Home/The Male Lead, Whom I Thought Was the Villain, Is Acting Strange/ch 10

Chapter 10.

"Ugh, seriously… why does everything have to be so complicated?"

I wrinkled my brow, my nose buried in a thick book. Reaching across the desk, I grabbed an ancient language dictionary.

The grammar and vocabulary were completely different from modern speech, so I had to look up every single word—it was so complicated my eyes felt like they were about to pop out.

I'd never been called a genius in either of my lives, but my knowledge was clearly not enough to comprehend this.

"Argh!"

After spending an entire hour deciphering just one paragraph, I threw the book aside.

At this rate, finishing this book before the year's end was impossible.

I'd been holed up in the library whenever I had free time, searching through every book I could find.

I read everything from historical texts and myths about demonic beasts to academic papers from the Academy.

Still, I couldn't find what I was looking for, so I'd gone out of my way to obtain original ancient texts—but I couldn't understand a word of them.

As expected, my investigation into Durendal was hitting one obstacle after another.

"It's supposed to be a famous demonic beast! Why is there so little information?"

I flopped onto the desk and kicked my feet.

Every source that mentioned Durendal only described the basics:

A demonic beast that terrorized the continent 400 years ago before being sealed by Radenica. That was it.

There wasn't a single word about what happened to the sealing stone after Durendal was sealed.

Given the situation, I couldn't even begin to look into things like the possibility of a human harboring Durendal going berserk or how to prevent it.

『Is it really connected to the imperial family?』

Maybe it was classified information, impossible to find in public records.

If it was that sensitive, it would be buried deep within the imperial family's secret archives. How on earth was I supposed to access that?

I was so frustrated I started banging my head on the desk like a mortar when—a knock came, and Rainer opened the door.

He'd just finished showering; his russet hair was still damp and drooping.

Seeing me banging my head, Rainer paused with a "did I just see that?" expression.

"......What are you doing?"

"Mind your own business."

My accumulated fatigue made me snap back without thinking.

Rainer sighed and set a cup down on the desk. The sweet scent of chocolate tickled my nose.

I sat up like a zombie and took a sip of the hot chocolate. The sweetness soothed my frayed nerves.

Meanwhile, Rainer glanced at the books scattered across the desk and tilted his head.

"A Study on the Founding History of the Arcane Empire Through the Seal of the Frost Demon Durendal," "The Life and Major Achievements of the Great Sorcerer Radenica," "A Study on the Existence and Whereabouts of the Demonic Beast Durendal."

He read the noticeable titles aloud, raising an eyebrow.

"So this is what you've been doing, locked in the library every day. What's all this about?"

"Just… since I'm always fighting monsters these days, I got curious about this legendary demonic beast."

I brushed it off vaguely. Rainer threw himself onto the sofa and replied,

"Wouldn't it be faster to ask the Magic Tower about that?"

"The Magic Tower?"

Right—that existed too.

Now that I'd recovered my past life memories and heard it again, it really sank in that this was a romance fantasy world.

"Since His Majesty the First Emperor established the Magic Tower, there might be records about demonic beasts there too."

Rainer snagged a cookie from the table and answered.

The first emperor, Radenica, was a man so accomplished in magic he was called a prophet.

It was thanks to Radenica creating the Magic Tower and systematically establishing magical knowledge that magic—once the exclusive domain of elites—became widely commercialized as it is today.

Though nowadays, intuitive aura magic was far more popular than complex formula-based spells.

"Even if the Tower has that kind of data, what good does it do me? I don't have access."

I grumbled half-heartedly. The Magic Tower's library was as tightly secured as the imperial archives.

Even if House Espello was one of the four great noble houses, I couldn't just waltz in without proper clearance.

But Rainer chuckled and gave me an unexpected answer.

"Just ask Aunt."

"Ah……."

I started to say "aunt" but trailed off awkwardly.

Aunt—my late mother's younger sister—was a senior researcher at the Magic Tower.

The modern Magic Tower wasn't a place where hooded, gloomy mages gathered to throw fireballs.

It was more like a government agency that handled and researched various administrative matters related to magic and monsters.

My aunt stayed at the Tower as an authority in various experiments and theoretical research, rather than practical magic like teleportation circles or communication orbs.

If I used her name, I could probably access even highly secured materials without difficulty.

The problem was that my aunt and I weren't close enough for me to make such a request.

"She probably wouldn't like it if I showed up."

"What are you talking about? Aunt adores you."

"That was when I was a kid."

I rested my chin on my hand, looking gloomy.

She used to visit all the time, bring gifts, and we'd even go on picnics by the lake together.

Now it was just a distant memory I barely recalled.

After my mother passed away, my aunt had practically cut ties with our family. I hadn't even seen her face in years.

『No—let's think positively. At least I have a connection I can use.』

I shook off my hesitation and steeled my resolve.

Since my aunt and I weren't close enough to just call on the communication orb, I decided to write a letter. I was searching for paper and a quill when Rainer dropped an unexpected remark.

"By the way, Roo. Don't go out at night for a while."

"......I never do anyway. Why are you suddenly acting like Dad?"

I frowned and shot back.

I wasn't the type to enjoy nighttime outings to begin with, and since joining the monster unit, I usually passed out as soon as I got home.

Even now, I was forcing my drowsy eyes open and desperately searching for a way to save our family. And he was trying to impose a curfew on me—me, so healthy and diligent?

But what came out of Rainer's mouth was entirely unexpected.

"Because I heard there was a murder."

"A murder? Not by a monster?"

"No. They said he was stabbed in a vital spot with a sword."

"I see."

I nodded flatly. To be honest, hearing about a murder didn't stir much emotion in me.

This was an apocalyptic world where gruesome deaths—people being devoured alive by monsters—were common. It was a side effect of the setting.

As with most nations, the Arcane Empire poured its national defense into monster subjugation.

As a result, general public security wasn't very good.

Besides, sending assassins to eliminate political rivals or obtain what you wanted was fairly common here.

Just like how House Espello was annihilated overnight in the original. Damn it—I brought that up again.

"Who was the victim?"

"Alvin Catlin."

"Catlin? That family that recently discovered a huge sapphire vein on their territory?"

The Catlins were a minor noble house with a small rural estate. They'd recently hit the jackpot by unearthing a high-quality sapphire vein, which had been widely reported in the news.

Alvin Catlin was the young head of the Catlin family and the owner of that vein.

"Was he murdered by someone after the vein?"

"Probably—since he wasn't involved in political feuds... but it's gotten complicated."

"What do you mean?"

"Apparently, he put the mining rights up for auction before he died. And the winning bid has already gone through."

At Rainer's words, I clicked my tongue involuntarily.

『Figures. A vein like that could support a family for three generations if managed well.』

The Catlins were a small, weak house—probably lacking the confidence to mine it themselves.

They were nobles in name only; in reality, they were barely more well-off than commoners.

Besides, unlike territory, mining rights couldn't be owned or inherited by a house.

Under imperial law, all mines were owned by the imperial family.

Though you could profit from mining rights, you had to pay a large portion of the raw gems and profits to the imperial family as taxes.

It was a measure to prevent nobles from amassing excessive wealth and expanding their power.

So selling the mining rights for the highest possible price would have been a more immediate boon to the Catlin family.

But if the seller died after the auction, the winning bid would revert to the auction organizer.

For the Catlin family, that was a nightmare come true.

Losing their head and the money from the mining rights—they must have been furious beyond belief.

"Who was the winning bidder?"

"I heard it was House Neuster."

"Tough luck."

Game over. I inwardly clicked my tongue.

Taking on Neuster—one of the four great noble houses—was like throwing an egg at a rock.

Even if the Catlins went crazy and sued, their chances of winning were zero.

Besides, House Neuster had no motive to kill Alvin Catlin.

They'd won the mining rights fair and square—what possible benefit could killing him bring?

And a powerful house like Neuster wouldn't go to such trouble just to get a sapphire vein.

If anything, the auction organizer was more suspicious.

They were the ones who pocketed the full winning bid after Alvin Catlin's death.

Not that the Catlins could do anything about it even if they knew.

Since the imperial family owned all mining rights, the related auctions were hosted by the imperial family themselves.

Suing the imperial family would be even crazier.

There was no way to prove the imperial family was involved in Alvin Catlin's death, and the very act would be considered an insult to the crown.

Maybe Alvin Catlin was simply a robbery victim. Or someone with a private grudge.

Either way, it wasn't my concern. Unfortunate for the Catlin family, but they'd just had a stroke of bad luck.

『Still... something feels off.』

I tilted my head, withdrawing my hand from the ink bottle.

Auctions hosted under the imperial banner had never had problems like this before...

"Anyway, stay safe. With the monsters acting up and all this recent unrest, things are unstable."

"Alright, alright."

I nodded half-heartedly at Rainer's warning.

Sorry, but the fire under my feet isn't the murderer—it's the villainous male lead who could go berserk at any moment.

After Rainer left the study, I began writing a letter to my aunt, one word at a time.

Three days later, I received a reply and was invited to the Magic Tower.

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