The Forbidden Library – Part 01

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Translator: Kell


“Damn, they actually left us behind,” Barcel said as he watched the Knights Templar fading into the distance in a cloud a dust. “How cruel.” He sounded both appalled and dejected.

“They even took my beloved run-down carriage,” Zero mumbled. “I spent seven days turning it into the most comfortable bed.”

“Nothing we can do about it,” I said. “Horses and carriages are too valuable. The vice captain doesn’t want us making a triumphant return.”

We were given some food. Essentially, though, the old man had overthrown Gemma, kicking her out of the squad.

Had Gemma resisted, she would have been able to stay, but the old man might assassinate her for fear of a split among the knights.

In the military, if the commander was deemed harmful to the troops, their subordinates would kill them.

“I’m sorry for dragging you into our mess,” Gemma said.

“You don’t need to apologize,” I replied. “Besides, it wasn’t you who dragged me into this, it’s this witch. Right, Lady Witch?” I meant it as a snide remark.

“Correct.” Zero nodded, not feeling offended. “We are with you because it is more beneficial for us.”

“You too, Barcel,” Gemma added. “You didn’t have to come with us.”

“I’ve been serving the captain my whole life. Even if you told me not to come, I would’ve followed you anyway. Besides, this demon’s domain is creepy, and the safest place is by the Lady Witch’s side.” He chuckled.

Not something you’d expect a knight to say.

“I wouldn’t have agreed to the captain leaving otherwise. If possible, I would take her back to Wenias.”

“I-I’m not running away until I rescue our comrades!”

“Yeah, I know. I understand.”

They wouldn’t even be able to return to Wenias anyway. Going back through the Demon’s Archway was prohibited. I doubt Gemma and Barcel could reach the kingdom safely, and we were not exactly generous enough to escort them back.

“Lady Zero.” Gemma turned to the witch. “I apologize for asking for your help right off the bat, but where should we go? The letter did not mention any specific location.”

“We should simply follow the prints that the horses’ hooves left behind,” I said.

“Oh, right.”

According to Gemma, there were five soldiers in the advance party, all on horseback. Only one of them returned. It would mean that four horses left the main road and headed to an unusual direction.

“Luckily, it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of traffic around here,” I joked as I looked around the desolate plains.

Traffic? We had not seen a single soul in the past seven days. The villages we passed were burned down, and walled towns were in complete ruins. Either the people up north had been wiped out, or they were hiding somewhere. In any case, it was a horrifying sight.

If we searched the churches of each town, we might be able to find a couple of survivors, but we didn’t have the time nor the manpower. The most we could do was leave a message somewhere conspicuous telling them to go to Wenias. Knights scattered across the continent were all doing the same thing.

There were seven cathedrals on the continent, three of them in the north: Adak Cathedral located in a major port, Sanguis North Cathedral, and the current destination of the old bastard, Knox Cathedral.

The Church’s history began from the north, on an island called the Altar, and with Knox Cathedral as its base, its teachings spread across the world.

That’s what Gemma told us as we split off to both sides of the road, looking for hoofprints.

“It’s ironic, though, that the demons are gathering in the place where the Church originated,” Gemma mumbled softly.

“Found them,” Barcel said. In front of him was a trail of hoofprints leading eastward.

I surveyed the surroundings. There was barely any forest, no rolling terrains, only flat land sparsely dotted with coniferous trees. At the edge of the landscape stood snow-capped mountains. Overall it looked peaceful.

For a place called the Demon’s Domain, there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary.

“What the hell is that?” I pointed to what looked like a figure standing alone in the middle of the plain.

The hoofprints leading toward it suggested that the advance party noticed it too.

Gemma inclined her head. “It’s not moving, so maybe a signpost?”

“So far away from the road?” Barcel frowned.

As we approached it, we realized that it was a lot farther away than it looked. In other words, it was bigger than we had expected.

What appeared to be a figure turned out to be taller than us. I inched closer to find that it was a guidepost, and it did not take long to figure out what it was made of.

“Apparently, this domain’s ruler likes making things out of human bodies,” I growled.

Five people in clothes of different colors were stacked vertically on top of each other, with a huge stake piercing through from their rear to their heads.

“You can still turn back, Captain,” I said.

“D-Don’t underestimate me. I can handle this.”

I decided that it was a guidepost because the skewered corpses were all pointing in one direction.

“What is over there?” Zero asked.

“Please wait a moment,” Barcel said, unfolding a map. “I took this from our stuff.”

We had been on the road for seven days. Based on the terrain, we were probably somewhere around the Outline Plains. I estimated our current location based on the mountain ridges, and from there I traced a finger at the direction indicated by the human guidepost to a symbol of a fortress about four days’ walk away. The fortress bore the crest of a burning book, the same one used in the letter we received.

I read the words underneath the crest. “Fort… Niedra?”

“Oh!” Barcel exclaimed. “The Forbidden Library at Fort Niedra! It slipped my mind, since the coins are more famous. The crest of a burning book definitely refers to Fort Niedra.”

“The Forbidden Library?” Zero said.

Barcel’s face turned grim. “It’s a well-known story among a few people from the Church. The owner of Fort Niedra is a book lover of unparalleled reputation, collecting all kinds of books from all over the world.”

“What?” Gemma said. “I’ve never heard that before.”

“Like I said, only a few know about it. The owner liked collecting rare books. If the Church bans a book, a messenger will immediately come to fetch at least one copy for the fort. That’s how it got its nickname, the Forbidden Library.”

“I’m surprised the Church didn’t burn it down,” I said. “That’s one step away from treason, isn’t it?”

“Sometimes you just get the urge to read a banned book. But the Church doesn’t want evil books in its libraries.”

I get it. Necessary evil.

Books increased in number by transcribing them by hand. Merchants paid the authors of the original manuscripts to create copies for them, and then sold them for a profit.

If the book was popular, merchants from all over the world would want copies, resulting in fierce competition among tradesmen.

If the book caught the attention of the Church and was judged to be a “work that should be disseminated,” a tremendous number of copies would be produced using a printing machine developed by the Church, which were then distributed across the world. The original author would receive a large sum of money that would allow him to live the rest of his life in stability.

On the other hand, if the Church judged a book to be foul, it would be banned and burned, both original and its copies. Worst case, the author would receive the death sentence.

That would mean that the Forbidden Library was a treasure trove of books with only one copy. Even the Church did not want to burn them to ashes.

“Above all, Fort Niedra has a large gold vein and the technology to produce high-purity gold that has been passed down for generations. The coins produced there are called Niedra gold coins, the most valuable gold coin in the whole world. It’s well-known that the Church pays in Niedra gold coins.”

“Is that so?” Zero looked up at me.

“I’ve heard about it.” I nodded.

“The Church receives a large donation from Fort Niedra every year in exchange for overlooking the Forbidden Library. That’s how it can afford to pay in Niedra coins.”

“I see.”

In other words, the Forbidden Library was like the Church’s obedient treasurer. They probably decided that it was safer to let a harmless bookworm manage the fortress, eliminating the chances of any rebellion, than to attack and destroy it and install an incompetent administrator. The Church also wanted to protect its treasury, so even if the fort itself did not have much military power, it was not destroyed.


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