I'm taking some time off.
What?
Someone in my family seems to have collapsed.
Your family?
Stop asking questions and head to the airport.
Hey.
How's Lucy?
She's been out for a whole ten days now.
Yeah.
Are you okay, Chise?
You've been with her this whole time, right?
I'm fine.
I guess I shouldn't tell him yet that I have enough magic power to spare.
Zoe, are you here?
Yes.
Gotta go.
Your routine physical?
Yeah.
Don't push yourself too much.
Thanks.
I hope she's okay.
You say that every day.
I'm worried.
We still don't know why she lost her magic power all of a sudden.
Hey, what is it like to feel "worried"?
Your head and guts feel agitated.
You keep thinking about a nasty future.
And...
It's scary?
That's part of it, too.
Ah.
So like the time I couldn't focus on anything while you were unconscious.
Does what's happening to her bother you?
Well, it does worry me.
Elias...
What is it?
You and Lucy don't have the same role.
I know, I know.
I hope you know, too.
I'm confident I'm the one who worries for you the most.
My guts cooled back down when you came back.
What happened to your hair?
I'm home.
Welcome home.
What happened to your hair?
He can fill you in.
I'm home, me.
Welcome home, me.
You sure do put yourself in danger.
I can't look away for even a second.
I couldn't have done anything different this time.
Well...
Yes, you're right.
Still, your first thought shouldn't have been to go look for her by yourself.
Right...
Though, as a mage, it wasn't a bad decision.
Th-Thank you.
Also...
The way you went about it was something I would have done.
I don't really get it, either.
It felt like I could hear someone's voice from somewhere deep.
And that's why you came to me?
Good night.
You're the only one who's been inside me for a long time.
Why am I the one person you're so flippant with?
So, what do you think that voice is?
Something bad.
It tried to stop something from killing you.
Is that evil?
I don't think I should have gone so far.
But that was all I could do, it said.
You're only here to regret it because you survived.
Though, I can't imagine you would have died so easily, given who you are now.
Was that the voice of the dragon?
Or...
Dunno.
One thing's certain...
The voice came from within you.
I'm sleepy.
Go.
Thanks.
You heard the voice of a dragon gone mad, having cursed a human.
You've had a taste of my past.
You saw the source of malice and animus.
Guided by the voice, you learned to hurt another.
Once you know you can bare your fangs at your enemy,
there's no going back to when you didn't know anything.
You went to ask Cartaphilus?
Even though I'm your master?
I mean...
I thought it'd be best to ask someone who knows what it's like.
Hello.
Seth-san.
Well, well, Chise.
Why are you here?
I'm at the College right now.
Why are you here?
I was told that a family member collapsed.
Seth Noel, correct?
I believe I contacted you the day after the practical, did I not?
I was busy with work. I apologize.
How is my sister, Lucy?
She hasn't woken up yet.
Huh, you're Lucy's brother?
Oh, are you acquainted?
She's my roommate.
What a surprise.
I'd like to explain Lucy's condition.
Please come this sway.
She's a difficult person, but I hope you can give her your friendship.
They were siblings...
Lucy!
Give them back!
Give us back our spiders!
Chise.
Lucy!
You're awake!
Wh-Why are you here?
I got word that you'd collapsed while in a practical.
You were out for ten days.
Ten days?
Go away!
You need to be in bed!
Leave!
I don't want a loser like you to worry for me!
Just get lost!
Lucy!
I'll stay by her side for a while.
She seems to still be unstable.
What was that?
I smell orange and lavender...
Philomela?
Were you practicing?
Y-Yeah.
S-Sorry.
I didn't mean to interrupt.
It seems like you're still holding onto that potpourri.
How was the tea?
Was it all right?
It was fine.
I hope you'll let me know if you run out.
I'll make some more.
Why do you do so much for me?
I don't know.
Sorry.
I...
I just felt an urge to talk to you.
Er...
I'll stop if it's bothering you.
Umm...
I'm not used to talking in front of other people.
I don't mind when it's just the two of us.
Got it.
Okay, bye.
Chise.
Isaac.
Rian.
I see.
Because the boys showed up.
How's Lucy?
She just woke up, but then she passed out again.
I see.
That's a relief.
Explain!
Are there any records of something being taken from the Forbidden Books Storage?!
Has it been used in an experiment?!
Not when we did our routine check.
Then why has it fallen apart?!
No...
Has it been replaced with a fake?!
Instructors, I thank you for coming.
There's been a bit of an emergency.
Upon inspections of the Forbidden Books Storage today,
the book in Storage Number 5 was found to have crumbled.
A forbidden book?
Even though it was in storage?
Upon investigation, we've determined that the book that had crumbed was a fake.
So that book was a fake the entire time it was in storage?
Or was it swapped out recently?
We believe it was swapped out in the past several days.
What is the nature of the book?
What is it called?
Is it dangerous?
Is it an original manuscript or a copy?
Let's see...
It's a book called The Testament of Carnamagos.
Wasn't that the book you...
It's said that simply reading it can affect the reader.
We librarians don't know much about its contents ourselves.
The book stored in the library in England is a copy,
and we suspect it won't have as much of an effect as the original.
But to be honest, we have no idea how much of an effect that would be.
I've read that book before.
Wait, wait, wait!
And its contents?
I'd borrowed it from an acquaintance.
It offered a few insights, but I gave the book back before I could make use of it.
Well, he's not lying.
Would it be possible for you to describe it to an extent that won't affect us?
It can put the living in mortal danger at times.
It describes ways to take in the life force and magic power of others.
How to create immortals.
How to destroy them.
How to bring back the dead.
I see.
That does sound like something that would be forbidden.
Why did you choose to read it?
It was intriguing.
But it turned out that I don't have a use for it.
Reading it comes at a great cost for a person.
I guess he's putting it out in the open so there's no reason to suspect him.
Thank you very much.
That was very informative.
We will continue investigations both internally and more broadly.
Please let us know if you learn of anything.
Given that it can affect humans, it could cause an incident.
In that event, we'll be calling upon you for cooperation.
Keep that in mind.
Yes, ma'am.
Please!
This isn't the time to remind us that you're free spirits.
We need you to be serious.
I'm sorry, there's one more thing...
About the remains of the book...
There's a special spider silk woven into the cover and several other parts of the book.
Spider silk?
Could it be...
Is that the Webster family's silk?
It's possible.
Please take care that this information does not land on the ears
of our student, Lucy Webster.
Well...
Please remember to be careful.
And please don't get too lost in your research.
What's this about the Webster's family spiders?
Oh, right.
You're a mage, so you wouldn't know.
Webster is...
Mr. Ainsworth.
Nice to meet you.
I'm Simeon Paladilhe.
I'd heard a mage was here, so I've been eager to meet you.
Ah, so you're the mage!
Huh.
I hear you're using a magic disguise!
That's impressive. I would have never known.
Mages can transform, too?
He's bone!
A dog? A wolf?
Do you swallow your food whole?
Come on! He was in the middle of a question!
A question?
He doesn't know about the Webster tragedy.
The Webster tragedy...
Around here, it could have happened to anyone.
The Webster family made a living by producing and duplicating magic books.
Their books were famous for being just like the original.
They were also famous for the spiders that they kept.
Spiders?
The pages were made in part using the silk that the spiders spun.
And they were bound using the silk, too.
They never revealed much of the details.
It's just what was surmised.
And eight years ago, the entire Webster family, excluding one person, was murdered.
We don't know who did it.
The survivor is a student at the College.
But their spiders were all stolen.
There are rumors about a spy being involved.
Though that's not certain, either.
The eldest son, who was slated to inherit the business, had no control of magic.
He'd been driven out of the family.
Ah.
Plenty of people know about the incident, but it's just, y'know... a lot.
It's better not to talk about it too much.
Understood.
Thanks.
You're welcome.
He's a proper person.
He's proper enough to say thanks.
Well, we'll see you.
The people here don't seem to be bothered by the likes of me.
Your appearance, you mean?
It's hard to ignore.
There are still plenty of people who will talk behind your back.
But here, it's perfectly normal.
So long as you do your work, people will support you.
I'm sure you'll like life here.
Later.
That's Simeon Paladilhe.
He's studying sound sorcery.
He's pretty easy to talk to, huh?
Hm?
Why don't you try befriending him?
Friend?
Chise talks about her friends quite often.
I don't really understand friendships.
Are they different from acquaintances?
Acquaintances are just acquaintances.
Friends are more special.
Not that I have all that many.
Oh!
Why don't we become friends from now on, then?
With you, I'll pass.
He has bags under his eyes.
What a dumbass.
I know you hate me.
He said he'd be fine without security in the College.
I'm not so sure, though...
Shoot, need smokes.
The guard has been picked off.
Let's clean this up and finish the pickup.