The Queen and the Librarian
“KYAAAAAAK!”
I slowly opened my eyes at the sharp shriek.
Milo was flailing around on the ground. I gave him a light kick.
“……Huh?!”
Only after getting booted in the rear did Milo come to his senses and take stock of the situation.
Walls made of books stretched all around us, manned by armed books.
A world made of books. The Central Library.
Then a cheerful chime rang out. The quest alarm. My whole body tensed before I knew it.
『Order of the Demon Knight』 cleared!
New record for shortest clear time! An astonishing achievement has been accomplished!
Rewards are being distributed!
Growth has reached its limit! Stats can no longer be granted!
Additional stats have been revealed! Please choose your desired stat!
STRENGTH · AGILITY · INTELLIGENCE · STAMINA
LIFESPAN · CHARM · APPEARANCE · LUCK
Thankfully, Glory wasn't on the list this time.
I made my choice immediately.
LUCK has been selected. Rewards are being distributed!
An Outer God Fragment, and now Luck on top of it. Practically a double event.
As expected, the harder the Rift, the more certain the rewards. That was exactly why I couldn't afford to hand Rifts over to anyone else.
I intended to monopolize Rifts from here on out.
And the method was simple.
Just stick to Evangeline like glue.
As I turned my gaze toward Evangeline, a low groan escaped me.
She and Andy were tangled together in a vicious struggle.
“Move! You're heavy!”
“Heavy?! That's an outrage!”
“I said move it!”
“WAAAH!”
Andy kicked Evangeline off him. She went tumbling across the floor like something straight out of a cheap slapstick skit.
Just then, the books began marching toward us in stately steps.
“Get outta my way, you overgrown paperweights—”
Apparently looking to blow off some steam, Milo rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward.
“Milo.”
“Leave it to me, Boss. I'll handle it.”
Milo cracked his neck loose with a confident smirk.
That was idiotic. The Central Library was still, at its core, half a Rift. It had existed so long that it had blended halfway into reality, but it was a legitimate A-rank anomaly.
I couldn't even guarantee my own footing against an A-rank Rift, and he wanted to take it on himself—
Just then, an aura surged from a sword made of layered book covers. Milo's confident face drained of color.
“Wh-what kind of book gives off an aura?!”
“Be grateful if it's just an aura. Some of them are Sword Masters.”
“A book is a Sword Master? What kind of dog-butt joke is that.”
“A joke?”
I let out a small laugh.
The Central Library's lore was that an ancient kingdom had been cursed, transforming every inhabitant into a book. And deep in its depths, even Sword Masters could be found.
“You're telling me a book is actually a Sword Master?”
“To put it precisely, it's a Sword Master who was struck by the curse of becoming a book.”
Cursed though it was—and therefore weaker than the genuine article—a Sword Master was still a Sword Master.
That was why the Central Library was classified as an A-rank Rift.
“Ahem. Ahem.”
Milo cleared his throat and quietly slipped behind me.
I clicked my tongue and turned my eyes to Evangeline.
At some point, a dazzling, resplendent crown had appeared on her head.
“Evangeline. Wear the crown properly.”
“Huh? This thing's back!”
Evangeline grabbed the crown and wiggled it about, as if she thought it were some kind of toy.
I hastily repeated myself.
“Evangeline. Wear the crown properly.”
“No thanks!”
she shot back flatly. When I narrowed my eyes, Milo exploded.
“PUT IT ON RIGHT, YOU LITTLE BRAT!!”
Startled, Evangeline frantically straightened the crown on her head.
“Why are you yelling at me?! And I was about to put it on! Not because you told me to—I was going to anyway! Because I'm a Queen!”
Wearing the crown, Evangeline lifted her chin. Her looks alone were the finest on the continent, so the ornate crown suited her spectacularly well.
Brilliant light spilled from the crown. The approaching books stopped dead in their tracks.
Then the books lowered their covers, bowed their bodies toward Evangeline as though an audience had been granted with their king, and soon the books on all sides bowed low in unison.
“I am a Queen. Heh heh heh—”
Evangeline let out a sly, oily snicker. Yes—that classic worthless-scrub look of hers.
“Queen of what? You're just the Librarian.”
“Am not! I'm a Queen!”
“Librarian. A bottom-rung Grade 2 Librarian at that.”
“But I'm wearing the crown?! A crown! A magnificent, awe-inspiring crown!”
“If you don't believe me, go ask one yourself.”
I jerked my chin toward the largest book nearby. It was a book, yet somehow I could sense an exasperated expression on its face.
“That's the book that gave me the crown!”
“Fine. Go ahead and ask.”
“Excuse me! Is the Librarian thing real?!”
The book flipped itself open from left to right.
“Ha! See, it's not!”
“Books are read from left to right. Which means it said yes.”
“What are you even saying! It's not true, right? I'm a Queen, right?”
Swish. This time, the book flipped open from right to left.
“Flipping in reverse means it said no.”
“So I'm not a Queen, I'm a Librarian?”
Swish.
“Left to right. That means yes.”
“Stop explaining! I got it already!”
“Oh. You're smarter than I expected.”
“……What exactly do you take me for?!”
A thick skull? I swallowed the word that had climbed all the way up to my lips.
Evangeline's face was full of turmoil. She looked genuinely crushed at learning she wasn't a Queen.
“A Librarian can access the books inside the Central Library according to their grade. All you have to do is think of the book you need, and the book will come to you on its own. It will be an enormous help—an enormous help—with assignments and exams especially.”
I emphasized enormous help.
Elysium Academy was famous for its punishing schedule of exams and assignments. Within such a place, the Librarian's power to summon books outright was essentially a cheat.
It was the one ability a blockhead like Evangeline absolutely needed if she ever hoped to graduate.
“Picture the book you want, and try reaching out your hand.”
“The book I want—? Oh!”
Perhaps she'd finally grasped the Librarian's value, because Evangeline's face brightened.
“By the will of the Librarian! Come forth! HYAAAAP!”
“You don't need to shout a battle cry. You just picture it.”
“That takes all the fun out of it!”
“An interesting perspective.”
“HYAAAAP!”
Books came flying toward Evangeline.
It was a mystical sight, except for one problem: the titles of the books.
The Prince's Private Circumstances. What Has the Emperor Swallowed. What on earth—
They were shamelessly, unapologetically indecent titles.
“This is AMAZING! Even better than being a Queen!”
Evangeline's eyes sparkled as if she'd discovered buried treasure. The bigger problem was that Andy wore a nearly identical expression. I pressed a thumb hard against my temple.
“In any case, a Librarian can summon any book she desires, as you've seen. But in exchange, there are duties.”
“Duties?”
“With rights come responsibilities.”
“I hate responsibilities!”
She was saying something utterly shameless with total confidence. I clicked my tongue.
“You're a Librarian, so you'll do a Librarian's work.”
“What's a Librarian's work?”
“Periodically tidying the books, and dealing with any problems that occur within the Central Library.”
“That sounds exhausting just hearing it. What if I just don't do it?”
Before we'd even begun, she was already planning to shirk the job. I was genuinely in awe. Even by scrub standards, this scrub was something else.
“You'll become a book.”
“Become a book?”
“Yes. Like these.”
I pointed at the books around us. Following my finger, Evangeline's face went pale.
“Then all of them were once—”
“Yes.”
At my light nod, Evangeline bit her lip hard. Deep pity rose in her eyes.
But then, just as quickly, she put on that signature vacant smile of hers. It looked almost as if she were slipping on a mask.
“Well, at least they're not lonely!”
She cocked the corners of her mouth upward. I nodded again.
“Let's head out now.”
“Hold on. Let's make a deal.”
Evangeline said, striking a sly sideways stance.
“A deal?”
“Yep. We each trade the other one thing we want.”
“So there is something you want.”
“Yes. Please keep it secret that Andy came into the Central Library. He got dragged in here because of me.”
Evangeline's voice was surprisingly crisp and businesslike.
The truth was, I'd intended to keep it secret anyway. No—more than that, it had to be kept secret, by force if necessary.
My goal was Evangeline's graduation. If anything, I needed to work toward earning her bonus points, not burning them.
“Understood. I'll keep it secret that both of you were in here.”
“……Really?”
“Yes. In exchange, there's a condition.”
The corners of Evangeline's mouth froze solid.
“Wh-what is it?”
“Study hard.”
“Huh?”
“I said study hard.”
“……Wait a second! That's way too hard a condition!”
I did my best to ignore her piercing wail.
“Let's get moving. They'll be looking for us by now.”
“Looking for who?”
“The two new students who ran off and vanished at the entrance ceremony.”
“Who would run—oh!”
Evangeline and Andy's faces went white.
“L-let's hurry!”
Evangeline waved her hands frantically. A carriage made of books came rolling up.
Hurry, hurry! Andy and Evangeline shouted in unison.
“Ah, right. We'll take the back gate.”
“Why?!”
“Because flies will have gathered at the main gate.”
By now, the Principal, the Vice Principal, and the Chairwoman—all of them having absorbed Outer God Fragments—would have sensed that a Rift had opened. The Vice Principal, in particular, had likely already set Karel in motion.
Granted, since we'd speedrun the whole thing, we shouldn't run into them. Still, better safe than sorry.
“Are you scared of flies?”
At Evangeline's raised eyebrows, I couldn't help but sigh.
Andy nodded, as if he understood exactly how I felt.
Faster. Faster.
Karel murmured to himself as he stared at the firmly sealed main doors of the Central Library.
“There is no need to be anxious, Sir Karel.”
Just then, a gentle voice sounded beside him. It was Professor Elena.
“The only ones capable of sensing a Rift's opening are the Principal and the Chairwoman. The Principal is in no position to move, and the Chairwoman will not stir herself. We will be the fastest ones here.”
“Yes, understood.”
Karel forced himself to calm down.
“It's open!!”
The tightly sealed doors of the Central Library began to swing slowly inward.
“We will enter at once. We are the fastest here, so do not rush ahead carelessly. In the name of the divine—”
“In the name of the divine—”
Everyone traced the holy sigil. Pure white light blazed brilliantly. Cloaked in holy power, they entered the Central Library.
From floor to ceiling, the library was crammed with books. It was the kind of layout where losing your way would be all too easy.
“Check your Rift Compass.”
At Elena's command, Karel looked down at the compass in his hand.
It was a device overlaid in pure white and gold—but the needle at its very center was a horrific wad of living flesh. It had been crafted from an Outer God Fragment.
“This way.”
Karel led them, following the compass's guidance. They moved at a brisk pace.
Before long, they arrived at the spot the Rift Compass pointed to.
The problem was that there was nothing there.
“The Rift Compass is pointing to this location. There is no doubt a Rift was here.”
Karel said, flustered, his voice wavering. The corner of Elena's eyebrow climbed upward.
“Are you suggesting someone closed it in that brief window of time? A Rift is not something that can be cleared by brute force alone. To have shut even a low-rank Rift in that sliver of time—no, even a man like Sen Vandro could not manage such a thing.”
At Elena's pointed remark, Karel examined the compass in his hand once more. It was still spinning in circles.
“It seems the Rift Compass has malfunctioned.”
“Malfunctioned? A Rift Compass does not malfunction. It appears you're simply unskilled at reading one and have lost your way, so I will verify it myself.”
Clicking her tongue, Elena took the compass from Karel's hand.
“A Rift Compass's needle points toward the Rift. When you reach the Rift's location, the needle spins in circles. Like so. ……Huh?”
The needle in Elena's hand kept spinning.
And kept—
“……I-is it broken?”
Elena turned her head away, avoiding Karel's gaze.