Academy’s Weapon Replicator

Odyssey (27)

I tilted my head at Quinie’s words.

“Don’t you know?”

“No. I’ve never seen a cover or title like this before. Have you?”

“No, I haven’t, but is it meaningful to ask me? This is Senior Quinie’s dream, after all.”

“But your total reading volume is greater than mine.”

“What?”

When I asked back, Quinie turned her gaze from the bookshelf to me.

“You said you’ve read all the books in both the Constel and Atlas libraries? And you remember them all.”

“……Where did you hear that?”

“Hear? After the war ended, information about you is hammered into your ears without even needing to look for it.”

Quinie’s words are true.

To be precise, I didn’t read them all, but my workshop contains all the books from Constel and Atlas. Since I can put anything I see into my workshop, it wasn’t difficult.

It would be surprising to someone who doesn’t know, but Quinie didn’t seem particularly impressed by that information. Whether she herself believes it’s possible, or whether she thinks very highly of me.

“So, I’ll ask again. Assuming you really remember all the books. Have you seen any of the books here before?”

At those words, I closed my eyes for a moment.

My workshop reflects the image I desire. The contents inside never change, but the structure of the workshop moves as I wish.

I can arrange the collected books alphabetically, or by author.

And I opened my eyes.

“No, I haven’t.”

“Hmm.”

Quinie nodded, seeming to believe me.

“As I thought, these books don’t exist.”

“Then there’s one more thing we can guess.”

“Guess?”

I took an arbitrary book from the shelf. Then, I skimmed the cover and opened the book to check the front or back.

And I could confirm the name on the last page.

‘Author / Quinie de Viet.’

“The author is you, Senior.”

“……Indeed.”

“But you’ve hidden the author’s name very well. It’s usually written on the cover or spine.”

At my words, Quinie took the book I had taken out, checked the contents, and pursed her lips.

“……It seems you don’t really want to share.”

“You speak as if it’s someone else’s story.”

“That’s how it feels, really. Even if it’s a memory I know, when it’s bound in a book, it looks like someone else’s writing.”

Indeed. It’s persuasive.

I looked around the library.

“……So, does that mean that somewhere in here, the memories of that day are recorded?”

“Seems like it?”

Quinie answered dryly, but this place is incredibly vast.

To say it’s vast feels too ordinary, but this library was wider than any library I had ever seen.

Perhaps it’s inevitable since it contains the entirety of one person’s memories. Moreover, Quinie is the type who values information more than others. There must be a considerable amount of knowledge here.

Quinie sighed as she scanned the books on the shelves.

“This library is a complete mess. It’s not organized by theme, nor is it in alphabetical order. Can we even find anything in here?”

“Well, we’ll have to look. If it’s here, that is.”

“Could it be that it’s not here?”

“Quinie, you’ve forgotten the memories of that day. It’s possible that the content isn’t in this library.”

“They say that no matter what memories a person forgets, there’s always a record left behind. It’s just that they don’t know how to find it. So it must be somewhere.”

That’s encouraging.

After looking around, I nodded.

“Then I’ll start from the end over there.”

* * *

For a long time, we were engrossed in searching for books in silence.

There were truly countless books, but thankfully, my ‘workshop’ was functioning without any issues.

When I enter someone’s dream, my power is only as strong as what that person can imagine. I felt that painfully in Elodie’s dream.

Conversely, if it’s a skill that the person doesn’t know at all, I could use it without any problems. Just like I could use ‘Black Heaven’ for a brief moment when Elodie didn’t know about it.

The workshop is invisible to Quinie anyway. So if it’s a skill that doesn’t need to be revealed, I can use my abilities as they are.

‘This place isn’t bad.’

Quinie decided to help me. She agreed to bring out her painful memories.

This library is probably the evidence of that. It’s the optimal place and setting for us to search for past memories.

Unlike in Elodie’s dream, there are no dangerous enemies or traumas, just a bit boring but safe and peaceful work. Things were flowing smoothly.

As long as we find the book containing those memories here, everything will surely go well.

“……Um.”

After checking one side of the bookshelf, I moved on to the next.

And I noticed something strange.

‘This is the title I saw earlier.’

I am currently replicating the arrangement of books in this library in the workshop. So, there’s no way I could be mistaken about the books.

However, I found the same book again.

Seeing that, I returned to the spot where I first discovered this book.

“……Quinie-senpai.”

“Hmm?”

“The position of the books is changing.”

“What?”

Quinie approached me in surprise. I showed her the book.

“This book was here just a moment ago, but it has moved to that bookshelf over there. There’s a new book here now.”

“Are you sure you’re not mistaken?”

“Yes. The position of the books is changing.”

In that case, it makes sense that the arrangement was a mess from the start. If the positions of the books keep changing, there’s no way it could be organized.

Quinie brought her hand to her mouth.

“If the arrangement isn’t proper… then there might actually be a rule to how the books are changing.”

“That could be.”

There was no sound or change when the books switched. It doesn’t even register on a gut level. Capturing the moment of change would probably be impossible.

“What should we do? How do we figure out that rule?”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“We don’t need to figure it out.”

“Hmm?”

“We just need to remember everything.”

Normally, if the books were to switch places midway, it would likely cause confusion in memory, making it difficult to find the desired book. But I have the workshop.

If I register all the books, no matter how much they change, I can use the process of elimination.

“Are you saying you’ll remember all the books in this library?”

Quinie asked, seemingly in disbelief.

Well, it would be hard to believe. I wouldn’t have believed it if someone else had said the same.

“Yes. But there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“I looked around a bit earlier, and it seems this place really contains all of Senior Quinie’s information.”

“Right. It seems that way.”

“Are you alright with this?”

“What?”

Seeming not to understand my question, Quinie tilted their head.

I spoke again.

“Literally, all the information is here. Senior’s secrets they want to hide, their flaws, their embarrassing past—everything. I’m going to memorize it all.”

At those words, Quinie’s eyes widened in realization.

Then they gave an awkward laugh.

“Ah, haha. It can’t be helped. We have to solve this, right? It’s not the time to be concerned about that now.”

I watched Quinie respond that way for a moment, then nodded.

“You’re right. Then let’s find it as quickly as possible.”

“Y-yeah.”

And I increased my speed.

If the books’ positions are changing, it’s better to register all the book titles first, rather than looking at the contents. That way, I can see what’s changing.

I omitted the process of taking out the books and checked the spines of the books on the shelves. I put all the titles I could see as I walked, in their exact positions, into the workshop.

And as if chasing that speed, the frequency of the books changing began to increase.

Several were changed while I was looking at them. There was no warning, so it was difficult to notice.

And as only a few books remained, as if there was nothing left to hide, the books began to be mixed up haphazardly.

I continued to walk and scan without concern.

Click.

And I reached the last bookshelf, and I stopped walking.

“……Haah.”

I let out a sigh.

“What’s wrong? Did you find it?”

Quinie asked me. I shook my head.

“No, I can’t find it. This is completely chaotic.”

“Don’t be hasty. It’s definitely somewhere in here.”

(Note: All characters are fictional and are assumed to be over 21 years of age.)

Quinie, as if encouraging me, scanned the bookshelves and said,

I looked at her and said,

“Senior.”

“Yes?”

“Let’s give up.”

At my words, her eyes, which had been scanning the bookshelves, turned to me.

“Wh-what? Why all of a sudden?”

“Honestly, I thought it would be easy at first, but it’s not working at all. At this rate, it’s a waste of time. Let’s just leave here and rethink this.”

“But shouldn’t we look a little longer? The book hasn’t disappeared. It’s just being shifted. It’ll be somewhere.”

“No.”

I shook my head.

“There’s a possibility the book has disappeared.”

“What?”

“Your forgetfulness isn’t simply forgetting. It’s because of Lethe’s divine power. While completely erasing memories might be impossible, it could be designed to make it impossible for Ms. Quinie to see it. There might be a secret passage somewhere in this library, or the book itself might be transparent.”

“But it’s there, isn’t it? If we spend time, we might find it….”

“The problem isn’t whether the book exists or not. Do you feel it? There’s no pattern to how the book is being shifted. The more I try to put the book into my head, the faster the book is changing.”

“What does that mean?”

“Lethe might be watching us from somewhere right now.”

Quinie opened her mouth and covered it with her hand.

“Th-that’s impossible! Lethe isn’t my divine power!”

“But you used ‘forgetfulness’ on me. As long as that effect remains, there’s plenty of room for Lethe to interfere.”

Quinie bit her fingernail, seemingly tense at my words.

I chuckled lightly, as if to relieve her tension.

“Well, it’s half a joke. It’s possible, that’s all.”

“I-is that so?”

I pointed to the bookshelves lined up in the center.

“Maybe it’s hiding behind there, only peeking its head out to watch us?”

Quinie relaxed and laughed at the joke.

“Ahahaha, no way. Lethe is short….”

And.

She stopped speaking on her own.

“…….”

Her eyes lowered in an instant, the pupils trembling.

As I said, my words were half a joke.

But not entirely.

“That’s right.”

I tilted my head.

“Rethe is short. At least much shorter than that bookshelf.”

“…….”

Quinie bit her lip.

I took a step closer to her.

Finally.

“But.”

Finally, I caught her.

“How do you know that, Quinie-senpai?”

“Ah, no… I researched it in books, about Rethe. I just caught a glimpse of that record. I was just—”

“Actually.”

I interrupted her.

“I felt something was off from the moment I entered this dream.”

“What, what do you mean?”

“When I opened my eyes, Quinie-senpai wasn’t there.”

By the time Quinie realized I was dreaming, she was already investigating the bookshelf.

Quinie knows even less about Elodie’s magic than I do. It must have been her first experience entering a dream together.

Yet she figured out much sooner than I did when it changed into a dream, got up first to investigate the bookshelf, and discovered that there were no books she recognized, then conveyed that to me.

That strangeness.

So I decided to test her a little.

—Quinie, you’re forgetting the memories of that day. There might not be any record of it in this library.

—They say that no matter what memories a person forgets, there will always be a record left. It’s just that they don’t know how to find it. So it must be somewhere.

Quinie’s response was conventional.

Based on the premise that I didn’t know that content.

Just before entering the dream, I had already explained the nature of forgetfulness that Quinie possesses. So what Quinie said was something I already knew.

Therefore, Quinie should have pointed out that I had asked a strange question instead of giving the correct answer.

Why do you think it wouldn’t be there?

Don’t you already know that forgetfulness doesn’t completely erase things?

“You suggested the possibility that there are ‘rules’ regarding the position of the books, right?”

“Well, if we figure out the rules, we can find them even faster, right?”

“But I was trying to check the covers quickly without thinking about the rules. And then, regardless of the rules, the positions of the books were all mixed up.”

“I didn’t expect that to happen either! How could I know?”

“Yes, you couldn’t possibly know.”

But.

There were no rules for the books changing, and Quinie, who couldn’t have predicted the sudden mixing of the books.

“There wasn’t a single reaction to the situation of the books changing.”

“……!”

“After hearing my sigh, you asked, ‘Did you find it?’ as if nothing had happened in this library. Were you too busy changing the positions of the books to have time to act?”

Step.

Taking another step.

Quinie stepped back.

“More than anything.”

I changed my tone.

It was time for that.

“When I said that all of Quinie’s secrets and flaws are here, and that I might be able to see them.”

Quinie is a merchant. She is the head of a family, shouldering the honor and growth of her clan, and a knight.

She knows how information is used and how important it is to handle it.

“Quinie would never say that.”

“I, I just… for you…!”

“Didn’t you understand? Quinie doesn’t say it ‘that way.’”

In the next moment.

My black sky casts the tips of all blades upon Quinie from all directions.

No, that’s not it.

“Lethe.”

I still conveyed an overflowing warning to her, who was still in the form of Quinier.

“What have you done to Quinier?”