Chapter 318 Volume V - Chapter 36: Old Looking Library
For a moment, the inside of the laboratory was bathed in the brightest light I had ever seen. Not only that, a high-pitched sound that strained my eardrums echoed painfully in my ears.
However, not even a second after this happened, the inside of the same laboratory suddenly froze. The light that dazzled my eyes and the sound that made my ears feel like they were about to explode disappeared as quickly as they had come.
I slowly opened my eyes, which I had reflexively closed, and removed my hands from my face. But I looked neither in the direction from which the light and sound had come nor at the person who had made them disappear. Instead, I focused on the readings on a screen not far from me.
"Seventy percent... it failed again."
Immediately after my words, the icy feeling that had enveloped the lab began to recede. Then someone spoke calmly, without changing his expression in any way.
"We will get the perfect result in a few days."
He approached the table that was the source of the light and sound. He clicked a few of the buttons on a device the size of a computer case in the center of this table. From the top of the device, smoke quickly rose into the air, then a lid opened in the same place, and a vial of potion slowly rose from it.
Professor Ulka, with his dark blue hair and golden eyes, took the vial from the device, not caring about the smoke-like gas around it, and handed it to me.
"Check as before and update the report. Then we will continue. For now... we can rest for lunch, Alexander."
I took the bottle that was handed to me, carefully placing it on my desk, sighing slightly as I looked at the professor, who was stretching where he was, placing himself on one of the armchairs in the corner of the lab. We had ordered food a few minutes ago, it would be here soon. But... there was one thing I was really curious about before starting to record the results of this time's attempt.
"This is the last of Aiden's theories, right?"
Professor Ulka nodded his head slightly without turning his golden eyes to me.
"Yes, almost every one of the theories he provided is done. Once we have completed this one and presented it to the board, we will move on to dealing with the companies' requests."
A brief silence fell between us. But I broke it again as I sat down at my desk.
"The names in the file Aiden left before he left... more than half of them are waiting for us to open the company. But there are a few names that are getting more and more impatient every day. Soon they'll start to think we're fooling them."
Everything was ready, all that remained was to buy a laboratory and an office and officially open the company. But... Professor Ulka was deliberately not opening it.
I can understand why. He doesn't want to rush because he doesn't have any theories, funding, or resources from Aiden. But... with us and the names we signed the contract with, I'm not sure if they are really needed.
The professor turned toward me indifferently after these thoughts. He did not change his expression one bit and spoke with his usual calmness.
"It doesn't matter. We'll open the company and the lab when Aiden wakes up. If anyone leaves in the meantime... it's their loss. It's written in the contract that it could take a few months for the company to open."
"You're pretty sure Aiden will wake up."
But just then, a ringing echoed through the lab. After I stood up, opened the door of the laboratory, and placed our food on the table in front of the professor, he again broke the silence.
"He is not a normal person."
He didn't say anything else, just took his own food from the table in front of him, and slowly began to unwrap it.
As I looked at him, I remembered that until a few weeks ago, he had thought the same way as me. But what changed his thoughts in an instant... was the news we had heard in the lab at the time.
It turned out that the King of Piarlin was dead. Not only that, it had been leaked to the world that he had been dead for months. Also, the trade agreements that the elves had strangely signed were big news that same day.
Watching all this, Ulka simply sighed without saying anything. After that day, for some reason I don't understand, he simply stopped looking at Aiden only as a mysterious human being.
I don't really care, of course. I trust Aiden too, but it seems strange that a man like Professor Ulka would start to doubt that he's even a simple human anymore, let alone trust him.
I grabbed my own food from the table and went to my desk. I only said a short word before the lab fell silent again.
"I think so too..."
As strange as it sounds... I can't help but agree with Professor Ulka.
Aiden... after thinking about what he's accomplished, what he's done, the theories he presented to the professor, and a few things he plans to do in the future... it makes me feel like he's not human either.
He'll probably wake up soon. And when he does... I feel like we're going to be stepping into a very different future.
*******
"It's only half a day, I can't let you stay out of the academy for longer than that."
This was the answer I got after begging Melany Quie. Since no one knew yet that I wanted to go to Wiathen, she had given me permission, thinking that no one would have time to attack me in the meantime.
She didn't say anything about someone following me. But since she didn't hesitate too much to give me permission, it was as if she had prepared in advance that I might ask for such a thing.
This meeting took place almost an hour ago. And now... at the magnetic train station, I was buying a ticket for a train that was about to leave for the city. But on the other hand, I had my doubts.
'Are you sure it's okay for someone to follow me...?'
To this question I asked my mind, I received an answer from my mind again.
'No. When they see where you're going, they'll have a few new suspicions about you, but at least all their suspicions about your connection with me will be removed. That's why it's even useful for you. It's better for them to think something else than to suspect that you have a connection with me.'
That's what he had said, but even as I sat in my seat on the train, as I set off for Wiathen and watched the scenery change outside, I still felt uneasy.
First of all... I hadn't been able to detect anyone following me, not once I left the academy, I got to the station, and not even after I got on the train.
Maybe I could have found this person by looking at the mana currents since I had removed my seal. But I didn't want to try because the moment I tried to do that I might increase their suspicion of me.
Of course, there was also the possibility that there was no one watching me... But it was so unlikely that I didn't even think to take it seriously.
More than that, the other thing that made me uneasy was the place we were going and the 'family' Lithoa had mentioned. He had not given me a single piece of information about this family. He had only given me the address of a library and from that point on, he hadn't said a word.
Never say my name, not even in your mind. Try not to think anything about me.
As these words seeped into my thoughts, inevitably this 'library' where I would spend only half a day started to scare me a little. However, once I had started out, I had no intention of going back.
So... I simply sat in one of the window seats of the train and continued to look out. Soon, the city of Wiathen came into view.
*******
When I got off the train, left the station, and stepped into the city... a strange sensation enveloped my body.
I knew what it was. I also knew why I felt this way, so I tried not to pay too much attention to it and started walking toward the library Lithoa had told me to go to. It wasn't far anyway, I only had to walk about a kilometer and a half.
But... as much as I tried to ignore this feeling inside me, I could never get rid of it, because the more I saw the skyscrapers reaching up to the sky, the huge buildings, the traffic full of the latest cars, and the people wearing fancy clothes, the more it grew.
This part of Wiathen City was very different from the other part of it that I knew and spent seven years in. As different as it was, it also felt... fake. It was like a mask, a beautiful mask hiding an ugly face behind it.
It was a city where everyone did their best not to drop the mask, but completely ignored or even forgot about the ugliness behind it.
So when I compared what was happening here with the smelly and dirty streets of the other side of Wiathen, it only made me angry. To think of those who gave their lives and those who took their lives just clinging to life, let alone looking for food or water, and to think that I had once been among them... it pained me.
Still, I kept walking, through streets that felt cleaner, brighter, and more modern than ever. I tried to push this feeling deep inside my heart and reminded myself of my purpose.
I will get stronger. That is my purpose, to get stronger. I need to be strong if I want to expose the ugliness hiding behind this fake mask and help it heal.
With these thoughts, seconds passed, then minutes. After a short time... I found myself in front of one of Wiathen's massive buildings. The seven-story building covered a huge area, each floor the size of at least a football field. It had an old feel to it, rather than the modern feel that pervades the city in general. The architecture, the look, and everything about it made it look as if it had been built several centuries ago.
The first thing I did when I looked at the building was to take a deep breath. I tried to put everything about Lithoa in the back of my mind, to ignore it. The only thing he told me was to come here and I had done that, he had no other instructions. So I didn't need to think about him anyway. But I prepared myself anyway.
With no idea what to do, I squinted my eyes slightly, reminded myself one last time why I was here, and slowly made my way toward the library.
When I entered through the main door, I was greeted by a sight I had not expected. This library had a different design from the interior architecture of most buildings. It really looked like it had been built over several centuries, even though I had only made an analogy beforehand. But that aside, the inside was strangely fascinating.
Just after the main door was the lobby of a normal library, with a few employees, a book lending area, a reception desk, a corner where people could relax, a small café, and so on. But what was behind this lobby was what was really important.
Each of the seven floors of the building could be seen from the lobby. Each floor had a balcony, and all of these balconies faced toward the main door. The stairs to the upper floors were in the middle of these balconies. It rose upward in a spiral. Each floor was filled with shelves of books. But what really gave the feeling of fascination were the materials and colors.
I wasn't sure if it was the real one, but the inside of the building looked like it was made entirely of wood. On top of that, the colors, shades of brown, black, and white, were strangely harmonious.
It made me feel like... I was inside a mystical tree.
"Welcome to our library, how can I help you?"
The person who called out to me was one of the staff who saw me standing there doing nothing. And it was only thanks to this person that I was finally able to take my eyes off the design of the library and start thinking again.
I have to come to my senses... no matter how strange and beautiful the library looks, I came here for a purpose.
But in the midst of these thoughts, I suddenly stopped where I was, my mind stopped working for a moment, and my thoughts completely stilled.
Yes, I came to this library to get stronger. But... what am I supposed to do now? I... I don't know what to do, where to go after entering the building...
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