**The participants stood near the massive library door.**
The door was enormous.
As Aragi had said — about five meters tall.
Five meters. Nearly three Yahwes stacked on top of each other. Nearly the height of the participants' ambitions, if those could be measured in meters. Nearly as tall as... well, just a *very* big door.
— Well done, — Kamiki said. — But where did you find the key? We searched every room but couldn't locate it.
— Including Gerudo's own room, — Aragi confirmed. — We combed through every corner together. Didn't miss a single suspicious crack.
— The key wasn't hidden in the mansion at all, — Cheryl said calmly. — It was outside the entire time.
— Cheryl and I figured it might be in the storage shed. It's near the garden. We usually keep meat and drinks there. And, as it turns out — a few other things.
— There's been a *storage shed* here all along? — Yahweh said, surprised. — Why do we always learn about these things last?
Why do we learn about *everything* last?
Corpses, cryptic writings, spells, storage sheds, for hell's sake.
Maybe this mansion operates on a rule: panic first, facts later.
— Apologies, — Cheryl said, not sounding particularly apologetic. — Until now, there was no need to mention the shed.
— We didn't think he'd keep the key there, either.
A storage shed.
The library key, stored next to meat and wine.
Maybe Gerudo considered knowledge part of the feast. Or he had… peculiar culinary tastes.
— Let's not waste time and open this monstrosity already. Since you found the key, you do the honors.
Monstrosity.
A word better suited for video game bosses than doors. Though, in this case...
Morgana stood nervously by the door, staring at the key.
Staring at it like it might bite her.
As if the key were cursed. Or just *too* important.
— Morgana, what's wrong? — Cheryl asked. — They're waiting for us to open it.
— I'd love to, but…
*Pause.*
And not just any pause — a *weighted* one, the kind that makes the air in the room feel heavier.
Cheryl seemed to suddenly remember something. Something critical. Something Gerudo had once told them.
Something they *really* should've recalled sooner. But drama demands timing, doesn't it?
— We apologize for the delay, — he began. — But we can't open the door.
Pause.
Everyone looked at him like he'd just confessed the door was alive.
— What's the issue? It's just a door.
Just a door?
Except, as it turned out, one with magical safeguards.
*"Now I finally understand that fleeting feeling from before…
Beyond its size, this door was wrapped in magic."*
— The key alone isn't enough, — Cheryl continued. — The mansion's first owner enchanted it to protect the grimoires.
— He sealed the library's entrance between the 10th and 11th layers of dimensions.
What?
Between *what and what*?
A normal person would've lain down after hearing that. Us? We just frowned slightly.
— That's… unexpected, — Hov said. — Who'd have thought some old man could manage that?
*"If we still had access to our powers, this wouldn't be an issue.
Just recall one of Yahweh's feats.
In his time, he's slain countless transcendent beings."*
*Unpleasant memories. Bloody ones.*
— Then how did *Gerudo* open it?
— Surprisingly, — Morgana said, — despite being an ordinary human, Gerudo-sama could open it with ease.
— If a non-magical person could do it, why can't we?
— Give me that damn key and step aside, — Yahweh said. — I'll try opening it.
*"Yahweh's betting that if Gerudo — a normal human — could open it, so can he, even without temporary magic access."*
Sometimes things are simple. So simple it's almost frightening.
Insert the key. Turn it.
The door made a sound.
Not quite a creak. More like… the inhale of something alive.
With a bit of effort — it opened.
— You're a remarkable man, Yahweh.
Stepping inside, they saw before them…
…endless shelves, packed with books.
The room was so vast it seemed infinite.
If someone claimed a madman built it, believing them wouldn't be hard.
— This place grows more unsettling by the minute.
— How do we find the right book to translate the glyphs?
— Stay alert, — Cheryl said, with the air of an expert. — Some grimoires are powerful enough to grant limitless strength.
— Speaking of, — Yahweh cut in. — I've been thinking. You said they contain immense power… but isn't that ideal? We could use them to survive these days.
— The hostess likely accounted for that.
Perhaps those grimoires are sealed now.
Or rendered inert.
Or worse — rigged to kill whoever uses them.
— Should've expected that. Then let's hurry and find the book we need.
— We'll assist. It won't be easy — locating one text among thousands.
*"This could take all day…
Doubt we'll miraculously find the right one quickly."*
Yet — after what felt like an hour, or perhaps an eternity — the lines were found:
**避けられない定めを拒み,争うことは,ただ自らを滅ぼすだけだ.**
**過去への罪悪感と後悔に囚われれば,その瞬間に苦しみの中で死ぬだろう.**
**「親しい人への愛は,必ずあなたの心を乱し,苦悩の深淵にあなたを落としてしまうでしょう.」**
**敵に対して悔いの念を抱くな.**
Four lines.
Four meanings.
Four knives sheathed in silk.
But what do they mean? And who wrote them?
*"Perhaps,"* I thought, *"this could help prove Enua's innocence."*