03x12 - The Sage of the Library

[bunniefuu]

Eldrie?

I've heard that name...

Eugeo.

We're going to fight him.
I'll face him first,

and you wait for my signal.

All right.

You're going to use those chains
as your weapons?

Then let me fight not with my sword,
but with this instead.

System Call! Enhance Armament!

Don't worry.

If it's a whip, as long as
we keep an eye on the distance...

...it can't possib—

It extended?

Ah, so you managed to withstand a blow
from my Divine Object, the Frostscale Whip at first sight?

Kirito!

These class- chains...

Eugeo. I'll find a way to stop his whip,
so you strike him.

Are you done discussing, prisoners?

Now then... try to keep me
at least somewhat entertained!

The Sage of the Library

System Call!

Generate Thermal Element!

Generate Cryogenic Element.

Form Element, Arrow Shape!

Form Element, Bird Shape.

Counter Thermal Object.

Discharge!

Discharge.

Did I overestimate you after all?

Allow me to show you some mercy.

I'll knock you unconsciousness quickly.

Not done yet!

Perhaps I should take back what I said
about underestimating you?

To think you could inflict such a wound on me!

Thanks, I guess.

Still, that move... that combat style...
Strangely enough, it seems familiar to me...

Oh yeah? Then maybe you've fought a swordsman
of the Serlut style before.

That's not possible, prisoner.

I was summoned to the human realm
as an Integrity Knight only one month ago.

This summoning...

It sounds like somebody ordered you
to come to this human realm.

Release Recollection.

No wonder Lady Alice was cautious of you.

That att*ck has no form or anything,
but that's why it exceeded my expectations.

To think that you made me use
my secret skill, Memory Release!

Now I remember.

From the start, I knew I'd heard that name before.

You were this year's Norlangarth North Empire
top representative swordsman,

and the winner
of the Four-Empire Unification Tournament...

Eldrie Woolsburg.

Me, the North Empire representative swordsman?

Eldrie Woolsburg...

That's right.

If I remember correctly, you won every match
with a single point using your graceful sword skills.

What are you talking about?

I'm the Integrity Knight
Eldrie Synthesis Thirty-One!

I've never heard it! The name Woolsburg!

But...

Never heard of it!
I... I've never heard of it.

I... was invited by the pontifex, Administrator

to descend upon this land from the heavens
as an Integrity Knight!

Wh-What just...

Did Alice lose her memories
and change personalities because of that?

Eldrie!

Eldrie Woolsburg!

Eugeo, do you know anything else?

It can be anything.
You have to revive more of his memories!

Eldrie!

You're the son of the general
of the Imperial Knight Order, Eschdor Woolsburg!

Your mother's name is... I think... Almera?

Right, it's Almera!

Al... me... ra.

Mo... ther.

That's right, remember...

...everything!

Kirito!

Kirito!

You criminals. Step away from Knight Thirty-One!

You won't be forgiven for the sin of tempting
a brilliant Integrity Knight to fall from grace.

After piercing all four of your limbs,
I shall throw you back into your cell!

Run!

A fork in the road.

Go right!

Eugeo, go right!

Kirito! Up ahead!

It's a dead end!

Hey!

This way!

Dive!

Ouch!

Where are we?

We've been detected.
Can't use this back door anymore.

Um, thank you for rescuing us. Uh...

It's nice to meet you. I'm Eugeo.

H-Hey!

And this is Kirito.

Thanks. You saved us.

Um, do you live here?

Of course not.

Come with me.

Is this inside the Central Cathedral now?

You could say that it is.
You could also say that it isn't.

As I've deleted the regular door,
although this place exists inside the cathedral,

no one is able to enter.

Unless it's at my invitation.

A great... library?

Indeed.

The records of all history,

and the structural formulae of all things under the heavens
since this world was created,

as well as every system command,
or what you call the sacred arts, are stored here.

Wh-Who are you, exactly?

My name is Cardinal.

I was once the regulator of the world,

now I am the sole librarian of this great library.

All history?

Yes. Even the creation account
from when the gods Stacia and Vecta

divided the world into the realm of humanity
and the realm of darkness are recorded here.

You may read them if you wish.

But first, both of you hold out your right hands.

There.

Are you okay, Eugeo?

Yeah.

Looks like you need to warm yourself up.

It's not spacious, but beyond that corridor,
there's a bathroom. Go on now.

Thank you.
I'll gladly accept your kind offer.

Also, Ms. Cardinal...

Um, well...

Beyond those stairs is the history gallery.

I'll get you something to eat after you bathe.

Thank you very much!

Please excuse me for a bit.

Although the records here were, unfortunately,
fabricated by the pontifex of the Axiom Church.

So no gods exist in this world, then?

None.

The myths that
the Underworld people believe in

are merely the propaganda spun by the church
to cement its rule.

Although the names of the gods have been registered
as super accounts for emergencies,

no human from the outside world
has logged in through that.

So you're not a resident of the Underworld.

You're an existence close to the system supervisors
from the outside world!

Indeed. And you're the same as well, right?

Unregistered resident Kirito.

Yeah, that's right.

The name of the people
who created the Underworld is Rath. Am I right?

Indeed.

And you're the Cardinal System.

An autonomous program
to control the virtual world.

Oh? So you know about that?

Have you contacted my counterparts
on the other side?

Well, yeah.

But as far I know, the Cardinal System never had
an anthropomorphic interface built in.

So what kind of an existence are you?

What are you doing here?

Let me be as succinct as possible.

First, eat.

Since I've cast a spell on it,
those wounds will heal soon, too.

Wow, no wonder you're the supervisor.

I'm not the supervisor.

I can only manipulate the objects in this library.

Oh, can you get in contact with the real world?

Idiot! If I could, I wouldn't be confined
inside a dusty place like this for centuries.

Unfortunately, the only one
who has the means to do that is the pontifex.

I-Is that right?

There!

A moment ago,
I told you that no gods exist in this world.

But when this world was created
some years ago,

something similar did exist.

Back when the capital city, Centoria,
was no more than a tiny village, there were four Gods.

I bet they were humans,
the Rath staff who built this world, right?

It's as you say.

Four people from the outside world
descended upon this land,

and raised eight "children" each on two farms.

From reading and writing,

and how to raise crops,

from how to raise livestock...

Until they arrived at what would become the basis
for the Taboo Index, the ethics of morality.

From the way the "Original Four" fulfilled
the difficult mission they were given splendidly,

it's obvious that as humans,
they had intelligence of the highest order.

But...

There was just one among them who,
though highly intelligent, was unethical.

And the children of this person inherited selfish desires,
such as the thirst to possess and rule.

And it was those children
who became the ancestors.

Of the nobles, and of the high ministers
of the Axiom Church.

And reigning over them all
is a single woman, the pontifex of the Axiom Church,

who is now the system supervisor as well.

She calls herself "Administrator,"
the most arrogant name imaginable.

That name...

The Integrity Knight Eldrie said that name, too.

I think he said something like,
"I was summoned by the pontifex Administrator."

That's exactly who I've been talking about.

And though it's disgusting,
this Administrator is my elder twin sister, so to speak.

Wh-What do you mean by that?

I'll tell you the story in order.

Several decades after the "Original Four"'
had logged out,

the first political marriage
between two families of lords was orchestrated,

and a baby girl was born from that union.

Her name was Quinella.

My daughter, Quinella.

I grant you the Calling, "sacred arts research."

I gratefully accept, Father.

System Call.

No one else realizes it,
but sacred words each have their own meaning.

"Call" means to summon.

"Generate" means to produce.

Over here!

System Call. Generate Thermal Element.

Form Element, Arrow Shape. Fly Straight.

Discharge!

Lady Quinella, I beg you to heal his legs!

Very well.

System Call. Generate Luminous Element.

Form Element, Liquid Shape.

She's a child of God!

Surely, Lady Quinella
is the holy child of the god Stacia!

Lady Quinella!

Even as a gentle smile was on her face,

Quinella knew that the time had come
for her to fully sate her endless thirst to rule.

Soon, we will have a place to pray to the gods.

In order to rule over the ever-growing masses,
I will need a written law.

First, to ensure that no one with a higher
authority level than mine will ever appear,

I must make hunting taboo.

As well as m*rder.

Lady Quinella, you wanted to see me?

This is a holy book,
a compilation of the god Stacia's oracle.

It is called the Taboo Index.

Replicate it, distribute it to every town and village,
and have the people obey it.

Yes, ma'am.

System Call.

Open List.

System Call.

Read List.

System Call.

Inspect List.

And then, Quinella opened it at last.

The Forbidden Door, that is.

Either by way of an impossible coincidence,

or perhaps with a little help
from someone from the outside world...

Let me show you.

System Call!

Inspect Entire Command List!

This is...

Yes. Displayed in this window
is the entire catalogue of system commands.

Quinella's first action was to completely
restore her life, and halt its natural decline.

And then restore her looks.

She regained the dazzling beauty
of her late teens.

She should've been satisfied at that point.

But...

For Quinella, there could be no one else
who had authority equal to hers...

She couldn't even tolerate the existence
of the Cardinal System.

Plotting to seize
the Cardinal System's authority level,

she composed a lengthy sacred art command
and recited it.

As a result...

She b*rned the fundamental command
assigned to the Cardinal System

onto her own Fluctlight
as a non-editable behavioral principle.

Her intent was to steal its authority level,
but she ended up fusing her soul with the Cardinal System.

Preservation of Order.

That is the basic command of the Cardinal System,
and reason of existing.

As someone who spent time in a world controlled
by the same system, you should understand.

Constantly observing
the actions of you, "the players,"

and deal with anything that skews the balance
as soon as its detected, mercilessly.

Quinella had lost consciousness,
and awakened after she slept for an entire day.

By that time, she'd ceased to be human
in any sense of the word.

No longer aging,
drinking no water, eating no bread...

Her only desire was to preserve this human realm
that she ruled, as it currently was, forever.

I am both ruler and supervisor...

As of today, I am the pontifex of the Axiom Church...

I am Administrator.

Next time: Ruler and Mediator.