After the grand library closed,
The knight department students waiting outside the building were dumbfounded by the sight before them.
Hundreds of librarians had opened the closed library doors on their own and were charging inside.
Half of them were constantly summoning messenger birds as they walked,
And about the other half were singing strange songs they had never heard before.
"Till death! May I! Look up at the sky! Without! A! Speck! Of shame!"
Barbara rubbed her eyes once, then murmured with a blank expression,
"What exactly am I looking at right now?"
At that, Butler Elford said calmly,
"Now is the time. Let us mix into that group."
In the end, the knight department group reluctantly slipped into the frenzy of librarians.
After entering the library, finding Trine was not very difficult.
For some reason, he was in front of the librarians.
With the grimoire opened, he was singing wildly along with the other librarians.
"Tonight too! The stars are brushed! By! The! Wind!"
Barbara narrowed her eyes and said,
"Don't tell me he got brainwashed too?"
At that, Lizbette discovered something and sighed.
Two empty mana potion bottles were rolling around by his feet.
Clearly, he was suffering from mana intoxication again.
Lizbette approached Trine, grabbed him by the collar without warning, and slapped his cheek.
"Hey. Get a hold of yourself."
"I-I'm not drunk! I only drank one bottle!"
She slapped him again.
"Stop talking nonsense and explain what's going on."
"Benheim is trying to kill Princess Sia, and Librarian Dopplezinger is going to transform into Princess Sia."
After hearing those words, Lizbette let go of Trine's collar and asked,
"Are you sure?"
"I brainwashed Dopplezinger earlier and got a confession out of her, so probably?"
"Are these librarians here brainwashed by you?"
"I think so?"
The grand library, filled with grimoires, was no different from an armory for Trine.
In the end, the grimoire Trine had found after diligently wandering around was 'The Pied Piper.'
Its effect was mass hypnosis.
It was a terrifying book that controlled all the people marked in advance at once.
With his tongue slurring, Trine mumbled in an awkward voice,
"Even if the library has security, librarians should be able to enter, right?"
It was a somewhat sloppy plan, but it must have had an effect.
Benheim had deliberately driven everyone out after closing to perform the ritual.
That must have meant he did not want even the librarians to discover his conspiracy.
In other words, if the librarians flooded in, he would not be able to move carelessly.
Lizbette let out a short sigh and said,
"Where is Princess Sia right now?"
Just then, Princess Sia ran over from far away, forcing her way through the crowd of librarians.
"Trine!"
Princess Sia rushed straight at Trine and hugged him.
Trine flailed in confusion for a moment.
But soon, when he realized Princess Sia's body was trembling faintly,
He smiled bitterly and patted her back.
“I am glad you are safe.”
Princess Sia drew in a deep breath as if she were about to say something.
But after hesitating for a moment, she silently stepped away from Trine.
Then, with her face a little red, she smiled at the others around her and said,
“Everyone, thank you for coming to save me.”
Barbara ran over, grabbed both of Princess Sia's hands, and said,
"Are you all right? You are not hurt, are you?"
"Yes. I am sorry for worrying you."
This time, Butler Elford approached Princess Sia and politely bowed.
"It has been a long time, Princess Sia."
"Knight Commander Elford, it truly has been a long time. Has it been almost nine years?"
"Hoho. I am honored that you recognize me."
Just then, Trine suddenly hiccuped and murmured something ominous.
"Everyone, be careful... I'm out of mana."
The grimoire that had been glowing faintly in Trine's hand lost its light.
At the same time, the librarians who had been causing a commotion around them all fell silent at once.
"Ugh, I'm dizzy."
"Huh? What am I doing here?"
"Strange. I'm sure I was at home."
Taking advantage of that moment, Lizbette quietly asked Trine,
"What do we do now?"
"...Run!"
Trine bolted toward the entrance on his own.
But suddenly, a shielding barrier dropped and sealed the door.
Thanks to that, Trine slammed his head into it and collapsed to the ground.
Just then, Director Benheim came running over with Librarian Dopplezinger and shouted,
"Stop those bastards from leaving!"
At those words, the students quickly moved to guard Princess Sia and drew their weapons.
But the librarians merely floundered in confusion and showed no particular movement.
After all, they did not know about Benheim's conspiracy, let alone what was going on right now.
One of the librarians asked Benheim,
"Um, why are we supposed to stop Princess Sia and the Academy students?"
"T-That is, they tried to steal the Book of Walpurgis!"
Benheim had probably wanted to restrain Princess Sia, but he could not state the honest reason in front of the librarians.
That was why he had told such a petty lie.
And Princess Sia was not an easy enough person to let that pass quietly.
"Oh my, and now a mere library director is trying to stop me, the king's daughter? Know your place, will you?"
At that, the librarians instead hesitated and began stepping back, clearing a path.
Princess Sia smiled and said,
"Thank you, everyone. Lord Benheim, would you open the door quickly as well?"
At that, Benheim gritted his teeth once, then forced the corners of his mouth upward and said,
"P-Please leave the camcorder behind. Under security law, filming inside the library is forbidden."
"Then it is fine if I show the other librarians what I filmed here, yes?"
"Ugh..."
After pausing once, Princess Sia opened her mouth again.
"Very well. If you quietly let us leave, I will give up the camcorder."
The most important thing right now was for everyone to escape safely.
Of course, exposing Benheim's conspiracy and securing the Book of Walpurgis were important too,
But if they needlessly provoked Benheim further here, there was no telling what he might do.
In the end, Benheim was about to open his mouth reluctantly to accept that condition.
However, Dopplezinger suddenly cut in from beside him.
"There should be nothing recorded on that camcorder."
"...Pardon?"
"I am hopeless with machines, you see. So I vaguely remember that even while I was brainwashed, I did not know how to operate the camcorder and only pretended to film."
Princess Sia made a blank expression.
Honestly, that was more shocking than when she had realized Benheim's conspiracy.
Princess Sia let out a hollow laugh.
Then she glanced at Trine, who was still collapsed on the floor.
"Honestly, you are always someone who makes my heart race."
Benheim suddenly covered his face with his hand and began laughing.
"Kukuku... Come to think of it, you people illegally used brainwashing magic inside the library, did you not?"
Then he reached his hand toward Princess Sia.
A large magic circle appeared beneath her and the students around her.
Lizbette shouted,
"Everyone, dodge!"
But it was already too late.
When Benheim waved his hand, Princess Sia and the students within the magic circle all collapsed to the ground.
Gravity magic...
Everyone struggled to raise their bodies, but it was useless.
At that, Benheim smiled wickedly and said,
"Trine and the students intruded to stop my marriage with Princess Sia. That should certainly be enough for execution."
"What did I supposedly do?"
At the voice that came from an entirely different direction, Benheim made a dumbfounded expression.
For some reason, Trine was standing perfectly fine outside the magic circle.
"You bastard... when did you get out?"
"What? I was outside from the start."
In truth, Benheim had not seen Trine collapse alone in front of the door.
It had been chaotic, and the surrounding librarians had blocked his view.
The students felt relieved for a moment.
But that relief lasted only briefly.
Trine grabbed the collar of the wrong librarian, not Benheim, and shouted,
"Hey, you rotten Benheim bastard! Cut it out already!"
Apparently, he was still drunk on the mana potions.
Benheim said with a dumbfounded face,
"Miss Dopplezinger, deal with him."
"Yes."
Dopplezinger aimed the muzzle of her gun.
Not at Trine, but at Benheim.
"What?!"
Dopplezinger pulled the trigger, but Benheim barely dodged the bullet.
When he looked at Trine, there was now a grimoire opened in one of his hands.
'The Pied Piper.'
Apparently, grabbing the wrong librarian by the collar had been an act.
Trine took a third mana potion from inside his coat and drank it down in one go.
"Round two, you rotten bastard."
Then he quietly hid himself among the crowd of librarians and took out another grimoire from inside his clothes.
'The Bremen Town Musicians.'
A rooster sprang from the book and crowded with all its might.
"Cock-a-doodle-doo!"
At that moment, an unbelievable sight unfolded before Benheim's eyes.
All the librarians had turned into Trine.
Benheim shouted in panic,
"What?! Which one is the real Trine?!"
At that, the countless Trines began shouting in chaos.
"I am Trine!"
"No! I am Trine!"
"Don't be ridiculous! I'm the real one!"
The simultaneous application of illusion magic and brainwashing magic.
Thanks to that, the library quickly descended into chaos, filled with countless librarians all insisting they were Trine.
In the midst of that, Dopplezinger tried to pull the trigger at Benheim once more.
"You worthless things!"
Benheim thrust his arm forward.
The gravity magic circle grew large enough to cover the entire library.
Thanks to that, Dopplezinger, and even all the other Trines, were flattened against the floor.
Benheim laughed heartily and said,
"I can use the library's mana, so I can last forever! But how long will your mana last, Trine?!"
At that, the Trines on the floor suddenly summoned blue birds all at once.
Gravity magic restrained their bodies,
But they could still use simple magic.
The blue birds all flew at Benheim at once and began screaming wildly.
"Damn it! Someone do something about this!"
He almost lost concentration, which nearly dispelled the gravity magic.
But Benheim barely managed to maintain the gravity spell and chanted another spell.
Reverse Spell.
It was Benheim's specialty, a spell that bounced a spell back to its caster.
Thanks to that, countless birds returned to their masters.
Benheim caught his breath for a moment and murmured,
"Damn bastard... To think he forced me to use even this spell."
Originally, it was no different from an ultimate spell meant to be used when an opponent let their guard down.
Using it merely to drive away birds had pointlessly wounded his pride.
"Trine, you bastard! Once I find you, I will definitely kill you!"
...Benheim let his guard down.
That was why he failed to notice the presence quietly approaching from behind him.
That presence pressed a blade to Benheim's neck and spoke in a low voice.
"Release the spell."
"E-Elford?"
In truth, Elford had been waiting for an opening inside the gravity magic circle the entire time.
The moment the gravity had weakened slightly thanks to the birds,
He had quietly risen in that instant and taken Benheim from behind.
In the end, Benheim raised both hands and released the gravity spell.
Only after the fallen people rose did Trine release his spells as well.
Princess Sia groaned as she stood, then said,
"This is the end."
"D-Do not be ridiculous. Without evidence or charges, you still cannot kill or arrest me."
"You just created the charges, did you not? To think you would dare do this to the king's daughter."
"This was self-defense!"
"Is that so? Then shall we continue arguing the rest in court?"
At those words, Benheim swallowed dryly.
There was no way he could win in court against royalty.
Leaving aside who had the advantage, it was obvious whose side the king would take.
In the end, Benheim came up with one final trick and pointed at Princess Sia as he shouted,
"I challenge you to a duel!"
At those words, Princess Sia frowned.
A duel between nobles.
Those who refused a duel without just cause would be executed.
Furthermore, a contract made by duel took precedence over any other law.
That was one of the few evil laws remaining in the Altoria Kingdom.
In fact, Princess Sia had once used it herself to drag Trine into matters.
"If I win, Princess Sia must marry me!"
Benheim shouted excitedly.
"Whether you die from your curse or not does not matter at all! What I need is only the authority of royalty!"
Princess Sia answered calmly,
"Very well. If I win, you will be executed."
Lizbette asked Princess Sia,
"Can you fight, Princess?"
"Of course not. So I need a black knight who will fight in my place."
Princess Sia looked at Trine and said,
"Trine, may I ask this of you?"
At that, the gazes of the students and librarians all focused on Trine at once.
After all, he was the one who had even defeated King Siandar in a duel.
Perhaps he had a sufficient chance of victory, but...
"I don't want to! Is there no one besides me who wants to score points with Princess Sia?!"
His speech and behavior were exactly those of a drunkard.
Trine staggered as he looked around at his knight department friends.
Then he suddenly burst into laughter and shouted,
"But aside from me, you're all women! Damn it!"