The Art of Gold Digging
Ch.35- Later.

The world gradually reformed itself.

First came the sensation of falling—or perhaps rising, Amy couldn't tell which. The only thing she knew right now was that the teleportation—lasting longer than it should due to the world going slow-mo—was ending, and Libris was there, in her hands.

The burned book pressed against her chest was the only solid thing in existence, its damaged cover rough beneath her fingers.

"Libris," she whispered into the void. Her fingers traced the cracks across the book's cover, feeling each fracture. It was better than before thanks to the Goddess's magic, but some damage still remained.

As she continued feeling the book, she remembered the first time Libris had spoken to her, their first encounter under that fountain. How quickly she'd gone from suspicion to reliance, from viewing it as a simple guide to... what? A friend? The word felt inadequate, but what else could she call someone who was ready to die just to save her?

"Libris," she whispered once again, hoping for a response, but nothing came.

The warmth she'd felt earlier—that single pulse of life—hadn't returned. Libris remained silent. Even though she knew it was only temporary, it was still... hard.

She'd grown so used to its presence in her mind, its observations both helpful and extremely annoying sometimes, but still familiar—a familiarity she now missed.

It felt strange. It hadn't been that long. Still, for how short their time together was, it had always been there 24/7, by her side when she needed it most. And now…

"Libris…"

[Mmm?]

"I know you probably can't hear me right now. But I need you to know... what you did back there... I'm so sorry you had to—"

[Amy, you're crushing my hypothetical spine.]

"—sacrifice yourself like that. I should have been stronger. Should have found another way—"

[Your ability to blame yourself for every little problem is outstanding… Either way, can you please loosen your grip a little? I thought I wanted it, but honestly, pain isn't for me.]

"—and now you're broken because of me. Just like everything else I touch… The Goddess said you'd speak again, but what if she lied? What if you're just... gone? What if—"

[Oh, for the love of— Hold on.]

The book in Amy's hands suddenly grew warm. Then it began to vibrate. Just slightly at first, then more vigorously.

Amy blinked, looking down. "What...?"

[Finally. Took you long enough.]

Amy's eyes snapped wide open. "LIBRIS?!" She yanked the book away from her chest, staring at it in shock. "You're awake?! You just— Did you just—"

[Did I just what?]

"You—I thought—then the Goddess— Ughhh….!"

[Yeah, I agree.]

"Libris, I have so many things to say! So much has happened. I don't even know where to start."

[Indeed, so much did happen. Looking back, these past twenty minutes were really something.]

"Yeah! It was so— Wait, what do you… You were conscious this whole time?!"

[Define 'conscious.']

"What do you mean define conscious?"

[I was in what you might call a low-power mode. Very relaxing, actually. Like a nice nap.]

"A NAP?!" Amy was now shaking the book like a maraca. "You—You…! The hell you mean a nap! I WAS CRYING!"

[I know. It was very touching, really.]

Amy opened her mouth, then closed it again. So many things to say, so much to talk about. But one thing took precedence above all.

"Libris, how are you?"

[I'm fine.]

Amy frowned, her fingers tightening slightly on the book's damaged cover. "Really? You're 'fine'?"

[Honestly, not really. I was just trying to copy your deflection tactics. 'I'm fine' - the universal human code for 'everything is terrible but I refuse to acknowledge it.' How did I do?]

"Terribly."

[Thought so. Let me try again: It's bad. My consciousness is... fragmented? That's the closest word. Like trying to think through static. The cracks aren't just cosmetic—they go deep into my core essence. Energy reserves are... well, imagine a phone battery that's been through a blender. My ability to use magecraft is completely shot - no more creating money out of thin air or fancy clothing for the foreseeable future. Oh, and now I can actually feel pain, so be careful how you handle me.]

"Libris—"

[But, thanks to the delightful intervention of the Goddess - and I use 'delightful' in the most sarcastic way possible - I can still assist you with my job and will heal eventually. The process requires extended periods of what you might call 'deep sleep.' We're talking maybe an hour of activity at most per day or maybe even weeks—hard to tell—meaning I will 'sleep' most of the time.]

Amy's chest tightened. "How long until you're fully healed?"

[I have no idea. Could be weeks, could be years, even decades. Only time will tell.]

"But you will heal?" Amy pressed, needing the reassurance.

[Yes...probably... Though 'heal' might be too strong a word. 'Reassemble into a functional approximation of my former self' is more accurate. But we'll discuss the details later.]

"Later?"

[Yes, after we deal with... this.]

"Deal with what—"

She didn't have time to finish before her voice was drowned in chaos. The sound returned. Not gradually, but all at once—screaming, cursing, the wet splatter of blood hitting stone.

For several seconds, she could only lie there, observing in silence.

"Crow!" Lyra's voice, high and desperate. "Oh gods, oh gods, there's so much blood—"

"Fucking hell!" Iris's bark cut through the chaos. "Ash, are you alive!?"

"I think so. Is everyone okay!?"

Amy forced herself to roll onto her side, then to her knees. The world tilted, but she managed to focus through the disorientation.

They were in a vast circular chamber, walls of black stone rising high above them. Strange symbols glowed faintly along the walls.

But Amy barely registered any of it. Her attention fixed on the scene ten feet away.

Crow lay sprawled on the marble, his face contorted in pain, partially hidden beneath his medium-length hair. Blood pooled beneath him, flowing steadily from where his left arm used to be.

Amy stared at it and wondered if it was fucked up that it didn't shock her as much as it should.

Lyra knelt beside Crow, tears streaming down her face as green light poured from her shaking hands. "I can't—" her voice cracked. "There's too much damage, I can't—"

"Oh, just stop whining," Iris snapped. She and Ash had positioned themselves on either side of Crow, pinning his remaining arm and legs as he thrashed weakly. "Stop thinking and just pour everything you have into it!"

"The teleportation." Lain's voice somehow cut through the noise. She stood apart from the group, looking ragged, a stark contrast to her usual self. "It made the injury worse. Might be mana poisoning."

"Shit!" Ash growled through gritted teeth as he watched Crow convulsing. "Does anybody have any potions to stabilize it?"

"Here." Lain knelt beside Lyra, pulling a crystalline vial from her storage ring. The liquid inside glowed a soft blue. "Stabilization elixir. It won't heal the wound, but it should stop the mana poisoning."

Lyra's hands trembled as she took the vial. "I never—"

"Pour it directly on the wound," Lain instructed. "Half now, save the rest for if he starts convulsing again."

With shaking fingers, Lyra uncorked the vial and tilted it over the grotesque stump of Crow's arm. The blue liquid hissed as it made contact with flesh and blood. Crow's body arched, a strangled scream tearing from his throat before he suddenly went limp.

"Crow!" Lyra's panic spiked. "Is he—"

"He's breathing," Lain said quietly from where she stood. "The potion knocked him unconscious. It's... better this way."

Gradually, the chaos began to settle. Crow's breathing evened out, no longer the ragged, desperate gasps from moments before. The bleeding slowed to a trickle, then stopped entirely as Lyra's healing magic finally found purchase on the stabilized wound.

Iris and Ash slowly released their grip on Crow's limbs, both sitting back with matching expressions of exhaustion. Blood—Crow's blood—stained their hands and clothes.

"Well," Ash said after a long moment, running a hand through his disheveled hair. "That was..."

"Fucked," Iris finished for him. "That was completely fucked."

The silence that followed was heavy, broken only by Crow's shallow breathing and the faint hum of the glowing symbols on the walls.

It was Lyra who finally spoke. "Does anybody else need healing?"

"My leg feels off," Ash was the first to respond.

Everyone except Amy started voicing their discomfort. And Lyra, despite looking exhausted, began treating them all.

"So…" Ash began, while Lyra was still treating his leg. "What exactly happened back there?"

Amy tensed, still clutching Libris against her chest. She could already hear the questions coming.

"Crow happened." Zayd suddenly spoke, drawing everyone's gaze to him. "Wherever he goes, problems follow."

"Not a single word, Gaspard, or you're not getting healed." Lyra's gaze was penetrating.

Zayd's brows furrowed, but in the end, he only let out a small sigh before shaking his head.

"One moment we were overwhelmed," Ash continued. "Certain to die. Then there was... light. Pure, golden light that simply erased them from existence." His eyes dropped to the book in Amy arms. "And despite the chaos, I could swear that light came from there."

One by one, every head turned toward Amy.

Of course…

"Is that..." Ash squinted at Libris, noticing for the first time the extensive damage across its cover. "Has your book always looked like that? All cracked and... burnt?"

[Forty minutes until naptime. Just wanted you to know before you get interrogated.]

Amy looked at the book, and her mind started racing.

Eventually, she came to a decision. She had too many things to talk about with Libris and definitely had no time to deal with all of this.

"We'll talk about it later," Amy finally said.

"Later?" Iris pushed herself to her feet, eyes narrowing. "No, I think we need to talk about it now. What the hell is that thing?"

"I said later," Amy repeated, her grip on Libris tightening.

"Come on, Stake—"

"I said later!" The words came out sharper than Amy intended. Everyone flinched slightly at her tone—even Lain's composed expression flickered with surprise.

Amy took a breath, trying to rein in her frayed nerves. But then she straightened, something hardening in her expression. "Actually, you know what? Fine. We do need to talk. But first, we need to secure our position." Amy pushed herself to her feet, still cradling Libris. "Look around you. We're in an unknown location, Crow is barely alive, and we have no idea if we're alone down here. Before we have story time, we need information."

[Oh? Assertive Amy? How uncharacteristic.]

She gestured at the three dark archways. "This is supposedly somewhere in the Academy, but none of us recognize it. We need to know where we are, what's down those passages, and if there are any immediate threats."

"So what are you suggesting?" Zayd asked, studying her with his amber eyes.

"Simple. We split up. Two people scout while the others guard Crow and rest. Thirty minutes maximum."

"And who is doing what, Stake?" Ash said, leaning back against the wall.

"Iris and Lain should scout."

"Why us?" Iris asked.

"Don't you want to go?"

Iris opened her mouth to protest, then closed it, unable to argue with the assessment.

"And Lain," Amy continued, turning to the silver-haired girl, "you're very observant, in somewhat good condition, and moreover, someone needs to keep an eye on Iris."

Lain tilted her head slightly, considering.

"I'm curious. Why don't you go yourself, Miss Stake?" Zayd asked, for some unknown reason wearing a calculating look in his eyes. “If anything, you seem like the least injured of all of us.”

"My combat abilities are limited compared to everyone else's, and..." She hesitated, then held up Libris slightly. "My book was damaged saving us, all of us. I need to assess what that means for our future plans."

Iris and Lain exchanged glances.

"It... makes sense," Iris admitted grudgingly.

"Thirty minutes," Lain said quietly, apparently accepting the logic. "If we're not back—"

"We come looking," Amy finished. "Take the left passage. If this follows typical Academy architecture, it should lead toward the central structures."

"How do you know that? Do you know where we are? Because I don't recognize this room," Ash asked.

"I don't," Amy said, the lie coming easily. "I just used my power. Based on the symbol patterns something important must be in that direction."

In the manga it had sufficed following the shape of the symbols. It should be the same here.

Iris cracked her knuckles. "Alright then, temporary leader. Let's go exploring, ice princess."

Lain lingered for a single second, observing Amy, before moving toward the indicated passage.

Just before they disappeared into the darkness, Iris looked back. "When we return, we're still having that talk about your book."

"I know," Amy said simply.

Then they were gone, swallowed by shadows.

[Nicely done. You successfully manipulated them into giving us privacy while maintaining group efficiency. I'm so proud.]

"It wasn't manipulation," Amy muttered, finding a spot where she could monitor all three exits while sitting. "It was practical leadership."

[If you say so. Though I notice you didn't mention that you wanted time alone to cry over my temporary dormancy.]

"I'm not going to cry."

[Mmm. We'll see about that.]

Amy carefully set Libris in her lap, hyperaware of every crack and burn mark. The others had spread out—Zayd taking a guard position, Ash resting against a wall, Lyra focused entirely on Crow's healing.

"Libris," Amy whispered, low enough that only the book could hear. "How are you?"

[I already told you.]

"...I know. It's just…"

Amy's voice trailed off as she stared down at the damaged book. Her fingers traced the edge of a particularly deep crack. "I don't even know where to start. There's so much to talk about—what happened with the Goddess, what she said about the world, your sacrifice, Crow's father, the chaos creatures arriving too early, everything changing from what I expected..." She let out a shaky breath. "It's all just... too much."

[Hmm. When overwhelmed by multiple converging plot threads, might I suggest we start with the most obvious solution?]

"Which is?"

[Reading the manga chapters, of course.]

Amy blinked. In everything that had happened—the battle, Crow's injury, the Goddess's appearance—she'd completely forgotten about the chapter that should have updated.

"The chapter..." she whispered. "How bad is it…?"

[Well… I was blocking them for a reason…]

"I see…"

[I assure you, I dislike it as much as or even more than you do. But still, I highly recommend you take a look as it contains crucial information about why everything has gone so spectacularly off-script.]

"..."

[Amy…?]

"...Alright… alright…"

"You sure…?"

"Yes. Let's just get this thing out of the way…"

[Very well.]