There Is No Place For Fakes

After some time had passed, Philomel put the diary in her bag.

“I’ll take the diary home with me. Talk to Lexion or Jeremiah.”

“Cardin isn’t helpful.”

“No, I didn’t mean that.”

Le Guin pointed to the men who were still lying on the floor.

“What about these guys? Do we leave them alone?”

Philomell looked around her. Men and housekeeping were intertwined and chaotic.

“I hope these people don’t steal from Ellencia’s house again, but is there any way?”

Le Guin laughed a sinister smile.

“Trust me. This is a good opportunity to try out the newly developed spirit world magic.”

Philomel decided not to ask about the magic in detail. After dealing with the people, the next thing was the problem. Household items resembling the years of Catherine and Ellencia were scattered all over the place. For some reason, she just didn’t feel comfortable leaving it here.

When Philomel suggested putting things back in the house, Le Guin said, “You’re so nice.” said he, but he helped at the end. After walking through the forest, the two found a village. After a while, they entered the house of Ellencia and Catherine. Philodel picked up items that appeared to belong to Ellencia on the main floor and headed to the second floor. Le Guin took over the first floor.

However, there were passengers in Ellencia’s room.

“D-do, don’t move! I thought you would say no to daring to touch us in this town!”

He was one of the runaways among the group they defeated earlier. He held out a small knife with trembling hands.

“I knew you would come here. The purpose is Ellensia’s stuff, right?”

He seemed to know Philomel and Le Guin as thieves just like them.

‘You’re really bothering me. If you close your eyes, I’ll run away.’

She said after putting the items she was carrying on the floor.

“You’d better quit. Holding something like that is dangerous.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! The guy who used to do weird tricks anyway, whether it’s magic or not, is the guy you were with!”

“You have nothing, so you are homeless?”

“Y-yes!”

The man was taken aback by Philomel’s calm demeanor. Looking closer, he had a younger face than she thought. He was a boy who had just become a young man rather than a man?

Philomel gave a final warning.

“It would be good for you to put down the knife.”

“Ha. Don’t talk arrogantly about something you’re afraid of getting hurt! Even if you shout, you’ll die at my hands before that man comes!”

Whoops, she laughed.

“You’re probably the one who’s scared. A coward who doesn’t even have the confidence to attack an opponent stronger than himself.”

“Hey hey…!”

It was clear that he was holding the hilt, but the man rushed at her as if being pushed.

Papa baba babat!

At that moment, the air around Philomel shuddered and an intense spark flew.

“Heuk!”

The man’s body bounced off and crashed into a wall. His twitching body soon calmed down as if he had lost his mind. The automatic defense magic that Le Guin had previously cast was activated. The magic boasted the same power as the last time it was tested. This was why Philomel was able to put the knife-wielding man in front of her and not blink her eyes.

Looking down at the man, she murmured.

“I told you it was dangerous. Not me, but you.”

* * *

“Hmm, so this was aimed at your life?”

There was life in Le Guin’s eyes as he looked at the man. The man, who had barely come to his senses earlier, trembled and fell forward.

“I’ll do anything! Please save my life!”

Le Guin asked Philomel.

“I will do anything. Is there anything you want to do?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Then without hesitation.”

Light poured from the tips of Le Guin’s fingers.

“Oh, wait. I have a question for you.”

“What?”

“I want to ask him about Ellencia. That person is a resident who lived in the same neighborhood. He might know something.”

Then, Le Guin chinned the man.

“Did you hear that? If you can’t give us any useful information…”

“I’ll tell you what I know! Do you need information about the little-known princess? I’m around the same age, so I spent most of my time with the princess.”

It sounded like a lie, but since she had come this far, she decided to listen.

The man spoke quickly.

“The princess’s hobby is to climb mountains and observe wild animals. She likes to eat delicious food, especially high-end desserts that are not found in rural areas like this. And also…”

Philomel said to Le Guin.

“It’s nothing. Do whatever you want.”

“Ahh! There’s another one! Again! I know the place the princess used to go often in secret!”

This was a bit tempting.

“Where was it?”

“A little further down there is a pond, and next to it is a shooting star rock. I’ve seen the princess sitting on the shooting star rock and deep in thought a few times!”

“How far do I have to go?”

“It’s just a matter of five minutes.”

If it’s that far, she could get there in no time. Philopel moved her steps in the direction the man pointed.

“I’ll go lightly for a walk.”

Le Guin grabbed the man by the collar and asked.

“Are you okay alone?”

“I’m not a kid, so how about it? There’s a magic that Le Guin gave me.”

Not only that, but Philomel was able to immediately notice when the automatic magic was activated.

“Okay, have a good day.”

He had something he wanted to do while Philomel was gone, and he shook his hand willingly.

After going a little in the direction the man pointed, a really small pond appeared in front of Philomel. It was a small pond with clear water. And next to it…

“It looks like a star, so it’s a shooting star rock. I thought it was a real shooting star.”

Curiously, the rock took the shape of a five-pointed star.

“Hahaha.”

Philomel sat down on the rock, just like Ellencia did.

“Did you come here for no reason? There’s nothing flattering about it except for the unusual shape of the rock.”

The surface of the rock was smooth as if someone had deliberately carved it out. Feeling a bit tired, Philomel laid down on the star-shaped rock.

‘Ellencia, what the hell did you think while sitting here?’

A cool wind blew from somewhere. Suddenly, her eyelids grew heavy. And that moment.

Tiri-ring.

She heard upbeat music that she had never heard before. Philomel’s vision distorted as she raised her body in surprise. The whole world was dyed pink. But the change was short-lived.

“Uh?”

Her vision returned to normal in an instant.

“What? What just happened…?”

Philomel stayed there for a while, but nothing like the one before happened.

‘Is it because I’m tired?’

Come to think of it, in the morning she had drained her strength from climbing the endless stairs of the eastern tower. After much thought, Philomel concluded that she had fallen asleep and must have been dreaming of herself.

“But I’ll remember it for now.”

After muttering, Philomel came down from the rock and headed towards Ellencia’s house.

* * *

Several days have already passed since she went to Ellencia’s hometown. In the meantime, Ellencia’s unexpected birthday party was held, but Philomel ignored her invitation to it. There were plenty of other opportunities to closely observe Ellencia’s actions.

‘I don’t have to go to a tired banquet.’

It was another matter that Philomel was all over her mind. Needless to say, she had Ellensia’s diary. With her diary in front of her, her round forehead wrinkled.

“Mmmmm.”

There was no way that the meaning could be interpreted just by involuntarily looking into the text.

“Ha…”

She put the journal aside and sighed. The identity of the enigmatic code still written in Ellencia’s diary was shrouded in mystery. When Lexion saw this text, he shook his head, saying he didn’t know. It was the same with Jeremiah, and Cardin hadn’t seen the cat that always guarded the room recently.

“I’ll search the library of the Mage Tower.”

Le Guin left this place the other day, leaving only these words. Lexion also said she would find out in every way. While they were working hard for themselves, Philomel couldn’t stand still.

“It’s highly unlikely, but we have to try.”

She said sadly and left her palace. Her destination was the Emperor’s Palace. She was going to ask the Emperor to let her go into the Emperor’s private library. The Emperor’s dedicated library was a place where records passed down from the beginning of the Belerov Empire lay dormant. All kinds of state secrets that were only allowed to the Emperor were there, from the contents of the oracle that was said to have been received in the highest secrecy to the secrets of the empire’s founding.

‘Even if you think it’s a good place, there’s no way they’ll let me in.’

But there was no other way. It was because she had already read all the records allowed to Philomel that could be related to the mysterious language. Philomel entered the Emperor’s office with the feeling that she would try to bump into it even if she had to broke the door.

“That’s right.”

The Emperor replied coolly. It was the moment when Philomel’s heroic determination was disappointing.

“Can I really go into Your Majesty’s private library?”

“Okay.”

“Really, really?”

“Really, really.”

It was so unreasonable that she asked without even realizing it.

“No, can you just let anyone in like that?”

“You are not anyone.”

Philomel was delighted but a little discouraged. Had she known it would be like this, she would have done it sooner. Anyway, being grateful was just right in that situation.

“Thank you! I’ll see only the necessary data and come out soon!”

“It’s okay to have as much as you want. I’ll tell the manager in advance.”

“Ah, as an outsider, I can’t pry into state secrets.”

“It’s not much to say that it’s a state secret… Come to think of it, there’s one book you shouldn’t touch.”

‘A book I shouldn’t touch??’

Philomel tilted her head.