182: Books

Waking up late the next morning, I made my way downstairs, followed by Crisplet, waving to Cameron and Tony, who were talking near the Sylverith statue. Today I would finally have a relaxing day. From my understanding, there were no visits planned, no events happening until the dinner in a couple of days, and nothing urgent I needed to cook or prepare for.

“Trevor!” Milo called out.

I halted mid-step. Had I jinxed myself?

“Mind coming to the library with me real quick?” Milo said.

Turning around to look at him, I saw what could best be described as a look of concern on his face, and that immediately made me worried.

“Sure?” I said as I headed that way. “Everything okay?”

“Probably. I’ll show you,” Milo said simply, which again didn’t give me a lot of faith.

Entering the library, though, I immediately saw what was probably concerning Milo. There were stacks of books everywhere, and they had not come from our own shelves, as from the small gaps I could see between the new books, the shelves still appeared to be full and untouched.

Milo stood beside me, looking into the library. “Yeah, so this appeared overnight. I’m guessing you are not aware of it?” Milo asked.

Shaking my head.

“I didn’t think so. So the only actual source for these books could have been Sylverith then,” Milo suggested.

I walked forward, picking up one of the closest books, and attempted to read the cover, but it was a language I had never even seen before. The next four books under that didn’t even have a title at all, and appeared to be collections of handwritten notes, most of which I couldn’t make out at all.

“Careful with that, dear. It is very old,” the voice of Sylverith came from behind us.

I jumped and noticed Milo did too. Sylverith had appeared seemingly from nowhere with another small stack of books in hand.

“Sorry for the mess. I borrowed some books from the Royal Library. I hope you don’t mind me doing my research here. It’s so cold and stuffy over there,” she said with a grin.

Milo’s jaw just dropped as he looked around.

“Won’t the king be mad you took so many? Surely he’d notice?” I asked, concerned.

Sylverith just waved it off. “Don’t worry about him. If he has an issue, we’ll talk, but truthfully I doubt he’ll even notice. They hoard enough knowledge there to make a dragon jealous, so I’ve borrowed a bit of light reading.”

I looked around again at what would have had to be a hundred or more books, unsure how this could ever be considered light. It would take months to read it all.

“Uh, I don’t mind, so long as I don’t get in trouble,” I said, still unsure.

Milo chuckled next to me. “They won’t blame you because a dragon decided to do something.”

“It’s true, dear. Most of my kin would rather just remove the humans altogether rather than engage in diplomacy, so this is a far kinder option.” She sat down in a chair by a small window and pulled one of the books toward herself.

“This is an odd mix of books you’ve got,” Milo said, looking at the spines of the closest stack.

“Yes. It’s a combination of history texts and the private notes of the late alchemist who had the seed,” she said.

I heard Milo mutter to himself, “History…”

Before something seemed to have clicked. “History! I wonder if it’s connected then. But your books, Trev—they are no normal history books.”

Milo pulled out both books, holding them in his hand, and at a quick glance, they both looked very ordinary. Both had a dull green cover with black text titles on the front that were almost hidden.

“These are Trev’s, but this one, Events that Formed the Kingdom, appears to be written from the perspective of someone who watched it all as a whole, as it covers the events from multiple perspectives, including the demons and dragons, but multiple other species as well. The other book is equally intriguing. It covers the events that started the demon and human war, from when they worked together to remove certain creatures to when diplomacy failed,” Milo said.

Sylverith practically dropped her book as she came over to take the two books from Milo.

“Where did you get these from?” she asked, looking at me.

“Uh, a bookshop in Farnox,” I said, before realising that although true, it wasn’t so simple. “Though I don’t know that the bookshop is always there. All four of the books I received appear not to be normal. The bookshop owner said his name was Morlin, and he gave me his journal. However, no one else can take it,” I said, pulling it out.

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And despite my mentioning it, Sylverith still attempted to take it from my hand, running into the same force.

“How curious. And the fourth?” she asked.

“This is something I’ve not even had a moment to speak to Milo about, but the cookbook I got is a direct copy from the kingdom’s royal kitchen, including their latest entry. However, the strangest part is that I cannot mark the pages at all. When I tried to write the recipe in the book, the charcoal couldn’t leave a speck on there, but I could mark the cover,” I said, pulling that one out too and placing it on the table.

“And all four came from the same place?” she asked.

I nodded. “Though my memory of the store now is getting hazy, and other than its owner being Morlin and it being in Farnox, I cannot remember anything else about it.”

Milo was nodding along. “Even the day you purchased it, I attempted to find this store, but every time Liane led me towards it, she got lost and ended up at the market.”

“Would you mind if I read these books, Trevor?” she asked.

“Uh, sure. I’ve only had a quick glance at them while we travelled,” I shrugged.