Nancy Romer

The front desk… was empty?

After double-checking several times, we reached that conclusion.

Well, the counter was only so big; it was easy to tell if someone was there or not.

They had put out a request, yet the person herself wasn’t here?

The young lady let out a small sigh.

Let’s look around.

Mhm…

We began searching through the enormous library.

It was strange, though; in a library this huge, there wasn’t a single other visitor besides us.

Thanks to that, at least, finding someone became much simpler.

In the deepest section stood a girl with fluffy, chestnut-brown long hair and glasses.

She was up on tiptoe, desperately trying to wedge a book back onto the shelf.

But because of her unfortunate height, she was having no luck at all; her face had even turned red from the effort…

“Young Miss, is that her?”

“Yes, that’s the one.”

Without another word, the young lady walked straight behind her, smoothly took the book from the girl’s hands, and slid it into place.

“Does it go here?”

“Ah—yes… thank you—kyaaaaaaaaaah!”

She had started turning around to apologize, but the moment she saw the young lady’s face, she squeaked like a startled little squirrel and flailed.

In her panic, she tried to step back, forgetting how close she was to the bookshelf, and crashed right into it.

“Wah!?”

The impact sent books sliding from the shelf, about to rain down…

“Eek!”

The little squirrel squeezed her eyes shut and screamed.

My heart leapt into my throat; I rushed toward the young lady.

“Young Miss! Watch out!”

I was just about to cast a barrier spell to shield them from the falling books when—

The young lady moved first.

With effortless grace, she caught every single book… using only one hand.

It’s all right now… You’re not hurt, are you?

The young lady smiled as gently as she could and spoke in the softest voice possible.

Eh?

The trembling squirrel slowly opened her eyes, patted herself down in a daze, and realized she was completely unharmed.

After that little back-and-forth, her nerves seemed to settle quite a bit…

Seizing the moment, the young lady apologized first.

“I’m sorry for startling you.”

“N-no… it was my fault.”

The squirrel hung her head and mumbled timidly.

“But you reacted like you’d seen a ghost…

Even I have feelings, you know.”

The young lady gave a wry smile.

At that, the squirrel panicked again.

“U-um… I’m so sorry! Your Ladyship!”

She bowed frantically, so many times and so quickly that her motions left afterimages.

“Please, please don’t eat me! I-I’m really scrawny! There’s hardly any meat, and the texture would definitely be tough and stringy! I’d taste awful!”

“What kind of conversation is this supposed to be? Do I look like some man-eating monster?”

The young lady was momentarily speechless.

“B-but… that’s what all the rumors say… that you don’t even see people as people… and if someone really gets on your bad side, even a little, you’ll skin them alive and devour them whole…”

“Good heavens… how did it turn into that?”

The young lady pressed a hand to her forehead.

“That’s the terrifying power of rumors for you, Young Miss.

One tells ten, ten tell a hundred; the original story gets twisted and embellished beyond recognition… and the worst part is, people actually believe it.”

“Sigh… Anyway, I’m not some horrifying monster. I’m just a normal person. I’m not going to do anything to you.”

After a brief pause, the young lady continued defending herself.

“If I really disliked you, why would I bother catching all these books for you?”

She lifted the stack in her arms slightly as proof.

“…Is, is that so?”

Though still a little doubtful, the squirrel seemed to believe her for the most part.

After all, the young lady had undeniably protected her.

“That’s exactly it… By the way, Miss Nancy Rome, could you tell me where these books go? I’ll put them away for you.”

“Ah… about that—eh?”

The squirrel had started looking toward the shelves, but a moment later she whipped her head back around, utterly shocked.

“You know my name?”

“Of course. We’re classmates! How could I forget a classmate’s name?”

“…But you always seem like the type who doesn’t pay attention to others… ah! I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I didn’t say anything just now!”

…Truth be told, I was just as surprised as the squirrel.

The young lady really did give off the impression of someone who didn’t care much about strangers around her.

“Don’t be so nervous… I really won’t do anything to you.

At this rate we won’t even be able to have a proper conversation, let alone shelve these books.”

The moment the topic returned to books, the squirrel instantly calmed down.

“I’m sorry… that was rude of me.

First, the «Magitech Guidance Manual» goes in the middle of the third row…”

As expected of a librarian—she treated every book with utmost seriousness and remembered exactly where each one belonged.

Thanks to the books, the atmosphere between them gradually softened…

Still, there were simply too many volumes for just the two of them.

“Please let me help!”

Sorting and organizing things was a professional maid’s specialty, after all!

We finally finished…

“We finally finished…”

Thank you so much.

“Thank you so much.”

Once everything was put away, Miss Rome bowed deeply in gratitude.

“It was nothing… By the way, do you organize all the books here by yourself?”

The shelves were already neatly categorized by subject—that was basic.

But beyond that, the arrangement itself was meticulous; at a glance it looked perfectly orderly, giving off a harmonious beauty.

Which also meant the person doing the organizing had to invest an enormous amount of time and effort…

“Yes…”

“That’s incredible! Managing such a huge library all alone!”

I could tell the young lady genuinely admired Miss Rome.

“Because… I really love books…

Back when I was still living at my family’s count estate, I was too timid, so no one ever wanted to be friends with me…

During those times, books were always there for me…

Now that I’m at the academy and get to be the librarian of the largest library in the country, it’s a huge honor…

I want to do everything I can to protect these books…”

The squirrel hid half her face behind a book and smiled shyly.

But soon her expression darkened again.

“It’s just… I’m so useless…

I can’t even get the overdue books returned, and I had to ask for help…”

Perhaps sensing the mood had grown heavy, Miss Rome quickly plastered a smile back on and changed the subject.

“Ah… I’ve only been talking about myself…

I completely forgot to ask—you’re here to borrow something? What kind of books are you looking for?”

“…Actually, we’re the student council members who came to fulfill your request.”

“…Eh?”

Thud.

The squirrel froze once more, and the book slipped from her hands, falling to the floor.