After the separation of the men, Antoun stayed alone in the hall for a while, and by the way, he asked the maid in the mansion to help him find suitable clothes to change into. Then, estimating that the other party should have been free, he walked towards the bedroom of his destination.

He had secretly probed the entire structure of the villa with his magic before, and easily came to a hidden door through the shortest path. As an upright gentleman, of course, he did not intrude directly to see any welfare scene, but gently knocked on the wooden door with the back of his hand.

"Miss Artina, are you free now?"

"Mr. Antoun, please come in. ”

With the other party's permission, Antoun put his hand on the doorknob and pushed forward, stepping into the realm of the life of a young magician.

While he didn't witness the welfare scene, he saw Artina packing her clothes instead. Is this usually the time to let a strange man in, or is it that she has already made him a companion in her heart who can be completely trusted?

On the sheets emblazoned with the moon and stars, as well as various inexplicable symbols, the first thing that catches the eye is the combination of underwear that looks too mature compared to the girl's age. Because of the relationship between exercising his body to the extreme as a demon god in the past, combined with the current scene, Antun can see at a glance that as a woman, Altina must have three parameters in this human being.

Then he recalled the parameters of the other two companions who were about to travel together, and after comparing the three with each other, Antoun came to a certain conclusion that was completely meaningless—

Altina was also the most slender of the three, with Mistre best embodying a woman's curvy beauty, and her own lord in between.

It might have been interesting to add the ability to see these parameters to the system, but it was a bit of a nasty and pointless idea, so Antoun immediately dismissed the idea after only keeping it in his head for half a second.

He then looked away from the girl's underwear and looked at the neatly arranged jewelry such as rings and necklaces.

"These are—"

"Magic dress. ”

Altina answered his question simply. Come to think of it, no matter how you say it, there will be something here that will not help you for the rest of your trip. There was no need to learn all about the effects of these magic dresses, and Antoun finally observed the outer clothes that the girl was placing in her suitcase, one by one.

Contrary to his expectations, although these clothes are all black, none of them will be classified as gothic. Probably noticing his gaze and thoughts, Artina said as if to explain something for him.

"The next place we were going to was where Kitty and I had studied for a long time, and it was necessary for us to have a certain degree of cross-dressing in order not to be aware of our true identity. I used to wear those clothes not because I liked that style, but because I chose an outfit that would make a strong impression. In a situation like the current one, with a slight change, it's easy to hide from the public. ”

"Well, is it that easy to hide?"

"Why, Mr. Antoun doesn't believe me, then please go out for a while, and I'll change my clothes now." ”

"No, don't bother. I'll judge for myself when it's time to go. ”

"Really......"

There was always a hint of regret in Altina's words, but Antoun thought it was more likely that he had delusional. After that, the two of them chatted casually, and finally, after a few minutes, all the items were perfectly placed in the suitcase by Artina.

Then, Altina put on the dark red-rimmed glasses that had been placed on the surface of the bedside table before facing Antoun again.

"So, Mr. Antoun, did you come to me for something? Could it be that you wanted to peep?"

"No, it wasn't possible from the moment I knocked on the door. ”

"Maybe you knocked on the girl's door after feasting your eyes. ”

"Were you changing your clothes just now? ”

"It's a pity, but no. ”

I always feel that the cold impression that this child gave him before has completely collapsed. Antoun complained secretly, and finally directly stated his purpose.

"Even if I'm going to the battlefield, I don't have anything to prepare myself, so I would like to go to the library of the 'Hypocrisy Garden' to read the materials about the magic of this world before I go. I remember that the eldest lady said that you have the permission to open the library, right, can I ask you to do me a favor? ”

Of course, this is true, but not entirely. Antun was in need of information about the world, but what made him more concerned was the strange attitude that Artina had shown to him in the few encounters he had. It seems to want to be close, but it also seems to be deliberately distant. Just as not being able to fully control his subordinates in the past kept him awake, not being able to fully see through Altina also made him itch, so he wanted to get more opportunities to get to know her by being alone.

"Yes, but since Mr. Jonah is also in the villa, you should first ask for his consent as the leader. ”

"That's not good, the uncle himself said that he might be our enemy in the future. Since this possibility exists, we cannot expose our actions to him. ”

“…… You're cautious, but the library is in the city's stronghold, and it doesn't seem appropriate to pass in the middle of the night now. ”

"Miss Artina, we are all going to fight side by side as companions, so why should you hold back. The library in the Hypocrisy Courtyard is actually in the basement of this villa, right?"

As soon as Antoun said this, Altina had to choose silence. But then she also realized that her struggle would not change anything, so she changed her words as if giving up.

"Well, you come with me. ”

Having the desired result, Antoun followed Artina, through the moonlit hallway, towards the location of the basement doorway.

-

The door to the underground was hidden in the utility room of the villa, and under Altina's instructions, the wooden box blocking the secret door was removed, and then the mechanism was used to activate the secret door, and through the narrow passage diagonally downwards in the secret door, a large iron door stood in front of Antoun.

Artina walked to the door first, then placed her hand on the electronic touchpad set up there, and after a few seconds, a mechanical synthesized sound rang out.

"Accreditation passed, visitor Altina McDowell. Confirm the administrator privileges and whether additional actions are required. ”

"Delete the access record. ”

"The access record has been deleted, thank you for using it. ”

"Mr. Antoun, you can come in. ”

Artina, who had done everything smoothly, was the first to enter the inside of the gate, and Antoun immediately followed after receiving instructions. And when he officially stepped into the library area of the "Hypocritical Courtyard", the iron door behind him closed automatically with a "click".

"I didn't expect you magicians to use such a high-tech mechanism. ”

"There's no reason not to use something that's convenient and saves mana. ”

After the two exchanged answers, Antoun turned his attention to the room that had been named the library. It was a space of about 2,000 square meters and about 15 meters high, with dozens of huge bookshelves arranged in a staggered manner, filled with all kinds of books in an order that Antoun did not know.

"Are these all magic books?"

If Altina answered in the affirmative, Antoun would have been shocked, but that wasn't the way things turned out.

"Books on magic occupy less than 10 shelves, and the rest are books related to human history and other sciences. ”

"You're also collecting things other than magic books?"

"I don't know if you have a misunderstanding, Mr. Antun, but before we were magicians, we were human beings. A good understanding of oneself is also part of the magician's task, and these things cannot be taught directly in magic books. ”

“…… The surprise makes sense. Anyway, whatever, where is the bookshelf for the history of magic?"

"Please go this way. ”

With Altina's guidance, Antoun quickly found what he was looking for. Pressed for time, and unable to care about analysis and understanding, he crammed a lot of knowledge into his mind.

I don't know how long it took to stay in this state, but when I came back to my senses, Antoun found that the dozen or so books he had read had been properly put back in place. And in this confined underground space, the only one who can do this is the silver-haired girl who still accompanies him.

"I'm sorry, Miss Altina, but please wait for me here. ”

"It doesn't matter, as a librarian, that's what I do. ”

"Thank you. ”

As she spoke, Antoun closed the newly finished book and handed it to Altina.

"Ahh

I don't know what happened to it, but in the process of delivering the book, the two touched their fingers. Only then did Antoon notice that Artina's hands were colder than his master's. Maybe this was a good opportunity, and with that thought, Antoun asked the question he had been thinking about before.

"What does Miss Altina think of me?"

"What do you think, you mean?"

"Well, am I ambiguous? What I'm trying to say is that, as a companion, I want to know how we should get along in the future. After all, it's hard to say that we won't have the opportunity to fight side by side with just the two of us in the future, right?"

“…… That's right. It seems that it was my previous attitude that had caused trouble to Mr. Antoun. ”

Artina withdrew her hand along with the ancient tome, then bowed her head.

"I used to have a longing for a man who was very similar to Mr. Antoun. ”

Are you talking about your predecessors on the path of magic, or are you a related family member?, but since she knew that it was something that had nothing to do with herself, Antoun's curiosity had completely faded. After all, he also has to worry about other people's privacy.

"I see. Thanks for the answer, I've read almost, let's get out. ”

"Yes. ”

-

After a brief hiccup, Antoun returned to his room, waiting for the moment of departure with a sense of refreshment to resolve his doubts.

And as the dawn sun shone through the curtains into the room, someone's voice rang out outside the door.

"Antun, it's me, Rogellinty. It's time for us to go. ”

So he stood up and pushed the door open. The moment he saw the brown-haired girl with pale eyes, he couldn't help but smile.

"Go, my lord. ”