Ruins

Lights? There's still someone in the library at this hour? A librarian, or... someone else here to "borrow" books like me?

Abner was surprised. After a moment's thought, he remained invisible and quietly approached the light on the second floor.

He needed to find out who was there and when they planned to leave. If they stayed all night, he would have to consider forcing them into a dream.

But he had taken only a few steps when he had to stop. Someone had placed several concealed warning runes by the stairs.

The person reading upstairs is a Beyonder? Abner frowned. Growing more alert, he carefully skirted the traps, which looked remarkably obvious to him, and stepped onto the wooden stairs as though he weighed nothing.

He had barely reached the second floor without a sound when a girl cried out excitedly:

"Fanny, I found the record of those ruins—"

Her words broke off as though someone had covered her mouth. Then a woman said in a low voice, "Keep your voice down. Do you want to summon everyone at Backlund University? And don't use my name."

"Relax. I set plenty of traps downstairs, and I've put a few little tricks around us to confuse the senses. No one more than five meters away can hear us or see the light," the first girl said smugly.

Abner carefully judged the distance between himself and the two women.

More than ten meters, probably... Is she bluffing?

No, it must be because there's something unusual about me. I've had the Pure White Eye active this whole time, so her little tricks haven't worked at all, just like Detective Zeriel's Trick of the Eye back then.

With that in mind, Abner moved closer to the light, stopping just short of the supposed five-meter