Subaru slowly opened her eyes. The first thing to enter her vision was Tsukasa, floating in mid-air, with an exquisite dome bathed in morning light behind him.
She stared blankly at the overly luxurious room decorations, unconsciously shaking her head as she thought to herself, 'Am I still unconscious? Has the Consciousness Space become this refined already?'
"This isn't a dream."
In an instant, Tsukasa's voice pulled her back to reality.
Hearing Tsukasa's words, Subaru took a deep breath. She felt the soft touch of the velvet sheets beneath her and the faint scent of incense in the air, sighing in admiration.
"Living in a mansion really is different. This pillow, this air... it's just like a dream."
She looked around. The room, nearly thirty square meters, held a large bed, big enough for seven or eight people to sleep in at once. This bizarre layout made her feel a faint sense of strangeness.
Tsukasa curled his lips slightly at an angle Subaru couldn't see. He had already noticed the abnormality of this space—it wasn't the real world. However, he didn't plan to point it out, even though he could take her away at any time.
"Haaa—"
Subaru stretched lazily, her pajama collar inadvertently slipping to reveal a small patch of skin. Although Tsukasa immediately looked away, the peerless insight granted by his Six Eyes still allowed him to catch a glimpse of that radiance.
"Tsukasa, you saw that, didn't you?"
"I didn't."
"You definitely saw it!"
"There was nothing worth seeing."
Subaru immediately bristled, "I might not have much now, but I'll still grow, okay!"
Hearing Subaru's words, Tsukasa waved his hand dismissively, an action that made her even more frustrated.
Subaru comforted herself for a while before beginning to check her physical condition. To her surprise, she found that all her wounds had healed, and even the bruises had vanished without a trace.
"This is even more impressive than surgery."
Recalling her previous wretched state, she felt as if she had been reborn.
From an ordinary high school girl to an otherworld survivor, having experienced two life-and-death crises and befriending Emilia.
Subaru suddenly remembered something important. "Where is Lia? How long have I been unconscious?"
This was a question even Tsukasa couldn't answer. After all, while Subaru was unconscious, his range of activity was limited to the Consciousness Space.
Subaru said excitedly, "Tsukasa, we've latched onto a powerful backer this time."
Tsukasa hesitated to speak, finally only offering a soft reminder, "Although she's a powerful backer, still..."
What he couldn't say was: the master might not necessarily welcome them.
Hearing Tsukasa stop halfway, Subaru shrugged. She then took a deep breath of fresh air and said with a bright smile, "In any case, we're finally going to live the good life, right?"
Just then, Subaru noticed something was off—the surroundings were terrifyingly quiet, she couldn't even hear the summer cicadas.
"Let's go see Lia first."
The moment she pushed open the door, cold air rushed at her. Before her was a warm-toned corridor that seemed to have no end, stretching infinitely to the left and right.
"Tsukasa... this is a bit too grand, isn't it? And it's so strange that such a huge house has no servants."
"If you think it's strange, you should stay vigilant." Tsukasa, who had followed her out, answered Subaru meaningfully.
Hearing Tsukasa's words, Subaru immediately understood. "The sense of abnormality in the space... is it a trap?"
She tried walking forward for a bit, only to find herself walking in circles.
While she tried to break the deadlock, Tsukasa muttered to himself, "It's somewhat similar to Infinity, but it's far from it."
After trying for a long time, Subaru finally got a clue. "An infinite corridor..."
Knowing the principle, she closed her eyes. Under the influence of Tsukasa's mana, she could see the flow of mana trails in the air. In her darkened vision, only one door was surrounded by intense mana fluctuations.
"It's right here!"
She turned to face the door with the oil painting—the very one she had just walked out of. When she grasped the doorknob, a voice came from inside.
"How did you find Betty?"
Subaru stood at the door, stunned into silence by the sight before her.
This was no mere room, it was a vast sea of books. Bookshelves towering to the ceiling filled the space like a forest, its scale several times larger than the previous bedroom. Tens of thousands of books were neatly arranged, a quantity so vast it would likely take a hundred years to finish reading.
In the center of the sea of books, a girl lifted her eyes. Her appearance was that of an exquisite doll with long curly hair, wearing a lace-trimmed European-style outfit. She looked to be no more than eleven or twelve years old.
"How exactly did you find Betty?"
The curly-haired girl in the center of the sea of books questioned Subaru again.
Tsukasa walked in alongside Subaru. When he saw the girl, he reached her side in an instant and began to examine her closely.
Then, with an interested expression, he spoke, "Are you the same kind of existence as that little cat? The person who created them makes me quite curious."
Hearing Tsukasa's words, Subaru snapped back to her senses at that moment and cautiously answered the curly-haired girl, "I guess it was observation. The mana around this door is particularly dense."
The curly-haired girl immediately denied it. "Incorrect. It's impossible for mana to leak from the Forbidden Library. Who exactly are you?"
Seeing that this doll-like curly-haired loli didn't believe Subaru's words, Tsukasa said with a smile, "Why not just answer her with luck?"
"Maybe it was luck. By the way, your name is Betty, right? Betty-chan, can you tell big sister how to leave this place?"
Perhaps because of Subaru's luck explanation, or perhaps because of the 'little girl' part, the girl's face instantly darkened, and she muttered, "You... called Betty a little girl?"
"Are you not?"
Feeling the sudden chill in the air and realizing she had said something wrong, Subaru hurriedly looked toward Tsukasa, who was beside Betty, for help.
Tsukasa answered Subaru's question with a smile, "She should be the same kind of existence as Emilia's partner, Puck. Hmm... she's probably lived for a hundred years."
Instantly realizing her slip of the tongue, Subaru quickly bowed and apologized to Betty, "I'm very sorry. Betty-sama, I meant no offense."
The magical halo gathering in Betty's hand slowly dissipated, and she gave a cold snort. "Does Betty look that young? Also, there's no need for 'sama'. I'll forgive you this time."
Just as Betty refocused on the book in her hand, Tsukasa had naturally stood beside her, browsing the pages along with her. This scene made the sweating Subaru unable to help but facepalm.
When Subaru tried to read the books on the shelves, she discovered another problem.
"This script... I can't read it at all."
She looked at Tsukasa, wondering if he could understand the script of this world. What Subaru didn't know was that Tsukasa naturally couldn't read it either. He just thought the illustrations in the book were interesting.
Betty closed the book and spoke with an impatient tone to Subaru, who was pacing in the room, "Since you can't read it, then leave Betty's Forbidden Library quickly and stop wandering around in front of Betty."
Hearing Betty's words, Subaru clasped her hands together in a plea. "Actually, I really want to leave, but could you tell me how?"
"Just push the door."
Betty suddenly seemed to remember something and revealed a mischievous smile. "However, before that, please don't move."
"Eh?"
Before Subaru could react, Betty had already approached with light steps.
Looking at the girl who only reached her chest, Subaru felt a sudden chill for a moment.
What was the girl in front of her going to do to her?
Just as Subaru was about to ask, Betty's next words forced the question back down.
"Anything else to say?"
"I... I guess not..."
"Very well, that way you won't say Betty is heartless."
Betty's hand lightly touched Subaru's forehead, while her other hand swept across her chest.
Subaru was about to speak but felt a surge of dizziness.
"Ugh...?"
Her entire body felt as if it were being drained by some force, with a strange discomfort spreading from her fingertips to the tips of her hair. Her vision gradually blurred, but Tsukasa, watching from the side, remained still.
He said indifferently, "It's just mana absorption. This is a good opportunity to reintegrate the chaotic mana inside you."
At this moment, although she knew her life wasn't in danger, Subaru couldn't speak. If it weren't for Betty's hand holding her body through suction, she probably would have collapsed on the floor.
In the next second, a dazzling blue light erupted from within Subaru. This abrupt change caused Betty to exclaim in surprise,
"What?! I can't pull my hand back!"
This was naturally Tsukasa's doing.
Wanting to absorb Subaru's mana for free? At the very least, a price should be paid—so help me clear her mana channels.
He placed his hand on Subaru's shoulder and smiled slightly. In an instant, the mana within Subaru surged out from her "Gate," yet only the portion belonging to Tsukasa remained—this was the beginning of his guidance for Subaru onto a brand-new path.
"Let's get rid of that 'exhaust' first."
The moment Tsukasa's voice fell, blue light enveloped the entire Forbidden Library, and both Subaru and Betty collapsed onto the floor.
"Next, the teaching will be much simpler."
Tsukasa moved his shoulders slightly. In the vision of the Six Eyes, Subaru's mana, which had originally raged like a chaotic school of fish, had now turned into a calm pond.
However, Tsukasa failed to notice that a wisp of hidden black mana had quietly slipped into this newborn 'waters.'
(End of Chapter)
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