TYHL 134

~Chapter 134~

“Alright. Come into my office! And about our special curriculum for the future…”

“What? Oh, no, I just want to read books in the old library.”

“Sorry if I sound dramatic, but the old library isn’t open right now. Luckily, I have some copies I made, so let’s start with those…”

“…”

“Rubian?”

Rubian moved her lips for a moment.

“Wait, this isn’t what I wanted…”

“What did you say?”

“Um, it’s nothing!”

“By the way… what’s that next to you?”

Yuliophe pointed at the big basket beside Rubian.

She dragged the basket over and set it in front of him.

“Oh, this is my lunchbox! I ordered it from the student cafeteria.”

It was full of shrimp sandwiches, sweet fruits, and drinks.

“Can I look at the copies while I eat this?”

Rubian asked. Yuliophe rubbed his eyes with big dark circles and nodded.

“Do what you want. Just come in.”

“Yay, thank you!”

I went inside and stopped for a second.

The professor’s office was a total mess.
There were things everywhere, and the curtains were tightly closed, making the whole room dark.

‘Did he forget to open the curtains?’

How busy is he?

It was a place where you wouldn’t be surprised if a person turned into a ghost!

“Professor! It’s dark and kind of scary. It even smells musty… Can I open the curtains and windows?”

“Win…dows? My office has those? …Oh, it does?”

Yuliophe slowly went to the window, pulled back the curtains, and opened it.

Soft morning sunlight filled the room, making him squint.

“Okay, let’s look at the copies and talk. Over there…”

“Professor!”

I pulled up a chair and sat down.

“I’m hungry! Will you eat with me?”

I dragged the basket over. Yuliophe scratched his chin, looking a bit troubled.

“I’m not really hungry. Just sit there and eat by yourself. When you finish, I’ll show you the books.”

“…I don’t like eating alone. I’m the youngest at home, so I always eat with my family…”

“Ah…”

“Even though I look like this, I’m kind of spoiled…”

“Alright, alright. Don’t look like you’re going to cry. I’ll eat with you.”

Seeing my sad face, Yuliophe sat down across from me.

He took a big shrimp sandwich, not very happy, and took a small bite. I watched him and ate my sandwich too.

“It’s good, right?”

“…Yeah, I guess so.”

Even though he ate slowly, he finished about half of the sandwich.

A little later, I was out of breath.

“You said you were hungry, but you didn’t eat much.”

“I’m at my limit, right at the edge, so full…”

“Even if my office is messy, don’t throw up in here.”

Oh, the professor ate so slowly I ended up eating too much.

While I rubbed my full stomach, Yuliophe looked at me and let out a small laugh.

“Come to think of it… It’s been a while since I ate lunch.”

“Why? You should eat three meals a day.”

“Yeah, I guess. I haven’t had a meal like this in a long time.”

He looked a little better and started cleaning the table.

“Now I’ll show you the copies.”

“Okay!”

I swung my legs while watching Yuliophe’s back.

On his desk was the precious old book I’d seen before.

Hmm…

‘Now is a good time.’

I wiggled my fingers and suddenly, a strong wind blew in from the open window.

The curtains puffed up and papers in the room started to fly everywhere.

“Oh no.”

Yuliophe frowned and hurried to close the window.

“What’s with this sudden wind? Is it autumn weather…?”

“Whoa, that scared me.”

I quietly lowered my magic hand.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine… Oh? Professor!”

I opened my eyes wide and looked straight ahead.

“The old book on the desk…”

“Oh no.”

“The wind was so strong, all the writing in the book is gone!”

I shouted, looking at the wide-open book. Yuliophe suddenly looked shocked.

“Did your salary get blown away with the book, too, Professor?”

“Rubian, please don’t say things that creepy.”

Yuliophe shivered. He carefully checked the old book, gently turning the pages, and put a bookmark on the part where there was still writing.

“…Sigh. You saw it after all.”

Yuliophe’s thin shoulders drooped.

“Professor?”

“Yeah, there’s no point hiding it now… The truth is, the old books in our academy are turning blank.”

Yuliophe confessed calmly.

I sat and listened quietly. He dug through the basket, put a straw in a strawberry soda, and placed it in front of me.

“I tried everything to stop it for the past few weeks… but I think I’m at my limit.”

“Why is it happening?”

“I don’t know. No matter how hard I look for the cause, I can’t figure it out.”

A bitter smile appeared on his neat face.

“All I can say is, the magical blessing that used to protect the old library has disappeared…”

He suddenly looked ten years older as he drank his recovery drink.

After a moment of silence, he spoke again with a heavy face.

“I’m sorry, Rubian.”

“Why are you apologizing to me?”

Yuliophe gave a faint smile.

“I wanted to protect these old books and pass them on to my students. Just like my teacher did. And like my teacher’s teacher did.”

“I’m sorry I probably won’t be able to pass this precious legacy down to your generation…”

Ah, so that’s why.

Now I understood why Yuliophe had brought the fragile old book to class.

He wanted to show us as much as he could while there was still something left. Even just one more letter, one more picture.

He didn’t want us to grow up without seeing the empire’s heritage, kept for thousands of years.

Yuliophe added, looking lonely.

“I don’t even have the face to see my dead colleagues anymore. They risked their lives to protect these records, but I couldn’t protect them…”

His voice was lower than ever.

I looked at Yuliophe Molton.

He always hid behind complaints about work and pay, but he actually loved this academy and its old library more than anyone.

‘Maybe that’s why, in the original story, Yuliophe died.’

He couldn’t handle the weight of life and finally gave up.

‘I can’t say this is the only reason, but…’

Maybe he just reached the point where he couldn’t carry the sadness anymore.
The bigger his pure heart, the greater his despair.

“Professoooor!”

Ding, ding, ding, ding.

I banged my spoon on the strawberry soda bottle.

“Are you okay? Are you still hungry? Want more sandwich? Or should we move somewhere sunny?”

“Rubian?”

I smiled at Yuliophe, seeing the dark shadow on his face.

“Life has no real meaning! The happiest thing is just to live without thinking about meaning!”

“What?”

“That’s what my grandpa always said!”

I smiled brightly.

‘His colleagues died, and he can’t even protect the books they cared about, so his guilt must be huge.’

But, Professor Yuliophe!

There’s no problem in the world that doesn’t have an answer!

First, we need to stop the books from turning blank.
The answer to my curse might be hidden in all this. I don’t want to lose any more important records either.

“Alright… I’ll remember that.”

Yuliophe patted my head as if I was very precious. At least he didn’t seem as down now.

“And… can’t you just restore the blank books? There are so many copies in your office!”

He nodded.

“Yes. I’m planning to hire restorers from outside. But… there’s no point unless we stop the blank pages first.”

He let out a long sigh.

Yuliophe tried to smile, changing the mood.

“Anyway, even with all this, our academy is still a great place. You should think about enrolling next year, okay?”

“Then, will you teach me the ancient language, Professor?”

“Well…”

Yuliophe’s face looked a bit awkward.