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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: The Special Reading
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Loan, who had been piecing together the information he had gathered, was startled by the sudden command.
The other children seemed to think it was just someone's turn to go.
"Follow me."
She was different from usual. She had always been as affectionate as a real sister, warmly looking after him. But today, her expression was heavy, her tone dry.
Loan was certain something was wrong at the orphanage.
*The Union was the one that did that to Harry. The abrupt cancellation of the sponsorship reading must be related to that.*
But what he couldn't understand was why they were proceeding with a special reading in such a situation.
Loan had been the one to lose interest in them, yet the orphanage was the one trying to send him away first.
"Wash up and put on the clothes they've prepared. I'll wait outside."
Amy said in front of the communal bathroom.
The slight droop in the corners of her eyes seemed to add a touch of sadness to her heavy, stiff expression.
Loan did as he was told without another word.
"Ah…"
When Loan came out a moment later, Amy let out a short gasp.
He was dazzlingly beautiful, all dressed up.
Loan asked.
"Are we going straight to the annex?"
"Yes."
"The sun hasn't even set yet. Everyone else went late at night."
"Things are different today."
"Did Lady Carolyn request the adoption?"
"No… It's someone else."
"Who is it?"
Amy, who had been answering as if mesmerized, gave her head a short shake and spun around.
"Let's go."
The other children must have all returned to their dorms, as there was no one on the first floor.
Even Egger, who always blocked the entrance, was nowhere to be seen.
Loan scanned the area with his mana and found no trace of an adult's mana up to at least the second floor.
It was as if everyone had abandoned the main building and gone somewhere else.
The silence only made Loan more tense, and he pushed his senses to their absolute limit.
Hearing, sight, smell, and the third eye that perceived mana.
He then followed Amy onto a wooded path.
At the end of the path stood the annex.
"…"
The annex was completely different from what Loan had imagined.
It seemed to have been built later than the main building and the dormitory, so its exterior was clean, but the inside felt incredibly dark.
The building had no windows and the door was closed, so it was impossible to tell if it was actually dark or bright inside.
Beyond the walls, inside the annex.
*It's filled with dark and turbid mana.*
Turbid mana, just like Blake's.
This was the first time Loan had encountered something like this, and he was thoroughly bewildered.
Amy didn't miss the flicker in Loan's eyes. She gently patted his shoulder.
Just then, the door creaked open.
As he had sensed, it was Egger, who was already inside.
"Welcome, Loan."
Amy remained outside as Loan stepped in alone.
Through the crack in the door, Amy's forced smile looked strangely sad.
*Thud—!*
The door slammed shut immediately, and Egger blocked it.
An immense pressure.
As long as that giant of a man was there, escaping this place would not be easy.
*This door is probably the only exit.*
Though it was filled with candles, the inside of the annex was much darker than he had expected.
More than anything, the turbid motes of light floating in the air were disorienting. It felt like stepping into an entirely different world.
Fortunately.
While his three eyes struggled to adjust, his enhanced hearing kicked in.
A faint conversation from up ahead, above him.
"Do we really have to do this when we should be running for our lives?"
"We have to. Those are the conditions of this damn ritual. You should be glad we managed to get this much before pulling out."
The annex was a dome-shaped building with a second-floor gallery that overlooked the first.
Two people were up there, looking down at Loan as they spoke.
Their forms were obscured by a translucent curtain, but he could identify them by their voices and mana signatures.
The Director and the Vice-Director.
From their conversation, their need to escape was undoubtedly related to the Union.
*The Union, the ones who did that to Harry, must be coming to the orphanage.*
He understood why the Director and Vice-Director were in a hurry. But he had no idea what this "damn ritual" was.
He had also heard that special readings were done in front of nobles looking to adopt a child, but no matter where he looked, he saw no one of the sort.
"Hey!"
Egger's voice urged Loan on from behind as he hesitated.
Loan instinctively took a step and glanced at the floor.
A massive pentagram, nearly the size of the annex itself, was drawn on the ground.
Looking closer, he saw it wasn't a drawing but a pattern formed by floor stones of different colors marking the boundaries.
Loan walked toward a lone chair placed at the opposite vertex of the pentagram, circling around a huge hole in the center of the floor.
"…"
As he walked, he noticed the floor stones were anything but ordinary.
They were densely inscribed with unreadable characters, which had been the reason he'd mistaken them for being different colors.
On the chair lay a book with a worn leather cover.
*Am I supposed to read this book?*
*Creak—*
Loan sat on the chair, placed the book on his lap, and took a slow, deep breath.
Entering this unfamiliar, gloomy space filled with turbid, dark mana sent his heart vacillating between calm and excitement.
Then, Loan casually glanced toward the center of the hall.
*What is this…*
He finally saw it.
The hole in the center was both open and not.
It was covered by some kind of opaque film that obscured the view. It wasn't a physical barrier, but an intangible one, meticulously woven from fine, turbid mana.
Because of it, he couldn't see what lay beneath, no matter how hard he looked.
It just felt like a massive, dark cluster of light.
*I've never seen a mass of mana this large.*
He couldn't even begin to guess what it truly was.
Just then.
"Loan, begin."
A voice came from above.
Did the other children all begin their readings in an atmosphere like this?
Briefly thinking of Theo and Lily, Loan straightened his posture and opened the book.
"Yes. I will begin the reading. Under the thunder-fire in the dawn sky, Ariel looked at the face of the man lying in bed…"
Under the gentle light, just bright enough to read the letters—
Amidst an unidentifiable musty smell—
Only Loan's clear voice and the sound of turning pages softly filled the hall.
Loan read as he usually did, infusing the emotions of the male and female protagonists, sometimes calmly, sometimes passionately.
The sponsorship readings had served as a rehearsal.
The only difference from then was the absence of an audience to gasp, agree, and react.
"…"
Instead, an unexpected sound came from below.
A faint murmuring, the words unintelligible. But within it, he could feel intense emotions.
Joy, affection, regret, loneliness, anger and relief, sadness and sorrow—a dizzying mix of tangled feelings.
Only then did Loan understand.
The true guest for this special reading was not on the second floor, but the giant mass of mana below.
"It was a sudden meeting, but that allowed them to be more honest. Where have you been all this time? My faith was on the verge of collapsing…"
Then he realized the reaction was happening to him as well.
*Mana is leaving my body.*
The more he read, the more the faint mana he had stored in his body was forcibly drawn out.
Its destination was also clear.
The pit beneath the veil, which was responding to his reading.
The mana passed through the opaque film and was sucked downward, seeping directly into the turbid mass of mana.
In that instant.
The mana mass twitched in response.
It was faint, but it had clearly absorbed his mana and grown slightly denser.
"Come a little closer, Viridis said in a trembling voice. Ariel, hiding her expression behind her veil, gazed at his eyes…"
As Loan read, he observed his surroundings and his own mana, trying to understand the situation he was in. While analyzing, he also considered how he should respond.
He was doing the impossible, performing multiple tasks at once.
His mind grew hotter and hotter, while conversely, his body slowly lost its strength.
At the end of a desperate train of thought.
*I can't lose.*
Loan reaffirmed the decision he had made the moment he opened the book.
He had to drag this out by reading for a long time.
He had to maintain his mana at its peak to be able to respond to any situation that might arise.
The orphanage was clearly pressed for time, so if he held out patiently, the advantage would ultimately be his.
Furthermore, he could not allow himself to be dragged along by whatever that mana mass wanted.
*No need to panic. It's the same as when I faced Blake.*
His specialty was long-term battles through mana circulation.
To avoid having his mana stolen, he needed to make the surrounding mana circulate in his own flow. Any mana that was taken, he would simply pull back.
"The long silence felt agonizing. Thinking back, she was the one who had ruined their relationship. Ariel couldn't bring herself to say that she had missed him…"
Lengthening his breaths between words and sentences, he increased the speed of his circulation.
The turbid mana, too, was unable to accumulate in his body.
Instead, as if passing through a filter, it was swept away by the torrent and quickly lost its original color.
In this way, Loan purified the floating turbid mana, making it his own and incorporating it into his circulation.
He resolved with fierce determination to make his own breath the breath of the space itself.
*Shhhlick—*
As the pages turned steadily and the conflict between the protagonists passed a critical point.
The thin film of mana surrounding Loan gradually thickened, synchronizing with the circulation inside his body.
He had finally achieved perfect control over the flow of mana not only within himself but also around him.
A Convection of mana, established with him at its center.
Blocked by it, the black mass could no longer absorb Loan's mana.
At that very moment.
An emotional echo emanated from the inky black, turbid mass of mana.
Desolate regret, intense sorrow, a complex tangle of grief.
And something like a deep longing and a poignant sense of relief.
*What is this…*
He was curious, but there was no way to find out right now.
The bigger problem lay elsewhere.
He had already read a significant portion of the book, yet there was still no particular presence felt outside the annex.
Having no other choice, Loan decided to extend the reading.
He came up with new episodes on the spot, adding flesh to the story and speaking the words aloud.
As if it were the original content of the book, nonchalantly and naturally.
"Viridis cupped Ariel's blushing cheeks in his hands. No, it was you from the very beginning. A tear fell onto Viridis's finger. His hot lips…"
Fortunately, it worked.
No one intervened in the reading, even as he slowly turned the pages to buy time.
But after another hour, then nearly two, suspicious voices began to whisper from above.
"Isn't he reading for too long? Was that book this long?"
"I know… the fruit should be ripe by now. Isn't this more than enough time?"
"Then why is that kid so full of energy? Ah, and we can't just stop him."
After whispering for a while, the Director and Vice-Director could no longer contain themselves and stood up, moving toward the back.
Loan tracked their mana flow as they descended a staircase from the second floor to the basement.
*Have I bought enough time…*
Just as he had that thought.
The annex building vibrated faintly.
The vibration didn't originate from within.
It was something like a wave created by a collision of mana.
The source was outside.