"What, what? You—can you see me?"
The woman alternated between pointing at me and herself, visibly shocked. Another voice sighed deeply from somewhere within her.
"Pamun, what are you doing?"
"No way! Did I really make such a mistake?"
The woman rubbed the back of her hand briefly, then nodded to herself.
"Of course. That couldn't be it."
"..."
"..."
The self-assured nod suddenly faltered as she glanced at me, her confidence clearly wavering.
"It couldn’t… right?"
"..."
The awkward atmosphere was broken by the sound of footsteps approaching from behind the bookshelves. It was my friend, the old librarian, who took a moment to scan the area before fixing his gaze on me.
"Please maintain silence inside the library."
"Oh, my apologies. I was just having a quick conversation with this person—"
"...?"
The librarian glanced in the direction of the woman. His gaze drifted through the empty space.
The woman confidently approached him. She snapped her fingers right in front of the librarian's face.
How rude…
But to my surprise, the librarian didn’t seem to notice. In fact, he didn’t even react.
He simply looked at me with pity, shook his head slightly, and walked away.
"Huh?"
No, wait a minute. Why is he looking at me like that? He should be the one looking confused! His eyesight and hearing must be slipping—ah, no, that’s a mean thought. The librarian’s sorrowful gaze almost made me think something nasty.
"See! What did I tell you! What did I tell you~~~"
The woman exclaimed, practically shouting. Her voice carried with a strength that went beyond needing to be quiet—it was like a formal challenge issued in the library.
But, once again, the librarian showed no response. Even a clueless bastard like me could sense something was off by now.
Maybe the strange one isn’t the woman, but me?
"How did you do that?"
As I stood there, feeling foolish, she asked me directly.
"Excuse me?"
"That thing you just did."
"This thing right now?"
What thing? Surely, she’s not talking about being possessed or anything, right?
I couldn’t think of any explanation.
In fact, I wanted to ask her why the librarian couldn’t see her, but I could.
"Just in case, are we discussing something related to magic? If so, I’m afraid I have no insight to offer, as I know very little about magic."
"..."
The woman crossed her arms, scrutinizing me more seriously now.
Her head tilted to the left, then to the right, as if completely confused by the situation.
"How about we try something stronger?"
Another voice chimed in.
"And what if you hurt the kid?"
"Who cares? He's just a noble. You hate nobles too, don't you?"
Whoa, whoa, hold on. The tone of this conversation was taking a dark turn.
I’m from the Vendel family, you know? If you hurt me, the Vendel family would—
Damn, they’d probably celebrate.
"True, but this kid seems a little different, doesn’t he?"
"He's a bit unusual, yeah."
"See? It's not just me. I knew it!"
The woman clapped her hands joyfully in an almost childlike manner.
The atmosphere around us suddenly shifted. It wasn’t just the playful action that seemed out of place for her tall stature, but her entire attitude toward me seemed to change.
From an interesting subject of observation, I had now become an interesting person.
"Mind if I sit next to you?"
She gestured toward the seat beside me with her finger.
It was just a simple request to sit together, but for some reason, her eyes sparkled intensely, as if she were asking for something far more outlandish.
---
["Is this truly necessary?"]
[The young man asked his father.]
[The man, who was called father, gazed intently at the dying horse in front of him.]
[The horse, stabbed by a sword, was slowly dying.]
["It was stolen by a dark elf. Who knows what curse it might carry."]
[...]
[The young man eventually nodded, understanding the logic.]
---
But sitting beside me? Well, I didn’t really mind...
Without thinking too much, I nodded.
"Oh my."
For some reason, the woman seemed absolutely delighted.
"Here we go."
She clasped her hands to her sides and squeezed into the space next to me. This window seat was comfortable for one person but rather cramped for two.
"Shall we change seats?"
"No, it's fine. I don’t want to disturb your reading."
"..."
My gaze drifted awkwardly, unsure where to settle.
"Already seems like you’ve disturbed quite a lot."
Luckily, the voice from before stepped in to speak for me.
But, as if not hearing it, she continued.
"Wouldn't it be uncomfortable? Perhaps we could move to another location..."
"No, it's fine. It *is* uncomfortable, but this is more fun. It’s been a long time since I had a normal conversation with someone."
"I see..."
Normal? What does normal even mean? Where are we born, and where do we go? Why is the eagle’s beak yellow?
"Now then, where should I begin... Ah! My manners! I haven’t even introduced myself yet. Sorry, like I said, it's been so long since I had a normal conversation. A very long time, indeed. So if I come across as rude or brash, please don’t be offended."
"Rude? No, I actually thought you were quite lively and... unique."
"Oh my~ Oh my, my~ How can you speak so beautifully? And with those pretty eyes too!"
She reached out and stroked my hair with a doting expression.
Correction: To this woman, I wasn’t an interesting human; I was more like a cute puppy.
"I'm Pamun, by the way. I’m a scholar and a researcher."
Pamun pulled a book from within her robes.
"And this here is Duran. As you can see, it's a talking book. It loves to meddle, complain, and nitpick. I made it myself, though I’m not sure why it acts that way."
It seemed the other voice came from this book called Duran. A talking book? She made it? I wasn’t even surprised anymore.
"My name is Lisir."
"Lisir? Lisir... Lisir... Hmm, I like it. The name is pretty too. Well then, Lisir, can you tell me one thing?"
Pamun tapped the book in my hand.
"This book. Why are you reading it?"
"Excuse me?"
"Come on, Lisir! Tell me you're trying to eradicate all the cats!"
The crazy talking book blurted out nonsense.
"Eradicate all the cats? Why would I do that?"
"Then why are you reading that book?"
"Just... curiosity?"
"Curious about what? Cats?"
"Well... they’re cute, aren’t they?"
"Oh my goodness. This one’s normal too—"
Pamun interrupted Duran’s rant with a burst of applause.
"You get it, Lisir! You understand the charm of cats!"
Pamun went off on a passionate tangent, launching into a grand speech about the charm of cats.
"Pamun, enough. Unless you really want to see Lisir become a cat hunter."
"Oh? Ah! Sorry, Lisir! I got carried away and rambled too much."
At some point, Pamun had taken my hand and was absentmindedly stroking it, like one would with a cat’s paw.
"Thanks to you, I don’t need to read this book anymore."
"So, Lisir, do you have anything you want to ask me?"
Finally.
I seized the moment to ask the question I had been holding onto.
"Earlier, the librarian didn’t seem to notice you. Why was that?"
"Hmm."
Pamun pulled my arm close, inspecting me at an uncomfortably close range, practically nose-to-nose.
"Why doesn’t cognitive-reduction magic work on you? Have you ever studied magic?"
She sniffed.
Why is she sniffing me?
"No?"
"Do you possess some kind of artifact?"
"My family doesn’t love me enough to give me something that precious."
"Then maybe it’s just your natural constitution?"
Pamun began squishing my face with her hands.
"*Heehil-yo*?"
"Yeah, it’s something you're born with. Lisir, would you mind if I ran a little experiment?"
"I thought we had already established a strong emotional connection."
"Right!? Sorry, Duran, this isn’t right. What if Lisir gets hurt?"
"Mmph—"
What... what is this? Some kind of scent like herbal medicine mixed with perfume? Rough silk? Softness?
Oh. Pamun had hugged me.
"Are you suppressing your curiosity so you don’t hurt people? That’s a little scary."
"Can I ask, what exactly were you planning with this ‘experiment’?"
"Well, let's see—"
"Was it so elaborate that you need to think about it?"
"Sorry~~~ Lisir, you might not fully understand this, but it’s something really extraordinary! You know I’m holding myself back right now, right?"
"...Thank you?"
"Oh, right! Lisir, what was that about your family? You said they don’t love you enough?"
"Yes. My personal circumstances are a bit complicated."
"In what way?"
"I’m a bastard. My mother passed away giving birth to me, and my father resents me for it."
"Gasp!"
Pamun quickly withdrew her hands, creating some distance between us.
"I’m sorry, Lisir. I was being too forward
."
"The one being overly forward is that book! Lisir, it’s like you’ve stripped yourself naked in front of us! Why reveal everything so suddenly?"
"By the way, I apparently have this strange condition?"
Look at her changing the subject. She’s not normal either.
I ignored the grumbling from the crazy talking book and sank into thought.
This was an unexpected gain.
So I have an unusual constitution that someone as extraordinary as Pamun would notice.
Cognitive-reduction magic doesn’t work on me? Could it be magic resistance?
Well, even a bug has a skill. This bastard finally has something going for him.
Now, how could I use this?
A new path in life appeared before me. Exciting!
"But tell me, Lisir."
"Yes?"
"Which family are you from?"
"It doesn't mean much, but I was born and raised in the Vendel household."
"Vendel? Oh no."
The talking book groaned with a deep sigh. It sounded too ominous to ignore.
"Hey, Pamun, did you hear that? This kid’s from the Vendel family."
"I know. What a coincidence."
Damn. This feels like trouble.
Pamun was now looking at me with a completely different expression.
---
["What?"]
["Bring forth the most precious thing from Vendel."]
[The intruder suddenly declared.]
[The head of the Vendel family rested his hand on the pommel of his sword.]
[He looked at the intruder, who stood defenseless.]
[With one strike, he was confident he could cleave that body in two.]
[That vile, cursed body.]
[How dare a dark elf set foot in the Vendel estate?]
[And act as if they were the master of the house.]
["You promised, didn’t you?"]
["Promise? With you filthy wretches?"]
[The intruder didn’t flinch at the blatant insult.]
["Didn’t your great ancestor say anything?"]
["Be careful not to utter that name with your foul mouth."]
["Do you know how Vendel Radola, your family’s pride, achieved such feats?"]
[At the moment the head of the family was about to draw his sword...]
[A thick vine shot up from the floor, binding his limbs.]
["Vendel, you promised our master. You promised that once the highest tower in your fortress was built with the power borrowed from our master, you would surrender the most precious thing from that place."]
["You wretched witch—!" ]
["Tell me, Vendel. What is the most precious thing you possess?"]
[Vendel gave no answer.]
[So, the witch sought her own answer.]
[She moved to the window and looked down.]
[The heart of the Vendel territory.]
[The city of Hayerren lay spread out before her.]
[The witch imagined the city overrun with vines.]
[She didn’t like the vision, but there was no avoiding it.]
[A promise was a promise.]
---
"Alright, I’ve decided. Lisir, you’re going to be my disciple."
"Excuse me?"
"From today onward, you’re my disciple."
"Uh, what?"
---
▷Destiny 5: The Promised Price has been deactivated.
Special privileges have been granted accordingly.