A Dislike of Books Might Be Hereditary

The Ducal Estate Library.

Ewan stood at the entrance, staring at the towering rows upon rows of bookshelves, packed to the brim with countless leather-bound tomes. He scrubbed a hand over his face, a wave of defiant frustration washing over him.

“Screw you, world.”

“Even a clay doll has a bit of fire in it,” he growled to the silent room. “If you’re going to torture me like this, then fine. I’ll fight you to the bitter end!”

Ewan lifted his head, his eyes burning with a new light. The confusion, fear, and anger that had clouded them after his father’s departure had vanished. In their place was a single, unwavering emotion: determination.

So what if he was a disposable blond villain? Didn’t a disposable blond villain deserve to find happiness?

He would have it, damn it!

“Okay, calm down. First things first. I still need to get stronger.”

He looked at the vast collection of books before him. While it couldn’t compare to the legendary library at Saint Marika Academy, for the current Ewan, it was an absolute treasure trove.

“Since Father is gone, I’ll just have to teach myself. Then I can test my progress against the assassin in the book.”

“That means, with the resources right here in this mansion, I can at least become strong enough to defeat that recorded version of the assassin!”

“And at that level, I’ll finally have enough power to protect myself!”

“I still need to lay low and focus on leveling up. School is definitely off the table for now.”

“And with Father and Mother gone, at least there’s no one here to nag me about it.”

With his new plan firmly in place, Ewan’s gaze became even more resolute. He wasted no more time, pulling a thick book from the nearest shelf and flipping it open. He wasn’t reading it carefully; instead, he casually flipped through a few pages, his eyes scanning the text, before closing them in concentration.

A few minutes later, he opened them again, an irrepressible, giddy joy shining within.

“I knew it! The book can record books, too!”

“It seems to only record the text that my eyes have physically scanned.”

“But that’s more than enough! For now, I don’t have to spend weeks memorizing them one by one. I can just quickly scan all these books and upload them to the black book’s hard drive.”

“That way, I can access them whenever I need them! It’s my own personal, portable library!”

With this thought, Ewan didn’t hesitate any longer. He started with the book in his hands, flipping through the pages at a dizzying speed, not trying to comprehend the words, only to imprint their images into his eyes.

“Huh? Wait a minute. What book am I even reading?”

He was almost finished with the entire volume before this important detail occurred to him. He turned back to look at the cover.

“One Hundred Ways to Commit Burglary: How to Pick a Lock with a Fishbone? …You have got to be kidding me!”

Realizing his mistake, Ewan slammed the book onto the floor in a fit of pure annoyance. “Why in the seven hells would a ducal library have this kind of book? And in such a conspicuous, easy-to-reach spot?!”

Refusing to accept this reality, Ewan randomly pulled another book from the shelf. “Pickup Techniques Even a Monkey Can Learn: How to Elegantly Seduce a Goddess… That’s great, but right now I just want to know how not to get ravaged on the floor by a goddess.”

“Learn in Three Days, Guaranteed for Idiots!: Observing a Woman’s Childbearing Potential by the Size of Her Hips… It takes three days for this? Any old lady in the countryside could give you a full, detailed analysis in three minutes.”

“Advanced Breeding and Mating Methods for… Is this a book I should be reading right now?”

“The Forbidden Arts of the Bedchamber… Ahem, I’m just checking to see if this book is… academically rigorous. I’m definitely not going to memorize it.”

…

“This is such a damn scam!” Ewan groaned, after spending the better part of the day organizing the entire library. “Half of these books are completely useless, or just plain weird!” He now felt a profound sense of despair for the entire Campbell ancestral line. Those old geezers, including his own dear old dad, must have all hated reading with a burning passion! This library was probably just for show. Why else would they stuff it with all this random, degenerate junk?! A full third of the books were of the… unspeakable variety!

“But,” he sighed, “at least half of the books are useful.”

He looked at the book now in his hands, a genuine look of joy on his face. No matter how much they disliked reading, as an ancient family with a history spanning hundreds of years, the Campbell family’s collection was undoubtedly vast. It included a large number of precious texts on martial arts, magic, and even some rare tomes on faith and the God Chosen. And for the current Ewan, these books were a lifeline.

The book in his hand, An Introduction to Basic Martial Arts, was, for someone who desperately needed to rebuild his foundation, like a spring rain in a long and punishing drought.

“I can worry about learning it later. First, I need to record it.”

Filled with a fresh wave of excitement, Ewan eagerly opened the book.

But just then, he heard Anne’s soft voice from behind him.

“Young Master, are you still reading?”

Anne walked into the library, her gaze falling on the now-cold lunch on the side table. She frowned. “You haven’t even eaten properly.”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. I’ll be done after I finish this one book.”

“But that’s what you said last time.”

Anne suddenly walked forward and, with a gentle but firm hand, closed the copy of An Introduction to Basic Martial Arts.

“Anne, what are you doing?” Ewan said with a wry, tired smile. “I know my own limits.”

“Young Master, dinner is ready.”

“Hm? Is it that late already? I didn’t even notice. Just like with lunch, you can bring it here…”

“But Young Master, if I do that, you will simply forget to eat again.” Anne stared directly into his eyes, her own gaze surprisingly intense. “I promised the Master and Mistress that I would take care of you. I cannot allow you to neglect your health like this. At the very least, you must eat a proper dinner.”

“I…”

Ewan looked at Anne, who was kneeling before him. A pleasant floral scent wafted from her, and his mind felt a little hazy, as if the fatigue from a whole day of organizing ancient, dusty books had finally caught up to him.

Looking at the rare, unyielding determination on her face, and then at the precious book in his hands that he had yet to record, Ewan sighed in resignation. “Alright then. Let’s go eat first.”

Although he had spent the whole day organizing and hadn’t had much time to actually record anything, it wasn’t so urgent that he couldn’t even stop for a proper meal. He could think of it as a well-deserved break.

Ewan got up, carefully placed the book back on the shelf, and headed for the dining room.

“…” Anne, however, did not follow him immediately. She suddenly turned and pulled the same book Ewan had just put back from the shelf.

“An Introduction to Basic Martial Arts…”

Her gaze swept over the words on the cover. Then she looked up at the now-neatly-organized bookshelves. The useless, miscellaneous books had been moved to the innermost corners, while the precious books on martial arts, magic, and various other fields of knowledge had been placed by Ewan in easily accessible locations.

“Young Master,” she whispered to the empty room, “you really have changed.”

Zing.

A flash of cold, silent light.

The copy of An Introduction to Basic Martial Arts in Anne’s hand was suddenly sliced cleanly in two by a blade that had appeared from nowhere. The tattered pages were then tossed by her out the window, scattering into the wind like dying leaves.

“To change so much, so suddenly. It’s as if, overnight, you are no longer the ‘you’ I know.”

“In that case, there are some things that I can no longer wait for.”

“Don’t blame me for this, my dear Young Master.”