"Not Ahes...what do you mean?" Ahes felt a hint of panic and subconsciously took a step back.
"What I see in your soul is a completely different person from Ahes." She continued, and stretched out her hand towards Ahes.
"Wait, please stop for a moment." Ahes quickly backed away, "Who are you? You haven't answered why you look so young."
"As expected, you are not Ahes at all, you are just a new soul that replaced his body." Claire nodded and said.
Ahes swallowed, this girl could see her identity as a time traveler at a glance? It was really scary.
"Let me see, you achieved this by banning books?" Claire asked.
"Banned books?"
"Don't you know? That doesn't seem to be the case. That would be strange. Apart from banned books, I don't know of any books that can achieve soul transformation." Claire scratched her head and said, "Forget it, let me answer your question first.
, I achieved immortality through the [Book of Eternal Life]. In fact, I was almost a hundred years old when your grandfather adopted me."
"..."
"Is it difficult to understand? You must not be from this world," Claire said jokingly.
Ahs nodded.
"..........Really?"
"Of course it's true."
"Okay, I'll ask you about this in detail later." Claire rubbed her temples and said, "I can see through the difference in your soul. It's because of the [Book of Insight] that I signed a contract with that book.
You can easily see through other people’s pasts.”
"Does my grandfather also know these things?"
"Of course I know. I also invited him to sign a contract with me. In this case, he can live forever. It's a pity that he doesn't want to see the people around him die one by one in front of him, and he feels that [The Book of Eternal Life]
] is a banned book, so he is unwilling to sign a contract with me." Claire shook her head helplessly and said.
The amount of information in just a few sentences filled Ahs's head.
It seems that this is not only a backward fictional world, but also a world where something like "magic" exists. The books Claire mentioned are probably magic.
"You just said that you are not from this world." Claire asked, "Explain to me what that means."
"That's what it means on the surface. I'm not from this world at all. The world I was originally in is completely different from your world. But when I opened my eyes, I suddenly turned into this guy named Ahs, and it was inexplicable.
I killed someone and was beaten up by the victim's family." Ahes said a little aggrieved, "It's really baffling. Is there anything in those books you just mentioned that can help me return to my original world?
Book?"
"No, as you can see, I have read all the books here. There are [listed books] and [banned books], but I have never seen a book like yours." Claire shook her head and said
.
Hearing this, Ahes bit his lip. In other words, he couldn't go back.
"Well, you won't tell others about this?" Ahs asked, "I don't want others to know my true identity. They just think I am Ahs."
"Others? I'm sorry, except for your grandfather and you, I don't know anyone else." Claire shook her head and said, "As I said, I signed a contract with the [Book of Eternal Life], and most of my contemporaries
She is almost dead. After becoming your grandfather’s adopted daughter, I have stayed in this library and never left. Even your father Daniel Gardner’s name was something I only heard from Nathaniel.”
After hearing these words, Ahes was slightly relieved.
"You are very interesting. As for your own soul, even I who signed a contract with the [Book of Insight] cannot pry into it. Now I can only see you, the past of Ahes, except for
Besides, I can only see two souls in your body."
"This, that's it...wait, tell me, can you see Ahes' original past?" Ahes asked.
Claire nodded.
"Great, I don't have any memory of him or this world now, can you tell me what happened in the past."
"No."
"Ah? Why?"
"Why would I do that, and would it be any good to me?"
"......Whatever you want, as long as I can do whatever it takes, can't you do it?"
"Now that you say so." She put her hand into the pocket of her skirt and took out something similar to a banknote. "This is twenty karks. Go buy me some bread and black tea."
"
"Is that all?"
"I have been here for a long time. Although I will not die, I still feel hungry." Claire said, "After you buy it back for me, I will naturally consider telling you what happened to Ahs in the past."
Although he really wanted to ask her why she didn't go by herself for so long, but for the sake of her past, Ahes still took the money and went obediently.
I found a shop and bought bread and black tea for only ten karks in total. It seems that prices in this world are quite low, or maybe the value of karks is very high.
Back at the mansion, Claire had left the underground library and was sitting in the dining room.
"Can you tell me now?" Ahes said as he put the black tea and bread on the table.
"You haven't made the black tea for me yet, and the bread hasn't been cut yet." Claire closed one eye and pointed at the bag and said, "Understanding the past is not an easy thing, and it is also quite energy-consuming. It's up to you.
There was no such thing as black tea and bread in the original world?"
"...No, there are still some." Ahes said, taking out a knife and a kettle from the kitchen, making black tea, cutting the bread into slices, and handed it to Claire.
"Oh, that's very good. You have the potential to be a servant."
"Who wants that kind of potential? By the way, you should tell me." Watching Claire stuff the bread into her cherry-like mouth, Ahes asked sitting opposite her.
"What do you want to ask? I can't tell you everything about him from childhood to adulthood." Claire said, taking a sip of black tea.
"...Why did he kill someone?" Ahes thought of the time he went to jail for killing someone and was beaten up.
"Rather than saying that he killed someone, it's better to say that the victim was seeking death on his own." Claire stretched out a finger and said, "When the original Ahes took the carriage to the market, the victim and his wife were on the road.
While waiting for the bus, in order to show his masculinity and power, the victim stopped the carriage and forced you to give up the car to them. Ahes did not agree. During the argument with Ahes, the victim accidentally made a mistake.
He dropped Ahes's glove and touched his right hand, which turned it into ashes."
Hearing these words, Ahes was shocked and quickly put on his gloves.
"Don't worry, you won't die if you touch yourself, and I won't be affected either," Claire said upon seeing this.
"I, what happened to my hand?"
"I don't know, it should be something similar to a curse. I have read a book that records lost forbidden books. One of them is the [Book of Ashes]. After signing a contract with that book, the [Lord of Ashes] will parasitize
The Contractor's body, and part of the Ash Lord's power will be parasitic on the Contractor's right hand. Once the right hand touches any living thing, that thing will be reduced to ashes. However, this forbidden book has been lost for a long time, and
Very dangerous.”
"Then my biological mother and brother..."
"Your biological mother was turned into ashes by your touch when you were born. As for your brother, his mother died because of you. He naturally hated you very much and sought revenge on you when you were three years old. The result was
Just like the victim, he accidentally touched your right hand when he was beating you. When the power was about to turn his whole body into ashes along his right hand, your father, Daniel, promptly put his right hand in his hand.
His arm was chopped off, and he survived." Claire said in a relaxed tone, as if he was telling a joke.
But this wasn't funny. Ahes looked at his right hand and fell into deep thought.
"You don't need to have a lot of psychological burden. You have been bullied a lot since you were a child. If you don't kill them all with this hand, you have a good temper. Well, you are no longer Ahs. It's just
It's just another person who lives in his name, so don't worry about this kind of thing." Claire said as she drank the black tea in one gulp.
"By the way, what you were talking about just now are [forms], [banned books], and signing contracts." Ahs shook his head and asked, "What is that? Can you explain it?
"
"There are two kinds of books here...oh no, three kinds of books." Claire held out three fingers and said, "The first kind is books for people to read for fun or to learn knowledge."
"Isn't this what books should be like?" Ahs thought to himself.
"The second type is the [Form Book] I mentioned. The content in the Table Book is usually some simple spells, such as creating some flames out of thin air, controlling the body to fly, etc."
"Is this a simple technique?"
"Compared with the contents of more precious forms, this is indeed very simple. This kind of form is generally cheap and can be mass-produced. The method of signing a contract is also very simple. After dripping blood on it, most people can read it carefully.
It can be used, and this simple form can be used to sign contracts without restrictions." Claire said, "As for forms that are expensive and more precious in themselves, other methods are needed to sign a contract, usually
There are two ways. First, fight the guardian transformed into a book. After victory, the book will naturally sign a contract with you. Second, enter the world in the book and conduct his trial. If the trial is successful, you can do it.
Sign the contract."
"It's so complicated. It's hard for me to understand anything about guardians or trials." Ahs shook his head and said.
"It is not easy to describe this kind of thing verbally. You will know when you have the opportunity to find a book and try it yourself." Claire took a bite of bread and pouted, "The last one is the [banned book], what I just said
[Book of Eternal Life] and [Book of Ashes] both belong to [Forbidden Books]. Although the content of the forbidden books is powerful, it will have a more or less bad impact on the contractor. Like your hand, even if you accidentally touch a flower,
Both will cause the flowers to wither, and the trial of the forbidden book is different from that of the external book. After the trial of the external book fails, the person who tries the trial will automatically return to the original world, and will not be affected in any way, but the forbidden book is different.
Once you fail to participate in the trial of the forbidden book, that person will also die."
"..." Ahes' lips were a little dry, so he also poured himself a cup of black tea.
"Then why did you say you wanted to sign a contract with my grandfather at that time? You are not a book." Ahs asked while moistening his throat.
"Contracts can also be signed between people. The premise is that both people must hold at least one taboo or forbidden book. After signing the contract, both parties can choose to use one of the other's books. Of course, one party can also do anything.
No choice." Claire said, laughing at herself, "No one would want to choose my [Book of Eternal Life]. After all, no one wants to watch their relatives and friends die in front of them one after another.
, that is a kind of loneliness, and it is also the greatest harm [Book of Eternal Life] has to the contractor."
Ahes then stretched out his hand.
"What are you doing?" Claire asked confused.
"If I want to sign a contract with you, I will choose the [Book of Eternal Life]." Ahs said seriously.