The Library No One Remembers
"Spirits?"
"Yes, have you heard of them, Professor?"
"Hmm, that's a first for me. What are they?"
Ha. I knew it.
"Hm? You're giving me a rather disappointed look, aren't you?"
"N-no, that's not it at all."
"Well then, give me a hint."
"...I'm sorry, what?"
"You say you want to know what spirits are. Then offer a hint or two so I can figure it out."
"Oh—no, no. That's quite all right. I'll figure it out myself."
"Very well. Can't be helped then, if my student insists on struggling through it alone. I suppose all I can do is watch from the sidelines. Still, I'll offer you one tip."
They had reached the lecture hall before he knew it. Professor Rothius, his hand already on the door handle, turned back to look at Bayul.
"Go visit the Sterbenrauch Library. If there's anywhere that might have material on those spirits of yours, it's there."
"The Sterbenrauch Library?"
At the unfamiliar name, Bayul tilted his head, and the professor laughed.
"Never heard of it? Well, I suppose not. Half the fourth-years don't even know it exists. It's just not a very important place, you see."
How could it possibly hold material about spirits that even you don't know about, if it's that unimportant?
Bayul's face was asking exactly that.
"It's the oldest one around."
"...?"
"Setting aside the temple, it's the place with the longest history in all of Carrington. If you go, you'll probably think, 'What on earth is all this junk?'—it looks like a pointless place at first glance. But if you search it properly, you'll turn up things you could never find anywhere else. That's the very reason it's still standing."
Things that can't be found anywhere else?
No words could have been more tempting to Bayul in that moment. There might be a clue about spirits waiting there.
"Where is it?"
"You're really going?"
"Yes!"
"You've got more drive than you look like you do."
Looking rather pleased, the man smiled and explained where the library was.
"Oh, and give my regards to Ban. Tell him I'll drop by with mango juice one of these days."
"Ban? Who's that?"
Bayul asked, but Professor Rothius was already stepping into the lecture hall. And exactly two hours later, Bayul came face to face with the man in question.
"Hi there! Nice to meet you. I'm Ban."
The man's first impression was of tree roots. His long, abundant brown hair was braided into several thick strands that hung down past his shoulders—an audaciously unusual style.
Can he even wash his hair like that? It'd take forever to undo all of those braids one by one.
"You're Bayul, right? I can tell without you saying a word. That silver hair really stands out."
While Bayul had been lost in his idle musing, the man had darted over and, without warning, touched his head.
"It's so pretty. I've seen plenty of blondes, but silver hair is a first for me. Up close it just shimmers. And how is it this soft? Your skin's like porcelain, too. Are your eyes ash-colored? Gray? Ooh, so mysterious! You're way more beautiful than I imagined!"
Does he even know what 'beautiful' means before he throws it around? He clearly hasn't met Eli yet. If he had, he wouldn't be clinging to me and rattling all this off.
"I heard you collapsed recently. Are you feeling better now?"
"...Yes, well."
Bayul quietly took a step back. When the silver strands slipped out of his grasp, the man let out a wistful sigh. He was a strange one, this man.
"So, what brings you here? How does a transfer student even know about this place?"
"Professor Rothius told me. I said I had something I wanted to look up."
"Ah-ha, so the professor sent you. He is a regular here, I suppose."
"He asked me to pass along his regards. He said he'll come by with mango juice soon."
"I don't touch anything but the finest mangoes."
Bayul couldn't bring himself to reply that the man looked like he'd eat anything put in front of him. He merely thought, Picky, isn't he?
"Anyway, never mind that. Did you come here by way of the Water Garden?"
"Yes. Is there another path?"
The route Professor Rothius had shown him was the only one he knew. Innocent was probably having the time of her life splashing around there right now. The plan had been to come together and search, but the spirit had seemed so eager to play that he'd left her behind.
"Go straight down that way and turn left, and you'll find a small side gate. Through it is the herb garden the temple keeps. It smells a bit foul, but that's the shortcut. Use it from now on. I'm telling you this as a special favor, you know?"
Bayul had indeed been finding the route through the Water Garden tedious. The man's manner was rather rude for a first meeting, but he didn't seem like a bad person.
"Thank you."
"You'd better. Here, eat this."
Out of nowhere, the man held out a piece of bread.
"You came straight here without lunch, didn't you? You must be hungry. Take it."
"No, thank you. I'm not really hungry."
"Regular meals are important. Keep skipping them and you'll collapse again."
That subject kept creeping up, the one he wanted to avoid. He'd skipped lunch and come straight to the library because he wanted a lead on spirits. He had no time to be cornered by a man he barely knew, fielding annoying questions.
"Then, if you'll excuse me, I need to find some materials—"
"Find what? I'll help."
"No, thank you. I can manage on my own."
"This library's nothing like the others. Without my help as the librarian, finding what you want won't be easy."
"...Librarian?"
"You didn't know? Ban—the sole librarian and assistant of the Sterbenrauch Library. I may not look it, but I'm rather famous, you know?"
First he'd asked how Bayul even knew the place existed, and now he wore the face of a man aggrieved that Bayul didn't know him. Definitely a strange person.
"Well, you only just enrolled, so I suppose I'll let it slide."
"Yes, so if you'll excuse me—"
"I said I'm helping."
As Bayul tried to move, Ban blocked his way.
"You really will struggle on your own. I'm not saying this for my own sake."
"I'd like to look around quietly today. I do appreciate the offer."
"Is being around me that uncomfortable?"
"It's not exactly that..."
"Tch. Fine. You can't force someone who doesn't want help. That's not how I do things."
The man gave up surprisingly quickly. Abruptly, he pointed at the wall with his hand.
"See that over there? It says 'Sterbenrauch.'"
"Yes."
"He wrote that himself."
"...He did?"
"Count Sterbenrauch. In his day, he was an enormous collector. He conducted research in all sorts of fields, too. This place was built from his donation—that's why it's called the Sterbenrauch Library. These days almost no one comes, and it's a library in name only, but back in the past, there were students who practically lived here. There were so many fascinating things to find. Just so you know."
With that explanation—which he framed as essential knowledge for anyone setting foot in the library—Ban finally stepped aside. The disappointment was plain on his face, but Bayul forced himself to ignore it, offered his thanks, and hurried toward the interior. All the while quietly resolving to visit, from now on, in ways that drew as little of Ban's attention as possible.
The Sterbenrauch Library was larger and more labyrinthine than he'd expected. The space itself was generous, but the objects crammed into it were even more so, and more than once he found it hard just to walk in a straight line. Things lay piled up in complete disorder, enough to make him wonder whether he'd wandered into a warehouse instead of a library.
Most of the facilities were old and worn, so grime showed in every corner, and a strange, musty odor drifted in from somewhere unseen.
And yet Bayul liked this place. For the first time in a long while, he had time entirely to himself, away from everyone's eyes. He wanted to hold on to this comfort that the hush of the place offered for as long as he could.
Let's go up to the next floor.
"...Hm?"
And then he spotted her. The girl the students called the Ice Goddess. Lanasa stood frowning fiercely at a bookshelf.
What do I do?
Bayul hesitated. She was standing in a passage barely wide enough for one person to pass. To explore this floor, he would have to go by her, no way around it.
Should I ask her to step aside? Or just wait?
Her prickly demeanor from before came back to him, and Bayul wavered. From everything he'd seen of her so far, she would clearly resent even being spoken to. He had no desire to repeat the mistake of their first meeting.
"Found it!"
Suddenly, she shouted. Wearing a smile he'd never seen on her before, she rose onto her tiptoes and stretched both arms as far above her head as they would reach.
"Just a little—just a little more..."
Her fingertips, hovering just short of the mark, finally caught the spine of a book. Even from a distance, it looked quite thick.
"Ah—ah...!"
Perhaps it was the weight of the book after all. Even as she rejoiced, Lanasa lost her balance and swayed for a moment. She didn't quite fall, but her elbow knocked against the stack of boxes beside her.
Thud!
The precariously stacked boxes wobbled uneasily, then began to topple. Directly beneath them stood Lanasa, still cradling her newly claimed book in delight.
"Watch out!"
Only at Bayul's shout did she turn around.
CRASH!
Everything happened in the space of a breath. Through the thick haze of dust, he could see Lanasa buried beneath the pile of boxes. Bayul, steadying his pounding heart, rushed over.
"A-are you all right?"
Thankfully, the boxes weren't particularly heavy—even frail Bayul could lift them easily enough.
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
Bayul held out his hand, but Lanasa pushed herself up off the floor on her own. Aside from her slightly mussed hair and a coating of dust, she seemed unharmed.
"Over here, too..."
He pointed to the area around her waist, where something like white powder had settled in a thick layer.
Tap! Tap!
She paused for a beat, then silently resumed brushing herself off. In the meantime, Bayul pushed the fallen pile of boxes against one of the walls. A new passage opened up—narrow, but a passage nonetheless.
"Here you go."
He picked up the book she'd dropped in her fall and handed it to her. On the cover was the face of some woman, along with the word Margaret.
"Give it here!"
Lanasa, who hadn't spared him a single word all this while as if he weren't worth acknowledging, snatched the book away with a voice like a drawn blade.
"I-I'm sorry."
Her manner was so hostile that Bayul apologized without having done anything wrong.
"I only wanted to help..."
"Shut up."
"...Excuse me?"
"Stay out of my business. Is spying on people a hobby of yours?"
"No, it's not like that! I just happened to—"
Flustered by Lanasa's icy retort, Bayul then remembered the train.
"I'm sorry about the train. I wasn't staring at you like that or anything... I won't tell anyone!"
Lanasa, who had been turning to leave, stopped dead in her tracks.
"About that day. I won't breathe a word of it to anyone, so rest assured—!"
"I said shut up!"
Her violet eyes blazed.
"If you want to blab about it, then blab all you like. I don't care!"
"No, really, I won't say—"
"Your mouth must be itching, is that it? I'll tell you something. People like you are the ones who disgust me most. Good for absolutely nothing, scraping through life on nothing but the luck of who their parents were—pathetic trash, the lot of you."
"...!"
"Consider this a warning. Never speak to me again. The mere sight of your face makes me sick."
The look in Lanasa's eyes bordered on pure revulsion.
What did I do wrong?
Perhaps because it was all so absurd, he didn't feel much anger. He was only curious about the reason—the root of whatever resentment she was venting on him.