Chapter 3
For a moment, Aria fell silent; she hadn’t expected such an answer.
She thought the notebook had been possessed by something, but it seemed that what inhabited it was a fully formed entity.
Aria cleared her throat softly before writing something else on that magical sheet of paper.
“Are you alive?” Aria tried to dig up more information from the entity inside the notebook.
“Yes.”
A clear, concise answer.
“Then, are you a demon or a devil?” Aria wrote next.
“Or could you be an angel?” Aria continued, a little too excitedly.
“None of those. I am merely Sheer Death, devoted solely to my purpose.”
Aria nodded in understanding after hearing the book’s explanation.
It wasn’t a demon or a devil, but something formed from a purpose.
For some reason, Aria felt more excited once she understood this.
“Then, what are those monster sketches in here? Are they demons?” Aria wrote her question again.
“No. They are forms of death that haven’t been completely destroyed. They must be eliminated immediately so they don’t destroy the world.”
Death, the book described it as if death had a physical form.
“That’s so strange… do they really have a physical form?” Aria grew even more curious about the monsters depicted in the book.
“So, how do we defeat them?”
If those monsters really were death, Aria needed to know their weaknesses.
Although Aria herself wasn’t sure if she’d actually be called upon to defeat those monsters later on.
Still, she had to be prepared, didn’t she?
“By using magic.”
“Magic? Oh my gosh! That’s so funny,” Aria replied, unconsciously chuckling as she read the book’s answer.
“If magic really exists, how do I learn it?”
At first, Aria was just messing around when she wrote that question.
Because she was convinced that in this modern age, magic couldn’t possibly exist.
. . .
Thoughts of death continued to haunt Aria after she’d finished talking to the book.
Today, Aria decided to go see one of her friends to ask about the notebook.
“I still can’t believe it. How could that book communicate with me?!” Aria muttered, shaking her head.
She’d already decided she had to take this book to someone who was an expert on things like this.
Carefully, Aria clutched the black notebook to her chest, as if she didn’t want anyone else to see it on her.
It had been drizzling lightly in London since morning; Aria jogged in her trusty boots across the wet streets.
Her hand knocked quickly on the old-looking brown door, almost sounding rushed.
“Where is he?” Aria muttered softly, impatiently.
It took quite a while for the man to open the door for Aria.
“Detective Evercrest?!” Upon seeing Aria, the middle-aged man hurriedly closed his door.
But Aria moved quickly to stop him, holding the door open with her hand.
“What are you doing here?! I’ve told you time and time again that I have nothing to do with that mysterious case your commander is talking about!”
“Wait a minute! That’s not why I’m here.” Aria hurriedly explained, gritting her teeth.
“Is that so?” The middle-aged man stared at Aria with a suspicious look. “I don’t believe you!”
“Mr. Henderson, I need to consult with you about… this notebook.” Aria was forced to pull Rowan’s notebook out from under his coat.
When Mr. Henderson saw the notebook Aria was holding, he immediately fell silent and stopped trying to close his door.
“Where did you get that book?” Mr. Henderson replied, now looking serious.
“Can we go inside first? I’ll explain it to you,” Aria replied quickly.
She wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip away; Mr. Henderson could change his mind at any moment.
Finally, Mr. Henderson took a step back, making room for Aria to enter his house.
Aria ran her fingers through her hair a few times, and raindrops began to appear.
Mr. Henderson reluctantly took Aria’s coat and hung it on a hook near the door.
“Have a seat over there,” said Mr. Henderson, nodding toward the sofa in the middle of the room.
Silently, Aria did as she was told. She glanced around the room and realized it looked quite messy, with books scattered everywhere.
Mr. Henderson returned with two cups of tea and pushed one toward Aria.
“Tell me why you came here looking for me,” Mr. Henderson said sarcastically.
Aria blew gently on the tea in her hand before taking a small sip.
“This book, tell me what you know about it.” Aria placed the notebook on the table and pushed it toward Mr. Henderson.
Suspiciously, Mr. Henderson took the book and began examining it.
“It seems like whatever you bring here is never normal. This book looks strange,;the pages don’t look like the ones used in modern times; they’re smooth and… they smell?” Mr. Henderson sounded uncertain.
“Is that so? Have you ever seen a book like this before?” Aria tried to dig up more information.
“I don’t know. I might remember something if you told me more about this book first,” Mr. Henderson replied, shrugging indifferently.
Aria sighed softly; she’d already suspected that the middle-aged man wouldn’t help her that easily.
“The book belongs to Rowan Wilhelm.” Aria was forced to provide that information and nothing more.
“The killer at his home library?” Now Mr. Henderson looked surprised.
“But didn’t the bureau seize all of Wilhelm’s belongings after that incident? I didn’t know you’d have any of his things,” Mr. Henderson continued, glancing at Aria suspiciously.
Not wanting to give away any more information, Aria cleared her throat softly before continuing.
“I didn’t know Wilhelm was famous,” Aria replied softly.
“You couldn’t really call him famous. It’s just that I heard he was working with some ‘dangerous’ people, so there are a lot of people trying to get their hands on his remaining books.”
Mr. Henderson then motioned for Aria to come closer, and she slowly moved toward him.
“I’ve heard he’s involved in the sale of ancient artifacts and occult items from abroad,” Mr. Henderson said in a whisper.
It was then that Aria realized Rowan wasn’t just an ordinary old man; she thought she might find more clues if she dug deeper into this information.
“But it seems this blank notebook doesn’t mean anything.” Mr. Henderson stepped back, then pushed the notebook back toward Aria.
“In that case, I need to find out more about Wilhelm. Many of his connections seem to still be alive. Can you find some information about them for me?” Aria made the offer as she put the notebook away.
“But I won’t do it for free.” A faint smirk appeared on Mr. Henderson’s lips.
“How much do you want?”
“A grand, maybe? Or it could be more…”