Before the day of the founding festival dawned, Presepe searched through all kinds of books in Fenrir's study.
There was one piece of good news and one piece of bad news. First of all, the former was that there were more types of books in the study than she had expected.
There were imperial history books, books containing the folktales and legends that formed the foundation of the empire, and even magic books.
The latter, however, she was unable to find any significant information.
And understandably so...
- Mutations between monsters and humans often occur. If they have strong human blood, they can live normal lives, but if they have strong monster blood, they may go berserk.
Because it's something she already knows.
However, even so, it was not entirely without results.
- Sacred stone statue.
It was the history book of Ateloia that contained the intact appearance of the stone statue that had been tragically shattered.
- To the west of Ateloia lived an ominous being. He brought plagues, cast curses, and ceaselessly killed innocent people. He was truly ominous in himself, and thousands of champions, warriors, and knights ceaselessly attempted to subdue him.
- Then a brave man appeared. However, he was so strong that they dared not eliminate him, so it was said that putting him to sleep was the best option.
- Then one day, a divinely blessed one appeared and put him into a deep sleep. Ateloia regained peace, and the church erected a sacred statue to praise God's grace for a long time and to ensure his existence would not be forgotten.
It was exactly the same as what the Archbishop had said in the church inside the imperial palace.
Since it was something already known, the content itself was not particularly important. What Presepe examined was the original appearance of the broken statue.
However, the appearance of that stone statue was familiar.
'That face looks familiar.'
To be precise, the stone statue of the brave one who was said to have received divine protection was not familiar.
So, Demon King.
'That can't be right...'
With a strange sense of déjà vu, Presepe looked at the painting again and again, but the statue of the Demon King was literally being trampled upon, and his face was distorted, so she could not examine it clearly.
At the same time, Presepe felt a strange sense of familiarity, as if she had met him before, and felt uneasy.
And so the day ended without any significant gains, and regardless of Presepe's impatience, the day of the founding festival dawned.
***
It seemed that Fenrir had made Hannah prepare very thoroughly.
Dresses, shoes, jewelry... Anyone who didn't know would mistake it for going to a grand ball.
....I have never received such treatment, not even when I lived in the Imperial Palace.
Presepe laughed self-deprecatingly at such thoughts, but in any case, she thought she was grateful to Fenrir.
Well, she couldn't express it directly because she even promised not to say thank you anymore.
"You arrived earlier than I expected."
As the carriage came to a stop, Fenrir, who was sitting opposite Presepe, looked at her and spoke.
"There is still some time before the founding ceremony begins... How about you rest comfortably in the carriage before you go?"
"If I had known this would happen, I would have just left a little later. There is absolutely no benefit in wandering around the Imperial Palace and running into useless nuisances," Fenrir briefly regretted.
"Ah, then will you stay in the carriage, Grand Duke? I have somewhere I need to go briefly."
"...Where should you go?"
Fenrir furrowed his brow slightly.
"Inside the Imperial Palace?"
"I’d like to go to the tower for a bit."
“Why there?”
"Um. It's just... You know how hurriedly I packed my bags and left earlier? So, just in case, I was thinking we should check everything again."
It was embarrassing to say this belatedly, especially since she had said with her own mouth, "I just need to take this vase." However, she didn't really have an excuse.
Besides, it was a bit awkward to take Fenrir with her. Of course, it would be safe to be with him, but the problem was that shr had to check the game system in the tower.
She never thought that albums looking back on past memories or case log records would be visible even to Fenrir, who is nothing more than an NPC, but you never know. After all, this game is already twisted beyond repair.
"I cannot let you go alone, Aldy Presepe. Let's go together."
It was exactly the reaction she had expected. Fenrir got out of the carriage, took Presepe's hand, and began walking toward the tower, matching her pace.
And before they knew it, it was around the time they reached the tower.
"Excuse me... Grand Duke, but could you wait here?"
Fenrir's eyes narrowed slightly at Presepe's utterly baffling behavior.
"It won't take long. I'm just going to check if I really left anything behind."
"..."
"I feel too bad to go with you."
"...All right"
At the plea that wasn't really a plea, Fenrir finally nodded and answered.
"Instead, I will wait here. To prevent suspicious individuals from intruding."
In any case, since there is only one entrance to the tower, anyone approaching will be noticed immediately. Fenrir looked at Presepe as if telling him to hurry up, and Presepe slowly stepped into the tower.
***
The inside of the tower was the same.
"Ugh... It's been a while since I've been here, but I'm still sick and tired of it."
As she carefully sat down on the creaking bed, the events of the past few days felt like a dream. Presepe frowned slightly, as if getting goosebumps, and looked around once again to make sure no one was there.
And then, in a low voice, she parted her lips.
"First... show me the Book of Memories."
[Calling the Book of Memories.]
[Notice: You have viewed the Book of Memories.]
The Book of Memories remained the same. It showed nothing, yet only a notification window indicating that the viewing was complete played.
"This is the function I need most right now," Presepe said, letting out a deep sigh before speaking again.
"Please look up the case logs. I don't need any other characters, just all of Presepe's logs, including the tutorial."
But something was strange.
It didn't suddenly pop up.
Information window.
"Case, Case Log!"
She shouted a few more times loudly, but nothing changed. Presepe, whose face had instantly turned pale, began to repeat the same words like a madman.
"Show me the case log. I said show it to me!"
It was around the time when she had been shouting the same thing over and over dozens of times.
Finally, the notification window popped up.
[?? : ??? ??? ???? ???]
...A little strange.
"W-what is this?"
The question mark indicators, which had been limited to bug options, continued endlessly, having even swallowed up the guide window.
"..."
Presepe stared blankly at the empty space where the notification window always popped up, and only came to her senses after a considerable amount of time had passed.
Then, she pulled her lips away again.
"Looking back on past memories! Tutorial section!"
[Looking back at past memories in chronological order, starting from the guide tutorial section??]
"Uh...?"
This notification window was a bit strange as well, but it wasn't as bad as the previous one.
But you never know when it might turn into a question mark again. Growing anxious, Presepe stared at the illustration that had started to crackle as it appeared.
"Forest..."
The first illustration she saw had a forest background.
Dense trees with thick foliage. And right beneath them. She saw young Presepe sitting by the large lake.
Since she said she would show them in order, this is probably the very first part of the tutorial.
"..."
Presepe, who had been staring blankly at the illustration, flinched violently.
“Yes, forest..."
As if the fog in her head were clearing, she finally remembered.
It was a sweltering summer when she was about 10 years old; she couldn't tell exactly what the place was, but it was a landscape densely covered with fresh greenery.
Trees enormous, tall, and densely packed with green leaves, like this damn rice. The sunlight pouring down upon them, the sound of insects chirping, the scent of flowers vibrating everywhere, and the mysterious smell of grass. The lakeside, shining brilliantly while silently holding its ground.
And the small ripples rising on the calm lake
...The splashing noise.
“My notebook.”
Presepe muttered blankly.
"That's right. I lost it there..."
In the very early stages of possession, not long after the tutorial began, Presepe had been diligently organizing something by herself.
"Probably content related to games..."
However, just as she could not recall the last words her mother left behind, she could not remember the contents written in the notebook either.
Still, she could roughly guess what it was.
Anyway, even before playing it properly, Presepe had some information about the game, so <Presepe Out of the Cage> was that famous, even though it failed.
...Did they write down things like how to easily win over the male characters?
[I have to check...]
What suddenly came to mind was right after Prince Attar died.
It was her own voice that she heard in her dream.
So, Yoon Ju-yeon's voice.
Then, was it written in the lost notebook what they were trying to verify as well?
[Notice: Next??? To watch??]
"S-show me the next illustration."
[Not ???? ????? ???]
However, the damn notification window was going crazy just like before. The illustration floating in the air was the same. It crackled like a broken television, then emitted a white light and completely vanished.
However, just before the screen disappeared, in a fleeting moment, Presepe saw it clearly.
Two small hands holding each other tightly.
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