Chapter 43 – Episode 43. Doubt and Love (1)
The library was full of that distinctive smell.
I knew that paper was already in the world, but the fact that all the books that fill this huge library are all made of paper, which means that not only paper, but also basic industrial technologies from printing to binding have been developed. .
Astrid looked around this library and realized that Einhafen did not unify the continent for nothing.
Along with the powerful combat unit represented by heavy knights, the rapid attack unit represented by magic knights, the firepower unit represented by mages, the support unit represented by archers, and even the industrial technology to support them were evenly developed, so it was possible to achieve the feat of unifying the continent. I thought I could.
‘… What can I do with a book?’
Astrid thought that I had become quite the Einhafen person too.
【Ugh, the smell of books. It looks like I’m about to fall asleep. I’ll close my eyes, so you can find the things you need on your own.]
It was a strange thing to be able to sleep alternately with one body. At this point, I thought that if Astrid fell asleep with the body, the real Astrid could wake up and take away the initiative of his body, but that hasn’t happened so far. In the first place, time was limited, and besides, the real Astrid didn’t seem intelligent enough to question and try such things.
“Let’s see… Summon, Summon.”
I walked for quite a while to find a library that started with the word Summon. Fortunately, when Astrid woke up, she knew all of the letters and languages, so there was no problem with communication.
“Summons… Well, here it is.”
Right now, Astrid knew nothing about magic. He was a complete outsider, and when I asked the real Astrid, he said he hadn’t even thought of mastering such a mean trick as magic, so he must have no knowledge of magic.
After all, it’s from the basics.
A book titled The Basics of Summoning and Understanding the Basics caught my eye.
Yes, you also need to lay the groundwork.
Astrid first picked up the book from the shelf and put it on the desk. He thought about pulling out more books, but since the most important thing is the basics anyway, he thought of researching this one first.
Summons.
The most likely one is, after all, a summons.
I remembered that I was just going to the convenience store in the original world.
But that’s the last one. I was going to the convenience store in the middle of the night, but when I woke up, I was in Einhafen, and among them, Astrid von Mitterien, the daughter of the Grand Duke of Mitterien, the Grand Duke of the North.
I didn’t believe in souls or anything like that, but at this point, there really is such a thing as a soul, and I summoned that soul and inserted it into this body… That was the most plausible hypothesis at the moment.
‘Ruler… Where.’
When I opened the rather splendidly gilded cover, a bit of book dust flew and glistened in the sunlight. Books, can’t help it. Astrid opened the introduction first.
「This book is guaranteed to have been written in a humane and correct way under the name of the great unified emperor of Einhafen, Kreuz von Einhafen, and also informs that accurate knowledge has been collected for the purpose of protecting the safety of the country and its subjects.
The contents below are perfect contents that will not allow even a single doubt, so you should not question the contents. We must bear in mind that all of this is our duty as a citizen of the Empire to shun evil and pursue good… 」
‘What kind of introduction is this?
No matter how you look at it, it was undeniably suspicious.
“Is this really right?”
It was a question. As soon as I saw the introduction, I couldn’t help but believe in this book. Usually, books that start with an oath of allegiance to the emperor like this are mostly for the purpose of showing well to the imperial family rather than gaining credibility as an academic.
Astrid closed the book. Since it is an imperial library, there must be many other books.
Something older and more specialized, something, something… Anyway, hoping there must be something else, Astrid put the book back in its original place and started looking around for other books.
“Lady Mitterien, is there any book you are looking for?”
It was the librarian I met earlier. Impressive brown hair, somewhat sad impression… She was a librarian she seemed to have seen somewhere, so Astrid stared at her face for a moment.
“What is on my face?”
“Oh, no. No. Excuse me.”
After habitually pressing the front of her chest and bowing lightly, Astrid asked her librarian, feeling that she was just fine.
“I’m looking for a book related to summoning… “
So she was recommended several more books by the librarian. She received recommendations mainly for books made before the empire was founded, and she brought several of them, put them on her desk, and opened one first.
「Unlike normal elemental magic, summoning magic uses Reverse Pentagram. From this, it can be seen that the source of summoning magic is borrowing the power of the devil. Therefore, praise the insight of His Majesty the Emperor, who forbade the study of this to subjects except for a small number of authorized personnel.”
“Oh… “
This also seems to be a book published after the founding of the country, but it was quite something.
But whatever, as long as I could figure out what I wanted anyway, it didn’t matter. And, at least in this book, the possibility was quite high.
「However, summoning magic that can be used without any problems is permitted to a few people, so the details about it are described below.」
– The basics of summoning magic.
– Cat summoning magic.
– Bat summon magic.
-…
-…
-…
“… Is this all?”
Summon a cat and tell it to do something.
If there is a cat summoning technique, there must also be a rat summoning technique. Why are mice still bats?
Besides, the summoning here was just bringing a nearby being to one’s front, so it was completely different from bringing a being from another world like Astrid in the first place.
‘It’s a big deal. If this is all, it’s a waste.’
Astrid was slowly starting to get in trouble.
*
It was around the same time.
The imperial carriage boasting a smooth ride ran down the main road and finally arrived in front of the residence of the Grand Duke of Mitterien.
“Welcome, Your Highness.”
A large, bear-like man came out to meet me at the door of the mansion and prostrated himself deeply. At the sudden visit of Leopold von Einthafen, who was a descendant of the imperial family and was certain to be the next emperor, Ashley, who had fortunately been lying around waiting for her sister, rushed right out to receive him.
“What about Astrid?”
“My sister is still on the way home.”
“Hmm. It’s been a while since I left to go home first.”
‘What’s going on?’
For a moment, Leopold thought about the possibility that something had gone wrong with Astrid. However, no matter how much I imagined, there was no picture of the possibility that physical harm was done to Astrid.
If you want to defeat Astrid, the Royal Guard must be mobilized. At least there was no sign of that, so it shouldn’t be a big deal.
“… It’s just fine.”
Right now, without the person involved, Leopold thought it was all right.
“Ashley.”
Called by name on purpose. The name Astrid muttered when helping her last night, Ashley.
I called again because I didn’t know.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Ashley Mitterien, is that right?”
“This is my name, but is there something wrong with you?”
Ashley, who was prostrate, looked up at Leopold with a puzzled face. He didn’t carelessly look up at the emperor’s face, so this wouldn’t be particularly rude, so Leopold didn’t bother to take issue with it either.
“No, no. Don’t go in It’s good that you’re not here. I have something I want to ask you.”
“Ah, yes. You do. Now, is the drawing room ready?”
Ashley stood up and asked the attendants who were also prostrated behind her.
“You could just say something, but whisper something. Okay go there Your Highness, this way.”
As Ashley stepped forward and stepped forward, the attendants all stood aside and opened the way.
“If you just say that it went well, if your sister hears it, it seems like she’s trying to ask you something troubling.”
The table in the drawing room looked quite precarious.
Anyway, since it was made more faithfully to serve as an ornament rather than practicality, the chair looked absurdly small compared to the size of Ashley sitting on it, to the point that I wondered if it would come down at any moment.
“Yes. Because it’s something I can’t bear to ask myself.”
“Is that so? But even if you can’t ask yourself, wouldn’t it be rude to ask in your absence?”
“It is, however.”
Even for Ashley, Leopold’s answer was a little surprising.
It was said to hit the mark, but I did not expect that Leopold would readily admit it.
“Never a good thing. As the saying goes, don’t say anything behind your back that you can’t say in front of you, and I know very well that it’s embarrassing to ask Astrid something you wouldn’t be able to ask in person, in her absence.”
“Is that so? Then why… “
“I ask straight forward.”
“…”
Ashley shut his mouth.
Leopold was staring at Ashley like that.
“I heard that Astrid was seriously ill about half a year ago.”
“Yes.”
“And she said she didn’t wake up for a month.”
“You’re right.”
“Then, ask me.”
Ashley swallowed her saliva.
What are you trying to ask?
“Astrid… If.”
“Yes.”
“Did she seriously hurt her head?”
Ashley took a deep breath.
It was the correct answer. Astrid, who fell down the stairs and suffered a major blow to her head, did not wake up for a month after that. And when he wakes up, it’s as if he’s a different person-
“It seems like Astrid has become a completely different person lately.”
“That… “
How should I answer this
Astrid’s memory loss was a secret kept secret by the people of the Grand Duchess.
Do you have to answer?
“… I’m sorry, Your Highness the Crown Prince. This is also, no matter how much it is a younger brother, I don’t think it’s something I can answer.”
“It seems to be true.”
Leopold stared at Ashley like that.
Was it like that too?
It seemed that it would be explained to some extent by saying that he had seriously injured his head.
“Then-“
– The lady of Mitterien.
It was the moment when the main character of this conversation appeared.
