Everything else was covered in dust—but the books were oddly pristine.

Ludger looked around.

Now that he had been lured into the hidden room, things he hadn’t noticed before started to become clear.

‘Footprints.’

There were multiple sets of footprints scattered across the dusty floor, indicating that others had been here before.

Comparing them to the settled dust, it wasn’t recent—but not that long ago either.

“Arfa. Step outside. If anyone approaches, draw their attention.”

“Yes, understood.”

Once Arfa left, Ludger opened the book and rapidly skimmed through its contents.

It was a record left behind by the man who had inherited the mansion.

‘I see. So that’s how they locked the doors.’

The book detailed the mansion’s mystical properties, magical traps, and how to manipulate its functions.

The Black Dawn Society had locked the doors by activating one of the mansion’s internal mechanisms.

‘But why go through the trouble of just locking the doors? If they knew how to use the mansion’s mysteries properly, they wouldn’t need such a clumsy method.’

Then Ludger realized the truth.

They hadn’t chosen not to use the other functions.

They simply couldn’t.

‘Of course. This book is written in the ancient language. No matter how powerful the Black Dawn Society is, they wouldn’t be able to fully decipher it.’

It was lucky, in a way, that the only part they managed to interpret was about the door mechanism.

If they had understood the traps and deeper mysteries of the mansion, this wouldn’t be a secret mansion—it would be hell on earth.

As Ludger flipped through the pages, his eyes drifted to another book lying on the desk.

‘What’s this?’

It was bound in leather, and compared to the other tomes in the archive, looked rather modest.

But the value of a book lay not in its appearance, but in what was written inside.

The fact that it wasn’t shelved but placed here, in this hidden space, meant it was anything but ordinary.

Ludger picked it up and widened his eyes at the inscription at the beginning:

[This knowledge is left behind for those cursed by Emptiness. May it serve you well.]

‘Curse of Emptiness?’

Feeling an eerie sense of déjà vu, Ludger quickly turned the page.

[They are the chosen, and yet they cannot manifest blessing or grace. Their bodies break down, and they rarely survive past thirty. The unknown grace they possess is, to them, a curse.]

That was why it had been named the Curse of Emptiness.

Ludger immediately recognized the condition—this was exactly like Non-Attributed Mana.

No—more than similar. What this book called the Curse of Emptiness was undoubtedly Non-Attributed Mana.

‘Finally. I’ve found it.’

A sense of elation welled up inside him. One of the very reasons he’d come here had just been fulfilled.

But it was too early to celebrate.

‘I won’t know how useful this is until I read further.’

Ludger focused and carefully turned to the next page—

—but a loud signal rang out from outside.

“Oh! You’re back already?”

Arfa had deliberately raised his voice, signaling Ludger.

Already?

Ludger looked down at the book in his hands, hesitating.

After a brief pause, he closed it and gently placed it back on the desk.

He stepped out of the hidden room.

Arfa’s voice had come from just beyond the bookshelf—still out of sight, but not far away.

Getting closer.

Ludger silently shut the door behind him.

The bookshelf slid closed with a quiet shhk—not a single sound escaped.

He turned just in time to come face to face with their unexpected visitor.

“You came sooner than I expected,” Ludger said calmly as he saw Rimle standing with Arfa.

He casually held a book he had just pulled from the shelf—as if nothing had happened.

“Have you finished checking your section?”

“Yes. Nothing useful. A complete waste. But I figured maybe you’d found something.”

Rimle looked around the area.

“Anything here?”

“Nothing.”

“Tch. How are we supposed to get out of here like this?”

“Where are the others?”

“Still in their assigned zones, I imagine. It’ll take them a while. I had [Book Picker], so I finished quickly—they didn’t.”

“In that case, let’s go help them. I just finished searching this area as well.”

Ludger led Rimle to rejoin Loina and Sempas.

“Any luck?”

“Nothing.”

“Same here.”

“Hmm. Not great.”

Ludger stroked his chin thoughtfully.

The others seemed disappointed, but Arfa simply stared at him in silence.

As everyone was wondering what to do next, the previously shut archive door creaked open.

“The archive! We found the archive!”

“We finally got it!”

The ones entering through the open door were elderly men.

Ludger and Rimle’s expressions stiffened. Loina openly grimaced.

Understandably so.

The ones who had just entered were the last people they wanted to see—the Truth School mages.

‘They were still wandering around trying to find the archive in this situation?’

Given their typical behavior, Ludger seriously doubted they were looking for a way to escape.

As Ludger’s group stared at them with collective irritation, the Truth School mages also spotted them.

“What’s this?”

The elder in front scowled.

His gaunt face was tight with irritation, and the look he shot Ludger was far from friendly.

Since they’d run into each other, Ludger decided to greet them politely—at least outwardly.

“Nice to see you, seniors. So, you’ve made it to the archive.”

“And who the hell are you?”

The way he asked—completely out of nowhere—was incredibly rude.

And clearly, he didn’t see anything wrong with it.

“How did you find the archive? Just stumbled in by accident? Hmph. Not that it matters. We’re here now, so kindly get lost.”

That made Loina snap.

“What are you talking about? We were here first!”

“What? Did you just raise your voice in front of your elders?”

Instead of backing down, the man got even more aggressive. Loina shrank back.

“I—I’m a 6th-Circle mage...”

“A half-baked 6th-Circle, maybe.”

He immediately pounced on her hesitation.

Like any cunning old man, he knew exactly where to stab.

“Didn’t you almost die during that terrorist attack in the capital? What a disgrace to mages everywhere.”

“Exactly. What good is a high Circle if you’re young and inexperienced?”

“And now look at her—clinging to some academy instructor like a lost child.”

Each word hit like a slap, and Loina flinched more with every line.

Eventually, she hung her head.

Sempas glared, his aura rising sharply.

“These damn senile bastards—!”

He was about to say more when Ludger stepped in and held him back.

“...Ludger Cherish.”

“Hold your anger. Let me handle this.”

“You’re just going to let those disrespectful geezers talk like that?”

“Fighting here helps no one. I’ll deal with them.”

Sempas bit his lip and stepped back.

He was furious—but he respected Ludger too much to ignore his judgment.

Ludger was better suited for handling a situation like this than someone like him, who only knew how to fight.

Ludger stepped forward, facing the Truth School mages.

“Shut your mouths, you dried-up old ghosts.”

Ghk!

Sempas couldn’t help choking on a laugh, and Loina lifted her head in surprise.

Wasn’t he supposed to be resolving things peacefully?!

Sempas stared at Ludger’s back, bewildered.

And the Truth School mages were just as stunned by the verbal slap.

“What did you just say? Huh? Say that again!”

“Deaf now, are you? I said shut your mouths.”

“You...! You’re insane! Talking to your elders like that!”

Their leader trembled with fury, magical energy rising.

His robe flared as his mana ignited like flames.

The other mages behind him did the same.

Though focused on academic research, these old men had amassed considerable magical power over the years.

But Ludger stood firm, unfazed by the pressure.

“‘Seniors,’ you say?”

He didn’t even try to hide his cold, scornful smirk.

“Big mouths for geriatrics who have nothing but age and fake authority.”

“You brat! You little shit with milk still on your breath! I’ll—!”

“Do it. Try.”

BOOOOM──!!!

Ludger’s voice dropped, and he unleashed his mana all at once.

The explosion of power made the air quake, a deep blast ringing in everyone’s ears.

Surrounded by a pale, bluish mist—his mana compressed and refined—Ludger took a step forward.

“Are you really planning to fight me here?”

No formality. No respect.

Blunt. Cold. Direct.

And the Truth School mages couldn’t rise to the challenge.

They had tried to intimidate him—only to find themselves terrified instead.

‘W-What kind of monstrous mana...?!’

The fog around Ludger was a mana mist—a phenomenon that only occurred when someone could perfectly control ultra-dense mana.

Not one of them had ever achieved that.

Ludger had not only immense mana capacity but the ability to release it fully without waste.

On top of that, thanks to tonics and other factors, his previously limited mana reserves had surged.

At this moment, his sheer force of presence exceeded even that of a Lexuror-class mage.

“If you mess with us, can you deal with the consequences?!”

“Consequences? We’re all probably going to die trapped in this mansion anyway. Why would I care?”

Ludger took another step.

And the Truth School mages took a collective step back.

One man, overwhelming twenty.

Their pride stung, their faces flushed with shame.

They outnumbered him—so why were they retreating?

Just as they were about to push forward again, someone stepped up.

“That’s enough.”

Clang.

Rimle raised her staff, now in scepter form, and stood beside Ludger.

The sudden appearance of another Lexuror-class mage made the Truth School falter.

Rimle looked at them with open contempt.

“Are you going to stop here? Or take this to the end? If it’s the latter, then as this man’s companion, I can’t sit back either.”

The moment she said that, murmurs spread among the Truth School.

Loina and Sempas, emboldened, stepped forward too.

Their side had fewer numbers, but their individual power far outstripped the opposition.

And the Truth School mages knew it.

Puffed-up pride wouldn’t save them this time.

“Rimle.”

The elder at the front finally spoke again.

Tortey—current head of the Truth School.

He stared at Rimle with sunken eyes.

“Still chasing false hope in this place?”

“......”

“Then you’re wasting your time. Without our help, how do you think you—”

“Enough.”

Rimle cut him off.

Tortey didn’t lash out.

Because Rimle’s expression wasn’t her usual irritated scowl.

Her face was cold as ice, but her eyes blazed like fire.

Even Ludger had never seen that look on her before.

The moment Tortey saw her face twist like that, he clamped his mouth shut.

His instincts screamed: One more word, and she might kill me.

“...Hmph. Foolish girl. Do as you please.”

“Let’s go!”

With that, Tortey led his group away toward another section of the archive.

They didn’t even try to hide their disgust at having to share space with Ludger’s party. No apology. No humility.

“Unbelievable. How can people be so damn arrogant?” Loina muttered, shaking her head in exasperation.

Sempas silently agreed.

But Ludger, meanwhile, kept replaying the exchange between Rimle and Tortey.

“Master Rimle.”

“......”

“You knew the Truth School personally?”

That made Loina and Sempas realize it too, and they turned toward her.

Rimle frowned, then let her face relax with a sigh.

“Yes. No point hiding it now.”

She let out a soft puff of breath and nodded.

“I was once a mage of the Truth School. And now, I share nothing but a thoroughly miserable relationship with them.”