The Library of Records(2)

The librarian, the woman called the goddess’s homunculus, looked at the five children of different races standing before her.

Although it was her first time seeing all the children in front of her today, the librarian knew who they were.

‘In order, Arin, Kana, Riana, Shati, Pina. Their origins are unusual, but that’s all there is to these beings.’

The book in which the stories of all living beings in the world are recorded, and the Library of Records that stores that book.

As the manager of this Library of Records, the librarian had read and memorized information about all living beings except for an extremely small number.

The same was true for the stories of Arin, Kana, Riana, Shati, and Pina. Of course, the stories of the five were recorded in the book, so she had already read and memorized them all.

And if the librarian were to describe the stories of the five she had read, it could be expressed without a doubt as ‘ordinary stories no different from other stories’.

Literally, the stories of the five were recorded in the book as just ordinary stories.

Not a comical story of a hero defeating the demon king, nor a tragic story of ultimately failing to save loved ones, not even an interesting bad ending – just third-rate extra stories.

She read them because she had to as a librarian, but if they were to be placed on a bookshelf as books, the overall evaluation the librarian gave to the stories of the five was that they didn’t seem like ones she would bother to pick up and read.

But precisely because they were children who had written such ordinary stories, the librarian was surprised.

‘The letters…’

The letters that had been red when she held it had changed to ordinary black letters in front of these five.

The stories of the five irregulars that the goddess Iriel had brought to this world. The stories that were undoubtedly written in red letters so that only those qualified could read them had changed to black letters.

Just in case, she pointed at each one with the book, but the letters did not change back to red.

In other words, this meant that all five who had arrived here were qualified to read the stories of the irregulars.

Therefore, the librarian, overcome with happiness, excitedly greeted the five for the first time in her life, unlike her usual self.

“Welcome to the Library of Records! I am the librarian who manages this place. I don’t have a name or anything, so I would appreciate it if you could just call me Librarian comfortably.”

“Librarian…?”

“Wait a moment, did you say this is the Library of Records?”

“Could it be? Then we’ve entered the Library of Records that no one has ever entered before?!”

At her greeting, the children in front of her first muttered with dumb faces, then began to clamor with feelings of confusion and bewilderment.

It was to the extent that it was doubtful that these naive children were qualified.

‘But there can’t be any mistake.’

No matter what anyone said, it was a book created by Iriel, the goddess of selection, even before the existence called the demon king was born.

There was no way the book could be wrong in what it said, so the librarian shook off the unnecessary doubts that came to mind and looked down again at the page of the book that had changed to black letters.

‘Red letters are stories that only those qualified can read.’

Until now, there were a total of seven stories with red letters in this book.

The stories of the five irregulars that the children in front of her had unlocked, and two others.

And reading these stories in red letters was something that could be said to be the librarian’s lifelong desire.

The task the librarian was ordered to do when created by the goddess Iriel was to protect and manage this library.

At the same time, it was to continuously cram into her head the stories newly written in the book every second.

Cramming into her head the stories of all living beings living in the world. It might seem like torture in a way, but for the librarian, this was a blessing.

For the librarian who had to be stuck in the library blankly for a long time, having new stories constantly injected into her head was the only thing that alleviated boredom.

However, for the librarian who was a homunculus created by the goddess and thus too excellent, this did not provide interest for very long.

No matter how different each moment was, the ordinary stories in black letters were as boring and tedious as being stuck in the library.

Therefore, the librarian lost interest in constantly receiving new stories.

And as she lost interest in this, the librarian lived with expectation for only one thing.

‘Stories in red letters.’

The stories in red letters.

Unknown stories that she herself could not read even a single character of.

Whether 100 years or 1,000 years passed since she abandoned most emotions as a homunculus and immersed herself only in the goddess’s orders, the expectation, interest, and curiosity about these stories in red letters never disappeared from the librarian’s heart.

However, the stories in red letters that the librarian herself could covet were only one out of two.

Because of this, when the story of the five new irregulars, a new story in red letters, was recorded in the book, the librarian felt the torch of emotion that had been constantly burning inside her soar and blaze to the sky.

Although she could only covet one, five more stories had been added to it.

After abandoning emotions, her expression had dried up so she couldn’t express joy enough to appear on the surface, but nonetheless she was extremely happy inside.

And because of that.

“I can finally read it…”

A deep smile spread across the librarian’s dried-up face along with cheers, as the moment she had longed for all her life came in less than 100 years.

The qualification needed to read a story in red letters was to be related to the owner of the story.

However, this relation wasn’t established by simply having frequent conversations in daily life or being in a cherished teacher-student relationship.

The relation required by the book here was truly to be related to the entire life of the story’s owner.

Moreover, the criteria for this relation to the entire life was extremely strict, so the librarian had not even dared to attempt this qualification until now.

‘And yet there are five people who have obtained the qualification…’

It’s suspicious.

Although she said she believed it because there was no error in what the book said, it was still suspicious.

There was clearly something hidden between the five and the stories of these irregulars that she couldn’t even guess, so the librarian slightly erased her smile and opened her eyes drowsily.

But that was only for a moment.

Soon, the librarian erased such doubts and once again sincerely displayed on her face the smile rising from deep within her heart.

‘What does it matter anyway.’

Yes, what does it matter. The only important thing now was the fact that she could read this book.

Instead, she could even kneel halfway down and thank those five children who had obtained the qualification for her.

Therefore, pushing unnecessary thoughts out of her mind, the librarian opened her mouth towards the five children with a smile that still wouldn’t disappear from her lips.

“Then from now on, I will recommend to you the stories that you can read.”

The first story is ‘The Story of the Swordswoman Aria’.

I want to read all the stories as soon as possible, so let’s hurry and start reading.

Don’t worry.

I will assist you while you read.

---

Outside the Library of Records.

In the quiet space where no sound could be heard thanks to the barrier she had set up, Idea was sitting in front of the entrance to the library.

After breaking Meiyel’s original barrier with the massive explosion earlier, she had woven her own barrier there.

In addition, she had scattered powerful curses around, so the soldiers of the underwater kingdom who had rushed to this place, outside the barrier, after hearing the explosion sound had all died from the curses.

Some had managed to crawl in using teleportation magic, but they too were either torn to pieces by Idea’s hands or barely escaped with their limbs severed, and after that, only deathly silence filled the inside of the barrier.

“Hmm~ Hmm~”

And in such silence, Idea, who had been humming a song that remained only in childhood memories, slowly opened her eyes at the presence felt in front.

The magic in the air distorts and someone reveals themselves there.

Undoubtedly teleportation magic. Idea narrowed her eyes wondering if it might be ordinary soldiers of the underwater kingdom like before, but soon picked up her staff and stood up.

Because those who had entered the barrier with teleportation magic this time were the two she had been waiting for.

“Welcome, into my barrier.”

“Idea…”

“Were you waiting for us.”

The two descending with their dark blue and light red hair fluttering – Meiyel and Aria.

Although she was very displeased with their still relaxed expressions even upon seeing her, Idea barely endured.

After all, those faces would change soon anyway. And imagining those faces made her feel like her expression would naturally loosen, so Idea straightened her face.

Then, leisurely raising her staff, Idea showed a grin.

“There’s no need for long talk, right?”

No further conversation would be necessary.

Especially not with the devilish humans who had taken away her precious thing.