“I’ve finished reading it.”
Martina’s voice echoed through the library, prompting the gathering of the historians. The time had long since passed midday, and Martina had once again forgotten about lunch.
“Did you find any valuable information?”
“Yes. While it doesn’t concern the magic circle for returning, it may reveal the reason behind one significant issue.”
At her words, the historians collectively swallowed nervously and urged Martina to continue.
“First, this book seems to be either a reproduction or a translated version of an actual diary. The final page bears a name different from that of the original author. Additionally, there’s a comment from the person who preserved this book by copying it, noting that it records a precious piece of history—a history of humanity’s ugly conflicts.”
“Conflicts among people? Does that mean that just a few years after the end of the Dark Era, the survivors had already begun fighting each other?”
Martina nodded gravely at Laforet’s question, his brows furrowed deeply.
“Yes. The diary begins with the line, ‘Several months after the disappearance of the Black Smoke of Despair.’ The man lived in a large city and barely managed to survive. Curious about the state of the world, he set out on a journey. His first destination was a place rumored to be where the Holy Maiden, who had dispelled the Black Smoke, had descended. After a year of traveling, he arrived at that location—only to find a bloody conflict raging there.”
Martina, overwhelmed by the bitterness of her explanation, lowered her gaze and took a deep breath before continuing.
“While the details are unclear from the diary, it seems that the reason for the conflict stemmed from a selfish desire to monopolize the Holy Maiden. After her disappearance, the battle shifted to a struggle for control over the summoning magic circle, and the fighting continued.”
Martina felt sorrow but not surprise at this history. Observing the atmosphere of a recent conference, she had imagined that disputes over the Holy Maiden or the summoning magic circle could easily arise if circumstances took the wrong turn.
While they had managed to avoid such conflict for now, history proved that avoidance was not always possible.
“The man eventually fled from the conflict. He spent the following years wandering through towns and villages ravaged by monsters. When he returned to the city where the fighting had taken place, years later, he found nothing but ruins. The entire city had been burned to the ground.”
“Burned down… Could it be?”
Laforet’s eyes widened as if he had realized something. His voice trembled slightly as he spoke slowly.
“Does that mean all information about the summoning magic circles, including the one for summoning the Holy Maiden, was destroyed in the fire?”
“That possibility seems likely. Given that the summoning of the Holy Maiden succeeded in that city, it must have had an extensive collection of books, much like this place does now. If everything was burned, it explains why we’ve struggled so much to gather information.”
A heavy silence fell over the library. For historians, the destruction of books in a fire was one of the greatest tragedies imaginable.
The grim reality that it had already occurred in the past cast expressions of sadness and anger on their faces.
“Does the Holy Maiden’s disappearance mean she… passed away?”
After a moment, someone muttered the question, breaking the stillness in the library.
“Given the violent conflicts that took place, it’s a high possibility,” Martina replied somberly. “Even if she survived, it doesn’t seem like it would have been an environment where she could research a return magic circle.”
Martina’s words, filled with despair, left the others unwilling to believe but gradually forced them to nod in reluctant agreement.
(If we can’t find clues about the return magic circle through the fate of the past Holy Maiden, then the only option left is to investigate books specifically about the magic circle itself and try to construct it on my own…)
Martina clenched her fists as a shadow loomed over the early stages of her research into the return magic circle.
(All that’s left is to search for information from before the Dark Era. Hopefully, something has survived somewhere…)
“We’ll also need to redouble our efforts to collect books. We can call for information from other nations with revised conditions and look into secondhand bookstores,” she suggested.
Secondhand bookstores sometimes hid one-of-a-kind books that had been kept in someone’s home for generations or brought in by travelers—books even royal libraries lacked.
“Yes, let’s consider that as well. We’ll need the cooperation of officials like Roland and others,” Laforet agreed.
With that, the discussion came to a close, and Laforet extended his hand toward Martina.
“Martina, let me examine that book next.”
Martina handed over the book, shifting her focus back to her own tasks. The others returned to their respective duties, and Martina resumed her work on the magic circle.
Though they continued their research with diligence, the first day ended without any major discoveries.
