Looking Forward to More Great Novels
The Tyranto Empire's nobility system had its peculiarities. Nobles with middle names were known as true blood—those born into nobility from the start. Nobles without middle names were classified as lower nobles and treated like servants by those called upper nobles.
Stella von Evans from the Evans family, a lower noble house, was no exception. She had started as an attendant knight, following a formally knighted superior and tending to their needs, then advanced to squire. After accumulating enough martial achievements, one would receive formal knighthood and become a lower noble. The Evans family itself had risen from commoners to lower nobility in just such a way.
Stella was the finest swordswoman in the Evans household, having passed the exam to become the imperial princess's guard knight with top honors. Naturally, she couldn't help but react aggressively. If anything happened to the princess, the backlash would fall entirely on the Evans family.
"Alan Edgar von Mueller! What have you done to Her Highness right now…?!"
Even though her opponent was the son of the Mueller ducal house—one of the pinnacle upper noble families—Stella had no choice but to show her aggressive side.
Felicia's gaze turned to Stella at her words.
"Stella?"
"Your Highness! What happened…?!"
"As if."
The moment Stella moved her blocking arm aside, Alan darted away with terrifying speed, leaving no room for her to pursue. Stella stared blankly at the spot where he'd vanished, like a dog that had lost its chicken, a question rising in her eyes.
"Your Highness, what is going on…?"
"That's why I was trying to block him. Tch. What a shame."
"Your Highness…?"
As Stella called out, Felicia smoothed her slightly wrinkled clothes and replied.
"I was just chatting with Alan about old times."
"I can't understand what you see in a weak man who threw away his sword for a pen."
Felicia smiled faintly at Stella's blunt words.
"There's no particular reason when one person likes another, Stella."
"…I spoke out of turn. My apologies."
"Oh dear, oh dear. I love everything about you, Stella, but that rigid personality of yours is the problem. Come on. What was our next class?"
"Basic Magic Theory from the Magic Faculty…"
"Let's go."
"Phew…."
Alan sprawled out on a bench deep in the shade of a tree and let out a heavy sigh.
"I really feel like I've gotten myself into deep trouble."
How had things ended up like this?
No wonder protagonists in author stories always hide their names.
The problem was that Alan couldn't do that because of his promise with his father, Duke Mueller.
First period had gone smoothly enough—Professor Quiros seemed to hold the Shuren Chronicle in high regard, so there'd been no real hassle. But who knew about the next class.
"…Maybe I should head to the library."
Now that he was at the academy, it was only natural to gather new knowledge. This was a fantasy world, different from the one Alan had lived in before. The common sense here—where magic, magitech, and aura coexisted—was somewhat detached from Earth's.
Most importantly, he needed information on Kun'Rung.
"Nice breeze."
A few cadets with a free second period caught his eye here and there, but none approached Alan, who was alone. His blackish-blue hair and dark blue eyes stood out as foreign even among imperials. Rumor had it his mother was part Kun'Rung blood, and there'd been strong opposition to her marriage with his father.
Come to think of it, Mom was from an eastern noble family.
The empire's eastern region bordered Kun'Rung territory, heavily influenced by it, making it the most exotic part of the empire. It was popular as a tourist spot for its unique scenery. The Versa Imperial Academy's school trip to the imperial east was practically tradition.
Alan shoved his hands in his pockets and headed for the library, the wind whipping past.
"It's huge…."
He'd heard about it, but the scale was absurd. Bookshelves taller than him stretched dozens, hundreds deep, and even the circular mosque-like ceiling was packed with books. Alan found himself pondering a strange question.
"How do those books up there not fall…?"
Figuring some invisible magic kept them from slipping out, he shrugged it off and ventured deeper into the library.
Being early morning, there were hardly any people. Just a bespectacled librarian with a shawl over her shoulders.
Just one?
For a library this vast, having only one librarian was noteworthy in itself. And she was wearing the academy uniform too.
That badge… same first-year as me?
A Roman numeral I dangled from the shawl on her shoulders, matching the badge on Alan's uniform chest. Meaning this librarian was one of his classmates.
Alan averted his gaze from the plain-looking bespectacled girl dozing at her desk—perhaps due to the warm weather—and walked between the meticulously divided bookshelves. An overwhelming number of books loomed on all sides, enough to make his eyes spin just looking at them.
"This is insane. I heard the academy library was big, but…."
He'd asked his brother Albert. Does the academy have a library? Albert's reply: There's one bigger than you can imagine. Alan had thought it was a joke back then, but no—it was dead serious.
As he passed the shelves, Alan glanced at the book titles.
Intro to Magic Studies, Herbal Encyclopedia, Swordsmanship Manual, Records of Local Customs Across the Empire… This could pass for an archive.
Libraries of this size usually had forbidden sections or banned books. Of course, he had no desire to touch those, so Alan stuck to his original purpose: finding books on Kun'Rung.
"Report on Eastern Imperial Cultural Forms, Cultural Studies of Kun'Rung, Ecology of Kun'Rung… Not much substance here."
He'd expected more useful books on Kun'Rung at the academy, but there weren't many. These three were the only ones worth skimming and taking.
Alan grabbed the three books and headed to the entrance.
"Um…."
"Mmm…."
The bespectacled girl, deep in sweet slumber oblivious to his approach, finally stirred when Alan raised his voice a bit. Pointed ears like knife blades poked out between her green braids—elf ears from stories, but oddly short.
Half-elf? Or quarter?
Longer than human but shorter than pure elf, leaning toward half over quarter. Being a bookworm paid off sometimes.
The half-elf girl with grass-like green hair fumbled in panic.
"Wh-wh-wh-who are you…?!"
"Here to borrow books."
"Ah…! I'll check them out right away. Student ID…."
Alan pulled out his ID and slid it across to her.
"Confirmed. Alan Edgar von Mueller…?"
Reading the name on the ID, the elf girl looked up slightly at Alan.
"For real…?"
Her lime-green eyes widened as she alternated between the ID and Alan's face several times. Slamming the desk like a starting gun, the elf girl jumped up, her eyes sparkling.
"Alan Edgar von Mueller! Author of the Shuren Chronicle! I heard you were enrolling this year!!"
"Ah, yeah…."
"Nice to meet you!! I'm Diavela Belstar!"
Her sudden spike in energy suggested she was the type who ignored anything outside her interests. Alan was similar, but Diavela's shift was extreme.
"Alan Edgar von Mueller."
"I loved the book! How can someone our age write like that…? It was amazing!"
Alan gave an awkward smile as she grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously up and down. It was only the first volume out, after all. Reactions like this felt good but made him dread writing the next one. Excessive expectations could poison a writer's drive more than fuel it.
Still, it didn't feel bad. If you couldn't avoid it, might as well enjoy it.
"How can you write like that…? The protagonist's burning thirst for revenge, and Shana's pure goodwill sacrificing herself for him—it was so moving. The fierce clash between humanity's dark emotion of vengeance and the benevolence on the opposite side!"
"It's not that great…."
"It is! You're not even an adult yet? They're calling you a once-in-a-generation genius everywhere."
Diavela grinned and glanced down. The neatly stacked three books caught her eye.
"Ah. You said you were borrowing books, right? Sorry, I took up your time."
"It's fine."
"Not many calluses on your hands? You must not have been writing for long."
She'd noticed just from holding his hand. Alan wasn't flustered.
"I only started writing recently."
"Then you're a real genius! If you just started…!"
"Not quite."
He wasn't a genius. Just transplanting murim concepts into fantasy that didn't exist here. Once typewriters were invented, no more calluses anyway.
Diavela beamed.
"Checkout complete. Looking forward to more great novels, future grand master!"
Alan couldn't shake his awkward smile as he took the books she handed over.
As he turned to leave, Diavela spoke up.
"Ah! Could you sign them?"