, still trying to properly breathe once more as he sat up.

The book was designed in a completely black, tattered leather, coated with a thin layer of grime. No words were etched onto the front cover, leaving the contents to be mysterious to him.

"Any further complaints and I shall use a hush spell on you," Hodwin spoke, not lifting his eyes from the text he was reading.

Ren took that threat to heart, nodding his head as he sat down on the cold, solid ground before flipping the book open to the first page. The pages were stiff and crisp, as if the book had not been opened in ages. A distinct smell of dried paper that was once wet met his nostrils as he scanned his fingers over the old text.

"Scripts of The Void," he sounded out the words written at the top of the first page.

By that text and the general appearance of the book--it had to be primarily about dark magic. At least, it was his best guess. He looked up towards Hodwin, stopping himself just before asking him how he knew to give him a dark affinity book.

He seldom wanted to draw out the wrath of the high-elf while he was engrossed in whatever book he was reading. It was hard to maintain his focus on the already difficult-to-read language as his mind wandered off in worry--the feeling he got from the Argonaut earlier reeked off sinister intentions. If they truly believed it was necessary to hide him away in this library, then perhaps they knew what Rouge was capable of.