78. Library

78. Library

After enduring various hardships, we finally entered the library.

As soon as I opened the door and stepped inside, the familiar scent of wood and books filled my nose. It was a strange thought that I had become accustomed to the smell of books; the old me would have scoffed at such a statement.

From the entrance, countless people were engrossed in books, diligently scribbling with their pens. There was no sound of people talking, only the rustling of turning pages and the scratching of pens.

“There are so many people.”

“It’s almost midterm season. Even though the buildings were destroyed, everyone seems to be taking their exams normally. The professors are quite wicked, aren’t they?”

“Exams… Just hearing the word makes me sick.”

“Oh, come to think of it, I should be studying too. Why am I here…?”

Priscilla muttered, clutching her head. But as my tail brushed past her nose, she immediately clung to me, as if she had no need to think of anything else.

Claire was shyly holding my hand, and on the other side, Iris was tightly pressed against my body.

… It’s hot.

Even though I was the one feeling hot, Henir, who was following behind, blushed.

-To have your tail out like that in a public place… I feel embarrassed just looking at it.

-Shh!! Be quiet before Sister hears!

Anyway, that’s not why we came here.

I turned around and said to my friends.

“Hey everyone, shall we split up here?”

It’s faster to search separately than for many people to search one place. Therefore, splitting into two groups here would be better for finding books for Mother.

Freya asked in surprise.

“Wh-what?”

“I came here to find a book for Mother. I think it would be better to split into two groups to search for books. And if anyone wants to read a specific book, they can go read it.”

Claire and Priscilla replied.

“No, I just want to be by your side?”

“Me too. Other tails are nice, but Skadi’s tail is the standard, so I like it.”

“Is that so?”

Iris had a similar reaction. Henir also seemed to prefer being by my side, but she indicated she would go separately if I asked.

In the end, everyone expressed their desire to stay with me.

“… Still, it’s too many people to stick together. It would be better to split up.”

“Isn’t it okay even if there are many people, Skadi?”

“It’s not exactly that that’s the problem.”

I looked down at my friends clinging to me. Not only their tails, but their arms, waists, and various other parts were stuck to me.

“It’s hot.”

Humans are a source of heat, constantly emitting a certain amount of warmth. With three of them clinging to me, I felt like I was melting like snow in midsummer, even though I didn’t say it.

Especially Priscilla, who was wrapping herself around me with her tail, was making me the hottest. Normally, I would have reciprocated by wrapping my tail around her, but the situation wasn’t good right now.

“… So please, let us split up.”

At my sincere plea, everyone fell silent in solemnity. Fortunately, they all seemed to understand my situation as someone from the North.

“Then I’ll consider it agreed. It will be perfect if we split into three groups.”

Iris said, looking up at me with her bright, clear eyes. Her red eyes, like rubies, gazed at me.

“I want to go with Sister….”

“Don’t worry, Iris. I’ll take you with me. You’re my sister, after all.”

-I’m your sister too, Sister!!! Ack!!

-Young Lady, please be a little quieter. This is a library.

So, how should we divide into groups now?

Given Iris’s young age and need for protection, she and I had to be in one group. This naturally left only one spot for my group.

Henir was more flexible with group assignments compared to the others, so she was naturally pushed to a later priority. The remaining three to be assigned were Priscilla, Claire, and Freya.

If we move Priscilla, the main culprit making me hot, to another group, then only Claire and Freya would be left.

I looked at my precious sister, Freya.

“Wait a minute, Sister…?!”

Freya sensed something ominous and her lips twitched.

“Freya, you know what books Mother likes, right?”

“Wait! Don’t say any more!”

“Freya, go to the other group and find the books. I’ll look for them here.”

“Ack!!”

At this moment, only Freya and I knew Mother’s tastes. Considering the goal of finding a book for Mother, it was natural that splitting into two groups, one for me and one for Freya, would be the best distribution.

The library is also divided into left and right sections from the entrance, so the distribution would be appropriate. Therefore, the left side of the library would be handled by me, Iris, and Claire, and the right side by Freya, Henir, and Priscilla, which would be the optimal arrangement.

Freya shouted.

“Why is your brain working so well at times like this?! You can’t even do double-digit multiplication properly normally!!”

“Freya, please do your best. We’re looking for books for Mother. Preferably interesting ones.”

“Ack!!”

“Then let’s go, everyone.”

In the end, Freya was grabbed by Henir and dragged away. The red rolled-up hair followed closely behind, and then the sounds were heard.

-Gasp… Freya, you smell similar to Skadi! Can I hug you?

-My tail belongs to Sister, get lost!!

-Young Lady, quiet…!

Hmm.

Alright, shall we get going then?

“Hehe… Sister is mine.”

“Claire, Iris, let’s go.”

“Yes!”

——

Naturally, there are many books in the library. It’s incredibly difficult to find what we’re looking for among them. For now, we were sifting through the books categorized as novels….

“This is… ‘The Bird Who Drinks Poison’? Don’t birds die if they drink poison? ‘Is an Angel’s Halo a Substitute Handle’… That’s not a genre Mother would like. Claire! What’s over there?”

We meticulously searched the bookshelves. Claire was looking at books in a different category, and when I called out, she poked her head out from between the shelves and said.

“Ah, no. There doesn’t seem to be anything interesting here.”

“Is that so? Okay, keep looking.”

Her voice sounded flustered, but I couldn’t figure out why. Did she see a strange book? The books where Claire was were in the [Information] category, but what could she have seen?

“Hmm… ‘Yuri intruding into Yuri’? This looks good. Iris, can you hold this?”

“Yes!”

Iris took the book I handed her. Curious about the content, Iris opened the book as soon as she received it, and I let her be. Since Iris would be bored while we were looking for books, I should let her read something.

“‘Man Intruding into Yuri’.”

A book with a title that Freya would have burned if she saw it. I squeezed the book in my hand and crushed it. The powdered paper flowed down my palm.

The next one I found was ‘Wolf and Lily Side Story ~Travel to the Water Kingdom~’. The book was clean, so it seemed to be a new release, and since both Freya and I liked this series, it was definitely a book Mother would like.

“Iris, hold this for me.”

“Yes!”

Iris, seemingly excited, took the book. As always, with Iris opening the book behind her, I continued to search for books.

“‘From Aspiring Artist to Dictator, From Dictator to Little Girl’… What kind of book is this? The genre seems right, so I’ll take this one for now.”

According to Henir, I could only take three books. Since Freya would also bring books, it was enough to take just these for now.

“Iris, are you done reading?”

“Yes, yes!”

Iris replied to me with a strangely flushed face. Iris, clinging to me, felt sticky and gooey, but it was unlikely that the pure Iris would feel that way, so it was probably just my imagination.

It wasn’t difficult to find Claire. There couldn’t be another child with blonde hair and a child-like height at the Academy besides her.

“Claire! You were here.”

“Mmm!”

“Did you find any books? What are you holding?”

Claire was flipping through an unknown book with a red face. I snatched it and saw it was titled “All Things Concerning Beastmen”.

“This doesn’t seem like a novel…”

“Ah, no… that’s….”

“Are you interested in beastmen? Anyway, we’ve roughly found all the books, so we’re about to gather, Claire. That’s why I came to find you.”

“Uh, uh, okay.”

I patted Claire’s head with my tail and took the lead. I could hear Claire and Iris talking from behind.

-What’s that?

-It’s a book Sister found!

-I want to read it too.

After walking for a while, Claire called me and made me stop. She seemed to have a question about the book’s content.

“S-Skadi. Are you really giving this kind of book to Mother?”

“Yeah? Uh. They’re all interesting books. Mother will surely like them.”

“Books like this?! Maybe it’s a little… unsuitable to give to your mother?”

Claire said with concern. It seemed she was misunderstanding something, so I explained it to her.

“Claire.”

“Yes?”

“My mother always liked books like this.”

From when I was not even double-digits in age, my mother’s bookshelf was lined with novels featuring only women.

At that time, I hated books and didn’t go near the bookshelf. Instead, my sister diligently read the books. After that, Freya recommended books to me, so strictly speaking, Mother became the origin of our tastes.

“Understand?”

“… Uh, uh. Yes.”

Then, shall we go meet Freya’s group now?

We started walking again.