Published: September 6, 2025
“Where am I?”
I looked around the pitch-black space, but there was no one. Where had the close aides who were supposed to be around gone? Actually, it might be more accurate to say that I alone had been moved somewhere.
“I was supplying mana to the statue of the goddess of wisdom Mestionora, the magic circle appeared, and then I was suddenly thrown out... So maybe this is like when I was moved to the gods’ temple?”
Recalling my situation, I tried to make my own guess. But in that temple, statues of the gods were lined up. It was a convenient design that taught you to pray. Now, the surroundings were completely dark, and I had no idea what was happening or what I should do.
...Being locked up in a library would be one thing, but complete darkness is troublesome.
I slowly reached out my hand to explore the surroundings. There was no wall within reach. It didn’t seem like I was packed into a box. Next, I crouched down and searched my feet. The floor felt solid.
“...Ah.”
From the fingertips touching the floor, a line of mana began to stretch out. As that mana line extended and spread, a scene slowly started to appear from beneath my feet. It felt as if the darkness was being washed away by mana, revealing a hidden landscape below, or as if I was creating the scenery with my own mana.
Surprised, I pulled back my hand, but the phenomenon of the scenery expanding within the darkness did not stop. Starting from where I was standing, the landscape unfolded as if water was flowing outward.
A carpeted floor with high soundproofing spread out in a large arc, then suddenly dropped down at one point. Inside a large cylindrical building, stairs appeared along the circular wall, extending downwards in a spiral.
Then, where the horizontal expansion hit the wall, the scenery began to extend vertically. Starting near the floor and spreading upward appeared bookshelves densely packed with books. Bookshelves reaching to the ceiling extended continuously sideways. Beneath the darkness was a huge library with the large spiral staircase and bookshelves lining the walls.
“Whoa!? What is this place!? A paradise bestowed by the gods!?”
I was overwhelmed by the walls full of books as I looked around. This was the first time I saw such a packed library in Jurgenschmidt. It was overwhelmingly larger than the library at the noble academy that had impressed me so much compared to the Ehrenfest library. It looked just like foreign libraries I had seen in photos from the Reno era.
“Wow! Books, books! From over there to here, from top to bottom, all books! Woohoo!”
By supplying mana to the statue of the goddess of wisdom Mestionora, I had come to such an amazing place. My respect and gratitude to Mestionora could not be put into words. But when words fail, I thought, I should express it with my body.
“A prayer to the goddess of wisdom Mestionora!”
Throwing out a blessing propelled by my emotions, I smiled broadly and leapt to the bookshelf closest to the wall. I reached out to feel the spine of the books, wanting to enjoy the texture, but my mind went blank at the flat, straight sensation. It was like a picture painted on the wall; I couldn’t actually pick up a book. I tapped the wall repeatedly, but no books came out.
“Nooo! What is this!? False joy!? Such a horrible scam! Give me back my prayers...”
To be made so happy only to be plunged into despair immediately afterward—how could this be? I wanted to complain endlessly to the goddess of wisdom Mestionora.
“Are you one who seeks the knowledge here?”
“Yes! I want it! I want to read! From the bottom of my heart!”
I answered with tearful shouting, then suddenly realized.
...Whose voice was that!?
Apparently, someone was there. It seemed like my instinctive behavior and actions totally unbefitting of Aub’s adopted daughter had been perfectly witnessed. This was bad. Very bad. I had run wild with the same feeling as in the gods’ temple, but as a lord candidate, this was an unforgivable blunder. Sweat poured down my back as I anxiously turned around.