ALL NOVEL Chapter 12.1
"I'm sorry, how much?" I asked in an incredulous voice, what the gnome just told me couldn't be right, I was sure if it.
"One hundred thousand valis for a day entry, no haggling." The old gnome told me in a bored voice from behind the counter.
"What's wrong newbie-kun?" Tiona asked from inside the library.
I scratched the back of my head in both embarrassment and confusion, what did I ever do to this gnome dude?
I mean, I know things are more expensive in Orario, but that’s just ridiculous.
"Sorry Tiona but I just don't have this kind of money. One hundred thousand valis is more than I could make in a month."
"What, how much?" She asked in a surprised voice.
Ha, I knew the damn midget had to have been fucking with me. I narrowed my eyes at him and prepared myself to argue,
"I just pay their annual fees so I never knew how much their day pass was." She said as she came back to talk with us, “I didn’t think it was that cheap.”
Or maybe not, fuck.
The gnome suddenly did a one eighty and became much more respectful. "Greetings my lady, gathering and caring for all our books in Orario is a very expensive endeavor so we must charge according."
"Ah, don't worry about that, I'll just pay his entry today then, come on inside Newbie-kun."
Noooooooo! Can't you just give me that money instead, damn it? That's more than I made even with the vouivre!
"But…but" I was speechless, despite watching the anime I had forgotten how ridiculous a first class adventurer could be.
"Oh don't worry newbie-kun, that's nothing to me, now comes on, let's go."
That's not the fucking point, damn woman!
Unable to argue I let the Amazon drag me inside the library, from behind me I heard the gnome waving in a cheerful voice, "have a nice day, dear customer."
"You know, I'd really have preferred you just give me that money instead."
"Don't be silly; what kind of hero would you be if I just gave you money?" Tiona asked in a confused voice, "No, you've got to gather your own money for adventuring; it's in the hero's journey."
"The mentor also dies in that if you'll remember."
"That's only if they're an old man Newbie-kun, you've got to read more books"
Well damn, she had me there. But still… so much money.
Grabbing me by the arm Tiona led me through the building and between the hundreds of book cases until we stopped at the border between the history and fiction sections.
She proceeded to grab books off the shelves one after another and pile them in front of me, acting with as much enthusiasm as when she was fighting.
"You've got to read this one, and here, the story of the hero Yulia, this one too, the legend of Galmuza!"
She kept putting book after book on top of the table, to the point I had to raise an eyebrow; did she think I could read it all today? Hundreds of books in a day were too much even for a bookworm like me.
Also, if they charged so much just for a day pass, how much would I have to pay to take one of those books home?
"Tiona, I don't think I can read so much in a single day."
The Amazon froze with a devastated look on her face. With an exaggerated sigh and many longing glances at every book, she started taking books back to their places.
After a few moments, the mountain had been reduced to only a dozen books and Tiona reduced to biting at her nails in utter indecision, every once in a while she’d take a book, look at the cover, and lay it back on the table, unable to eliminate it too.
Her pout as she glared at the books was quite cute.
Finally, I decided to help her.
“How about this, show me your favorite first?” I asked with an amused smile.
“Alright!” her frown disappeared as soon as it had come and she picked up a single book from the pile, presenting it to me as if it was some kind of treasure. “The legend of the Argonaut, you’ve got to read it!”
The book had a simple leather cover with golden letters in front, I still wondered how I could read Koine without ever having learned the language, but I wasn’t looking a gifted horse in the mouth.
If my asshole of a ROB wanted to make life a little easier by giving me knowledge of a different language, good for me.
When I first found out the thing had put new knowledge inside my mind I had freaked the hell out, but there was just far too much to worry about without wondering if I’m even still myself or just a collection of memories created by a bored eldritch being.
It made life much easier for me if I didn’t even consider it.
“Thanks.” I said and took the book.
Putting both hands behind her back Tiona bent forward and just… stared at me with huge eyes filled with expectation, her head tilting from one side to the other as I opened the book and looked it over.
“You do know I won’t be able to read this entire thing in one sitting right?”
“Mou, I know that, but you have to tell me about it next time we meet alright?” Tiona sat down on the table with her own book, but she didn’t open it and continued to stare at me.
It was making me uncomfortable.
With a sigh, I pulled the chair right beside me closer and offered. “Do you want to read it with me?”
“YES!”
Jumping up, the Amazon winced when she received a glare from one of the gnome librarians.
Sitting by my side, the girl pulled her chair closer and leaned over my body to look at the book. Adjusting my position I made myself comfortable and started reading the book.
Reading with the sharingan was simultaneously incredibly easy and incredibly frustrating. If I looked at the page in its entirety for even a single second I’d be able to remember every word writing in it, it made my reading speed incredibly fast.
It didn’t mean I’d be able to make sense of all the words I read instantly, it still took a few seconds for my mind to process and understand everything I had read, but I wouldn’t even need the book for that.
Still, with Tiona reading by my side, I’d have to wait until she was done too before turning the page.
Eventually, I found a compromise by focusing on one line at a time and taking my time digesting what I’d read before moving on. It was hard at first, but Tiona was a fun companion and it was funny to watch her reactions as she read.
Almost an hour later we had read the first eleven chapters and I decided to take a break. Marking the page I had stopped at I stretched my limbs and got up.
“So, so, tell me, what do you think of it?” She asked as she eagerly poked at my shoulder with a finger.
“I like it, can’t say it’s an epic masterpiece, but it’s very enjoyable and funny.”
The Argonaut’s story wasn’t something like Lord of The Rings or other epic works; it was more like the comedic light novel you read to relax. Still, that didn’t mean it was bad, quite the contrary.
“Right! Right! The Great Ballad is much better written, but I can’t help but love the Argonaut’s story more.” She nodded with a huge smile on her face.
I looked from her face to the book and smiled, it had been a very relaxing hour and I hadn’t realized how much I needed to take a break like this since arriving in this world.
I did love fighting in the dungeon, but staying so tense all the time was taking its toll on me.
Damn, now that I thought about it, I really had been acting a little off since coming here, too eager to throw myself at danger while also too afraid of the gods.
In hindsight, taking what I knew of mythology as truth for a manga that was only loosely based on it is a very stupid thing to do. Heck, it was quite possible most of what we knew of Norse mythology in the modern age was wrong too.
I blame the ROB, the first being I ever meet that could be called divine had almost destroyed my very soul by being careless, then thrown to the 18 floor of the dungeon as a level 1, was it any wonder I thought the worst of other gods?
Not that I’d change my approach completely, that would be stupid, but maybe I could tone down my fear and aversion, at least a little bit.
Still don’t want anything to do with Freya and Apollo though; those two were assholes in the anime too from what I remember.
Cracking my neck I looked around and had an idea.
“Say, how about we continue to read the book together?” Tiona looked at me in confusion and I explained. “I doubt I’d get enough money to rent it anytime soon, but if you do it, we could read it together, I think I’d be more fun this way too.”
“Really? That’d be great!” She grabbed the book, making sure not to mess up with the page marking. “I’ll go rent this right away!”
“Wait, do you mind if we stay in the Library a little bit longer?” I asked feeling a little bit guilty, but she had paid for my entrance because she had wanted tonot because I asked, “I want to look at some other books while we’re here if that’s okay.”
“Sure, I was planning on staying until lunch anyway.” She happily waved at me and dashed towards the front entrance, receiving a few more glares along the way.
I sighed and consoled myself, I had never asked for it, it wasn’t like I was manipulating her for personal gain, there was nothing to feel guilty about, personal gains were just a happy side effect, not something I had been going for.
Nodding to myself I hurried to the nearest Librarian and asked the little Gnome. “Hey, do you guys have books on the Dungeon, its monsters or magic? Ah, and do you have books on Orario’s current familias?”
“We obviously cannot lend or rent any grimoires, but we do have many books on magical theory and the Dungeon.”
“Alright, could you guide me to some of the beginning level explanations, and maybe a bestiary too?”
The Gnome lowered the little clipboard he had been using and gave a frustrated sigh, with a practiced and professional voice he motioned for me to sit down, “Of course dear costumer, if you could wait a moment I’ll bring the book directly to your table.”
“Right, thanks.” I nodded and sat back down.
While waiting, I took a few of Tiona’s chosen books and started reading their first chapters to see what they were all about, marking three as interesting before the Amazon arrived back.
“Did you like anything else?”
“Yeah, I think I already know which one I want to read after finishing Argonaut’s” I told her and she peeked at the books I had selected, then nodded in approval.
Tiona herself decided to browse the library looking for a new story to devour. Twenty minutes later the Gnome arrived with almost two dozen books and put them in front of me.
“Those are the most accurate books on magical theory, the Dungeon and its monsters and Orario’s situation,” he finished pilled them up at my side with a tired voice, “Please leave all books on the table when you’re done and don’t try to put them in the shelves out of order.”
“Right, thanks a lot.” I tried to be polite to the grumpy little man.
“It was my pleasure costumer.” He said between his gritted teeth and fled before I could ask anything else.
I just shrugged and picked up the first book, ‘introduction to acquired magic’, turning to the next books they read ‘introduction to congenital magic’ and ‘A complete guide to dungeon monsters: Upper floors bestiary’. With a wide smile and holding on an evil laugh I opened it on the first page and started reading.
Damn I loved the sharingan.
