Safe Travels – A Few Hours Earlier
A few hours earlier.
The blonde woman hummed a tune as she drove off somewhere.
"Hum~. Hum hum~."
Unlike her appearance, she drove rather aggressively, and the place she arrived at was some elementary school in Incheon. She parked mercilessly, crushing the grass field with her tires. Several vehicles were already parked in front of her— not ordinary cars, but mostly black armored vehicles and vans that looked like they belonged in a special forces operation.
A few people in suits were busily setting up machines on the field, deeply focused on their task.
"Hum hum~. Hum~."
"Who... Oh! Hello, ma'am!"
A man who had been staring intently at the machines turned at the unfamiliar sound, then hurriedly bowed his head.
"Hi~. Hi~."
The woman greeted him brightly and pulled something out of the black plastic bag she was carrying. Packs of strawberries—the kind said to be in season lately—emerged from between the heavy machines.
"Chief, this is...?"
"Yeah, I saw some that looked tasty on the way. Share them after the operation's done."
"Ah... Thank you!"
"Sure sure~."
"...!!"
"And the art room has a plaster statue. They should smash the plaster statue."
A moment later.
"...!! Anomalies, Music Textbook and Art Textbook, secured!"
The woman, who had swiftly wrapped up the site, sat down on a folding chair, humming again.
A moment later, two teams emerged from the elementary school, each carrying a small book case.
Only then did the woman stand from her chair, open the black bag that had held the strawberries earlier, and say to them,
"Alright! Put those two books in here now."
The two teams looked puzzled for a moment, but the man who had met her first urgently signaled from behind.
Pioneer Division Chief!!
"...!! Understood!"
The suited agents, their fatigue vanishing in an instant, perked up and carefully placed the books into the black bag.
Before tying the bag, the woman opened the cases and inspected the two books.
"Hmm... Okay. These are definitely the ones. What's your name?"
"Ah, Anomaly Investigation Division's Park Yunheon, assistant manager."
"I'll pass the necessary info to you through headquarters channels, Park Yunheon. This case is pretty urgent all around."
"Understood! I'd appreciate it if you could keep it casual."
"Sure. They're probably watching the report right now anyway, so info sharing should happen soon."
The woman adjusted her sunglasses, waved to those remaining at the site, got in her car, and drove off leisurely.
As she drove, ominous energies churned from the bag toward her, but she showed no reaction, just kept humming and driving aggressively.
"Here we are~! Alright, let's see if these can get in nicely today."
She parked under the sign reading [Goru Bookstore], stretched vigorously, and slowly climbed the stairs.
Then, just like before, she grasped the doorknob and turned it.
Click.
"...!!"
Unlike before, there was a catching sensation transmitted through her hand as it turned. With added force from the momentum, the old door creaked open, revealing a mystical space that hadn't been there previously—a lobby in antique Western style.
"...Hum."
She had finally found it. The woman barely suppressed a laugh as she slowly stepped inside the library.
Creeeak.
Thud.
Click.
The door of [Goru Bookstore] closed, swallowing the woman whole.
Without panic, she proceeded forward, taking in the library's grandeur through her sunglasses.
It was truly a beautiful space. And like the most beautiful flowers being the fiercest, ominous energy wafted from beyond this beautiful library.
A dizzying sensation that made her body tingle just standing there.
But the woman didn't tremble in fear. Instead, with an expression like she was dying of excitement, she passed the lobby and opened the door to the shelves—ignoring the rules written largely on the entrance in the process.
Knock knock.
Creeeak.
"Hello, are you a patron...?"
"Hi~. I'm from the Anomaly Management Bureau! Wow, this library's even prettier than I imagined!"
At the woman's casual greeting, the expressionless face of the girl managing the library twisted for a moment.
"...Who are you?"
The woman loved the girl's appearance.
* * *
The blonde woman who introduced herself as from the Anomaly Management Bureau felt different from all the patrons who'd come before—not in a bad way, just... different.
Hmm, how to put it.
She was the brightest person I'd ever met.
"Whoa... There are so many books..."
She was already wandering the shelves leisurely, even before greetings were fully done.
But from what I could sense, she wasn't just bright and relaxed.
There was something.
Something about her.
...Her heels don't make a sound.
Her tone alone suggested she'd broken the library's quiet rule a dozen times over, but in reality, she hadn't.
Despite the high heels with quite the heel height, there was no clacking, and her voice came like a whisper from beside me.
Even I thought she was incredibly incongruous.
...First things first, take the books.
"Where are the books?"
"Right here!"
She boldly showed me the black bag in her hand.
Not a rustle from the crinkly bag.
"It might be noisy here, so let's do the donation procedure in the reading room."
"Another room, huh?"
I led her to the empty room next door. Just a few chairs and desks—nothing else.
This was the room I'd newly unlocked before. A huge upgrade now that patrons didn't have to stand while reading.
I sat her down appropriately, opened the ancient ledger, and began the donation procedure.
It wasn't much: confirm donor and book info, inspect condition, done.
The library welcomed book donations, so Grandmother had simplified it to accept as many as possible.
"First, may I have the donor's name?"
The woman didn't speak, just quietly stared at me.
Chin propped, golden eyes peering through her sunglasses, a smile lingering on her lips.
"...■. It's ■."
"A single character?"
"Hmm. Something like that? I don't distinguish between family or given names. Just ■."
As I scribbled her name with the quill, ■ slowly leaned forward and said,
"Not many know my name. Most call me the Pioneer Division Chief."
...Why tell me that?
■—no, the Pioneer Division Chief—was still smiling.
"Then I'll call you Pioneer Division Chief too."
"Call me whatever's comfy."
Name: ■
Race: Human +
Affiliation:Anomaly Management BureauAnomaly Pioneer Division
Position:Pioneer Division Chief
Scratch. Scratch.
As I wrote her name and position with the quill, additional info naturally engraved itself into the ledger.
She was definitely from the Anomaly Management Bureau.
The odd part was... her race, maybe?
Human + and then nothing.
First time I'd seen this; I was flustered too.
Eh... not important info anyway.
"Now, I'll check the books."
"Sure."
The bag the Pioneer Division Chief handed over indeed contained two textbooks, tightly bound.
Music Textbook and Art Textbook.
Respectively titled Aria from Beyond Hell and Human Anatomy with Dismemberment.
Quite the distinctive names.
As I gently stroked the covers to inspect them, the books twitched in response.
But I smiled softly to keep them from startling, slowly opening the pages to check for damage.
"Hmm..."
There were some tears and damage.
Probably from recovering them.
Still, at this level... restoration would fix it fine.
"This much... yes, they're donatable."
"Great!"
The Pioneer Division Chief clapped with a bright smile.
No sound from the clap, still.
"Thank you for the donation. Safe travels."
Her purpose was 'book donation,' not 'knowledge pursuit,' so no forced reading.
But for some reason, the Pioneer Division Chief didn't leave.
She just smiled softly at me.
And then.
"Wanna join the Bureau?"
"...?"
She suddenly scouted me.
...Huh?