Chapter 19
THE SECTION ACROSS THE BRIDGE was dedicated to all things monster related. In addition to documents, records, and specimens, there were also elaborate stone statues, so lifelike that they looked like they could attack at any moment. Seeing actual living monsters prowling the shelves gave Hinata several minor heart attacks, but Mira’s Dark Knights made swift work of them, easily able to tell them apart from the fakes. This gave Hinata a chance to observe their work once more while also practicing a few self-defense skills.
Mira entrusted the fighting to her knights and focused on the shelves around them. They were lined with research papers and materials harvested from monsters she’d never seen before, as well as equipment made from those materials.
“During our last survey of this area, I made copies of most of these documents,” Cleos informed her. “Along with the characteristics of the monsters, they include possible battle strategies and potential usages for their dropped materials. King Solomon was quite interested.”
“Oho, really now?”
Solomon was just as interested as Mira in all things related to battle. If these had caught his attention, then she had to know what they were. She would have to get Cleos to show her those notes when they got back.
Unlike the prior sections, the area related to the study of monsters was quite spacious. The number of statues and specimens meant larger shelves and thus better visibility. The vegetation didn’t seem to be as dense here either. Mira and company followed the path laid out on the guide maps. The route was more direct than in prior areas, and they made it to the next gate faster than they expected.
Once again, the gate was sealed with iron bars. Next to the gate was a large stone slab, no doubt part of the puzzle needed to pass. However, the words carved into it were in an unknown language.
“Right, so what’s the trick to this one?” Mira asked Cleos, her brow bunched as she looked up at the block of stone.
“Our last expedition ended here,” he replied, sifting through his memories. “Past this door is unexplored terrain. It seems the writing on this tablet is in an ancient spirit language, but without anyone to decipher it, we had to turn back.”
“Hrmm, ancient spirit language, eh? Even Suleiman couldn’t read it?”
“Correct. He said it shared some similarities with the modern spirit language, but that the vast majority was indecipherable.”
Suleiman, an expert in spirit languages with vast and unparalleled stores of knowledge, hadn’t been able to make sense of it. What were they to do?
“So how are we supposed to—” Mira began, then cut herself off. She stroked her chin and scowled at the stone slab. “Ancient spirits, huh?”
Like other beings, the spirits of this world had their own culture and expansive history. The ancient spirit language had passed into disuse long, long ago…but it was still known by a handful of incredibly old spirits. Thus, none of her contracted spirits would speak the language…except for one.
Once inspiration struck, it didn’t take long for her to act. In a flash, she converted her Bound Arcana to the Mark of the Rosary before chanting:
Star-Eater gazing at the heavens, carrying your bow dyed the colors of the setting sun and firing lighting across the skies.
Round and round the honored seat, heroes long forgotten tumble from the heavens and fall into dreams—freed from the wheel, slumbering in the rain.
Lost between worlds, the dead sleep in Akasha’s cage and remain a distant illusion of frozen blue in vague memories.
But as stars fall we spin our own history, here and now.
[Evocation: Rainbow Spirit, Twinkle Pom]
As Mira cast the spell, her twin magic circles shifted into a riot of color and started to spin, forming a rainbow pillar. Soon, a small girl sprang out of the iridescent light. She was dressed in an adorable little princess outfit with bouncy waves of blonde hair fluttering around her head.
“Master! Pom wants hugs!” the little girl shouted. She immediately started bouncing up and down, demanding Mira hold her.
“All right, all right. That’s a good girl.” Scooping the little girl up into her arms, Mira rocked her back and forth, gently stroking her head all the while.
“Splendid idea, Mistress Mira!” Seeing Pom’s pudgy little face squished against Mira’s chest, Cleos immediately understood her plan.
Hinata, however, was flabbergasted. Immense magical power! Copious amounts of mana spent! And all Mira got was one needy little kid? She had no way of knowing what any of this meant or how it helped.
Unbeknownst to the professor, rainbow spirits were beings that had been continuously reincarnated since the dawn of time, retaining their knowledge through each incarnation. When Mira formed the summoning contract thirty years ago, Pom had been little more than a newborn baby.
But even Mira would be the first to admit that Pom had aged slower than she expected.
“Hrmm… I wonder if she’ll be able to understand?” Mira mumbled. Pom’s smile was so pure and innocent, it was impossible to get a read on her intellect.
“Her knowledge should be innate. Why not give it a try?” Cleos suggested.
Mira nodded and then looked down at Pom, who was happily snuggling her chest. The spirit looked up, and their eyes met.
“Master, you were gone for so long!”
“I was. How have you been?”
“I’m doing well!” Pom was just a ball of cuteness, and Mira couldn’t help but smile back and rub their cheeks together, as if doting on her grandchild.
“I see. Good, good. That’s what’s most important.” Mira gently sat Pom down before the stone slab, then pointed up at it. “Now, Pom, can you read what’s written up there?”
Pom squinted at the writing for a moment, then spun back to Mira and held out her arms, asking to be picked up again. Trying to work it out, she made a series of thoughtful hums. Once she’d deciphered it, she revealed what it said:
The first half of the slab gave the instructions needed to solve the puzzle to unlock the door. To pass through, they had to turn ten of the statues to the right or left in a particular order. The second half of the slab detailed descriptions of the statues that needed turning and the direction in which to turn them. Unfortunately, the slabs did not say where those statues would be found.
“We should split up to look for the statues,” Mira declared.
“Right, good idea,” Cleos agreed.
The two of them summoned a few dozen Dark Knights and scattered them throughout the area. Their role wasn’t to locate the statues, but rather to dispatch any monsters that might get in the way. The horde of knights ran this way and that, destroying all the monsters they could find. Hinata watched the overwhelming assault with an envious smile.
With the extermination complete, the three got to work solving the puzzle.
“I believe the first was black, had four legs, and turned to the right. Correct?” Mira asked Pom, who was perched on her shoulders.
“That’s right!” the spirit chirped.
“All right… Then let’s split up and find it.” Mira gazed out at the innumerable statues mixed in with the shelves and specimens and heaved a sigh.
“I shall take that direction.”
“And I’ll look over there.”
Cleos and Hinata took off in separate directions. Mira watched them go, then carried herself and Pom up to a higher vantage point.
A moment or so later, Hinata’s voice rang out. “I found it!” Then a second or so later: “Okay, I turned it to the right!”
“Wasn’t the second one a white quadruped?” came Cleos’s voice from elsewhere.
Mira checked with Pom and then yelled back, “That’s the one!”
Continuing in this manner of call and response, they worked their way through the puzzle.
At first, the monster research section had tempted Mira’s adventuring spirit…but the puzzle was beginning to wear on her. As she went through the statues one by one, she could feel her brainpower weakening.
“Isn’t this a, you know, a panda? Panda, panda, panda, panda…”
Fox, dog, cat, bear. Mira kept up the search, tapping on the heads of the different statues as she passed. Was it Gestaltzerfall? Just plain stupefaction? Whatever it was, her cognitive abilities were vastly impaired.
“Master! That round black one turns left!” Thankfully, Pom was paying attention. Brimming with curiosity, she was on the lookout and keeping the Wise Man on track.
“Oho, that one? Well done,” Mira replied, then called out to the others “Found it! Here we go!”
With a shout and a burst of effort, she turned it to the left until she heard a click and the statue stopped moving.
Slowly but surely, they continued, until Mira finally came to the last one. It had two horns like a demon and sat next to the stone instruction slab. She waited for Cleos and Hinata to join her back at the gate. Then, as the leader of the expedition, she turned the final statue. As she did, the bars sealing the gate retreated, opening the path to the next section. All three of them cheered loudly.
“Well done, Pom. You’ve done us a huge favor,” Mira said as she prepared to dismiss the spirit.
“No!” Pom cried out, grabbing hold of Mira as sobs hitched in her throat. Bunching her little hands in Mira’s robe, she begged not to be sent away. It had been thirty years, and she was ever so lonely.
“There, there. Who’s my special little girl?” Realizing the depth of Pom’s feelings, Mira gently hugged her and stroked her head. The spirit’s tears immediately stopped, and she donned a happy smile.
“Oh, little Pom. I know how you feel,” Cleos muttered to himself, watching their familial exchange. The sadness of separation and the joy of reunion—the longing to spend more time together. He was entirely on the same page.
Huh? He knows how she feels? What? Does Master Cleos want to be…cuddled? Hinata began to form some flawed conclusions as she mulled over his whispered statement. Having learned something new about Cleos (or so she thought), she looked at the happy Pom cradled in Mira’s arms and then shifted her gaze back to the elf.
“Whatever floats his boat,” she quietly said to herself with a smile.
As they passed through the gate, they found themselves surrounded by greenery. The plant research materials had somehow taken root and flourished over the ages. Despite being in a jungle, the enchanted shelves stood undamaged.
“It smells so nice in here!” Pom exclaimed from above Mira’s head, wiggling with delight.
“Indeed, quite nice.”
At last, they’d reached their destination. Their documents resided somewhere in Section 6, repository of botanical research.
“Now, where do we start looking?”
The area seemed otherworldly, with massive trees stretching overhead and piles of shelves nestled up against their trunks. The sheer number of shelves were daunting, and many were hidden by the verdant forest.
Amid the plants, Mira caught sight of yet another guide map.
“Ugh, let’s see…” Clearing away the vines, she looked at the map they’d been following this whole trip. But as she inspected this copy, she noticed it was different—it had a breakdown of their current section.
Pulling out the list of documents Solomon had given her, she compared the titles to the sections on the guide map. Cleos noticed what she was doing and joined in.
“On Ancient Species and Divergence in Evolutionary Processes will probably be over in the history section,” he said. “Map of Presumed Flora Distribution with Regards to Sediment and Climate Categorization might be in the same place.”
Adelheid Report #47 was a tougher nut to crack. The title didn’t give many clues as to what the contents might be, but there was a possibility listed in the area guide. Far in the back was a set of shelves labeled “Delegate Reviews.”
“Well, that seems promising.”
“Indeed, very likely.”
They nodded to each other and then confirmed the route between the two sections.
“Well, I suppose we should split up again.” Cleos turned to Professor Hinata, who had been watching the search unfold. “Would you be willing to assist us?”
She nodded. “Of course! You’re looking for some specific documents, right?”
“Sorry to make you do my errands for me,” Mira said with a half-embarrassed smile. She hadn’t expected this trip to be such a hassle, but she was happy that she’d invited these two along.
“Oh, no, don’t worry about it,” Hinata said smiling back in earnest.
“Great. You two take the history section. I’ll venture into the back. You know the titles?”
“Completely memorized,” Cleos confirmed. “Leave it to us.”
“Yep, we’ve got this.” Hinata nodded again. They both sounded utterly confident. Then she tilted her head in consternation, asking, “But wait, isn’t everything in here protected from theft? What are we going to do about that?”
“Ah! That’s right,” Mira mumbled. She passed some of Solomon’s papers to Cleos and Hinata. “If you press this to the pages it will make a copy of the text.”
“Oh, copy paper. Okay, got it.” Hinata had evidently seen these before. “Right. See you when we’re done.”
With that, Mira headed off deep into the jungle toward the delegate reviews.
Despite using her immortal sage arts to hasten her movement, it still took her over ten minutes to reach the area she was searching for.
“Where shall I start?”
Knowing the general area was fine, but there were still innumerable shelves to search through. Grumbling to herself, she brushed aside some vines and started looking.
“So many books!” Pom squealed, delighted.
“Yep. There sure are a lot.”
With one eye on the innocently smiling spirit, Mira made her way up a set of stairs and across a small bridge, inspecting the shelves she passed along the way.
“Hrmm! Is this it?!” After wandering through nearly half of the section, she stumbled across the paper she was after. The anti-theft system was designed to go off only when an item was taken more than ten meters from its shelf or removed for an extended period of time. As long as she stuck close and worked quickly, she’d have no issues.
Taking a seat on the ground with the document in hand, she pulled out her sheaf of papers and got to copying. First one sheet, then another, at a slow and measured pace. The process continued smoothly for around twenty or thirty sheets. Feeling neglected, Pom climbed off Mira’s back and crawled into her arms instead.
“Hey, now, I can’t work like this.” While fixing a misaligned copy, she admonished the spirit to be patient.
Pom watched intently for a little while longer, but grew bored in no time. She crawled free of Mira and began to wander around.
“Don’t stray too far!” Mira warned as Pom ran through the overgrown archive, full of childlike wonder.
“I know!” she replied, playing in some nearby vegetation.
“That’s a good girl,” Mira murmured as she got back to work.
***
“Phew, that’s the last of it.”
Copying completed, Mira stood and stretched. Bundling up the papers, she stuck them in her Item Box before returning the original copy to its shelf. But something was amiss.
“Hrmm?! Where’s Pom?”
While she’d been preoccupied, the spirit had vanished. Nevertheless, a summoner could sense the whereabouts of their spirits with enough focus.
“What a handful,” she said under her breath. Then she set off in search of Pom.
Mira could tell she was somewhere overhead. Not surprising, considering the shelves here were stacked high and made an impressive jungle gym. Hrmm, doesn’t seem like she’s too far. Evidently, Pom had elected to follow the letter of the law, if not the spirit.
“Hey, Pom!” she called out, looking up. A few moments later, Pom’s head popped into view, and she jumped down into Mira’s arms with a big smile on her face.
“Oof!” Mira groaned as she managed to catch the spirit. Then her expression froze.
“Master. Can you read this to me?” Pom beamed as she held out a book.
Mira tried to stay calm. “Pom…where did you get that?”
The spirit pointed to the top of the stacks. “Over there.”
The shelf she was pointing at was glowing red.
“Oh, no,” Mira blurted. “No, no, no, no, no.” Her eyes flicked to the ceiling.
Immediately, countless alarms blared throughout the cavernous hall, as though thousands of bells were being swung at once.
“You’re certainly a handful, kid!” Mira laughed as she hugged Pom close and got ready to push her immortal arts to the limit.
Dashing toward the history section, where Cleos and Hinata were, she dodged security golems dropping in waves from the ceiling and leapt over security barriers springing up from the ground to block her way.
“We’re flying!” Pom cried.
Mira used the thick trees and shrubs as cover and footholds as she wielded her techniques to hop and skip her way around the obstacles.
“Upsy-daisy!” She propelled them aloft using her Air Step skill. Pom giggled with delight.
Her jump took her above the forest, and she saw Garuda flying overhead.
“Mistress Mira!” Cleos shouted. He and Hinata were clinging to its back.
She waved in recognition as Garuda dived, sweeping aside the falling security golems until it swooped beneath her.
“Give me your hand!”
“Sorry about this!” Mira let herself be pulled onto Garuda’s back, and she readjusted her grip on Pom. The bird spirit’s back was surprisingly comfy.
“It’s time we make our exit. Hold on tight!” Cleos said.
Garuda picked up speed, darting toward the exit while dodging and sometimes colliding with the relentless barrage from above and below.
“Mistress Mira, what happened?” Cleos’s tone left little question as to who he suspected was behind this.
“Oh, you know…” Mira inclined her head toward Pom, who was still clutching the book in her arms.
As Cleos looked down at her, he couldn’t help but smile. “I see. Not entirely unexpected.”
They turned to skim by the giant tower of shelves that made up the center of the dungeon, but they were still only halfway out. The lower part of the room was almost entirely sealed off by the protective barriers, and countless grasping tentacles were beginning to strike out from the ceiling.
“Eeek!” Hinata let out an involuntary shriek of panic, but neither Cleos nor Garuda let the obstacles faze them as the bird swept back and forth before finally plunging through the exit.
Garuda landed in the room of the twin guardians, and the party descended with relieved smiles.
“I lost my book!” Pom lamented from Mira’s arms, her shoulders slumped in despair. Whether she’d dropped it or some trick of the archive had called it home, the book was no doubt in the custody of a security golem and on its way back to its rightful shelf.
“At least I finished with the copies,” Mira sighed, peering back into the third level of the dungeon. The alarm was still going off, and chaos reigned. “How about you two?”
Both Cleos and Hinata happily pulled stacks of papers out of their robes.
“I finished.”
“All set!”
“Oho, good job! That means we’re done!”
Adding their copies to her own, Mira sighed in relief.
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