13 The Library (1/2)

The library reminded of a pantheon in design with white walls and marble columns, huge windows, and a grand staircase leading up to the entrance. Being the main library in the city, it was a magnificent building with six floors.

...Huh? Six floors? Hadn't it been five? Mandy had lurked in it for every day for almost two years in college, there was no way she would have mixed up the floor count.

”There's an... extra floor?” the ghost asked, squinting. That was not something you could mask in photos either.

Ian lowered the glasses just to check Mandy's words and... while the building didn't change outwardly in height, the placement of floors differed. Through the glasses, it looked like each floor was higher, without glasses each floor looked a bit shorter forming another floor.

”Spatial adjustment,” August confirmed. ”Expensive to set up, but a common type of barrier otherwise.”

Mandy knew too little about barriers to ask about the details, so she merely accepted it as it was. Yet, seriously, she had pretty much lived in this place but without her knowledge, magical people were reading magical books just on another floor all that time. She felt complicated about not noticing anything being odd at all.

Soon enough the group walked in the library building. As they headed down to the wardrobe, Mandy spotted a transparent sliding door and another staircase heading up from behind it. Ah, so here it was - a separate staircase to get to the elusive extra floor! She didn't recall ever noticing it before, though.

”Just how much of this is real, I mean...” Mandy asked, not knowing how to word it.

”If you remove the barriers, then the staircase ahead would lead up to a fifty centimeters high service floor with no windows in the middle between third and fourth floor,” August replied.

Ian lowered his glasses from time to time to check how things appeared to normal people. Rather than appearing as an open staircase with a transparent glass door in front - there was a dark opaque sliding door with two signs - toilets for the disabled and an emergency exit.

So the staircase was real and the extra floor was kind of real too. Different to Mandy's expectations, no one paid them any attention whatsoever as they passed the door leading to the staircase to this supposed 'service floor'. Yet neither August nor Ian looked even remotely similar to service personnel.

”Is there a reason no one minds us going there?” She asked.

”Misdirection charms,” August replied. ”Normies subconsciously avoid this section and lose interest in anyone or anything passing through. It's also a dead angle for security cameras and in photos, it shows up as an emergency exit and a toilet for the disabled.” He almost recited, covering his bases.

Mandy had a feeling August had prepared the answer in advance. Usually, you needed to pretty much pry the answer out piece by piece, which - she would go for! So it actually saved time that he gave a complete answer like this. Mandy felt impressed.

Ian also appreciated the info. ”How do they match up security footages?” he asked. As there was naturally a security camera outside and it would soon become clear that more people entered than appeared on other floors.

”No idea,” August replied with a shrug. ”Ask Kenneth.”

Mandy felt like August's replies to Ian's questions were far chillier than those to her own.

As they headed up there was the same sight as on any floor. A reception counter with a few librarians and three passages - two were open and unobstructed, the third was directly behind the counter and one would need to pass through to get there.

All the librarians had bright colored hair and bunny ears on their heads. They looked up noticing the people entering, but didn't say anything for now, even if a couple of them revealed a vary look upon spotting Mandy.

”I'd like access to the advanced sections,” August said as he walked up to the counter.

The librarian he was talking to passed him a black obsidian slate and August placed his hand on it.

She was looking at something below the counter and her eyes sparkled over. ”Garold August, platinum, is the group behind assisting you today?” Her tone was professional, yet there was an apparent amount of admiration in it on top. Other bunny eared librarians made similar expressions and all wariness towards Mandy poofed without a trace. In fact, now they cast immensely curious looks towards all of them.

”Yes,” August replied, not seeming either surprised or happy about this change in treatment.

Mandy didn't think they would be assisting, but that seemed to be how August could slip them all in. Lucky! Yet, if there was an advanced section, then there was also a basic section, wasn't there?

Ian's expression became thoughtful, even a tiny bit troubled at the looks directed at them. Chilli meanwhile had crossed her arms over the hem of Ian's pocket, lounging without care.

The librarian nodded and gave a fine black bracelet to August. As August put it on, it shrunk to fit his wrist, then transformed into a black tattoo. She looked towards the rest. ”Please register by placing your hand on the slate.”

Mandy followed the direction and did that - again, to her surprise her hand did not pass through the obsidian slate and like with August, the librarian passed her a black bracelet as well. It seemed like even ghosts could get tattoos.

Ian too got a bracelet tattoo and even Chilli had to put her hand on the slate. Ian and Mandy hadn't expected that to be the case, but apparently, Chilli herself had considered her own registration as obvious. Chili was given the same black bracelet as others, yet rather than Chilli dancing hula hoop with it, it shrunk forming a tiny tattoo on her wrist.

”If you have any questions, come here, otherwise - have a nice stay!” The librarian smiled at them all, before returning to do something behind the counter.

Mandy had expected them to at least ask their names at some point, but there were no questions like that coming. Was registration completed just by placing a hand on the slate? Just what kind of information passed through it? The librarian could read it was August just from that, but what about the rest of them, who weren't even guild members?

Mandy thought they would be slipping past the counter, but August turned to head right, so she followed after him, Ian did too.

Ian moved up his glasses to his head. Looking through them had started to make him dizzy. Even if it looked like a normal library part, there was a flickering space shifting sensation like everything was stretching, then shrinking, straight lines became curves, then straightened again, it reminded some of those psychedelic cartoons where buildings came to life. Without the glasses, though, things were normal. Ian guessed it had something to do with that 'spatial adjustment' thing.

”What did that black slate do?” Mandy whispered to August as she was used to being quiet in libraries.

”Read a tiny bit of your aether signature and registered you all as my assistants,” August replied with an amused smile, repeating the same thing the librarian had already said it would do.

”... How would they call any of us?” Mandy asked. It didn't sound like their names appeared anywhere or perhaps those could be taken out from those aether signatures?

August shrugged with a smile. ”You'll see.”

Mandy sighed. She hoped it wouldn't be 'Miss August's Garold's assistant'. It didn't look like August would tell her, though, so she turned her eyes to look around.

As they passed the entrance, a typical library came into view - bookshelves as far as eyes could see and some comfortable looking sofas by the windows. Also, some long tables where a student might sit and write or research. If there was something different about this library, though, then that was a lack of electric plugs, printers, scanners or copy machines. If not for modern furniture and visitors in modern clothing, it could pass off as a 19th-century library.

Rather than heading deeper in, August walked over to a wall by the entrance. The wall had a map drawn over it. Mandy would have guessed it was the layout of this floor, but it was somehow off - showing curved lines at places where there should be straight walls. Perhaps it had something to do with spatial adjustment - the floor did somehow seem to be far bigger than any floor she had been to before. The outer perimeter had a beige color, listing sections the same way any normal library would - history, biology, geography, etc. Mandy was interested to browse through these just to see how they differed from normal ones, doubting that they would keep duplicates from the normal side.

A bit deeper there were grayed out sections with more interesting topics such as - Native Astrals, Travelers, Exorcism, Magecraft, Elemental magic, Witchcraft, Alchemy. The deepest section was black with white letters marking the sections - the topics were the same as in the greyed out sections, but had the word 'advanced studies of' attached, in addition, there were also extra sections named - Lost crafts, Spatial studies, Cursed records, and Miscellaneous. If Mandy had to guess, the black sections were obviously advanced, greyed out - intermediate and beige ones - basic or elementary. She peeked at wrists of people in this section (beige) and she didn't spot any bracelet tattoos.

August waited for the group to look at the map, only when their eyes started to stray from it, he spoke up. ”I will be around the Miscellaneous section,” he started, pointing towards it. ”Don't bother me unless it's something urgent. First head to Native astrals section and find what you need, next - Witchcraft section for Ian and Elemental magic for Mandy.”

Mandy exchanged looks with Ian. Yet rather than commenting on it, both nodded.

”And Chilli?” the dustbun asked raising her hand.

”Protect Ian, don't let anyone come closer than a meter to him,” August said a very faint mischievous smile appearing.

Ian made a wry smile, scratching his cheek. Any man would feel complicated about being protected by a teeny-tiny girl.

”Roger!” Chilli accepted with gusto.

How was Chilli supposed to protect Ian? Mandy really wanted to ask, but, no, right - she could read on dustbuns and that might answer it. If she didn't know that Ian needed to hide his eyes, her inner narrator might have blown up at this point, although August was clearly up to no good there, so perhaps that wouldn't have happened in either case.

The more time she spent seeing August and Ian interact the more dead her inner narrator became. Delusions required blank spaces where the reader could insert various things, in life, where you could actually observe these 'blank spaces' or moments the stories skipped, you could only see that there was nothing there to insert.

Mandy had, at times, entertained ideas like that among pretty boy book characters or good looking actors, at times even good looking upperclassmen, but she had never spent enough time with any of them to see that there... totally was no sexual tension present!! It was like those moments in the morning with Ian being flustered were a lie!

In her disappointment, Mandy forgot that she was caught up in it the same way how Ian had - if she aimed to make up something among Ian and August she should have made up something between herself and August by the same token. Yet, in her own bookworm ways, Mandy could not imagine herself as a heroine in a story of that sort, thus an option like that slipped past without any acknowledgment on her part.

”Also - unless you want to get a nasty curse, avoid Cursed Records section. Those books curse anyone who touches them.” August said, snapping Mandy out of her disappointing musings about how her fictional ship sank before taking off.

Mandy nodded. Getting cursed didn't seem like a good idea. She could also see that August was looking at her while saying it like he was warning her in particular. Mandy could feel her cheeks starting to form a pout. It's not like she would have gone there... no, fine, she might have... Mandy's face relaxed in a resigned manner. If she said she wasn't curious it would have been a lie.

”That said, If you want to read on how to curse others you need Magecraft section, not Cursed Records section,” August added.

That line wasn't necessary... although Mandy could imagine someone making a mistake like that. Yet, if someone wished to curse someone, maybe it was better they got cursed themselves before they could harm others. Or... no, actually you could also research curses to dispel one. In that case, it was best if no confusion happened. But why would there be a whole cursed records section and why was it accessible to visitors like this?

Ian had nodded at both notions although he could tell that the warning wasn't directed at him. Chilli didn't appear to care at all.

”Any questions?” August asked, crossing his arms.

Mandy thought a bit, there were a ton of questions she'd like answers to, but none were so urgent that they couldn't wait. She recalled that she needed to first read on undead - that would be in Native Astrals section most likely, after that it was ”Illustrated encyclopedia of common astrals”, she aimed to look up dustbuns, wittens, lunaris(to learn more about the magical tea) and maybe that doll-like girl. She didn't know why she would be interested in elemental magic next, but if August said that, perhaps she would know after she reads on undead first. Since her plan was clear so far, she shook her head - no 'super urgent' questions on her part.

Ian also shook his head, there was a conflicted look on his face about something, but it seemed like whatever he was concerned about wasn't urgent enough to ask either.

With that August left them behind. According to the map, the Miscellaneous section was in the opposite side to Native Astrals.

Judging both from the direction where August walked to and the map, Mandy started moving. She glanced at Ian, seeing him looking troubled still. ”Is something wrong?”

”Ah...” Ian started to follow after Mandy. ”I don't exactly know how to look for things in libraries like this,” he admitted. ”In college, you searched for keywords in the database and it pointed you to books and their location, but this place doesn't even look like it has PCs.”

Mandy felt the generation gap between herself and Ian. From the words Ian used, especially the word 'database', she figured things had become very computerized. She was used to looking up keywords in catalog drawers and figured there would be some in the section they were heading to in case they couldn't find their books. Although, perhaps she knew the answer to Ian's worries even without that. ”If you mean to look up Witten, I think you need ”Illustrated Encyclopedia of Common Astrals”, which should be under the letter 'I' in the Native Astrals section,” she said.

”Yes, that's it,” Ian said, looking somewhat relieved. ”You've been here before?”

”No, but I'm from a generation before computers became as commonplace,” Mandy said, looking around as they walked ahead. The place was far from being crowded, but there were people around - half of them looked like regular humans, other half had some peculiarities like animal ears, unnaturally bright hair or eyes, etc. There were people of all ages here, starting from preschool kids ending with elderly folks.

Ian looked like he wanted to ask something, but he let out a soft breath and refrained.

Mandy didn't see the expression Ian made, but she noticed that there were wary looks flying in her direction, but as soon as they looked at her wrist, they calmed down almost instantly.

Mandy did know she was a so-called exorcism target, but why were so many people as wary - were ghosts actually far more frightening than she felt herself to be? Ian had almost screamed when he saw her first, but he had been fine a few minutes after and now he didn't seem to mind at all.

”August told me to find that book after I look up ghosts,” Mandy added, to explain why she knew the name of the book, turning back to Ian.

Ian cast a questioning look towards Mandy. ”Ghosts?”

”No harm in learning more about yourself, is there?” Mandy smiled.

Ian turned to look ahead. ”I thought August would know about that,” he said, looking uncertain. To him, it appeared like August properly responded to the questions Mandy had had.