A red light filled the entire space, and Caroline quickly stood in front of Charlotte to protect her.

The light slowly began to dissipate, and Charlotte peeked around Caroline's back. "Did it explode?"

"No." The skull still appeared intact on the outside, but the book inside had turned to ashes.

Charlotte grabbed the skull, shook it near her ear, and poured the contents onto the floor. She sifted through the ashes, trying to find something meaningful.

She let out a frustrated cry. "I thought I could find something."

"Please, don’t be sad, miss. You can’t learn magic outside of white alchemy," Caroline said gently, trying to comfort her.

The book apparently had some kind of spell that caused it to self-destruct if anyone other than Kelly touched it. They should be relieved that Kelly hadn’t placed additional traps.

Feeling discouraged, Charlotte tossed the skull aside. She didn’t want to learn magic, she just wanted a battle trophy.

Caroline spotted something under the medicine shelf and picked it up. It was a handful of sheep-skin scrolls with some poetry written on them.

Charlotte immediately perked up, circling around Caroline, who was holding the scrolls.

"They must be original texts," Charlotte said. "Can I read them? Will my brain turn into book pages if I do?"

"I wouldn’t recommend trying," Caroline replied.

"But there must be a way to read them without turning my brain into a book," Charlotte insisted. "Otherwise, how would Kelly know how to use them? I don’t believe there are two sorcerers around here."

"There must be an explanation, miss," Caroline suggested. "Do you remember the attack we suffered on the road?"

"Do you think Kelly was the red alchemist? That’s impossible. The magic on Mr. Senda was placed before we got into the car," Charlotte countered. "Whether red or white, any alchemy from that distance I would have felt."

"I agree with you, miss. But this proves there is a red alchemist in Iris. The distance between Iris and Solvellon isn’t that great. They could easily travel between cities and have taught Kelly."

"But, Caroline, alchemy and witchcraft aren’t the same thing. Red and white alchemy have the same essence. You can learn red alchemy through white alchemy, even though it’s difficult. There’s no need for grimoires or things like that."

"I just wanted to warn you not to dismiss this possibility, miss."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Okay, okay." Charlotte poked at the scrolls. "What should we do with this?"

"According to imperial law, grimoires must be publicly destroyed. But as a noble, you have the right to decide."

"Well, I think I should burn it," Charlotte said hesitantly. "But, hmm, I’m still not of age. I’ll let my grandfather decide. Until then, I’ll keep it myself. Yes, that’s it."

"You have the right to decide," Caroline reiterated.

"Hold this for me, Caroline," Charlotte said cheerfully. "After all, it won’t turn your thinking gear into a book."

Charlotte started to feel everything around her blur. Her eyelids became heavy. "Oh no," she thought as she slowly collapsed forward, being caught by Caroline.

"Sorry, Caroline, I think I need..."

"I understand, miss," Caroline replied before she finished. "Rest. I’ll take care of the rest."

Charlotte needed to sleep for eight hours. After the battle, exhaustion had finally overtaken her. Hearing Caroline's words, she relaxed and fell into a deep sleep.

Caroline watched Charlotte close her eyes, and upon hearing her breathing become steady, realized that she had fallen asleep. Then, carefully, she carried the girl outside, disappearing into the night.

............

Charlotte was awakened by the smell of food.

The red moon was already above the trees visible through the window. Caroline entered the room holding a tray.

"I calculated the timing, miss," Caroline said when she saw Charlotte waking up. Placing the tray on the table, she continued, "I thought you’d be awake by now. Forgive me, at this hour I could only prepare lunch."

"I don’t mind," Charlotte replied as her stomach growled. She jumped out of bed and began eating without ceremony.

After lunch, Caroline collected the dishes and asked, "Miss, you mentioned hearing a baby crying?"

"Yes, I also had a dream." Charlotte tried to remember, but could only recall a warm light. "I don’t remember what I dreamed."

Caroline didn’t pay much attention to Charlotte's dreams. Though she didn’t dream herself, she knew it was normal to forget them upon waking. "But, miss, it’s impossible that you heard a cry."

"Who knows, Caroline. Maybe it’s a ‘revelation,’" Charlotte said wisely. "Like in the novels, where the Great Tree predestines someone to kill sorcerers, starting a legend."

"Could it be an innate ability of yours?" Caroline asked.

Nobles received two abilities when they were baptized: one inherited from the family and another unique to them.

"I doubt it. My unique ability should be like my father's, related to alchemy. As for the family ability..." Charlotte thought of her dark and bloody lineage’s power and shook her head vigorously. "Don’t joke, I haven’t killed anyone."

"Let that go, Caroline," Charlotte decided. "Let’s call it a revelation. We don’t need to investigate everything. We’ve already lost an entire day, get everything ready for us to leave."

As they descended the stairs, they encountered Venym. "Leaving already? Don’t you want to stay a few more days?" Venym tried to convince them, generous clients were rare.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Venym. The threat has been eliminated, and we shouldn’t prolong our stay," Charlotte replied.

"Ah, the threat... Well, there are still some somewhat evil things here, like four-legged goats, two-legged chickens, or that John... yes, he seems pretty suspicious, always with the goats..." Caroline gave Venym a cold look, silencing him.

"Ah, I mean, maybe he’s a sorcerer," Venym revised.

Charlotte spotted a bottle on the wine stand containing familiar herbs.

"And that bottle?" Charlotte asked.

"That one? Oh, it has a story! I..." Venym began to make up a story without even looking.

"Sorry, I meant I recognize the herbs inside it," Charlotte interrupted.

Venym looked at the bottle. "Ah, that was Kelly’s. Since she ran away, I thought about using the herbs with a secret recipe..."

Charlotte looked at Caroline. "Ran away, huh?"

"I imagine she got tired of exile and wants to start over. She left everything to her friends here and asked me, after her departure, to notify the others," Caroline replied, winking at Charlotte.