Chapter 57
Hoku slipped his hand into his back pocket and acknowledged his compass that had returned.
For a moment, he couldn't help but wonder where it had gone in those missing hours. Had its disappearance anything to do with the strange tear in the divination?
But now that the compass was back, he withdrew his hand and cleared his throat before changing the subject.
Lunhard had just mentioned that Lamb had held a position in this "organization" after she left her post.
Questions accumulated in Hoku's mind.
If he was telling the truth, then did what he just mentioned…belong to the contents of the "contract" he made? Who else, if anyone, had been party to it? And what, specifically, was this place meant to be, for a contract like that to exist at all?
Despite the immense breadth of the Archive, none of its stacked records offered him a reliable foothold to judge the situation.
In other words, everything he currently 'understood' amounted to little more than unconfirmed rumors.
Hoku squeezed his aching shoulder and asked, "So you've been the Senior Archivist, then? And you were here in this facility when…all that happened to your colleagues?"
Lunhard's eyelids twitched. His gaze faltered for a moment onto his boots.
Hoku keenly sensed that something had been glossed over; after a short deliberation, he didn't pursue the matter further.
For the time being, Lamb could be set aside. Whatever Lunhard's true position was, it would be easier to judge once he was made to account for himself.
Lunhard swiftly recovered before responding, "I was, though I wasn't in this particular wing of the Archive at the time."
He hummed casually as he thought for a moment. "And for where I have been hiding, the truth is, this Archive Hall you see around us is only one part of the Archivists' domain. Consider it the public face, above ground. There is another part… a place they've guarded more fiercely than any other. When things began to fall apart, they hid themselves away, and, more importantly, they hid their work away."
Hoku recalled the endless rows of shelves and the loose papers that had already overflowed the room itself.
'So those had essentially been treasures of knowledge—if this was just the public portion, what could be so secret that it needed hiding?'
"What other part?" he asked, taking a step back. "Is it still here?"
Lunhard nodded and tapped the toe of his boot on the stone floor. "It's near. Very near," he said. "In fact, directly beneath our feet."
Hoku immediately swept his eyes towards the floor.
The age-worn stone looked ordinary with just a few littered scraps of paper and mirror shards.
There weren't any distinct seams on the stone floor, nor any traces of concealed structures.
In truth, the place appeared fairly intact.
Yet Lunhard's words seemed to allude to a margin 'beyond' them.
'Maybe just the entryway is elsewhere.' He considered inwardly.
Without warning, Lunhard pushed himself off the shelf and walked back toward him, his boots stirring eddies of dust.
"The Archivists had to be clever. They knew that if one of his followers caught them preserving blasphemous knowledge, even death could not save them, and their discoveries would be destroyed or seized. So they took desperate measures. They developed a special material, a stone formed from alloyed minerals and an esoteric component intended solely for Fallacy elixirs.
In the end, it became a remarkable invention: an idea that served as both a lock and a key to their secrets."
Lunhard halted beside him and turned a palm toward the limestone floor. "It is an invisible material called Basilite," he explained. "It's not ordinary rock, thus no brute force can break it. Though what sets it apart as its own creation is that only those who understand how to approach it, and who possess the requisite knowledge, can make use of it. Without it, a person might wander these halls forever and never suspect what lies beneath. Its practice is not only within this place. But, in most cases, they're used to occlude underground labyrinths.
Beyond the Basilite lies the chamber in which I have been staying and continuing my work."
Hoku let out a deep sigh before inquiring, "So if Basilite is the key as well, how do we put it to use?"
By now, he had already studied his surroundings more than once.
Despite the loose pages and glass that were scattered across the floor, nothing else appeared out of place.
But it was precisely this that now made the room feel almost oppressive.
Lunhard said nothing at first, simply watching Hoku with a calm, appraising gaze.
When Hoku looked toward him again, Lunhard drew his hands together in a careless motion, as though setting the matter aside.
"Don't worry. You'll sort it out," he said calmly.
Lunhard stopped speaking for a second and pressed his lips together.
His gaze passed over Hoku once, unhurried.
Then, he added candidly, "Before that, you might want to look at yourself."
"You look as if you've just walked out of a calamity. Your clothes are in tatters… and those stains."
Lunhard drew in a shallow breath through his teeth. "They look very much like blood."
Following his line of sight, Hoku saw his shirt hanging in uneven strips, the fabric already thin and frayed. Dark maroon stains had sunk deep into what remained.
Only then did a dull ache assert itself; as he curled his fingers, a small contraction surfaced at Hoku's brow.
There were fine cuts along his forearms, both shallow but numerous.
Even his palms slightly stung where patches of skin had been blistered and rubbed open from repeated motion.
As Hoku looked closer at the injuries, Lunhard clicked his tongue softly.
"Indeed. We cannot continue like this. You'll catch your death in those rags. Fortunately, I have spare provisions."
Hoku raised his eyebrow in disbelief.
After all that talk of contracts and intricate inventions, this sudden fuss over a tattered outfit felt strangely mundane.
"I appreciate your thought," he said mildly, "but unless you are also carrying a spare set of clothes, there is little I can make use of."
Lunhard chuckled. "Actually, I am."
Before Hoku could respond, Lunhard turned and walked toward the far end of the room.
Lunhard halted beside the tall mirror set into the wall, and Hoku came over tentatively.
He peered inside the heavy frame, where large fragments were still embedded along the edges.
Behind them lay a dull, darker surface with peculiar vertical seams, evidently unlike the surrounding wall.
Hoku swallowed dryly.
Lunhard had merely rested a hand upon the gilded edge before striding over to a cornered shelf to retrieve a tall iron candelabrum.
Shortly after pinching dust away from the wicks, he reached into his pocket for a box of matches.
With a few deft motions, he struck one and lit the candles of the iron candelabrum.
A soft glow blossomed outward, refracting against the sprinkled glass.
Hoku regarded Lunhard keenly as he returned, holding out the candelabra towards him.
"Take this," he said. "You will need the light, but please stand a little farther from the frame first."
"Okay…?" Hoku warily took hold of the candelabra when, just as he was about to turn back, the candle flames stirred discernibly.
'...Is there another open space somewhere?'
Lunhard was grazing his fingers along the edge of the mirror's frame until—click!
A hidden latch was released.
The mirror panel shifted slightly, as if it were a door left ajar.
A few seconds later, Lunhard raised his hand and gestured for him to open it.
-◼ ◼ ◼ ◼ ◼ ◼ ◼ ◼ ◼ ◼ ◼ ◼ ◼ ◼ ◼ ◼◼◼ -
Rule ??
You must never forsake your compass after surpassing it.
In time, you will rely on it less, because you will concede what it has always done on your behalf.
Every divination it releases has a structure that can be engraved, written down, or spoken aloud. Once you have mastered the corresponding formulations across each category of divination, the elixir's role will naturally fade.
The compass remains the most convenient means of casting. However, if you wish to unite multiple workings into a single grade, the ritual must be performed by hand—
Some unions only exist because someone is still willing to bear them.
Objective ??
Open the Knight's eyes and retrieve the stabilizer.
- ◼ ◼ ◼ ◼ ◼ ◼ ◼ ◼ ◼ ◼ ◼ ◼ ◼ ◼ ◼ ◼◼◼ -
To be continued…