INTERLUDE: THE LIBRARY OF THE BLACK TOWER

**Kuro**

After the Fall of Malvette and the subsequent reorganization of the territories that came under our control, I immediately secured the vast archives we found inside the Black Tower. Its existence was revealed to me through the spy reports, and I was initially concerned that it might get destroyed during our invasion. Fortunately, the former Duchess of Malvette, before she stepped down from her responsibilities, saved and gave me the keys that led to almost every room of the fortress…and one of those led to the castle’s ancient library.

“Whoa! It’s really huge!” it felt like a dungeon when we finally opened the doors. The library was located deep in the bowels of the Tower, similar to its prisons. To go around it, we had to light the torches that lined along the paths, and the air was a bit suffocating. I could tell that its previous lords had intended to preserve whatever was shelved here.

“These books here are older than my grandmother!” the Duchess of Malvette quipped as we go through the dusty hallways, and remove the cobwebs on our way to check the entire room. “I think this place goes back to the early days of Telessaria.”

“Telessaria, huh? The first human city in Cherwind…”

“Yes. It is the ‘crown jewel’ of the colonies,” she explained, “Telessaria was not only the main hub of commerce and government during its time, the city was also the center of learning and civilization throughout this land. Even the first priests of the Beastman Saint studied literacy there, under the templars of the previous Human Saints.”

“And it was destroyed after a Beastman rebellion.”

“Indeed, Lord Kuro. While Telessaria is a ‘crown jewel’, we can’t deny that the city was also a symbol of repression and tyranny of humans over the Beastmen. That is where the human mercenary groups would gather to pick requests from the nobles to enslave the locals. Or merchants to buy and sell their Beastman slaves bound for Chersea. It is no surprise to us that the place would be the first in the target list of the Beastmen rebels, led by Lady Konka.”

“I see…”

The Duchess of Malvette smiled weakly, and she bowed, as if asking for forgiveness, “Lord Kuro, while I and my predecessors committed grave mistakes about our treatment of the Beastmen people in the past, I’m hoping that you will change this. I’ve chosen to be blind to what’s happening, thus, I ended up disgraced.”

“Y-Your Excellency—”

“Margaret,” she interrupted. “I’m no longer the Duchess, so addressing me by my name would be fitting.”

“Err…”

“Please!”

“A-Alright, L-Lady Margaret,” it was getting awkward.

“Just my name is—”

“No,” I insisted, “while you’re not the Duchess anymore, you’re still a noble lady. At least let me respect that.”

The former Duchess fell silent, and her cheeks were red. Well, it’s the truth, anyway; she may be disgraced, but I never thought of taking away her dignity.

“You’re really kind, milord…considering after what I’ve done to you and your friends.”

“T-Thank you for those words, milady. And let’s put our bad past behind us.”

“You’re right,” she took my hand and pressed it against her chest. I tried to keep myself from being flustered, but I guess she didn’t mind me, “Whenever you need my help, please never hesitate to come to me.”

“I will. Thank you for your offer, milady.”

----------

When I was left alone to do an initial inventory count of the books, the first part I went to was the ‘History’ section. You know me, I always love to read about the past events of a certain place, this time, in Cherwind.

“…”

There were a lot of old books and ancient-looking tomes in that corner of the library, though looking at their titles, I already read a good number of those back in Maddie’s library back in Chersea. But yes, there were still books that piqued my interest…

“The Colonization of Cherwind.”

Perhaps this is the book about Cherwind’s history? It was a big, heavy tome, with its front cover design similar to those mystical magic books of fantasy. The title was embossed in gold, and a red outline on each letter.

“Kof! Kof!” the thick dust and musty smell typical of old books greeted my nose the moment I pulled it from its shelf. After wiping the dirt, I skimmed through its pages, looking for something that might catch my eyes.

“!!!”

I was immediately drawn to a painting in one of the articles inside the book. It was a sort of a mural about a battle, so I read its description.

‘The Beastman Saint, Ruro of the Wolf, under the blessing of the hero, Cassandra David, leads the human armies in battle against the evil Beastman rebels who destroyed Telessaria.’

Indeed, the painting looked like a battle, with the image of Ruro clearly defined behind the human soldiers attacking their enemies at the foreground. Well, I don’t know if this battle did really happen in the past, so I looked at the article written beneath it, searching for clues. And it said…

“The greatest human champion of the Lord Gaius, Cassandra David, gave Her Holiness Ruro of the Wolf the ability to use magic, so she can contest the sainthood of her people against Konka of the Insetus and her supporters. Lady Cassandra thought it would be good for the Beastman people to learn of the human ways, so they can be civilized—an opinion that is shared by Lady Ruro.”

“…”

Wow…’so they can be civilized’, and that caused the enslavement of the Beastmen race. Pretty much the same reason as the colonizers back in my own world. Kill, steal and destroy…all in the name of civilization.

“…”

Come to think of it, isn’t it the spell ‘Bloodbath’ one of that Cassandra David’s ‘inventions’ as well? And it led to Lily and her ancestors live in a life of hell, as well as affect others who were with them: family, friends, and even subjects. Now this time, it was her who also caused Ruro—an otherwise ‘normal’ Beastwoman, to compete for the sainthood against Konka. And through her, the humans abused the Beastmen, that resulted in the current state of affairs…

Somehow, I’m getting the feeling that this Cassandra David…though she may be a hero of Lord Gaius, caused every trouble in this world. Not to mention, she also forced his ‘retirement’, according to the former god himself.

I closed the book and set it aside. I was thinking of bringing it along to my office once I finished my business here.

I have a lot of questions that needs to be answered…