A Villain's Will to Survive

Chapter 320: Painting Prison (1)

… Sylvia researched Epherene’s note, and the mana remaining on the paper was neither letters nor any kind of drawing, but merely a simple trace.

However, discerning Epherene’s intent within it and comprehending that fool’s thoughts certainly required an immense amount of mana.

“… Yulie,” Sylvia called, as she looked at her.

“Yes!” Yulie replied, her answer holding not a moment’s hesitation.

At this moment, Yulie’s trust in Sylvia stood at one hundred percent because Yulie had revealed her own identity, and Sylvia had confessed that she was not Sephine but Iliade’s Sylvia.

“… Can you carry me on your back.”

Sylvia was seated in the chair but couldn’t lift a finger, having only briefly engaged in a form of communication that barely qualified as such with Epherene and been merely exposed to a fraction of time energy. Yet, the result was mana exhaustion, with every drop of mana squeezed from her body.

“Of course. Right now?”

“There is no time to delay.”

However, as a result, Epherene’s intent was clearly understood.

“Yes,” Yulie said, immediately taking Sylvia onto her back. “What is the destination?”

“… The Imperial Palace’s basement library.”

Although it was humiliating enough to make her sigh once she was actually on Yulie’s back, there was no alternative, and Sylvia buried her face in Yulie’s back.

“Yes,” Yulie replied, opening the room door.

The Imperial Palace corridor remained haunting.

“I’m going now!”

There was no hesitation, and Yulie dashed, holding Sylvia’s body tightly.

Whooooosh…

However, the sound of her running footsteps was silent.

The speed is exceptionally fast, yet no footsteps are heard. Is this why mages receive escort from knights? Sylvia thought.

“Is this the place?”

Sylvia arrived in the blink of an eye, or perhaps she had fallen asleep without realizing it, then lifted her heavy eyelids to see a grand door come into view, with two scholar statues standing firmly on either side.

“Yes, it is.”

“Yes.”

Creeeeeeak—

Yulie stepped through the opening great door, her senses and nerves on edge, as a precaution.

“… This place is quiet.”

The library was, indeed, true to its nature as a library—empty, and completely silent.

“But what was it—the content of the note given by that savior named Epherene?” Yulie asked, as if whispering.

“Nothing.”

“… Pardon?”

“There was nothing. No content either. Only a subtle trace of her mana was present.”

Yulie blinked her eyes.

“Now, put me down,” Sylvia said, shaking her body with a tired expression.

“Yes,” Yulie replied, and seated Sylvia in the chair.

“Take out the note from my pocket.”

“Yes,” Yulie replied, taking out the note from Sylvia’s pocket.

“Now, find that.”

“… Pardon?” Yulie asked for the first time.

“It’s a piece from the book,” Sylvia replied, her eyes heavy with sleep.

“Piece…”

Yulie found herself, without thought, surveying her immense and expansive surroundings—a sea formed entirely of books.

“… Which book are you speaking of?”

“The book from which that note was torn is likely a high-quality bound book or a book of illustrations, as the material is similar to canvas.”

Yulie picked up the note, which to her eyes was nothing more than paper, neatly trimmed and containing no information.

“But be careful. It might be a book from the future,” Sylvia added.

“A book from the future?” Yulie replied.

“Yes, because she controls time…”

That was the last of it, and Sylvia buried her face in the desk and afterward said nothing more as she had fallen asleep.

“… A book.”

Will I be able to find the book that held this small piece of paper? Yulie thought.

Yulie looked around this immense Imperial Palace library, but her principles remained unchanged, both then and now.

“I’ll find it if I just keep looking,” Yulie muttered, her hand reaching into the shelf.

~

Tick, tock— Tick, tock—

In the flow of time, Yulie was still searching for a book while Sylvia remained sleeping, and the texture and scent of paper on her hands were now familiar, whether it was thousands or tens of thousands of books. Fortunately, the process of finding a book was not difficult because she merely had to hold a book and quickly flip through it to see if there were any torn parts.

At that moment, Yulie unconsciously took out a certain book and flinched in surprise because, more accurately, it was not a book but a record.

The Demon’s Record : The Voice

Yulie glanced at Sylvia after seeing the record regarding the Voice.

Snore…

Judging by the snoring, she’s still far from waking up. Then, perhaps I can have a little free time? I think I’ve been absorbed for quite a long time, Yulie thought.

Rustle—

The moment she turned a page, a certain name caught Yulie’s eye.

Author : Deculein von Grahan-Yukline

It was Deculein’s handwriting—a handwritten record that had somehow become familiar.

This is a record concerning the Voice that shrouded the continent.

After a brief introduction, the record continued with numbers and calculations. It appeared to be the portion numerically outlining the deleterious effects and might of the demon known as the Voice.

… This phenomenon known as echo occurred, thereby causing widespread confusion to nations and humanity. The living became hesitant to converse with anyone, and the memories of the dead haunted the living.

The echo was a phenomenon in which voices from the past surfaced like an afterimage, and Yulie’s eyes rounded as she read its contents.

The echo phenomenon, originating from the Island of the Voice, was ended by its caster. The phenomenon, which had already spread across the continent, will now converge back upon the Island of the Voice.

However, the report’s conclusion arrived too abruptly—a single line explaining the phenomenon, three pages of magical spells to describe the echo, and then, immediately, the conclusion.

More detailed and private content has already been stored in Yukline’s archives. Therefore, the records to be publicly disclosed will be concluded here.

Creak—

At that moment, the Imperial Palace library door creaked open, causing Yulie to straighten her body as she was about to rush to Sylvia, but seeing a human silhouette between the bookshelves, she hid herself once more.

Thud— Thud—

The footsteps echoing in the library were stately, shoe heels landing with weighty precision, and a scent, unforgettable once smelled, reached Yulie’s nose.

Thud— Thud—

Deculein walked on without a word, then suddenly stopped, his eyes falling upon Sylvia, who was lying face down on the desk.

“… Has she been studying?” Deculein muttered, then swept his eyes about his surroundings.

Is he searching for a book? Yulie thought.

“The one concealed there, step forth,” Deculein said.

For a brief moment, Yulie’s heart hammered, but she bravely stepped forward, taking a single step and facing Deculein.

“Hmm, we meet often, do we not?” Deculein added, a sneer escaping him.

“Yes, since I am Mage Sephine’s escort knight,” Yulie replied, standing beside Sylvia.

“Are you searching for a book?”

“… Yes.”

Yulie maintained the maximum caution, but she did not tell a lie.

“You may escort, but it seems you cannot play the role of a physician,” Deculein replied, nodding and taking off his coat.

The moment Deculein spoke those words, Yulie’s eyes widened, and she immediately assessed Sylvia’s condition, placing a hand on her neck, which proved to be hot.

“… Ah!”

“Leave her be as she is not in a state for you to do anything,” Deculein said, draping his coat over Sylvia. “If you wait, she will naturally recover.”

Yulie did nothing but blink her eyes.

Covering her with a coat will make her recover? Does that mean it’s some kind of magical coat? Yulie thought.

“It seems she had to have transcended mere mana exhaustion, reaching a state of overwork and overload. What she undertook, I can roughly assume… This coat contains functions of natural healing and calming, meaning her recovery should be achieved within a day or two.”

“… Is it really a magical coat?”

“It may be regarded as such.”

Yulie, without a word, looked at Deculein, and in his manner towards her now there was an unconscious hesitation whenever he looked at Yulie or spoke to her as he instinctively betrayed a subtle, reluctant response.

… Does he know that I am Yulie?

“But what have you come here for?” Yulie asked.

“Is there anything other than books in the library?” Deculein replied, shrugging.

“Which book are you…”

Deculein stretched out his hand, and Telekinesis manifested, pulling a record out from somewhere on the bookshelf that was the very one Yulie had just read.

“What is that?”

Fwoosh—!

“No need to know,” Deculein said as he burned it.

“Why are you burning it?” Yulie asked once more.

“Because it was a record that should have been incinerated ages ago.”

Yulie remained silent.

“I leave Mage Sephine to you and deliver to her that I have thoroughly examined her theory. Her talent is, I find, rare to come across in recent times,” Deculein continued, turning away as if nothing was wrong, as if addressing no one in particular.

“Count Yukline,” Yulie called—not by his personal name, Deculein, but by the name of his house.

Deculein merely turned his head to look at Yulie.

“What kind of knight was Yulie?”

Then Deculein’s brow furrowed, and he gritted his teeth, shaking his head.

Is the expression he shows me now an act? Yulie thought.

“… I do not speak of those who are already deceased,” Deculein replied.

The sentence penetrated Yulie’s heart, and Yulie, a moment too late, realized—whether Deculein knew her presence or not, to him, Yulie was already a deceased person.

The reason was simple—the Yulie of this moment was Yulie, yet not Yulie herself, as she lacked the record of ten years that Yulie should inherently have, and without that memory, she would be nothing more than a mere replica…

Thud—!

The door had by then closed, Deculein had already left, and Yulie—alone—sighed as she looked up at the ceiling.

“… He knows.”

Deculein might know that I am Yulie. Therefore…

“I must know as well.”

Yulie needed to know who she was, what emotions she held, and what life she had lived because only by understanding her past could she have connected her present and future, and a new beginning that forgot everything neither suited Yulie nor was it her desire.

Whooosh…

At that moment, an outside breeze brushed Yulie’s shoulder, and she turned to where the wind had entered, flinching in surprise because there was no window—no, this was, from the start, a basement where there shouldn’t be a window…

“Oh?” Yulie murmured, a gasp escaping her.

Upon the library floor, a small notebook lay as if dislodged by the wind that had just blown in, and Yulie slowly approached, gripping the notebook and raising it with one hand, the cover bearing only a single word.

Diary

Beneath the diary’s cover, the name of an individual familiar to Yulie was written.

Yulie

At that moment, Yulie’s mind became dazed, and for a brief moment, the world seemed to pull away from her while her diary was in her own handwriting, though she had no memory of writing it.

“Then.”

There was only one answer, and Yulie, with a somewhat complicated expression, yet with a certain determination, opened the diary.

“—Urgh.”

And Yulie collapsed because the diary, not an object of the present, had drained all her mana…

***

In the Imperial Palace library, Sylvia opened her eyes in the early morning, and first a certain warmth enveloped her because a large coat was wrapped around her body, thus, she stared blankly at it, sniffed it, and her face immediately flushed red.

“Oh!”

Sylvia knew by scent alone that the coat belonged to Deculein, and her heart pounded and heat flushed her forehead, but she calmed herself, shaking her head from side to side and searching for someone to inform about this situation…

“What are you doing,” Sylvia said.

Blink— Blink—

Yulie lay on the ground, looking up at Sylvia, her eyes blinking like a goldfish.

“I apologize. A problem has occurred,” Yulie replied.

“Yes, that is evident. What kind of problem is it.”

Yulie pointed with her eyes to the spot opposite Sylvia’s desk, and there was the diary.

“What is this.”

“It is my diary, a diary written by my future—no, my past self. It seems that I have prepared this, knowing the eventual fading of my memories.”

Sylvia nodded, pulling the coat closer to her, which was indeed filled with Deculein’s scent.

“… Are you listening?” Yulie asked.

Sylvia glanced at Yulie, then put on the coat again, slipping her arms into its long sleeves and buttoning it up, the coat being large enough that it seemed about to overflow.

“I am listening.”

“You appear not to be.”

“Speak—why are you in that state,” Sylvia said, tugging at a sleeve button and furrowing her brow.

“… Yes, I attempted to read my diary, but every time I read it, mana was drained without end. Therefore, I only read two lines and ended up in this state.”

“Because it is not an object of the present, probably only you can read it,” Sylvia replied, a sneer on her lips.

“Why can only I read it?”

“It’s originally your item, and you yourself are a presence made from time energy. Side effects will be fewer compared to me or others.”

“… Oh.”

Yulie, too, understood the words, but the most important solution was not present, and Sylvia was rubbing her face against the coat’s collar.

” … Then, if I am to read this entire diary, it would take decades—”

“Develop your background knowledge about yourself.”

Yulie tilted her head.

“Your background knowledge—after all, that’s your item, isn’t it. The more you get to know yourself, the less mana will be used,” Sylvia continued.

“Yes, I understand. I must continue to get to know myself.”

“But are you sure you will be alright. You might regret it. Your former self really hated Deculein.”

At those words, her face stiffened, but then, as if something clicked, with a bright smile, Yulie said, “Oh, Mage Sylvia. I found it.”

“About what,” Sylvia asked.

“About the piece of note you spoke of and where it came from.”

“… Did it not come from the diary.”

Sylvia placed Yulie’s diary into Deculein’s inner pocket because, being a magic suit, its storage capacity was extensive.

“No, the paper was not a material from the diary. Unexpectedly, it was paper easily found.”

“Easy to find.”

“Yes.”

Creak—

With a stiff turn of her head, Yulie pointed somewhere and added, “That was it.”

Sylvia also looked in that direction, and her eyebrow twitched a little.

“A frame.”

“Yes, a painting. It was a piece from a canvas.”

On a canvas hidden behind the library’s bookshelf, there was no painting, and as Yulie had said, only a corner was slightly torn… Sylvia approached it and laid a piece of paper on it, which was a perfect fit.

“You are right,” Sylvia said.

“Yes, I have barely found it,” Yulie replied.

The moment Yulie and Sylvia muttered to themselves, looking at each other with smiles on their lips…

Whoooosh—!

A whirlwind appeared on the canvas, and Yulie and Sylvia flinched and stepped back, but it was already too late.

Fwoooooooooosh—!

The mana that sprang from within devoured both Yulie and Sylvia.

***

At the same moment, Arlos, Zeit, Carla, and Jackal remained confined within Quay’s oil painting.

“… Are we even going to be able to get out of here?” Zeit asked.

All they could do, confined within the human prison, was walk throughout the day within this painting-like—no, not a mere figure of speech, but a painting—landscape where Zeit and his group continued to walk.

“Why ask me that? You are the reason this happened,” Arlos replied, glancing at Zeit in an accusing tone.

“Well, you are the only mage, aren’t you? And Carla is said to be in a condition where she cannot assist,” Zeit said, clearing his throat and scratching the back of his neck.

“I wonder if my knowledge exceeds Arlos’s. I am merely unable to execute it,” Carla said.

“That’s right. Don’t you dare touch my sister. Got it?” Jackal said.

Carla and Jackal, those two, were of no help whatsoever.

“Sigh. Whatever.”

The moment Zeit was shaking his head…

Boooooooom—!

Whether from the sky or the ceiling, a tremendous boom reverberated from above, and two people plummeted.

Thud—!

“Hup!”

“Ugh.”

Those two individuals, groaning, became visible.

“Huh?”

Upon seeing Yulie and Sylvia, who had appeared suddenly, Zeit’s group merely blinked their eyes in a daze.