Academy’s Weapon Replicator

Odyssey (33)

Quinier walked ahead.

This library is a total collection of various information, knowledge, or hidden pasts related to Quinier. Naturally, it is vast, and the reason it took time even for Frondier to put it in the workshop is that.

‘At least it’s certain that there’s nothing around here.’

While with Lethe, Frondier had collected almost all the books in this area. Although there were disruptions from Lethe changing the books, it didn’t matter since they were going to be put in the workshop anyway, so there was no reliance on memory.

Frondier confirmed that there were no records related to Kora here. Moreover, there was hardly any content related to Quinier’s past.

‘Old memories are an important privacy. There’s a high probability they’ve been hidden somewhere.’

Of course, Frondier had roughly anticipated this while with Lethe. Even if anticipated, it was only natural to confirm it.

Thus, Frondier silently followed behind Quinier. She didn’t ask where they were going or why they were moving. She would find out soon enough.

“……So, here it is.”

And Quinier stopped in front of a bookshelf. Considering the structure of the library, it was a corner space shaped like a ‘ㄷ’, filled with bookshelves on all sides.

“Is there a record of Kora here?”

“……Um, no, not exactly, it’s a bit different.”

Quinier answered ambiguously.

Frondier thought the same. Of course, she had checked this bookshelf, and there was nothing special here.

Quinier approached the bookshelf and cleared her throat once.

“Um, is it okay to laugh?”

“…….”

Frondier felt a certain premonition and couldn’t respond.

It felt like a promise that couldn’t be kept.

“Hmm, hmm.”

Quinier cleared her throat once more and raised her right hand.

That right hand stretched out towards a book on the shelf. And as she lightly pressed the top of the book,

Click.

The book made a strange mechanical sound, and with a heavy sound of ku-gu-gu…… the middle of the bookshelf slowly opened.

On the other side, stairs leading down to the basement were visible.

“…….”

“…….”

Frondier glanced at the secret passage for a moment before shifting her gaze back to Quinier, but by then, Quinier was already covering her face with a fan.

“That fan, it’s been a while since I’ve seen it.”

“Is that so?”

“They say people reach for the most familiar object when they’re anxious, and it seems that’s true.”

“I see. It doesn’t seem to relate to me right now.”

I see.

Frondier nodded and then said,

“Shall we go in?”

“Uh, yeah.”

Quinier stepped forward again, still hiding her face behind the fan.

However, she couldn’t hide her ears with the fan, so it was clear just how red she had become.

A strange silence lingered as they descended the stairs.

Frondier pondered whether to speak or not, continuously deliberating.

“Senpai.”

“Yeah?”

But in the end, he couldn’t suppress his curiosity.

“Why was that book the switch of all books? It didn’t seem particularly different from the others.”

The book that Quinier had pressed to open the secret passage.

There didn’t seem to be anything special about it.

“……”

“Senpai?”

“I’m thinking of a suitable excuse right now, so just wait a moment.”

A suitable excuse, huh.

Anyway, since he asked her to wait, Frondier did.

Once again, silence enveloped them as they walked.

Frondier, by nature, wouldn’t rush Quinier, and instead, it became increasingly torturous for Quinier as time passed.

Eventually, she opened her mouth first.

“Actually, you see.”

“Yeah.”

“The position of that book is important.”

“Position?”

“Because if you stand in the center of the bookshelf and press the book in that position.”

“Press it?”

“It’s cool.”

In response, Frondior looked at Quinier, who was walking ahead. More precisely, he looked at the back of her head.

Quinier’s steps gradually quickened.

It was almost as if she were running away.

“Senpai.”

“Why do you keep calling me?”

“Is that the ‘appropriate excuse’ you just thought of? Then what is the real reason,”

“Could it be! I’m just being honest!”

In the end, Quinier’s voice burst out.

She shook her head.

“Ah, really. Of all people, I have to show you this.”

“Why? I think it’s cool. The secret passage.”

Frondior briefly recalled the scene from earlier. It had a certain thrill to see it in person. When he lightly pulled a book from somewhere in the shelf, the center opened with a mechanical sound. A sight one would expect to see in a movie.

“It’s stimulating my romantic imagination.”

“That’s what I didn’t like…”

Her voice trailed off. However, Quinier soon lifted her head and spoke again.

“Listen carefully. This is all just a dream, and this secret passage is merely a figment of my childhood imagination. It’s different from who I am now. So I hope there’s no misunderstanding.”

“I’m not misunderstanding at all. I’ve even been in Elodie’s dreams.”

And if we’re talking about embarrassment, Elodie would be much more embarrassed.

At that, Quinier’s expression softened, as if reassured.

“R-really?”

“Yes. It’s just that, back then, you had a boyish side compared to now,”

“Shut up! Let’s hurry!”

Quinier walked briskly. This time, Frondior silently followed her.

After walking for a while, they arrived in another space. But it wasn’t much different. In the end, it was yet another place filled with bookshelves.

“So this is where you’re hiding your books, Quinier-senpai.”

“Yeah. But I don’t even know what’s in them. It’s probably just the workings of my unconscious.”

Frondior nodded.

Even if Quinier herself didn’t know, her unconscious would automatically hide her secrets. That concealment would operate so cleverly that even Quinier herself wouldn’t be aware of it in reality. There would be no way to know unless approached through this kind of dream.

“Then from here on, it’s really just things I can’t read, right?”

“Well, I don’t think it’s necessary to make such a fuss. I’m a transparent person with nothing to hide, you know.”

That’s not something a merchant should say.

Frondier briefly glanced at Quinier’s confident demeanor before turning his gaze to the bookshelf.

“……Quinier de Viet’s physical information. Measurements, bust—”

“Wait a minute!!”

Quinier covered Frondier’s eyes.

Considering the distance they had originally kept from each other, this speed was close to teleportation.

“Y-Yeah, you should definitely keep your eyes closed!”

“Right? I think so too.”

“But where is that book?”

With Frondier’s eyes still covered, Quinier examined the bookshelf that Frondier had just been looking at. It was quite difficult to check while covering Frondier’s eyes with both hands.

“Oh, there’s no such book.”

“……What?”

Quinier’s expression froze.

“I’m just looking at the bookshelf; there’s no way a book with that written on the spine exists. I just made it up.”

Certainly, it wouldn’t make sense for something like that to be written on the spine of a book. Especially since this is Quinier’s dream.

“Hey, hey! Why did you lie like that!”

“But somewhere in here, there might be something like that?”

“Ugh.”

Quinier was at a loss for words.

It hadn’t occurred to her, but the secrets here are not something Quinier can selectively hide. She didn’t just show what she wanted to show. Quinier herself doesn’t know what’s here.

Moreover, the other party is Frondier. Frondier de Roah, who claims he can input all the information in the library given just a few hours.

Of course, no matter what information Frondier sees, he won’t have any feelings about it, but this isn’t about what Frondier might think. It’s simply Quinier’s own problem.

“I was being considerate in my own way. There might really be something I shouldn’t show. Everyone is like that, right?”

“……Then what will you do?”

“I’ll be here. With my eyes closed.”

“You want me to find all these books by myself?”

This basement is indeed vast. The rows of bookshelves are almost indistinguishable from those upstairs. Searching through all of this is something only Frondier could manage.

“You said earlier, didn’t you? That you know how these books are organized, that you understand the criteria.”

“……But that standard isn’t exactly accurate.”

“Then go ahead and look for it. If you can’t find it, I’ll help you. Of course, by then, all these books will be in my head.”

“……Hmph! Fine! I’ll find it on my own!”

Quinée spun around Frondier’s body. Then, she lightly pushed him closer to the empty wall.

“Stay there! You absolutely must not look back!”

“I won’t look back.”

“Absolutely not! If you do, the Viet family will—”

“You know I won’t look back.”

“……You never listen to what I say.”

Quinée threw a retort and turned her back. Of course, Frondier was silently staring at the wall.

At that moment, Quinée’s anxious voice was heard.

“Frondier, you didn’t happen to figure out how this book is organized, did you?”

“……? I have no idea.”

Frondier replied.

This was an honest statement. Frondier had no clue what the standard for this book was.

However, just because of Quinée’s question, a thought crossed his mind: ‘If I think about it carefully, could I also figure out the standard?’

“Then that’s fine! Don’t be curious anymore! I’ll be back soon!”

Noticing that, Quinée quickly spoke and walked away briskly.

‘……Hmm. An inaccurate standard. That means the ‘standard’ itself isn’t confusing.’

Quinée seemed to have definitely found the sorting criteria for these books. Otherwise, she wouldn’t say something like that. Quinée was only worried about the inaccuracy of the standard, not whether the standard she found was the correct one. It was certainly the correct one.

Quinée told Frondier not to be curious anymore, but that was too difficult a request for him.

‘If it’s inaccurate, does that mean the area belonging to that standard is too broad? If it was based on color, and there are too many books that correspond to ‘black,’ it might take time to find the book I’m looking for among them. Or perhaps the standard itself is variable and can change every time.’

When Frondier thought that far, Quinée’s footsteps stopped. It seemed she had found roughly where she was.

‘If it satisfies both conditions, then the standard must come from Quinée’s subjectivity. And that subjectivity probably isn’t firm. It’s a standard that can change at any time.’

─When I was younger, I didn’t like books as much. Back then, the situation of my family was getting worse. Still, I was very interested in what merchants did. So when I was very young, I followed my father─

The statement Quinée made a moment ago.

And considering the ego that Quinée herself possesses…….

“Indeed, depending on the value she assigns,”

“I found it!”

Just as Frondier muttered to himself, Quinée’s voice was heard.

“Can I look back?”

“Yeah! Oh, no! Don’t look back! You said you could capture anything that comes into your field of vision with your knowledge!”

“What kind of superpower is that? I don’t know how the rumor got twisted, but I have to open a book to remember its contents.”

It’s not like Frondier has the ability to see through things; to put it in the workshop, he needs to look inside the book first.

But Quinée seemed quite anxious, quickly repeating cries like, “Don’t look back! Absolutely not!”

“Here, this is it!”

And Quinée arrived, lightly presenting a book in front of Frondier.

The title of the book was the shortest and simplest he had ever seen.

“……Wolf.”

Frondier said in a heavy voice.

Quinée nodded.

“Yeah. I still remember that day’s incident as a wolf.”

“Memory can be frightening.”

Quinée, whose memory had been altered due to divine power.

But Quinée spoke as if it didn’t bother her much.

“Now, let’s open it.”