Bermuda

Leonardo approached the grandfather clock as if entranced. Since the main castle itself was shaped like an overturned bell, the low, solemn sound reverberated widely along the curved walls and ceiling.

The bell only stopped ringing after exactly four strokes. Nevertheless, the lingering vibration and waves stayed for quite a long time, spreading with a tingling sensation from his legs to his scalp.

Because of this, Leonardo couldn't open the glass case for a while, until the world inside the clock—ticking by the force of the pendulum’s motion—completely stopped.

Belatedly, he caught the canary carving trying to hide behind the clock components and carefully pulled out the note tied to its beak. As he unfolded the vertically folded paper, he thought the texture felt familiar against his fingertips.

It was similar in material to the note inside the glass bottle that Kenis had given him, saying he’d received it from the professor.

Sure enough, like the previous note, this one also had plenty of white space, but no content was visible at all.

'He never makes anything easy.'

Leonardo clicked his tongue and began to apply heat precisely with his fingertips, just like before. Still, he felt grateful that at least the same concealment method was used.

He held the edge of the paper and slowly ran his fingers across the surface horizontally. White letters within the browning paper gradually began to reveal themselves.

The long-awaited first line wasn't very welcome.

You're late.

Leonardo's brow furrowed sharply. It wasn't as if he’d set an appointment date or left a kind address. It was exasperating that someone had the right to say he was late—to a person who had struggled to find this place.

On the other hand, he was also anxious in case the guy had left only this and disappeared. Though there were ways to find him, the guy was so inscrutable in his intentions that it was impossible to know how he might cut off the connection and escape.

But the next sentence straightened Leonardo's scattered concentration.

But since you've worked hard to find this place, I'll tell you about a gift.

"A gift?"

It seemed like he had seen and heard the word 'gift' quite a lot these past few days. Since it was a gift from that guy, his first suspicion was that it might be dangerous.

It's not harmful, so don't be wary.

As if reading his thoughts in real time, the guy snickered through the letters in the note. Blood vessels stood out on the back of Leonardo’s clenched hand, but he’d felt toyed with so often that it didn't even feel shitty anymore. He quickly scanned the next content.

'But usually one says they will "give" a gift, not "tell about" it. What does this mean?'

Could it mean that apart from this Castle of Romance, nature, and land, there was another gift someone was conveying to the Sun King?

With these questions in mind, he placed his palm on the front of the note and applied heat, bringing the remaining letters into focus. Contrary to the expectation that tiny letters would be densely packed, the message was quite concise.

Open the box. It will be very interesting.

Next time, let's meet in the room of clocks, pretty one.

"What nonsense is this now?"

Perhaps assuming that he would be late, the man had already chosen another destination, as there was no continuing sentence. Though Leonardo reflexively contorted his expression, his gaze shifted to the unknown object that had fallen below the glass case earlier.

Precariously caught between decorative wooden pieces was an elegant rectangular box. Without careful examination, it could have looked just like a component of the grandfather clock. As he was about to reach for it, he hesitated for a moment, wondering if this was the object that had cursed the innkeeper in the rumors.

But hadn't the note said it wasn't harmful? Though nothing was more foolish than trusting the scholar's words, the desire to shake off the frustration was stronger, since he had come this far. Leonardo, who had been hesitating, reached out again and picked up the small, elongated box. Before he could figure out how to open it, the lid popped free with a clunk.

What spilled out was an old scroll.

"Uh—"

There wasn't even time to catch it. The scroll hit the floor and unraveled as it rolled, leaving a long trail across the space.

Fearing it might slip into the watercourse at the edge, Leonardo hastily grabbed the end and pulled. Though most of it had already unfurled, it got caught on the pillar of the castle model and, fortunately, didn't get wet.

Along the halted trail, strange records were revealed. Geometric characters and odd drawings filled the parchment lined with silk. The length seemed to be a full four to five meters.

Beside the forms of magic circles located here and there, mathematically calculated diagonal lines with angles and their corresponding proofs were arranged.

Leonardo's eyes narrowed. Though he was seeing it for the first time, it was familiar in many ways.

The characters in the scroll were a mixture of the ancient language he had been deciphering so far, and even hieroglyphics that could only be seen by going back to an even earlier time. In some of the content adorning the beginning, provocative words that hinted at its identity caught his eye.

Leonardo instinctively swallowed. Goosebumps like needles gradually rose along his forearm and spine. Then his gaze stopped on a drawing meticulously depicting a human heart.

Beneath it was inscribed red writing.

"Resurrection, equivalent exchange..."

No doubt. This was 'forbidden magic.'

Besides the appearance-changing magic he occasionally used, there were magics in this world that had been officially discarded under the pretext of causing confusion in society. The golden ring used when Alec Siles and he made a contract was one such kind.

The same was true for the binding Nero had engraved on Felix Montero's tongue from the 3rd Battalion of the Central Branch to control his utterances, or the magic that forcibly conceived 'life' «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» that couldn't be born by the laws of nature.

And this in his hand was probably resurrection magic—that is, it seemed to be related to the method of reviving the dead. It belonged to quite malicious magics, even among forbidden ones.

Then... had someone in the past tried to resurrect Theodore? No—if the owner of this was Theodore, was he looking for a way to resurrect someone?

Anyway, though he couldn't perfectly grasp the content of the scroll right now, it was predictable that if this became known to the world, it would cause a tremendous ripple. And before that, his heart was pounding with an indescribable anticipation.

The faces of those he had wanted to save, whom he missed, flickered through his mind.

But forbidden things, while stimulating intense curiosity and possessiveness, also inevitably bring danger as unverified sources of power. Even appearance-changing magic, though often considered a convenient means to hide one's identity, actually carried the great risk that if the caster forgot his original appearance, he could no longer return to his own face.

In other words, to save someone, one might have to pay a corresponding price. Moreover, resurrecting the dead? It was uncertain whether magic that was everyone's dream and curse could truly be realized. Not all theories are actually implemented.

When his thoughts reached that point, his overheated head quickly regained reason. On the other hand, how did Alec Siles know about this, and why had he drawn Leonardo to such a place to show such a thing, and what did the guy want to gain by doing so? The unresolved curiosities only became more entangled, like thread.

Among them, the most fundamental doubt also arose.

'Should I be looking at this?'

Leonardo sat with one knee bent and scanned the content of the faded parchment while holding his breath. If this was truly a 'gift' to Theodore, it's not something he should touch carelessly. He didn't want to incur the wrath of the Sun King, said to be the most powerful in Raina history, by intercepting a gift that clearly belonged to someone else.

The reason Alec Siles had drawn him in might also be a scheme—to experiment with what would happen if others tried to intercept the sacred object within the old castle.

Nevertheless, if that scroll continued to flicker before his eyes, he would surely decipher the content and master the method of use. He would try to weigh the price of resurrection against the value of the life to be revived.

He wasn't sure he would be intact at the end of that.

Leonardo, who had been contemplating, summoned a wind from his fingertips. He floated the entire scroll in the air, wrapped up the draped silk, and returned it to its original form.

The scroll, once again preciously enshrined in the box, was gently placed on the pedestal of the grandfather clock engraved with ornate patterns. His subdued golden eyes stared at it intently.

His twitching fingertips urged desire, but alongside it was a heart that didn't want to be swayed by the scholar any further. And... somehow he was afraid. Was it because he had absorbed too much information in a short time? His head had been aching, and he felt a strange sense of disharmony from all objects in the space.

Leonardo brushed back his flowing hair and reached out to the divine beast.

"Let's go."

At that moment, the divine beast he had sent with Signe returned to the mana within his body.