"Which rude fool came barging in first thing in the morning to disturb Betty's rest?"
The moment Shiro pushed open the door, an irritated voice reached his ears.
Then the full sight of the "bathhouse" came into view.
No—
This was not a bathhouse at all.
The room was more than twice the size of the living room in his guest suite.
Aside from row after row of bookshelves filling his entire field of vision and the neatly arranged ancient-looking books upon them, there was almost nothing else inside.
Rather than a "bathhouse," calling this place a "library" was clearly more appropriate.
"You barge into Betty's room without permission and then ignore Betty too?"
"Are you trying to provoke Betty?"
"If so, Betty accepts."
The girl's voice drew Shiro's attention back.
He looked toward the center of the library, where the voice had come from.
A petite girl was seated at a round table, holding a book even larger than her head.
Judging by appearance alone, she looked younger than even Felt.
She wore an ornate dress, while her golden hair had been curled into drill-like twin tails and tied behind her with pink ribbon ornaments.
Her blue eyes, decorated with pink butterfly-shaped patterns, stared impatiently at the intruder.
Seeing her expression, Shiro suddenly felt like teasing the little girl.
He pointed toward the door he had entered through.
"Aren't you the one who stole my mana first, Miss Mana Thief?"
"Hmph."
"The fact that you can say something so ignorant only proves how shallow your understanding of magic is."
"Listen carefully."
"As living beings move and survive, they constantly absorb the mana necessary for life through their [Gate]."
"Then they use that same [Gate] to expel excess mana from their bodies."
"Betty merely absorbs the excess mana that people like you naturally release into the air."
The girl calling herself Betty snorted and began explaining mana circulation like a knowledgeable teacher lecturing a beginner.
Then she looked at Shiro with displeasure.
"So what does a magical novice who doesn't even understand such basic knowledge want by barging into Betty's Forbidden Library at this hour?"
"It was an accident."
"When I stepped outside, I noticed the surrounding mana flying uncontrollably toward one place, so I followed it to see what was happening."
"Besides..."
Shiro narrowed his eyes at the petite girl.
"What if my mana doesn't leak out on its own at all?"
"If you're trying to make Betty laugh, your ignorance has already accomplished that."
"Betty just told you, as long as you're a living creature—"
Betty abruptly stopped speaking.
Because she suddenly realized—Not a single trace of mana was leaking from the man before her.
Not when he breathed.
Not when he moved.
Nothing.
If a living creature's [Gate] were damaged and could no longer expel excess mana, then besides being unable to cast magic, the constantly accumulating mana would eventually cause its body to explode like a firework.
As far as Betty knew—There was only one person in this world capable of functioning like this.
Reinhard.
If she had merely been irritated because her reading had been interrupted earlier, then this discovery made Betty genuinely wary.
"You..."
"Who exactly are you?"
Her gaze locked firmly onto Shiro.
Mana surged around her, ready to respond if he suddenly attacked.
"Just a guest who happened to visit this mansion."
Shiro spread his hands innocently.
The blonde drill-haired girl seemed to understand restraint.
The mana she had gathered was only enough to cause pain rather than serious injury.
"Betty has never heard of a guest who casually wanders into the owner's private room."
"Maybe I just woke up and wanted to take a bath?"
"You're the one who put your bedroom entrance where the communal bathhouse door is supposed to be."
"Communal bathhouse?"
Betty froze for a moment.
Then she gritted her teeth.
"That is Betty's [Door Crossing]!"
"It randomly connects the Forbidden Library to one of the mansion's doors depending on the time."
"It is not permanently attached to the bathhouse entrance!"
"Now that you understand, get out of Betty's room, you insolent fool!"
Unfortunately—
While she was talking, Shiro had already walked over to the nearest bookshelf.
He casually pulled out two storybooks.
The writing system of this world was completely different from anything Shiro recognized.
However, thanks to the [Celestial Star Spirit's Protection], even if he could not literally read the symbols, he could still grasp the general meaning of the text.
One of the books was titled The Witch of Envy.
The other was The Red Ogre Who Cried.
Holding both up, Shiro looked toward Betty.
"Can I borrow these two?"
He had not expected to stumble across such a useful discovery here.
Shiro had been wondering where he should begin investigating the Witch Cult.
And now he had found a book directly related to the Witch of Envy.
Of course, the Witch of Envy had an extremely terrible reputation in this world.
To avoid creating unnecessary misunderstandings, he had deliberately picked up another storybook of the same type to borrow alongside it.
However—
The instant he pulled the books from the shelf and asked permission, Betty's wary expression changed completely.
"How long are you planning to ignore everything Betty says?"
Snap—
She slammed shut the book in her arms.
After placing it on the round table, she hopped down from her chair.
"You've already taken books from this library without permission."
"That means you're prepared to die, doesn't it, human?!"
To Betty, who guarded the Forbidden Library, Shiro removing a book from the shelves was nothing less than a declaration of battle.
The entire library began to tremble.
Mana surged wildly through the room.
Within moments, dozens of pitch-black arrows materialized around Betty.
Even judging by appearance alone, every one of them clearly possessed considerable destructive power.
Yin magic generally specialized in weakening effects.
However, certain advanced Yin spells were associated with time, space, and gravity.
And the magic the girl was now using—Was an exceedingly rare offensive spell even among Yin magic.
It created countless arrows of mana and launched them at tremendous speed, smashing the enemy apart through pure destructive force.
Its name was—
"Minya—!"
…