Chapter 1-8: The Librarian-san’s Fragrance and the Taste of Bread
Incantations, and Magic Circles, I finished reading the history books a.s.sociated with the two.
According to the book『The History of Magic Circles』 that the librarian Primevère had recommended to me, long long ago, High Elves made use of magic circles to perform highly advanced magics. In order to instruct their descendants and disciples, and because of the difficulty involved with learning magics that solely relied on imagination power, it seems that the implementation of magic circles was proposed to better preserve the magics for future generations.
“Imagine in your mind the layout of a home you want to live in”―― rather than explaining things like that, by instructing them to use magic circles as symbols and signs, you could teach other people how to use the magics without the quality deteriorating very much.
Above all, it just made teaching easier.
It’s definitely true considering that magic I used to create a hut from before. If I had to tediously go through step-by-step and deal with troublesome details like 『The layout of the rooms and the number of support pillars, the type of wood to use for the central pillar, and keeping in mind the width of it――』then, although it would have to be done for my own safety, I highly doubt that I would be able to use magic to simply and easily create a house like that.
It’s difficult to explain things accurately to future generations of ignorant and stupid people.
Especially if the original progenitors were geniuses. It would require a great deal of effect just to recreate the results of those prodigies.
As for the history of incantations, the same thing applied.
Except that incantations are primarily used by races like humans and demons. It seems like in order to teach their descendants, races that excelled in utilizing Od proposed the use of incantations.
Incidentally, races like Elf, High Elf, Half-Elf, etc. were not as good at dealing with Od in comparison to humans and demons.
In other words, that means that I’m actually an Elf!? Or at least that’s what I thought at first, but according to these publications, no matter how little Elf blood you had mixed in with your own, the shape of your ears and your outward appearance would be effected.
Things like a long life span and strong vitality, it seems those characteristics are primarily dominant traits in their offspring.
In other words, people who aren’t very good at using Od probably have Elf blood in them, there is a high possibility that their ancestors trace back to an Elf somewhere along the line. There’s also a large number of them who have extremely gorgeous and attractive facial characteristics much like a Westerner, apparently that is.
As for me who’s facial characteristics are far from being called “attractive”, it wasabsolutely impossible for me to be part Elf.
「Now then, I guess I should read the adventure novels next」(Ayame)
I had already finished cramming in information about various magics and basic history.
Next is, I need to read a literary work that had both people who can and cannot use magic. This will help me learn about the social standing and distinction between the two.
「Even after all this time, I still haven’t seen anything about magics that use Mana after all」(Ayame)
It’s just a possibility, but there’s an off chance that magic that uses Mana is considered taboo.
If that is indeed the case, then I would like to avoid using magic in public if ever possible.
I placed the history books back on the bookshelf, and headed towards the shelves that had adventure novels on them.
Grabbing all 5 volumes of『The Tale of Wizard Wayne’s Murder』that I had just finished arranging, and thinking that there may be other t.i.tles that would peek my interest, I took a look at the bookshelves that were deeper inside. There I found visitors who came here before me.
「…………」
「――a, ah―― Nnn~!」
Hiding themselves within the confinement of the bookshelves, I could see a bluish skinned blond haired demon with a devil-like tail, and a slender young man ‘committing acts’ with her.
While letting out seductive breaths, her bluish and alluring marshmallow body was wrapped around the young man. She was pecking away and stealing his lips.
Being touched like that, the young man’s body was twitching and convulsing.
「…… They really exist huh, situations like this」(Ayame)
Even though I saw half-beasts outside in the royal capital… maybe certain notions of common sense and morality didn’t exist in this world.
Pretending like I didn’t see anything, I went to a different bookshelf in search of more books.
Having found a few t.i.tles that caught my eye, I grabbed them and piled them all onto a desk.
On the way I pa.s.sed a white bearded Oji-san, but once he saw me carrying those books his eyes opened wide.
These publications that I had gathered, perhaps they are unusual and non-mainstream works.
I was planning on skimming it like the magic textbooks and history books, but as expected I really wanted to take my time and enjoy reading a work of literature.
Once I finally noticed, time had flown on by as I was enthusiastically reading to tale of Wayne’s murder.
When the blazing evening sun shone on my face, I was shocked back to my senses.
In my surroundings, the wandering soldiers and the figures of Oji-sans were no where to be seen, I was the only one left sitting at a desk reading books.
Now that I think about it, it must be around closing time about now.
As I was looking out of the window at the evening sun, my stomach abruptly started rumbling.
That reminds me, since I holed myself in here since morning, I haven’t eaten a single thing yet.
The last thing I ate would’ve been the meal I had at the inn last night.
「Ah c.r.a.p. Just by thinking about it, the burning sensation of hunger just keeps coming」(Ayame)
Once I started paying attention to it, I could no longer persevere.
Pushing aside the books that I was reading, I faceplanted on the desk.
This is bad, I don’t have to strength to move anymore.
Just like during my first summer of high-school, even though I pretty much did the same thing back then, it looks like my body doesn’t really learn it’s lesson.
Since I was more or less in my own home at the time, I crawled and dragged myself down the hallway with a body which hadn’t eaten for two whole days, and I barely managed to successfully make my way to the refrigerator.
「Aaa~…… I’m so hungry」(Ayame)
「Ano…… If you’d like, please have some?」[1]
Along with a voice that sounded like the ringing of a bell, the aroma of wheat aroused the tip of my nose.
Opening my eyes, I saw before me 4 pieces of rye bread and a wine gla.s.s with transparent liquid in it.
With my head still resting on the desk I turned my eyes upward, and a set of work clothes with a soothing monochrome pattern entered my sights.
Elegant silver hair that was bundled up, insightful crimson eyes that looked this way. In front of me was the figure of a beautiful librarian.
「Primevère-san?」(Ayame)
「Being so enthralled like that, You’ll tire yourself out, you know」(Primevère)
Grabbing a chair, Primevère sat down directly adjacent to me.
A sweet fragrance drifted about, the surprise attack caused my pulse to rise.
「Is this really all right?」(Ayame)
「Truth is that we shouldn’t be doing this though」(Primevere)
As she said that, Primevere placed her index finger on her lips and made a delightful smile.
Already playing with her beautiful hair with her opposite hand, she reached out for the books that I had been reading until just now.
As Primevere was evaluating the books’ front covers, I placed a piece of rye bread into my mouth.
Compared to j.a.panese b.u.t.termilk bread or bread rolls, the texture was tough and it wouldn’t really be called delicious. But for my body which hadn’t eaten a single thing all day, the rye bread was delectable treat.
The liquid in the wine gla.s.s was nothing special, it was just plain water.
「A history book about magic, and a fantasy story that depicts the original legend about incantations huh」(Primevere)
「I wanted to learn a bit about things related to magic after all」(Ayame)
She openly brought her face closer to mine, I was so surprised the the bread almost got stuck in my throat.
「You’re occupation is―― Hmm, might you be a private tutor-san who is just starting out? Or perhaps, an aspiring magician-san studying at the academy!」(Primevere)
Beaming with scholarly features, her facial expression was innocent like a child’s.
Those crimson eyes that were aimed my way, she tilted her head as if saying「Am I right?」.
What should I do, I should answer her somehow.
Since she went out of her way to start a conversation with me, it would be a waste not to answer back.
But if I said that I was jobless… I would hate if she looked down on me because of it.
The girls at the highway repair site that mistook me as a lolicon, in a bad way I can never forget their stares.
If I said something here that caused me to be looked at with similar eyes as that… I don’t think I’ll ever be able to recover from it.
「If you aren’t a tutor, and you’re not a magician-san.――Then, might you be a Kenja-san?」(Primevere)
A Kenja? Before I realized, my head was already bent in confusion. But then I remembered something from The Tales of Wayne’s Murder that I had just read.
A Kenja (Sage) is, as the name implies, someone who is extremely knowledgeable about one or several different fields of study. If they are part of an adventurer’s party, then they would provide the adventurers with various pieces of advice. And they primarily used something called Life magic? It was simple magics commonly used by Kenjas.
Naturally, the jobs involved with adventuring wasn’t limited to just fighting and combat.
Constantly building upon their knowledge, Kenja was an high grade occupation that excelled in many lines of work.
Unusually, you didn’t need to go to a university or earn a certificate or something like that, it was a peculiar occupation where the individuals arbitrarily declare themselves as such and go by the name of “Kenja”.
It seems like to declare yourself as a Kenja you need to take responsibility on yourself and ama.s.s a befitting amount of knowledge. This is likely the reason why people don’t become Kenjas, declaring yourself as one and living up to the name is not an easy task.
「Yea, well. I’m still just learning by example though」(Ayame)
「Eh! Are you serious? Wow~! I, I have always admired the Kenja occupation!」(Primevere)
While saying things like “I thought that might be the case~”, she wrapped both her hands around mine.
Her long and slender fingers intertwined with mine. Aside from feeling warm, it was a pleasant sensation.
With a gaze that was filled with envy, she straightforwardly brought her face closer.
This is bad, for various reasons my back was damp with sweat.
My hand was gently pressured in between the gaps in her fingers, it was almost ticklish. Her charming pupils were so fixed on me that I felt a p.r.i.c.kly sensation. On top of it all, in the spur of the moment I ended up saying that I had the splendid occupation of Kenja, which gave me a strange sense of guilt.
Tormented by all kinds of emotion, my head was getting dizzy.
「In the future, do you plan on being a Kenja-sama who specializes in Magic related subjects~. There are a lot of secret magics and occult sorceries that are lost in time, so you hardly see many Kenja-samad who specialize in magics you know~~. I see now~ So that’s why you were studying the history of things like incantations and magic circles――」(Primevere)
As the intellectual look in her eyes crumbled and gave way to a look of extreme interest, she looked delighted as she played with her hair while nodding *yup~~yup*.
Lost magics, and occult sorceries? What the, no one ever told me about that.
This may be the case but, isn’t this girl more knowledge about magics than I am? That makes me a bit anxious.
「Primevere-san as well, aren’t you very familiar with magics?」(Ayame)
「No way, not someone like me! Of course, as a librarian I have the bare minimum amount of knowledge needed to read the textbooks, but in the end, rather than magic, I ended up being attracted to the marvelousness of books. That’s why I choose this path」(Primevere)
She said it so easily, but isn’t becoming a librarian actually really difficult?
Since I too wanted to fulfill my desire to spend my life in the library, I looked up j.a.panese librarian exams on the internet and tried to study them but… In the end I t was all Greek to me.[2]
「Kenja-sa―― Oh, umm, now that I think about it, I never asked for your name……」(Primevere)
「It’s Kazami ・Ayame. I would appreciate it if you would call me Ayame」(Ayame)
Although it might have seemed a bit condescending, whenever I give out my name I always make sure to say that.
If I didn’t, then there might be some people who start calling me「Aya-chan」.
Back when I was in primary school, the name『Aya-chan from Cla.s.s 3』was the reason why I always walked home alone. A rumor also spread around that I was the ghost of a little girl who shouldn’t exist; what an unpleasant memory.
As for the reason why I was called Aya-chan, it was because the old ladies who knew me since I was a babe liked to lovingly tease me with that name.
「So it’s, Kazami ・Ayame. Okay, I will remember it. Ayame-san」(Primevere)
Holding the murder novel tightly to her chest, Primevere gave a smile that was like a blooming flower.
Once I returned to the inn, the tiger child was sweeping the front entrance.
「Welcom bak~, Onii-san」(Tiger-ko)
「……yea」(Ayame)
「You tired~? I’ll call you when dinner is ready, so wait a bit longer okay~」(Tiger-ko)
「……yea」(Ayame)
Hidden in the darkness, I pa.s.sed by the front counter, and slowly climbed the stairs to the second floor.
Walking down the hallway without a single speck of light, I went into the room that I always use and plopped myself on the bed.
For dinner I had fruit with some dried jerky.
According to the tiger child that brought it to me, it was because jerky is easy to get your hands on.
Making good use of their jagged and sharp teeth, the child delightfully told me so while chewing on a piece of jerky.
After finished dinner, I collapsed on the bed straight away. But my eyes were restless and wouldn’t shut, I wasn’t able to calm my quickening pulse.
No matter how much I tossed and turned on the bed, things like the sweet scent that flowed off the librarian-san’s hair and the sound of her voice, they ran endlessly through my mind. I couldn’t get much sleep that night.
Extra TL note: Reading this chapter made me feel like, just…. “normalf.a.gs should just explode!”
Extra TL note 2: I know that Primevere is suppose to be, like, bashful and such as she plays with her hair, but seriously…
1.
TL note: Ano is a verbal pause like uhh or umm but in this context it is something used to get someones attention. I find it cuter than “uhmm” so I left it as is.
Also, the “please have some” is said as “Douzo” which I explained last chapter can mean many things like “feel free”/”here you go”.
2.
TL note: If you are unfamiliar with the phrase “all Greek to me” basically means “I had absolutely no idea” or “it was complete jibberish to me”.