Yes?

　A knock on the door was answered by a thinning voice from inside the room.

　The special reading room is located on the second basement floor of the library.
　It's a surprisingly quiet floor compared to the noisy ground floor.

''Excuse me,''

　The first thing that struck me as I entered the room was the massive amount of books.
　The bookshelves that reached up to the ceiling were crammed with books with heavy spines.
　And on the large desk in the center of the room was a massive pile of books piled high.
　On a chair in front of the desk sat a woman with chestnut-colored hair in pigtails - Ms. Clarice.

　Clarice-san was the person who was there when I first used the forbidden curse (by the way, she wasn't a pigtail at the time).
　Makina-san said that if it was about the forbidden curse, it was because 'she knows more about it than I do'.
　........In truth, I probably should have visited her earlier.

　And - apparently, she wanted me to visit her sooner, too.

How nice of you to show up, Mr. Conjurer?　I've been waiting for you~

　He seemed to have been waiting for exactly that.

''Oh, um........once again, let me introduce myself. I'm Soraku Kurohiko. It's nice to meet you.

　Clarice rises from her chair and bows politely.

'I'm Clarice Pham. In case you're wondering, my title is the custodian of the document control room. It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Kurohiko.''

　....Huh?
　Blackhiko "San"?

Recently, people in the East add 'san', 'kun' and 'chan' after their names as a friendly gesture, don't they?　It's rarely used in Midzberia, but I like it!
Really?

　Well, I don't think this is the first time I've been called by 'Mr.' since I came here.
　Clarice-san brings a round chair from the corner of the room, making a rumbling sound, and urges you to sit down.

'Doh~!'
Oh, hi.

　I sit down in a chair and face Clarice-san.

''Well I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you in that section...''
''No, no~, don't worry about it. But........I never dreamed that the day would come when I would see the forbidden curse being used with my own eyes~
..........

　Like the first impression I had of her, she had an elusive...fluffy air about her.
　Also, unlike the last time I met her, the current girl was wearing large round glasses.
　........Could it be that the reason she fell on the stairs that time was because she wasn't wearing her glasses?
　But I've already seen her when she took her glasses off, so she's actually really cute when she takes them off!　I can't expect any more events like that, which is a bit of a shame, to say the least.
　I mean, even with the glasses on, she's still cute, though.

"Well, well, Kurohiko-san.
Yes, sir.
You've come to ask me about a forbidden curse, haven't you?

　Straightening my back, I returned the affirmation.
　And then, as if to say that they've gotten tired of waiting, Clarice-san let out a big breath.

It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you're going to do with it.

　The three of us who witnessed the forbidden curse had been strongly told by Makina-san not to tell anyone that Soraku Kurohiko was a forbidden curse user after that.
　And, to Clarice-san, even later on.

I'm sure you're particularly curious, but right now he's probably too busy getting used to school life, so leave him alone until he comes to visit you himself. ........I'm sure he'll come visit you in time.''　

　He added that he was going to say.
　...............
　The headmaster is really a person who takes care of every little thing, right?

''That's why I've already been waiting impatiently for you to visit here~!　So, Mr. Kurohiko what would you like to ask me?　Now, come on.

　I agree.
　I knew we'd have to start with.

What the hell is a forbidden curse, anyway?
Hohoho, there you are all of a sudden. It's a very valid question.

　'Ooh, really,' says Clarice, clearing her throat.

'I suppose we should start with the Yggdrasier mythology, but... hmm, well... since the mythology will be done widely and thinly in a culture class, let's just focus on the part where the forbidden curse appears.

　And you go back to the age of mythology....

"Did you know that the Yggdrasier mythology is divided into canonical, exoteric and pseudo-scriptural?

　Mu.
　Masanori and Gaisen, I believe, came up a bit in class today.
　So I know.
　But.

I've never heard of a pseudosystem.
''Well, in the school's classes, they only teach the canonical books and even if they do, they only teach the external books..........................But the ones that have descriptions about the forbidden curse are the pseudo-scriptures. Furthermore, among the pseudoscriptures, there is a story that is particularly popular among a certain segment of the population, and that is the story of the King of the Forbidden Spell.
"Forbidden King...
'This is a story that most people with an interest in history know about,'

"Anyone on this continent who knows a little bit of history should know that.

　Come to think of it, the headmaster had said something like that before when I asked him about the forbidden curse.

''What shall we do?　I could tell you a story, but if you want to read it as a book, I can lend you a copy, but I could tell you a story, too.
..........

　He seemed to talk a lot.
　Her eyes suddenly sparkled.
　From Makina-san's previous comments, Clarice-san, probably a person who likes to talk to people.

''I would love to hear it from Clarice-san.
'Hahaha!　That was terrific, Mr. Kurohiko!　Now then, I, the unworthy, will tell you the story of the Forbidden City!

　Then Clarice-san began to tell the story of the Forbidden King, which she said was depicted in a mythical pseudoscript.

　The content she told was generally something like this.

　　　　　　　　　　*.

　In the age of mythology, two beautiful sister gods lived on this continent of Midzberia.
　Their older sister, Ruvelargan, the god of war.
　And her sister, the Holy God Renowthred.

　One day, the two sisters began to quarrel over something trivial.
　However, the sisters were so powerful among the many gods that no one was able to stop them.
　Gradually, the fights grew so large that the continent itself was threatened with destruction due to their quarrels.
　The other gods who lived in Midzberia were in trouble.

　Then a man appeared.

　The man called himself the 'Forbidden King'.
　Originally, he was the king who ruled the country of Takashinokuni (which is now considered to be the East), but when he saw the weakened gods of Midzberia, he came to mediate in the quarrel between the sisters.
　There is no account of whether he was a god or not.
　Some say he was a demigod, while others say he may have been the first man.

　Now, the forbidding king uses a mysterious power that the gods had never seen before - and successfully stops the sisters from fighting.
　He even gets the sisters to make up with each other.
　The sisters were fond of the Forbidden Curse King, and the other gods praised the Forbidden Curse King.

　　　　　　　　　　*

And so far, the happily ever after is a very, very good story.

　Adding that, Clarice-san continues her story.

　　　　　　　　　　*

　Having completed his purpose by reconciling the sisters, the Forbidden Curse King told the gods that he had done his part and that he was returning to the High True Land.
　But the gods of Midsberia, fearing that the Forbidden Curse King would start fighting again once he was gone, desperately kept the Forbidden Curse King at bay.
　Reluctant to give in to the gods' entreaties, the Forbidden Curse King decided to remain in Midzubere for a little while longer.

　From then on, whenever a problem arose that was beyond their control, the gods would ask the Forbidden Curse King for his help in solving the problem.
　The King of Forbidden Spells had no choice but to continue to do what they asked of him.

　Then, one day.
　The Holy God, Renowthred, noticed that the Forbidden Curse King was acting strangely.
　Coincidentally, that day was also the day that Renowthred decided to confess his love to the Forbidden Curse King.
　And her sister, the god of war, Louver Argan, had actually already noticed something strange about the Forbidden Curse King.
　But she too had been in love with the Forbidden Curse King, and had been unable to tell him for fear that he would be banished because of it.

　From this point on, the story suddenly becomes messy in description and some of it jumps around.
　Also, the thoughts of the gods are not described, but only the things that are said to have happened are listed.

　The King of the Forbidden Curse has turned into a beast.
　Transformed into an incarnation of tyranny, the Forbidden Curse King was struck down and left for dead by the hands of Ruvel Argan and Renowthred.
　The Forbidden Curse King, who had turned into a horrible sight, was trapped by Ruvelargan and Renowthred in the "Earthly Prison Realm" which is said to be located somewhere in this world.

　　　　　　　　　　*

It's a story.
..........

　A sudden turn of events, if you will.
　Indeed, if it ended with the sister gods stopping their fight, it would be a happy ending.
　But after that.....

　The latter part of the story, the description becomes simpler and the body only lists things, which is also a bit eerie.

In the beginning, this story, you see, is shunned by some people because of the fact that the god of war, Ruvel Argan, and the holy god, Renowthred, have a falling out, which is impossible in the canonical and exoteric books. On the other hand, there are many people who prefer it, if anything, because of its humanity.

　I see, that's why it was considered a fake scriptures.

It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for," he said, "and there are people who say that the 'earthly prison world' in which the Forbidden Spell King was sealed up is located deep within the earth of the apocalypse. According to them, the reason why the land became like that is because of the Forbidden Spell King's curse.

　........I had one question.

　Does that mean you knew that what you were using was a 'forbidden curse'?
Mm, that's a good point, Mr. Kurohiko.

　Clarice-san pushes up the vine of her glasses with a snap.

"In fact, this pseudoscript, depending on some ancient documents, is not 'forbidden curse' but 'holy curse'...............................and not 'forbidden curse king' but 'holy curse king'. These ambiguities and unclearness are also the reason why this story is a pseudo-scriptural one...
'You mean ... it's possible that someone later rewrote it as 'Forbidden King'?
'Yes, I can't say it's impossible. So perhaps the Forbidden Spell King didn't know that what he was uttering was a forbidden spell... only we still don't know what constitutes a 'forbidden spell'.
I see...

　So even Mr. Clarice doesn't know about the disadvantages.
　Somehow, even the original myth doesn't mention it.
　The 'turned into a beast' part of the forbidden curse king's story that I just heard is something ominous, but.......

''So, what are your thoughts on Kurohiko-san's actual use of the Forbidden Spell?　Do you have any physical aches and pains or nightmares?
No, for now...

　In case you're wondering, I should tell you this.


Oh.
"Or maybe I just don't feel like it's a 'disadvantage' but...
Hmmm, that's a very interesting consideration...
'Um ... if there's anything else you know about the forbidden curse, can you tell me?'
"...well, that's nice, Kurohiko-san. You have a lot of potential, Mr. Kurohiko. Of course, I'll talk to you as long as time permits!

　Clarice-san with her eyes shining brightly.

　And I got a lot of information about the forbidden curse from her.

　She said that there is a good amount of text describing the forbidden spell.
　However, in the past, there were cases where they tried to systematize newly created chanting magic by falsely claiming it was a 'forbidden curse', and apparently the information is mixed up with them.
　Therefore, it is not easy to determine which one is an accurate description of the "forbidden curse".
　In addition, it is said that there is a gap between the detailed descriptions of the forbidden curse and the ones that are not written at all.

　For example, such descriptions are accurate.

''There is a statement that says, 'It cannot be used on lifeless objects. ........Since we're here, shall we try it?

　So I used the forbidden spell on the broken chair Clarice had prepared for me.
　But nothing happened.
　I don't know how far the scope of 'having life' is, but perhaps the condition for invoking it is that it is an object equivalent to a 'creature with a will'.

　Furthermore, I heard a lot of things about the forbidden curse, but still the matter of the demerits remains unclear.

　However, according to Clarice's guess, the reason why it was considered 'Forbidden Curse' was because the 'Tale of the Forbidden King' had always had a certain amount of popularity, even though it was written in a pseudo-scripture that didn't even enter the canon, let alone the canonical books.
　In ancient times, pseudo-scriptures were originally an abomination, so the people of that time may have rewritten "The Holy Curse" to make it "Forbidden" in order to diminish its image, which I found reasonably convincing.
　It is true that if "holy curse" is rewritten as "forbidden curse", it would give the impression of being "forbidden".

　In other words, the name 'forbidden spell' is walking by itself, in fact, there is a possibility that it has no disadvantages.

　Also, Clarice-san was of the opinion that the difference between when the information on the forbidden spell can be searched for and when it can't is probably whether or not I'm in the middle of using the forbidden spell.
　To that, I was generally convinced.

　Then, regarding the forbidden spellbook, once someone reads it aloud and learns it, there's a good chance that someone else won't be able to learn it, even if they read it again (though I seem to be the only one who can read it at the moment).
　The rationale, according to Clarice, is.

"Because the words on the spellbook are different colors.

　(Come to think of it, after I used the forbidden spell for the first time, I remember the letters that were black seemed to be bleached in color).

''Well, is the acquisition of spellbooks in other countries and apocalyptic lands the domain of the headmaster.......I'm also interested in it, but.......as expected, it's difficult to cross the borders.

　That's when Clarice-san showed a disapproving expression for the first time.

''It's just that the headmaster doesn't subtly understand........The Forbidden Spell Document is not just a document of historical value, but from a history buff who loves the Forbidden Spell King, it's truly a coveted item.... ...!　Well, it's precisely because the headmaster was like that that I was able to borrow the forbidden spellbook, which was the headmaster's personal property, so easily...

　The day I first came to this world.
　Clarice-san had borrowed the academic materials, including the forbidden spellbook, from the person who owns it - in other words, the head of the school.
　And on the way home, she ran into me on the stairs in the school.

　Hmmm, Clarice-san snorts and thinks about it.

''Was there anything else about the forbidden curse........oh, yes.

　He remembers something.
　I want to hear what I can, as much as I can.

'The story of the Forbidden Curse King, you may seem quite old when you hear the mythical tale... but that's actually quite young, isn't it?
...Oh, really?

　This seems like unimportant information, but... well, right now, I'd like to know everything I can know.

'Yes. That's where the descriptions are well documented, and it's the same in a lot of literature.
...I mean, it's pretty sure?
''Yes. And that forbidding king learned his first forbidding curse when he was sixteen years old. It's because of the description of this age that there are demigod and human theories. Well, his young age and good looks are probably the reason why the Forbidden Curse King is so popular with young people.
Oh, yeah, 16--

　..........
　Wait.
　Sixteen years old?
　I mean, that's like ... as good as I am right now, right?

..........

　As for being young again, I hadn't thought much about it.
　I can't put it well, but........I thought it was just a matter of time.

　But.... why did I become young again to my mid-teens?

　Why - was it 'mid-teens'?

　

　................
　Coincidence, I guess.

　Yup.
　The theory that 'I was rejuvenated to mental age', which I first thought, fits me better.......

　But it's also true that this strange sign........even if it was only for a moment, I felt something like an artificial intention.

''..........''
"...Kurohiko-san?　Are you okay?
'What?　Oh, sorry.
Mm-hmm?　Oh, oh, is it that time already?

　I looked at the clock in my room and saw that some time had passed.
　I wondered if it was already dusk outside.

　Clarice-san smiled with a self-conscious smile and scratched her head.


'No, I was grateful. And I'm a little more familiar with the whole forbidden curse thing.
It makes me feel better to hear you say that, but tha-ha-ha...
Well, I should get going. Thank you very much for your time.
Oh, Mr. Kurohiko.

　As I stood up, Clarice-san grabbed the hem of my uniform.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work.

I'm not going to be able to say that I'm not the one who's interested in what I have to say. ........so I had a good time today.

　Clarice smiles softly.
　I can't help but feel relaxed.
　Such a smile.

It's the same for me, thank you. I.........well, I came from the east country, so I don't know much about this continent.
Then if you need to know anything else, please come back here.
Yes, I will.

　And Mr. Clarice suddenly fell silent.
　And.

Well, Mr. Kurohiko I overheard you say that you can't handle the Holy Elements.

　I chuckle at her words.

'Looks like it.'

　Clarice-san's ears seemed to have received the news as well.

''........But you will be attacking the Holy Ruins in the future, right?
I'm gonna...

　After showing some hesitation, Clarice-san opened her mouth.

''Just in case you ... there's something I want to tell you.

　　　　　　　　　　*

　The sun was almost down when I left the library.

'............

　I look at the sky in a daze.

Well, I guess...

　I blurted out, remembering what Clarice had taught me.
　And there.

Hmm?

　A figure leaning against a pillar in the aisle caught my eye.

''........Currier, Mr.?''

　The figure was Currier-san.

'Hmm ... uh ... well ... that's odd.

　Obviously I was waiting for someone... maybe he was waiting for me or something?

Well it's not like I'm preparing to attack the Holy Ruins.
It's an oddity, isn't it?

　The pillar on which Mr. Currier was leaning.
　From the pillar on just the opposite side of it, a figure emerged.

What, Miss Cecily?

　Thank you, Cecily said, smiling at her.
　She then confronted Currier-san.

'I was just thinking of inviting Kurohiko to dinner too.
Tsk... you've been following me.
What in the world are you talking about?　I just happened to see Kurohiko on her way to the library and I just followed her?
...you're a very impressive man.

　Huffing and puffing, Cecily crosses her arms loosely with a clear smile on her face.

''Of course. I would never, for example, hide in the shadows during lunchtime and spy on you.
Well, that's quite a mouthful, little girl.

　What the...?
　Sparks, sparks...!

Um... well, if it's okay with you two, how about the three of us having dinner or something...

　As I was about to step between the two of them, as I was lolling about.

What?

　Huh?

'Apparently I'm done talking to Clarice. ...and it sounds like you're having some fun.

　The one that came out of the main building.

Well, Makina-san...?

　No way, it was the headmaster.