Chapter 19

───────────

Episode 4 - Weekend [4]

─────────────────────────────────

It was Sunday morning, and Professor Ashly had asked Lumina and me to come to her office over the weekend.

I was on my way to her office.

When I finally arrived, I knocked on the door three times.

"Come in."

Professor Ashly’s voice reached my ears. I grabbed the doorknob, turned it, and pushed the door open to look inside the office.

By the way, on Thursday after class, Rinna helped me find Professor Ashly’s office.

So I was able to get there without much trouble.

As I entered, I looked around.

Judging by the space around me, it wasn’t just an ordinary office; it also looked like a study and a large room where magic could be practiced.

There was a small library, a study room, and a large display case where several items were stored.

While looking at the display case, I noticed that there were two elixirs inside.

The original setup of the scenario was for Professor Ashly to give the elixir to the player and Lumina.

As I looked around, Professor Ashly, who was sitting in the study, said:

"Cadet Adel, you’ve arrived. Cadet Lumina will be here soon. In the meantime, come here."

I approached where she was sitting in response to her call.

I sat down in the chair next to him and looked at what was on the table.

There was a variety of books, parchments, pencils, and inks; as well as jars containing different types of powders and liquids, and others with strange things I couldn’t identify.

While I was observing everything, Professor Ashly seemed to notice and asked:

"It’s as if you’re looking at the things in front of you... Are you really blind?"

Without hesitation, I replied:

"Yes. I use my senses to guide me and understand everything around me."

"You must have unique abilities, right?"

"Something like that."

In addition to True Sight and Weakness Detection, which fall under the category of special traits, there are also skills such as Mana Sense and Senses of the Nine Heavens, which can be acquired through training.

However, True Sight and Weakness Detection are traits that cannot be acquired through normal means.

After some time, I finally asked why he had called me.

Although I already knew the reason, I still asked.

"Regarding that, I have a proposal for you and Cadet Lumina."

"A proposal?"

She nodded.

"Yes. The proposal is that you become my assistant. Simple, isn’t it?"

Professor Ashly and Director Bernice have two very different personalities:

One is cheerful and playful, and the other is serious and cold.

At that moment, Professor Ashly was showing her cheerful and playful side.

"What should I do as an assistant?"

The answer was obvious, but I still asked the question.

"Just help me with my research and anything else I ask of you. Of course, you must come no matter what when I call you, unless you’re injured or have an important matter to attend to. In those cases, you can ignore my call."

I nodded, putting on a thoughtful expression as if I were considering it seriously.

Then I nodded and said:

"Sure, why not? However, as you can see, Professor, I can’t see, so I’m going to need someone to help me with anything related to the texts."

She understood what I said and replied:

"If Cadet Lumina agrees, she could help you with those things."

"That would be great. Then I accept."

Professor Ashly smiled, took a scroll, and placed it in front of me.

"This scroll is a contract to keep secret everything you hear or learn here. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but it’s just a precaution."

"I understand, okay."

Maybe Professor Ashly still thinks that, no matter how small, there’s a chance I’ll become a villain one day.

After all, when it comes to sharing her research, the fact that I have the Dark attribute would make no one believe me... or worse, I could be condemned for it.

And that’s not in my best interest.

Besides, I’m not that kind of person.

"Use your blood as a seal to sign the contract."

Professor Ashly told me. Then, I made a small cut on my thumb and pressed it onto the parchment.

With Professor Ashly’s help, I pressed in the right spot.

As I wiped the blood off my thumb, Professor Ashly’s voice continued.

"Mhm, by the way, the color of your blood... I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before..."

"..."

It’s most likely due to the Supreme Quality Elixir.

Upon hearing this, I quickly changed the subject.

"So, what should I do now?"

Professor Ashly snapped the student out of her thoughts; she opened her eyes and nodded.

"Oh, right, that’s true. Take this."

Professor Ashly grabbed what appeared to be a book, handed it to me, and said:

"This is a book... a rather strange one."

I turned to the book, but since I couldn’t see, I looked at the teacher in disbelief.

"But I can’t see."

Professor Ashly shook her head and explained,

"That’s not necessary. Try to investigate the book."

I looked at the book again and thought.

’Delve into the book—does that mean I should use my senses?’

Using my senses, I tried to find something unusual in the book, but nothing out of the ordinary.

It was an ordinary book.

’No, wait...’

Immediately, I had an idea and used Mana Sense.

And, as expected, it was a Grimorio.

The reason for this was simple: the book in my hands has mana, which would not make sense since mana only exists in living beings, not in inanimate objects.

Since this is a book, it was given the name Grimorio, as Grimoriums contain magical formulas, spells, etc.

Naturally, these things attract mana because a magician uses the words written in the grimoire to use mana.

"It’s a grimoire, isn’t it?"

Professor Ashly nodded.

"Exactly."

I tilted my head in confusion and asked.

"But... what’s so special about it? Aside from the ancient spells and formulas, I don’t sense anything special."

Professor Ashly simply answered my doubtful question.

"That’s exactly what makes it special." When you open the Grimoire, there’s nothing written in it, yet it attracts mana. Isn’t that special enough?"

"..."

’What the hell...?’

Confused, I looked at the book again using Mana Sense, and of course, I could see the mana and its different colors.

But, apart from that, there was nothing else.

’An empty grimoire that still attracts mana.’

Wasn’t this what others would call "the mystery of the century" or "the mystery of the week"?

In any case, I saw Professor Ashly again.

"I can’t see, but... there really isn’t anything written there."

"If you’d like, I can share my memories with you so you can ’see’ and believe my words."

"That’s not necessary; I believe you, Professor Ashly."

I firmly declined. If she shared the memories of when she looked at and examined the Grimoire,

Then I would have to share some random memory.

’If I do that, she could discover some of my secrets.’

For example, I’m not from this world, and I’m one of its creators.

If she were to figure that out through my memories, I honestly don’t know what I would do.

"Okay."

After sighing, I decided to open the Grimoire and use my True Sight.

I suspect there might be something strange going on and that I’ve overlooked something.

When I opened the Grimorio using my True Sight, the white lines suddenly began to form something.

Those letters were clearly visible only to me.

’Wait... it really worked.’

Although letters suddenly appeared, when I read them, I didn’t understand a thing.

That was because I didn’t know how to read.

’Damn it...’

***

An 18 year old girl walked calmly. A large flower garden and a fountain lay to her right, and beyond that was a large lake.

Lumina glanced briefly at the scene as she walked.

She couldn’t help but think,

’I wish Adel could see this with me.’

Lumina tried to cure Adel’s blindness, but it was impossible.

Adel had told her that her eyes were special and that they were also connected to her Unique Trait. Therefore, unless Adel got rid of her Unique Trait, Lumina wouldn’t be able to cure her blindness.

Lumina sighed as she recalled that moment, and then headed straight to Professor Ashly’s office.

Adel was probably already there, talking with Professor Ashly.

’In my previous regression, I did not understand how Adel managed to respond to this theory and answer the professor Ashly’s questions.’

Even for Lumina, it took hundreds of lives to find a way to answer the written exam theory.

Since then, Lumina has always answered correctly and accepted the professor’s offer to be her assistant.

After all, Professor Ashly gave her an elixir that would help her become stronger quickly.

Naturally, Lumina could not reject the offer, so she went directly to her office.

When she finally arrived, before knocking on the door, she pressed her ear against it and listened.

Adel and Professor Ashly were talking about the Grimorio she had found long ago.

Even Lumina, in all her reincarnations, never discovered the secret of the Grimorio.

Of course, not until Adel appeared.

Instantly, a voice shouted from the other side of the door.

"What did you say!"

"Ah, uh... I know what the Grimorio says. With the help of my traits, I revealed its entire content."

"W-what does it say? Can you read it?"

"I’m sorry, Professor. I can’t read, but I can tell you what characters are in the Grimorio."

It was a rather amusing conversation for Lumina.

She couldn’t help but laugh. Finally, she opened the door without knocking and walked in.

"I’m here, Professor Ashly."

"Ah, uh, welcome, Cadet Lumina."

Lumina walked over to where Adel and Professor Ashly were sitting.

She sat down on the other side of Professor Ashly, and Adel was sitting on the opposite side.

Ashly was in the middle. Then, Lumina looked at Ashly, searching for a piece of paper and a pen.

Then she looked at Adel.

’Heh, a nervous Adel.’

Adel felt nervous and regretful for having revealed that he could "see" what was written in the Grimoire.