The Art of Classification
Including the young master, the four of us searched the shelves for books.
"More importantly, there aren't any other patrons, are there?"
It was strange. That morning, and again around midday, the place had been full of people. Not exactly packed, but more than thirty others had been using the library besides us.
And now? Aside from the staff posted at the exit, everyone was gone. It was as if they had been deliberately cleared out.
"There's probably a reason for it."
Because I'm the Saintess, they couldn't just throw me out?
"Feels like we've got the whole place to ourselves…"
It could simply have been that everyone was busy with the exchange gathering, but still…
"Is this the book you were looking for?"
The young master held a volume out to me. Let's see… the title was The Complete Compendium of Magic?
"Looks like the right one."
Judging by the first page, it was something that kept getting revised—this copy was marked as the thirty-sixth edition, complete with a date.
Finally!
I flipped through it at once. It was exactly what I'd wanted. All kinds of spells and formulas filled the pages; under other circumstances, it might even have been a chance to learn something new. But that wasn't what I needed right now.
"Where is it, where…"
What I wanted was emotion magic—a spell that might or might not even exist. I combed through the book carefully for a full hour, but there was nothing of the kind.
Or rather, there was something close.
"Mana Sight…"
A spell described as an eye for seeing mana, or for reading its flow—though it was said to be of limited use.
"Because nothing in this world is without mana."
The warning noted that using Mana Sight would flood the user with so many overlapping impressions that it could overload the mind.
"But this is still the most promising lead I've got."
Being able to see mana was almost the same as being able to see attributes, wasn't it? I spread the Mana Sight page open and set about memorizing the formula as hard as I could.
Learning magic was never easy. My master had told me I had talent, but even so, I was nowhere near the level of picking up a spell just by glancing at its formula.
"Hah… might as well try it."
At least it wasn't an especially difficult spell, so learning it was doable. Actually casting it, though, was another matter entirely.
I shaped my Holy Power to match the formula, then spoke the activation key.
"Mana Sight."
As the force of Holy Power began to settle into my eyes, they burned hot. I hadn't expected to succeed on the first try…
They hurt so badly I couldn't open them.
Holy Power was still thrashing around my eye sockets. Had I failed the cast? No—if I had, the power would simply have scattered. I had succeeded.
Which meant this was the problem with Mana Sight itself… or a problem born from casting it with Holy Power.
I forced my trembling eyelids open. Light slowly returned to my vision, and a riot of color rushed in to greet me.
Light I never would have seen otherwise. Through barely cracked lids, the world blazed with brilliance.
"This is…"
The world as seen through mana. Brown light from the desk. Yellow light from the books. White light from my own hands. Everywhere I looked, colors shimmered in every hue. I wished I could open my eyes properly and take it all in, but my eyes and head were far too hot.
No wonder they said it was a problem… damn it. I clicked my tongue and dispersed the Holy Power gathered in my eyes.
The moment it left, the heat in my eyes and skull began to ease.
"Ugh."
My stomach turned. Inventing a spell like this—what kind of lunatic had that been?
"A-are you all right?"
My sister and the young master both fretted over me.
"I'b fine."
My head was spinning so hard my tongue wouldn't cooperate.
"I-I'm fine."
Nausea rolled through me. This spell was a no-go. The side effects were far too severe. It might have been worse because I'd cast it with Holy Power—but that only made it more of a problem.
"Hah… what a shame…"
I sighed over the book. It had been the only magic that might have let me identify a material's attributes…
"Would you like to rest a little?"
"Yes. I think I should."
The aftereffects were brutal. I pushed the book aside, folded forward, and laid my head down. After drinking the water Sister Mary offered and resting a while, I started to feel better.
"Ah. That's enough for today."
"We're stopping the search?"
My sister looked almost relieved—she must have been thoroughly fed up herself.
"Yeah. Let's call it a day."
"Then please rest. We'll put everything away."
While the young master and Sister Mary tidied the books, I idled about and did nothing in particular.
I was still resting comfortably when a commotion rose near the entrance.
"What's going on?"
I turned my head just enough to look. A crowd was milling there.
The problem was…
"C-Cardinals?"
No fewer than three cardinals had appeared in the library. Of course, a whole retinue of priests and nuns trailed behind and beside them.
"Don't tell me… did I cause some kind of trouble?"
Nothing from today seemed likely to have drawn a cardinal's attention… or so I thought.
"Your scholarly zeal is most impressive."
"Haha… what brings all three of you here together?"
"We heard that the Saintess had spoken on the matter of book classification."
That?
"I did mention it, yes…"
"We have gathered to discuss the matter."
"I-is it really something that needs a formal discussion…?"
I had a strong feeling this was about to become a headache.
"In truth, we ourselves have not been entirely without thoughts on classifying the books."
"Is that so?"
Everyone's eyes drifted to the volumes surrounding us.
"There are simply so many that the task has always seemed beyond us."
Apparently the idea of organizing the long-accumulated collection had come up before, only to fizzle out for lack of a method. With so many books, and organization being something you couldn't just slap together on a whim, it was understandable.
"But if you don't organize them—if you don't classify them—they're nothing more than a pile of stored clutter."
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
"The reason organization and classification matter is simple: they make books easy to find."
"Yes, of course."
Everyone already knew that. They had only given up because there were too many books—not because they failed to understand the need.
I spoke firmly.
"If we want to properly make use of the knowledge built up from the past, classification and organization are essential."
That was the truth I'd felt after hours of hunting through the shelves today. Nothing was organized, so finding anything was a nightmare. You couldn't even tell what was here!
"Is that truly so?"
Having already spoken up, backing down would be difficult…
"Yes."
I took a moment to gather my thoughts—how to classify, how to organize, how to arrange.
"First, I believe books should be classified by subject."
"By subject, you say?"
"A book is written with some purpose in mind. If you gather works written for similar or identical purposes, comparing materials becomes much easier."
"Indeed. A sound approach."
I thought back to the decimal classification system from my previous life. Ten broad subjects: general works, philosophy, religion, social sciences, natural sciences, technology, the arts, language, literature, and history.
How should I adapt that for this world?
Seven of them could transfer more or less as they were: philosophy, religion, society, the arts, language, culture, and history.
"Might I trouble you for paper and a pen?"
"Prepare them at once."
The cardinal gave the order to a nearby priest the instant the words left my mouth.
Once I had paper and pen, I wrote down the seven categories that could serve as major divisions. Then I paused, considering what else to add. Magic would have to take the place of the natural sciences. Holy Magic could stand in for technology. And for the last, I could simply keep general works, as before.
I wrote in the remaining three, bringing the total to ten, and showed them the list. Everyone began to murmur in admiration.
"My word. Had you already thought this through?"
"Ah, well… y-you could say that."
Why does my chest feel so prickly? All I'd done was reuse knowledge from my previous life… yet to them, it seemed revolutionary.
"Classifying this way would make organization considerably easier."
"Might you explain what this 'general works' category means?"
"S-simply put, it's for things that don't fit into the other nine. Dictionaries, encyclopedias, that sort of material."
"I see…"
Everyone was nodding along so readily that I found myself thrown off. Was this actually going to be adopted?
Because of something I said?
"A-and when organizing the books themselves, arranging them by the order of the characters in their titles would be convenient as well."
Sorting by linguistic order would make future organization easier too.
"That way, even after a book is taken out, finding its place again is simple, so the system is easier to maintain. And… for books that have revised editions, it would be best to keep the older editions together with them."
"Why is that? If a newer edition exists, isn't the older one useless?"
The question came from a priest standing in the back. His sudden interjection earned him some unfriendly looks from those around him.
"A reason… of course there is one."
I wasn't sure how significant it truly was, but this was how I saw it.
"Books—knowledge—are things that have been passed down from the past. In other words, they are treasures left to us by those who came before. Revised editions are no different."
What did it mean for a revised edition to exist? Think about that, and the answer becomes clear.
"It means we have learned from the wisdom of our predecessors and added new knowledge of our own. Looking at them side by side, we can see the progress of our people."
By comparing what changed between editions, you could see how things had advanced—new discoveries, new inventions, corrections of earlier errors, and more. That was why I believed keeping old editions alongside the new ones had meaning.
"Hmm. Well said."
Ugh… saying things like this in front of so many people is embarrassing. And I hadn't even managed to put it elegantly, which only made it worse.
"I was foolish."
"I'm glad you understand."
Had I gotten used to this position? My tone had come out sounding like someone standing above the rest.
"We shall have to classify them, then."
Everyone was studying the classification method I had written down.
"This is only something I put together on the spot. You're free to subdivide it further, or add more categories as you see fit."
From here on, it was out of my hands. Putting people to work was best left to them.
"Well. We are truly grateful for the Saintess's insight."
"You're busy with the exchange gathering for now, so you can always begin once things quiet down."
"Whether it takes a year or two, it must be done."
"We'll need to send word to the other temples as well. Busy times ahead."
The cardinals conferred among themselves, working out how to proceed. I had the distinct sense that the whole affair was growing larger by the minute, but it was no longer my concern. So please don't blame me for it!
"Well then, I'm rather tired, so if you'll excuse me…"
I rose from my seat and left the library. My sister, the young master, and Sister Mary followed behind me.
Ugh. That was the right thing to do… wasn't it?
Once we were outside, the young master suddenly spoke up.
"That was truly magnificent."
"Ah—excuse me?"
"The way you explained everything so confidently before them all. It was splendid."
"W-was it?"
I'd felt ashamed of overstepping, but maybe it hadn't been entirely like that.
"Yeah. You were amazing, Yuli."
"Indeed. Truly worthy of one chosen by the Goddess."
When even Sister Mary said so, I grew thoroughly flustered.
"Ehehe… it wasn't that big a deal…"
Being praised made my heart lift and fill with joy. There was no helping that.