I was dazed at the number of books here. Fortunately, we decided to come here to take a look at the exclusive library first.
“Um…Welner-sama, is it fine if I take one book and look through it?”
“Okay. Just don’t forget to put the book back to its previous shelf once you’re done.”
“Yes.”
I mean, it wouldn’t be funny if the royal family got angry at us because we messed up the books’ arrangement, right? While I was thinking like that, I took a look at the entire library. There was something…strange about this library.
“Amazing! Each page of this book is thin! And the size of the letters is exactly the same, so it’s easy to read!”
I was surprised by Lily’s sudden comment. I then took a look at the book in Lily’s hand. They were…books made of proper paper, not paper made of leather.
“Welner-sama…I wonder how this book was written…”
“Well, this book is probably printed, not written.”
“Prin…ted?”
Ah, print was an unfamiliar word for the daughter of an innkeeper, I guess. Or maybe… to the people of this world? Who knows. I did know one or two things about the rotary printing method…but to be honest I also didn’t know the details… Well then, let’s just explain to her what I know.
“Hmm… Well, the print is…”
I explained the letterpress printing to Lily… I hope she didn’t get confused by that.
“Using this method, not only can you get an easy to read paper that has the letters of the same size, you can also make copies of the same papers over and over again. However, if the original has a mistake, the mistakes will carry over to the copy too.”
“Why did that kind of amazing method not spread?”
“That’s probably because of the characteristics of the paper we use.”
The paper made of animal skin or demon skin that was used in this world wasn’t that smooth, so it wasn’t suitable for letterpress printing. In addition, there was probably a lack of suitable ink to use for the paper made of skin… Honestly, even I didn’t know what kind of ink was good for a paper made of skin.
“The paper used in this book does look different… I wonder what they are made of…”
“I think…they are made of plants.”
“From plants!?”
“Yeah. Well, I am not completely sure about the process of creating it.”
The paper used in this book was probably western paper. The method of creating paper that I learned from the documentary was the method of creating washi, the traditional Japanese paper, so it was probably different from the method used to create these papers.
As I explained to Lily about what I know, she looked both surprised and impressed. I wonder if she didn’t find it strange that I, a noble, knew how to make paper…
That aside, I never saw modern paper being created in this world.
“Welner-sama you really have a vast knowledge.”
“Nah, I just came across this information before by coincidence.”
I didn’t lie. The knowledge of papermaking that I explained to Lily was really something that I coincidentally got from watching a documentary in my previous world, so it was nothing much, or rather it was just the knowledge of this world was too behind.
Anyway, I felt like if I continued to talk about this topic, I would end up digging my own grave because of how little I actually knew about it, so let’s change the subject.
“How about we tour the entire library once so we can know roughly how big the library is.”
“Yes, let’s do that.”
After that, we toured the entire library together. As expected, the shelves in the library were large and there were many books. But… I kept feeling that this library was…strange.
“Welner-sama, is there something that matters?”
“For some reason, I keep feeling that this library is strange.”
Hearing me, Lily nodded her head and said, “Strange… is it because of the library’s shelves?”
Huh?
“The shelves?”
“Yes, the shelves used in this library… don’t look like something that the royal exclusive library should have.”
And I finally noticed it, the source of this feeling. The shelves used in this library were too plain for it to be something that was used by the royal family… Maybe it was because this library was a secret library?
In addition, there were also no proper classification marks on the shelves. There were only small wooden boards with ‘Magic’ or ‘Sewer System’ probably left by the members of the royal family who had read these books. Usually, in a library, there were classification marks containing detailed information about the books inside of each shelf.
“Rather than an actual library… this place feels like a place where the owner just shoved the books into the shelves and called it quits.”
“Yeah.
Lily nodded in agreement. Since that’s the case… maybe the classification of the books here was also not that good?
Hmm… Maybe our work would go much faster if we just made the layout of the shelves first… As I thought like that while touring the library, I finally noticed that we had stayed here for quite a long time. Not having a clock was really inconvenient.
“How about we finish here for today?”
“Y…Yes, let’s return now.”
“Hm? Is there anything wrong, Lily?”
“Um…Welner-sama, is it fine if we go to the treasury first before we return? No need to get to the inside of the treasury, just in front of the door is fine.”
Hmm? Her expression didn’t seem like she was interested in the items inside of the treasury or anything like that.
“Let’s ask the guide’s permission first.”
“Thank you, Welner-sama.”
Ah, her happy expression which looked like a puppy wagging her tail happily was destructive!
***
After talking to the guide, he told us that we couldn’t enter the treasury with the medallion we had, but it was fine to just look from outside the door.
When we arrived in front of the door, Lily spread her hands wide. Mr Guide, even if you look at me like that, I also didn’t understand what she was doing.
“Just as I expected, this place is strange.” (Lily)
“What do you mean?” (Welner)
“You see…” (Lily)
After she said that, Lily suddenly grabbed my hand and dragged me to the middle of the crossroad between the treasury, the library, and the magic control room. The guide looked at me with confusion, and I too was confused by Lily’s sudden action.
“If you look at the door on the left side and the right side from here, their size looks the same.” (Lily)
“Hm? Ah, you’re right.” (Welner)
“But in reality, both doors have a different size.” (Lily)
…What? Really?
My attention was fully focused on how flashy the door looked. I never really notice that. Did the person that designed this place…purposely made the size of the two doors different, then hide it?
The guide, who followed us, curiously asked a question, “So…what does that mean?”
“We need to properly measure it to know for sure… but the width of the passage seems to change gradually, just a little at times as you get closer to the two doors, so actually the distance from here to each door was different. But this place seems to be designed to hide that fact and I don’t know why.”
Yeah, it certainly was strange.
“Can you please report this to His Highness?” (Welner)
“Yes, sir.” (Guide)
Let’s just leave it to the guide.
Since it was getting late, I was planning to return to the mansion with Lily, but midway, a messenger from His Highness came to us and said His Highness wanted to meet us, so we followed him back to the palace. We were then invited to His Highness’s office. Lily looked nervous.
When I gently patted her back, she smiled, although her smile was a bit stiff. To be honest, I was also nervous.
“I see. I understand.” (Hubertus)
His Highness put his hand on his chin as he fell in thought. As silence fell to the room, one knight spoke out.
“Is it not just some kind of coincidence?” (Knight A)
“Perhaps. But it’s also true that all this time, I never noticed that the width of the passages or the size of the doors are different. When I have matters to attend to in the library or the treasury, I always just enter either place without really caring about the other one.” (Hubertus)
After saying that, His Highness once again fell into deep thought with his finger tapping the table. After a while, His Highness stopped tapping the table and looked at me.
“What do you think, Sir?” (Hubertus)
“I think it is possible that the creator was trying to hide something in that passage.” (Welner)
