At the same time, inside Roswaal's study—
"So then, Ram, how is the intelligence gathering on those two progressing?"
"Subaru is as useless as ever. He injured his gate while studying magic with Lady Emilia this morning, and aside from eating, he hasn't gotten out of bed at all."
"As for Grin, he disappeared halfway through the mansion tour. Through the owl's shared vision, Ram saw him escorting the merchant Otto all the way until they left the forest."
"And the likelihood that they are spies?"
"It cannot be ruled out completely, but the odds are low. When the White Whale attacked, Grin-kun chose to risk his life to save Ram. If that was merely to infiltrate the mansion, then the price he paid was far too great."
"Subaru's behavior is suspicious, yes, but also pitifully incompetent. He is terrible at everything, from housework to cooking."
Ram respectfully reported everything she knew to Roswaal.
The White Whale attack earlier, followed by a full day of work, had clearly left her drained.
At that moment, her lips were pale, and her complexion had taken on a faintly sickly cast.
Seeing that, Roswaal opened his arms slightly.
"You really are too strict with yourself, Ram~ Come here. It seems your mana has not been keeping up with your exhausted body lately~"
Ram stepped into Roswaal's arms with a shy familiarity and leaned against his chest.
"I'm sorry to trouble you again."
Roswaal brushed aside the peach-colored strands at her forehead, revealing the pale pink scar left where her horn had once been.
Then he raised one hand over her brow.
Between his fingers flashed six colors of light.
Crimson fire, blue water, green wind, yellow earth, white light, and black shadow were compressed by his spell into a colorless, primordial magic.
"Relax, Ram. I shall grant you the blessing of starlight."
The mana seeped into her like a flowing current.
Ram's body tensed at once, and a faint breath escaped her throat.
Even the tips of her ears flushed red.
She could feel the borrowed mana filling the emptiness inside her body, but at the same time, the unfamiliar warmth of his touch stirred something softer and harder to name.
When the final strand of mana entered her, Roswaal withdrew his hand.
Then he looked out through the window at the moonlight, his face sinking into melancholy.
"I must win this royal struggle… for my purpose… for the day I slay the dragon…"
Buzz.
A strange vibration suddenly came from inside Roswaal's robes.
His expression sharpened.
He sat upright immediately and carefully drew out an old-bound book from within his clothes—
The Book of Wisdom.
In truth, there was only one real Book of Wisdom in existence: the one possessed by Echidna, the Witch of Greed.
That original recorded the world's past and future, embodied Authority itself, and was also called the memory of the world.
The volumes held by Roswaal and Beatrice were only degraded copies created by Echidna.
At that moment, Roswaal's book was glowing with an unusual light.
He raised it in one hand, deliberately high enough that Ram could not see the contents.
"It has been quite some time since new instructions appeared."
The pages turned on their own to the section marked Corrector.
And the words there had changed.
[One person with the power to "correct the world" will come to Emilia's side. Another will be the one "fated to slay the dragon."]
For several seconds, Roswaal simply stared.
Then joy spread across his face—wild, feverish, almost deranged.
"Fate… truly is terrifying…"
After a brief silence, he closed the Book of Wisdom and put it away.
"Ram, you may withdraw now. Keep an eye on Rem. Make sure she does not act recklessly on her own again."
"Yes, Roswaal-sama…"
Ram bowed, stepped back to the door, then turned and left.
Even that small formality made clear how much Roswaal meant to her.
Once she was gone, Roswaal walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked toward the west wing, where traces of dust and damage still lingered.
"Grin-kun… if we follow the sequence of events, then Subaru is the true Corrector… and you…"
"...you will be the blade I use to pierce the dragon's throat."
A diviner?
The person who had impersonated him in the capital and tried to drive off the Bowel Hunter must have discovered his plans through some kind of special prophetic method.
Even so—
"Grin-kun, can you really escape the 'facts that never happened' written within the Book of Wisdom? I truly look forward to finding out~"
…
Inside the Forbidden Library—
Under Grin's careful attention, Beatrice had already drifted into sleep.
"Good girl. Finally asleep."
Seeing Beatrice's sleeping face, Grin felt the weariness of the entire day melt away.
He took out the magic mirror, crept over to the princess bed on tiptoe, and used its image-recording function to secretly take several pictures of her.
"Sniff sniff~ Betty is way too cute!"
"Yawn…"
After a while, even Grin could not resist the fatigue anymore.
He switched off the magic lamp completely, plunging the room into darkness.
Then he lay down beside Subaru Natsuki and stuffed a few books under Subaru's head to use as a pillow.
After sleeping for a short while, he started to feel cold.
So he rolled over, lifted the edge of the carpet, and draped it over both of them.
"Now I can finally sleep."
He rubbed at his tired eyelids and soon drifted off for real.
Before long, the library was filled with the quiet rhythm of sleeping breaths.
"Hehehe… now this is my world!"
A firefly-like glow appeared in the darkness.
The magic mirror had slipped out again to cause trouble.
"Hmph. The great demon of soul-devouring and slumber—Wolgaroth—shall curse you all with nightmares here! Hahahaha!"
It danced in the air, scattering specks of dark magic that drifted down into the sleepers' bodies.
As the effect spread, faint unease appeared on every sleeping face.
"...magic mirror…"
Grin murmured in his sleep.
That single mutter made the mirror jolt.
"Magic Mirror… your heat conduction is incredible… look at this pancake… fried perfectly…"
At those sleep-mumbled words, the great demon Wolgaroth shuddered from top to bottom.
"Th-Then I'll let you have sweet dreams instead!"
The golden hand mirror spun in panic and scattered a second wave of stardust, this time filled with pleasant dreams.
"Waaah… my glorious reputation is forever tied to a super-male Master… when will I ever get a soul to eat…?"
Sniffling as it complained, the mirror suddenly noticed the book beneath Beatrice's pillow.
"Oh? A blank book from a little illiterate girl?"
Two magic-formed hands extended from the mirror and slowly crept toward the book.
Beatrice, who was deep in a pleasant dream, suddenly stirred.
A faint glimmer flashed beneath her closed eyelids.
She was on the verge of waking.
The mirror panicked and shook violently again, releasing even more dream-filled stardust into Beatrice's body.
"Sleep tight, sleep tight~ Your mother is waiting for you in your dreams~"
That deep, eerie voice carried its own kind of enchantment, and the dream-stardust soothed Beatrice's soul.
In the end, she did not wake.
Instead, a faint smile appeared on her sleeping face, and she sank deeper into the dream.
Seeing that she was safely asleep again, the magic mirror puffed back up with arrogance.
It grabbed the corner of the book and yanked it free, making Beatrice's little head bounce upward from the pillow.
Even so, she remained fast asleep on the princess bed, as though nothing had happened.
"Hmph. Just as I thought—not a single word. And you treasure a blank sheet of paper like this? Since I'm in a good mood tonight, I'll leave behind some calligraphy."
One magical hand stretched out like rubber, snatched a quill pen from Beatrice's desk, dipped it in ink, and began to write across the empty page.
"The divinely appointed lord who reveals calamity, the mysterious ruler who reflects twilight, the great demon of soul-devouring and slumber—Wolgaroth—was here."
"Haha! As expected, only a three-part title suits a great being such as myself!"
Once it finished, the mirror placed the pen back on the desk.
Creak—
The desk let out a faint sound under the pressure, its loose joints shifting slightly.
At once, the mirror remembered Beatrice's earlier threat about using it as a hammer to repair the shelves.
It slowly lowered its gaze to the words it had just written.
Then a chill washed over its entire body.
"Maybe… maybe I should just tear out the page…"