Tatakau Shisho - Volume 08

by Yamagata Ishio

  Tatakau Shisho

  vol.8 - Fighting Librarians And The Beasts Of The Final Chapter

  by Yamagata Ishio

  Novel Updates

  Translation Group: Tatakau Shisho LN Translation

  Epub: Trollo WN/LN EPUB

  CHARACTERS

  Yukizona

  An Armed Libarian and the next in line to become the Acting Director. He is sickly, but his fighting capablities are second only to Hamyuts.

  Hamyuts

  Bantorra Library’s Acting Director. Ruthless and extremely belligerent. Controls a sling.

  Mattalast

  An Armed Librarian and Hamyuts’s right-hand man. A powerful man with a Prediction ability. His nature is that of a liar.

  Lascall

  The personification of the weapon that allows people’s stories to continue – the Passed Stone Blade Yor.

  Enlike

  A warrior who controls lightning. He vanished after the Indulging God Cult had been overthrown.

  Olivia

  A woman who opposed the Armed Librarians and Hamyuts in order to destroy Heaven.

  Kyasariro

  An Armed Librarian. She seems carefree, but is actually a coward.

  Prologue: Beginning of the Grand End

  It was early dawn. There probably remained only about an hour until sunrise. The east horizon was red and stars have already disappeared from the sky.

  The air was cold, but the sky was beautifully clear. It has been cold in recent days, but today was probably going to be the first warm day in a long while.

  Here and there were lights shining in the streets. It was already long past the time for early risers to wake up. Smoke was rising from the chimney of a bakery. Today’s first transport ship arrived at the harbor and the crew started unloading the cargo.

  It was the usual morning scenery of the town in the Past God Island.

  There was one ominous figure unsuitable for this peaceful town. It stood on the top of the beer hall that was closed for business, viewing the majestic Bantorra Library towering over the center of the island.

  “Has this time come at last?”

  The figure muttered. It was a woman clothed in black garments. She wore a long-sleeved dress, white gloves, and a black hat with a veil, so her skin wasn’t visible at all. In her hand she held a strange dagger with a blade made of stone.

  She was the Memorial Weapon who granted people’s tale a continuation, the Passed Stone Blade Yor. Another one of her names was Lascall Othello.

  “This is terribly abrupt, Ruruta Coozancoona-sama.”

  Lascall said. If someone could hear her from the side, they would probably be confused. After all, there was not a single change in the behavior of the people in either Bantorra Library or the town. The sounds of kitchen knives wielded by housewives and servants could be faintly heard, and the smell of freshly baked pastry was drifting from the bakeries.

  Fresh vegetables and meat were being sent from the first ship arriving this morning to the markets. Boxes filled with Books were being carried to the Library by the early-rising normal librarians and trainees.

  Lascall kept muttering to herself on the background of this peaceful sight.

  “In any case, this is the biggest possible incident that can happen to this world. Is today of all days not far too ordinary for this time to come? As someone who overlooks tales, it feels somewhat improper.”

  There was a while of silence. Lascall then made a small, artificial smile.

  “Oh no, this is such a small trifle, so there is no need to pay it any heed. This was merely my impression.”

  Who was Lascall talking to? There was no one around. Lascall’s eyes were only directed at Bantorra Library.

  “I am merely ascertaining it with my own eyes. If this be the end, I will do nothing but keep on looking.”

  She said and smiled.

  The date was January 12, 1927*. The exact time was 5:07 AM.

  What was about to happen in the world at this very instant?

  Only Lascall Othello knew the answer to this among all people on the surface.

  All of the Armed Librarians and all of the Indulging God Cult had no idea what was happening and will not know what transpires from now on. Both Mattalast, who was protecting the secrets of Bantorra Library, as well as the Overseer of Paradise Minth, and even the Acting Director Hamyuts, were thinking of this as a completely ordinary day.

  “Who said this before… I believe it was Mattalast-sama?”

  Lascall said.

  “There are three kinds of ‘everything is normal’: A situation where truly nothing had happened; a situation where an incident had been prevented in advance; and a situation where no one was yet to notice what happened; only these three kinds.

  The normal Armed Librarians and people of the world would think it was the first.

  Hamyuts-sama, Mattalast-sama, Yukizona-sama, Yuri-sama, Bonbo-sama, and the Overseer of Paradise Minth would think it was the second.

  However, it is actually the third kind.”

  Lascall kept her monologue.

  “Why had no one noticed this grave situation? They haven’t even tried noticing it. Even I, watching over the tales of people for so long, cannot help but tilt my head in puzzlement.

  It is probably because they have not been trying to notice. Their gazes have been stolen by lies and schemes, and so they have not noticed the truth.”

  Lascall suddenly looked down at her feet. The Armed Librarians have celebrated the end of another year in this beer hall just two weeks ago. Olivia and Mattalast, Hamyuts and the Armed Librarians… The place for the feast of liars, where both the deceivers and the deceived mingled together.

  “Thinking back, this banquet of liars… It was an event fitting for the conclusion of this story. How pleasant, and how truly trifling.”

  Lascall’s facial expression was hidden by the thin veil and so couldn’t be seen, but at this moment she was unmistakably jeering. No, not only just now. For two thousand years, while switching from one body to another, Lascall had always been wearing an artificial smile. It might have been her sneer directed at all humans.

  “Mattalast-sama, who was trying to accomplish something by deceiving people, and Olivia-sama, who had been trying to achieve victory by pretending to have been deceived. Both of them were terribly foolish.

  No matter how much you deceive or conceal, the truth will always exist. And even the most clever of lies are powerless in front of that truth.”

  Lascall, who had been talking to herself, noticed something. And then she spoke as if conversing with someone.

  “Oh, have you finally noticed, Mattalast-sama?”

  The one she spoke to wasn’t around there. He couldn’t hear her voice.

  “Have you understood? Yes – a lie is powerless against the truth.”

  Lascall sneered quietly yet deeply. And she then vanished as if melting on the roof.

  Two hours passed since Lascall disappeared.

  The emergency bells started ringing all over Past God Bantorra’s Island. That sound announced a great danger to Bantorra Library.

  The date was January 12, 1927, a completely normal winter day. The long story continued for a long time until this day came. The Armed Librarians have collected Books and protected them. The Indulging God Cult produced Books of happy people and offered them up to Heaven. At times fighting, at times cooperating, the two parties continually protected the secret.

  Lascall could only nod at this imbalance. That morning was far too peaceful to serve as the conclusion of 2000 years.

  January 12, 1927. On this day, the history of Bantorra Library was over.

  —

  *The raw actually
states the year 1929 throughout the entire prologue, but that seems to be a mistake as it doesn’t fit in the timeline, so I fixed it for now.

  Chapter 1: The Lone Struggle of the Defeated Remnants

  Part 1

  That morning he woke to the sound of bells ringing from afar. He knew that sound. He had heard it twice before.

  The first time had been 1 year and 9 months ago, during the time of Mokkania’s Rebellion. The second time had been a bit more than a year ago, during the time of the Deep Blue Curse Rebellion. For him, who had once fought alongside the Armed Librarians of Bantorra Library, it was a horrible sound.

  Enlike Bishile threw his blanket off and got off the bed. He was inside the room of a hotel facing the main street of Bantorra Library’s town.

  “Did something happen?”

  Enlike peeked out of the window. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to see Bantorra Library from there. He hurriedly put on a jacket, left and ran through the hotel’s corridors. With his physical abilities it would have been easy for him to leap out of the window, but right now Enlike was concealing his own Magic ability. He couldn’t use neither his power of lightning nor his superhuman movements.

  He exited the hotel’s main door and rushed into the road. Around him were other citizens who like Enlike seemed worried.

  “Again?”

  “Weren’t those terrorists gone already?”

  People whispered to each other. It was natural they would be afraid. The memories of the Rebellion a year ago were still fresh in their minds. Everyone feared another battle that would end up involving them.

  “…Do you have any idea what happened?”

  A guest of the same hotel spoke to him.

  “I don’t know.”

  Enlike shook his head. He wasn’t lying or evading the question. While he understood the internal affairs of Bantorra Library better than the average citizen, he still had no idea what just happened there now.

  At that moment, someone bumped at his back. Normally he wouldn’t even stumble, but Enlike fell cleanly. This was to conceal his own physical abilities.

  “Sorry! Are you okay?”

  The one to hit him from behind was a suit-wearing man. Judging from the impact to his back, it was a person who could use bodily reinforcement Magic.

  “Are you fine?”

  “Yeah.”

  The suited man grabbed Enlike’s arm and helped him stand up.

  “Forgive me, it’s only because this is an emergency.”

  The man walked to Bantorra Library in a great hurry.

  “Was that an Armed Librarian?”

  The same hotel guest from before muttered.

  “Probably.”

  Enlike replied.

  That man was familiar to him. He was an Armed Librarian with the name of Gamo. Mattalast had once introduced him to Enlike. But Gamo simply left after helping him stand.

  Gamo hadn’t noticed that the person he had bumped into was Enlike. This was because the current Enlike did not look like how Gamo knew him.

  Enlike had once been eaten by the Book-Eater Zatoh. However, he reversed the situation and took control of Zatoh’s own body. The Enlike that the Armed Librarians had known was actually Zatoh’s form.

  That Zatoh’s form had now been changed. His almond eyes now became sanpaku eyes. His oval face had shrunken, and his nose became lower and bigger. Also, while he was once tall he was now at about an average height.

  While a few vestiges of Zatoh have remained, this was the form of Enlike when he was alive.

  He hadn’t planned on changing it; It became so naturally during the past year. He didn’t fully understand the reason for this, but his body was probably being adjusted to fit his soul.

  Only the proof of his Book-Eating ability, his transparent hair had remained. With only that left, he dyed his white hair back to black.

  “He didn’t seem to have noticed.”

  Enlike muttered quietly while watching Gamo’s back.

  None of the Armed Librarians knew Enlike’s former face – not even the late Noloty. As long as he wouldn’t use his power of lightning, none of them would be able to notice his true identity.

  Enlike had been staying at Past God Bantorra’s Island for about 20 days now.

  He knew that the Armed Librarians have been looking for him as the hero who overthrew the Indulging God Cult. The woman called Kyasariro had once invited him to their party. However, he had ignored all of it. He kept living while concealing his ability.

  This was because Enlike was planning on fighting the Armed Librarians.

  He was planning on destroying their biggest secret: Heaven.

  “Hey, you. I don’t know what’s going on, but shouldn’t we return to the hotel?”

  The man nearby spoke to him.

  “That might be true… but I want to gauge the situation a little bit more.”

  Enlike answered and stared at the direction of Bantorra Library. He could see people running on the roofs and rushing into the building. He could see an airplane that flew by taking a sharp turn and descending. The Armed Librarians were gathering.

  But he couldn’t understand what was happening at all.

  “I’ll peek there a little.”

  Saying so, Enlike started walking. The kind man next to him tried to stop him, but he soon gave up.

  This might be a good opportunity.

  Enlike started thinking. If the Armed Librarians were in the midst of confusion it wouldn’t be so bad to take advantage of that. Anyway, his first priority was to ascertain the situation.

  He walked toward the Library. All in preparation to fight against the Armed Librarians.

  Yes, they had been Noloty’s precious comrades; Enlike also possessed personal grudges against them, and there were also those that he respected or felt friendly toward.

  However, he had no choice but to fight against them. This was in order to destroy Heaven and put an end to Enlike’s fight.

  He slowly walked toward Bantorra Library, where the bells were still ringing.

  A year ago…

  When the Deep Blue Curse Rebellion ended, Enlike was at the Ismo Republic where chaos still continued. Three days after the war had ended, Enlike sent Noloty’s Book and a letter noting the fact that he had killed Kachua to Bantorra Library.

  With that he had fulfilled his obligation toward the Armed Librarians. He had nothing to do with him anymore.

  After that, Enlike wandered aimlessly throughout the Ismo Republic. Who did he meet with and what did he do during that period? Enlike himself did not remember it well.

  In exchange for victory, Enlike had lost everything. Or more precisely he lost what was everything to him; he lost Noloty Malche. He even lost his sole goal which was fighting against the Indulging God Cult.

  He had no reason to return to a Bantorra Library that had no Noloty in it. He also had no interest in a peaceful life after having defeated the Indulging God Cult. He only wished for a life unrelated to battle in order to relieve Noloty.

  What he thought about while wandering about was fighting. It was only thing Enlike was able to do. He knew nothing but fighting nor could do anything else. Only that was on his mind.

  How stupid, he laughed at himself.

  Noloty wished for him to have a peaceful life. He could understand it but couldn’t accomplish it. It was because Noloty was no longer in this world. Even if he were able to achieve a peaceful life, Noloty would not be able to rejoice at that anymore.

  He desperately searched for someone to fight. But there was no longer any opponent.

  At that moment, a message came inside his mind. It was the Thought Sharing of one of the Armed Librarians, Mirepoc Finedell.

  ‘Enlike-san… it has been a while. This is the lowly Armed Librarian Mirepoc Finedell. Where are you right now?’

  Enlike couldn’t respond. Even if he could, he didn’t feel like answering her.

  ‘We are looking for you, Enlike-san. We have prepared a treatment
suitable to the amount of gratitude we possess toward you for saving the Armed Librarians and the world. You may not like it, but please make contact.

  There is what happened to Noloty, but… we do sympathize with you. Please do not let yourself head into ruin. That would also be Noloty’s wish.’

  So stupid, spat out Enlike. What do you even know?

  ‘That, and we came to understand Heaven the Indulging God Cult believes in. We have no definitive proof, but it seems like the legend created by people of the past was shaped into a delusion.

  We are currently eliminating the remnants of the Indulging God Cult. Please do not worry about the revival of the Cult. Well then, please contact us.’

  The Thought Sharing was severed. What a crude ability, thought Enlike. It allowed one to rudely approach a man who wanted to be left alone.

  “I see. So the Indulging God Cult has been destroyed.”

  Enlike muttered. Then the battle has ended. The things Enlike had to do were also over.

  This didn’t make him happy. If the Indulging God Cult was gone he would no longer have anyone to fight.

  At that time Enlike sat in a cheap bar at some dirty town. He was dressed like a vagrant. The customers and clerk directed hateful gazes at him. These miserable circumstances are well-suited to me, Enlike thought.

  “Give me more liquor.”

  Enlike said to the bar’s host. He pretended to not hear him. Enlike laughed at himself and drank the few remaining drops straight out of the bottle.

  Decaying like this wasn’t bad at all. He had been dead for a long time in the first place. Thinking this, he threw the bottle at the floor.

  Enlike laid his face on the counter and closed his eyes.

  ‘The Armed Librarians will be destroyed and the world will be reborn. There is no place for you in my desired new world.’

  An unwanted face rose to his mind. It was the face of the one who used Enlike and killed Noloty – Kachua.

  ‘Let us take her Book along with yours to Heaven. You will probably have some place at some corner of that oh so vast and unfathomable Heaven.”