The Library of All Knowledge
Even after I finished putting everything in order and lay down on the bed, sleep refused to come.
“Sis, you awake?”
“Yeah.”
“How long are we gonna stay here?”
That was the real question…
Looking at the way the Church was running things, I was already becoming a problem. Getting out of here sooner rather than later didn’t sound half bad. Besides, travel was the whole point of this trip—I had no desire to get stuck in one place.
“Do whatever you want, Yuli.”
Easier said than done… I should at least hear what my companion Maximilian thought about it first. But for now, enough fretting. Time to sleep…
The soft bed did its work, and drowsiness finally crept in.
“Night, Sis…”
No answer came. Already out cold? Then I should sleep too……
I woke early, shuffled off to the bathroom, and washed up. The cold water hitting my skin snapped me wide awake.
“Ugh, so tired…”
I hadn’t even done much yesterday, yet I felt completely drained. After drying off and pulling on my underthings, I reached for my clothes—and froze.
“Uh… hmm…”
Was I really supposed to put on the same outfit as yesterday? The thought bothered me so much that I just sat down on the bed.
“Hmm…”
Wearing civilian clothes inside the temple felt weird, and a nun’s habit was probably the proper choice… but I really didn’t want to put yesterday’s back on.
“Maybe I should just ask for a fresh one?”
I draped a sheet around myself, got up, and opened the door.
“Sister Mary?”
“You called for me?”
Even at this early hour she must have been waiting right outside, because the answer came instantly.
“Um, about the habit… could I get a new one?”
“Of course. I’ll bring one right away.”
She hurried off, and I watched her through the crack of the door. Once I put on the fresh habit she brought, I finally felt at ease.
“Ahh, new clothes really do feel better.”
Soft, clean, made of fine fabric—it made all the difference.
“You’re up early.”
“Well, yeah.”
She gathered the habit I’d discarded.
“Do you have any plans for today?”
“Not really. That’s the problem.”
I’d already done the sightseeing yesterday. I still hadn’t visited the Magic Tower, but going today didn’t feel like it would change much.
“Then how about reading some books?”
“Books?”
“Yes. This is the Church’s library—said to hold every scrap of knowledge in the world. The knowledge the Saintess seeks might be hidden somewhere inside.”
Ohhh…! Now that she mentioned it, she was right!
“And as the Saintess, you would even be allowed into the Forbidden Archives, which ordinary believers are barred from entering.”
“The Forbidden Archives!”
Sister Mary explained that books sealed away for being too dangerous or too cruel for ordinary eyes were kept there.
“What kind of books get banned, I wonder…”
I was curious. And right now, I actually had the authority to read them!
“Thank you.”
Her suggestion had opened my eyes. All right—time to go read some books! Leaving my still-sleeping sister behind, I headed for the library with Sister Mary.
I’d left a note, so she’d find us eventually.
The Church’s library sat deeper inside than the chapel itself. Even this early in the morning, plenty of people were already there.
“Whoa…”
Everyone was dressed neatly as priests and nuns, busily hauling books or copying manuscripts.
“As a rule, books cannot be borrowed.”
The library’s original purpose was preservation, so lending—which risked loss—was rarely allowed, Sister Mary whispered in my ear.
“Of course, the Saintess is an exception.”
Bishops and above could borrow books as well, she added.
“I-I see.”
I hadn’t planned on borrowing anything anyway.
But the moment I actually stepped inside…
“It’s overwhelming…”
Was the Library of Alexandria in my past life anything like this? Endless rows of shelves, countless volumes… books to the left, books to the right—it was a paradise of books.
“How do they organize everything here?”
In my previous life, the Dewey Decimal System sorted books by category, making them easy to find.
“I… I’m afraid I don’t know.”
She wasn’t the librarian nun, and she didn’t search for books often enough to know the system.
“Guess I’ll have to ask.”
I walked over to the desk near the entrance, where a Holy Knight and a priest stood watch.
“Are you the ones in charge here?”
“We are.”
“Could you tell me how the books are classified?”
The priest looked thoroughly annoyed. Then Sister Mary stepped close and whispered something to him.
Whatever she said about my identity drained the color from his face.
“W-we… th-the library stores older books farther toward the back.”
So the ones near the front were the newest?
“Is that so? No other classification?”
“W-well, there are simply too many books. Sorting them properly is difficult.”
“Still, if you ever want to use the material later, classification would help…”
Come to think of it, Master’s old bookstore didn’t sort its books either. Similar topics might end up near each other, but you could hardly call that organization. Did this world not even have the concept yet?
Was I about to cause a huge mess just by opening my mouth?
“Th-that is…”
“Ah, never mind. Forget I said anything.”
Forget it—run! Since I couldn’t learn the classification or locations anyway, the only option was to wander and check everything myself.
I pulled books down one by one and examined them alone.
I checked titles on the covers, or if there was no title, flipped them open to the table of contents…
Checking every single volume was endless work.
“May I ask what you’re looking for?”
“Uh… hmm?”
I wasn’t searching for anything specific. If I had to name it…
“Something about attributes, maybe?”
“Attributes?”
“Yes—the attributes of every object that exists in nature.”
I briefly explained that alchemy used the concept of attributes, yet I had no way of actually identifying them.
“A difficult problem indeed…”
“Right now I’m looking for any magic or Holy Magic that can distinguish or reveal attributes.”
“Distinguishing attributes…”
She seemed to know something and sank into thought. Leaving her to it, I kept scanning the shelves.
Wasn’t there some kind of dictionary that recorded every spell in existence?
“Dictionary… dictionary……”
Damn, finding the right book was hard! And why were the shelves so tall? Being short was already miserable enough—even standing on a stool, I couldn’t reach the top!
I stretched up on my tiptoes, fingers straining toward a book on the highest shelf.
“Urrgh.”
Body, stretch a little more! Longer!
I poured every ounce of effort into reaching, but my fingertips still fell short.
“Sigh… maybe I should just start with the lower ones…”
As I started to climb down from the stool, something tapped the back of my head.
“Is this the one you wanted?”
I turned my head and found myself staring at a chest. Looking higher, I finally saw the face—a man with fiery red hair that seemed to blaze.
“This book, correct?”
A complete stranger… At least he was wearing priest’s robes. His sheer size radiated intimidation even when he stood still.
I shrank back in pure fright, and the priest’s expression turned faintly awkward.
“Ah, my apologies.”
He gave an embarrassed smile, set the book in my hands, and stepped away.
I could only stare blankly after him.
Who on earth was that? A total stranger suddenly doing me a kindness… He vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving only the book in my hands.
“Ahem.”
I snapped out of it and flipped the book open. A quick skim showed it wasn’t what I needed either.
I’d arrived at the library early and stayed for quite a while. Sister Mary found several books for me that contained decent information, but none of them gave me what I truly wanted.
“Studying?”
“Sis? What have you been up to?”
“Helped with cleaning.”
“Cleaning?”
Apparently the nuns had been cleaning, so she’d just joined in—an absurd explanation.
I started to scold her, then held my tongue.
“There was no need for Lady Emma, our guest, to do such work…”
Sister Mary said exactly what I’d been thinking.
“Yeah. Just bored.”
Who in the world cleans because they’re bored…? Scolding her would only tire my mouth, so I let it go.
“Sis, help me find the book I want.”
I asked her to look for a dictionary that recorded every kind of magic. With Emma joining us, the three of us could check books faster, but finding the right one remained a struggle.
“What sort of book are the three of you searching for so diligently?”
The man who approached was the same red-haired priest from earlier. Seen properly, he looked well over six-foot-three, with a face as fierce as his massive frame.
“There’s no need for you to concern yourself.”
“You’ve been here for hours already, haven’t you?”
When I pointed out that he was doing the exact same thing, he rubbed his chin.
“True enough.”
“So please mind your own business.”
Dealing with Maximilian was already enough of a hassle—now some random man was butting in. I still hadn’t found the book I needed, and my irritation doubled.
“Forgive the intrusion.”
He withdrew with a dejected look that didn’t match his fearsome face at all.
“Who is that guy, and why does he keep doing that…?”
When I mentioned he’d approached me earlier as well, Sister Mary’s expression turned grave.
“Th-that gentleman is the Cardinal’s son.”
Uh… what?
“The Cardinal’s son?”
“Yes. The son of the man who greeted the Saintess on the first day.”
Out of respect for his father, he had become a priest himself. Looking at that build, though, he seemed far better suited to knighthood…
“I see…”
Had he known my identity and been trying to help? It hadn’t felt that way. After spending a long stretch in the library, we finally left for lunch.
“The weather’s nice—maybe we should eat outside…”
“I’ll prepare a lunch box.”
“Please do.”
Sister Mary returned with the meal and guided us to a pavilion.
“I didn’t know a place like this existed…”
“Ordinarily it’s too crowded to use freely, but…”
They had cleared the area for my sake, she explained.
“You didn’t have to go that far… I’m sorry.”
“Not at all. Our superiors ordered us to ensure the Saintess creates as many pleasant memories as possible.”
Aigoo… What was I even supposed to say to that?
Maximilian joined us for lunch as well.
“How did you spend your morning?”
“Y-yes?”
Wherever his mind had been wandering, his reaction was delayed.
“Ah, I simply walked around the temple.”
“Come to think of it, I heard there are Academy students here. Aren’t they your juniors?”
“You heard correctly. But the Academy doesn’t place much weight on seniority.”
While enrolled it mattered, he explained, but after graduation a person’s current rank and title took priority.
“That makes sense.”
In a world with social classes, it was bound to be different from the seniors and juniors of my past life.
“And what did you do, Miss Julian?”
“I was looking for books in the library.”
A library said to hold all the world’s knowledge—I’d hoped to find what I needed.
“But finding the right book turned out to be ridiculously hard.”
“Then I’ll help this afternoon.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
I gave him a playful smile and took a big bite of my sandwich.
The temple cooks really knew what they were doing…