Around the time the lively bilateral meeting began, Elulu, who’d come to the Euphoria Kingdom with Shuukin and the others, was exploring Castle Valois with Jeanne’s permission, since she had grown bored of waiting for the talks to conclude.
Naturally, as she was a princess of the Spirit Kingdom of Garlan and a visiting general of the Great Tiger Kingdom, it would have been disastrous if anything happened to her. To that end, Hakuya had assigned guards to watch her from a distance, both to protect her and to keep an eye on her movements.
Earlier, Elulu had made a request to Jeanne: “I want to see your library that’s famous for being the best in the world!”
Her request had been granted, and a maid led her there.
They soon arrived at the Great Library of Valois, situated within the castle grounds.
The building, standing beside the flower gardens, looked grand enough to serve as the palace of a mid-sized nation. And in a sense, it once had. In earlier times, this residence had been used as a secondary dwelling for members of the House of Euphoria. Long ago, emperors had housed their mistresses here, but the estate had since been fully renovated into a library.
The writings of Castle Valois had once been stored in the Grand Archives, but the bibliophile Hakuya—serving as both royal consort and prime minister—had championed the establishment of this library together with his fellow booklover Sami, now head librarian. Its majestic exterior testified to the immense pride the kingdom took in this achievement.
They gather knowledge in books, and then pack those books into such an impressive building...huh? The Spirit Kingdom would never even think of doing such a thing.
Though the printing press had existed prior to Souma’s summoning, books had been prohibitively expensive for commoners, and literacy rates had been low. (This had improved considerably in the Kingdom of Friedonia after Souma’s arrival.) As such, the people did not have a culture of reading, nor had it been established as a form of entertainment.
That was why, for Elulu, the first thing that came to mind when she thought of books was their role as a “store of knowledge.”
People wrote books in the hope of passing their knowledge to others, and to future generations. Those who wished to learn from them would, in turn, read them. That was the nature of books. This desire to preserve knowledge was especially strong among the short-lived races, like humans and beastmen, who lived at most eighty years. Unlike elves or dragonewts, they could not rely on centuries of personal memory, so they poured their efforts into passing knowledge and feelings down to the next generation.
The long-lived races, on the other hand, felt less urgency to do so. For example, if a human wanted to learn about events from a century ago, they would have no choice but to turn to records. But a member of a long-lived race could simply ask one of their kin who’d lived through it. They could hear tales from a thousand years past with the same reliability as stories you might hear from your grandmother.
In Souma’s homeland, the Kojiki was said to have been compiled by Hieda no Are as a record of how the country (supposedly?) came to be. But in a nation of long-lived races, there were countless “Hieda no Are” figures still alive, carrying their memories directly. In such an environment, where history could be obtained from the very mouths of those who had lived it, the need to preserve knowledge in books was much weaker. This was the same in Elulu’s homeland—the high elf nation, the Spirit Kingdom of Garlan.
At last, Elulu stepped into the Great Library.
Even just a single step past the entrance left her overwhelmed. Shelves laden with books stretched out before her. The musty scent of paper and ink hung in the air, so different from the freshness outside that it felt as though she had wandered into another world. It was a forest of books—or perhaps a sea, or even a labyrinth.
This...is incredible.
Though Elulu had lived far longer than she appeared, she had never once seen a space filled with so many books. Nowhere in the Spirit Kingdom could boast even a tenth—no, perhaps not even a hundredth—of what was gathered here.
Bookshelves everywhere. I can see more on the upper floor, just beyond the stairs. Bookshelves upon bookshelves... This entire place is brimming with the desire of the short-lived races to leave their knowledge behind.
Elulu wasn’t in the habit of reading, but the sight before her was overwhelming, and in its own way, thrilling. When people were immersed in a world they didn’t know, it was exhilarating. It felt like wandering into Wonderland, or stepping into another world. This library had that same strange, exciting charm.
As Elulu stood there staring, the maid guiding her spoke up. “Lady Elulu, Her Majesty has said you may peruse anything outside the archive of forbidden books. Is there a genre you are interested in?”
“Huh?! Oh, well... I’m already satisfied just seeing how it looks, so there’s nothing I really want to read. But... Ah, I know!” Elulu clapped her hands as an idea came to her. “If this is a library, there must be a librarian, right? I’d love to meet them.”
“You mean Lady Sami? Just a moment.”
The maid bowed, stepped aside to speak with a passing librarian, then returned after a short while.
“Apologies for the wait. She is currently in the history section. Allow me to guide you there.”
“Huh?” Elulu tilted her head. “The head librarian isn’t in her office?”
“Yes,” the maid confirmed with a nod. “I’m told Lady Sami is taking some time off.”
“Huh? Then shouldn’t she be away from the library?”
“No, Lady Sami is a true lover of books. She spends her days off here reading.”
“Wow... She’s really into it, huh?”
They began walking. The doors had been removed from the rooms, so they could see inside as they passed. But wherever they went, it was nothing but row upon row of bookshelves, so there wasn’t much variety to look at.
At last, Elulu was led into one of those rooms, and...
“Farther right, Sir Gunther. No, too far. Okay, stop.”
“Here? About right?”
“Yes, that’s perfect.”
A large, gruff-looking man was standing with a young woman perched on his shoulders.
“Yoink... There we go.”
The woman placed her left hand on the man’s head for balance and stretched out her right to pluck a book from the high shelf. It seemed she had been trying to reach it herself, and the big man, Gunther, was helping her by letting her ride on his shoulders.
As Elulu stood there, still taken aback, the pair carried on their conversation without noticing her arrival.
“Thank you, Sir Gunther.”
“Think nothing of it.”
“Hee hee... But I think I could have managed with a ladder.”
“No, that would have been too dangerous at that height. If this oversized body of mine, which my colleagues always said was excessive, can be of use to you, Madam Sami, then you are welcome to call on me anytime.”
“Th-Thank you... In that case, could I trouble you to fetch a book from over there too?”
“I’m on it.”
With that, the large man strode towards another shelf, still carrying Sami on his shoulders. Elulu and the maid exchanged a glance.
“Wh-What do you make of that? It’s like watching two people fall in love for the first time.”
“The gentleman is General Gunther Lyle. He’s well-known for being stern and taciturn... But look at how he treats Madam Sami.”
“Could it be they’re in a special relationship?”
“Now that you mention it, my coworkers were gossiping the other day that they’d gotten engaged.”
“Love in the workplace! How romantic. I’m jealous... I’d like Lord Shuukin to carry me on his shoulders.”
“It’s the sort of thing women dream of... Ahem. Would you like to speak with Lady Sami?”
“No, no, I couldn’t possibly interrupt them. If anything, I’d rather keep watching, but I should leave before I become a bother.”
“You’re right.”
The maid nodded in agreement. Elulu chuckled.
“So, is there someplace we could sit and relax to talk?”
“You want to talk with me?” the maid asked, surprised.
Elulu nodded. “Yes. If your coworkers have shared any other love stories, I’d like to hear them.”
“Well, let me think... I’m sure I know a few.”
Elulu and the maid exchanged a look, then clasped hands firmly.
They were worlds apart in station—one a foreign princess, the other a servant—but having witnessed the tender scene between Sami and Gunther, they had found common ground as girls who delighted in gossiping about romance. Together, they headed for the castle’s visitor cafeteria, where they nibbled sandwiches and indulged in girl talk.