The Bookkeeper-Chapter 49: The Book of Aaron

In Leo’s hand lay a black book, its cover adorned with a skull painted in dripping gold that cascaded partially across the surface. Beneath the skull, the word ’AARON’ gleamed in luminous gold lettering. Below that, ’The Book of’ was inscribed by hand in Persian script, followed by ’Distortion’ handwritten in English—Raiden’s native tongue from his previous world.

Raiden’s expression darkened instantly as he stared at the book. Something didn’t sit right with him—could any of them actually speak English? The thought gnawed at him as he sat there, lost in contemplation, until Leo’s voice cut through his reverie.

"It was hidden among the camouflage books... which made it nearly impossible to find." He said this with evident satisfaction. "But I believe this is the genuine article—written by Aaron himself."

Raiden shot to his feet and gestured for Leo to hand over the book. The moment it was in his grasp, he pointed to the word ’Distortion.’

"Can you pronounce this word?" he asked, his voice tinged with curiosity and confusion. Speed and Leo both shook their heads.

This deepened Raiden’s confusion, his heartbeat quickening with anxiety. Unable to contain himself any longer, he forced the book open to the first page.

His eyes began to flicker, and his legs trembled. This wasn’t what he had expected—worse, it contained more than he could have ever imagined since arriving in this world. An entire page filled with English words stared back at him.

Instinctively, he turned to them once more, asking if they could read it. But again, none of them could. They stared at him in confusion, perplexed by the strange expression he wore while studying the book.

Little did they know that Raiden was consumed by a torrent of emotions as he stared at the passage before him. It read:

"My name is Milo, previously from a completely different world from this one. I was a secret agent for my country’s government until I found myself in a dire and inexplicable situation. Before I knew it, I was in this world, inhabiting a completely different body."

It continued. "I’ve been searching for a way back home, but unfortunately there’s nothing I can do. Even worse, I seem to be the only one who was transmigrated."

"Now, being the only civilized person in this entire kingdom, I’d like to use this book as my diary. Perhaps when someone else from my world comes into contact with it, they could add their own ideas and finish what I couldn’t—find a way back home."

The moment Raiden finished reading that page, he immediately turned to the next. His heart sank in terror and defeat as he clenched his fist in frustration, nearly hurling the book aside. The next four pages had been torn from the book entirely, and the ones that followed were written in Persian.

Yet he didn’t let his frustrations overwhelm him at that moment. He flipped through the pages to the very end, finding that everything within was spread across multiple languages—but not English. Most of the pages from there were missing as well, leaving only fragments of magical techniques, just as the book of Aaron was proclaimed to contain.

He finally let out an annoyed sigh and tossed the book onto the sofa before sinking into it himself. Speed and Leo remained confused, staring at him as he sat there massaging his forehead in exhaustion.

Ever since his arrival, this was the first time he had felt like he stood a real chance of returning home, despite his magical incapabilities. But as it turned out, he hadn’t been the only one in this predicament—and the person before him couldn’t get back despite all their magical prowess. To make matters worse, the trail he had left behind was gone.

This alone made Raiden want to crawl out of his own skin. It wasn’t enough to make him give up on returning to his world, but the disappointment and confusion flooded his mind, darkening his mood until Leo spoke up.

"Did you see the spell to bring dead familiars back to life?"

Raiden tilted slightly toward him and stared for a moment, wondering if Leo was ignorant or simply oblivious. He clearly wasn’t in the mood to speak, and he had expected them to understand that. However, Leo’s expression did him more good than harm—his eyes widened with unmistakable excitement.

He could simply search for the missing pages, but before that, he needed to consider what the passage had revealed—the book was Milo’s diary, which meant every spell and message within was as important as those that were missing.

"He turned toward Leo once more, but with a smile this time. "No, Leo, check it out... those kinds of spells are in the later sections."

Leo hurried over and snatched up the book, flipping through the pages. Before long, his expression lit up—he had found it. In an instant, he rushed outside while Speed remained on the sofa, yet to utter a word, his eyes darting between their faces.

The moment Leo left, Speed turned to Raiden, who sat beside him with his elbows braced against his thighs, his head swimming with conflicting emotions—excitement that he finally knew there was a chance of returning home, mixed with confusion about who exactly Milo was and where he might be now. Speed finally spoke up.

"You seem different after reading that book. What’s going on?"

Raiden turned to him. His problems weren’t ones any of them could solve, and even if they could, he wasn’t about to let them know. He needed to calm down, steady his nerves, and handle everything carefully before the others started getting suspicious.

"It’s nothing, Speed. I was hoping to find a specific spell, but unfortunately, the book didn’t have it." He let out a sigh and rose to his feet. "Let’s go help Freya bring back her familiar."

The moment he finished speaking, Leo walked back in with the others. Raiden didn’t say another word but simply gestured toward the training room. Speed rose to his feet and followed, and everyone else did the same.

"The book says once a familiar dies, bringing them back to life is nearly impossible, even for higher-ranked mages," Leo said.

Freya’s soul seemed to crumble, her body trembling as his words awakened everyone’s fears. Leaving without her familiar had been hard enough for Free as it was.

"However, it mentions something else that could be done."

Freya’s eyes widened with hope. "What is it? Tell me."

Leo gave her a nod and began reading the page aloud. "Familiar restoration: nearly impossible even for higher-class mages. Requires special species of both the creature and its master."

"Mana Reconstitution: creating a mana form of the familiar from raw mana, but it requires a highly skilled mana user. When the user runs out of mana, the familiar dies again until resurrected using the same procedure."

"Finally, Essence Rebinding: this is the easiest and safest among the three. It involves reattaching the familiar’s spirit or essence to the master, and this can be done even when the familiar is alive."

The moment Leo finished reading, everyone turned to Freya, who remained motionless, her eyes fixed on the floor. She didn’t understand most of what Leo had read, but it was obvious she wanted her familiar back in the flesh—perhaps that alone would give her closure.

But she couldn’t achieve that, and the only alternative was mana reconstitution, which would take a toll on her body, even for someone as skilled in mana usage as she was.

She would grow exhausted from breathing alone, with maintaining something like that through mana draining every ounce of her physical and magical energy.

However, as she stood there lost in thought, Raiden cleared his throat to get their attention. He didn’t want to get involved, but he couldn’t fight the desperation within him to read more of the book.

"I’d suggest you go with Essence Rebinding, Freya. Not only will that keep Free close to you at all times, but his body won’t be rotting, and you can still bring him back once you become strong enough."

Freya stared at Raiden for a moment. He raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

Freya let out a sigh. "Let’s do it then."

Raiden smiled at her while Leo began replicating the magic circle from within the book. When he finished, he placed Free’s dead body within it and gestured for Freya to step into the circle.

Leo took a seal from the shelves within the room, wrote enchanted ancient letters on it, then handed it to Freya and asked her to burn it with her mana.

She did as Leo instructed, and the moment she placed the burning seal on her familiar, the entire circle erupted in blue flames along with Free’s body. The flames burned intensely for a moment before abruptly stopping, leaving only ashes scattered across the floor. freёweɓnovel_com

However, Freya immediately smiled as she clutched her chest. "I can feel him," she said, warmth and relief flooding her voice. She instantly turned to Raiden, dashed toward him, and wrapped him in a hug. "Thank you," she whispered, her voice cracking with emotion.

Raiden was taken aback, feeling uncomfortable with the sudden embrace, but he knew she was acting out of pure relief, and he wasn’t about to be a jerk about it. So he allowed it until she finally pulled away from the hug.

Raiden masked his thoughts with a smile. "Now, let’s all savor this moment of happiness while it lasts."

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