Dark Fantasy Normalized Chapter 3

"What, what? You—can you see ?"

The woman alternated between pointing at and herself, visibly shocked. Another voice sighed deeply from sowhere within her.

"Pamun, what are you doing?"

"No way! Did I really make such a mistake?"

The woman rubbed the back of her hand briefly, then nodded to herself.

"Of course. That couldn't be it."

"..."

"..."

The self-assured nod suddenly faltered as she glanced at , her confidence clearly wavering.

"It couldn’t… right?"

"..."

The awkward atmosphere was broken by the sound of footsteps approaching from behind the bookshelves. It was my friend, the old librarian, who took a mont to scan the area before fixing his gaze on .

"Please maintain silence inside the library."

"Oh, my apologies. I was just having a quick conversation with this person—"

"...?"

The librarian glanced in the direction of the woman. His gaze drifted through the empty space.

The woman confidently approached him. She snapped her fingers right in front of the librarian's face.

How rude…

But to my surprise, the librarian didn’t seem to notice. In fact, he didn’t even react.

He simply looked at with pity, shook his head slightly, and walked away.

"Huh?"

No, wait a minute. Why is he looking at like that? He should be the one looking confused! His eyesight and hearing must be slipping—ah, no, that’s a an thought. The librarian’s sorrowful gaze almost made think sothing nasty.

"See! What did I tell you! What did I tell you~~~"

The woman exclaid, practically shouting. Her voice carried with a strength that went beyond needing to be quiet—it was like a formal challenge issued in the library.

But, once again, the librarian showed no response. Even a clueless bastard like could sense sothing was off by now.

Maybe the strange one isn’t the woman, but ?

"How did you do that?"

As I stood there, feeling foolish, she asked directly.

"Excuse ?"

"That thing you just did."

"This thing right now?"

What thing? Surely, she’s not talking about being possessed or anything, right?

I couldn’t think of any explanation.

In fact, I wanted to ask her why the librarian couldn’t see her, but I could.

"Just in case, are we discussing sothing related to magic? If so, I’m afraid I have no insight to offer, as I know very little about magic."

"..."

The woman crossed her arms, scrutinizing more seriously now.

Her head tilted to the left, then to the right, as if completely confused by the situation.

"How about we try sothing stronger?"

Another voice chid in.

"And what if you hurt the kid?"

"Who cares? He's just a noble. You hate nobles too, don't you?"

Whoa, whoa, hold on. The tone of this conversation was taking a dark turn.

I’m from the Vendel family, you know? If you hurt , the Vendel family would—

Damn, they’d probably celebrate.

"True, but this kid seems a little different, doesn’t he?"

"He's a bit unusual, yeah."

"See? It's not just . I knew it!"

The woman clapped her hands joyfully in an almost childlike manner.

The atmosphere around us suddenly shifted. It wasn’t just the playful action that seed out of place for her tall stature, but her entire attitude toward seed to change.

From an interesting subject of observation, I had now beco an interesting person.

"Mind if I sit next to you?"

She gestured toward the seat beside with her finger.

It was just a simple request to sit together, but for so reason, her eyes sparkled intensely, as if she were asking for sothing far more outlandish.

---

["Is this truly necessary?"]

[The young man asked his father.]

[The man, who was called father, gazed intently at the dying horse in front of him.]

[The horse, stabbed by a sword, was slowly dying.]

["It was stolen by a dark elf. Who knows what curse it might carry."]

[...]

[The young man eventually nodded, understanding the logic.]

---

But sitting beside ? Well, I didn’t really mind...

Without thinking too much, I nodded.

"Oh my."

For so reason, the woman seed absolutely delighted.

"Here we go."

She clasped her hands to her sides and squeezed into the space next to . This window seat was comfortable for one person but rather cramped for two.

"Shall we change seats?"

"No, it's fine. I don’t want to disturb your reading."

"..."

My gaze drifted awkwardly, unsure where to settle.

"Already seems like you’ve disturbed quite a lot."

Luckily, the voice from before stepped in to speak for .

But, as if not hearing it, she continued.

"Wouldn't it be uncomfortable? Perhaps we could move to another location..."

"No, it's fine. It *is* uncomfortable, but this is more fun. It’s been a long ti since I had a normal conversation with soone."

"I see..."

Normal? What does normal even an? Where are we born, and where do we go? Why is the eagle’s beak yellow?

"Now then, where should I begin... Ah! My manners! I haven’t even introduced myself yet. Sorry, like I said, it's been so long since I had a normal conversation. A very long ti, indeed. So if I co across as rude or brash, please don’t be offended."

"Rude? No, I actually thought you were quite lively and... unique."

"Oh my~ Oh my, my~ How can you speak so beautifully? And with those pretty eyes too!"

She reached out and stroked my hair with a doting expression.

Correction: To this woman, I wasn’t an interesting human; I was more like a cute puppy.

"I'm Pamun, by the way. I’m a scholar and a researcher."

Pamun pulled a book from within her robes.

"And this here is Duran. As you can see, it's a talking book. It loves to ddle, complain, and nitpick. I made it myself, though I’m not sure why it acts that way."

It seed the other voice ca from this book called Duran. A talking book? She made it? I wasn’t even surprised anymore.

"My na is Lisir."

"Lisir? Lisir... Lisir... Hmm, I like it. The na is pretty too. Well then, Lisir, can you tell one thing?"

Pamun tapped the book in my hand.

"This book. Why are you reading it?"

"Excuse ?"

"Co on, Lisir! Tell you're trying to eradicate all the cats!"

The crazy talking book blurted out nonsense.

"Eradicate all the cats? Why would I do that?"

"Then why are you reading that book?"

"Just... curiosity?"

"Curious about what? Cats?"

"Well... they’re cute, aren’t they?"

"Oh my goodness. This one’s normal too—"

Pamun interrupted Duran’s rant with a burst of applause.

"You get it, Lisir! You understand the charm of cats!"

Pamun went off on a passionate tangent, launching into a grand speech about the charm of cats.

"Pamun, enough. Unless you really want to see Lisir beco a cat hunter."

"Oh? Ah! Sorry, Lisir! I got carried away and rambled too much."

At so point, Pamun had taken my hand and was absentmindedly stroking it, like one would with a cat’s paw.

"Thanks to you, I don’t need to read this book anymore."

"So, Lisir, do you have anything you want to ask ?"

Finally.

I seized the mont to ask the question I had been holding onto.

"Earlier, the librarian didn’t seem to notice you. Why was that?"

"Hmm."

Pamun pulled my arm close, inspecting at an uncomfortably close range, practically nose-to-nose.

"Why doesn’t cognitive-reduction magic work on you? Have you ever studied magic?"

She sniffed.

Why is she sniffing ?

"No?"

"Do you possess so kind of artifact?"

"My family doesn’t love enough to give sothing that precious."

"Then maybe it’s just your natural constitution?"

Pamun began squishing my face with her hands.

"*Heehil-yo*?"

"Yeah, it’s sothing you're born with. Lisir, would you mind if I ran a little experint?"

"I thought we had already established a strong emotional connection."

"Right!? Sorry, Duran, this isn’t right. What if Lisir gets hurt?"

"Mmph—"

What... what is this? So kind of scent like herbal dicine mixed with perfu? Rough silk? Softness?

Oh. Pamun had hugged .

"Are you suppressing your curiosity so you don’t hurt people? That’s a little scary."

"Can I ask, what exactly were you planning with this ‘experint’?"

"Well, let's see—"

"Was it so elaborate that you need to think about it?"

"Sorry~~~ Lisir, you might not fully understand this, but it’s sothing really extraordinary! You know I’m holding myself back right now, right?"

"...Thank you?"

"Oh, right! Lisir, what was that about your family? You said they don’t love you enough?"

"Yes. My personal circumstances are a bit complicated."

"In what way?"

"I’m a bastard. My mother passed away giving birth to , and my father resents for it."

"Gasp!"

Pamun quickly withdrew her hands, creating so distance between us.

"I’m sorry, Lisir. I was being too forward

."

"The one being overly forward is that book! Lisir, it’s like you’ve stripped yourself naked in front of us! Why reveal everything so suddenly?"

"By the way, I apparently have this strange condition?"

Look at her changing the subject. She’s not normal either.

I ignored the grumbling from the crazy talking book and sank into thought.

This was an unexpected gain.

So I have an unusual constitution that soone as extraordinary as Pamun would notice.

Cognitive-reduction magic doesn’t work on ? Could it be magic resistance?

Well, even a bug has a skill. This bastard finally has sothing going for him.

Now, how could I use this?

A new path in life appeared before . Exciting!

"But tell , Lisir."

"Yes?"

"Which family are you from?"

"It doesn't an much, but I was born and raised in the Vendel household."

"Vendel? Oh no."

The talking book groaned with a deep sigh. It sounded too ominous to ignore.

"Hey, Pamun, did you hear that? This kid’s from the Vendel family."

"I know. What a coincidence."

Damn. This feels like trouble.

Pamun was now looking at with a completely different expression.

---

["What?"]

["Bring forth the most precious thing from Vendel."]

[The intruder suddenly declared.]

[The head of the Vendel family rested his hand on the poml of his sword.]

[He looked at the intruder, who stood defenseless.]

[With one strike, he was confident he could cleave that body in two.]

[That vile, cursed body.]

[How dare a dark elf set foot in the Vendel estate?]

[And act as if they were the master of the house.]

["You promised, didn’t you?"]

["Promise? With you filthy wretches?"]

[The intruder didn’t flinch at the blatant insult.]

["Didn’t your great ancestor say anything?"]

["Be careful not to utter that na with your foul mouth."]

["Do you know how Vendel Radola, your family’s pride, achieved such feats?"]

[At the mont the head of the family was about to draw his sword...]

[A thick vine shot up from the floor, binding his limbs.]

["Vendel, you promised our master. You promised that once the highest tower in your fortress was built with the power borrowed from our master, you would surrender the most precious thing from that place."]

["You wretched witch—!" ]

["Tell , Vendel. What is the most precious thing you possess?"]

[Vendel gave no answer.]

[So, the witch sought her own answer.]

[She moved to the window and looked down.]

[The heart of the Vendel territory.]

[The city of Hayerren lay spread out before her.]

[The witch imagined the city overrun with vines.]

[She didn’t like the vision, but there was no avoiding it.]

[A promise was a promise.]

---

"Alright, I’ve decided. Lisir, you’re going to be my disciple."

"Excuse ?"

"From today onward, you’re my disciple."

"Uh, what?"

---

▷Destiny 5: The Promised Price has been deactivated.

Special privileges have been granted accordingly.