After sipping down the last bit of the fragrant black tea, he decided that his short break was over.
Knowing that Vivienne still hadn't returned even after more than ten minutes, Nuriel was now completely sure that she was up to something else.
Nuriel grabbed the last two stacks of books that were meant to be replaced and excused himself to the elevator.
'She can take her time. In the meanwhile...'
This time he planned on clicking the button designated for the 5th floor of the spire—planning on exploring the spire for extra books he could siphon knowledge from while Vivienne was busy doing her own work.
But when he approached the elevator, he found that it was already in use. Nuriel turned his head upward to see a set of tiny bulbs in the shape of an arrow pointing up, blinking red.
Nuriel stood still silently, far longer than he had anticipated. In case the elevator was actually going to the floor he was currently on, he decided to step back just a little.
A resounding ding echoed in the upper library. When the elevator doors parted both ways, it revealed a group of three people dressed in white robes. They wore faces ranging from shocked to confused.
Nuriel and the three people in front of him stood still.
'Will they go out?' Nuriel thought, waiting for them to either step out or go to another floor.
But looking closely at their garments, it was clear that they weren't students—or perhaps not even professors. Ignoring the awkwardness of the situation, Nuriel deeply observed their faces.
He could tell that his incessant staring was pressuring the three, but he continued.
'Now that I'm staring at them more closely... these three are the same ones Vivienne eavesdropped on from back then!'
Back when he entered Vivienne's dream, these were the same three people that had unknowingly revealed to her where the location of the Witch's artifact was generally situated—the two older figures and the one junior who was being picked on.
'Researchers... are they heading toward the peak areas of the spire then?' Nuriel thought. He silently cheered for the junior, who seemed to have ranked high enough to go along with the two seniors who belittled him before.
Before long, George noticed the lack of another elevator chime after the first and came to investigate.
He appeared from the corner, out of everyone's line of sight. George quickly addressed the situation professionally, since he was in charge of this area.
"From your uniforms, you're researchers, correct?" George announced, stepping past Nuriel to face the group of three head-on.
"I can tell that you lot are new. The central elevator can only go up to the 60th floor. The only way to access the upper parts of the spire is through the floor below us and use the stairs," he instructed. George relished the flustered expressions of the three before turning toward Nuriel and nodding.
Nuriel entered after the awkward pause was cleared up thanks to George. He nodded at the custodian with a slight smile before stepping inside the elevator with the three researchers.
The door shut, making the four of them stand closely together in the claustrophobic compartment. Without hesitation, Nuriel pressed the 59th floor button and turned to one of the three, nodding politely.
"What are you gentlemen researching?" Nuriel immediately asked. Since they were only going one floor down, he had next to no time to probe into them even a little.
The eldest one noticed the bluish librarian robes draped over Nuriel's body. He then said in a calm but condescending tone,
"Young man... I get that you're curious, but maybe stick to the books you're allowed to touch. Some things are above your clearance—and your pay grade."
The elevator chimed, and the three stepped off and left.
Nuriel stood quietly before pressing the 5th floor button.
'I did stare at them for a bit... could I have pissed them off?'
After thinking about it for a while, he simply sighed and frowned. Ignoring the snarky reply, Nuriel nodded and thanked George's words that helped him indirectly confirm that the three were indeed going to the Witch's artifact.
'I wonder what kind of experiments they'd try on a scepter? Even I wouldn't know where to begin,' he thought, considering the different ways of analyzing such a thing.
The first thing he'd look at would've been the material used to construct the scepter—by cutting it in half to reveal the insides. But knowing that the researchers viewed it as a piece of their own god, he doubted they'd discover certain things unless they took dramatic measures.
'What would happen if they destroy it… would it, in turn, destroy its version in the throne room?'
Such thoughts gave rise to concern. He knew the Witch's scepter had morphed into the First Saint's scepter for some unknown reason. There was also the possibility that the version of the scepter in real life might have morphed as well.
With strange names like Ouroboros and Desacares, the scepters he once knew as mere pieces of technology were now something much greater than he imagined. Perhaps the morphing from the Witch's Scepter to Desacares didn't even affect the real version of the scepter fragment he encountered at the top of the spire.
At that point, the scepters were something closer to... things beyond logic and reason.
Nuriel raised his head up high in pride, as if he had actually contributed to the majority of the developments around the scepters.
'I now have the entire knowledge of the main library, and the upper library at the College of Magic… it's about time I begin studying everything from the top all over again once I return to the throne room.'
Despite the short burst of happiness, there was something that was bugging him.
Some things are above your clearance—and your pay grade.
Your pay grade.
The one who probably had the most effect on humanity… was reduced to being called out for his salary.
***
Nuriel strolled along the empty hallways of the spire.
Barely a few lightbulbs were lit in the long stretches of the ceiling, creating a grim atmosphere that would scare the weak-willed.
He didn't meet a single person, and all of the doors were locked which prevented him from accessing more knowledge.
Obviously, Nuriel couldn't just break into a room, he gave up on his main purpose of coming here, instead he focused on his bladder which was now hindering his movements.
He wandered around to find a suitable restroom, hoping that he would encounter anyone. But if George was correct, Nuriel might stumble upon a group of freshmen students being forced to do weird things by their seniors—something akin to frat traditions.
While walking, he suddenly heard footsteps echoing toward him.
He was walking along a long stretch of hallway, but he didn't see anyone in front of him. However, there was another hallway that connected with the one he was currently walking down.
Still, Nuriel chose to continue moving forward. Hiding would've been too suspicious.
Eventually, the footsteps were close enough for him to hear—there was more than one person walking toward him. Nuriel instinctively tightened his grip on the books, preparing his poker face.
. . .
"Hiyaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
"Ahhhhhhhh!"
"G-ghost!"
In front of Nuriel stood three freshmen, their souls already halfway out of their bodies at the mere sight of him. Escorting the group was none other than Edward's sister, wearing her usual attire, an elegant dress and the pointed top of a witch's hat.
"Huh?" Sayla paused.
She blinked three times to process what was going on in front of her.