Inside the border count's mansion, two maids stood facing each other in a long corridor. They had identical appearances and height—only their hair colors differed.
One of them spoke first.
"Rem, Emilia-sama will be returning tomorrow. Make sure to properly clean her room today."
"I understand, Sister," Rem replied obediently with a nod. "By the way, Sister, recently the villagers—"
"No need to worry about them. We'll deal with it after Roswaal-sama returns."
"Alright."
After their brief exchange, the two went their separate ways to carry out their duties. Neither noticed that a window at the far end of the corridor silently opened.
A man whose back blocked the morning sunlight slipped lightly into the room. When he landed, his toes touched first, followed by his heels—without making the slightest sound.
He closed the window behind him and glanced down the corridor lined with more than a dozen identical wooden doors. Scratching his head, he looked troubled.
"The 'Door of Opportunity'… which one is it?"
Despite Roswaal's status as a border count, the mansion's defenses were unusually lax.
Of course, this was largely due to his overwhelming personal strength, as well as the formidable abilities of those living within the estate. There had never been any need to hire guards, and for many years no foolish thieves or bandits had dared cause trouble here. As a result, Lillian's infiltration was extraordinarily easy.
But infiltration was only the beginning. If he wanted to speak with Betty, he first had to find the Door of Opportunity that led to the Forbidden Library. Even then, whether she would agree to talk was another matter—if she refused, she could teleport him elsewhere at any time. The fact that Lillian came despite knowing all this proved just how necessary he believed this matter to be.
"For now, I'll just try them one by one."
He had no better solution. All the doors looked identical, and he possessed no special sensory abilities. The only option was the most troublesome method—checking every single door.
With that in mind, he approached the nearest door, grasped the handle, and pulled it open.
Creaaak—
A faint sound echoed. Inside the dim space stood several large bookshelves. Lillian froze in surprise.
A young girl sitting with her back to him turned around at the noise. Upon seeing him, the doll-like face of the petite girl showed a mixture of confusion and surprise.
Should he call it good luck… or simply absurd luck?
Lillian stared at the blonde, twin-drill-haired girl in an ornate dress standing before him. He never expected the very first door to be—
He gently closed the door behind him, stepped forward, and met her scrutinizing gaze.
"I came to see you."
After her initial confusion, she spoke.
"Entering without permission is truly infuriating."
"But I needed to meet you first in order to obtain that permission, didn't I?"
As Lillian spoke, his gaze lingered on her face. He knew that Betty—Beatrice—was also a Great Spirit, an artificial spirit created by the Witch of Greed, Echidna. Their contract required Beatrice to guard the Forbidden Library until the arrival of "that person," to whom she would hand over the library's collection of one hundred and three thousand volumes. Only then would her contract be fulfilled.
Yet whether "that person" even existed was uncertain—perhaps it was merely a reason Echidna had given her to continue living. And who that person would be… was left for Beatrice herself to decide.
"A cunning argument," Beatrice said expressionlessly. "So then, why have you come to see me?"
In truth, she remembered him. When Lillian first visited Roswaal's mansion, her Gospel had changed—just like Roswaal's—displaying an additional "?" symbol.
That anomaly had puzzled her greatly. In her view, her "mother," the Witch of Greed Echidna, was an omniscient existence. The completed Book of Wisdom recorded everything—past, present, and future. Even the imperfect copy she possessed should not have produced such a change. Because of this, she had begun to harbor doubts about Lillian's existence.
That doubt had faded after his departure, only to resurface now upon meeting him again.
Faced with her question, Lillian glanced at the countless towering bookshelves behind her small figure, filled with heavy books. The books collected by Echidna were undoubtedly of immense value—otherwise they would never have been placed within the Forbidden Library.
Among them… might be the knowledge he needed.
"I want to ask," Lillian said, "whether there are any magical texts or records here related to curses or lifespan."
"You—how do you know of this place?"
Beatrice did not answer his question. Her brows furrowed slightly, her voice calm yet cold. "Even if such things exist, what reason would Betty have to help you?"
"As expected, it wouldn't be that simple…" Lillian said. "The reason I know of this place is because I felt it. I sensed its existence—and the history contained within those books."
It was complete nonsense, but he had no better explanation. The Forbidden Library's existence was known only to a few; invoking anyone's name would surely be exposed by Beatrice. Rather than that, he chose a mysterious explanation—after all, this was a world of magic, where logic need not be overly strict.
"As for a reason to help me…" Lillian considered briefly. "You wouldn't accept something like helping others out of kindness. So how about a promise? I will ensure you meet the one who created you again. Would that exchange be acceptable?"
Beatrice's pupils instantly contracted.
She closed the book in her hands, stood up, and stared at him coldly.
"You seem to know far too much."
"Yes," Lillian replied calmly. "Are only your prophetic books allowed to foresee things? Am I not allowed to glimpse fragments of the future as well? What—did your book or rather, gospel not tell you that I would come here and say these things?"
He spoke without hesitation. In his view, this was the most efficient approach. If he followed the roundabout methods of Subaru, he might never obtain any valuable information before being sent to another world. Besides, Lillian preferred directness—he despised endless, meaningless chatter.
"You…"
Hearing him mention the gospel, Beatrice genuinely began to suspect he possessed some unknown power. The fact that her Book of Wisdom was merely a copy was something only Echidna, Roswaal, and herself should know. She had never spoken of it, and the other two would never have told him.
Meeting my creator again…
Her heart wavered when she heard those words. Yet that person had clearly been killed by the Witch of Envy—so why would he say such a thing?
"Are you deceiving Betty?" she asked. "Betty will become angry."
"I'm not," Lillian said. "I know you believe the other witches all died at the hands of the Witch of Envy. But their souls have not vanished."
"…"
After a moment of silent contemplation, Beatrice walked toward him.
She raised her hand and pressed it against Lillian's abdomen. He instinctively tried to dodge, but remembering that she would not casually kill someone, he forcibly suppressed the reflex and allowed her palm to make contact.
Whoosh—!
In an instant, the mana within Lillian's body boiled violently. The sensation was difficult to describe—not pain, but a feeling of being hollowed out. Vast amounts of mana flowed out of his body and poured into Beatrice's hand.
The golden light enveloping her palm caused her usually cold expression to collapse in shock.
She withdrew her hand and stepped back several paces, staring in disbelief at the lingering golden glow.
"Golden mana… What is this…?"
As she spoke, she suddenly felt the mana within her own body surge enormously. The vast energy she had just absorbed exceeded what she had accumulated over decades.
"Cough—cough…"
Lillian gradually recovered from the sensation of being drained and coughed a few times, looking toward Beatrice. He understood why she had reacted so strongly.
As an artificial spirit, she could cast powerful magic, but her mana consumption was correspondingly immense. Moreover, she could not absorb mana from the atmosphere. She could only slowly draw mana through the Forbidden Library, siphoning small amounts from those residing in the mansion. The process was extremely slow, which meant that over hundreds of years she had never accumulated much mana.
However, just now, Beatrice had only absorbed a tiny amount from Lillian's body, yet after entering her own body, the concentration released was far greater than what she had accumulated over several decades… How could that be possible?
Beatrice stared at Lillian in disbelief. She had guarded the Forbidden Library for four hundred years and could be considered extremely knowledgeable. While she could not claim complete mastery of magic, in this world there were absolutely no more than ten people who surpassed her in theoretical understanding. And yet even she had never heard of—nor seen—golden mana. That dazzling radiance had completely transcended the concept of "magic," resembling instead something more like a fundamental essence of existence.
"Have you confirmed anything?" Lillian asked, feeling slightly dizzy. Though Beatrice had taken only a small amount, he still felt a tremor in his mind. If that little girl had not stopped and continued absorbing, he might really have died.
"…For the time being, there is no malice I suppose," Beatrice said. She could determine whether someone bore hostility toward her by sensing the nature of their mana. What she had felt in that golden mana was pure energy, completely free of impurities… For spirits, such energy was undoubtedly the sweetest nectar in the world.
"Then can you consider my proposal now?"
"…If you tell me why the mana inside your body exists in… this form, Betty will tell you what you want to know."
"I'm not entirely sure myself," Lillian replied, "but what I can tell you is that my mana contains a portion of spiritual power."
"Spiritual power…"
Beatrice frowned slightly. She did not know much about this field; in fact, the entire continent possessed very few records on the subject. Even among the thousands of volumes within this Forbidden Library, only two or three books mentioned spiritual power.
"In that case, Betty understands," she said. Then, suddenly, she warned Lillian, "Your mana… it would be best if certain evil spirits never become aware of it."
"Why?"
"Because…" Feeling the power brought by that golden mana within her body, she spoke in a low voice, "it is something that would make spirits… addicted."