CH447 Killi’s Perspective

Sitting alone in her office, Killi had no idea how much time had passed while she’d been reading, each of her four arms holding a different document, her eyes scanning pages at a rapid pace to get through them as she absorbed it all, even if only one in particular was taking up the majority of her attention.

As the head librarian of the magic towers, she tried to go through all reports submitted to the mages guild for new techniques and achievements, always wanting to see if there was anything of enough value to take a place in the shelves of the main building instead of being relegated to one of the branch facilities off to the sides, even if that rarely ended up happening. Too often, someone would think they discovered something, only for it to be a rehash of an older study, perhaps having some novel differences to give it a bit more value, but little in the way of anything genuinely new.

But then I’ll get a gem like this. She sighed contently, reading it over one more time, even though every word had already been memorized. It’s at least a fourth-floor document, no doubt about it, even if the number of people who could make use of it are beyond limited. Let’s see, it really would just be that student that Vasta and Uliel took, wouldn’t it? If he was a little brighter at least. Of course, any enchanters that come in would get more than their fair share from studying the ideas presented alone. I should make a note to make sure the craftsman’s guild gets a copy too. Or at least what’s left of it.

Since the spirits all but destroyed craftsman’s tower, it did complicated things, but it seemed that the second largest branch had taken the role of becoming the head one since then, even if it was still in the restructuring period as the various branches worked to deal with the loss.

Just thinking about it gave her a headache. At the very least their library had been moved since the city had been an invasion point, she didn’t want to think of the loss of knowledge that would have occurred if that wasn’t the case.

It wasn’t like copies didn’t exist in other guilds. Even for her own, any truly relevant work from any floor would exist in the branches and general libraries across the world, ensuring they weren’t lost, but there was always the risk of something falling through the cracks. Just because she couldn’t see the value of a particular work enough to ensure it had a copy or two across the planet, didn’t mean it couldn’t be the seed that sprouted a major discovery for someone else entirely.

Still, she’d caught up on everything of value while she’d been away dealing with her own student, so she couldn’t put off dealing with the rest of her work any longer as she stretched out, feeling the ache in her bones from however long she’d been reading.

“You really can’t escape age no matter the level of skill,” She muttered to herself, rubbing some life back into her body as she got up. “Of course, I may have put off getting a checkup a bit longer than I should have. Adding that to the schedule too I suppose.”

It was something she could do later in the day. She was sure it must have been late in the night, so she decided to spare some words with whoever was minding the ground floor before heading off.

“Good morning miss Killi,” Ovale, a librarian who was firmly on day duty, told her the moment she left her office, alerting her to the fact that she’d been a bit too optimistic about how long she’d been reading. “I thought you weren’t due back till tomorrow?”

“Ah, I’m sure it’s about what you expect.”

“More trouble with Verbum?” She asked sympathetically, watching as Killi was left rubbing her head.

“He has the brain but zero backbone. I’m thinking I’ll just toss him with a couple adventurers for some of the other investigations and leave things at that.”

Ovale just shook her head, not saying a word. As careless as such a thing might seem given how important he was, her boss was just as much so. If she really thought that was the right course of action then as his teacher, it wasn’t anyone’s place to say anything against it.

Of course, that wouldn’t stop her or anyone else from thinking the library head was just feeling justifiably sick of him.

I think there’s a rank one with an awakened space magic. She thought to herself, beginning to seriously consider the idea she’d said largely in jest. This might actually be a decent way to get him a bit more independent.

She filed away the thought in her head, saving it as something to be more deeply considered later. Since she’d clearly been wrong about the time and had read through the night, that meant she actually had work that needed to be done.

“So what have I missed?” She asked, already preparing herself for bad news. So often when she was out, either being asked to investigate different events or to help with the world’s strategizing, she was piled with work, but for a change it seemed she was destined for some good news.

“Me and Soso handled the majority, don’t worry,” She said, easing Killi’s mind and changing the library head’s thoughts to handing out bonuses. “I wouldn’t say you have anything more pressing than the regular documents. Oh, but you do have a test scheduled. The taker was interested in doing it for the fourth and fifth floors back to back.”

Confident huh? Well, it’s not like that does any harm and can put expectations in place about what’s needed for the fifth floor, so not a bad idea in practice if he ever wants to retake it. Of course, if he really does think he can handle both he must be confident in his path of study.

“So what sort of magic is he looking to be tested on?” She asked, feeling just a little curious despite herself, only to have that curiosity instantly dashed.

“Ah, that’s where it gets interesting. He said it didn’t matter, he was fine being tested on anything.”

Never mind, just a cocky one then. She sighed. She had her favourites for what anyone might ask to be quizzed on, with what she enjoyed most always ending up being discussions where different branches would meet, but most would just play it safe and answer based on what they considered their main affinity. On the other side of things, every now and then they’d get people asking to be tested broadly like their new challenger had, but the vast majority would fail for either second or third floor tests.

Actually, I don’t remember anyone passing for the third floor who said anything along those lines.

“Do we know how he was tested for the third floor?” She asked, seeing Olave’s smile widen at the expected question.

“That’s the thing, he didn’t. He along with another both received recommendations from both Uliel and Vasta.”

“What?”

That just didn’t happen. Killi could only be surprised that the two even remembered they were granted that level of authority given how little they used it. Sure, their apprentice and the young soul mage were both given access to the fourth and fifth floors respectively, but that was more a matter of course given the skills they’d come to the world with than due to them actually earning the right, the exception only so they might have a chance to rise to the level they needed to be, even if it wasn’t fair for anyone who’d properly earned their place on those floors.

“And that’s not all,” Olave went on, her eyes alight. “He, well, he reads a lot. An unbelievable amount, and he’s been bringing in homunculi so he can read even more.”

“How do you use meat puppets to read more?”

“You’ve honestly got to see it for yourself. At first a few librarians and other patrons didn’t actually believe he was reading and thought he was just trying to look impressive, but a few people tested him on books he’d finished and he kept being right and since then he’s become something of an attraction with people going to quiz him.”

Hearing that, Killi couldn’t help but give a thoroughly displeased look. “If you all verified that he really is reading then nobody should be disturbing him, same as any other guest. How annoying would you find it if someone interrupted you in the middle of a book just to make sure you were getting it to their satisfaction? Learning isn’t some race.”

“I know, I know, but he doesn’t seem to mind it. Hell, he barely seems to notice, he just keeps reading more.”

Olave seemed positively giddy, to the point that she didn’t know what to think. Was he not just being cocky like she’d first thought? And how could he possibly be reading to make others feel the need to constantly bother him about it?

“I think I might need to see this boy myself,” She muttered. “When’s his test?”

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“Tomorrow, but if you want to give him a look I think he’s just started reading on the second floor.”

“Second? If he plans on being tested for the fourth and fifth-”

“It will make sense when you see him,” She laughed. “It really is quite the spectacle.”