The Extra Villain: I Made a Contract With The Dragon Empress!

Chapter 362: The Lost History

"Do you understand everything now?" Merlin asked gently.

Counting today, it had been two days since Merlin started teaching Monica.

Truthfully, Monica was intelligent. It was just that the professors’ methods were outdated, and not every student could adapt to them—Monica included.

Monica nodded enthusiastically. "Mm! I understand now. Thank you, Merlin."

A sweet smile spread across her lips as she lowered her head slightly.

Merlin immediately helped her straighten up. "Don’t bow like that. I’m just glad you caught on so quickly. That way, once the exam is over, we can go to the beach."

The moment she heard the word "beach," longing instantly lit up her beautiful face.

Monica was an elf. All her life, she had seen nothing but trees and thickets.

The beach... the ocean...

To her, those were things that only existed in fairy tales.

On top of that, she had almost never left the palace, except for rituals and annual ceremonies.

That was why the chance to go to the beach with Merlin and the others filled her with excitement.

Merlin noticed her enthusiasm at once and gently patted her on the head.

"Get a good score later. The others and I are looking forward to seeing you succeed."

"Of course!" Monica’s eyes curved into crescent moons.

Afterward, she went through the questions again, revisiting everything Merlin had taught her.

Even though she already understood it all, there was no harm in sharpening her skills.

Merlin stayed by her side, but before long, boredom began to creep in.

"I’m going to walk around the library for a bit," Merlin said as he slowly stood up.

"Okay," Monica replied, nodding without lifting her eyes from the book.

Merlin wandered through the library aisles. Truthfully, he had never taken the time to properly explore this place.

The library was simply too vast, and he was usually too lazy to roam around.

Besides, until now, he had only come here to enjoy the facilities—the plush sofas, the reading tables, and the many other comforts.

"All these books were collected from every kingdom on the continent..." he murmured in awe. "Saint Freya Academy’s connections really are extraordinary."

Saint Freya Academy had existed for a very long time—far older than the three major kingdoms.

Over the years, it had produced countless outstanding students, including powerful figures who had reached the First Spirit Core, the Ninth Awakening, and even the Ninth Star Mage realm.

If Merlin remembered correctly, several important guests at the Arden family’s previous auction had also come from this academy.

They might have graduated long ago, but Merlin was certain none of them would ever forget the place that had shaped them into who they were today.

Eventually, Merlin stopped in front of a bookshelf at the far end of the library.

This section was unusually quiet, and the shelves were coated with a thin layer of dust.

It was obvious that hardly any students ever came here.

The shelf itself was quite tall—nearly two meters. Fortunately, the librarians had placed a ladder beside each row, allowing anyone to reach even the highest books.

Merlin’s gaze was suddenly drawn to a pale red book resting on the second-highest shelf.

"That book..." He narrowed his eyes, suspicion flickering within them.

Unable to resist his curiosity, he pulled the ladder closer, climbed up, and carefully took the book.

After climbing back down, Merlin examined it closely and read the title engraved on its cover: The Lost History.

"The Lost History?" His eyebrows rose slightly.

He walked to the nearest table and sat down on the long bench beside it.

The book was coated in a thick layer of dust. Merlin lifted a hand, used water magic to wash it clean, then cast wind magic to dry it.

After cleaning the book, he opened the first page—and instantly froze in place.

He didn’t recognize the language written inside at all.

"What language is this?" he muttered, scratching his head.

The letters were strange, formed from mysterious symbols that made no sense to him.

"Ancient language of Kha’Ruun!? How could that language still exist!?"

Lyserra’s startled voice rang out from behind him.

Merlin turned around. "Oh? You recognize it?"

Lyserra appeared in her cat form. She padded closer to the book, her expression serious, as if she were staring at something dangerous.

"How could I not recognize it?" Lyserra replied. "The Kha’Ruun language was once the primary tongue spoken by all races—especially during the era of the Evil God Vorgrath. Unfortunately..."

Her expression darkened before she continued.

"This language has long been abandoned. After the races emerged from the chaos of war, humans, elves, dragons, and countless others began creating their own languages... and over time, it became a chasm that separated them."

Merlin listened quietly, admiration flickering in his eyes.

In the present era, every race spoke a different language.

Nysera, Monica, and the other non-human students could speak with humans only because they had learned the human language.

That wasn’t surprising, considering Saint Freya Academy was located within human territory.

"Then can you help me read it?" Merlin asked. "I don’t understand a single word."

Lyserra nodded and began reading the first page.

"The Evil God Vorgrath is a being despised by all creatures in the universe. He descended to bring destruction upon both the heavens and the mortal world. The gods attempted to banish him to prevent disaster from reaching them... but they failed to realize that their actions only hastened their own downfall."

As soon as she finished, Lyserra frowned and scratched her head.

"That’s strange... I don’t understand what it means."

She knew Vorgrath well. After all, she and her master had once fought him.

Although she had lost most of her power protecting her master, it didn’t change the fact that she had been one of the key figures responsible for sealing Vorgrath.

"Hmm..." Merlin stroked his chin and asked, "Did Vorgrath really come from heaven?"

"I don’t know," Lyserra admitted, shaking her head. "But my former master once said he was an evil god cast out of the sky. Maybe the ’sky’ he meant was heaven."

"That makes sense," Merlin said slowly. "It’s possible that ’heaven’ is simply another word for the sky. But what confuses me..." His eyes narrowed. "Who wrote this book? How could they understand something even you don’t?"

The more Merlin thought about it, the less sense it made.

Saint Freya Academy had existed for a long time, but one thing was certain—it hadn’t been founded during the era when the Evil God Vorgrath descended upon the world.

Most of the books in its library had been donated by the three kingdoms or by former graduates.

And judging by the thick layer of dust on this one, it had been here for a very long time—perhaps hundreds, even thousands of years.

"I don’t know either," Lyserra said, shaking her head again. "After Vorgrath’s fall, the world’s history seems to have... shifted, as if he never existed at all. I suspect someone has been deliberately hiding the truth."

Before her former master’s final battle with Vorgrath, she had lost consciousness and fallen into a deep sleep for an unknown period of time.

The next time she awakened was when Merlin formed a guardian spirit contract with her.

"By the way, Merlin," Lyserra said, turning to him. "May I take this book? I want to study it more closely. Perhaps if I read it carefully, I can discover what happened after I was sealed away."

Merlin nodded without hesitation.

"Of course. Go ahead."

Lyserra looked delighted. A radiant smile bloomed across her face.

It was the first time Merlin had ever seen such an expression from her, and for some reason, it felt strangely captivating.

Clutching the book tightly, Lyserra vanished from his sight.

Merlin stood up and was about to return to Monica when a timid voice suddenly called out from behind him.

"Um... Merlin Clay? Someone is looking for you."

Merlin stiffened and immediately turned around.

Standing there was a short girl with glasses. She looked adorable, yet she was staring at him with a shy, nervous expression.

"Who’s looking for me, Heira?"

Her name was Heira, the library monitor. She was also a third-year student, meaning her seniority far exceeded Merlin’s.

Heira tried to compose herself, but the moment Merlin looked at her, her courage faltered again.

"I-It’s a student named... Jared," she whispered. "He told me to call you."

"Jared?" Merlin blinked a few times, then grinned. "So that’s how it is... I see."

He had known the boy would come to him sooner or later, so he wasn’t surprised in the slightest.

He stepped forward and casually patted Heira on the shoulder.

"Thanks for letting me know."

Without another word, Merlin headed straight for the library entrance.

Heira froze in place. A second later, her face turned as red as a tomato.

"J-Just now... he touched me!? Oh my gosh! That’s so embarrassing!"

She hurriedly covered her face, as if steam might start pouring out of her head.