The next morning, I left the mansion early, heading for the Ludwigs-Universität's library. Viviana, Shining, and Margaret were accompanying me again, but they were much less relaxed then yesterday. They remained alert at all times, to the point that I was not allowed to leave their sight. I was slightly exasperated by their insistence on that, but I agreed as I didn't mind their presence.
In the library, I returned to my reading list, shortening it one book at a time. With my speed, reading everything in this library would be possible in about a hundred years, but as I'm limiting myself to only certain subjects, I should be able to finish it in two weeks. The librarians and students looked at me with amazement when I continued to exchange books for the next ones every few minutes.
I ended my reading spree only when it was time to meet Fremont, taking Viviana, Shining, and Margaret to his classroom. As we were about to enter, a voice I recognized was in the middle of admonishing someone.
-"Is your head only a decoration or do you use it sometimes? How can you make such a basic mistake? This is absurd!"-Fremont held his forehead, looking at young Caprinae next to him.
-"I apologize, teacher."
-"You... Ugh. Never mind. You're here, Eno?"
-"On time."-I walked in.-"This is?"
-"I'd like to call him my proud student, but I'm not that proud of him now, so he is only my student, Lessing."
-"It's a pleasure."-I greeted him.
He nodded to me as a greeting.
-"Let's not waste time. Come with me."
I followed Fremont and his student, walking through the corridors of the academy until we arrived at an old Spire at the edge of the campus. Entering it, we descended into a a labyrinth of winding tunnels, before entering a room filled with old scrolls and dusty notes.
-"This is?"
-"One of the old workshops of the one you call Witch King. Back then, we were classmates, so we delved together into the mysteries of Arts here. Many of the notes here contain his ideas and insights, though be careful to not to encounter some taboos."
-"Truly a buried treasure."-I waved my left hand, making all the sheets of paper float in the air.
Others looked in amazement as the previously messy room started to clean itself up as if time was flowing back. In a few short breaths, everything returned to a state as if someone had used it just yesterday.
-"Fascinating. Is that even an Art? I never saw such a precise operation, not even one page was torn."-Fremont asked with interest.
-"It's not a pure art, I'm only using Originium as an energy source, but not the medium. The medium is another resource known as Glintstone, at least that is the theory, as I fused both of those together."-I took out a fist-sized chunk of Glintstone and handed it to Fremont.-"Be careful, Glintstone is no less dangerous than Originium in certain conditions. Never attempt to use it as one would Originium, or you'll be assimilated by the Primeval Current."
-"This! This can change everything!"-Fremont almost fainted after receiving the Glintstone.-"By not using Originium as a medium, not only would the danger of mishap be much lower, but the Originium contamination could also be eliminated."
-"Yes, but the control over the Art would be much harder, making some precise Arts such as Leithanian music impossible to perform."
-"But hadn't you fused both together? That way, those downsides can be mitigated."
-"I fused it, but it's hardly replicable."-I showed him my left arm.-"I'm still trying to understand how I achieved it."
Fremont observed it, comparing its properties to both pure Originium and Glintstone.
-"How great is your Cell-Originium Assimilation? What about the blood concentration?"
-"My Assimilation is past 50%, most of my skeletal structure, internal organs, even veins and neural system are crystallized. Only the muscles and the head remain normal. As for blood, it's clear, 0.00u/L."-I even handed him a vial of my blood.
-"You overcame infection. While the crystallization remained, it's symbiotic with your body, and the clear blood makes you non-infected by the strict definition, as the crystal won't grow anymore."
-"Not under normal conditions. It can expand if overdrawn while using Arts."
-"It's hard to imagine a situation that would require such an amount of power."
I just smiled in response to that.
-"I understand why you seek to understand Originium. The notes here should be able to help you. I'll focus on that Glintstone."
-"I'll leave some books on the subject to reference."-I gave him a few of the notebooks I wrote during my student days.
Fremont took his student to one corner of the room and started to do many experiments to grasp Glintstone's power. Meanwhile, I began the journey of tracing the steps of the greatest Arts caster of all time. Viviana and Shining assisted me with sorting the notes, while Margaret decided to stand aside after getting a headache while reading through some of the papers.
The ideas contained in those old notes were eye-opening, making me respect the Witch King to a new degree, but many of the discussed principles danced on the line of the taboo, making it hard to apply in practice. In the end, the most important part of this research to me proved to be that attempts to understand the nature of Originium.
While the Arts created by the Witch King were powerful, they belonged to an entirely different system compared to one I was used to, so while they were a great reference value, they held little practicality for me. The only aspect of his Arts that attracted much of my attention was something the Witch King referred to as a Realm. Sadly, the notes here were not complete, thus I couldn't know what happened with this concept during his later years.
As for the Originium research, the Witch King had a much different approach compared to most contemporaries. While most other researchers either tried to cure Oripathy or use Originium as a fuel and tool for development, or the Arts. The Witch King instead focused on controlling Originium like an eternal organ, which led to the development of some most cruel Arts he became known for, such as treating infected as a staff, but also was the foundation of his power.
This, rather obviously, held enormous value to me, as Originium was a literal organ to me. Tracing his steps and thoughts, I was able to slowly understand what Originium truly was, but that understanding crumbled down as quickly as it appeared when I reached one of the last entries present here. It looked like a normal report recording outcome of some experiment, but at the very bottom, where one would expect to find an interpretation of the results and deductions made from the experiment, there was a short sentence instead.
'Does the Originium dream?'
This seemingly nonsensical sentence stopped me dead in the tracks. Dreaming was attribute of living beings with emotions, not something a mineral like Originium should be associated with, but some of the experimental results that seemed random before made strange sense when looked from this perspective. Many already consider Originium to carry emotions of the caster, this is the whole basis of many Arts, but for the Originium itself to possess emotions or even dreams was a outrageous statement.
And yet, I couldn't refute it. This made me doubt everything I knew about Originium before. After some time, I managed to adjust my previous thinking to this new perspective, even create few theories that made some sense, but many things still couldn't fit in place. In such a daze, I returned to my mansion long after sunset, the girls around me looking in worry at me.
The next day started similarly to the previous one. I left early and returned to the underground workshop to continue my study. As I have already finished the part of the notes about Originium, I have now fully delved into other parts of the recorded research. I finished the notes on the Arts I still had left by the time Fremont came to continue his own work.
As I was working through the notes on some insights about Catastrophes, Shining interrupted me.
-"Eno, look at this."-She handed me one of the smaller notes that was written in hasty and somewhat illegible handwriting.
-"What would the song of the land beneath my feet be? Will it be a grand tune full of nobility, or a simple and mundane melody?"-I read the scribbles.-"Song of the land? You think it's connected to the message I received?"
-"I believe so. They mean almost the same, and if the group that acted back then was connected to the Witch King, it would explain some things."
-"The Echoes of Herkunftshorn? Indeed, this might be it."-I quickly followed her train of thought.-"Inform Lemuen and Cellinia to look out for them."
-"I'll send them a message."-Shining nodded.-"Don't forget that you have an appointment today."
-"Right, that diner. Sigh."-I sighed on the same thought of dealing with another noble.
-"Heh, that's why we disdain politics so much."-Fremont enjoyed my suffering from the side.
-"I share your values on that, but there are some things when I need to act not for myself, or even as myself, but for Laterano as the Holy Son."-I stood up.
-"I'd rather be myself at all occasions."-He shrugged.
On my way back, I passed by a young-looking teacher. I wouldn't have noticed him if not for a trace amount of aura present on him, the same aura that the presence had during that incident. I took one more look at him before continuing on my way. It wasn't the time to ask questions yet.
-"We are truly honored by your presence, Son."-A stern-looking man greeted me with a flawless show of courtesy.
-"It's a pleasure, Kurfürst Hochberg."-I responded with a slight bow of my head.
-"Please just call me Werner, Son."-He looked behind me where my entourage stood, his eyes focusing solely on Viviana.-"Long time no see, Viviana."
-"Father."-She responded, not knowing if she should act distant or be happy to see him.
-"I apologize, Son. Please, come inside."-He invited us in.
-"No inconvenience. If my visit was all it took for a family to reunite, I wouldn't mind seeing all the homes in the city."-I shook my head.
-"It would seem that Son values family."-He looked quite surprised.
-"Family is something all should possess as a birthright, yet some lack this blessing."-I smiled sadly.
-"I'm sorry for bringing bad memories back, Son."
-"Let's not dwell on that, Sir Werner. I'm curious, why would the Kurfürst of the Sturmland invite me with such urgency?"
-"This... To be honest, I have something to ask Son for as well as information that might be of interest to Son."
-"Oh? I'm all ears."
-"Then allow me to start with the news. Son, you ordered the investigation of the performer after that concert, am I right?"
-"Indeed, I made such a command."
-"Then allow me to admit that I know that person. She took the stage because of my backing. But for whatever reason, she disappeared shortly after, and I was unable to find her."
-"May I know who she is?"
-"Arturia Giallo. I believe that name is familiar to Son."
-"It's her."-My eyes widened due to an unexpected name appearing.-"That would explain it. But why would Sir Werner harbor her?"
-"At first I was unaware, but later I did that because I believed that she wasn't an evil person."
-"Road to hell is paved with good intentions, Sir Werner. Arturia is indeed not evil, but she is pure. She ignores everything and everyone, doing what she thinks is right, consequences be doomed. I would rather face a truly evil person than her."
-"Such strong words, does Son have a grade against her?"
-"Not a graduate exactly, we just don't mesh well. Thank you for this information."
-"That's not all, Son. When she disappeared she took an important item from my possession. A copy of Güldenesgesatz."
Hearing that, I instantly turned serious. Güldenesgesatz wasn't just a piece of paper or some music notes; it was the core of this country. This act alone could be a serious international incident, but the fact that, rather than use it to pressure Laterano, Werner spoke about this in private meaning meant that he had some other purpose.
-"Please, speak directly. What does Sir want from me?"
-"Then I'll be direct. I'd like to ask Son to accept my daughter as your Knight."-He bowed his head.
-"What?!"-Viviana was first to react, standing up in shock.-"Father! How can you!"
Margaret, who was next to her, supported her so that she could calm down.
-"Sir, I believe this is inappropriate."-I looked at him with a sharp gaze.-"One's knighthood is something of great importance, not something to trade like commodity. Not to mention becoming a someone's personal Knight, not just a member of some order. Most would consider this selling out their child to be a concubine, if not worse. I respect Viviane as a Knight and a person; there is no way I would insult her like that by accepting your demand."
-"This isn't a demand, Son, it's a plea. While it might sound disgraceful, I'm afraid that Viviana will be harmed by staying not just in Leithanien, but even in Kazimierz. The undercurrents in the city are slowly boiling; the Echoes are acting more and more brazenly. I'm afraid that something will happen in the near future, so I beseech Son to take my daughter to safety by your side."
-"Father! I'm not someone who will hide because of some danger. Nor am I a commodity to be freely given away."-With those words, she turned around and left the room.
I motioned for Margaret to follow her, leaving only Werner, Shining, and me in the room. After the sounds of their footsteps disappeared, I looked at the man who seemed to age by a few years in just that moment.
-"May I know why Sir would use such a method to make her leave?"-I looked at him, only knowing that this was his plan by reading his thoughts.
-"Son, during my years as head of the House of Hochberg, I learned one thing: I'm a pathetic father, even compared to other nobles. All I hope for now is to pave a way for her."
-"Sir should know that it's not what she wishes for; she would rather have father than a noble title."
-"I know. I know."-I could feel a deep regret and sadness from him.-"But everything is already in place. All I can do is stack the deck in her favor."
-"If that's your choice. In my name, as Holy Son of Laterano, I promise you that I shall do my utmost to help Viviana Droste von Hochberg during this time."
-"I vow upon the Güldenesgesatz, as long as there is a breath left in this body, I shall follow Holy Son's will."-He knelt down.
-"I accept your pledge."
This unexpected alliance was the first major turning point of my stay here, starting the avalanche that would soon overturn the whole nation.