The old botanical archives…
Were nothing like Arianne had imagined.
She had expected grand bookshelves.
Ancient manuscripts.
Perhaps even a mysterious librarian.
Instead…
She found dust.
Lots of dust.
“…”
The moment she unlocked the heavy wooden door…
A cloud of it greeted her.
“Cough!”
“So much for dramatic entrances.”
The room was quiet.
Rows upon rows of shelves stretched into the distance.
Bundles of old documents filled wooden cabinets.
Stacks of journals rested on forgotten tables.
The smell of dried paper lingered in the air.
“…”
It was beautiful.
In a very researcher-like way.
A small brass plaque hung beside the entrance.
Hunter Association Botanical Research Archive
Authorized Personnel Only
Arianne carefully stepped inside.
The door closed behind her with a soft click.
For some reason…
The silence felt different.
Not lonely.
Patient.
As though the room had been waiting for someone to return.
She opened Ellis’s notebook.
The final page containing Marianne Voss’s name rested before her.
“Alright…”
“Let’s start with you.”
She walked toward the catalog shelves.
Unlike the modern library she had imagined…
Everything here was handwritten.
Small wooden drawers filled one wall.
Each contained neatly labeled index cards.
Plants.
Mana studies.
Spirit ecology.
Awakening research.
She searched carefully.
“V…”
“Va…”
“Voss.”
Her fingers stopped.
There it was.
Voss, Marianne
Senior Botanical Researcher
Archive Shelf B-12
Arianne smiled.
“That was easier than expected.”
She followed the labels.
B-10.
B-11.
Then…
B-12.
“…”
The shelf was empty.
Not disorganized.
Not damaged.
Empty.
Every space surrounding it held old journals.
Only the section labeled…
M.
Voss
Contained nothing at all.
Arianne frowned.
“…”
Someone hadn’t forgotten these records.
Someone…
Had removed them.
Arianne slowly ran her fingers across the empty shelf.
No books.
No journals.
Not even a misplaced document.
“…”
It was too clean.
Every other shelf carried a thin layer of dust.
This one…
Barely had any.
Someone had been here.
Recently.
She crouched lower.
The wooden boards beneath the shelf were worn.
Not from age.
From repeated use.
“…”
As if heavy books had been taken in and out…
Many times.
Arianne frowned.
“If these records were transferred…”
“…there should be a transfer tag.”
That was standard procedure.
Even in her previous life.
Important documents always left a paper trail.
She searched the sides of the shelf.
Nothing.
The back.
Nothing.
Then…
Her fingers brushed against something loose.
A tiny piece of folded paper had slipped into the narrow gap between the shelf and the wall.
“…”
She carefully pulled it free.
It wasn’t an official document.
Just a faded inventory slip.
Across the top…
Shelf B-12
Below it…
A list of research journals.
One…
Two…
Five…
Twelve.
Every volume was neatly numbered.
But someone had crossed them all out with black ink.
At the bottom…
Only four words remained readable.
Transferred by Special Order
No signature.
No destination.
No explanation.
“…Special Order?”
That wasn’t a normal archive transfer.
It meant authorization had come from someone with considerable authority.
Arianne turned the slip over.
The back was blank.
“…”
No.
Not blank.
When she tilted it toward the window…
Faint pressure marks appeared across the paper.
Someone had written on the sheet above it.
The ink hadn’t transferred.
But the impressions remained.
She narrowed her eyes.
It was impossible to read the full sentence.
Only a few words stood out.
…Growth…
…Not Natural…
…Seal…
A chill ran down her spine.
“…”
For the first time…
Arianne felt that Erin’s case…
Might not have been an accident after all.
Arianne folded the inventory slip carefully.
She didn’t put it back.
Not yet.
Instead…
She opened the notebook she had started after receiving Ellis’s journal.
Across a fresh page, she wrote.
Observation No.
8
Senior Researcher Marianne Voss
Research removed by Special Order.
Destination: Unknown.
She paused.
Then added one final line.
Question: Who wanted these records to disappear?
The notebook closed with a soft snap.
“…”
Someone had erased an entire shelf.
Not one report.
Not one journal.
Everything.
That wasn’t cleaning.
That was intention.
As she slipped Ellis’s notebook back into her bag…
Something thin slid free.
“…?”
A narrow bookmark drifted onto the floor.
It must have been tucked between the pages all this time.
Arianne picked it up.
It wasn’t made of paper.
It was pressed from a dried leaf.
Old.
Fragile.
Almost transparent.
Written across it in faded ink…
Were only five words.
Greenhouse.
Third Cabinet.
Bottom Drawer.
“…”
No name.
No explanation.
Only directions.
Her heartbeat quickened.
Ellis hadn’t left her a conclusion.
He had left her…
His next stop.
Arianne slowly looked toward the archive door.
Outside…
The Association carried on as usual.
Hunters laughed.
Receptionists answered questions.
Employees hurried through the halls.
No one seemed to realize…
That somewhere inside this building…
Someone had erased part of its own history.
She carefully slipped the dried leaf inside her notebook.
“…Looks like we’re not finished yet.”
For the first time since receiving Ellis’s notebook…
She no longer felt as though she was reading the work of someone who had disappeared.
She felt…
As though she was walking beside him.
Following the trail he had never been able to finish.
End of Chapter 24