Chapter 190: An Old Friend (6)

"Rubia?" I called out.

Rubia kept her eyes tightly shut. Maybe she still thought we were running, because I could still feel her warm hands on my arm.

"We're here," I said calmly.

Rubia finally let go of my arm, her voice trembling a little as she stepped back. "

Haa...

I'm sorry. I was just a little... startled."

Even though I'd run so quickly that nothing had touched her, the sheer speed must have been shocking.

"There really is a lodge here. But... it's locked?" Rubia asked.

"I'll handle it," I replied.

I twisted the steel padlock open with my fingers, and it snapped like a piece of straw.

"

Ah!

" Rubia yelped.

"It was a weak lock."

Rubia looked so surprised that I almost found it absurd. Right now, my pure Strength stat alone was enough to subdue an ogre.

Creak.

I pushed the door open and stepped inside.

I lit the lantern. In the flickering light, a massive, stuffed troll came into view.

Rubia gasped and took a step back.

I reassured her. "It's just a corpse. It's dead."

Rubia let out a faint sigh. "

Ah,

it's... stuffed. Did the hunters do that?"

"Yes."

"I read that trolls always live in pairs. So... the female must be—"

I glanced at her.

Rubia wasn't stupid. Her eyes showed she'd already guessed where the female was. Even without an answer from me, she found it on her own.

"That place from before..." Rubia trailed off.

I just nodded. Rubia looked down, her expression darkening, as if she could feel the troll's grief.

I stepped deeper into the lodge.

FWOOSH!

I lit the fireplace, and it flooded the space with warm light. This time, there was no scent of blood. The troll had been hunted long ago.

"Upstairs," I said curtly.

I had no intention of spending the night with a stuffed troll strung together with wire and straw.

Rubia nodded and stepped closer to follow by my side. "Yes..."

I pushed open the double-paned window upstairs, letting in the cold, fresh air.

Rubia let out a deep breath, some of the tension in her shoulders easing at last. "

Haa...

"

Rubia touched the bed and softly said, "It feels like... if you lay here, you could almost reach out and touch the stars."

"Do you like it?" I asked.

"Yes! It smells like the mountains."

If Rubia wanted to stay a few days, I wouldn't mind. I'd sense the hunters coming back long before they arrived, or I could just kill them all before they set foot inside.

I watched Rubia blink in the soft light, sitting on the edge of the bed. Then I remembered why we were here.

It's still here...

I looked at the small nightstand next to the bed. The book by Kevin Ashton with instructions on how to kill a troll lay neatly in its place.

I flipped it open, starting from the first page.

Rubia crept closer, eyes bright with curiosity. "Mr. Skeleton, what are you reading?"

Her gaze is... strange.

Every time I read a page, her eyes were already at the bottom, waiting. She'd clearly read the whole book already, or perhaps she was just reading faster than I could keep up.

I turned to look at her. "You read fast?"

Rubia parted her lips. "

Ah...

you caught me. I... I do read quickly."

"Must be boring, then."

Rubia shook her head. "No! I love thinking about what you're reading and what your thoughts are. And... it's just... I always had to read alone, ever since I was little. Reading together like this... it was something I'd always dreamed of doing."

For the daughter of a lord, it was a modest wish. I had no reason not to grant it.

"But..." Rubia murmured.

"What is it?"

"I... well... I happened to see the author's name. It's Kevin Ashton, right?"

Clack.

My hand stopped flipping the page.

"

Ah...

did I say something wrong?"

"No. It's fine." I shook my skull and continued, "Do you know Kevin Ashton?"

Rubia blinked. "Of course. He's my favorite author. Well... it feels a bit silly to say that when I've only read one of his books, but... The Grand Mage trapped—"

I finished her thought. "In the Cracks of Time?"

Rubia's eyes widened in surprise. "

Ah!

Yes! How did you know?"

She drew in a breath and added, "I like him too. My goal is to read all his books someday."

Whether I liked it or not, that part was true. My curiosity about Kevin Ashton was something I couldn't ignore.

"Wow..." Rubia smiled. "So we really do have the same tastes! Maybe... maybe that's why I was able to summon you. Thank you."

Someday, I'd have to go to the archives in Erast myself to find that very book she mentioned.

But that city... with its imperial investigators and elite assassins...

It made me hesitate.

Still... Rubia's favorite author is Kevin Ashton...

Rubia was still talking, and her voice pulled me from my thoughts. "I'd like to read all of Kevin Ashton's works, too. Even the ones he wrote under other names."

"Other names?"

"Yes. I heard... he always wrote under different pseudonyms, changing them each time."

I remembered hearing something similar from Lime, who had lent me the book.

He kept changing his name, so most people didn't even realize they were talking about the same man.

I'd heard that somewhere.

Again... what was it?

I'd heard something similar from someone else.

Changing names... always changing...

I carefully retraced the memory, and I finally recalled a conversation with Gith-Za-Rai.

There's only one real mage. None of the others count. There's this lunatic who keeps changing her name. Someone really should put a blade in her, make her a corpse. Then I'd... softly...

Could that have been Kevin Ashton?

I hadn't even considered it at the time. Now, I had another question to ask Gith-Za-Rai when I met her again.

"What are you thinking about?" Rubia asked.

"Nothing."

"Liar... I'm curious. So, how did you know this book was here?"

"Prophecy."

"Prophecy?" Rubia's lips curved in a faint smile. "Then... can you prophesy my future, too? I'd like to know!"

"First, let's read."

Rustle.

I turned away from Rubia's bright, curious eyes and opened the book on trolls again. She didn't seem to mind. In fact, she looked like she was enjoying it, watching me read, reading along herself, her eyes already flicking ahead of my pace. It felt too awkward to say anything, so I let it be and kept reading.

When I reached the final page, Rubia suddenly asked, "With broken fragments... do interact? What could that mean? It's not in the text itself—"

I turned to her. "You can read Eastern text?"

"Yes, a little. I just... taught myself."

"That's impressive."

"

Hehe...

it's nothing compared to you, Mr. Skeleton."

"Not really."

I closed the book, and I heard a faint sound. My Wisdom had risen by one.

So... it still increases if I read it again.

The book's phrases hadn't changed, but at the bottom, there was something different. A number had appeared.

2/7

It... increased?

Last time, it was 1/7. There was no sign of anyone tampering with the book—no scratches, no erasures.

"Rubia."

"Yes?"

"Can you see this?"

I pointed to 2/7. She nodded.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"Yes. It says two...seven? What is it?"

The fact that she could see it too made me feel oddly less alone.

"I don't know either."

"

Hmm...

seven broken fragments... we'll have to think about that."

"Does the number seven... mean anything to you?"

Rubia nodded. "Yes. Rainbows. Constellations. Days of the week. Opposing faces on dice... The seven deadly sins, or the demons who embody them. In the East, there's a story about seven warriors who fought a dragon..."

None of them seemed to fit perfectly, and none of them explained why the number had increased.

No point worrying about it here.

I set the book aside.

After a short rest, Rubia and I headed down the mountain. The tall double walls of Grassmere came into view, its moat still deep and wide.

I can't jump that.

I'd need the gates open to get inside. Unlike last time, the mountain road around Grassmere was quiet. There weren't any travelers or carriages. Fortunately, I saw a merchant caravan approaching in the distance.

"Let's wait and enter with them," I suggested.

"Yes, that's a good idea," Rubia said.

It wasn't quite wartime yet, so the guards were less strict than before. No massive ballistae loomed overhead this time, and Rubia passed through easily with the merchants. I hid my presence and followed her in.

A familiar face.

The supervisor who had vouched for my entry the first time was there, stretching his arms and looking bored. Seeing his face, the city felt strangely familiar, almost comfortable. Perhaps that was why Rubia wasn't even questioned. She slipped right in among the other travelers.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The blacksmiths hammered and gossiped, the rhythm of their conversation clear to me.

"I hear there's a war brewing."

"They say the imperial army put in huge orders."

"Figures... so many people working around the clock."

Rubia couldn't hear that far. She just looked around in wonder.

"Wow... the city is huge... and there are so many people."

Delighted, she added,

"I could sit here for hours, just people-watching. This is... this is Grassmere—a city I'd only ever read about."

"You've never been to another city?"

"Well... when I was young, I had a bad leg. It took years of treatment to be able to walk properly again."

That was another thing I hadn't known.

"So... are we going to find weapons now?"

"Eventually. But first, we'll get you settled at an inn."

Rubia would stay somewhere safe. Meeting the Grassmere lords was something I'd do alone.

Things could go very wrong...

Even if they went well, there would be a moment when Isaac would possess my skeleton. I didn't want to risk what he might do to Rubia during that time.

"There's a map here!"

Rubia pointed to a large wooden city map posted at the crossroads, designed for visitors. One inn was marked especially clearly.

Where to...

Last time, I stayed at the Far Elf Forest inn. That was where Chandler and Rena had rented a room and waited for me. Maybe I'd try a different place this time.

Rubia pointed toward The Crowded Cactus.

"This one's the closest!"

That place...

I remembered what Jinney Yube had mentioned to me once.

If you're staying at The Crowded Cactus, let me know. If you ever need anything—or if you're curious—ask for Bato Shima.