story.

"So, what is that book?"

My dear Miss Witch asked me as she and I sat in the study of the Grim Palace

again. The golems were out and about, cleaning the place up. The Gardener Golem

had started a fire and was cremating every one of the dead CEF. The kids and the

living armor were also helping with the cleanup. Once the interior was done,

Miss Witch and I came here.

There was a lot of blood and flesh to clean up, even setting aside the

convertible we had created out of the Palace. Was this not a grand setup either

way? I could probably call it revolutionary real estate and sell it to some

nouveau riche count or merchant.

Yeah. Then we could move out and buy a nice little house in a good neighborhood

where break-ins don’t happen. Wouldn’t that be safe!

"Butler? Book."

"Why don’t we let it speak for itself...?"

In the center of the table was the first order of business.

[I am a Grimoire]

It said.

"All right..." Weiss sighed. "And that explains what exactly?"

[Your question?]

"All right, I’m burning this thing."

Weiss put a foot on the table and summoned a fireball. The grimoire tried to run

away and hide behind me, but I quickly grabbed it (as quickly as I could—my

stomach was KILLING ME, OH MY GOD!) and presented it to the witch again.

[Et tu, Butler?]

"Who are YOU calling a butler, huh? Miss Witch, burn it twice."

[I’ll explain! I’ll explain!] The book flapped around and tried to wave its

pages at us. When we set it back down, the book breathed a sigh of relief (how?)

and turned to Weiss. It showed both of us the same words, one side on each page.

[I am Lady Lilith’s grimoire]

Weiss took a sharp breath, then let it out slowly.

"Haah... I had a feeling," she said.

"Really?"

"Yes. The original Witch Queen was very powerful, but I guess one of her most

powerful abilities was to infuse ’life’ into things. Take the armor, for

example, or the golems."

A whistle escaped me. So Jake and John were, like, 300 years old? That’s crazy.

"You mean all these things are her creations? I thought the magic to create

living armor was common."

Weiss shook her head.

"It is, but you can say all the ones here are quite literally ’alive,’ unlike

those animated by regular magic. That’s what sets her spells apart from others

as well."

"They sure have a lot of personality."

Weiss glared at the book at my words.

[Guilty as charged!]

"Wait, I have another question," I said, raising my hand. "Did the first Witch

Queen only make these few ’living’ creatures?"

"It was just one of the things she did," Weiss explained kindly. "There were

originally many more. The Grim Palace was a much more populated place. They all

died."

My eyes asked how, and her eyes answered with an ’I don’t know.’ It was a fairly

heavy thing to acknowledge.

War? The Ice Wall, perhaps? There could be many reasons.

[I am just a grimoire. A simple one. I can help people use some spells]

"By doing what?"

[It’s a small technique, my lady, Miss Witch Queen]

Weiss had a smug smile pulling her lips up. Almost like a cat’s mouth, her lips

were struggling between staying down and taking the shape of a ’3’. She was very

happy to have been called Witch Queen by the original Witch Queen’s creation,

huh?

And this slimy motherfucking book. Why hadn’t it mentioned yet that it was

looking for a successor to the Witch Queen, and that it had chosen me? Was it

lying to me as well?

No way.

As if reading my mind, the book’s text on the bottommost corner facing me showed

a quick [(0-0)(0-<)].

[The technique I used allowed parts of your mana to be sent to the butler.]

Technique.

What technique?

Oh, wait. Don’t let it tell her shit. I quickly waved my hands and interrupted

the conversation, trying to cover the pages with my hands.

"Yes. So! While I was cleaning the library one day, I found this book. It said

it was a grimoire and could teach me magic."

"Right. How can a mana-less..." Weiss stared at me again. I had to answer this,

not the book!

"It’s servitude," I said without missing a beat. Like hell I could say it was

from all the touching we were doing in the bath. Things like that are meant for

two souls to connect, and as things stood, I was more than happy to connect with

Weiss, and she was happy to connect with me. The mana was a side bonus, not the

main deal at all. I promise. I was a kind-hearted thief and could assure you of

that.

"I get power the more I am in the service of the Witch Queen."

Weiss gulped at my words. She looked down at the book.

This time, on her side, [(0-0)(0-<)].

"Right," she said. "So, Butler, you get stronger from my power as long as you’re

a faithful butler."

"C-correct. Why would the Witch Queen make a grimoire like this?"

"That’s actually a good question," Weiss muttered. "Hey, book. Answer."

Did I dig my own grave? I felt like the book was angry at me for a second, but

come on. It wasn’t like it could escape this question.

[Honestly, just because,] the book told both of us. [Lilith thought there would

be a use for this ability of hers sometime down the line, and this is just how

it’s being used right now.]

[The Witch Queen was not an omniscient being. She had many weaknesses and

shortcomings, but she always tried to hedge against them—as did the people

around her back then.]

"Do you... know a lot about the Witch Queen?" Weiss asked. "There is next to no

information about her. I only know the accounts left by her successors."

[Not a lot,] the book answered. [Only the things I am infused with and the

things I witnessed.]

To both of us, it carried a different meaning.

For Weiss, she must have been thinking that the book knew little.

I knew it was different, though.

There was very clearly a reason.

There was a reason for the book to find the ’successor’ to the Witch Queen,

whatever her goal might be.

This thing knew it.

I narrowed my eyes as I gazed at the grimoire—this strange, Lust-Eating

Grimoire.

Whatever.

I would know everything when the time came. Until then, I simply had to enjoy

it, right?

"So, what can you do?" Weiss asked. "Show me your spells."

I snapped my fingers, and a butterfly formed in the air.

Weiss observed my spell quite blandly.

She scoffed.

"You still have a long way to go, butler. Try your best."

Oh, fuck you.