He ignored the strange looks of the people around him. Yet an unknown fear was silently building inside him, as if something awaited him ahead, still hidden, but slowly approaching him.
Erwin was no longer lost in thought. Just then Olivia's voice came through
"Master, you can talk to me telepathically if you want."
Telepathic, he was not surprised to hear
Erwin noticed that Olivia was walking silently beside him, but it was as if she was not on the ground but floating in the air. The students coming and going in the corridor were passing through her body, no one could see her, no one could even sense her existence.
"Do you want to know something?" Erwin asked, successfully using telepathy.
Olivia's voice came softly,
"No, Master… actually nothing like that. Sorry."
The conversation stopped there, but another thing was swirling in Erwin's mind. Today he has to meet the history professor Mr. Olde Pager. Because the professor wants to give Erwin the responsibility of translating a rare ancient language book in his collection. If the book is translated correctly, it will be published in the future. Erwin is the only one in the entire class who can understand that language, which is why this important responsibility has fallen on his shoulders.
The name of the language was "Fellow". About three and a half thousand years ago, this language was prevalent in the northeastern continent of Ushia. It is said that at that time, Ushia was the largest continent in the world. Later, due to some unknown disaster, it gradually began to sink into the sea, and today it only survives as a lonely island.
Some people at that time survived the destruction and spread to different lands. Erwin knew that his father knew this Fellow language. Maybe he himself was a descendant of Ushia, or he acquired knowledge of this language from someone from some nation on that ancient continent.
Mr. Erwin's family had a long-standing relationship with Olde Pager. Erwin's father had once been his tutor. From that source, the professor knew that Erwin's father was an expert in the Yellow language.
But he did not spread that knowledge to everyone. Like a treasure hidden in silence, he taught this ancient language only to his son. Night after night, sitting by the dim light of a candle, deciphering the meaning of broken pronunciation and strange symbols, he instilled in Erwin's mind the words and memories of a lost civilization.
Today, that secret education is what sets Erwin apart. In the crowd of countless students in the class, he is the only one who, when he sees the letters of the Fellow language, hears not just signs, but the echoes of a sunken continent.
And because Mr. Olde Pager knows this, the burden of that ancient book has fallen into Erwin's hands.
Erwin stood in front of the professor's office and said in a soft voice, "Sir, may I come in?"
A calm but firm voice came from inside,
"You don't have to ask permission."
Erwin opened the door and looked at Mr. Pager as he entered. He must have been over thirty, but there was a kind of mature stability in his demeanor. Black neat hair, deep brown eyes, and a slender body of about six and a half feet tall. Looking at that warm, confident smile on his face, it seemed that he was not just a professor, but a man with a true passion for knowledge.
Mr. Pager got up from his chair and said,
"Sit down, Erwin. It's been a long time since I've seen you up close. I remember your father."
Erwin pulled out a chair and sat down.
Mr. Pager asked with a mixture of mild curiosity and sincerity,
"How is your mother?"
His voice was not only polite, but also a touch of warm memory of an old relationship, as if the question concealed the silent respect of the days spent with Erwin's father.
"He is fine," Erwin answered calmly.
"Professor, will you give me that book today?" Erwin asked in a natural manner.
There was politeness in his voice, but there was clear excitement in his heart. He could not suppress his curiosity because what was this book really about, why did Mr. Pager specifically want to give him the responsibility of translating it?
An ancient book written in the Fellow language... a language that is almost like lost history today. Were the memories of the sunken civilization of the Ushi continent hidden within those pages? Or some knowledge that was strangely intertwined with the present?
These questions were surging in his mind, but he did not express anything with his mouth, just waited for the professor's answer.
"Yes," he said, and slowly turned to the back shelf. After a while, he unlocked a bookshelf door and pulled out a book.
Erwin's gaze immediately fell on the book. The ancient leather bound book was worn by time, the edges frayed, and the top was almost black, as if the shadow of centuries of history had lingered there.
It seemed that this book was not just a collection of pages; it carried the memories of countless ages, the breath of lost civilizations, and the weight of unknown mysteries.
However, even in the wear and tear, a deep sense of care was evident. Even if the leather was stained by time, it was not the result of neglect, but of careful preservation. The straight arrangement of the pages, the delicate stitching of a torn part in one place, and the thin leather covering at the corners all indicated that someone had kept this book as their most precious possession for a long time.
He pulled the book to his chest with both hands, as if carrying a fragile treasure. Then he bowed his head in respect.
"I will do my best, sir," he said softly.
Mr. Pager smiled softly. There was a hint of hope and a strange expectation hidden in that smile.
Erwin slowly walked towards the door. Before going out, he looked back once. The silence of the office, the old shelves, and the smell of ancient books seemed to be drawing him towards an invisible current. Then he quietly closed the door and took his book with him and said goodbye to the professor.
He finally reached the front of the house. From what he could understand from the whispers of the people on the street, an unknown uneasiness grew in his chest because the Church had now taken over the investigation of the palace incident. The matter was no longer just a rumor or a town gossip; it had become an official investigation, where every name, every presence, every absence would be recorded.
Erwin had to be careful.
"I have arrived," he said as he stepped into the house. Seeing his younger sister in front of him, a soft light flashed in his eyes for a moment.
His mother worked as a foreman in a bakery. That world filled with the fire of dawn and the smell of flour was their livelihood. And he himself, still a university student, could not join any permanent job because he had not finished his studies, the responsibility and uncertainty of the future seemed to be silently weighing on his shoulders.
Erwin and his sister Cherry finished lunch. The dining table was now empty, only the dim light cast a gentle shadow on their faces. The two siblings looked at each other in silence for a moment. The thoughts of the day's busyness, the university and the events going on in the street were at least somewhat peaceful.
After lunch, he went into his room and closed the door. Lying on the bed, he looked up at the ceiling and asked Olivia, "Can I go to that strange realm just in my sleep at night?"
There was a hint of curiosity in his voice.
"I can't say for sure," Olivia answered slowly and the afternoon light was slowly fading. Erwin felt that the door to this unknown world was perhaps not connected to his sleep, but to his fate.
Silence fell for a moment. Only the ticking of the wall clock and the faint noise of the distant street could be heard inside the room. In the midst of that silence, Erwin said slowly, "Should I try to recite that spell again? Because everything started after reciting that spell…"
Hesitation and curiosity were mixed together in her voice. It seemed that she was afraid, but the tension of the mystery was deeper than that fear. Olivia floated in the void and looked at him.
Olivia nodded her head in agreement with a faint smile. His voice was soft, but there was a strange firmness hidden in it "Try it out ."