CH 6

Chapter 6. Secret Library (2)

Translator: Aura

Alioth followed Krasue down the passageway as if possessed. After a while, they came across a door.

The door was well secured with a large padlock bigger than a person’s hand. Krasue stood in front of the dusty, padlocked door.

“Do you also want me to cut the padlock?”

“No, you’ve done enough.”

When he came to this place in his past life, it had already lost its meaning because it had been consumed by the flames.

But now it would be different since that happened too far in the future.

‘The Green Pine Lodge is certainly the place where the outcasts of the Valheim Family are sent.’

Krasue had wasted many years here.

However, the Green Pine Lodge was not built for such a cruel purpose. It was so old that its original purpose faded over time. The Green Pine Lodge was meant to be a place to help those born without abilities in Valheim to shine like the rest.

But things changed due to one particular incident.

The worst disgrace and demon in the history of the Valheim Family, who emerged in the Green Pine Lodge, attempted to wipe out the entire family.

His name was Demalius Valheim.

‘Because of him, this place was hidden.’

It was feared that someone like Demalius would emerge again, which is why the Secret Library of the Green Pine Lodge was hidden.

This was a place prepared for those good-for-nothings from the Valheim Family.

Krasue finally put his hand on the large padlock.

Due to its composition, not even a high-ranking knight like Alioth could cut it.

But for Krasue it was different.

What did he need to do to steal something? That’s right, pick a lock.

For Krasue, who had picked countless locks so far, the padlock of the Secret Library of the Green Pine Lodge was an easy task.

‘It’s time to use my skill.’

Krasue immediately activated Black Hood.

His skill allowed him to steal whatever he wanted from a target. Of course, objects can also be a target.

Unlike living beings, no evaluation was required to steal something from an object. In particular, if the object had no owner.

Clang!

At that moment, the shackle came off the padlock and was left in Krasue’s hand.

Thud!

The large padlock, which had lost its shackle, fell straight to the ground.

Alioth’s eyes widened at what he just witnessed in an instant. Meanwhile, Krasue casually dropped the shackle to the ground.

“… Young Master Krasue, did you make a contract with a deity?”

Alioth then asked in surprise. What Krasue had just shown was clearly a skill.

The skills were extraordinary and acted as a deterrent. That’s why as soon as Alioth asked, Krasue turned to look at him.

It appeared that he at this point had not yet made the contract with his deity.

“Well, it’s a minor deity. If you want to report it to my father, you can. I only care about this place.”

The butler was to report everything he did to his father, the head of the family.

For that reason, Alioth lowered his head at Krasue’s words. However, he then stepped forward and said,

“I will keep silent, Young Master Krasue, at least until you finish what you want to do.”

His answer was quite unexpected.

From what Krasue could remember, Alioth was an ambitious person. And the reason for his ambition was none other than his daughter, who was terminally ill.

He used his entire salary as a butler to treat his daughter’s terminal illness.

But still, that money was not enough. A lot more was needed.

Knowing this, Krasue’s third brother made him an offer of assassination that was hard to refuse.

That day when Alioth finally poisoned Krasue’s stew for dinner, he was shocked because his daughter was in a critical condition.

He had done this to get better medical treatment for his daughter, but that same day before dinner his daughter died of her terminal illness.

Alioth barely came to his senses after his daughter’s death, and died eating the stew instead of Krasue.

In his final moments, he was remorseful, but also felt guilty for having been unable to help Krasue grow as his butler.

‘He treated me as if I would always be a good-for-nothing.’

His attitude now was completely different.

‘He must have regained hope in me.’

It was a change that he wouldn’t understand in a normal situation. However, he had confirmed that he had made a contract with a deity.

Even a good-for-nothing person could transform overnight depending on the deity they made a contract with.

The skills granted by the deities were extremely precious.

Therefore, he now saw Krasue differently.

With the current Krasue he could glimpse a light again.

‘At this point, Alioth has only received my third brother’s offer, but he doesn’t plan to carry it out yet.’

Technically, he still hadn’t betrayed Krasue.

It was something that might as well be overlooked if Krasue didn’t want to judge him for it.

‘I see. So is this the downside of regression?’

Krasue vaguely understood why Arthur had come to hate regression.

The current Alioth and the Alioth who ate the poisoned stew were two different people.

He certainly wouldn’t follow the same path, and all because Krasue had changed.

Arthur had been unable to bear this divergence, so he was able to take his regression.

‘The issue in this case was Alioth’s daughter.’

Alioth was useful.

If he didn’t have exceptional abilities, he wouldn’t be a butler of the Valheim Family.

It was better to keep Alioth by his side at least while he was in Green Pine Lodge.

Besides, Krasue knew what Alioth’s daughter’s terminal illness was. He even knew how to cure her.

‘I’ll take care of that later.’

His priority right now was the secret library.

Krasue felt a little excited for the first time in a long time. With that feeling, he opened the door to the secret library.

Whoo—

A cloud of dust came from inside.

Perhaps because he had been in places ruined by the erosion of the world, this amount of dust did not bother him.

So Krasue walked in calmly.

As his eyes became accustomed to the darkness, he began to see inside clearly. The books in the old bookcases were the first thing that caught his attention.

The books here were secret arts tomes, which contained the knowledge of the family’s ancestors.

Most of the Valheim Family are natural-born geniuses, so these secret arts tomes were actually irrelevant.

They were born with all the blessings of the Valheim Family already condensed into their bodies.

So why were there secret arts tomes like these in a Valheim library?

The answer was simple.

‘This place was only for the good-for-nothings.’

Valheim’s secret arts tomes were created by Valheim’s good-for-nothings.