Library Commotion
With our perfect plan in place for the library commotion, we bolted to the Golden May Library in the city center as soon as the morning sun rose, diving straight into our reading. Library opening rush? Hell, I never even tried that in my past life.
The city's library was surprisingly tidy. According to Luna, all the village's public facilities fell under the lord's castle jurisdiction, so they were strictly maintained. Thanks to arriving early, the place was empty except for the librarians, letting us quietly absorb this world's knowledge.
"Ehehehe..."
I glanced at the cover of the book Luna was reading, drawn by her nonstop giggling. ~Four Flowers Blooming Under Her Highness the Princess's Patronage~
...Fuck, isn't this a monarchy? How the hell does a book with a title like that even exist? Well, with "princess" right there in the title, it's probably not anything indecent... "Ehhehehe..." But her nonstop giggling wasn't exactly filling me with confidence.
Anyway. I wriggled out from my pile of stacked books, extending my body just a bit. Reading books with a book's body was damn inconvenient, but it felt like flipping through a fantasy novel's setting bible, so it wasn't all that boring.
[Ahem. Luna?]
"Ehhehehe..."
[Luna?]
"Kyaa?!"
Luna jumped at my cautious call, hurriedly hiding the book. "Wh-wh-what is it, Master?"
[...]
"Master?"
[No, it's nothing. Anyway, it looks like we've covered the geography and history sections. Could you grab some magic-related books now?]
"Y-yes..."
With her face flushed red and hidden behind her book, Luna scurried off toward the librarian. I watched her embarrassed retreat while sorting through the knowledge I'd gleaned from the books.
Our current location: the Aspelia Kingdom. A nation bordering the empire—the superpower dominating the central continent—a classic setup straight out of my past life's fantasy novels. The Red Tower, Blue Tower, and White Tower divided the kingdom's magic with the academies, and knightly orders were scattered across the land. If I weren't stuck in this grimoire body, I could've enjoyed a pretty fun fantasy life.
Anyway, the empire—the real power on the central continent—loomed near the kingdom, with other places like the eastern continent, the Holy Kingdom, island chains, and more. They weren't places we'd visit anytime soon, and the books weren't too detailed, so I skimmed them. I'm not the king of this country—what more common knowledge do I need?
"Master."
[Ah, Luna. What's up?]
"Um, that is..."
Luna hemmed and hawed, unable to get the words out.
[Did you cause some trouble? It's fine—just tell me casually.]
As I gently coaxed the flustered Luna, she steeled her expression like she'd made up her mind and continued. "I think I've been found out as a mage, Master."
[...What?]
After hearing the full story from Luna, thankfully, we didn't need to silence the librarian or anything drastic. Having escaped the Golden May Library, we cautiously discussed what had just happened.
"So, when I said I wanted magic-related books, the librarian asked if I was a mage."
[And you said you were?]
"No way! Absolutely not!"
Luna shook her head vigorously in denial.
[Then how'd she figure out you're a mage?]
"Well..."
Luna twirled a strand of her silver hair around her finger as she answered. "She said she was a mage. From the Blue Tower."
[What? A mage?]
"Yes. She sensed mana from me too and asked which order I was from, so I said it was a secret and just ran."
Hmm. Not hearing the worst of it. We couldn't hide our magic use forever anyway. Mystery attracts mystery, so sooner or later, we'd get ambushed in a busy market or square and have to handle it with magic... Maybe we should just craft a proper backstory now?
[Luna. Did the librarian say anything specific when she sensed your mana?]
"No, nothing like that."
Hmm. I see. Then there's no risk of her figuring out you're contracted to a grimoire. The contract didn't even change the nature of your mana.
After running through every possibility in my head, I spoke to Luna again.
[Alright, Luna. From now on, remember what I say carefully.]
Time to craft a mask we'd use to great effect going forward.
Jessie Bright, the new librarian at the Golden May Library, was extremely flustered right now. The reason? The mysterious, enchanting woman she'd wanted to befriend as a fellow mage had bolted the moment their conversation ended.
"D-did I say something wrong?"
Jessie's mind filled with wild delusions. "What if her parents died to a mage, or she got bombed by a crazy wizard, or maybe she's a senior who flunked out of the tower?!"
Jessie trembled, her face crumpling. "Hing... The place is already deserted. I should've watched my words..."
With the recent creepy incidents scaring everyone off, she'd been killing time shaking in fear when this rare same-age, same-gender visitor showed up!
"Wuu... I'm trash..."
As Jessie curled into a tiny ball, sinking into despair, the library door opened—and that same woman walked back in.
"Ah, sorry. I got a bit flustered just now."
Jessie leaped to her feet at the girl's bold entrance, silver hair whipping as she flung the door wide.
"Y-y-yes!"
"...And that's how it happened."
"Aah... I see!"
It took about thirty minutes to elaborately spin the tale of Luna being the sole successor to a nameless one-person lineage school.
"S-sorry about earlier. I don't get many chances to meet people my age in this city, and a mage at that—I got too excited..."
The girl who'd startled us before was Jessie Bright. A petite Blue Tower freshman with a kind face and brown bobbed hair.
"...Like a squirrel."
"Pardon? What was that?"
"Nothing, Jessie. Anyway, what were you saying before?"
Luna casually dropped the formalities and swiftly changed the subject.
"Oh, right—you asked why the library's so empty?"
Jessie grinned and continued. Until about a month ago, the Golden May Library had steady visitors—not packed, but consistent. As a facility under the lord's castle, the books were high quality, the facilities comfortable enough for reading.
Until the weird book showed up in the stacks.
One day, a report came in about an unidentified red-covered book. The librarians searched but found nothing—thought it was a prank at first.
Then visitors started dying mysteriously.
Rumors spread: Look at the red book in the Golden May Library, and you die. Foot traffic plummeted.
"That's the gist, right?"
"Yes! Exactly!"
Jessie nodded her cute head vigorously.
"But with rumors like that, why not request help directly from the lord's castle?"
At Luna's follow-up, Jessie looked a bit sheepish. "They said we couldn't waste troops on uncertain info..."
[Hmm, what a mess.]
Luna nodded in agreement.
[But where are the other librarians? Why's this kid the only one left?]
"Jessie, where'd the other librarians go?"
"After one fell off a bridge and died last time, they all quit..."
"Why didn't you quit?"
"...That's."
Jessie's face twisted. A ferocious aura poured from her, making Luna and me tense up.
"Because the head librarian's my dad!!!"
Waaah! Jessie wailed as if unleashing all her pent-up frustration.
"No other librarians! Stuck here alone in this dark, empty library!"
"Y-yeah."
"'She's a first-year tower student—she can handle herself!'"
"M-must be tough."
"Kyaaaah!!"
Luna awkwardly patted the sobbing Jessie.
Her dad sees people well, huh. Luna didn't notice, but I could see it—the vivid blue mana flowing from Jessie.
"Waaah..."
"Where's the head librarian, though?"
Luna patted mechanically, then remembered to ask about the director.
"Sniff. Dad should be back tomorrow. He said it's worse than he thought, so he's bringing help."
Jessie managed through her sniffles.
Hmm. Yeah. I see. This wasn't just rumors haunting the library. Something far more dangerous and sinister lurked here. If left alone, it'd devour more people and cause a real headache.
The head librarian probably sensed it too. That's why the urgent call for help.
So, what now? I glanced at Luna, still patting Jessie.
A village girl who grabbed a magic book to survive by sheer luck. Her only "real combat" was against those ragtag mercenaries—and I handled that.
In other words, Luna had never properly cast a spell herself as a mage.
To prepare for threats I couldn't handle, she needed to master outer god magic on her own.
Mm-hmm. Decided.
[Luna.]
"Yes?"
Luna answered very quietly while comforting Jessie.
[Why not ask if they need one more person?]
"...Pardon?"
[It'd be great real-world practice for you as a mage. And she said others are coming too, right? Perfect chance to practice outer god magic without others noticing!]
Luna listened quietly. I couldn't see her face from here, but she'd probably like it, right?
"Ow, hey. You're pinching kinda hard?"
"..."
"L-Luna, ma'am?"
...Probably.