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Chapter 207:
Chapter 207:
Chapter 207:
Chapter 207: Poison
The dawn when even the insects were asleep.
Most people were asleep at this hour. The old library was firmly locked and the lights were off, but there were always exceptions. Someone was moving stealthily.
“Sigh.”
It was none other than Secretary 187.
She was placing books on the shelves, moving her arms one by one. The alarm system inside the old library would react immediately to any use of magic, so this was the only way to do it.
She bent her knees, picked up a book, and stood up.
Removed the books to be discarded, and inserted the books to be shelved.
The difficulty of the task itself wasn’t much of an issue. What truly mattered was that she had never experienced anything like this in her entire life.
If someone were to ask what she felt… it was more humiliating than exhausting. She had never faced such disgrace and shame in her life.“Phew.”
The secretary let out a deep sigh as she continued her task. Even sighing had to be done cautiously. It would be troublesome if someone sensed her presence.
Humans often had a saying.
“They say living long enough means seeing everything….”
Indeed, living long enough had its perks.
Back when she manipulated human books in the Void, she couldn’t have imagined such a task. No, she couldn’t. No one would have.
In any case, a task that has a beginning also has an end.
“Hoo.”
The secretary wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead with her sleeve and looked at the study. The task of replacing all the books in this cursed space was finally over.
No, to be precise, there was still one left.
Sometimes, the smallest difference was the most important.
The books Maiev had replaced didn’t have the characteristic scent and dust of old books. If the library smelled like new paper, it would be too strange.
She carefully placed her hand on the bookshelf.
Casting magic without triggering the alarm was quite tricky. Simply put, even to manifest a low-level spell, the ability to perform a high-level spell was required.
Fortunately, books were inanimate objects, so making the paper look old was considered a low-level spell. It was doable.
“Hmmm….”
Feeling uneasy with one hand, she pressed both hands against the bookshelf and focused. The task itself didn’t take long.
Beep? Beep? Beep?
But it didn’t take long to realize it wasn’t successfully completed.
“…?”
The secretary, unusually flustered, swallowed dryly. The alarm barrier of the old library was stricter than expected, and she seemed more exhausted than she thought.
“Find her!”
“As long as everyone stays in position, there won’t be any problem. The encirclement is tight, so she won’t escape anyway.”
Following the alarm, noise erupted everywhere. The secretary clapped her forehead with her palm. With her eyes closed for a moment, she felt the suppressed fatigue.
‘The alarm is already triggered anyway.’
With the situation like this, there was no need to hesitate to use magic.
The secretary drew a line four times with her index finger to form a rectangle. A purple dimensional gate opened, pulling her in.
The place she arrived at was a forest outside the academy. The secretary now prepared a dimensional gate to leave for the Void.
But at that moment.
“Wait.”
At the voice that called out to her, the secretary reflexively turned her head. A human, daring to follow her dark magic dimensional gate?
### Chapter 207: Poison
But I soon retracted that thought.
‘A vampire?’
It wasn’t a human who had followed me; it was a vampire. And not just any vampire, but a very familiar face—Maiev.
“…This is absurd.”
I muttered without realizing it.
There was no other way to describe it. I had replaced the old library’s books for the sake of humans, and Maiev, in turn, had chased me down to help humans.
…What kind of situation was this?
?
“Phew.”
Maiev steadied her breath and life force simultaneously.
The moon was hidden by clouds. In the dim light, I could only see her legs, not the upper half of her body. I could just barely discern that she was a vampire.
Maiev was the first to break the silence.
“Stop. Did you think I’d let you go easily?”
“Don’t come any closer.”
“…”
Maiev narrowed her eyes at the returning voice. It wasn’t the response that was the issue, but the strangely familiar tone.
But she shook off those thoughts.
“I don’t know who you are, but abandon any thought of escape.”
Vampires were best at catching other vampires. Maiev immediately began to deploy her illusionary world.
Lines started to appear in the air, as if drawn by ink and brush. Like a spider spinning its web, she encircled and covered me tightly.
The moment Maiev was certain of capturing me,
Bang?!
“…!”
Her magic was dismantled in an instant. Recognizing the life force from across, Maiev couldn’t help but voice her confusion.
“Hmm?”
Just then, the clouds moved away from the moon. The silver light gradually revealed my identity.
“…?”
Maiev’s eyes widened. She was speechless, blinking in disbelief.
“No, you are….”
Maiev stopped talking mid-sentence. Words seemed pointless in this situation.
“…”
We stared at each other in silence.
We couldn’t help but recognize each other. The very fact that we were staring at each other in disbelief said everything about our feelings.
‘Why is the Secretary here?’
Maiev tried to think for a moment.
She was certain the person standing before her was the Secretary, but she couldn’t understand and was also curious. What on earth had happened that she was sneaking out of the old library like a rat?
“What brings you here….”
“I did nothing harmful to humans.”
It was a vague answer. Yet, it didn’t seem like the Secretary was lying, which confused Maiev even more.
Maiev asked again.
“So, what business do you have?”
“Maiev, your speech has become quite informal.”
“I’m no longer affiliated with the Void.”
“Maiev, to hear a traitor speak so boldly…. How am I supposed to take this?”
The Secretary chuckled, finding it ridiculous. But Maiev didn’t back down.
“It would be even stranger if a traitor used honorifics.”
“Maiev, that’s a separate issue. Don’t you understand the disparity between us? If you provoke me, your existence could be erased in an instant.”
“Even if that’s true, I’m not afraid anymore.”
“Aha, now I understand why you betrayed the Void.”
The Secretary continued, curling her lips into a smile.
“Maiev, you did it because you’re not in your right mind and because you’ve lost your fear. There’s no other explanation.”
“That’s none of your concern anymore.”
“Affection, love… Emotions lower intelligence. Listen to me, Maiev, Flan’s existence is poison to you. Blessings and curses are often indistinguishable.”
Maiev responded with a sly grin.
“Really? But I know. This is a blessing.”
“Stop with the nonsense. You’re not a pet dog.”
“A pet dog? You’re no different.”
“Yes, but I don’t change my master.”
At that moment,
“There she is!”
“The sound came from over there!”
The forest on the other side grew noisy. Judging by the footsteps, it wasn’t a small group.
The Secretary clicked her tongue.
“Fortune favors you. Be grateful that my mission includes not revealing myself. The next time we meet, I’ll tear you apart.”
She flung her bracelet into the air.
By the time it fell back to the ground, the Secretary had already vanished without a trace.
“…”
There was no way to notice her departure. The gap in skill between them was that evident. Maiev felt her legs weaken slightly.
“I must become stronger.”
With that resolve, Maiev left the area.
?
“…Sigh.”
After returning to the Void, the Secretary slowly recalled what she had said to Maiev.
—Flan’s existence is poison to you.
That statement kept bothering her. She thought and thought about why it bothered her so much and finally found the answer.
“Princess?”
Saying Flan’s existence was poison and would slowly eat away at her. Now that she thought about it, the Princess had said the same thing to her.
“I’m different. Different.”
Secretary 187 muttered as if in disbelief.
Then, it happened.
A blue light flickered from her notebook. It was the item called ‘Trivia’ that Flan had given her for contact purposes.
[? Report to the office by morning.]
“…?”
The Secretary’s eyebrows twitched.
“Damn it…”
She threw the Trivia into the trash can.
—Flan’s existence is poison to you.
Yes, Flan was definitely poison.
…Poison that drove her crazy with anger.