The Forbidden Library – Part 03
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Translator: Kell
“Lady Witch?”
“Do not show your face,” Zero said. “You are beautiful.”
“Wh-Where’d that come from?!” Gemma looked embarrassed. “I-I’m not—”
“It is an objective fact. We are in demon territory, Captain. Demons are attracted to beauty.”
Zero’s words petrified Gemma. She once mentioned that Thirteenth entered into a contract with a demon by offering his beauty.
All the powerful witches I had met were beautiful, and even the inexperienced Albus would become quite the beauty in ten years. Sept had good looks as well.
In other words, demons adored beauty.
While Gemma was flustered, Barcel raised the cloth covering Gemma’s mouth to just below her eyes and pulled the hood of her cloak deeper.
“Do not say anything either,” Zero added. “A beautiful voice will do you no good. Relax. First we have to see what the Director looks like.”
“This way, please,” the librarian said.
We climbed the stone stairs along the inner wall of the tower. Upstairs was a sturdy wooden door with rivets, which also opened almost automatically.
As I observed how it worked, I spotted a small black thing scuttling acrosss the floor. “A bug?” I tried to peek beyond the door.
“Director. Your guests have arrived.”
The librarian’s words startled me. I had relaxed my guard since there was no sign of a human being, but when I looked up, I saw a figure completely covered in rags from head to toe.
I could only describe it as a figure because I couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman.
The director was sitting on a desk, surrounded by piles of books. They raised their hand, gesturing us to wait a moment, and softly closed the book they were reading once they reached a good stopping point.
They lifted their head, but I still couldn’t see their face. They were wearing a mask, not an intricately designed one, but more like pieces of leather patched together.
“Pleased… that… you… accepted… invitation.”
Behind the leather mask, the director made a strange, jittery sound. I didn’t want to think that that was their laughter, but I didn’t want to consider any other possibility either.
The director stood up, and something fell to the floor.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Barcel’s throat tightened, and he hugged the wall behind him.
Bugs.
Every step the director took, a bug fell from their body, then crawled up their shoes again and burrowed into their clothes.
Rather than bugs scuttling across their body, it would be more accurate to say that bugs formed their body. In addition to their normal arms and legs, they also had an extra pair of arms protruding out of their sides.
With a total of six limbs, they looked like an actual bug.
It was clear that they were not human, which meant that the real diector of Fort Niedra was no longer alive.
“Hey, Witch,” I said. “For the record, I’m really freaked out right now.”
“It is only a bug,” Zero said fearlessly. She looked the same as usual.
Suddenly the mass of bugs stopped moving and looked at Zero. I think they did. Anyway, the masked face turned to her.
The next instant, the director crumbled to the floor, approaching Zero like a crashing wave, and then stopped dead in front of her, taking a human form again. The director’s leather mask was close enough to catch Zero’s breath.
“Ah… How beautiful…” The director’s hand—a glove filled with insects—almost touched Zero’s cheek.
My blood froze. “Back off! Don’t you dare touch her!” Almost unconsciously, I grabbed Zero’s arm and pushed her behind me, drawing my sword.
Then the swarm of bugs composing the director’s body stirred and spread out as if frightened, but quickly compressed together before slowly backing down.
“I see… That beauty… is yours… Then it will… never be mine… You’re scary… when angry… Ah, what a shame… Truly a shame…”
“H-He’s awfully meek,” I muttered.
Zero, who seemed a bit tense as well, let out a small breath. “Perhaps it is not a demon that is well-versed in combat. That was foolish, Mercenary. Do not try to protect me from a demon ever again. You will only put yourself in danger.”
“I didn’t do it because I wanted to. My body just reacted.”
Gemma tugged at my clothes.
“What is it?” I said.
She was trying to keep quiet after Zero warned her. It looked like she wanted to ask something.
“Uh, excuse me, Director. May I speak?” Barcel said, figuring out Gemma’s intention. He seemed to have adapted to the situation.
Silently the director turned their face to Barcel. “Oh… there was… another one…” They turned their heads away, seemingly uninterested.
“That hurts a little,” Barcel said.
“You can not blame them,” Zero said. “If you put a normal human and a witch side by side, the demon would inevitably turn its attention to the latter.”
Barcel looked dejected. “I’m glad it’s not interested in me, but I’d like to ask it to return the advance party he apparently took as guests. I also want it to guarantee the safety of all the knights while on their mission. That’s why we accepted the invitation in the first place.”
“Guests… in town… Gave feed… Gave mate… Surely satisfied…”
Barcel’s expression tensed. “Feed? M-Mate?”
“Humans… who comply… are guests… I protect them… Humans… who don’t comply… I can’t protect…”
“What? P-Please explain!” Barcel stepped forward.
“We gave them rooms, women, and food,” the librarian interjected. “They’re all making themselves at home. You can meet them if you wish, but I’m sure you’re all tired. I will show you to your rooms.”
The director seemed to have lost interest in us. He returned to his desk, dropping bugs with every step.
Suddenly, Gemma screamed. Apparently a bug had gotten into her hood. She quickly took it off, ripped off the covering on her face, and brushed the bug off.
“I-It bit my neck!”
“Do not talk!” Zero put the hood over Gemma’s head again and covered her mouth, but it was too late.
The director leapt towards her. Shit. They grabbed Gemma’s arm and pulled off her hood. The captain let out a shriek as the mass of bugs embraced her.
“Beautiful skin color… Rare black eyes… Black hair…”
A reddish-black tongue slipped out through the leather mask and licked Gemma’s cheek.
The captain snapped. “Monster!”
With a menacing cry that one would not expect from a woman, Gemma swung her axe at the director. It struck the director’s body, but only produced a dull sound, and the sharp blade bounced back.
It was hard. But Gemma did not back down. One of the advantages of using two one-handed axes was you could immediately deliver a second blow even if the first strike failed.
Gemma’s second swing struck the director’s shoulder, and the severed arm fell to the floor. The bugs that fell with the arm crawled across the floor and scattered in all directions.
The tension in the room was palpable. I had my sword drawn, and Barcel had nocked an arrow to his bow.
But the director showed neither anger nor pain. Instead they laughed. “Hihihi… I-It hurts… So this is pain… Ah, brown-skinned woman… I like you.”
While they were laughing, the arm that Gemma had chopped off with her axe grew back in no time. Bugs wrapped themselves around it, and the director was back to normal.
“Rest, my guests… We will talk later… About lots of things… So excited…”
I glanced down at the hand on the floor. Covered in a black shell and many joints, it looked like the leg of an insect.
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