Chapter 143 – Pangaea (9)

Sitting alone in the separate villa prepared by the Count, I immersed myself in the old book from the treasury.

It had already been two hours since I started wrestling with the book.

My friend! What do you think this book is?

At first, I thought it might be a martial arts manual.

The drawings that appeared throughout this book were connected in a single motion.

But the more I looked at the book, the more I felt that the movements depicted were inefficient for progressing in martial arts.

There were too many parts where the movements, which seemed to connect naturally, would suddenly and discontinuously break off.

“I’m not sure yet.”

Truly a strange thing. That there is something you do not know even after investing this much time.

“It might just be doodles for all I know.”

That makes even less sense! My friend, looking at a mere book of doodles for hours? Even a passing goblin would laugh at that!

That was true, in fact.

To dismiss it as mere doodles, all the movements in the book had a certain profoundness to them.

That’s why I couldn’t put this book down.

It felt like if I could just peel back one layer, all the rewards would follow in abundance.

“It would have been nice if there were some annotations. What an unkind book.”

If you feel that way, then it must be a book intentionally written to be unkind.

“Intentionally so?”

Thinking about it that way, there wasn’t a single part of this book that was kindly explained.

It didn’t even have a title.

I tried to think from the author’s perspective.

‘To write a book intentionally unkindly….’

It would be one of two things.

Either the author was a very mischievous person.

Or, the content made it impossible to be anything but unkind.

If it was the latter, the clues were highly likely to be between the lines.

If I were the author, I would have surely made a kind arrangement for that part at least.

So that the reader could discover it themselves and complete the puzzle pieces.

“I’ll have to read it one more time.”

Are you going back to the beginning again?

I nodded.

I had repeated it several times, but this time it would take longer.

And usually in these situations, I tend to gain something.

I went back to the very beginning and started to go through it meticulously, one by one.

If there was a part the author intentionally omitted, there must be clues before and after it.

The more pages I turned, the more I thought this hypothesis might be correct.

‘The numerous omitted drawings.’

I became one with the author and let my imagination run wild.

What could he have possibly omitted and hidden?

What if what was hidden was the core of this book?

Countless thoughts flashed through my mind.

Countless thoughts entered my head to fit the puzzle pieces, only to be promptly rejected and come out.

‘What if the omitted drawings are of executing sword techniques?’

This thought might also be rejected immediately.

Like the countless attempts that had already been rejected and discarded.

But surprisingly, this one puzzle piece fit right from the very first try.

A thrilling jolt ran through me at that moment.

I turned the page and moved on to the next blank space.

I imagined a fitting drawing for this blank space and tried to fit the puzzle piece.

Of course, this time too, with the image of executing a sword technique.

‘It fits!’

There was no sense of dissonance at all.

I hurriedly set out to find the next puzzle piece.

Amazingly, the puzzle began to be completed exquisitely.

It was truly an amazing book.

This book did not leave behind any specific sword forms.

The actual implementation of the forms was left as a complete blank.

However, it seemed to be explaining the principles of swordsmanship by densely filling the space between the forms.

I think I need to read it from the beginning again.

My friend! Surely you are not going back to the beginning again?

At the Holy Sword’s question, I raised the corner of my mouth slightly.

You’ve finally figured something out!

I nodded.

The moment I faced the first page of the book again, I couldn’t help but pay my respects to the author.

It was a truly amazing level of mastery.

Although I couldn’t know the level of swordsmanship the author could actually implement, I had to acknowledge his philosophy and perspective on swordsmanship.

On the other hand, it was a pity.

The author of this old book would no longer be alive.

It would be nice if I could find out who his successor or descendant was, but there were no clues left in this book.

Since even Count Berwood, the original owner, didn’t know the origin of this book, my wish was something that could not be fulfilled.

At that moment.

I could feel a presence from outside the door.

It was strange.

‘The door to the villa should be locked, right?’

It had been unlocked by someone.

It couldn’t be the Count.

He wouldn’t have come in in such a rude manner.

Beyond that, the most surprising part was that I had only just now sensed this presence.

The fact that I didn’t know even at the moment the door was being unlocked.

There was only one case like this.

A being who operates mana in a unique way. A mage.

And it would be impossible for an ordinary level to evade my senses.

In other words, the owner of the presence lingering outside the door was a mage of a considerable level.

Knock! Knock!

A neat knocking sound.

After unlocking the villa’s door at will, they were now being polite.

When I gave no answer, the knocking sound was heard once more, and a moment later, the door slowly opened.

“What! You were here and didn’t even answer.”

The expected face. It was that psycho.

“I don’t think that’s something a home invader should say.”

“But I did knock. I had to pick the outer door lock without permission, though.”

Deli approached me nonchalantly.

“What business brings you to me at this late hour?”

I decided to give up on formal speech.

“The lights in the villa were still on. Isn’t it natural to be curious?”

As expected of a psycho, she had a thought process that deviated from common sense.

She continued to speak.

“Just as I expected, you were looking at the book you picked from the treasury, weren’t you? I was dying of curiosity about this book too!”

“This book? Why?”

“I don’t know if I should say this.”

With that, Deli grinned.

To cut off her words like this, she not only was a psycho but also had a very bad habit.

“It’s fine, just say it.”

“The moment you picked up that book, I felt a very interesting energy. By the way, have you understood the contents of the book?”

She even went as far as to change the subject.

“Get to the point. What was that interesting energy?”

“Hohoho. So impatient. Alright, I’ll tell you. The author of that book, I don’t think they were human.”

“Not human? What do you mean by that?”

“I can’t be certain either, but the energy I felt from that book was that of a dragon.”

A shocking story I had not even guessed.

“What’s your proof?”

“Let’s just say it’s a mana signature left by a dragon.”

“Have you ever seen a dragon in person?”

“Of course not.”

A hollow laugh escaped me.

Because I have.

Two of them, in fact.

“But you don’t necessarily have to have seen a dragon in person to know. Traces of dragons exist in this world. Like that book.”

I hadn’t expected to hear about dragons here.

My displeasure at her entering my room without permission vanished in an instant.

“So you’re saying the author of this book was a dragon?”

“Yes. And among them, I think it was from the Blue clan. They’ve been known to do this kind of thing the most.”

For some reason, the story sounded plausible.

The author of this book. To be just a human, his understanding of swordsmanship was unbelievably high.

To the extent that even I, who thought I had seen the pinnacle of swordsmanship, was impressed.

“I thought dragons completely vanished from Pangaea decades ago. Do you happen to know anything about this?”

“To ask for something like this for free, you’re quite pushy.”

Who was calling whom pushy?

But there was no need to make such a remark now.

Because Deli seemed to know something.

“Then, is there something you want from me?”

As soon as my words ended, Deli pointed to the book.

“That.”

“You want this?”

“Yes. A deal of that level should be fair, don’t you think?”

“Are you saying the information you have is worth that much?”

“That’s a matter of your subjective judgment. But I’ll tell you one thing for sure. I won’t play games when it comes to making a deal.”

I couldn’t know what Deli knew, but the terms of the deal weren’t bad.

In any case, this was a book I couldn’t take to Earth.

After I had completely committed it to memory, it was an item I could give away at any time.

“In any case, the reason you sought me out at this hour is because of this book.”

“Yes.”

“I accept your proposal.”

“Really? This is too easy.”

“Why? Is it a problem that it’s easy?”

“No, of course not!”

Deli’s face lit up.

“However, not right now, but in two days.”

Two days for one book was a very generous estimate.

One day for simple memorization.

But there were parts that required understanding, so I added another day for that.

“I don’t know how I’ll wait for two days! But what can I do. If that’s what you want, I have to accept it. Oh! And this is a secret from Lord Berwood, okay?”

“Of course.”

“It feels so good when things go this smoothly.”

“Then you can go now.”

I said it coolly, but the next two days would be a curious time for me as well.

The desire to ask what information Deli had right now was overwhelming.

“Before I go, there’s one thing I’m curious about you. What is your identity?”

To come at me so directly.

“An explorer.”

“An explorer… that sounds plausible. Though you seem to be hiding a lot.”

“Then you can really go now.”

“But what should I do?”

“What now.”

“Now that I’m about to leave, my feet won’t move. I think there’s something I want to do with you here.”

As she said that, Deli gave me a peculiar look.

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way about someone I’ve just met before. I’ll be frank. Would you like to have a match with me?”

She was definitely a psycho.

To come in the middle of the night and the last thing she says is that she wants to fight.

All I could do was let out a hollow laugh.

‘A mage….’

They weren’t beings one could meet easily, but during my Johan Raven days, I had fought against mages a few times.

Their fighting style was different from gladiators, so it was an interesting experience.

And those experiences were also useful in my final battle against the Red Dragon.

After all, dragons are the progenitors of all magic, the ultimate mages.

“You mean you want to fight me, here, in this room?”

“Yes. Let’s not go too far with each other, how about a one-second bout?”

“If you were to lose to me, what would you do then?”

“I don’t think that will happen, but if I lose, I’ll teach you one of my spells.”

She was an incredible psycho.

To a mage, the secret of magic is like life itself.

I had never in my life seen a mage who would offer to teach one so carelessly.

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