“OH yeah, you said you haven’t seen Nako around, right?” Sutcliff brought up after their laughter subsided. He sat comfortably on the floor with his legs crossed. “I honed my senses and detected faint traces of Mister Lord Dark Lord’s magic in this room. So I’d guess that he brought Nako back to his castle for whatever reason.”
“The Dark Lord did?” Aki wasn’t expecting that. “Why?”
Worry creased Sutcliff’s brow. “Can’t say. But from what I know, he deliberately set Nako free so she could meet up with you. Something big must’ve gone down for him to come get her earlier than planned.”
Does that mean Nako was in so much danger the Dark Lord had to rescue her? Aki wondered. Or did she leave with him for another reason? A reason she couldn’t stay with us…
“Don’t ya worry too much!” Sutcliff caught the fleeting look of despair on Aki’s face and grinned to cheer her up. “I, your great and mighty servant, shall temporarily return to the castle once Heroboy and the gang wake up. I’ll check on Nako while I’m there.”
“Thank you, Sutcliff. I’m glad you’re on our side now,” Aki said with a relieved smile.
Sutcliff blinked three times before uncomfortably looking away. He sheepishly scratched the back of his head. “…Is it just me or are you good to the bone? You’re too forgivin’ and pure. You should hate me for what I did and yet here you are saying you’re glad to have me on your side. That’s just…”
Struggling to put his feelings into words, Sutcliff mumbled the last part.
“I think I figured out why Heroboy and Master Leo fell so hard for you, Boss Lady. I bet your inability to hate and your straightforward kindness is a refuge for them,” he said, smiling softly up at the ceiling. He put his hands on his knees and stood. “I like that part of ya too. I know I can’t undo the hurt I caused, but I’m here if you ever need me. Call on me when you need a hand. I’m your guy.”
He laughed bashfully and beckoned Aki closer. Curious, she leaned in close.
Sutcliff snapped his fingers and beads of light danced over his hand. The beads merged and transformed into an ancient book with a rouge leather spine. The same book he had shown off inside the Ancient Ruins.
The Book of Creation copy! Aki gasped.
Sutcliff dangled it from his fingers in front of her face.
“This is the book Lord Dark Lord ordered me to give Hero Elias. I told you this before, but the original copy is located deep within Sanctuary, and only a handful of High Priests can look at it. After all, this book contains the true history of this world, which Sanctuary has long kept secret.”
Sutcliff narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice. “This book is bulging with facts that’ll doom Sanctuary if they ever get exposed… A lot went down during ancient times that ain’t pretty…”
Sutcliff’s doleful smile seemed to hint at first-hand knowledge of the Creation Era. The Shadow Tribe was said to live much longer than humans.
Maybe he experienced the Creation Era for himself? Aki looked to Sutcliff with that unsaid question hanging between them. He dropped the Book of Creation onto her hands as if to avoid going there. Her hands sank with the weight.
Ugh, it’s heavy! Aki’s eyes bulged as she propped up the hefty old book.
Sutcliff waved it around like it was lighter than a feather, but Aki needed to hold it firmly with both hands or she would have dropped it.
Silver beautifully framed the four corners of the book and, to Aki’s surprise, the cover was embellished with the same mark of the sun and moon that had appeared on Elias and her forehead.
I knew it. These crests are intricately connected to the Creation Era and this book explains why… And it also depicts the truth about the Hero and Dark Lord and their Right-hands like Nako was telling me.
Mina gave the Book of Creation an apprehensive look. “…Say, is it all right if I look at that book too?” she asked. She had remained a silent onlooker until then.
“Go for it. I can tell you’ll be stickin’ around to protect Boss Lady and the gang. So be my guest,” Sutcliff permitted with uncanny casualness for a book full of nation-destroying secrets.
Aki tentatively turned over the cover and peered down at the first page with Mina at her side. Small cryptic letters were scrawled across the pages. The letters looked like emoji hieroglyphs. They resembled what Leo drew in his magic circles.
“…Looks like it was written in the ancient script,” Mina groaned. “Same stuff that was written on the Ancient Ruin walls and that Leo and Johann use for their magic circles.”
“I see… Guess you need to know the language to read it. Can you read ancient script, Mina?” Aki asked, pointing to the squiggly lines on the page.
“Just a smidge.” Mina shrugged. “Learned enough to get by as a Thief. But I wouldn’t be able to get through this brick of text in my lifetime. We need an expert.” She smacked her hands together as soon as she said expert. “Speaking of experts, we’ve got just the man in our party! He’ll burn through this heifer in no time,” she exclaimed, pressing her fingers together.
Aki instantly thought of the man who had read the Ancient Ruin walls with ease. “You mean Louis, right? He seemed to really know his stuff. Maybe he has a knack for deciphering ancient script. Plus, with his knowledge of history, he might have an easier time with it.” She looked up at Sutcliff. “Hey, Sutcliff?”
“What’s up?”
“Is it all right if we have our party Minstrel translate the Book of Creation?” Aki asked, assuming it’d be okay since Louis was also a member of the Hero Party.
“Him?” Sutcliff rubbed his chin for a few moments before coming to a decision. “He goes by Louis Neal now, right? You can show him without a problem. While you’re at it, can you tell him if he’s gonna lend a hand, he’d better see it through until the end?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Mina asked, sensing something more behind his words. Sutcliff shrugged, signaling he had nothing more to say on the matter.
Does Sutcliff know something about Louis that we don’t?
All Aki knew about him was that he was a Minstrel and a nobleman’s third son. Yet for that background he had succeeded in teleporting the Hero Party with just Sutcliff’s assistance, had intimate knowledge about the ancients, and seemed to be shrouded in mystery.
Is Louis really just a Minstrel? Or is there more to him? We might need to sit down and have a good talk about it before going too far on this journey together.
“Anyway, enough chitchat. Would you mind goin’ and checking up on Heroboy and Master Leo?” Sutcliff asked Aki. “Seeing your face is just the right kinda medicine for them.”
“Sure. In that case,” Aki held out the Book of Creation to Mina, “can you bring this to Louis? The sooner he looks at it the better.”
“Happy to do it.” Mina accepted the book with both hands and winked.
Aki waved goodbye to Mina and Sutcliff and hurried anxiously off to Elias’s room, her heart aflutter with anticipation for their long-awaited reunion now that she finally had her hero back.