Book Eater

Chapter 300: Victory Scar (4)

Grimoires appeared in the forms of books with an ability to empower and cause disaster in way that went against common sense. No magician could explain them, and the only records that existed only explained the aftermath. It meant that the owners of grimoires were the cause of worldwide massacres.

The perfect example was Giovanni. The magician, Giovanni, had been investigating the ruins discovered in the Miller Barony. Then he discovered the grimoire, Death’s Worship, and had turned into a warlock who commanded thousands of undead. If Theo hadn’t contained the situation so quickly, a catastrophe would have befallen Meltor a month later.

Theo knew the risk of revealing this truth about himself better than anyone else, but he told Kurt the whole story anyway.

“... The owner of a grimoire.” Kurt stroked his chin as he nodded. “It is funny to say it now, but that was one of the possibilities we came up with.”

Theo was befuddled. “What does that...”

The king grinned. “A person stuck at the 2nd Circle for nearly five years suddenly overtook the best genius in the kingdom in just a few months. It’s natural to question that speed.”

The king was right. Who could have imagined that Theodore Miller, the dunce of Bergen Academy, would manage to win against Blue Tower Master Blundell’s granddaughter?

His master, Vince, was quite talented, but he couldn’t compare to a great magician of the kingdom. A hidden talent might’ve woken up after years of insecurity, but that wasn’t enough for Theo to have jumped over so many walls in a short period of time.

One could understand if it was the 3rd and 4th Circles, but the 5th Circle was the wall that had separated senior magicians from others. It didn’t make sense for Theo to have overcome that wall so quickly unless a shortcut to accelerate growth had been used.

They had come to the conclusion that a grimoire or a national treasure was responsible.

“This fact isn’t well known, but it isn’t unprecedented. Two hundred years ago, the 7th Red Tower Master was the owner of a grimoire called Evil Lamp. According to our records, the grimoire looked like a giant flame and supplied the magic power to use 8th Circle fire spells many times.”

“... I see.”

If there had already been a precedent, then Kurt’s reaction wasn’t strange. After all, if he knew that a grimoire didn’t just cause disasters, then it was the role of a ruler to find ways to take advantage of it. Theo realized the point he had missed and fell silent for a moment.

Then Kurt laughed wearily, “It isn’t uncommon. A magician with a grimoire is more valuable than a national treasure. If the secret was revealed before they’re strong enough, idiots who don’t know any better would try to steal it. So, your behavior was wise.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Kurd nodded. “As proof of my acknowledgment of your good behavior, I won’t question you about the grimoire. Moreover, based on the report, the problem hasn’t been solved yet.”

Theo nodded immediately. “Yes, the remnant of the warlock that I released still remains in the world. And I couldn’t confirm the life or death of Crowd von Russell, 1st Sword of Andras.”

Kurt sighed. “Certainly, neither of them can be overlooked.”

Jerem had been badly damaged by Mitra, but a warlock of the 9th Circle was still a disaster. The Four Horsemen were still the pillars of his strength. Eliminating them was going to be a priority in the coming days, even more so than Crowd. Still, he wasn’t a person to be treated lightly. He was a man with the ability to reverse the war, which was almost over.

Misfortune could still occur if they were careless.

“... Even so, to think the horrible history of the war in the North was a grimoire’s experiment ... It is a truth that shouldn’t be recorded in history.”

Theo nodded. “Yes, I think so as well.”

“I wonder if I should be relieved that it is over or feel angry about the rest of the work that needs to be done. The weight of the crown only seems to increase these days.” The king laughed.

Despite his words, he was glad that the centuries long war was finally over, but he was sad that all this bloodshed had come from the two kingdoms being manipulated. It was the first time Theo had seen Kurt like this. The wise king of Meltor, the one who led the magic kingdom, was speaking sincerely to him. Was it from fatigue? Or...

Ah, I see.?

Theo finally realized his own position.

Blundell is gone, while Veronica is tied to me. It wasn’t intentional, but Meltor’s power has been swallowed up by me.

One of Meltor’s pillars had died, while the other was inextricably linked to Theo. Theo was also an 8th Circle magician, so he was the only one who could be called superior to Kurt. He was unquestionably the supreme power in Meltor.

Facing this, Kurt had two choices, or rather, one. He had to be open and sincere, sharing the matters of the kingdom with Theo. If he tried to push Theo away from the kingdom, he would lose too much.

The alliance with Elvenheim that Theo was the lynchpin to… The alliance with Austen that was forced through on Aquilo’s strength… Two 8th Circle magicians… If Meltor lost these right after expending a great deal of resources in the war, it would be a huge blow.

Well, I don’t want to leave in the first place.

Theo could reach out and control this kingdom if he wanted to, but he didn’t have that type of ambition. If anything, he’d be happier with a few more books from the Zero Library. Setting that thought aside to ask about later, Theo brought up a topic that Kurt hadn’t mentioned. “Your Majesty, about the Yellow Tower Master...”

“Yes.” Kurt cleared his throat. “The Yellow Tower Master—no, Paragranum. I know its identity. It is a secret passed down through generations of the royal family. I’d like to have a separate conversation about it later. You have just woken up, and I don’t want to keep you for too long.”

“I’m fine... but if that is Your Majesty’s will.”

Indeed, was there a secret between the royal family and Paragranum? Theo felt curious as he accepted the proposal. If Paragranum had planned to flee, it would’ve already been gone by the time Theo returned to Manavil. However, it still remained, showing that it was confident it could persuade Theo.

“Okay, the conversation can end here for today.”

The two magicians nodded at the king’s command, and the unexpected audience came to an end.

***

After separating from Veronica who had work to do as the Red Tower Master, Theo walked through the empty hallways of the palace.

Teleport magic was banned in the palace, so it was unusual to find completely barren hallways. It seemed that Kurt was being rather considerate of him. In any case, Theo wanted to get to his room in the Red Tower where he could use Teleport.

- User.

Gluttony suddenly spoke.

- I didn’t get to mention this to you before, but I have something to say.

“What's going on?”

- Let’s start with my conclusion. There is no need to worry about that warlock called Jerem.

“What?”

Theo almost missed a step. “Even though his soul is severely damaged, isn’t he a 9th Circle magician with countless undead? I’ve only just reached the 8th Circle, so I’m not sure I can win.”

Theo wasn’t acting weak. The two undead summoned from Tartarus, the ghoul prince and helix ogre, were monsters that could only be killed by extremely experienced 8th Circle magicians. What if there were hundreds more of those monsters? It was clear that Theo would need to reach the 9th Circle or a dragon on the continent would have to move to defeat them.

- But not at this time.

Gluttony didn’t agree.

- The damage from Mitra’s divine power has greatly limited his abilities. If he hadn’t reached the?9th?Circle while he was alive, he would’ve perished on the spot. It isn’t the kind of damage that can be recovered in a short period of time, even if he uses Life Drain or another technique. In the next few years, it will be difficult to use 8th?Circle magic, let alone?9th?Circle.

Theo quietly mused, “... So, I can defeat him now.”

- That’s right. And about his undead... I agree that User can’t go against them, so I handled it with my own authority.

This time, Theo froze midstep. “You handled it with your own authority? What does that mean?”

The undead hidden in the negative dimension, Tartarus, of the ancient warlock, Jerem, was enough to ruin the entire continent. How had Gluttony dealt with it despite not being able to escape from Theo’s palm? He couldn’t understand it.

Gluttony replied in a somewhat satisfied voice.

- After I ate Death’s Worship, I gained control of the negative dimension. However, the creator of the negative dimension is still the boss. I decided to break in using a backdoor and try to steal the undead using the sub-master’s authority. Moreover, if User was planning to go down the path of a necromancer, I had to dispose of any shortcuts as quickly as possible.

It was a reasonable point. Theo nodded at the explanation.

- So.

“So?”

- I swallowed all of them and changed them into User’s library points.

“...?Huh?!”

The undead had been turned into Theo’s achievement points! Theo’s eyes widened with amazement, while Gluttony added to his joy.

- There are quite a few undead that couldn’t be converted, but the harvest isn’t bad because of the number of them. A dragon lich’s life vessel is very rare. The chimera made of a demon’s heart is also worthwhile. Thus, more points were obtained from the undead than I thought.

Theo murmured, “Somehow, it feels like selling stolen goods.”

Theo was stunned as he had a large problem resolved and also obtained a lot of achievement points.

But he was curious. “How many points did I get?”

- Huhuhu, don’t be surprised. 157,329 points.

“... Say again?”

- 157,329 points. It is at least twice the points you got from Laevateinn. After this, the accumulated points total over 200,000, so a special feature within me was released.

It wasn’t enough that he had gotten over a hundred thousand achievement points in one go. A special feature had been unlocked as well. Theo felt like this was a dream and knocked on his forehead several times. Fortunately, it wasn't a dream.

As Theo tried to regain his composure, Gluttony continued excitedly.

- Isn’t it better to see it once than listening a hundred times? I’ll show you.

Simultaneously, several notification messages popped up. [Your cumulative achievement points have exceeded 200,000 points.]

[A hidden feature of Gluttony has been discovered. The user should check the information about the function. This feature will work normally regardless of the rank.]

[A grimoire that collects the strength and wisdom of books and artifacts. All of the magical pioneers are sleeping within Gluttony’s soul. You can use the accumulated points to learn the knowledge of these distinguished magicians.]

[The Hall of Fame has been opened.]