Because Jenkins had prodded it, the blue ink letters that now appeared were a bit smaller than before.
"If you're unwilling to enlighten , then could you at least tell this before you leave: has the seal on the entity trapped beneath Nolan been completely broken?"
Jenkins tried another line of questioning.
[No. The seal has only been opened by a small crack.]
"So it does know!"
He confird to himself, then asked again:
"In that case, when do you think the seal will be completely broken?"
[...]
[I'm sorry. I am but a page that records the past; I cannot foresee the future.]
That was a lie—his divine sense for falsehoods told him so. He found it rather amusing. The entity before him was just a sheet of paper, yet it gave him the distinct impression of a naive little girl.
"Then how about a trade? I'll give you knowledge you don't possess, information you've never encountered. In exchange, you give the answers I seek."
[No, that's impossible. I am omniscient.]
The page, which had been hovering motionlessly before him, suddenly began to dance in the air as the words materialized on its surface.
"So it does know everything, it just doesn't want to tell ."
Jenkins thought with amusent, then shook his head gently at the page.
"No, no, no. The knowledge you possess is limited to this world. The things you've recorded are rely the words of this world's sages. But I have knowledge of my own—novel information that only I have ever witnessed. Are you interested?"
As he spoke, he waved a finger, and two silver-blue ribbons of light began to coil around him. They overlapped yet remained distinct, moving with the slow, silent grace of a flowing galaxy.
Whether it was Jenkins's natural charisma or his improving powers of persuasion, the page actually drifted closer to the two ribbons of light, seemingly intrigued by his proposal.
Ordinarily, when using Knowledge Bestowal, no one but the caster can see the ribbons of light that represent their 'mories' and 'erudition'. But the Heart Book could see them. This further convinced Jenkins that it truly possessed a soul, as his ability had no effect on soulless objects.
"What do you say? I can share a small fragnt of information first. You should be able to determine whether it's sothing you already possess."
With that, he lightly tapped the flowing 'galaxy' before him. A single point of light detached itself and drifted slowly toward the parchnt. The sheet of paper flinched away at first, but then it moved forward, allowing the mote of light to rge into its surface.
A blue light imdiately radiated from within the parchnt before quickly subsiding.
[This is... the Aether Hypothesis? A strange theory, indeed. But the instrunt designed to detect the existence of aether is quite ingenious. Did you devise this yourself?]
It accepted the knowledge, instantly grasping its aning. It then circled above Jenkins's head for a long mont before finally displaying the ssage.
"No, I didn't co up with it," Jenkins replied. "I dread it."
Jenkins felt no guilt about lying to a sheet of paper.
"So, what do you think? Would you like to trade knowledge? I have plenty more where that ca from..."
He trailed off as new words materialized on the parchnt:
[This is indeed knowledge I have never encountered. You are quite impressive, sir. But I cannot give you the answer to your question. It would be against the rules. I can only record; I cannot interfere. That is the rule of my existence.]
The letters appeared one by one. Once the full sentence was ford, the ink dissolved into deep blue particles that swirled across the page, reassembling themselves into a new ssage:
[I'm sorry.]
"Do you have a soul?"
Jenkins decided to try a different approach.
[I suppose I do?]
"Then are you the page itself, or are you a soul born from all this knowledge, forged over the ages?"
[I don't understand.]
"That's alright. I can teach you."
Jenkins said, his tone as gentle as he could make it. He knew that if he succeeded, he could instantly resolve all the questions that had plagued him for the last six months.
"First, you must distinguish whether you are an automated response function of the Heart Book, or an individual entity that can freely access its knowledge, choose which answers to give, and experience feelings like satisfaction and happiness as a result."
[I understand those feelings. I can experience them.]
"And have you ever considered what you are?"
[Yes. I am the Heart Book.]
"Then why are you the Heart Book?"
Guiding a soul to understand its own existence and value was an incredibly complex process. Papa Oliver had taught Jenkins about it as part of his advanced studies on souls—it was also a crucial component of an Enchanter's journey toward self-awareness and ntal equilibrium.
Jenkins was now following those steps by the book. According to the procedure, he had 18 major questions and 93 detailed sub-questions left to guide the fledgling soul, step by step, toward self-realization.
But after he posed the question, 'Why are you the Heart Book?', the parchnt offered no reply. Instead, it froze in mid-air, utterly still.
"Did sothing go wrong? Papa Oliver never said a question like this could cause a collapse of self-awareness..."
A white light, no bigger than a grain of rice, blossod in the center of the parchnt. In the next instant, it flared like a white sun, flooding the entire basent with light. Jenkins, standing so close, had no ti to react. The glare was so intense it brought tears to his eyes.
The white light didn't fade after its initial burst. Instead, like an eternal, blazing sun, it began to radiate with even greater ferocity.
Coming to his senses, Jenkins covered his left eye and risked placing his monocle over his right. Its ability to maintain a clear field of vision still functioned, allowing him to see a figure gradually taking shape in the center of the burning white sphere.
"What is that?"
The figure was no bigger than his thumb. As she solidified, the brilliant white light seed to be drawn into her, receding from its peak intensity. When the light vanished completely, a tiny girl stood in the air, clutching a paper scroll and looking at Jenkins with a hint of anxiety.
The paper scroll was about the sa size as the original parchnt, but the girl was rely thumb-sized. To her, the rolled-up paper she held was as tall as a utility pole.
She had smooth, black hair that fell to her waist, with fair skin and a charming, adorable face. She wore a pale blue dress adorned with white lace at the hem.
"Because I am the Heart Book... that is why I am the Heart Book."
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