Library Date (3)

"We're in trouble."

For some reason, even swallowed by the darkness, Aileen's figure alone remained perfectly clear.

"What on earth is going on?!"

"You broke the library's rules. That's what."

"Rules?"

Things like gnats began to glow and swarm around Aileen's body. Every last one of them tried to invade her, only to bounce off the magical barrier she had raised and vanish.

"It's the reason you were always afraid of the library. Most of the books in here are grimoires. When you open one, you have to seep your own mana into it first—to put the book to sleep. You didn't, so the book went berserk."

"Why didn't you tell me that sooner?!"

Aileen puffed out her cheeks.

"I was going to tell you once I'd brought the book over. I never imagined you'd be dense enough to drop it."

"That was because Your Highness reacted so strangely!"

"Th-that has nothing to do with it! You're the one who dropped it! I'm just the victim who got dragged into this!"

"You've got some nerve. So how do we get out of here?"

"First of all, I can't do a thing."

"Excuse me?"

Aileen pointed at the gnats still trying to invade her.

"I drew every mental assault ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the grimoire can muster onto myself. If I cast magic on anything else, I'd be a vegetable in seconds."

"Have you lost your mind?"

"You really don't hold back with a princess, do you. Which means you have to solve this."

"And the solution is what, exactly?! I only saw the color of the cover—I never read the title! I at least need the title if I'm going to figure anything out!"

"The book I was about to pull was Methods of Pursuing Desire Through Magic. Before long, the reality you wished for will be made manifest right here."

"What? Wait—!"

"You'll have to find the clue yourself. It's coming!"

A flare of light burst from the darkness and swallowed us whole. When the blinding radiance faded and I opened my eyes—

There was a young lady bathing in the same tub as me.

"……?"

"……?"

The young lady and I stared blankly at each other. I was certainly lost—and she didn't seem to grasp the situation any better.

She looked back and forth between me and her own body in a daze. Then her expression twisted into pure contempt.

That look of contempt… I've seen it somewhere before.

"Frey. You… this is the kind of wish you were holding onto?"

"That way of speaking—Your Highness?!"

"That's right. It's me."

I hesitated for a moment. Then I gently closed my eyes.

"I saw nothing. In fact, I lost my eyesight three days ago."

"Don't be ridiculous."

Slap! Aileen's hands clamped down on my cheeks. And not merely clamped—her thumbs and index fingers forced my eyes wide open!

"W-what are you doing?!"

"Just look. This is Princess ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Aileen's naked body—the one you wanted to see."

"No—stop! You can't do that—!"

"Haha, the way you're panicking is perfect for a retainer, really… huh?"

Even with my face caught in Aileen's grip, I covered it with both hands.

My junior, standing tall and proud, had pressed flush against Aileen's stomach. She stared at it and murmured blankly,

"Ah… when it touched my back earlier, it wasn't this big…"

"W-well. It, uh, wasn't enlarged at the time."

"So that means it wasn't erect before?"

"Y-Your Highness! Your word choice! Please!"

Shame made my whole body tremble. My naked form—something I had never even shown my lady—had been seen first by the princess playing at being my master!

"P-please let go of my face!"

"Ah, right. Fine."

Aileen released me, and I hurriedly covered myself with my hands. Only then did she cover her own body as well.

"Ahem. Well… vigor is a good thing, I suppose."

"Please just stop talking."

"…Fine. More importantly, this situation has gotten rather inconvenient."

Aileen stretched a hand toward the outside of the tub. Strangely, her arm refused to extend beyond a certain point.

"This bathtub is the limit of the space we can move in right now. Judging by the book's contents, you'll have to fulfill your entire wish right here in this tub."

"I'm sorry—what kind of absurd grimoire is this?!"

"It's a grimoire the Academy collected. Did you really think it would be ordinary?"

"Urgh!"

Damn this world! I'd always been curious about outside knowledge, but why did it have to broaden in this direction!

"So hurry up and state your wish—no, this is closer to a desire, isn't it. Tell me your desire, Frey."

"My wish is to be with my la—I mean, with Princess Katram!"

"Right now! Princess Katram's body is sitting right in front of you!"

"The person inside it is Your Highness!"

"Argh! Stop being difficult and just do it! Do you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠want to be trapped inside this grimoire forever?"

"Is there no chance someone will come rescue us?"

"None. They're all just watching the show."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Then I heard something that nearly made me pass out.

"A grimoire going berserk is basically a regular event at the Academy Library. The other students and librarians who are skilled enough to keep their grimoires under control sit around eating popcorn and watching the ones who got caught. It's the highlight of their lives."

"Is everyone in the Academy Library a pervert?!"

"If that brain of yours isn't just a decoration, think about it. You need that kind of madness just to study—or take a nap—surrounded by grimoires."

"Now that you mention it, you're right. Damn this Academy! Wait—does that mean every single person in the library is peeping on us naked right now?"

"You don't have to worry about that. Situations like this happen so often that there's an automatic censorship function. Right now we're being broadcast with towels draped over us, and our voices are completely edited out."

"Well, that's something, at least."

My head was starting to hurt. So I was supposed to do the things I'd always wanted—together with Aileen?

No.

"We haven't even tried breaking this with magic yet."

"Hm? I don't know what you're thinking, but don't."

"If I can just scramble the grimoire's mana structure—!"

"I told you to stop!"

Whatever Aileen said, I prepared my magic.

I, Frey—a man whose specialty had always been reading a spell's structure and calculating it in reverse.

The reason I'd trained this was simple. Magic was a language and a formula at once. If you traced the language that connected to the world backward and shattered every piece of it, that was how you canceled a spell. The determination to defeat every magic aimed at my lady had shaped the very nature of the magic I possessed.

That was how, on the first day, I'd been able to smash every last ice-thorn collar Aileen had clamped around everyone's necks. Of course, that itself had been basic magic work.

Beyond the space of the bathtub, I sensed the grimoire's magical array. True to the name, the structures were enormously complex, full of arrangements whose nature I couldn't identify.

But not beyond my ability to grasp. A rough outline of the structure was enough for reverse calculation.

Reverse calculation complete.

BOOM!

Mana charged with the nature of reverse calculation erupted from my hand and invaded the grimoire's space. The space rippled and shuddered, and for a fleeting instant I realized I could stretch my hand beyond the bathtub.

The reverse-calculation mana tore through the space as it climbed higher and higher. It shook the grimoire's interior to its core—and beyond it, I could see light from the outside!

"Yes!"

"Still a frog in a well, I see."

The moment my palms went damp with sweat, Aileen said those words. And then—

CRACK!

The array of reverse-calculation mana I had released began to shake in reverse. The mana that had been so smoothly unraveling the grimoire's structure froze dead in place.

"What? Why?"

"Amazingly enough, your magic itself was perfect, Frey. But you see."

Aileen let a single drop of water fall into the tub. The droplet vanished without a trace, merging into the bathwater.

"A grimoire is like a mass of mana condensed over long ages. There's a saying, isn't there? Against overwhelming power, technique means nothing."

The instant her words ended, it was as if the fracture in space moments before had been a lie. The grimoire's interior had returned to perfect, seamless normalcy.

The light from outside was gone without a trace. Aileen and I were still naked in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bathtub, exactly as before.

"See?"

"Aaaargh!"

"Don't be too disappointed. As far as I know, even at a professor's level, shaking a grimoire like that would be—"

"Hurry!"

I grabbed Aileen by the shoulders. More precisely, I slipped my hands under her arms.

"I'm going to vent my desires right now!"

"H-huh?"

I lifted Princess Aileen straight up. Her bare form—more precisely, my lady's bare form—filled my vision in a single glance, but I forced the excitement down.

"F-Frey?"

"Prepare yourself. And please don't resent me. This is for the sake of escaping."

"O-okay? Go ahead, then. But first, at least cover me up a little—"

I needed to hold on to my reason, so I didn't listen to a word Aileen said.

Continuing to look at my lady's naked body was itself an act of profound irreverence. To defile the sacred, pure image of my lady with my gaze—even if this wasn't the real thing—was simply unthinkable.

Therefore, I had to escape this grimoire as quickly as possible. All I needed to do was vent my desires. Aileen's opinion was irrelevant.

I steeled my heart.

And I began freely venting my desires.