The Wordless Heavenly Book

Vanishing... faint in color...

Neph lowered her head and looked at the ink dot on the Blank Canvas. It had been left by the True Creator and stood out starkly against the white. Her finger brushed across the dot as Nim added:

"Davy and I confirmed afterward that unless someone already knows roughly where you are and deliberately looks for you, Middle-Low Sequence Beyonders and ordinary people find it very difficult to notice your presence.

"This effect seems less pronounced among High Sequence Beyonders. Davy and I both believe it comes from the item in your arms. At the time, Davy confirmed your position in the Beyonder world..."

Nim gave Neph an apologetic look. Neph guessed it was because of Davy's question back then and shook her head to show she did not mind. Nim continued:

"So when you mentioned making a Mystical Item, I assumed you wanted to make a 'container' for it."

Neph fell silent for a few seconds before asking, "Have you tried touching it?"

"No." Nim shook his head. "Touching a Sealed Artifact rashly without understanding it is very dangerous. We originally intended to discuss it with you after you woke up."

That was true. Neph did not dare ask someone to touch it outright either. At least before trying that, she felt she could test it on monsters that cost her nothing.

However, her reason for asking Nim went a step beyond touching it. What Neph actually wanted to know was what would happen if someone took the Blank Canvas away from her.

-Neph knew that Sefirah came in three forms: physical, illusory, and somewhere between the two. For now, the Blank Canvas seemed more like a physical object.

As for that pure-white space, it was actually easy to explain. After all, Sefirah Castle's actual extent was limited to that door of light; the rest of the space was derived from it. Perhaps the Blank Canvas worked the same way.

But if the Blank Canvas was physical, did that not mean anyone could carry it off?

Before becoming a Beyonder, Neph would have seriously considered whether to hand the Blank Canvas over to someone else. Perhaps that could have freed her from some predetermined fate. Of course, it was more likely that the Blank Canvas would eventually return to her for some inexplicable reason, leaving her in an even worse situation. But after becoming a Beyonder, Neph absolutely did not want that to happen.

-She had already set out on this path, and there was no turning back.

As for an Unshadowed, who could expel Beyonder characteristics? The Beyonder characteristic had transformed her body and spirit, bringing her close to a living corpse. Without it, Neph felt she would probably become a dead corpse.

But how am I supposed to test this...

Neph felt a headache coming on and decided to placate Nim first. "This item was bestowed upon me by the Lord. It..."

Neph paused, glanced toward the barrier, and said with a soft laugh:

"It is called the Wordless Heavenly Book. Only the chosen can see the words upon it.

"The Lord sent me here precisely because I can read this Wordless Heavenly Book."

Understanding dawned on Nim's face. He glanced quickly at the Blank Canvas, then looked away and nodded.

"So that's how it is..."

Neph took the opportunity to ask, "Moon City has a library, doesn't it?"

"Of course." Nim nodded. "The library is in this tower. I'll take you there."

As he spoke, he gave Neph a seemingly casual glance before volunteering:

"Besides mysticism, Moon City's library also contains records of various myths and histories, though none of these are particularly systematic.

"The books with the broadest applicability and most systematic structure would be Moon City's textbooks. We organized our knowledge of mysticism and some of our history into textbooks, and every child receives an education. The person primarily responsible for this is Narani. You should have met her already.

"If you're interested in Moon City's heritage, you can stop by a class. I'll have someone bring you a textbook."

"...?" Neph looked at Nim, hesitating to speak. She was no fool. It seemed more as though Nim was offering her an excuse to attend lessons.

...And that meant Nim thought she probably did not know this basic knowledge of mysticism. In other words...

Nim suspected there was something wrong with her identity!

Was it because of that Davy? No, that doesn't seem right. He clearly only reached this conclusion just now... Because of the Wordless Heavenly Book? Hmm, he most likely still accepts my identity as an Oracle. Even Davy doesn't seem to have doubted that... Are they just questioning my level?

...Does he think I might be a genuine Sequence 9, just unusual in certain respects? Like the Wordless Heavenly Book...

Neph's brow slowly relaxed. She nodded and replied, "I'll go have a look."

As Nim had said, Moon City's library contained records of many myths and histories. Although she had received a textbook, that did not stop Neph from enjoying her time in the library.

-Do not misunderstand. She was not reading them as fan fiction. She had simply noticed the potion's residual mental imprint beginning to loosen.

Reading past history seemed to help her digest the potion.

This allowed Neph to breathe a sigh of relief. Although eating corpses was an issue she would inevitably have to explore, knowing that it was not the only way to digest the potion made her feel considerably more at ease.

She sat on the library floor with the paper and pen she had requested from Narani. After pondering for a few seconds, she wrote a line on the paper:

"Ghoul, a seeker of traces of the past."

This was her conjecture.

Klein's experience with acting had taught Neph that acting within a pathway sometimes required making connections with its High Sequences. Just as Seer and Clown related to fate, Neph now linked Ghoul to memory.

-It was not simply about eating corpses, but about seeking traces of the past. Corpses were only the outward manifestation.

...Still, actually camping out in a graveyard to dig up corpses and eat them would probably help with digestion too.

The possibility sent a shudder through Neph, and she turned her attention to the approaching Tarot Club gathering.

The way time was measured in the Forsaken Land of the Gods meant that its inhabitants could not have standardized days and nights. When Klein told Neph to prepare for the Tarot Club gathering, the people of Moon City were eating lunch.

Having eaten grass until her eyes were practically turning green, Neph closed her eyes in the library. When she opened them again, she was in Sefirah Castle.

This was the twelfth Tarot Club gathering in the story. Neph looked around, her gaze passing over Justice Audrey, the Hanged Man Alger, and the Sun Derrick in turn, before finally

returning to Audrey. She smiled and asked:

"Miss Justice, why aren't you standing up to say good afternoon?"