* * *
He made a deliberately loud noise, grabbed his neck, and flailed precariously.
He was already drawing attention, and with the strange sound ringing out, all eyes in the library were drawn to this spot.
Even if it was an act, I couldn’t let him look any more ridiculous.
I quickly went to him, grabbed the back of his neck, and straightened his body.
‘He really takes advantage of having someone to help him.’
It wasn’t just the first floor.
People on the other floors lined up beside us also peered out, looking down at us.
At this point, I didn’t need to be told what Klen wanted.
I quietly seated him back in the chair, grabbed his head with both hands.
Crack—
And with a slight emotion, I firmly twisted his neck in the opposite direction, causing a somewhat dangerous sound to spread throughout the library.
“Ugh.”
As if playing a role that matched the sound, Klen thrashed greatly and then huddled up.
“Pfft!”
“Gulp…!”
Uncontained laughter escaped from the spectators.
And those who couldn’t make a sound shivered their shoulders.
But when I turned my head toward them, those who made eye contact with me quickly covered their mouths and moved away.
That’s enough acting for now.
I pulled out the chair next to him and sat down, bowing my head to look at his face.
“……Are you really in pain?”
I felt a little guilty for applying too much force.
The dangerous sound that rang out also bothered me.
Klen, who had been trembling as if he was in too much pain to speak, slightly looked up at me with a narrowed eye.
Soon, his eyes curved, and he gave a pleasant smile.
‘He wasn’t in pain after all.’
To be fooled even though I knew it was acting.
Klen instantly wiped away that smile and stood up.
“Since it seems my wife has many complaints about me.”
And he grabbed my arm and made me stand upright next to him.
“Let’s go over there and talk first.”
And with a stance that was hard to tell whether he was supporting me or being supported, he moved the location to a slightly inner chair between the bookshelves.
A secluded and secret space with no one around.
The reason he hadn’t read a book here earlier was probably because of the acting.
Thanks to that, he now had a very comical image added to him.
Klen sat me in the chair and leaned against the bookshelf.
Judging by the way he placed his hand on his neck and moved it around, he wasn’t entirely pain-free, perhaps.
“Why are you here?”
“I came here to investigate something and to receive a report.”
“A report?”
Even if there was no one listening around, this was a library.
Since we didn’t know where the sound might leak out, we kept our voices as low as possible.
Klen, who had been groping along the bookshelf, suddenly pulled out a book and brought it over.
A thick book that seemed to contain difficult content at a glance.
He held the book with one hand and quickly flipped through the pages.
As he flipped the pages at a speed that couldn’t possibly be considered reading, he pulled out papers one after another from between them.
“What is that?”
“Ebony has a habit ingrained from his past training, so he often uses this method instead of reporting directly.”
“……”
Those were clearly reports.
Probably reports about the three people I asked him to investigate.
After quickly scanning all the pages up to the last, he confirmed that the report pages were complete, then neatly folded them.
It slipped into his inner pocket.
“How about we go outside and talk now?”
I nodded. After all, what I had to say was also content that others shouldn’t hear.
So, the place we headed to was the small west garden, which was neither easily visible nor easily accessible from the outside.
I first hadVis guard the entrance, and we sat side-by-side on a garden bench.
I intended to challenge him about being able to use magic as soon as we met.
But it seems we can have a calm conversation.
“Klen. I have something to tell you, but…”
“Rather than that, I will take care of my business first.”
“Your business?”
“Please excuse me.”
Klen suddenly grabbed my outer garment.
And before I could retreat, he quickly unbuttoned it, opened it wide, and thrust his hand into my chest pocket.
“……?!”
A scream that failed to materialize popped out of my mouth in small gasps.
At the same time, my heart, which was about to leap out, pounded so strongly that its beat echoed in my ears.
[You rude human! What are you doing?!]
My head, which had turned completely blank to the point where I couldn’t form any thoughts, was startled by the bird’s scolding and hastily returned to the present.
And the first thing that came to mind was a question.
If it had been anyone else, I would have blocked their hand before they even grabbed my outer garment.
I was completely defenseless against all of this.
[Can’t you let go of me!]
“……!”
When I looked up, I could see the bird, whose body was gripped by Klen’s hand, struggling.
It couldn’t even flap its wings, just wildly shook its head and shouted loudly.
It was a sight that made it look like Klen was tormenting a small, pitiful bird.
No, was it exactly what it looked like?
I first grabbed Klen’s arm.
There were only the two of us here.
Naturally, there was no need to act.
The face looking at me was calm and rigid, a face you wouldn’t associate with the person who had shown such a ridiculous display in the quiet library moments ago.
I also stared at him with a firm expression, as if pulled in by the atmosphere.
[You rude fellow! Let go of me right now! To not appreciate the favor of my help~]
“……”
The bird’s shouting echoed, piercing through the heavy and serious atmosphere.
Of course, since Klen didn’t understand those words, I was the only one who felt the atmosphere was broken.
And I ended up thinking the bird was cute.
I bit my lips tightly, which were dangerously close to bursting into laughter, and finally turned my gaze away.
The bird held in his hand merely struggled. It didn’t exert any particular force.
“Were you aware of its existence?”
Klen asked with a voice that was as cold as his eyes.
He seemed concerned that this bird might have hidden itself in my arms without my knowledge.
But even if I were truly an unobservant person, would I not notice a warm, living creature entering my embrace?
“I did hide it and bring it in.”
“……A bird?”
[Didn’t you hear me say let go!]
“Because I thought animals shouldn’t be brought into the library.”
If the face in front of me hadn’t been radiating only coldness, I would have warned him that he couldn’t understand the bird’s words at all.
No, wait. It’s rare for a human to understand the words of a Divine Beast.
If my memory was correct, even in the novel, Hugo was the only one who could understand the Pegasus.
This bird, too, was merely causing a fuss; it wouldn’t expect Klen to understand its words.
“Isn’t this the Divine Beast from back then?”
He was surprisingly observant.
No, perhaps that was natural, as it was so distinctive.
Such a cute bird wasn’t common.
Didn’t even I repeatedly call it cute at first sight?
* * *
