"Of course," Roswaal replied with a theatrical flourish. "Ram shall be tasked with teaching Lord Kiyotaka our script. In a few days, Rem is scheduled to head to the nearby village for supplies; perhaps Lord Kiyotaka would care to accompany her?" He paused, his mismatched eyes twinkling. "As for our guest in the dungeon—the one who targeted Lady Emilia—I've placed a binding hex on her cell. She won't be going anywhere. I intend to get to the bottom of this assassination plot personally."
"Thank you. I appreciate it," Emilia said. Her tone was polite, but Ayanokoji noted a subtle wall of distance between her and her benefactor.
A binding hex... Ayanokoji mused. He wondered about the limits of Roswaal's power. If Emilia was strong, the "Great Court Mage" was likely an order of magnitude more dangerous. If Roswaal or Emilia ever become my enemies, I'll need a way to neutralize magic. I also need to see if I can harness this energy myself.
In a quiet apartment...
Takanashi Rikka had her face pressed against the TV screen, her single visible eye wide with intensity. "Learning magic?" she whispered, her "Ahoge" twitching. "If he masters the arcane on top of his tactical prowess, the power of my Tyrant's Eye will finally have a worthy rival! The world is not ready for this awakening!"
Dinner concluded shortly after. Roswaal excused himself to tend to "urgent matters," leaving Rem to lead Ayanokoji on a tour of the estate while Ram cleared the table.
"This is the kitchen... the bath... the changing rooms..." Rem's voice was professional, yet the undercurrent of hostility remained. She fulfilled her duties with surgical precision, detailing every corner of the manor.
By the time the tour was "nearly" finished, Ayanokoji had mapped the entire layout in his mind. But a question remained: Why was a border estate this large guarded only by two maids and a librarian? Was it Roswaal's arrogance, or were these three individuals the mansion's actual defense system? He operated on the assumption that Ram, Rem, and Beatrice were all combat-capable magic users.
"Lord Kiyotaka, this is the washroom," Rem said as they reached the end of a long corridor. "That concludes the tour. Do you have any questions?"
Ayanokoji noticed she used the word "nearly" earlier. She hadn't shown him the Forbidden Library. Was it a secret? Unlikely, since Emilia had mentioned it openly. It was more likely a test—or a territory Rem wasn't allowed to enter.
Ayanokoji reached out and turned the ornate handle of the "washroom" door.
Instead of a bathroom, a vast, circular hall filled with towering bookshelves greeted him. The space was physically larger than the manor's dimensions should allow.
Spatial manipulation magic, he concluded. He knew Rem wasn't the type to play "the library is actually a toilet" pranks. The space itself had been swapped.
In the center of the room, Beatrice was playing with Puck. The moment she saw Ayanokoji, her carefree laughter vanished.
"You found the Crossing Door?" Puck chirped, waving a paw.
"What an irritating human," Beatrice huffed. She flicked her wrist, and a gust of wind slammed the door shut in Ayanokoji's face.
"A unique greeting," Ayanokoji murmured. He distinguished Beatrice's coldness from Rem's hostility. Rem's was a hidden, jagged blade; Beatrice's was simply the arrogance of a superior being. She didn't hate him; she just looked down on him.
"That is Lady Beatrice's 'Crossing Door,'" Rem explained. "It connects the library to any door in the mansion. Unless she wants to be found, you would have to open every door in the house to find her."
Ayanokoji didn't move. He analyzed Beatrice's personality. Like Horikita, she was proud. Proud people are often predictable because they follow their own internal logic.
In the Classroom...
Horikita Suzune felt a heat rising to her cheeks. Seeing Ayanokoji's internal thoughts compare her to a "proud, useful tool" felt like a public execution. Is this how he sees everyone? Is the whole world just a chessboard to him?
"Seriously," Horikita snapped at the Ayanokoji sitting next to her, "even a cute little girl like that is just a 'tool' to you?"
"I've said this four times now," Ayanokoji replied without looking up. "This is just a video. There is no proof that person is me." Internally, he remained indifferent to age, gender, or appearance. Utility was the only metric that mattered.
Ayanokoji walked back to the door. He didn't pick a random one. He chose the door he calculated she would most likely retreat to—a room slightly removed from the main traffic but central enough to monitor. He knocked and pushed it open.
There she was, sitting in her library chair.
"Wow, Kiyotaka! You found it again!" Puck exclaimed, genuinely impressed.
Beatrice's butterfly eyes went wide. Surprise flickered in her gaze before being masked by a scowl. How did this human... is he... no, it must be a fluke.
"You pest!" Beatrice raised her hand, slamming the door shut again.
"It seems I've been officially blacklisted," Ayanokoji said to himself. He had simply chosen the door with the highest statistical probability based on her behavior, and it had paid off.
Even Rem looked stunned. "Do you have further questions, Lord Kiyotaka?"
"Does the library require special permission to enter?"
"Theoretically, if you find the door, you can enter," Rem replied. "But whether you are allowed to stay or read... that depends entirely on Lady Beatrice's whim."
Understood. Ayanokoji nodded. Beatrice was a gatekeeper. To access the "Forbidden" knowledge, he didn't just need to learn the letters; he needed to "domesticate" the librarian.
At the Manor (Real Time)...
Beatrice pouted, hugging a thick, leather-bound tome to her chest. "Trust him? Never! He's a creep, I suppose!" She looked down at the empty pages of her book, her gaze turning somber. "But how did he find the door? Could he be... 'That Person'?"
Night fell over the estate. Stars dusted the sky like spilled salt. Ayanokoji sat in his room, waiting.
A light knock echoed against the wood.
"Come in," Ayanokoji said. He knew who it was. The first lesson in literacy was about to begin.