"
"What will you be doing, Lady Mine?"
"I'll look through the catalog the High Priest lent me in the library and think about the classification."
When I entered the library, Fran had stacked the materials between the door and the desk to create a pathway. He seated me down, placed the two wooden tablet copies of the catalog the High Priest had lent us on the desk, and quickly left the library.
After watching Fran's back disappear, I began going through the High Priest's catalog alone in the now-empty library. The wooden tablets were inscribed with tiny, densely packed characters, written in a way that assumed the reader already knew what was what.
"Let's see... Items the High Priest brought into the temple... Wait, there's so many?!"
The quantity was enormous — the chain-locked books made up roughly half of the total, and the High Priest's personal belongings filled more than an entire shelf's worth of materials.
...What exactly is the High Priest?
At the very least, I now fully understood that he was staggeringly wealthy. He had mentioned before that he'd entered the temple due to certain circumstances, but his family must have been extraordinarily upper-class and rich. Otherwise, there was no way he could have brought five books into the temple — books that each cost several large gold coins.
Books with leather-bound covers adorned with gold and jewels were normally not personal belongings; they should have been family heirlooms. Yet the High Priest had brought five of them into the temple as personal items and chained them up for public viewing. Just learning this was enough to send my opinion of the High Priest soaring.
"For him to bring in so many books and show them to us... the High Priest is just too nice..."
After looking through the catalog and assigning rough classification numbers, I had planned to figure out the shelf labeling based on the distribution of categories. But then I hit a sudden wall.
"...Where should magic-related materials be classified?"
The problem was that the Japanese Decimal Classification didn't have a category for magic. Yet because magic was a field only nobles could handle, or perhaps because it required extensive research, magic-related materials were the single largest category in the High Priest's personal collection.
I wrote out the Japanese Decimal Classification on a writing board.
0 General (Libraries, Library Science, Encyclopedias, General Periodicals, Serials, Organizations, Journalism, Collections) 1 Philosophy (Philosophy, Psychology, Ethics, Religion) 2 History (History, Biography, Geography) 3 Social Sciences (Politics, Law, Economics, Statistics, Society, Education, Customs & Manners, National Defense) 4 Natural Sciences (Mathematics, Physics, Medicine) 5 Technology (Engineering, Industry, Home Economics) 6 Industry (Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries, Commerce, Transportation, Communications) 7 Arts (Fine Arts, Music, Theater, Sports, Miscellaneous Arts, Entertainment) 8 Language 9 Literature If I were thinking about making magic tools, then 5 Technology would make sense. Or should I treat it the same way as 4 Natural Sciences — mathematics and physics? Even introducing a classification system, differences in common sense made things surprisingly difficult.
"I'll figure it out after looking at the materials. They must be in there somewhere..."
I stared at the materials scattered across the floor, and couldn't suppress a gleeful smile spreading across my face.
Because this was magic! Real, genuine magic! Just imagining what might be written in those materials made my heart race with excitement!
Since everything other than the magic-related materials could be classified fairly straightforwardly, I decided that once everyone arrived, I'd have them first stack the materials to create walkways. Then I'd assign first-level classification numbers to the shelves and roughly sort everything accordingly. I wanted to get at least that much done today.
Later, I could take my time compiling the bibliographic information into a proper catalog and arrange everything neatly by the detailed classification numbers. The second-level classification would need significant modifications before it could be practical.
"Oh my! What on earth is this?!"
Hearing that familiar shriek, I turned toward the door and found
Behind Delia stood the other attendants and the three grey priests, all of their faces showing utter shock at the library's condition.
"This is insane. I don't know who did it, but whoever dared to pull this on Lady Mine has a death wish..."
Hearing
"Fran, what's wrong? Is your stomach hurting?"
"...When I think about the culprit's fate, I feel a little queasy."
I never imagined Fran would be so worried about the culprit's fate that his stomach would actually hurt. I placed a hand on my cheek and tilted my head.
"If it's making Fran's stomach hurt, should I cancel the bloody purge? I thought it would be a good opportunity to make an example of our enemies, boost our allies' morale, and demonstrate my authority as their leader..."
"W-Wait, Lady Mine! That wouldn't boost anyone's morale! It would freeze them with terror!"
At my words, the attendants and grey priests all went pale and scrambled backward in unison. Only Fran came forward, knelt before me, took both my hands, and began to plead.
"Please, you must cancel it. You already possess more than enough intimidation."
"Do I?"
Fran's expression was so earnest that I decided to cancel the bloody purge. Besides, tidying up the library was far more fun than any purge, so it really didn't matter.
"Very well, I'll put the bloody purge on hold for now. Today, we'll clean up this place. First, let me explain the procedure. Be very careful not to step on any materials. Sort the paper materials from the wooden tablets and stack them on this desk. Start by clearing a path toward the bookshelves."
"Yes!"
With a unified response, I nodded lightly and explained the subsequent work.
"Fran and I will sort through the stacked materials, and then you'll arrange them on the shelves I call out. The top shelf of the left bookcase is 0, the second shelf down is 1, and leave the bottom shelf empty. For the right bookcase, the top two shelves are 2, and the one below that is 3. Any remaining materials will be sorted last. The order on each shelf doesn't matter — just make sure you put them on the right numbered shelf. All right, let's begin."
Everyone started gathering the materials scattered across the floor, but only Fran sat down beside me. Having been assigned a different task from the others, he blinked with a confused expression.
"Lady Mine, what exactly is classification?"
"This! It's Mine's Decimal Classification. Look at this and decide which number each material belongs to. If you're unsure, just call out and I'll tell you."
I handed Fran the writing board and explained the classification method.
Meanwhile, the gathered papers and wooden tablets were piling up on the desk. Fran and I quickly went through the materials within reach, sorting them into first-level classification groups.
"
"Certainly, Lady Mine."
It was expected, but since these were temple materials, the proportion of 1 Philosophy items was inevitably large. 2 History and 3 Social Sciences were also fairly numerous. What particularly caught my eye were the statistical records noting harvest yields and offering quantities from various rural villages. However, everything was old — there was nothing recent at all.
There were no materials corresponding to 8 Language, nor any for 9 Literature.
"Delia, there's paper stuck in the scroll! Be careful!"
"Don't sneak papers in while I'm rolling them up, ugh!"
Perhaps stung by the criticism, Delia removed the paper and shouted as she rolled the scroll along. Rosina giggled as she picked up the papers scattered around her.
Since the scrolls had a clearly designated place, we didn't even need to classify them. The moment the scrolls were moved aside, the floor beneath opened up.
"Gil, hand these materials to the priest standing near shelf 2."
"Got it!"
The scattered materials were all in non-book formats. Moreover, the document sizes weren't standardized, so everything was different.
I wished I had a large supply of boxes and files for organizing documents. Watching the grey priest struggling with a sheepskin parchment that kept flopping over, I realized I didn't even have a single bookend.
"Maybe I should ask
"Lady Mine?"
"No, it's nothing. Rosina, please hand that wooden tablet to that grey priest over there. Tell him to use it as a weight on the parchment."
"Certainly."
Although the entire library appeared to be in complete disarray, the shelf containing the valuable books that required both the High Bishop's and the High Priest's keys to open remained untouched. There were no signs of the chain-locked books being damaged or handled roughly. It really was just a petty nuisance — scattering materials everywhere and nothing more.
Because both bookshelves had been emptied and the materials were spread over such a wide area, it seemed like an enormous quantity. But once the scrolls were cleared and the materials were gathered and stacked, the actual volume turned out to be surprisingly manageable. The papers and wooden tablets that Fran and I needed to sort through weren't actually that many.
"...Is that it?"
Finding it strange that there were no more papers or wooden tablets on the desk, I tilted my head.
"Yes. It was cleaned up faster than expected. This classification system really does make tidying up efficient."
"Right now, I've only done a rough first-level sort. Next, I plan to further subdivide everything to make materials easier to find. I'll need classification numbers tailored to the actual conditions here, so assigning the numbers will be tedious, but there's a real sense of accomplishment in it."
Fran smiled with relief and stood up, so I rose as well and looked around. All the materials that had been scattered across the floor were now neatly housed on the shelves.
However, the shelf that was supposed to hold the High Priest's materials was completely empty. Even though the cleanup was finished, not a single one of the magic-related materials from the High Priest's catalog could be found.
"Lady Mine, is something wrong?"
Snapping back to reality at Fran's voice, I saw the attendants and grey priests lined up, waiting for my words. I needed to clearly announce that the work was done and dismiss them.
"Thanks to everyone's help, the library has been cleaned up. Thank you all. You've been a great help."
Fran said he would return the library key to the High Priest, so I decided to accompany him. I wanted to ask about the magic-related materials.
"I should report today's results and return this catalog, shouldn't I? Besides, I have a question I'd like to ask."
"What question would that be?"
"The materials listed in this catalog couldn't be found anywhere. If you're storing them separately, that's not a problem, but if they've gone missing, that would be quite serious, so I came to report it."
"They're in my room, so there's no issue. ...But tell me, Mine. Out of all those materials, how did you notice the catalog materials were missing?"
"Because I was bracing myself to assign classification numbers to them, and there wasn't a single one."
Beyond that, these were genuine magic-related materials I had never seen in my previous life. I had been eagerly awaiting the chance to read them, so anyone would have noticed their absence.
Also, while the High Priest called it "all those materials," from the perspective of someone with memories of her previous life, it really wasn't that much.
"What is this 'classification number'?"
"It's Mine's Decimal Classification. It's used for organizing books."
As I answered, I took out the writing board. The classification chart I had written to show Fran was still on it.
"I have absolutely no knowledge about magic, so I've been debating whether to classify it under 4 Natural Sciences or 5 Technology. I was planning to decide after looking at the actual content of the materials."
"Oh my... This is quite interesting. Did you come up with it yourself?"
The High Priest narrowed his eyes and looked at me with suspicion. That suspicion was well-founded — there was no way someone like me could produce something this elegant.
"No. It's based on Melvil Dewey's Dewey Decimal Classification. From that, the Japanese Decimal Classification was created with various modifications. And then I took that and modified it further myself. So it's Mine's Decimal Classification."
"Melvil Dewey? Who is that and where is he from? I've never heard of him."
"He's already passed away, so I've never met him directly either. But more importantly, High Priest, where would you classify magic?"
Holding up the writing board, I consulted the High Priest about the classification number for magic. He appeared surprisingly deep in thought, muttering things like "The fundamentals of basic magic would be..." and "But when it comes to magic tools..." while softly lowering his gaze.
While I waited excitedly for his answer, the High Priest seemed to snap back to reality, cleared his throat with a cough, and shook his head.
"I can only say what the sources indicate, and there's no need for you to worry about it."
"...Why not? I need classification numbers in order to organize things properly?"
As I tilted my head, the High Priest casually looked around the room, then set down a magic tool to prevent eavesdropping with a soft clink. I picked it up and waited for his words.
"Magic is something only nobles are permitted to handle. I have no intention of placing magic-related materials in the library where blue priests who haven't graduated from the Noble Academy could see them."
So the materials stacked in the hidden room were indeed magic-related. As I came to that realization, something else struck me. The way the High Priest had just spoken, it was as if blue priests weren't nobles.
"Something only nobles are permitted to handle... But blue priests are nobles, right?"
"To be precise, they are those who carry noble blood and possess mana. Without graduating from the Noble Academy, they are not recognized as full-fledged nobles in noble society."
"Huh? But I heard that blue priests and priestesses returned to noble society..."
They must have been taken in by their birth families and then gone to the Noble Academy or something. According to what I'd heard from grey priests at the orphanage and workshop about their previous masters, among the blues who returned to noble society, there must have been some who were already adults — both priests and priestesses.
"Because their numbers had declined so drastically and noble blood was desperately needed, exceptions were made to allow enrollment in the Noble Academy for a limited period. However, the fundamental premise remained that those who didn't graduate from the Noble Academy were not recognized as nobles in noble society. Even without entering the Academy, they still had their families' power, so from a commoner's perspective, there probably wasn't much difference between a priest and a noble... but the distinction was clear."
From my knowledge of my previous life and the behavior of the blue priests, I had simply assumed that anyone who inherited noble blood was considered a noble. If graduation from the Noble Academy was a requirement, then none of the blue priests in the temple were actually nobles.
"...So you're not a noble unless you graduate? Noble society is stricter than I expected."
"Is it? They wield the tremendous power of mana. How to control it, how to use it, how to craft magic tools — those who know nothing of these things cannot be granted the title of noble. That's all there is to it. ...Therefore, no matter how much you cry and beg, I cannot show you the materials. I have no intention of showing you. That is my final answer."
He drove home one last massive nail at the end. Apparently, the High Priest had noticed from the very beginning that my greatest wish was to see the magic-related materials.
"High Priest..."
"I said no, and that means no. Go back to your room."
Glared at with eyes as cold as ice, I returned the magic tool, let my shoulders droop, and left the room.
...Tch. I really wanted to see those magic materials. That mean old High Priest.
When I returned to my room,
"Welcome back, Mine."
"Tuuli, Lutz. Sorry to keep you waiting."
I sat down in a chair in the small hall with them.
"Delia, could you make us some tea?"
"Certainly."
After watching Delia head toward the kitchen, I turned to the two of them.
"Tuuli, Lutz, is the book done?"
"The kids at the orphanage had never even touched a needle before, so we only managed to finish about half of them."
Tuuli nodded vigorously at Lutz's words.
"Exactly. I was the most surprised that every single one of them had never held a needle. ...But since they've never used a needle and don't have sewing supplies, they can't fix things even when their hems come undone. Wouldn't it be better to teach them?"
The children working at the workshop wore cheap secondhand clothes meant for forest trips. As a result, it wasn't uncommon for sleeves or hems to come undone. Unlike the children from the lower town, however, these kids had no way to repair them.
I wasn't good enough at sewing to teach anyone, and I figured once clothes were completely worn out, we could just use them as rags and buy new secondhand clothes.
"...If Tuuli's willing to teach them, I'll prepare sewing supplies. I basically shouldn't be working here anyway, and I'm not very good at it..."
"That's true — learning from Mine wouldn't exactly help them improve. But even just being able to do a simple hem would make a huge difference, so you should prepare the sewing supplies for her."
Tuuli probably couldn't believe that I couldn't even cook or sew — the absolute basics of daily life. She wore the same worried expression she'd had when I asked her to be the cooking class instructor.
"Thanks to you and
"Knowing something is always better than not knowing."
Being teased about being called "Teacher" made Tuuli purse her lips slightly. Then she looked down.
"...The kids here can sort of read, right? They were picking up books and reading bits and pieces while we were binding them. I was a little shocked that even the small children at the orphanage can read."
"They learned from playing karuta. You should join in and play with them next time."
Karuta seemed to be incredibly helpful for learning to read. Since the children's
However, I didn't think it would be as accessible to people outside the temple. First, I wanted to show it to
"Lutz, are the presentation copies ready to give to Benno?"
"Yeah, I brought the copies for the person who helped us out."
Lutz pulled out four books with a proud expression. I picked up the properly four-hole-bound books and was filled with delight.
"Wow, thank you! Let's go deliver them to Benno together tomorrow."
"Sure."
"...I'll have to write another meeting request letter to the High Priest."
Benno was someone I could basically drop in on anytime, and even if he wasn't there, I could always leave things with
But if I wanted to give something to the High Priest, I had to start with a formal meeting request letter. Since it took several days to arrange an appointment, I needed to send that letter well in advance.
"Lady Mine, shall I have Rosina draft it for you?"
It was phrased as a question, but from Fran's expression and the subtle hints in his words, I could sense that he wanted to test whether Rosina could actually handle the task. Having an attendant draft correspondence was part of their job, and a letter to the High Priest — who knew the full situation — would make good practice. Just like when I had done it, if she made any mistakes, he would no doubt carefully correct them and return the draft.
"All right. Let's leave it to Rosina."
"As you wish."
Rosina gave a slight start, but then smiled gracefully and accepted. I needed to learn from that composure.
I happened to notice Delia watching Rosina with an envious look. She seemed unable to hide how much she longed to be given new responsibilities.
Since Gil was involved with the workshop, every new product naturally brought him new work. And Fran's workload grew or shrank depending on my range of activities. Rosina wasn't particularly skilled at clerical work, but she was certainly capable, so Fran's duties were naturally being shifted her way and increasing. Only Delia, who never left this room, seemed to be stuck standing still.
...She was trying hard to learn her letters and numbers, too.
Gil had the orphanage children as competitors, so he was learning faster. Even though she was making an effort, she couldn't feel herself improving, and I understood her frustration. I frequently felt the same way, watching Lutz — the same age as me — pull further ahead.
...Was I not praising her enough?
Gil made it easy by clearly reporting his results and openly asking for praise, but Delia performed her daily tasks with a matter-of-fact expression, making it hard to find the right moment to acknowledge her. Doing daily work conscientiously was the most important and impressive thing of all, but ironically, there were few opportunities to specifically praise it.
"Delia, this is the copy for the High Priest. Please put it in the desk drawer."
"Oh, yes. Understood."
On top of what Delia had already taken, I placed one more book in her hands.
"And this is for everyone. Could you leave it here in the small hall? I'd love it if you were the first to read it and give me your thoughts."
"...Me, first?"
I nodded slowly at Delia, who blinked in surprise.
"Yes. Gil helped with the workshop production, but without you, this room couldn't have been maintained. I want you to be the first to see the finished product."
"Y-You're right! It's thanks to me, after all!"
Delia tossed her chin upward, hugged the book to her chest, and hurried up the stairs. Everyone who watched her go had soft, gentle smiles on their faces.
Where should I really classify magic, though?
Oh, and Delia's back! She hasn't had a scene in the room for a while, so she hasn't had much screen time, but she's doing great.
Next time: presenting the books to Benno.