After their garden walk, Durand mentioned his wish to use the library to Enrosa. And she said she wanted to accompany him to the library. The servant girl went to prepare tea for them, and Bolb decided to follow her for some reason.
In the library, which was wide as a temple, Durand learned new things about Kainmatrich.
'They sure do love their laws.'
Half of the library was dedicated to the history of laws and current laws around the world. Durand passed that part. All the law books looked hauntingly thick; some of them looked impossible to carry with one hand.
"Is there anything in general world history?"
"Sure."
Enrosa held a book thick as her head and dropped it onto the table, then smiled.
"Is there a thinner option?"
"I can summarize for you if you want."
"That would be great."
"No problem. Can you read anyway? Does memory loss affect that?"
Durand was about to answer, 'Of course I can read,' then stopped himself. Could he? Though he knew how to read in his past life, a long time passed. The writing was the same, right? With a curious expression, Durand opened the book.
First, he looked disappointed then it turned to relief. Though at first, it looked like the alphabet changed, actually there were only small tweaks to letters, like some dots and tails. He could read just fine.
"Yes, I can read."
"Great... So where we start, where we start~,"
"From the beginning, of course."
"The beginning... Like The beginning? Sure Poem of the Sun, then."
Enrosa opened the book and searched for something.
"Poem of the Sun?"
Durand didn't remember such a poem in his memory. But for some reason, that name filled him with an indescribable feeling. He felt certain reverence and warmth from it. A gaze even...
"Yes. If we are going to start at the beginning, starting with the creation myth sounds right. Here! I found it. Let's see...
The Poem of the Sun
In the beginning there were Nine Truths and the First Truth created Heaven and Heaven created Earth.
Heaven spoke:
On the first day, I grant you light.
On the second day-"
"Wait!"
Durand raised his voice, clutching his chest.
"Are you okay?"
Durand didn't know what happened to him suddenly; there was something swirling inside him that responded to the words Enrosa spoke. 'On the first day, I grant you light.' It was similar to his magic's chant he spoke in his mind every time he did his magic. 'On this day, I grant you existence.'
"Can I read the rest of the poem myself?"
"Sure..."
Enrosa turned the book towards Durand, and Durand's eyes dropped to the words she pointed.
The Poem of the Sun
In the beginning there were Nine Truths, and the First Truth created Heaven, and Heaven created Earth.
Heaven spoke:
On the first day, I grant you light.
On the second day, I grant you order.
On the third day, I grant you accumulation.
On the fourth day, I grant you word.
On the fifth day, I grant you desire.
On the sixth day, I grant you will.
On the seventh day, I grant you freedom.
So existence became whole in seven days.
A chill flowed through Durand's every being. There were seven swirling things inside his soul, like seven pillars of fire, but at the same time they were 'one'. That 'one' was his ability. 'On this day, I grant you existence.'
Durand thought about describing these feelings to Enrosa, but he abandoned that idea. He came from a time when witches and magic were forbidden, though these were different times. He still had that caution when it came to speaking about his magic.
"Did it help to awaken your memories?"
"Maybe, I am not sure… I got a certain feeling from it, it might be the first step towards remembering my memories."
"Hmmm... What kind of feeling?"
"Just, déjà vu."
"Is that so... Let's continue then."
Enrosa seemed suspicious of something, but Durand didn't know what exactly.
"Should we just skip to after the cataclysm? Before that, there isn't one unified history, but patches instead; it would be hard to tell it in one sitting."
"I trust your judgment."
"Okay then, just know right before the cataclysm there were three gods walking on the earth. Sama(Severity), Sakanya(Nature) and Sarrahm(Connection)"
Durand only knew Sarrahm(Connection) and what about Serementine(Mercy) pirates spoke of? And why did all their names start with 'S'?
"Two of them are still gods on the earth, by the way. Sakanya(Nature) is the goddess of nymphs, while Sama(Severity)... it can be said currently He is the god of beastmen. Sarrahm(Connection) is quite a mystery. Before the cataclysm. He was a god of some undeveloped human tribes, that's the only thing we know of Him."
Undeveloped tribes? That was rude. His town in his past life developed as much as the current world. There weren't tribes but kingdoms, cities and towns. Though Sarrahm(Connection) was the only god known in his town... Perhaps what undeveloped meant there, humans who were ignorant of the existence of other gods.
There was another thing that drew Durand's attention from what Enrosa said. Nymphs Goddess, it was probably Her.
"...Does the book have a description of how they look? It might help my memory problem."
"It is well known. Sama(Severity) has bone white hair, black eyes and a sickly looking body. Sakanya(Nature) has blue hair, amber eyes and a thin but motherly body. Again no information on Sarrahm(Connection)."
Indeed She was Her, that nymph taught him about the gods. And for some reason Sama(Severity)'s description gave him a sense of déjà vu like he met with Him in his previous life. Durand didn't want to deal with that implication now. Could his reincarnation and magic come from meeting with Him? It was a mystery and the only way to learn the truth was to regain his memories.
"Sorry for the interruption. You may continue."
Durand got annoyed with his own heavy tone. Enrosa raised one eyebrow in confusion, then shrugged and continued.
"So as I said these three gods were only gods before the Cataclysm. Sama(Severity), god of humans, got corrupted and caused the Cataclysm. It released Tiamat to the world so the earth was infested by the monsters and it caused the Darklands in the middle of the continent. The soil there turned dark and to this day nothing grows except seedless golden life trees. Around each tree a beastmen tribe settled, and after centuries they devolved their religion around Sama(Severity) and those trees.
Humans, on the other hand, sought refuge in the Sky Island during the cataclysm. After one century or so, they dropped to the west of the Darklands, where the land was still green. And they built an empire under the leadership of the Prophet. The Ancient Magic wasn't enough to fight monsters so the Prophet prayed to the gods for blessing and four gods answered the prayer giving four blessings that form battle formation against monsters.
One blessing for attackers; be it sword, axe, or bow, when a person masters a weapon the blessing gives them strength equivalent to their mastery.
One blessing for defenders, when a person escapes from death, the blessing gives them the ability to change their luck. They change to bad luck and draw the attention of the monsters then change to good luck and evade all attacks. The luck here is only luck related directly to their life and death; they can't use it for gambling or change other people's luck.
One blessing for healers, when a person helps others without expecting benefit to themselves the blessing gives them the ability to heal. Normally, they join the Temple to better organize their efforts.
One blessing for mages, when a person knows the truth of a legend they gain power from that legend. This one nobles have a monopoly on it, so for commoners, mage means noble."
Enrosa let out a sigh. It seemed she had already gotten bored.
"The people came out victorious against the monster. Then the empire split, as it lost its common enemy, reunited later, then split again, this time everybody thought it would remain split, but it reunited again! Because dan, dan, dannn! Sama(Severity) awakened from His long sleep as a Corrupted God, and all separated beastman tribes formed the Beastment Alliance under His banner. The golden life trees rotted away upon his awakening so the beastmen decided to take green lands of the human realm to survive. Now it's reunited, the human empire is at war with the Beastmen Alliance to protect their lands."
Enrosa closed the book and spread her arms to bow like an actress.
"...Thank you for your time."
Though Durand didn't understand how an empire was warring against a god… Perhaps corruption prevented Him from being involved or… maybe the gods weren't so powerful except the creator god Sakanya(Nature) mentioned.
"Sorry for speeding up... History is not that fun. I would rather practice my magic."
"I am sure that would be more fun."
"Yesss it is! Hey, tell me your magic. You beat those goblins, so it must be something with attack power. Mine is a utility thing, so it isn't that cool, though I still like it."
Was it really okay to tell her? He didn't beat those goblins, but Bolb must have told the story that way, so he didn't want to say something conflicted.
He had already shown it to the Bolb, so maybe it was okay. Refusing might be suspicious at this point.
"Do you have a pen?"
"There must be one around here…"
Enrosa went deeper into the library and came back with a feather and an ink bottle. Durand took the feather dipped in the bottle a few times and drew a bird on the table. Then he touched it.
'On this day, I grant you existence.'
Then his usual magic process happened. Enrosa's mouth gaped as she watched. For a moment even Durand was awed because it was his first time seeing a black 'light'. It was like seeing the world through a formless dark glass.
Then, at the end of the process, a bird came into existence and took flight.
"Wha!"
Enrosa's wide eyes followed the bird as it circled in the library's ceiling. Then she turned to Durand.
"That was so cool!"
Durand smiled at that praise.
"I am sure your magic is cooler."
"Hehe... It isn't flashy like yours, and it isn't something that can be shown, you see. But you will experience it, I promise you I won't let you be the only one that shows theirs."
"I am waiting then."
"Hm, Hm, you won't wait much, but I want it to be a surprise -sorry beforehand-."
"Sorry beforehand?"
The sorry part said so quickly Durand barely managed to catch it.
"Did I say that? Sounds weird. Ah, look at the sun. Isn't it setting? I think it is time to sleep, eh?"
"...Sleep? It's just setting now?"
Enrosa raised Durand in her arms and pushed him out of the library.
"Sleeping is good for your health, you know. Especially having a good dream is best! Just have a sweet dream, okay?"
Enrosa smiled sheepishly and devilishly at the same time, her eyes had a mischievous glint.
"Sweet, sweet dream hehe."
This sounded like if he were to sleep, something dangerous was going to happen.
"You are scaring me..."
"There's nothing to worry about. Look."
Durand stood in front of the door and looked at Enrosa as she ordered. Behind her was the window of the library, the sky filled with sunset colored clouds, the same color as Enrosa's hair. She shut her blue eyes with a smile.
"See… just shut your eyes and sleep."
She had the same smile as when she told that joke about her parents, so Durand knew this was some kind of trap, but what could he do? Not sleep?
"Sure..."