B stood in front of the wide wooden desk, her large, void-black pupils looking up at the broad-shouldered librarian with the nerdy glasses.
Now that she knew reading inside the library was completely free, a second crucial question popped into her mind. Walking back and forth between Blackwood Cemetery and Oakhaven Village took about twenty to thirty minutes each way. While the walk wasn't terribly long, to someone whose entire life goal was to do as little physical movement as humanly possible, making that trip every time she wanted to read sounded like an unbearable chore.
"Can I take books home with me?" B asked, her high-pitched, child-like voice coming out soft and calm. "Borrowing, I mean."
Reed, who was still trying to process the fact that this seemingly frail white-haired girl was living inside a dangerous Calamity zone, quickly adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat.
"Ah, yes," Reed said, forcing a polite, librarian smile onto his face. "Borrowing is permitted for all residents. You can borrow up to five books at a single time."
B's ears perked up slightly. Five books at once? That was a solid stash of reading material.
"Is there a time limit?" B inquired.
"Yes. The standard borrowing period is three days," Reed explained, pointing his finger toward a small rule card printed on the counter. "You must bring the books back on or before the third day. If you miss the deadline, there is an overdue fine of three Vicks per book for every day that you are late."
B paused, her mind quickly doing the math.
Three Vicks per book for every late day. If she borrowed five books and forgot to return them for just two days, that would cost her thirty Vicks! Since she currently only had 17 Vicks left in her pocket, going over the deadline meant she would literally end up in debt to a library.
'A strict deadline with heavy monetary penalties...' B thought, her pale face turning slightly flat. 'Sounds like a corporate contract. I definitely have to make sure I return them on time.'
"Understood," B said with a small nod. "Three days. Five books max."
Without wasting another second, B turned around and shuffled into the aisles, carrying her massive tail of snow-white hair over her arm so it wouldn't drag along the polished wooden floorboards.
The library was quiet and well-organized, filled with tall wooden shelves that reached almost to the ceiling. B began her search, her sleepy eyes scanning the colorful spines of the books lining the rows.
Her hunt for entertainment produced several interesting finds.
In the fiction section, she found a small shelf dedicated to graphic picture books—manga. Most of them seemed to be action-packed shounen stories about young warriors swinging massive swords, fighting martial artists, or joining magic academies.
In the non-fiction section, her eyes landed on a heavy, leather-bound volume titled 'Ghosts and Geology: How Environmental Myths are Born.'
B pulled the heavy book off the shelf, flipping through the pages. The book explained how ancient rumors of ghosts, specters, and haunting spirits were actually just natural phenomena—like strange underground gas leaks, unusual wind patterns through caves, or optical illusions caused by moonlight reflecting off swamp mist.
B nodded in agreement as she closed the book.
'Of course,' B thought to herself, feeling a wave of logical comfort. 'Ghosts aren't real. It's just bad weather, wind, and wild imagination.'
Back in her previous world on Earth, B had actually been a massive coward when it came to scary things. Hearing a spooky ghost story late at night would genuinely shiver her timbers, making her keep her apartment lights on for hours. Knowing that the weird whispers in the cemetery were just unusual wind patterns from the surrounding hills made her feel much better about her night patrols.
Finally, in the web-novel and modern story section, B discovered a thick fantasy book with a brightly illustrated cover. The title read The Flesh Bender Attends the Academy. (WINK WINK ;3)
B tilted her head, staring at the strange title. It looked like a wildly creative story about a bizarre protagonist using flesh-shaping abilities inside a magic school.
'Looks ridiculous,' B thought, sliding the book into her growing pile. 'Which means it will probably be very fun to read on my couch.'
She gathered her selected books in her arms, carefully counting them. She had picked out three novels, one non-fiction history book, and two volumes of a sword-fighting manga. That was six books in total, one more than the five-book borrowing limit.
B looked down at the two manga volumes resting on top of her stack.
'Instead of taking both manga home,' B decided lazily, 'I'll just sit down here and read one of them right now. Then I can borrow the other five.'
She carried her stack over to a quiet reading table near the wide glass windows in the corner of the room.
Meanwhile, back at the front reception desk...
The moment B turned the corner into the back aisles, Reed immediately dropped beneath the high wooden counter, ducking into the cramped footwell under the desk.
His friendly librarian smile vanished instantly, replaced by a sharp, deadly serious expression. He reached under the bottom drawer, pulled out a encrypted black communication device, and pressed the rapid-dial button.
Beep-boop-beep.
The device connected instantly, a quiet burst of static echoing from the speaker before a familiar female voice spoke through the line.
/Reed? Is that you?/ Agent Martha—the stern baker woman from down the street—asked in a hushed, urgent tone. /What's happening? Why are you calling on the emergency frequency?/
"She's here," Reed whispered into the microphone, his eyes darting toward the gap in the wooden counter to make sure no visitors were nearby. "The girl you reported yesterday... she just walked right into the library."
There was a sudden, sharp intake of breath over the radio.
/What?!/ Martha hissed. /The white-haired girl from Blackwood Cemetery? What is she doing there? Is she attacking? Did she unleash a spectral wave?/
"No," Reed replied, rubbing his temples with a tired sigh. "She asked if reading was free, inquired about our late-book fine policies, and is currently browsing the manga section."
Martha went completely silent on the other end for three long seconds.
/Did you use your True Vision on her?/ Martha demanded, her voice rising slightly. /Did you see her true form?/
"I used it the second she stepped through the front door," Reed confirmed, his voice dropping low. "And... I didn't see anything, Martha. There is no hidden demon. There is no high-tier ghost illusion. She's literally just a fifteen-year-old girl. Her soul is so tiny and weak that a strong gust of wind looks like it could blow her away."
/That's impossible!/ Martha argued sharply. /Reed, you know as well as I do that Blackwood Cemetery sits on top of an ancient Calamity burial ground! The pure ghost energy leaking from those graves is so concentrated that a normal human civilian would suffer organ failure within six hours of sitting in that cabin! How could a frail fifteen-year-old kid survive a single night there, let alone sleep through it?!/
"I know!" Reed whispered back, feeling a headache coming on. "I don't understand it either! But my True Vision doesn't lie. She radiates zero curse energy, zero malice, and zero threat."
Before Martha could reply, a third, heavy voice joined the encrypted radio call—the voice of the Aegis Sanctorum Regional Director.
/Agent Reed, Agent Martha,/ the Director's voice cut through the static with absolute authority. /I have been listening to your reports. High Command has analyzed the situation at Site-07./
"Director Vance!" Reed straightened up beneath the desk. "What are HQ's orders?"
/Given that the target displays no immediate aggression and that Agent Reed's True Vision confirms no active demonic core, we will NOT initiate a direct tactical strike on Blackwood Cemetery at this time,/ Director Vance commanded coldly. /A full assault could trigger an unwanted energy explosion near Oakhaven Village./
"So we just let her stay there?" Martha asked, sounding deeply concerned.
/For now, yes,/ Vance ordered. /Agent Reed, Agent Martha, you are both assigned to joint surveillance detail. Keep a close eye on her whenever she enters the village. Observe her habits, identify who or what placed her in that cemetery, and report any sudden spikes in spectral energy immediately. If she shows any signs of Calamity awakening... execute containment protocols at once. Is that clear?/
"Understood, Director," Reed and Martha replied in unison.
Click.
The encrypted line went dead.
Reed let out a long, heavy breath, running a hand through his messy red hair. He slipped the black communication device back into its hidden compartment under the desk, dusted off his brown sweater vest, and slowly stood back up behind the reception counter.
He adjusted his nerdy glasses, taking a deep breath to compose himself before looking across the quiet library toward the corner reading table.
The moment his eyes landed on B, Reed's jaw dropped, and a thick vein popped on his forehead.
"What in the world is she doing...?" Reed muttered under his breath.
Over at the reading table by the window, B had decided that sitting normally in a straight wooden chair was far too uncomfortable for reading.
So, she had dragged a second heavy wooden chair over, placing it directly beside the first one. She had then laid her small body sideways across both chairs, resting her head on the backrest of one chair while her leather boots dangled off the edge of the other. Her floor-length white hair spilled over the wooden seats like a white tablecloth, and she was casually flipping through a page of her shounen manga, completely relaxed.
She had turned the library's official study chairs into a makeshift sideways couch.
Reed stomped out from behind his reception desk, marching straight over to the window corner with long, heavy strides.
"Excuse me! Little miss!" Reed called out, stopping right beside the table and gesturing at her ridiculous seating arrangement. "You cannot do that! Laying sideways across two chairs like a sofa is strictly against library rules! Please sit properly!"
B didn't even look up from her manga. She simply flipped to the next page, her soft, child-like voice echoing flatly in the quiet room.
"But my back hurts if I sit straight..." B mumbled lazily.
Reed pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a massive headache blooming behind his eyes.
How was he supposed to maintain covert surveillance on a potential apocalyptic threat when the 'threat' was currently breaking basic library furniture etiquette because her back felt lazy?
Author's Note
EliteToeCollector
Thanks for reading!