The Academy Guard with a Terminal Illness - Chapter 13

23 years is not a long time.

In other words, I am still a novice, having not yet lived even half of my life.

Even so, I’ve encountered various situations in this world, and with numerous experiences, I know how to stay calm and composed even in fairly tough situations.

I thought I was bold.

I just realized that was excessive self-confidence.

I’m so bewildered by the scene before me that my eyelids are trembling.

Even when I faced the ‘plague,’ I wasn’t this flustered.

This is an unforeseen situation, and I’m unsure of how to act.

“Hoo….”

A girl is unsteadily standing, leaning against a bookshelf.

Her long blonde hair glistens under the soft light, but her emerald eyes, which should be bright, look faded and dull.

She occasionally lets out groans from her partially open lips.

A student is in distress.

As an academy guard, it’s my duty to help. Or at least notify the librarian.

While I’m working here, I must not ignore a student in pain.

I should act, but that is….

“Ugh…, guh….”

Her shoulders are trembling.

Beads of sweat are trickling down her face.

Now that I think about it, this student.

Long blonde hair and teal eyes.

Could she be the student Id talked about?

More than that, this face. Now that I see it, it’s familiar.

She’s the girl I bumped into.

A noble young lady, elegant and gentle, who carried around a mountain of difficult academic books.

Even though our conversation was brief, seeing a familiar face breaking the rules feels strange.

“Ugh. Guh.”

Her gaze remains fixed on the book.

She’s gripping the book tightly with one hand.

Then what’s with the other hand?

The other hand is wrapped around by thin black tentacles emerging from the book.

“Ugh, umph. Ugh.”

The student lets out groans every time the black tentacles squirm.

Her eyes are moist with tears, and her face is flushed red.

Her breaths are pitiful and strained.

“Hah, ugh. Uh….”

My head hurts.

I never imagined a student would be reading a forbidden book in such a good school.

These books were deemed dangerous for a common person to read by the kingdom and the church and were banned.

I’ve heard rumors that they burned those seen with them.

I couldn’t have imagined that a forbidden book would be stored in the school library.

If word gets out, this student will be dragged off by the inquisitors and forgotten without a trace.

“Hah, oh, oh.”

I’m feeling dizzy from the scene laid out before me.

I have to stop this.

The student might not know it’s a forbidden book and is just reading it unknowingly.

I could just warn them now, and it would be over.

But what if the student is a heretic?

What if they act out violently if provoked?

If rumors spread that a noble young lady is reading a forbidden book in the grand academy library, known as a place of knowledge and information, what would happen?

They’ll want to verify whether there are other forbidden books in the library.

Until then, the library would be closed.

In the worst-case scenario, they might burn all the books in the library.

At the very least, I wouldn’t be able to use the library anymore.

Which means I wouldn’t be able to gather information.

I’m using the library to search for clues regarding the curse on me.

It’s too difficult to make a definitive decision right now.

I’ve memorized the student’s face.

For now, I should quietly leave this place.

Since the girl seems unaware of my presence, I can sneak away without being noticed.

Thunk.

Oh no.

Was there a book sticking out of the shelf? It collided with my arm and fell to the floor.

Normally, I would have reacted gracefully, but given the situation, my nerves were on edge.

I was startled without even realizing it and ended up revealing myself from the corner.

The girl, startled by the noise, closed her book, and the tentacles dissipated like mist.

“Ugh….”

Her unfocused gaze drifted away from the book and met mine.

“Eh……?”

“Uh, um….”

An awkward silence.

As if regaining her senses, her dull teal eyes slowly regained their color.

“Eh…… E-Eek?!”

With a slurred scream,

the girl dropped the book she was holding.

The book lay open on the floor, with an illustration page visible from a glance.

It depicted a black body, a massive eye, and numerous tentacles.

It was a forbidden book, indeed.

“Oh, uh, oh, uh, ah….”

The girl’s eyes were shaking intensely, and she was at a loss for words.

Stay calm.

As the saying goes, even in a dungeon, if you keep your wits about you, you can survive. Just stay calm and think it through.

Calmly utter the most appropriate and natural dialogue in this situation to get out safely.

Act naturally so the girl doesn’t panic.

“The book I was looking for was here.”

I walked over to the girl and picked up the fallen book.

I closed the open book and tucked it under my arm.

It was truly a perfectly natural action.

But just when I was about to nonchalantly walk away, the girl’s face went white.

Then, suddenly, the girl tried to scream, and I instinctively rushed to cover her mouth.

It happened so abruptly that I barely had time to think before moving.

Of course, it wouldn’t go so easily.

I gestured for quiet by placing my finger against my lips.

A gesture anyone would recognize, but it didn’t seem to register with her as she struggled intensely.

I was just as frantic, and thus, my grip on her wavered.

She managed to push me aside.

She was panting heavily.

“Y-you-you’ll die! Get out of my sight now!!”

She swung her hand up and flung it towards me, but nothing happened.

Looking bewildered, she repeated the action a few times.

Nothing changed.

Looking at her disbelieving expression, I kindly informed her of the reason.

“You can’t use magic in the library.”

Magic is prohibited in the library.

Because if an accident happens and the library’s books get lost, it would be a huge problem.

To prevent such accidents, a barrier is in place in the library that seals magic.

It’s basic knowledge anyone associated with the academy would know, so forgetting it shows just how out of it the young lady is.

Upon realizing this, her expression twisted fiercely.

“Aaaah, uuuuugh, aaaugh!”

Clawing at her own hair in frustration,

the girl tossed all her nobility’s grace and dignity aside and rushed forward.

What?!

She moved much more nimbly than anticipated.

Her unexpectedly swift fist forced my eyes wide with surprise, but I naturally brushed it aside with my hand.

The girl did not stop at a punch. She followed up with a strong swing of her right leg aiming for my chin. I easily dodged by leaning backward.

Then I retaliated with another punch.

Her attacks kept coming.

In this confined space, avoiding endlessly was not feasible.

Changing my approach, I started blocking the successive attacks, but her hits landed precisely where it hurt, causing pain to surge.

She likely received education fitting of a noble, targeting the painful spots with accuracy.

Since my opponent was a noble young lady, I couldn’t counterattack properly, just maneuvering here and there.

Inadvertently, I stepped on the dropped book and fell backward.

Thunk!

“Ouch, ugh….”

My back hurts.

My head is spinning, and when I touch the back of my head, I feel something wet on my fingers.

Upon checking, a black liquid stained my fingers.

I rubbed my fingers and released them, forming sticky black threads stretching long.

Then, the noble young lady.

“Screamed even more frantically and dashed towards me where I lay fallen.

She pulled something from her school uniform pocket, gripping it tightly, and aimed directly at my neck.

I grabbed her hand. A sharp point. A pen.

“Die die die die die die die die die die….”

She uttered fiercely, her eyes glinting sharply.

“Calm down for a moment. I didn’t see or hear anything. Whatever’s going on!”

“Disappear right this instant or I’ll see you die, even if it means pouring every power my family has into erasing every trace of you!”

“If you’re going to go that far, I’ll spread word before I die about what happened in the sacred library—”

“Stop right there!”

We began fighting again.

And with the noise we made, someone was approaching.

“……….”

“……….”

We exchanged no words. Only glances were exchanged.

Given that either of us being seen like this would equally put us both in a difficult position.

We paused our fight and hurriedly left the place.