Ace took his newly written book, its ink not yet dry, to the manor's library.
This newly built library was a three-story duplex building. Its overall design was simple, matching the style of the manor's other buildings.
The library was divided into several rooms and replicated nearly all of Teacher Peter's collection. It was managed according to Ace's "Book Classification and Indexing," and a special archive room had been built to store the original copies personally written by Ace.
Accompanied by Kelson, Ace came to the archive room, intending to store his new book there.
As he approached the archive room, Ace vaguely sensed fluctuations of magic power. They seemed to be there and yet not there; whenever he focused on them, they vanished without a trace.
Remaining alert, Ace activated the Illusion Barrier, concealing himself and constructing a false illusion that entered the archive room with Kelson.
The illusion was similar to Hand of Magic—an illusion with physical substance that could be controlled. Ace manipulated the illusion and subtly prompted Kelson. They turned the archive room upside down, yet found nothing unusual.
Ace left helplessly. He faintly heard a snicker, but after searching carefully for a long while, he still found nothing.
After that, Ace inspected the library every day. From time to time, he could sense magic fluctuations, but whenever he searched carefully, they always disappeared. It was like being lightly tickled by a goose feather—when he tried to scratch it, the itch was gone, leaving him unbearably vexed.
Today, Ace had been lightly tickled again. He stood in the archive room with an expressionless face.
"I can be certain that the magic fluctuations exist only within the archive room. Then we can guess that perhaps some item here has undergone an oddity transformation, causing this phenomenon. The