The Forbidden Library – Part 05
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Translator: Kell
They had decided to meet up in Zero’s room after having their baths. After quickly taking hers, Gemma went to Barcel’s room to pick him up, only to find him trying to invite a young girl into his room.
What she witnessed was too shocking that she ran away in an attempt to somehow forget what she just saw.
For no reason at all, she stood at the window, looking down at the people coming and going below. She found the scene shocking as well. Ever since they left Wenias, all they ever saw were dead bodies and ruins.
She even doubted if there were any survivors in Knox Cathedral, but ironically, the town gave her hope.
“They’re laughing.”
Gemma frowned as she heard a child’s laughter.
The kidnapped advance party. Guideposts made of humans. Gate of bones. The creepy director—a demon. All these combined, the town could only be described as hell.
But no one would call a world where children could frolic and laugh hell. It was a world of undamaged buildings, soft beds, clean water, and hot baths.
“Ah!” Gemma leaned forward, then immediately dashed out into the hallway. She bumped into Barcel, who was just about to knock on her door, and staggered.
“Captain? Why are you in such a hurry?”
“I found someone from the advance party! Follow me!”
Gemma bolted out of the inn. She had seen one of the members of the advance party walking outside. She remembered clearly the faces of the five men she had sent on the dangerous mission.
Recognizing the situation, Barcel followed her.
“This way!” Under the falling ash that hindered vision, Gemma spotted a man walking with his back hunched. “Stop! It’s the Knights Templar!”
The man’s back straightened and he turned around in disbelief.
He was a short, slender young man who had been selected to join the party because of his horse-riding skills. The man’s eyes widened when he saw Gemma. He ran up to her, his ponytail bouncing in the air.
“Captain Gemma!” he called. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to rescue you guys, what else?! Where are the others?”
“They’re all safe. What about Hody?”
Among the five members of the advance party, only one managed to return, a knight named Hody.
“He’s safe,” Gemma replied. “He’s with the main unit now.”
The man pat his chest. “Thank goodness. I was really worried about him. But I can’t believe you’re here to rescue us in person.”
“Of course! I’m the one who picked the members of the advance party. It’s only natural that I come rescue you.”
The man smiled, but his expression quickly turned grim. “Did you meet the Director?”
“We did, just now. We only just arrived.”
“So you don’t have your mate yet?”
Gemma turned to Barcel. “That girl from earlier?”
“She was sent by the Director,” the attendant replied. “I thought we might be able to get some information about this place, so I kept her close for now.”
“Is that so?” Gemma looked relieved. She then recalled that the Director mentioned giving his guests mates. “Do you have one too?”
“Come with me,” the young knight said. “We can’t just stand here outside. I’ll show you to my house.” He turned and started walking.
Gemma hesitated, but at Barcel’s urging, followed the knight.
Down an alley from the main street, three-story houses lined both sides of the street. The man led Gemma and Barcel to one of the houses.
“Dear!” greeted a woman.
Gemma was taken aback. The woman ran up to the young man and kissed him on the cheek, a bit confused.
The captain eyed them both. “Did you two… get married?”
The man nodded. He didn’t look very happy. “The Director sent her to me and I took her as my wife. That was yesterday.”
“Why would you do something so stupid?!”
“I didn’t think help would come! So I had to follow the rules of this place. I didn’t think that the Vice Captain would send a rescue team for just four people.”
“I’m the Captain!” Gemma barked. “I don’t care what the Vice Captain thinks. I won’t leave anyone behind!”
Is this the level of trust they have for me? Gemma chewed her glove in frustration. Did the other three get married as well? Were they living here after receiving houses?
“You didn’t consider running away?” Barcel asked. His tone was not accusing; he was genuinely curious.
The man relaxed a little. He invited both to sit down, but they refused. They did not want to stay long.
“The Director can see through everything,” the young knight said. “He knew where we came from, and where we were going. He even knows the size of our company and the name of the captain. We can’t run away. If we do, my mate will be punished.”
“Punished?” Gemma regarded the woman.
She clung to her husband’s arm with frightened eyes. “In this town, the Director is absolute,” she said. “He uses the librarian to gather people, assigns jobs, and decides on the mates. If my partner runs away, it’ll be my fault! Did you see that gate? If we defy them, they’ll make us a part of it. Even if we escaped that fate, we won’t survive out there.”
With nowhere to go, their only choice would be to wait for death, terrified of demons and wild beasts.
As long as they stayed in this town and listened to the Director, they were guaranteed food, clothing, shelter, and safety.
“It’s the same with the other three. The Director gave them wives. It pains me to say this, since you’ve come all this way to rescue us, but we can’t run away unless we abandon the women.”
“Then why don’t you bring them with you?”
The man shook his head. “My wife has family and friends. I’ve made some friends too in this short time. We can’t leave them, and it’s too dangerous to take them with us. If we leave, the Director won’t protect us from other demons. And I know this might sound strange…” He gave a subtle smile, a smile that seemed to be trying to reassure Gemma, to somehow persuade her. “But the Director loves humans.”
We met up with Gemma and Barcel, and they told us what happened.
“The Director loves humans, eh? The librarian said the same thing.” I heaved a sigh.
It felt like a demon had won them over. The knights were taken away by force, but were given women and a safe place to live. After falling in love, they could no longer leave.
“So this kid was sent to the underling in an attempt to win us over as well.”
Under my annoyed gaze, the girl called Mina bowed politely. I thought she possessed nerves of steel, but then again, I clearly looked a lot better than the Director.
“But that is odd,” Zero said. “Considering what happened at the Demon’s Archway, I was certain that the Director’s ability was related to memory. Yet you are saying it can see through everything?”
“Maybe it’s the Beastfallen’s ability,” I said. “Like how the squirt gathered information using rats.”
“No.” Zero shook her head. “I find it hard to believe that understanding the language of insects is enough to know where we came from, what our purpose is, or where we are headed. Suppose a bug hears humans talking about a strategy. Can it comprehend the strategy itself? The same goes for Rat. At best, the information she received was probably along the lines of, ‘the person with this particular smell is here’.” She turned to Mina. “Girl, how much do you know about the Director?”
“Not much… My older sister warns me not to get close to him.”
“You have a clever sister. Where is she now?”
Mina shook her head. “She’s always outside the fort because of a special job.”
“A special job?”
“She gathers people. It’s dangerous outside, so she brings them here where it’s safe.”
“Oh!” I exclaimed. Everyone else seemed to have noticed as well; they all looked at Mina with a start.
“Your sister is that librarian!”
It was Mina’s turn to be surprised. “I see. My sister brought you all here too. Is she back, then?”
“She should be. We only arrived today.”
Mina’s expression brightened, and she jumped to her feet. But after remembering the position she was in, she sat back down helplessly. “Way back then… Before this whole thing happened, my sister traveled across the continent. She was in the business of collecting books. She would return to the fort only once every few months.”
“So that’s why she introduced herself as the librarian,” I said. “But why the change from books to humans?”
“Because the Director told her to. I told her not to go because it’s dangerous out there, but she said it was her job.”
I’m pretty sure gathering humans is not the job of a librarian.
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