E12 - The Sage of the Library

Source: Crunchyroll
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(Please feel free to edit the speaker names if incomplete or inaccurate. Names are handled on a best-effort basis depending on the info on the source file. Dialogue is left as is.)
[00:03] ---
    Eldrie?
[00:04] ---
    I've heard that name...
[00:06] ---
    Eugeo.
[00:08] ---
    We're going to fight him.
    I'll face him first,
[00:11] ---
    and you wait for my signal.
[00:13] ---
    All right.
[00:16] ---
    You're going to use those chains
    as your weapons?
[00:19] ---
    Then let me fight not with my sword,
    but with this instead.
[00:24] ---
    System Call! Enhance Armament!
[00:29] ---
    Don't worry.
[00:30] ---
    If it's a whip, as long as
    we keep an eye on the distance...
[00:34] ---
    ...it can't possib—
[00:37] ---
    It extended?
[00:42] ---
    Ah, so you managed to withstand a blow
    from my Divine Object, the Frostscale Whip at first sight?
[00:47] ---
    Kirito!
[00:49] ---
    These class-38 chains...
[00:51] ---
    Eugeo. I'll find a way to stop his whip,
    so you strike him.
[00:58] ---
    Are you done discussing, prisoners?
[01:01] ---
    Now then... try to keep me
    at least somewhat entertained!
[02:36] ---
    The Sage of the Library
[02:44] ---
    System Call!
[02:46] ---
    Generate Thermal Element!
[02:49] ---
    Generate Cryogenic Element.
[02:54] ---
    Form Element, Arrow Shape!
[02:57] ---
    Form Element, Bird Shape.
[03:00] ---
    Counter Thermal Object.
[03:04] ---
    Discharge!
[03:06] ---
    Discharge.
[03:30] ---
    Did I overestimate you after all?
[03:32] ---
    Allow me to show you some mercy.
[03:35] ---
    I'll knock you unconsciousness quickly.
[03:49] ---
    Not done yet!
[03:54] ---
    Perhaps I should take back what I said
    about underestimating you?
[03:58] ---
    To think you could inflict such a wound on me!
[04:02] ---
    Thanks, I guess.
[04:04] ---
    Still, that move... that combat style...
    Strangely enough, it seems familiar to me...
[04:11] ---
    Oh yeah? Then maybe you've fought a swordsman
    of the Serlut style before.
[04:17] ---
    That's not possible, prisoner.
[04:20] ---
    I was summoned to the human realm
    as an Integrity Knight only one month ago.
[04:25] ---
    This summoning...
[04:28] ---
    It sounds like somebody ordered you
    to come to this human realm.
[04:47] ---
    Release Recollection.
[05:03] ---
    No wonder Lady Alice was cautious of you.
[05:06] ---
    That attack has no form or anything,
    but that's why it exceeded my expectations.
[05:11] ---
    To think that you made me use
    my secret skill, Memory Release!
[05:16] ---
    Now I remember.
[05:18] ---
    From the start, I knew I'd heard that name before.
[05:22] ---
    You were this year's Norlangarth North Empire
    top representative swordsman,
[05:26] ---
    and the winner
    of the Four-Empire Unification Tournament...
[05:31] ---
    Eldrie Woolsburg.
[05:33] ---
    Me, the North Empire representative swordsman?
[05:37] ---
    Eldrie Woolsburg...
[05:40] ---
    That's right.
[05:41] ---
    If I remember correctly, you won every match
    with a single point using your graceful sword skills.
[05:46] ---
    What are you talking about?
[05:48] ---
    I'm the Integrity Knight
    Eldrie Synthesis Thirty-One!
[05:52] ---
    I've never heard it! The name Woolsburg!
[05:55] ---
    But...
[05:56] ---
    Never heard of it!
    I... I've never heard of it.
[06:00] ---
    I... was invited by the pontifex, Administrator
[06:05] ---
    to descend upon this land from the heavens
    as an Integrity Knight!
[06:24] ---
    Wh-What just...
[06:29] ---
    Did Alice lose her memories
    and change personalities because of that?

[06:35] ---
    Eldrie!
[06:36] ---
    Eldrie Woolsburg!
[06:40] ---
    Eugeo, do you know anything else?
[06:42] ---
    It can be anything.
    You have to revive more of his memories!
[06:46] ---
    Eldrie!
[06:48] ---
    You're the son of the general
    of the Imperial Knight Order, Eschdor Woolsburg!
[06:52] ---
    Your mother's name is... I think... Almera?
[06:56] ---
    Right, it's Almera!
[06:58] ---
    Al... me... ra.
[07:05] ---
    Mo... ther.
[07:09] ---
    That's right, remember...
[07:11] ---
    ...everything!
[07:14] ---
    Kirito!
[07:28] ---
    Kirito!
[07:29] ---
    You criminals. Step away from Knight Thirty-One!
[07:33] ---
    You won't be forgiven for the sin of tempting
    a brilliant Integrity Knight to fall from grace.
[07:39] ---
    After piercing all four of your limbs,
    I shall throw you back into your cell!
[07:44] ---
    Run!
[07:52] ---
    A fork in the road.
[07:54] ---
    Go right!
[07:56] ---
    Eugeo, go right!
[08:05] ---
    Kirito! Up ahead!
[08:07] ---
    It's a dead end!
[08:09] ---
    Hey!
[08:10] ---
    This way!
[08:12] ---
    Dive!
[08:30] ---
    Ouch!
[08:34] ---
    Where are we?
[08:38] ---
    We've been detected.
    Can't use this back door anymore.
[08:54] ---
    Um, thank you for rescuing us. Uh...
[08:58] ---
    It's nice to meet you. I'm Eugeo.
[09:00] ---
    H-Hey!
[09:01] ---
    And this is Kirito.
[09:08] ---
    Thanks. You saved us.
[09:10] ---
    Um, do you live here?
[09:13] ---
    Of course not.
[09:16] ---
    Come with me.
[09:21] ---
    Is this inside the Central Cathedral now?
[09:25] ---
    You could say that it is.
    You could also say that it isn't.
[09:28] ---
    As I've deleted the regular door,
    although this place exists inside the cathedral,
[09:34] ---
    no one is able to enter.
[09:38] ---
    Unless it's at my invitation.
[09:53] ---
    A great... library?
[09:55] ---
    Indeed.
[09:56] ---
    The records of all history,
[09:59] ---
    and the structural formulae of all things under the heavens
    since this world was created,
[10:03] ---
    as well as every system command,
    or what you call the sacred arts, are stored here.
[10:09] ---
    Wh-Who are you, exactly?
[10:12] ---
    My name is Cardinal.
[10:15] ---
    I was once the regulator of the world,
[10:17] ---
    now I am the sole librarian of this great library.
[10:23] ---
    All history?
[10:24] ---
    Yes. Even the creation account
    from when the gods Stacia and Vecta
[10:28] ---
    divided the world into the realm of humanity
    and the realm of darkness are recorded here.
[10:34] ---
    You may read them if you wish.
[10:37] ---
    But first, both of you hold out your right hands.
[10:45] ---
    There.
[10:52] ---
    Are you okay, Eugeo?
[10:53] ---
    Yeah.
[10:58] ---
    Looks like you need to warm yourself up.
[11:02] ---
    It's not spacious, but beyond that corridor,
    there's a bathroom. Go on now.
[11:06] ---
    Thank you.
    I'll gladly accept your kind offer.
[11:10] ---
    Also, Ms. Cardinal...
[11:13] ---
    Um, well...
[11:17] ---
    Beyond those stairs is the history gallery.
[11:20] ---
    I'll get you something to eat after you bathe.
[11:23] ---
    Thank you very much!
[11:25] ---
    Please excuse me for a bit.
[11:33] ---
    Although the records here were, unfortunately,
    fabricated by the pontifex of the Axiom Church.
[11:40] ---
    So no gods exist in this world, then?
[11:44] ---
    None.
[11:46] ---
    The myths that
    the Underworld people believe in
[11:49] ---
    are merely the propaganda spun by the church
    to cement its rule.
[11:54] ---
    Although the names of the gods have been registered
    as super accounts for emergencies,
[11:59] ---
    no human from the outside world
    has logged in through that.
[12:04] ---
    So you're not a resident of the Underworld.
[12:08] ---
    You're an existence close to the system supervisors
    from the outside world!
[12:13] ---
    Indeed. And you're the same as well, right?
[12:17] ---
    Unregistered resident Kirito.
[12:20] ---
    Yeah, that's right.
[12:22] ---
    The name of the people
    who created the Underworld is Rath. Am I right?
[12:27] ---
    Indeed.
[12:28] ---
    And you're the Cardinal System.
[12:31] ---
    An autonomous program
    to control the virtual world.
[12:34] ---
    Oh? So you know about that?
[12:37] ---
    Have you contacted my counterparts
    on the other side?
[12:41] ---
    Well, yeah.
[12:43] ---
    But as far I know, the Cardinal System never had
    an anthropomorphic interface built in.
[12:51] ---
    So what kind of an existence are you?
[12:53] ---
    What are you doing here?
[12:58] ---
    Let me be as succinct as possible.
[13:02] ---
    First, eat.
[13:07] ---
    Since I've cast a spell on it,
    those wounds will heal soon, too.
[13:11] ---
    Wow, no wonder you're the supervisor.
[13:14] ---
    I'm not the supervisor.
[13:16] ---
    I can only manipulate the objects in this library.
[13:21] ---
    Oh, can you get in contact with the real world?
[13:25] ---
    Idiot! If I could, I wouldn't be confined
    inside a dusty place like this for centuries.
[13:31] ---
    Unfortunately, the only one
    who has the means to do that is the pontifex.
[13:35] ---
    I-Is that right?
[13:37] ---
    There!
[13:44] ---
    A moment ago,
    I told you that no gods exist in this world.
[13:48] ---
    But when this world was created
    some 450 years ago,
[13:53] ---
    something similar did exist.
[13:56] ---
    Back when the capital city, Centoria,
    was no more than a tiny village, there were four Gods.
[14:02] ---
    I bet they were humans,
    the Rath staff who built this world, right?
[14:07] ---
    It's as you say.
[14:08] ---
    Four people from the outside world
    descended upon this land,
[14:11] ---
    and raised eight "children" each on two farms.
[14:15] ---
    From reading and writing,
[14:17] ---
    and how to raise crops,
[14:19] ---
    from how to raise livestock...
[14:21] ---
    Until they arrived at what would become the basis
    for the Taboo Index, the ethics of morality.
[14:26] ---
    From the way the "Original Four" fulfilled
    the difficult mission they were given splendidly,
[14:31] ---
    it's obvious that as humans,
    they had intelligence of the highest order.
[14:36] ---
    But...
[14:37] ---
    There was just one among them who,
    though highly intelligent, was unethical.
[14:42] ---
    And the children of this person inherited selfish desires,
    such as the thirst to possess and rule.
[14:49] ---
    And it was those children
    who became the ancestors.
[14:51] ---
    Of the nobles, and of the high ministers
    of the Axiom Church.
[14:57] ---
    And reigning over them all
    is a single woman, the pontifex of the Axiom Church,
[15:02] ---
    who is now the system supervisor as well.
[15:07] ---
    She calls herself "Administrator,"
    the most arrogant name imaginable.
[15:11] ---
    That name...
[15:13] ---
    The Integrity Knight Eldrie said that name, too.
[15:16] ---
    I think he said something like,
    "I was summoned by the pontifex Administrator."
[15:21] ---
    That's exactly who I've been talking about.
[15:25] ---
    And though it's disgusting,
    this Administrator is my elder twin sister, so to speak.
[15:32] ---
    Wh-What do you mean by that?
[15:33] ---
    I'll tell you the story in order.
[15:35] ---
    Several decades after the "Original Four"'
    had logged out,
[15:38] ---
    the first political marriage
    between two families of lords was orchestrated,
[15:44] ---
    and a baby girl was born from that union.
[15:50] ---
    Her name was Quinella.
[15:54] ---
    My daughter, Quinella.
[15:56] ---
    I grant you the Calling, "sacred arts research."
[16:00] ---
    I gratefully accept, Father.
[16:06] ---
    System Call.
[16:08] ---
    No one else realizes it,
    but sacred words each have their own meaning.
[16:13] ---
    "Call" means to summon.
[16:15] ---
    "Generate" means to produce.
[16:21] ---
    Over here!
[16:33] ---
    System Call. Generate Thermal Element.
[16:37] ---
    Form Element, Arrow Shape. Fly Straight.
[16:41] ---
    Discharge!
[17:00] ---
    Lady Quinella, I beg you to heal his legs!
[17:04] ---
    Very well.
[17:07] ---
    System Call. Generate Luminous Element.
[17:11] ---
    Form Element, Liquid Shape.
[17:20] ---
    She's a child of God!
[17:22] ---
    Surely, Lady Quinella
    is the holy child of the god Stacia!
[17:25] ---
    Lady Quinella!
[17:28] ---
    Even as a gentle smile was on her face,
[17:31] ---
    Quinella knew that the time had come
    for her to fully sate her endless thirst to rule.

[17:41] ---
    Soon, we will have a place to pray to the gods.
[17:53] ---
    In order to rule over the ever-growing masses,
    I will need a written law.

[17:59] ---
    First, to ensure that no one with a higher
    authority level than mine will ever appear,

[18:03] ---
    I must make hunting taboo.
[18:06] ---
    As well as murder.
[18:14] ---
    Lady Quinella, you wanted to see me?
[18:16] ---
    This is a holy book,
    a compilation of the god Stacia's oracle.
[18:21] ---
    It is called the Taboo Index.
[18:23] ---
    Replicate it, distribute it to every town and village,
    and have the people obey it.
[18:29] ---
    Yes, ma'am.
[19:01] ---
    System Call.
[19:04] ---
    Open List.
[19:06] ---
    System Call.
[19:09] ---
    Read List.
[19:23] ---
    System Call.
[19:26] ---
    Inspect List.
[19:31] ---
    And then, Quinella opened it at last.
[19:36] ---
    The Forbidden Door, that is.
[19:41] ---
    Either by way of an impossible coincidence,
[19:44] ---
    or perhaps with a little help
    from someone from the outside world...
[19:49] ---
    Let me show you.
[19:51] ---
    System Call!
[19:52] ---
    Inspect Entire Command List!
[19:57] ---
    This is...
[19:59] ---
    Yes. Displayed in this window
    is the entire catalogue of system commands.
[20:05] ---
    Quinella's first action was to completely
    restore her life, and halt its natural decline.

[20:11] ---
    And then restore her looks.
[20:15] ---
    She regained the dazzling beauty
    of her late teens.

[20:25] ---
    She should've been satisfied at that point.
[20:28] ---
    But...
[20:30] ---
    For Quinella, there could be no one else
    who had authority equal to hers...

[20:35] ---
    She couldn't even tolerate the existence
    of the Cardinal System.
[20:39] ---
    Plotting to seize
    the Cardinal System's authority level,
[20:43] ---
    she composed a lengthy sacred art command
    and recited it.
[20:47] ---
    As a result...
[20:50] ---
    She burned the fundamental command
    assigned to the Cardinal System

[20:54] ---
    onto her own Fluctlight
    as a non-editable behavioral principle.

[20:59] ---
    Her intent was to steal its authority level,
    but she ended up fusing her soul with the Cardinal System.

[21:07] ---
    Preservation of Order.
[21:09] ---
    That is the basic command of the Cardinal System,
    and reason of existing.
[21:13] ---
    As someone who spent time in a world controlled
    by the same system, you should understand.
[21:19] ---
    Constantly observing
    the actions of you, "the players,"
[21:22] ---
    and deal with anything that skews the balance
    as soon as its detected, mercilessly.
[21:33] ---
    Quinella had lost consciousness,
    and awakened after she slept for an entire day.

[21:38] ---
    By that time, she'd ceased to be human
    in any sense of the word.

[21:44] ---
    No longer aging,
    drinking no water, eating no bread...

[21:47] ---
    Her only desire was to preserve this human realm
    that she ruled, as it currently was, forever.

[21:54] ---
    I am both ruler and supervisor...
[21:57] ---
    As of today, I am the pontifex of the Axiom Church...
[22:02] ---
    I am Administrator.
[23:36] ---
    Next time: Ruler and Mediator.


Revision #2
Created 2024-02-15 22:20:51 UTC by whimsee
Updated 2024-02-20 01:04:50 UTC by whimsee