3
The white space surrounding them disappeared and was replaced by countless shelves of books extending all the way to the ceiling.
Confirming that the monolith he touched had disappeared, too, Subaru was reassured that his answer had been correct. But—
“You did it! You’re amazing, Sub—”
“Whoever thought this up is the worst!”
“Huh?! That’s your first reaction?!”
Seeing that the third floor, Taygeta, had been unlocked, Emilia’s cheers turned to shock at Subaru’s reaction. His face was puckered into a frown as his complaint echoed.
“Getting the answer right is definitely an achievement, if I do say so myself, but the solution is a huge freaking problem. This wasn’t fair at all.”
“R-really? I just think it’s great that you know so much.”
“The issue isn’t about how much I know, but that anyone who wasn’t like me would never be able to solve it. That’s the problem.”
Subaru scratched his head, but Emilia just looked confused.
He tried to think of how to explain it, but getting into the details would be a bit dangerous, too.
The examination had been a test about the constellation Orion and the myth behind it. I would love to be able to just complain about whatever the hell the person who thought this up was thinking like I’m smart for knowing the answer, but the main problem is that it’s impossible to learn about the constellation Orion in this world.
The constellation Orion, the star Shaula, and how the constellations aligned were all bits of knowledge from the world Subaru had come from.
Which meant whoever designed the test knew the same night sky as Subaru.
Or more bluntly, the person who designed a question that could only be answered by someone who knew a lot of trivia about the night sky in a different universe is a completely twisted asshole. And at present, the likeliest candidate is Sage Flugel.
“Your master has a really nasty personality from the looks of it.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, what are you saying? It’s not like you to dunk on yourself! Can’t really argue with the nasty bit, but at least there’s some compassion in it being solvable! Reid would definitely give an impossible problem…like leave a clone of himself and not let anyone through who couldn’t beat him.”
“That’s a scary thought, too, but I’m not sure which is actually more difficult to solve.”
Either way, it was looking a lot like the heroes who defeated the Witch of Envy in the past all had personality issues. Considering that, it might actually be better if knowledge of a different universe was the only thing being tested.
“Still, though, there sure are a lot of books here.”
Ignoring their little post-test review, Anastasia examined the bookshelves surrounding them. Petting the fur of her scarf, she stared at a shelf filled with books.
“We made it through the examination thanks to your great work. That’s all well and good, but what is the role of this archive? What sorts of books are kept here?”
“According to Ms. Shaula’s explanation, it is a treasure trove of knowledge, but…”
“Judging by her reaction, this is probably the first time Taygeta has ever been opened. There’s nothing to do but look around ourselves, I suppose.”
“I guess so… You seem in awfully high spirits.”
“That’s… Well, maybe a little.”
Moving beside Subaru and grabbing his sleeve, Beatrice was speaking faster than usual. There was a bit of a gleam in her eyes as she looked around with great interest at the archive that lay before her. Realizing why, Subaru found it charming despite the situation.
“I had assumed you didn’t have any good memories about the forbidden archive.”
“…It’s true they were not all good memories. But whatever else it was, it was also the place that Betty spent four hundred years. And also…”
“Also?”
“It is where you told Betty to choose you. It’s not a place Betty could forget even if she tried.”
“You’re a cutie.”
“Mrgh!”
As affection welled inside him, Subaru stroked the top of her head. Beatrice let out a feline cry of satisfaction before quickly taking off to tear through the shelves of books.
With the examination complete and the monoliths gone, the third floor had appeared as a single circular floor. Structurally, it was an extension of the lower floors, and the way it had seemed to go on forever was just an optical illusion.
The space was filled with densely packed shelves upon shelves. The archive of forbidden books had hosted quite a sizable collection, but it did not even begin to compare to what lay before them.
“I’d love a computer index to find the book we’re looking for.”
“Betty knew exactly where everything in the archive was.”
“You’re something. Are you a genius?”
Amazed by Beatrice’s private pride, Subaru moved over to a nearby bookshelf. Looking around, Emilia and the others were walking toward various shelves, but they did not seem ready to reach out and pick up a book.
“You were the one who solved it, right? So is it okay for anyone else to touch them?”
“Ah, right, I don’t really know. But if only the person who answered it can read them, then it would be weird for people who just watched it being solved to be in here at all, wouldn’t it?”
“Ah. True. I guess us being allowed in would mean we probably have permission.”
“I would think so, but…Emilia?!”
Fully convinced by that explanation, Emilia pulled a book off the shelf in front of her. And before Subaru could say anything else, she started flipping through it.
“Mmm, it’s a normal book…I think. What is it, Subaru?”
“Nothing, I literally fell in love with her all over again after that crazy courage… I know I said it, but that was just me saying it.”
“—? As long as you say it’s true, then it’s fine, right? What? Did I say something strange?”
Emilia looked genuinely confused, leaving Subaru speechless. He covered his face with his hand, gripped by a difficult-to-express emotion as he groaned.
“This is what you have built up. And it’s true that you solved the riddle of Taygeta that none of us could answer. There should be no denying that achievement.”
“That was just a random shot in the dark. It just happened to be me is all.”
Julius shrugged at his bewilderment, but Subaru looked away from the knight.
Emilia’s trust, Beatrice’s affection, Julius’s sincerity—they were all things that Subaru wanted to have, but when he actually had them, the sense that something was wrong about it still refused to fade.
Subaru was always doubting whether he really deserved to have any of it.
“Emilia’s right, it’s just a normal book. There don’t seem to be any scary traps, either.”
“The book is made of…hard to say. I can’t tell how old it is, either. As for what’s written in it…?”
Emilia had a proactive, poison-tester approach, and seeing that, others reached out and picked up a book, too. But the world was not such a simple place that they could learn everything from just one or two books.
“What is it, Beako?”
“At a glance, it looks like the books are all the same size. But the titles are all different. This one is Noah Libertas, this one is Aegon Voller… The ordering does not make sense, either.”
Perhaps it was the itch of her librarian blood, but Beatrice wasn’t happy with how the books had been seemingly randomly organized. As far as Subaru could remember, the forbidden archive had not been that neat, but maybe it had been organized in some way.
Setting aside her indignation, Subaru noticed something while looking at the spines of the books.
“The book titles… Are they all people’s names?”
“Hmm… It appears so. This is Palma Eure, and here is Coyote.”
“They are all unfamiliar names. I cannot claim the greatest discernment, but as far as I am aware, these are not names I’ve encountered before. Of course, if I properly look around at everything, it might be different, but…”
“If you don’t know them, then I doubt anyone does.”
Julius, who has been really letting his history nerd flag fly lately, doesn’t know them. In which case, maybe they’re not people’s names?
Subaru grabbed a book from the shelf himself, but the spiral lettering was the usual combination of scripts for this world’s language.
“Just to be sure, have you seen any names you recognize, Anastasia?”
“—Mmmm, nope.”
Using that pretext, Subaru checked with Foxidna, too. As an artificial spirit, it was entirely possible she might know more than Julius. But that hope was dashed, and there was no reason for her to lie unless she had completely turned against them.
“It’s too soon to quit, though. The best place to hide a tree is in a forest… Maybe the books packed with all sorts of knowledge are hidden away, buried in the shelves. Though that would be a massive pain.”
“Don’t give up so easily. It’s a lot more constructive than solving an impossible riddle, isn’t it? We have to try!”
Faced with a massive wall of books, Emilia clenched her little fists and fired herself up.
And, as if her fist pump bore fruit, when Subaru looked back at the shelves and traced out a title with his finger, he noticed something.
While tracing it out, Subaru’s finger suddenly stopped. Hooking the top of the spine with his finger and tilting, he slipped it off the shelf. The book’s title was a name that he knew.
“ ”
Picking it up idly, Subaru opened the book. As he started to look through the book—it hit.
—He blacked out.
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