With the mist cleared, I saw I was in a completely different place from before. I removed my hand from the inky blackness of the dark god’s mouth, and sighed when I confirmed it was still in one piece.
The passageway through which I had entered the secret room was gone, and I now found myself standing in a larger chamber with a high ceiling. The first thing I noticed when I turned from the face on the wall was a well-lit stone bed. An ancient skeleton lay upon this faceup. Nearly all of its clothing had fallen into meager scraps, though various accessories of gold, silver, and copper remained. These were similar to the accoutrements portrayed on the statue in the dining hall. A decorative buckle, all that remained of a belt, bore the same water dragon crest. Was this the man who’d inspired the statue? If not, then a descendant, perhaps?
A discolored, human-shaped outline surrounded the skeleton, indicating the man had still had flesh when laid to rest here. Or had he lain down here himself? How had he reached his end? There was no way of knowing.
I saw no sign that the intact treasures he wore had been tampered with. The sage evidently had cared only for his research, not for riches. Or else, he’d had too much respect to desecrate this man’s corpse. That was the feeling I got, anyway. This body was meant to remain here undisturbed, the man kept at eternal rest. Almost all of this man’s world had fallen to pieces along with him. Shouldn’t I feel responsible for preserving those remains?
I shook off these heavy thoughts and looked around me, quickly spotting a small writing desk in a corner. It was wood, and not particularly old. Clearly, the sage had brought it himself, but how had he transported it? I could only imagine he’d taken it apart and reassembled it here. The thought of that man desperately dragging scraps of wood through that narrow corridor without being seen was somewhat amusing. He’d devoted himself to his research here, with no one—not even a sound—to disturb him. I could easily picture him bent over his desk in silence, with the skeleton as his only company. This image fit the old man perfectly.
I gently pulled open the desk’s drawer, finding nothing inside but a pen and dried inkwell. According to the sage, the documents were hidden in a secret compartment, a hiding spot within this hiding spot. How exciting. It was all enough to quicken a young child’s heart.
As instructed, I pressed my leg against the desk’s leg, grabbed the desktop, and slid it sideways. I then pulled it up and opened the drawer halfway. I lifted the desktop higher until it clicked and came completely free.
After placing the top to one side, I looked inside the desk to find a space that ran deeper than the drawer. Resting in this space was what I had come here for: a hefty book. Its cover was identical to that of the temple’s scriptures, but its contents were not. Certainly this had helped the old man disguise his work, but I thought it was also an expression of his defiant spirit.
I opened the book and flipped through it. Next to the written characters used by humanity in this world, which I had grown accustomed to seeing, were lines of bizarre text I had never seen before. This was the grand culmination of the sage’s research. A lexicon of orcish, camouflaged as scripture.
After retrieving the dictionary, I inserted my hand into the mouth of the face in the crypt and was transported back to the room beyond the dining hall. Having retraced my path through the tunnel, I sneaked out of the hole behind the statue, taking great care not to be seen. However, as I stepped out of the statue’s shadow, my eyes met with those of a priest eating at one of the tables. He was startled by my sudden appearance, but after shaking his weary head, returned to his meal.
I left the dining hall and entered the main chamber, where over a thousand priests mumbled their spells and injected their mana. It felt so noisy after spending time in that forgotten crypt. However, it was simultaneously comforting to be surrounded by the living. I had made it back from the world beyond, I myself, alive.
Carrying the faux scriptures under my arm, an innocent look on my face, I started crossing the chamber only to run into Worion, who was apparently making his rounds.
“Oh, Hero! I see you’re back already.”
“Yes, I was blessed with good winds. I’m sorry I haven’t dropped by to see you.”
Worion glanced at the tome I carried.
“How was it there? Did you find your writing teacher?”
“Yes, he’s quite the character. He transcribed these sacred texts and told me to use them to study the correct words and syntax and such.”
“I see. Very good…but that volume looks especially valuable. Take care not to lose it.”
I had the suspicion he already knew what was in the book.
“Of course. My teacher told me to bring it back without a scratch.”
“Incidentally, do you have paper already? You’ll need a lot for writing practice.”
“I was just about to arrange for some.”
“In that case, I’ll get you some of our stock. We should be able to spare a bundle for our hero.”
Worion called over one of the younger priests. Then, after assuring me the ceremony continued to go smoothly, he resumed making his rounds.
The boy priest told me, “I’ll show you to the storehouse. This way.”
It wasn’t long before I returned to the house where George awaited me, bearing a heavy bundle of paper.
“Welcome back, Hero,” George greeted me from the doorway. “Umm, what’s that?”
“We can talk later. Clear some space.”
The floor of the house was bare dirt. I had my reservations about placing valuable parchment directly upon it.
“Of course. Give me a moment.”
George called over the old housekeeper, and together they swiftly cleared the table of its plates and utensils.
With a little “heave-ho,” I deposited the paper and disguised book there. And now to…do what? Concerned for the book’s safety, I wanted to send it to the manor in Kadann Hill immediately, to be placed under heavy protection. Torson was trustworthy enough to handle that. However, I also wanted to make use of it first. On top of that, if it was possible, I wanted to have the contents copied so I would have a version for myself.
I reminded myself that I had permission to copy it, but I needed to take extra precautions to make sure it never reached the eyes of anyone who couldn’t be trusted.
“I don’t care if you copy my work,” the sage had told me, “but don’t trust another to do that, and don’t give your copy to a bookbinder. For the binding, I’ll introduce you to someone once I arrive there. This person’s blind, so he can bind any book without knowing its contents, as long as the pages are already ordered. Don’t reveal the book to anyone else! I know how idiots like you can barely control yourselves.”
I told the housekeeper to go take a break at the bar. After confirming the old lady had left with her coin purse, I called George over.
“George, can you keep a secret?”
“Yes, of course.” He gave me an odd look.
“Leaking this secret could prove fatal, so are you certain?”
“I swear to God I can. My life already belongs to you.”
“Even if it goes against God’s teachings?” I pressed.