It was a night so dark that even the moon slept.
The study smelled strongly of old paper. An expensive-looking rug and time-worn books gave the room a dignified air that seemed at odds with the building’s actual age.
A lone girl stood in the center of the room, gripping a kitchen knife in one trembling hand. Dim moonlight reflected off the blade and illuminated her face, which was framed by wavy ash-brown hair that tumbled past her shaking shoulders.
She was breathing heavily, her face a contorted mess of troubled emotions—fear, anger, confusion. Each one was a manifestation of her despair.
Give them back…! Give Nao and Mom back!
Her heart wavered like ripples on the surface of a lake.
A single book was set on the desk before her. It sat perfectly still in the quiet study without a title on its worn cover.
“This book is yours. Use it however you wish… However, you must never take it out of this study.”
The girl knew she shouldn’t have broken her promise. But the punishment was far too cruel.
Give them back!
She swung her knife down at the book, and the blade bounced off its cover with a loud clang that felt both metallic and not. The impact forced the knife from her hand and it flew across the room and embedded itself in the floor.
The ancient book was unharmed.
It sat there eerily unchanged, becoming a part of the night.
“Why…? Why…?”
The girl crumpled to her knees and burst into tears.
“A book that eats text?”
Somewhere in Shiga Prefecture, an unusual pair was walking through a quiet residential district.
“Sounds like another philosophical vanit.”
The speaker was a youth of high school age—Shin Karamori. His short black hair was unruly yet still managed to make him look neat and tidy, and his mouth rested in a slight smile. He had the sort of face that tended to give people a positive first impression.
On his back was a bag like the ones used by kendo-club members to carry bamboo swords.
“It feels less philosophical and more like its very existence is ironic,” said the girl walking beside him with perfect posture.
The name she carried was “Archive.” She had shoulder-length blond hair and slightly slanted eyes that gave the impression she was hard to please. Her filmy black dress accentuated her tall frame.
She was playing cat’s cradle with a thin red string as she walked.
The girl’s otherworldliness and the long object on the boy’s back made them stand out against the ordinary streetscape, but there was no sign of other people. Their comrades had already evacuated the residents. And even before they did, a great many people had already disappeared.
“According to the scouts, the target seems to be an old book. It consumes all text within a five-hundred-meter radius.”
“…I see that,” the young man replied, looking up at the arch marking the entrance to the deserted shopping arcade they were approaching. There was no writing where the name should have been. Nor was there writing anywhere else on the street, be it shop signs or fallen magazines.
“This incident reportedly began when a daughter of the wealthy family in possession of the book removed it from its study. Apparently, she inherited it from her father and wanted to show it to her friends. However, as soon as she took it outside, all writing in the area disappeared, as did a great number of objects and people.”
The youth furrowed his brow at the girl’s disturbing report, which she delivered in a smooth, even tone.
“Around three hundred people vanished, with two of the girl’s three friends among the victims. Many objects in the vicinity also disappeared, regardless of their size…as you can see here.”
The pair was wandering down the street parallel to the shopping arcade when they saw a humongous pile of junk by the side of the road. The objects were broken, yet they all appeared to be brand new. It was as if the apartment building here had disappeared, leaving everything inside to fall to the ground.
“Some people who entered the affected area later also disappeared, including one of our scouts,” Archive said.
Karamori looked up at the sky.
“I can see why we were ordered to destroy it. Is there anything that differentiates between what disappears and what doesn’t?”
“Unclear. That is what the report said anyway. However, an inference can be made from the list of vanished items and people: They all have proper nouns.”
“Ah, I see…”
A bitter smile crossed Karamori’s face. People, apartment buildings, products—they all have names that are proper nouns. The individuals who vanished might have left something with their names written on it somewhere in the affected area.
“A book that eats text…,” Karamori mused. “Maybe when it eats a proper noun, it causes everything indicated by that word that’s inside its range to disappear.”
“I believe that to be the case,” agreed Archive. “Perhaps it is not the word itself that the book consumes, but the very concept it represents.”
“Man. I always feel this way, but that just goes against all common sense…”
“Indeed. Hence its designation as a vanit.”
A “vanit” was an object that held some sort of distortion to the natural laws of the world. They were proof that the world was imperfect. As investigators for the Noary Group, Karamori and Archive’s job was to collect and destroy these objects.
“The fact that we were sent can only mean one thing…”
“Yes. It’s an Unbreakable.”
“Figured as much.”
The boy glanced at his sword bag. It was decorated with a lotus-flower pattern and bounced gently as he walked.
“It seems the book can be moved but not opened. Its contents are unknown. As its power does not allow the book to have a title, the vanit has been given the name ‘Untitled,’” Archive said, keeping up a brisk pace.
“Hey, wait up,” Karamori said.
“I will not wait. Fate has determined that we will reach our destination at 4:07:12 PM.”
“…Oh.”
Fate.
The figure of another girl overlapped that of Archive walking in front of him, causing memories to rush to the surface of Karamori’s mind like bubbles in glass.
Black hair fluttering in the wind. A side ponytail that swayed with even the slightest of movements. The girl in his memory shined brighter than the sun…
Karamori shook his head. He thought it was rich of him to consider that a sweet memory.
The house they sought finally came into view. It was in the center of a street situated a short distance from the shopping arcade and was so lavish it stood out from the rest of the area. It only had a small yard, but the house itself was three stories tall, built with magnificent white tile and adorned with elegant decorations on the walls. The family that owned it was clearly wealthy.
“This is a strange place to build such a fancy mansion,” Karamori said.
“It is the home of the deceased Asahi Fujinaka. He founded Fujinaka Industries and grew it into a successful company. His prosperous business and the effective management of his assets must have made him quite the fortune. It is likely he built a new home on land that he already owned,” Archive explained.
When they approached, a female scout and a girl in a school uniform emerged from the house. The girl likely lived here. She appeared to be a high school student, just like Karamori, and both she and the scout were pale with exhaustion.
“Thank you for coming. We have been waiting for you,” the scout said. She was holding it together, but her voice shook as she spoke. That was unsurprising, considering she’d likely witnessed her teammates disappear before her very eyes. Being erased because you were carrying something with your name on it was a senseless way to die.
“We appreciate your hard work,” Archive replied. “So this must be…” She glanced at the girl in the school uniform, who jumped as her gaze met Archive’s.
The schoolgirl had slightly wavy grayish-brown hair. She was pretty, with a well-defined nose, and her short skirt and bright-pink nails gave the impression of someone who was in touch with the latest fashion trends. Karamori thought the contrast between her delicate features and trendy outfit made her look like a dress-up doll.
“Hello… I’m Hitsugi Fujinaka. Are you here to destroy the book?” The girl’s eyes wavered with fear, and tear marks streaked her cheeks.
She had just witnessed an object defy the natural laws of the world and make people disappear. Of course she’d be terrified.