The Extra is a Genius!?
Chapter 199: Moonlit Pages

Chapter 199: Chapter 199: Moonlit Pages

The soft hum of the mana lights faded, one by one, until only silence remained. Shelves rose like pillars in a forgotten temple, their towering silhouettes swallowed by shadow. Pale beams of moonlight filtered through the tall windows, casting silver streaks across the marble floor. The great library of Valon had fallen into sleep.

Charlotte looked around, blinking twice.

"...What do we do now?"

Noel exhaled slowly, hands tucked into his pockets.

"Good question. I have no idea." He glanced toward the sealed main doors. "Noir fell asleep in my room."

Charlotte stepped forward, her footsteps echoing faintly against the stone. "Well, maybe we can find an open window or something?"

Without waiting for his reply, she reached for the collar of her Sancta Veil. With a soft flick of her fingers, the holy illusion shimmered and faded, revealing her natural appearance—warm amber eyes and flowing pink hair that caught the moonlight like rose gold.

"Much better," she said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "I prefer this appearance."

Noel stared at her for a heartbeat too long.

’Yeah... me too.’

Charlotte tilted her head. "Hm? Did you say something?"

He cleared his throat. "Nothing. Just... we should try to find a way out. They said the library’s closed tomorrow too, so I really don’t want to be stuck here until the next workday."

She chuckled lightly. "Right. Let’s go then."

They took a few steps forward, but halted at the same time. Silence hung between them again, interrupted only by the faint creak of wood as the shelves settled around them.

Charlotte glanced sideways. "Should we split up? Might be faster that way. This place is huge."

Noel hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah, I think we can. If you find something, just yell. There’s no one around, so I doubt anyone will complain."

She gave him a teasing smile. "Even so... we should respect the silence of the library, shouldn’t we?"

Noel rolled his eyes with a dry grin. "Haha."

They turned in opposite directions and split up.

—-

The library at night was a strange place. By day, it felt alive with murmurs and motion. But now, under the silver veil of moonlight, it felt like stepping into someone else’s dream—one lined with old books, sacred knowledge, and secrets too heavy to speak aloud.

Charlotte walked slowly down a corridor of tall shelves, her hands clasped behind her back, amber eyes scanning for any hint of a cracked window or an unlocked side door. Her footsteps were barely audible, absorbed by the old rugs that lined the stone paths.

’Now that I think about it... I’m alone with Noel. Wouldn’t it have been better to use this chance to get closer to him?’

She stopped at an ornate window, gently tugging on the latch. Locked. Of course. With a sigh, she kept walking.

’I said I’d make him fall for me... Ugh, stupid Charlotte. You shouldn’t have split up.’

Somewhere deeper in the library, she could still sense Noel’s presence, like a quiet ember glowing out of sight.

She turned a corner.

’Anyway, I better find a way out. If I go back with nothing, I’ll look like a fool. And I really don’t want someone like Noel saying that to me.’

A faint breeze whispered through a crack in the wall, but it was too narrow to be useful. Charlotte brushed her hair over one shoulder, her Sancta Veil still deactivated—she preferred it this way. She felt lighter, freer. Herself.

She passed another set of tall windows, each as sealed as the last.

’...Though, I could say I didn’t find anything. And if I pray hard enough... maybe our dear god will leave us locked in here until the next days too.’

Her lips curved into a mischievous smile. ’Hihihi.’

She wasn’t entirely joking.

Charlotte continued deeper into the library, her thoughts drifting between moonlight and the memory of Noel’s voice, wondering if this night would lead somewhere unexpected after all.

—--

Noel moved with steady steps through the western wing of the library, opposite to where Charlotte had gone.

He checked another window. Locked. Another side door. Also locked.

’Dammit, there’s nothing here... everything’s locked.’

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, eyes scanning the hallway dimly lit by the lunar light filtering through the high arches. The silence was eerie but not unpleasant. It gave him space to think.

’At least I’ve got food in my Dimensional Pouch. Always ready for emergencies.’

He pulled the pouch slightly open, confirming the presence of a wrapped sandwich and a small fruit flask. He let the flap fall shut with a light thud.

Still no sign of an exit.

’Agh, I shouldn’t have suggested coming to the library today. The mission didn’t have a time limit... I even thought about that. We should’ve come on a quieter day with more time.’

Just as he turned a corner, eyes drifting toward an empty bench near the reading section, a soft chime echoed in his mind—familiar, mechanical, and sudden.

[ Mission Complete ]

Join the Saint in Investigating the Forgotten History of Our World

Reward: +2 Pages unlocked in "Diary of the Forgotten Son"

Noel blinked.

"...Oh."

He looked around, half-expecting Charlotte to have triggered something, but all was still.

"This is good," he muttered under his breath. "If I read them now, nothing should happen, right? Charlotte will find a way out eventually and call me."

He sat down by the old oak table in the reading area, the leather of the chair creaking under his weight. With calm, practiced movements, he reached into the Dimensional Pouch and pulled out the worn, black-leather-bound Diary of the Forgotten Son.

He placed it on the table gently, his fingertips brushing the cover like one might touch a sleeping creature. Then he whispered:

"Flame."

A small orb of fire floated above his palm, giving just enough light to read without alerting anyone—though there was no one to see it.

The diary was ready to speak again.

The little orb of flame hovered quietly above the table, casting soft amber light over the faded parchment. The leather cover of the Diary of the Forgotten Son creaked slightly as Noel opened it. The pages turned with a dry whisper, like voices too old to speak aloud.

He glanced at the first two.

Still blank. As before.

Then he arrived at the third and fourth pages—the same ones he’d read the last time.

He laughed loudly. I listened in silence. He jumped into the unknown. I asked what was beneath it.

We lived in the age before mana, when the world was quiet and things obeyed the laws they were born into.

We found it beneath the stone fields, behind the fourth seal. A cavern with a heart that pulsed, even though it was never alive.

It wasn’t light, or heat, or wind.

It was... response. The world looked at us. And for the first time, something answered.

He was the first to touch it.

He held out his hand, and the cavern responded. Light gathered at his fingertips—not fire, not lightning, but intent.

His body trembled. His eyes went white. And when it ended... he was different.

I watched as something formed inside him. I didn’t have the words for it then, but now I do.

He formed a core.

And I was the first to record what it looked like.

Noel leaned back slightly, exhaling through his nose.

’It still gives me chills...’

He ran his fingers along the margin of the fourth page, pausing only when he noticed the next one shift beneath his touch.

A subtle shimmer ran across the edge of the fifth page, and before his eyes, fresh ink began to form on the untouched parchment.

He leaned closer, narrowing his eyes.

We traveled the world together...

Noel’s heart beat just a little faster.

’This already feels different from the books I’ve read with Charlotte...’

His eyes traced the forming letters, still faint and half-shaped like a memory pulling itself into focus. Whatever the diary was revealing now, it was something the world had buried—something it might rather forget.