Chapter Fourteen: Librarian

The torture continued for about 2 hours, more or less. The only one left untortured is the guy in the right.The smell of blood and urine wafted in the frost aired room. The blood was from the two who were now being nested by thousands of Nalia Ice Wasps in their body, while the urine came from the only guy who was left. The blood that was on the floor was because of the two who bit off their tongue, hoping to commit suicide only to fail to do so. There were no blood that was caused by the Nalia Frost Wasps as the blood has already been in stasis once the blood had contact with it. Naturally, the blood hasn't been completely frozen, only enough to slow down blood flow. Of course if it were a normal human from Earth, I doubt that the person would still be alive. Only because of the abnormal body physique and anatomy of the humans in Isaiah, which I read about in the 《Library》, that they are still alive, not that it's a good thing for them. Their strengthened body which is as strong as a B-rank adventurer's is also helping. The Nalia Frost Wasps also had something to do on why they're still living even though the two already retracted their mana to lower their body resistance so that they could be relieved of their agony.

As I was preparing to inquire if the last person will be kind enough to provide me some information that I haven't yet acquired from the other two. My mind drifted to the earlier scene which made me knit my brows and frown, I deeply contemplated on the earlier scene.

'This matter is more troublesome than I thought.' I muttered in my mind.

... 2 hours earlier

"Shall we get started?" I informed

The guy in the middle, who I presume to be higher ranking than his two subordinates, was the first victim I picked for the Nalia Frost Wasps. When I released the Nalia Frost Wasps, they first started encircling him for about a minute making some parts of his body covered with a layer of frost because of the ice element that the Nalia Frost Wasps were emitting. Still, even with that and the detailed description that I explained on what will happen to him, he still didn't bat an eye. He looked at me with the eyes filled with tranquility like he was prepared to meet death, it wasn't filled with enmity or malice at all! After that he closed his eyes indicating he was ready.

'What a brave person. All assassins should be like this, not like those two.' I mused in my mind while looking at the other two who were shivering in fear even though they weren't the ones being covered in frost.

"What an interesting person, if you weren't destined to die, I believe you will accomplish great things. Alas, this will be the time of your death. Two of my principles are 'Everything in life is a simple game, whether you play or not the game will start nonetheless' and 'There are only winners and losers nothing in between, the winner takes it all while the losers loses everything.'. The game has started and you and I are on opposing sides, which means you are my enemy. I won this round, which mean you had lost. In this type of game, I believe the winner are the ones who will live, while the losers life is in the hands of the winner." I stated while I took off and started wiping my fogged glasses because of the cold moist air that the Nalia Ice Wasps were emitting.

The 3 guys suddenly became quiet, the atmosphere between the three became filled with hostility. The guy in the middle who was previously in a state of tranquility, became hostile and was trying to get out of his restraints. The same with both the guys in the left and right. Although they tried, it was all useless effort as the ropes are reinforced by magic. The only thing they've accomplished was to make the Nalia Ice Wasps even more aggressive. The middle guy's skin was turning paler. As I was being puzzled by their sudden change of behavior, the middle guy began to bellow at me.

"Bastard! Do you think you are God? You are not the one to decide on who will live or die! Playing with lives like a game? God's wrath will descend upon you! Even if I die and suffer today, you will suffer more in hell!" He bellowed while the guy in the left was still struggling to free himself like a madman.

Can't this people understand what I'm talking about, do they only know how take it in literally? Anyway, is he a worshiper? I knew that there were many assassins that were devoted to the God of the Dark Elves the Vengeance God Ishmael, but the words that he is mentioning indicates that it isn't the Vengeance God they're worshiping. I have a clue on what church they're worshiping, and the thought that they might be the enemy makes me scrunch my forehead in the possibility of that.

"Hmm? You say God will punish me? What a joke, does your so called God even exist? Assuming that your God exists, what does that have to do with me killing you? Playing with lives? I don't think that is the case because as soon as you lost to me, whether you live ot die, I will be the judge of that." I affirmed in a mocking tone.

"Y-you Devil's spawn!!! Ye dare to question the existence of the Goddess Eldina?" The guy in the left exploded.

First of all, I am devil's spawn. Secondly, it looks like my provocation worked. The left guy blurted out such information without him even knowing. The guy in the middle, even though he is as angry as him, still knew that I was intentionally provoking them so that they will slip up. He immediately glares at the left guy, even though he was already being encased in a thick layer of frost it seems like he doesn't feel it at all! The guy in the left stopped moving and had the face saying 'what the hell did I do wrong?'. Even though the guy in the middle tried to conceal who they were worshiping by saying it was a God they're worshiping and not a Goddess, the left guy still blurted such information, and he doesn't even know what he had done was wrong.

It seems my guess is correct. They are from the Judicium church, which worships the Judgement Goddess Eldina. She is also the Avian's Goddess. Although she is the Goddess of the Avians, there are many people with different races that worships her, especially those that have deep enmity against the demon race. This lead to the Judicium Church being the second church with the most believers, with the first being the Clemente Church who worships the Merciful Goddess Mari-Ne. The thought that the Judicium Church might be our enemy is giving me a headache.

There are few factions in this world that I find hard to deal with, the Judicium Church is one of them. If I had the chance to pick, I would rather fight both the whole Beastman and Human race at the same time, at least they know when to retreat and are conscious of the casualties. The Judicium Church is practically the opposite of that, they will never retreat and doesn't care about there casualties as long as they accomplish the mission given by their Goddess Eldina. I guess it can't be helped, the game has already begun. If the enemy is really the Judicium Church, I could more or less figure out their motives. As I was contemplating on such thoughts, the Nalia Frost Wasps began to 'preserve' their food. They started to encircle around the middle guy.

With the middle guy's body parts being covered with a layer of frost, the body temperature naturally was dropping to a dangerous degree, with that the blood flow began to slow down. Of course with his body being stronger than a normal human, he won't die even in this state. Just as the Nalia Frost Wasps were about to enter his body, blood flowed out of his mouth and there was a sound of him swallowing.

He bit off his own tongue, huh? Although he won't die quickly if he just bit off his tongue normally, that's not the case if he bit through a major vein though, which I'm pretty sure he did looking at the amount of blood dripping from his mouth. Judging by the gulping sound earlier and his now blue face, he should've swallowed the part of his tongue so that he will suffocate. I guess him being an assassin isn't just him having that title, a true assassin should know how to suicide properly. Such were my train of thoughts while the middle guy already looks like he was going to die. It looks like the guy in the left did the same thing, as blood was dripping from his mouth. The right guy looks like he was hesitating on whether he should also follow the actions of his comrades or not.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you guys but your actions are futile. You think I would let you guys die that easily? I don't know if you both can hear this but don't you think the mist in this place is too much?" I non-chalantly informed.

The mist in the surrounding area was too much for the Nalia Frost Wasps to be the cause of it. Even though the two guys were currently suffocating, they're still conscious enough to focus on their surroundings.

"I've already explained to you the characteristics of the Nalia Frost Wasps, but what about their queen? Of course Nalia Frost Wasps being special in the Ice Wasps species, their queen should naturally be special too. There's only one ability that the Nalia Frost Wasps Queen possess, excluding the ability to give birth to the eggs, it's called 【Frozen Lifeline】. It is a magic exclusive to the Nalia Frost Wasps Queen's race, it releases an odorless white mist that looks like normal mist. You won't find out that it isn't just a normal mist until it goes into your body. Once the mist enters your body, you will find that your whole body will be numbed. Though, I think you guys didn't notice it as you were bellowing like monkeys earlier." I ridiculed while I show them the Nalia Frost Queen that was in a container that has holes for the mist to exit.

The Nalia Frost Queen's appearance was it was bigger than a normal Nalia Frost Wasps, it also didn't have any wings on its back. Although those were big difference, the most redeeming factor was the color of the Nalia Frost Queen which is violet, different from the blue color of the Nalia Frost Wasps.

"The effect of the magic 【Frozen Lifeline】 is that the one who is inflicted by it will not die no matter what even if they're poisoned or fatally wounded, excluding the decapitation of the head and complete destruction of the body. Even if you stab the head with a knife it’s very unlikely for it to result to death. Although it has the time limit of 3 minutes, if you don't cure your fatal wounds then you'll die after you stop inhaling the mist. It also works on people who were dead by only a few seconds, they will be resuscitated until the magic wears off or their injuries were healed by magic during the duration of the magic. That magic should be familiar to assassins like you guys, as it is one of the magic that is the bane of the Assassins Guild. I heard that the Assassins Guild failed many missions because of this skill, which the only known user is Serene Snow Saintess, resulting to the Assassins Guild's reputation to drop drastically. I also heard that Serene Snow Saintess was selling a pill called 'Frozen Lifeline Pill', which has the same effect as the magic. Its price is pretty high, though, only high class nobles and wealthy merchant can afford it. Still, it concluded to the Assassins Guild's reputation hitting rock bottom." I continued.

Many people think that 'shouldn't they just aim for decapitating the head?'. Though that may sound easy, but in fact it's not. The neck is one of the vital and most vulnerable spot in the human body so it's natural that people will react fast if someone is trying to attack that spot. There are also alot of magic equipments that protects the neck from harm and it's very common for people who are decently rich to have them.

They might as well use high ranked magic to completely destroy the target rather than targeting the strongly protected neck. But how can high ranked magic be so easy to use? Even if they try to use it, it will attract too much attention and will easily reveal your location once you started casting the magic, with all that disadvantages for an assassin how could they possibly consider that option? While such were my train of thoughts, the Nalia Frost Wasps began to enter the bodies of the two. Because the 【Frozen Lifeline】 has a certain kind of pheromone, they attacked the left guy too. I guess they were getting impatient with the food right in front of them, even without my order they started to dig in... Literally. Though, I'm glad they didn't attack the right guy.

Although they were making a screaming gesture, because their vocal chords are already frozen, no sounds came out. The guy in the right who was still unharmed, was staring with eyes that was almost out of their sockets while his teeth was chattering even more so than earlier. It looks like the plan to interrogate him later will succeed, while I was thinking that, the smell of urine was smelt. 'Tch, disgusting. I'm glad I sent them here in my domain, it would have been bad if I used my secret base to interrogate them. Because the domain is created by me using 【Dominion】, I can just erase it with a single thought.

...Back to the present.

With the two who is already dead, though not really dead because of the 【Frozen Lifeline】 still in effect, it’s more appropriate to call it mentally dead. With their current appearance, you would be totally surprised if you say they were human. The color of their whole body was deep blue, the hair was frosted that it looks like it was ice needles, the guy in the left was bald, though. Combining with the fact that they currently have no eyes because it turned into minced meat when the Nalia Ice Wasps began to enter through it, and the constant squirming on their stomach makes them look less human-like. In short, it looks so disgusting if Hollywood ever makes something like this, I would seriously question their sanity. I can't even comment on the lower parts of their body as it's too gruesome. Even though I'm indifferent about this kind of things, I still have a bottom line.

Looking at the guy who is still alive, mentally... I think? He was closing his eyes, shivering while he was muttering 'this is just a nightmare' and 'save me Goddess' over and over again. Since I was quiet for about 5 minutes because of recalling the earlier events, combined with his closed eyes, he might be thinking that I'm not here anymore. I started to talk to finally have my questions answered.

"Hey, you..."

"Hiiie!!! Stay away! I'll do anything you want, just don't kill me!" He cried, interrupting the words that I was gonna say.

...Well, this turned out easier than I planned, I thought I need to torture this guy to some extent to get the information out, but I guess it's already not necessary. Whatever, it's better if it's easier.

...2 hours later

I'm currently inside my room contemplating. The interrogation of the last guy proceeded faster than I thought, probably because I had already deduced most of the information he gave. It's because of the information I got while conversing with the other two earlier, that lead me to a lot of clues, though it's more like puzzle pieces that still has missing pieces. The most useful thing that the last guy said was that there seems to be a conspiracy going on within the Human Kingdom and the Judicium Church, other than that, most of the information I got from him was mostly confirmation of what I deduced earlier. With that, I already mostly completed the puzzle, though, it has missing pieces here and there. But because the puzzle is mostly completed, even if it's missing some pieces, you'll mostly see what the big picture is.

If I have to summarize it, this are the answers I got:

1: The Judicium Church is behind the attack earlier.

2: The Judicium Church probably is dead set on completing their goal.

3: The Judicium Church's goal is probably capturing me. They have no reason to assassination me, as I have no worth being dead.

4: Though, target is probably me, the reason is still unknown. Though, there's a possibility that it's because I'm the first half Human half Devil that ever existed, it isn't a good enough reason for them attacking one of the strongest family in the Human Kingdom.

5: Somehow the information about me being alive is known by the Judicium Church. They're at least pretty sure that I'm alive considering the fact that they risked attacking the Blacklion Family, which is one of the pillars of the Human Kingdom, this risks of incurring the wrath of the Human Kingdom as a whole.

Although, combining this pieces of the puzzle you will get an answer, because there are still missing pieces, there is still a chance that the whole picture will change after acquiring this missing pieces. What's more, I still have pieces that I don't know where it goes correctly. A fine example for this is Meria. Because there are still inconsistencies in Meria's earlier story, I don't know what to think on whether she is an ally or an enemy. Another example is the Human Kingdom as a whole, because I'm not good at politics, I don't know the current worth of the Blacklion Family in the Human Kingdom. I'm pretty sure the Blacklion Family is still important as one of the pillars of the Human Kingdom, though, on whether the Human Kingdom conspired against us with the Judicium church for a common interest or not, is puzzling me.

I temporarily cast away such thoughts, there's another person that I need to question. Whether she is an ally or not will be answered soon. Though, I wish she won't be an enemy, if by chance she is... I will show no mercy. As I was having such cold thoughts, I already used 【Shadow Walk】 to teleport inside her room.

I teleported in the shadow in the corner of the room. Strangely, she isn't sleep in her bed. Instead she is sitting in the bed with a posture of her arms clinging on her knees. Her face looks like she was crying earlier, and now she is currently sitting with that posture looking straight at the fireplace inside her room. Currently the time could be interpreted as 1:00 AM in the middle of the night, so her not sleeping is pretty weird, though, I can't say that as likewise I'm currently awake. Because of her crying earlier, she must be exhausted so her being awake means it's not because she can't sleep, instead she isn't trying to sleep. The only reason I think that she isn't trying to sleep is because she is waiting for something... or someone.

'Heh, so she's been expecting me to come, huh?'

Although I'm standing within her sight, she still can't see me because of 【Shadow Walk】 and I'm stepping in a shadow. So that I can reveal myself, I stepped over a shadowless spot in front of the fireplace. With that I'm no longer invisible to the sight. Meria was slightly surprised but that change quickly to a warm smile.

"...Yuki, you've come." She whispered in a mellow voice that could cause a person's heart to melt.

"Sorry for making you wait... Meria." I said in a monotone voice.

She was surprised at first because of the lack of emotion in my voice different from my earlier, but she quickly turned it to an understanding smile.

"So you found out, huh? About the stuff I omitted in the explanation of my ability, earlier." She said while wearing a melancholic smile.

"You seemed surprised. I thought you were waiting for me because of I found out about it."

"...Eh? Y-yes, that's exactly why I was waiting for you. N-no other reasons..." She agreed hurriedly, though it's practically obvious that she was lying and waiting for me for another reason.

I stare into her eyes directly with a questioning gaze. Though, I didn't say anything she probably gets what I'm trying to imply, as she was avoiding my gaze and the sweat on her face was increasing. Her face is also red like a volcano waiting to explode, is her fever really that worse? As I was having such train of thought, she finally confessed on why she waiting for me earlier.

"Hehehe, a-about that, it was big sister Rena's f-fault. She told me that... t-that you'll be visiting me later at night...to c-comfort me..." She answered bashfully, she whispered the last part very softly, if it weren't for my good hearing no doubt I would've just heard gibberish.

"Comfort?" I asked with my left brow raised.

"E-eh? You heard that? I-I mean not that kind of 'comfort', what I mean is c-comfort like making me stop crying and h-hugging... ugh, nevermind what I just said, please forget all that I said recently."

I know what comfort means, you didn't have to explain it to me like I'm stupid. Though, I still can't figure out why she needs comforting, doesn't people like to be alone when they're sad and crying? I mean it's a time where they're vulnerable, wouldn't you prefer to be alone to sort out your heart and mind? I wonder if it's because she's a girl...

'Tch, I'm forgetting my main objective on why I came here. Enough being distracted, It's time to get the answer to my questions and make the puzzle a little more clearer.' I contemplated to myself inwardly.

"Meria I need to know what you omitted on the earlier discussion. Also I need to know, are you an ally or... an enemy?" I questioned with the last part being a little forceful.

I know it's pretty stupid of me to ask the last question, I mean what kind of enemy will tell the truth in this situation? But a part of me just want to ask this question no matter how stupid it is. If it was the me on my original world, I'm pretty sure I would never ask that kind of stupid question, this should be because of my emotions. With this, I'm convinced with the answer to one of the questions I had since I was reincarnated to this world, it's that being reincarnated affected my emotions in someway.

"... I understand." She answered while making eye contact with me.

...

...

I'm currently inside the 《Library》, reading the information regarding the Judicium Church, Human Kingdom and abilities. This includes the whole history of them, even story books or books that are written based on rumors wasn't spared. Other books that aren't focused about them and was just mentioned were read by me. Of course with thousands of books in here searching for the books I'm looking for is an impossible task, especially with the limited amount of time that I can stay here. It was with the help of the 'entity’ that is living inside the 《Library》 that I can successfully read all the books that are related to what I'm searching for. Those were my thoughts as I'm currently reading a book about abilities.

'Although, I'm thankful, it would be better if 'it' doesn't stare at me while I'm reading' I said to myself while I caught a glimpse of 'it' at the corner of my eye.

I met it when I came here for the 3rd time when I was 6 years old. I was 'surprised' when I first saw it.

... 7 years ago.

"Who ar-" I said while my right foot was stepping back, but before I got to finish my question it ran away with haste.

It ran away at full speed on my first encounter with it, and it was fast as hell. I ran after it and even though I was running at full speed it wasn't enough. While I was chasing it, I accidentally bumped on a bookshelf, with that many books came falling over, but because I was occupied with chasing I didn't bother with picking them up. While I was close to losing it, to my surprise it suddenly turn back an ran towards my direction at full speed. I started to gather my mana and preparing to cast 【Shadow Ball】 which is like 【Black Ball】 but instead of exploding into black smoke, it damages the opponent it hits internally which is perfect for the situation as I don't want the books to be damaged. Though, I might have made a big mistake as I now only realized that there isn't any dark type elements in the surrounding or to be precise there aren't any type of elements in the surrounding meaning that I can't use any magic here. It was only 10 meters away, by its speed it should cover that distance in a second, I have no time to attack and I'm stuck between bookshelves which means evading is impossible, that only leaves me to defend.

"Tsk, damn it." I blurted while clicking my tongue, I gathered my mana at my front and prepared my arms in an 'x' to block the incoming attack.

'I screwed up and it might cause me my life, I just hope that this thing is just speed and no power.' Were my current thoughts while focusing my eyes to every movement it makes.

To my surprise, though, it didn't attack me in any sort of way it just ran past me or to be precise it leapt over me. When I looked back I saw it hastily sorting out the books that I accidentally knocked over and putting it back in which I think is the same order before they were knocked over. It done it in mere seconds which left me in awe, I think there should at least be a hundred of books that I knocked over but it fixed it in seconds like nothing ever happened, after it was done it left again hastily in the opposite of my direction.

"Well, that was surprising... and not very good for the heart, but because of that I clearly saw the whole appearance of it. I also gained some new information like there's no elements in here and it also seems that there is no mana in the surrounding except for the mana inside my body. It also seems that 'it' doesn't mean me any harm." I murmured to myself.

The appearance of 'it' was of a goblin with dead pale skin and ugly face. If I would have to describe it more clearly, it looks like a certain cursed hobbit with an obsession to a cursed ring and calls it 'my precious', no I think 'it looks like' would be an understatement, it looks exactly Gollum.

To reconfirm what I saw, I knocked over all the books on the bookshelves to my left and right. Sure enough, just a couple of seconds after I did that 'Gollum' which I will now call it, came and hastily sorting and putting back the books. It looks like my eyes aren't deceiving me, it's an exact clone of Gollum(Sméagol). Now that I confirmed it, I'd like to know more of its capabilities. I picked up some books, about 15 in quantity, and threw them far away each in different directions.

'Lets see if you can get them all.' I mused inwardly. Though, what came next was out of my expectations, in fast movements came 15 Gollums carrying the books I threw. It was a creepy feeling when I think that there was this many Gollums when I was walking in complete darkness with only a candleholder as my light source, and there's no proof to say that there isn't more Gollums hiding in here nor a proof that Gollums are the only creatures in here. Cold sweat was slowly gathering in my forehead by having this thoughts. As I was watching the Gollums put back the books in the bookshelves I suddenly felt a presence with terrifying aura behind me in just a reaching distance.

"Hello, I am the Librarian..."

End of chapter 14

Author's Note (Boring): Hello this is Meganekko (Decided to call herself that) once again coming back to life. People might ask (I wish they do) why I didn't update for this 5 or so months, well I was on a journey for enlightment (basically went on a vacation with my mom in Japan), though, I got back 2 months ago... Well, because of the 3 months of journey I have also stacked 3 months worth of novels... So yeah, you get the point... Anyways I hope this novel still has some readers, cause it's my first and don't really want my first to be a fail, especially now that I've improves somehow especially quantity-wise~

Author's Note #2 (Important): So some of you might have forgotten what the plot is and what happened on earlier chapters, I suggest a reread from the start, it's not that long anyway~ Also I've added a story part on chapter 1 and 2 and it's important in the plot. It also adds to the depth of the story, which is really important as I'm aiming for a deep story, though so far it lacks that~ Also one more thing, I specialize in a dark kind of plots with gore and stuff about the dark side Human nature etc., at least that's the direction I want to go as an Author. So if you want fluffy stuff... There should be some here but the story would stand on the dark side~