Chương 112: Chapter 106: A Generous Offer

The old librarian turned toward one of the nearby shelves and raised his voice.

"Thomas, Meriel, come here for a moment." Two young assistants quickly approached, carrying notebooks and quills.

"I need you to go to the storage and fetch me some duplicates, would you?"

"Of course, Master Alexander." Alexander began listing titles. Lira listened carefully, committing every title and author name to memory. The first five books appeared to be modern historical summaries. Two focused primarily on the history of the kingdom of Halthar, while another two discussed the current state of the surrounding region.

The final one had been written by a foreign author in Magari, although the head librarian explained that it had been copied locally, with additional translations carefully written into the margins. There was a recent travel log detailing an expedition into the icy northern tundras, written by one of the explorers who had made the journey. Another was an updated book on the local fauna, complete with detailed illustrations. Three books of poetry followed.

One of them was a collection dedicated to praising the beauty and grace of Queen Elara, Lyth's own mother. Then came a demographic study documenting the kingdom's peasant population, the growth of the cities, and the gradual movement of people away from farming communities and toward urban centers. Next came two contradictory books. One challenged the existence of the Age of Magic and the city of Almara, while the other defended it and attempted to explain the evidence supporting its existence.

Lira knew that this would definitely interest Prince Aric, who was obsessed with anything related to the Age of Magic. Finally, Alexander requested ten of the latest popular fiction novels. While Lira liked reading fiction, she was sure that some of the noble youths who gathered in her library would be happier with that addition than she would. As the assistants hurried away to gather everything, both Lira and Lyth turned toward the old librarian.

"Thank you very much, Lord Alexander," Lira said with a deep bow.

"Thank you!" Lyth added enthusiastically.

"There's no need to thank me for a few spare books." Alexander waved dismissively. He gestured toward the enormous library around them.

"Go along and explore. If you find something else you want, perhaps we have a duplicate tucked away somewhere." Lira's eyes widened slightly.

"Really?"

"Of course." The old man smiled.

"If we don't have a spare copy, I can hire a scribe to duplicate it and send the copy to you." Lira wanted to hug him like she used to as a child. That was an absurdly generous offer.

"It's the least I can do." Alexander chuckled at her expression.

"Half of Mirabelle's collection ended up here in the first place." Well, that made sense, kind of. Lira looked toward the shelves. She forced herself to remember her mission. She had come here intending to investigate the academy's defenses. But was that really necessary?

"Lord Alexander, am I welcome to come back here, or is the offer to explore for today only?"

"Yes," said Lyth, his eyes shining.

"Can we come regularly?"

"Of course," said the old man.

"You are always welcome in the library." His eyes landed on Lira, understanding what she was really asking, before he added, "Either together or separately."

"Thank you, my lord." She bowed low once more.

"Thank you, Lord Alexander!" Lyth jumped to his feet.

"Can we explore together?"

"Of course," Lira said. The prince grabbed her hand and started pulling her toward the nearest shelves. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. With that invitation secured, Lira was more relaxed about exploring the library without the feeling that she was being rushed or that she needed to test the library's defenses. She could simply enjoy herself, at least for a while.

Lira allowed herself to be dragged from one shelf to another, as Lyth skipped through the library with all the enthusiasm of a child in a toy store.

"Look at this one!" He pulled a book from the shelf. Lira barely had time to read the title before he skimmed through a few pages, decided it wasn't interesting, and returned it to its place.

"How about this one?" Another book came out. This one lasted slightly longer. Lira followed patiently, occasionally glancing at the titles as they moved through the different sections. Every few steps, Lyth found another book that caught his attention, only to put it back moments later when he realized it wasn't quite what he wanted. Sir Henry followed several steps behind them, dutiful as ever. Lira had expected the knight to become bored after the first few minutes, but he never complained.

He simply followed the prince from shelf to shelf, occasionally glancing at the nearby people but otherwise remaining focused on his duty. Eventually, Lira caught Lyth before he could pull out another random book.

"Wait." The prince stopped.

"Look at the lectern." Lira pointed toward the chained catalogue sitting at the end of the section.

"You don't have to check every book individually. Each section has a catalogue that tells you what kind of books are stored here."

"Really?"

"Yes. It is much faster to check the catalogue first and then decide which books you actually want to read." Lyth leaned over the catalogue. His eyes moved across the pages as he scanned the titles.

"Oh." He seemed impressed.

"This is much easier." Lira just smiled. She had to admit that she was enjoying this almost as much as he was. After a few minutes, Lira closed the catalogue.

"So, what do you actually want to learn about?"

"Magic!" Lyth didn't even hesitate.

"Of course." Lira laughed softly.

"Then let's find the magic section." They started walking again, this time with Lira leading the way. She followed the signs hanging above the different sections until she found the area dedicated to magical studies. Once they reached it, she stopped before the chained catalogue and began reading. The first thing she noticed was the warning at the beginning. The library contains only common magical knowledge. Any restricted books required permission from either the Dean or the Head Librarian.

This included primers and advanced magical knowledge. Lira frowned slightly. That was disappointing. She had been hoping that the academy might simply have primers sitting on shelves waiting to be absorbed, since only nobles were attending, after all. Still, it was to be expected. She placed the catalogue between herself and Lyth and began going through the available selection. There were books covering the history of magic, regional differences in spellcasting, and various breathing exercises.

There were also several books discussing the importance of mana sensing, along with theories about magical disturbances, mana flows, and mana reserves. Other works explored the relationship between life and mana, food and mana, as well as the connection between breathing and mana. There were even books discussing different methods of categorizing magic, including affinity, elemental classification, and spell tiers. Lira's eyes continued moving down the list. Until Lyth found something he wanted.

A collection of books documenting popular and useful spells, along with descriptions of what each spell did.

"That one!" Lira smiled. She checked the catalogue for its location before looking toward the shelves. The book was stored several shelves above them. Lira glanced around and spotted one of the tall ladders resting against the shelves. She carefully climbed onto it. The ladder stretched nearly two stories upward, and her dress was slightly inconvenient as she climbed, so she carefully gathered the fabric beneath her and continued upward until she reached the correct shelf.

As she climbed down, book in hand, she noticed one of the library assistants had approached her. The young woman looked up at her with an expression of mild concern.

"Please be careful, Miss." Lira blinked, but continued descending. The assistant bowed politely.

"Next time, you can simply ask one of us to fetch the book for you." Lira immediately blushed.

"Oh." She suddenly remembered that she wasn't the person responsible for fetching books here.

"I'm sorry." Returning the bow, she added, "I'm also a librarian, and I forgot for a moment that this isn't my library." The assistant smiled.

"It's no problem. I was only worried that you might fall." Her eyes briefly moved toward Lira's dress.

"Your dress is rather puffy, and that ladder is quite tall." Lira laughed. She couldn't exactly tell her that she had once climbed the palace walls using a paper rope while wearing a similar outfit. Instead, she simply bowed again.

"Thank you for the concern."

"Of course." The assistant returned to her duties while Lira carried the book back toward Lyth. While they were exploring earlier, Lira had noticed something strange. The students sitting at the tables with the red carpets beneath them were reading in almost complete silence, while people reading over the blue carpets were also talking and gesturing animatedly. Yet the sound never reached her. So, just for confirmation, Lira looked toward the librarian assistant who was still nearby.

"Is it safe to assume that there is a sound-dampening spell in the blue sections?" The woman nodded.

"Yes. Those areas are specifically designed for discussion and practical study." Lira nodded thoughtfully.

"Let's sit there."

"Why?"

"So we can talk freely, of course." As they sat, Lira couldn't help but think that this was perfect. The sound-dampening field meant that if she whispered her incantations, her voice wouldn't travel very far. That would mean she could safely use her Divination spell and Book Absorption spell without everyone nearby hearing what she was doing. Now she could start working on what she had come here to do.