Kidoku

"Morning." Roko said as he walked into the castle library.

"Morning." A young bored looking elf with glasses greeting him without looking up from her book, "So you've come again today, human."

"I still have a lot to read up on." Roko replied, "How's the assistant life been treating you, Vine?"

"Same as always." Vine replied, "You're about the only one who really comes here."

"What about the head librarian?"

"Oh, is he here today? Didn't notice."

"...What are you reading?"

"Some trashy romance novel." Vine scoffed, "A female elf falls in love with a human and escapes her forest to try and find a new life with her love. Most of the descriptions of human life is completely inaccurate."

"You know about human society?"

"From the textbooks. You'd figure the author would try and do some research before writing about something she doesn't know about. Like, do humans really spend lots of time taking pictures of themselves, their food and themselves with their food? Some of the situations these humans get into for the sake of a picture is borderline life threatening. Romance isn't all that great either. The love interest is a terrible person. And the amount of PDA is sickening. The sex scenes are awkward as we-"

"Hey!" A loud voice called out from across the library as a thin looking male elf rushed out from the bookshelves, brandishing a feather duster angrily, "No talking in the library! You're disturbing the guests!"

Roko looked around at the library that was devoid of any life besides the three of them. Turning back to Vine, the library assistant has gone back to reading her book silently like she had never said anything, barely manning the front desk like she was supposed to. Roko gave a polite wave of goodbye that he wasn't sure Vine even saw before heading towards one of the desks. But as soon as he placed his stuff down, he was suddenly grabbed by the collar and pulled to look at the angry looking elf from before in the face.

"You bastard..." The elf scowled, "What do you think you're doing, talking to Vine?"

"Morning, Branch." Roko said, "Did you find those books I asked you about?"

"Don't you get chummy with me." Branch scowled, "You stay away from Vine, you hear me?"

"If you point me in the right direction, I'll just find them myself if you can't help me."

"You listen here. I know Vine looks very cute and is very intelligent but I've known Vine far longer than you have so don't you come in here with your stupid round ears and try to talk to her like you're friends."

"Are you allowed to say something like that as the head librarian?"

"It's my job as head librarian to make sure guys like you don't try to temp my Vine, you hear me?!"

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Roko smirked, "Have you even talked to Vine today?"

"I have!"

"And did she respond?"

"..."

"..."

"...She's just busy reading her book! She's a very intelligent elf!"

"Kinda feels like she should be the head and you should be the assistant."

"What do you know?" Branch growled, "You just stay away from her, got it?"

"Have you even asked her out?"

Branch shoved Roko away from him, glaring back at him with utter resentment as he slinked back between the bookshelves.

Finally alone, Roko sat down and began to read through the books he had on hand. A lot of them were historical records of the elves' history. Some of which might have been exaggerated but Roko wasn't exactly interested in the complete history of the elves. Skimming through the timeline, Roko picked out any recorded instances of the spell holy. These moments were few and far between. Given the elves reclusiveness, their history with humans were scattered across several thousands of years and these instances of holy, while easy to find since it could only occur in their time with humans and only in interaction with human heroes, were dreadfully lacking in detail.

In the 23rd day of the King Squadron's campaign, Hero Robert demonstrated an unforeseen power that nullified the demon army's magic cannons.

1777, Canopy the Green Wind crossed paths with the human hero, Cassandra. For various reasons, the two began a long campaign of combat against each other, ending only when the hero Cassandra unleashed a never before seen power that stripped Canopy's arrows of their enchantments.

In the springtime later that year, human hero Celica revealed a heretofore unknown power in her final fight against Demon King Raz-Regulus. This power made all of his powerful magic disappear before her and allowed her to cut through his diamond skin and pierce his heart.

Such were the entries that Roko could find. Mere footnotes on the few times the spell Holy was seen by elves. No matter how many times Roko looked up the same events over and over again in different historical texts there were little more details he could find for even one such event. Everyday, book after book, Roko could barely find any details on these historical moments. He could find the history of these heroic figures well enough, read through their first contact with the elves to the end of their achievements but exactly how they obtained holy, even knew or came across the concept of this spell or how this spell was used in more detail, there was nothing of substance to find in all the data that the elves had provided. Which meant…

"They're hiding it from me." Roko sighed as he sat back.

"Hiding what?"

Roko jolted as he was suddenly aware of someone walking up to him.

"Corissa!" Roko cried as he quickly stood up, "What are you doing here?!"

"It was getting to around lunchtime and I was worried you might not have been eaten yet." Corissa smiled as she held up a basket, "I heard you were going to do some heavy research too so I brought your favorite hot chocolate and tiramisu."

"They're not really my favorite..." Roko mumbled, "But thanks."

"We can save those for later." Corissa reached into her basket, "Why don't we start with some sandwi-"

"No eating in the library." Vine's voice called out from the front desk, startling Corissa.

"O-Oh..." Corissa said her excitement deflated, "Right. Let's go eat outside then."

"Sure." Roko tidied up the books he was reading before picking up his stuff, "Let's go."

Roko followed Corissa out of the castle library, past Vine who was still reading her book and past an utterly awe struck Branch who kept staring at Corissa with rapturous excitement.

"Sir, please pick your jaw off the floor." Vine said, turning a page of her book as Branch realized he was practically drooling and quickly tidied himself up.

"Eat up!" Corissa said cheerfully as she handed Roko a sandwich, "There's plenty more!"

"Thanks." Roko said, taking a bite of the sandwich as he looked around at castle courtyard. Roko had been in the castle a couple of times now but he hadn't really bothered exploring so these courtyards were a first as well. It was pretty well tended though it seems they were going for an open field look for the court, with only the occasional tree to provide substance to the area. Perhaps they wanted a minimalist approach or perhaps this wide open field is actually an interesting change to the forest that they constantly live in. That or the landscaper's just been lazy.

"Roko! I tried making my own milk tea! Can you tell me what you think of it?"

"Ah. Sure." Roko said as he took the small cup of milk tea and took a sip, "..."

"How is it?"

"It's fine. I usually prefer more tea in my milk tea but this is serviceable."

"Then, I'll adjust the ratio next time I try it!" Corissa smiled, "I want to make a milk tea that's just as good as yours!"

"You're already there, don't rush it." Roko said as he downed the rest of the cup.

"How are the sandwiches?"

"They're good."

"Do you need anything else?"

"I'm good."

After barraging him with questions, Corissa sat there as Roko continued to eat. The poor girl was fidgeting again, in the way that she clearly had something she wanted to say but was too anxious or shy to say it quite yet. So Roko patiently waited for Corissa to gather her thoughts and courage as he ate her rather plentiful lunch.

"S-Sooo..." Corissa said after waiting a short while, "Remember that time when I got drunk?"

"You've gotten drunk twice in front of me."

"T-The most recent time!" Corissa cried, frustrated, "A few weeks ago at the town!"

"Yeah."

"I...I was...drunk." Corissa mumbled abashedly.

"You don't say."

"Mmph… I was drunk!" Corissa said again, more frustrated by Roko's flippancy, "So...so you don't have to take what I said too seriously."

"..."

"This spell...it's my power...so it's my responsibility. You shouldn't be forced to help with my problem. You're already trying so hard to learn magic. I just don't want you to overwork yourself."

"..."

"I-I was drunk anyway, there's no reason to take what I said so seriously." Corissa said as cheerfully as she could, "So it's fine. I'll-"

"Are you going start reading all those books?"

"Umm...I-if I have to!"

"They're pretty long and mostly about elves more than the human heroes who use holy. Even I haven't been able to gleam much from the material they've given me. What are you going to do?"

"Umm...uhhh..."

"I told you when you were drunk didn't I? You can ask others for help if you can't do it yourself. And having seen what they've given me, I don't think they're going to be as accommodating as we hoped. Can you do it? Can you find the truths in the omissions and figure out the nature of a spell that according to the elves defies nature?"

"I..." Corissa bit her lip, "But I'm not doing anything again. I feel like I should at least help somewhat. I'm forcing my work on you so-"

"Your time will come later." Roko sighed, "Remember, I'm not the one that can cast this spell. Once I learn more about holy, it's up to you to master it. Can you do that?"

"I...I..." Corissa looked down, "I..."

"It's fine if you can't. It certainly seems like a dangerous power. I'm sure you parents wouldn't mind if you didn't want to learn it either."

"I-I'll learn it!" Corissa cried, "I'm not going to let everyone else's work go to waste! But do you really think you can do it? This is something even the elves don't understand."

"Who knows?" Roko replied as he finished the rest of his sandwich, "But I can tell you this. The only one who can define what my limits are is myself."

Roko stood up, stretching his arms and legs, already ready to return to his study. Corissa watched him, her worries no less assuaged but it was clear that nothing she could say would deter him. So she sighed and stood up,

"Alright. But I want you to promise you won't overwork yourself. Not just with this research but with everything. Got it?"

"Umm...yeah sure."

Corissa held out a pinky towards Roko. Roko sighed and made a pink promise with her. Corissa smiled, satisfied before a voice called out to them.

"Yo." Vine called as she walked up to them, nose still in her book, "Queen wants to see you, human."

"Perfect." Roko said, "I have some questions for her as well."

"Fancy seeing you again so soon." Roko said, "You come here often?"

"I been receiving reports on your progress." Rivera said, ignoring Roko's irreverence, "It seems like your magical training has actually progressed somewhat."

"I'm slowly learning archeomancy." Roko shrugged, "Only so much progress I can make in ten days."

"But you said you made no progress in your human school. Do you not find that weird?"

"I kind of arrived in the middle of a school semester so I didn't exactly start from the beginning. And in the middle of a class as prolific as princesses, I hardly had the chance to catch up. ...But that's barely an excuse. If I had to pinpoint the problem...magic was explained to me as a sort of habit. An effect that you train to occur in response to a word. I was never able to create an effect much less tie it to a castphrase."

"I'm not too familiar with human magic but that sounds barbaric." Rivera sighed, "Human magic's been described to me as a prayer. You pray to a god for magic but eventually you move from praying to a god to praying to yourself. Is that not what you learned?"

"Not at all." Roko scoffed, "All I learned was intentional casting and silent casting."

"Intentional-pfft." Rivera held back a snickering laugh, "Naturally magical creatures have no problems with this. There's never been a problem with intentional casting. The concept's utterly ridiculous to us."

"How about silent casting?"

"The same way how you have illiterate humans, elves have people who cannot silent cast. It's only a matter of training or education. Of course, no such elves exist in Granreveria but you might still hear...castphrases you call it? Speaking the spell out loud does help strengthen the spell a bit."

"That so? Well, maybe I'll get to learning castphrases eventually but for now I'm stuck with archeomancy."

"Indeed. But do you know what spell you wish to learn?"

"Not quite yet. Still testing things out."

"Is that so?" The queen's eyes narrowed, "Then, would you like to tell me what exactly you've been doing with your archeomancy?"

Roko remained silent, matching Rivera's glare with a calm emotionless stare.

"You've managed to create lines of magic but despite how feeble and unstable they are, you've begun to shape them into vague forms that have begun to make those observing you anxious. I've received many such reports along with requests for me to look into it. So what do you have to explain yourself with?"

"..." Roko smirked, "Who knows?"

"You intend to keep secrets?" The queen glared at him almost incredulously, "In my city?"

"I'm not opposed to explaining myself." Roko said, "But perhaps we can help each other. I can explain what it is I'm doing with my archeomancy. And you can give me proper data on the holy spell."

"...Did we not already provide you with our records on the spell?" Rivera frowned.

"Everything you've provided me is tangential at best. They conveniently glance over the details of the situation, only records the times when the spell worked and most of all, is missing any research or theories on Holy. I find it hard to believe that in so many years, no one has bothered to research this infamous spell even if it was indirectly."

"...And you think explaining your little stunt is worth our entire knowledge of a human's spell?"

"Without telling you what it is I am attempting with archeomancy, I can tell you that if what I'm doing works, it would greatly further our understanding of magic."

"That is quite the claim." The queen raised an eyebrow, "You think you can teach us something about magic we don't know?"

"We'll see if I do. But first, I want to know where the proper records and research of holy are. I'm not doing this for any sort of ambition or plan. I just have someone who has the talent for it and would greatly appreciate the chance to be able to control it."

The queen glared at Roko, weighing his words carefully. Roko simply stood there and waited, silently challenging the queen with his mere presence. It was just a preliminary warning. Just offer her the chance to cooperate before Roko is forced to take matters in his own hands. If he could avoid drastic measures, Roko would take them but for now, he had to at least look like he would take those more drastic actions if Rivera wouldn't comply. Roko didn't think himself much of an actor so he didn't know how to really look the part but-

"The information you seek is inside our forbidden records." Rivera said, cutting into Roko's thoughts, "Part of our restricted section. The head librarian has expressed that he really doesn't want you near those records."

"Would it help if I get his assistant's approval?"

"Why would that help?" Rivera frowned, "No, I'm willing to trust your words for now and offer you access to the restricted section."

"In exchange for..." Roko asked expectantly.

"Naturally, you will tell me what it is you're doing with your archeomancy." Rivera nodded, "However, I will also have you undergo the Hero's Trial."