Episode 7 Silas's Interest

As Silas glanced around the house, he smiled.

"I'm Silas Grace, a member of the Royal Order of Magic. It's a great house. Can I come in?"

"No, we're in the middle of something."

"It's okay, Gil. You've come a long way, so why don't you come in for a bit? "

I'm not sure if this guy is aware of the situation.

　Kuro smiles slyly.

You want to do this? In here?

Kuro approached me slowly and whispered in my ear.

I dare you to entertain the enemy. It's thrilling, isn't it?

The corners of Kuro's mouth turn up.

" Come on in, It's an empty house, but I'll serve you a drink now."

"I'm sorry. Then feel free to interrupt me."

Without hesitation, Silas steps into the house.

　The fact that he doesn't seem to be retreating shows that he definitely senses something is wrong.

　Silas does not sit at the table but seems to be looking around the house.

　Underneath his hood, he was much younger than I had imagined.

He's about the same age as I was before I fell asleep, or maybe a little older.

　His hair is short and blue, and his forehead is bared, giving him a cheerful appearance.

　After looking around the room slowly and curiously, Silas suddenly stopped in front of a bookshelf and covered his mouth lightly with a surprised expression.

"Oh, my God...!"

　Oh no, did I leave something behind that might give away a clue...!

"What's the matter?"

"No, I'm just amazed at the number of grimoires. I didn't expect to find so many books in such good condition. --Where did you get all this?"

"Well, it belonged to my dead father, I don't know much about it."

I can't say I have had them for a thousand years.

　But even the most powerful sorcerer would be daunted by the volume of these books.

--I thought he was going to say something about that, but he didn't, and Silas just stared at the bookshelf, murmuring, "Interesting."

"Your father... All of these books are almost a thousand years old, and they're ancient. It's really interesting. The Youngs, the Castellos, the Book of Ugan... The quality of these books is such that they have been protected by magic."

Silas starts mumbling to himself.

Oh, hey, is he OK?

"Well, I don't know that much about it, but is it that rare?"

It's true that all of these books are a thousand years old, but it's not like I've been buying rare books, most of them I've bought in bookshops around the corner. Ugan's book was a gift from him.

　I don't know if it has any historical value, but as Silas said, you can cast a protection spell on it, so I'm sure there's plenty left.

Silas looks at me with a strange look on his face.

　What's that look in your eyes?

"Ah, I see. If you've been living in the woods all your life - Yes, excuse me. Maybe it's understandable that you don't know."

　Silas turns to me slowly.

"Did you know that about a thousand years ago, there was a war between demons and humans?"

 

Well, that much I know.

In fact, I was in it.

　I know too much about it.

"At that time, it was the attacks of the sorcerers that were particularly fierce against the armies of the demons. It's hard to imagine now, but there was magic that made things like meteorites fall, magic with enough energy to cause the earth to crack, and even magic that brought the dead back to life and manipulated them."

Oh, that's not right.

I wonder if there's such powerful magic... It's impossible to reanimate the dead, and if you did, there's no way I wouldn't know about it.--I don't know if there is such a thing as necromancy. But a meteorite is just too much...

After a thousand years, some facts may not have been passed down correctly. In their minds, it's a legendary battle...a myth, perhaps.

"Well, we don't know the truth, do we? --And the humans won, and the demon gods were sealed away. And all that was left was a world of humans, by humans, for humans."

"So there's peace now?"

　Silas nodded.

"But humans are stupid, you know. Eventually, humans started fighting each other again. At that time, the threat was the existence of magic, which had struck fear into the hearts of even the armies of the demon gods. If something like that were to be unleashed on humans, humanity would be extinct in no time."

Well, I think I know what he means.

　So, what he's trying to say is...

"The method chosen by the authorities of the time was to denounce the sorcerers and burn their books. The hunt for sorcerers was rampant. This period is known as the Dark Ages. At this time, the books of magic from before the war with the demons and the many magicians disappeared. All the books that were available were burned, the less powerful sorcerers were killed before they could resist, and the more powerful sorcerers disappeared."

Those are terrible times...

　This happened after I fell asleep.

　To be honest, I didn't think it would happen at the time.

At that time, sorcerers were given titles like knights, and their status was increasing, and sorcery was definitely spreading far and wide. I can't believe it's suddenly come to that.

That's it... that's the reason.

There is not a single magician in Yuffie's village.

"Of course, it's not like that now. It's a stain on history. So much magic has been lost that there aren't even any books left. I never thought I'd find so many of them here."

Silas's eyes were sparkling.

　It was incomparable to when he first came here.

"Your father... your family must have been very protective of these books. That's great. So you must be a great sorcerer."

Silas smiled and patted me on the head.

　This guy is Kuro's natural enemy.

But if that's the case, you'd better tell me about it, Kuro!

　I haven't heard of anything like that in the past six years!

She'll probably say it's because I didn't ask her anyway!

"Oh, by the way, was that woman your mother?"

"...sort of."

"Hmmm... She's not a sorceress. That means the warding around the house and the magic in the books..."

　Silas glanced at me.

　He looked at me with a skeptical look in his eyes, as if he suspected something, unlike the sparkling eyes from before.

"Is something bothering you?"

"No, I'm talking to myself. Well, I think I'll leave, for now, I've got some things to look into, so I won't stay long."

"I thought you were going to show us your magic......"

　Yuffie grabbed Silas by the hem with a sad expression on her face.

　Silas bent down and gently patted Yuffie's head.

"I'm sorry, Yuffie. I promise I'll show you soon. I've got some business to attend to today - so give my regards to the lady."

After saying this, Silas left with Yuffie.

"Oh dear, he's gone."

Kuro appeared from the back of the room as if he had been waiting for Silas to leave.

"Did he notice anything?"

"I don't know. I don't think they can see through my disguise...Not bad for a sorcerer. He's strong enough not to be trapped by your wards. Well, that's because you cut corners and said no one would come to these woods."

"...Shut up. He doesn't seem like a bad guy, but he's suspicious of my surroundings. I'd say he's more curious than suspicious. I don't know if it's because he thinks he's onto something that will lead him to vampires, or if it's just his magical curiosity that's got him looking around me..."

"It's hard being a popular guy. He never would have dreamed that you are the most powerful magician in the world. It's only natural to speculate that there might be a sorcerer behind you who is connected to vampires. Apparently, I've been excluded from the target list and they'll be contacting you again."

"I bet. I hope he''ll investigate my surroundings and think that the vampires struck out. I'm just curious about the smell of my people's blood that Kuro mentioned."

"Haha, at any rate, I think you guys are going to get along great. Let me know if you have any information."

" Oi, Kuro needs to find out what's going on too, it's  Kuro's problem!"

Kuro bobs her head languidly.

"I don't know, I'm kind of bummed out... If he can't see through the disguise, it won't give me any thrill. If their interest is shifting to you, it's probably best to watch from the sidelines. You don't want more dead bodies, do you?"

Kuro said it casually with a very innocent expression on her face.

This is what people with different perceptions are like.

                                       

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