13 The Library

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.

"Ah, he does, but he's too busy to teach others," Mandy said. It would be strange if he didn't know considering his mom was originally a ghost.

Ian hesitated a bit before asking: "Is August... kind of a bigshot?"

Mandy made a wry smile. "I would think so," she replied. Ian probably didn't know about guild rankings, but the guild master capturing August, the way August treated Grisham, and the reaction those librarians showed all hinted at it.

"I probably did something very stupid then," Ian said in despair.

Mandy thought about the Troyan horse glasses, that mischievous smile at Chilli protecting Ian and the dangerously neutral expression August had when inviting Ian to join them on this library visit. Ian was right, but... "What are you afraid of?" Mandy asked.

Ian tilted his head a bit in thought, then looked relieved. "He wouldn't really complain to my superiors, he's too busy for that," Ian came to a conclusion like that, resolving his own worries.

"If that's what you feared, then yep - that doesn't sound like August at all," Mandy confirmed. August would take revenge personally. If anything, August might praise Ian to someone he shouldn't praise Ian to... But telling that to Ian wouldn't do anyone anything good. What might do something good, though: "If you are troubled it might be a better idea to go to guild, though, August really is busy."

"Yes, I will do that next time," Ian said with a sincere look.

Good to be simple. Mandy kind of envied Ian, who didn't suspect a thing. Yet, yep, worrying about something inevitable wouldn't do him any good either way. It was better like this.

The two arrived at an arc with 'Native Astrals' written over it, yet before noticing the arc, they saw that there was something akin to a thin veil separating the space - similar to pale gray silk fabric. The two stopped walking. An elderly person with a gray tattoo over his wrist passed them by and walked through the veil like it wasn't there.

Following his example, Mandy and Ian did the same. Mandy guessed that without the tattoo one wouldn't be able to pass through and looking at the people inside the section that guess became a conviction - all of the people inside had either gray or black tattoos over their wrists. Further ahead there was a section with 'Advanced studies on Native astrals' and that one was separated by a black looking veil.

Mandy looked around to see if there was a Catalogue section, yet rather than finding one, her eyes were drawn towards a stand with an odd title. "Looking for something?" On the stand, there was a big, thick, heavy looking book. Mandy floated closer to it.

Chilli got out from Ian's pocket, starting to float near him, a resolute expression on her face. Mandy didn't notice Chilli's motions, Ian did, but he didn't read into it, not seeing anyone around.

'Catalogue' was written on the cover. Wouldn't it make it hard to add new keywords if your Catalogue was in a form like this? There also weren't any letters on the side of the book... hmm, well, Mandy was curious, so she opened the book. As she did, she saw a blank page, but words started appearing, floating up to the surface like a school of black fish emerging from milky white water.

'Recently encountered native astrals - Undead dryad, Dustbun,' there were more listed below, but Mandy removed her hand from the book in fright. As her hand lifted, the letters sunk back in the page. Mandy's eyes frantically moved over to Ian, but to her relief, he wasn't close enough to see the page.

"Did August forget to warn about this?" a familiar voice resounded next to Mandy.

Mandy and Ian both startled, turning their eyes over to someone who had popped up next to Mandy without any warning. Same height as August and almost the same face as well, except there was a charming smile on her lips - an expression August wouldn't show.

Chilli, however, had already floated to be somewhere partway between Ian and the newcomer, there was no surprise on her face.

"Sarah! How did you--" Mandy stumbled over her words a bit.

"Sneak up?" Sarah grinned. Just as she did, a tall and extremely beautiful red-haired man with blue eyes caught up to Sarah. He wasn't a ginger, his skin had a slight tan and the hair was too brightly red - it felt natural on him, both his eyebrows and eyelashes reflecting the color, but the tone shouldn't be natural. Yet, the same applied to Grisham and bunny-eared librarians too - Mandy guessed it was something normal people saw differently. Perhaps he was a blonde in normal eyes, there was a Scandinavian feeling to him.

Mandy turned her eyes over to the newcomer, then to Ian, noticing Chilli's actions. "Um, Chilli, Sarah is fine," she said, not being sure about the man behind her, though.

"Right," Sarah said. "Hello, I'm August's elder twin sister - Sarah, this is Gerald," Sarah snorted, before continuing: "Garold."

Gerald Galord, huh? What a naming sense. Mandy couldn't help but let a pitying look escape her.

"I'm adopted, by the way," the red-haired man said with a refreshing smile. No, dropped a bomb, more accurately, to someone he just met at that. Okay, that meant he had a ridiculous name by chance(or choice), not as a joke made by his parents.

Ian had lost his chance to introduce himself, but Chilli didn't seem to care about taking the topic back on track. "I'm Chilli!" The floating bunny girl said.

"Ian Spenser," Ian introduced himself since Chilli had broken the ice. "I'm indebted to August," he said with a trace of awkwardness about the wording. Indebted he might be, but he was also someone who had tried to blackmail August.

"I'm Mandy," the girl also added, she hadn't introduced herself to Gerald after all. "I haunt August, I guess," her expression was exactly the same as Ian's. Neither of them could drop a nice line of 'I'm August's good friend' or something. Mandy didn't know that her situation would make introductions this awkward, at least, she could be awkward together with Ian not alone - a comforting detail.

Sarah's eyes moved over to Ian's head, then a faint smile appeared as she spotted the glasses, she leaned closer to whisper to Mandy. "Is he like me?"

Mandy nodded. "Third generation, though," she added, but her eyes were stuck on Sarah's eyes. Right, she had wanted to see the marking.

Sarah smiled seeing that intense gaze. "You need to look from a little bit below to see it."

Gasp! Mandy didn't think she would be found out this easily. But since it was already like this, she floated herself a bit lower, trying to look in the same way August had looked at Ian's eyes and there it was - in the middle of Sarah's pupil there was a little five edged star.

"Take a look at Gerald too," Sarah invited.

"Are we parading markings?" Gerald asked in an easygoing manner as he stepped closer, lowering his head to the same level as Sarah's face so that Mandy would only need to look to see.

Mandy felt a little flustered at the notion of staring a beautiful man in the eyes like that, but her curiosity got the best of her. Rather than in the pupil, there was a pentagram drawn over the iris of his blue eyes. Yet the most surprising part about it was not what she saw, but what she... didn't feel? Hm? Eh? She was this close to a beautiful person but her ghastly heart made no movement whatsoever.

Sarah misread the confusion. "Gerald's an angel's egg not untral," she said.

Ah! The other type that had to hide their eyes. Although they both had revealed their eye markings to her awfully easy. Mandy wasn't exactly sure why, but she didn't mind being trusted. Rather, this part was a far smaller matter than Mandy's confusion towards her own lack of emotion towards being that close to another beautiful man. Would she feel something if she looked into Ian's eyes? For some reason, Mandy felt like she wouldn't and that frustrated her.

Ian had been standing there with a slightly awkward expression throughout this exchange, while Chilli was floating somewhere partway from Ian to Gerald. Mandy hadn't said Gerald was fine after all.

"You can read on those in the witchcraft section, if you'd like," Sarah added about Angel's egg, then her eyes stopped at Ian. "Do you also want to take a look?"

"I'm fine," Ian said with a polite smile.

"Where is August hiding, by the way?" Sarah asked looking back at Mandy.

Hiding? Mandy smiled at the wording, but that was probably it. Was if fine to tell, though? "Miscellaneous section, but he said not to bother him unless it was urgent," Mandy added.

"I see." Sarah looked up in a pondering motion. "Well, anyhow, make sure no one is around when using a Catalogue. Catalogues are helpful, but they read into you a bit. In your case, hmm - you two have a third rank dustbun here, have her watch the surroundings. Different to you two, she noticed me coming."

Just now the words August had said about not letting anyone get closer than a meter to Ian gained another meaning. Even if Ian used the Catalogue, as long as Chilli was there, no one would be able to sneak up without notice and with her... people seemed wary towards her, so Mandy doubted anyone other than Sarah would sneak up like that. And, hmm, unless something August did gave him away too obviously, even if Ian saw 'undead dryad' on his list he wouldn't make a connection. At least, from the way Grisham listed the suspicious things, it was apparent that it wasn't something so easy to tell.

"Thank you for the advice," Mandy thanked Sarah still.

"No problem, have to help out family," Sarah said with a grin.

Mandy made a conflicted smile. It was nice to be considered family, but she felt like there were so many misunderstandings under this assumption that, well, whatever. Mandy felt like she would receive damage if she tried to argue here. Speaking of family, though... "Is Gerald an adopted sibling?"

"No, the main family adopted me," Gerald joined the conversation. "Legally we would be third class cousins, so it's okay to marry."

Marry? Mandy tilted her head. Did they have that kind of relationship? Well, they did make a beautiful pair if they were one.

"Those silly elders sent him to seduce me," Sarah added with a casual shrug, shooting down the notion. "I mean, he has a good face, but after last time I clearly told them that I'm into money."

Last time? Mandy's eyes and mouth formed straight lines.

"No, last time you said you were into power, money was before that," Gerald said, completely casually, not seeming bothered about Sarah revealing his ulterior motives. He did also casually drop that he was someone powerful. "They worried you'd ask for a pretty face next," he also seemed fully aware of his own beauty. Good to be confident, huh?

Mandy's eyes and mouth were still forming straight lines, although one corner of her mouth was moving up at this point.

"But, like, logically they should sum up. Money and Power, no?" Sarah crossed her arms, not rejecting the part about the pretty face, though.

"I can ask about that. Maybe they buy me a Lamborghini or something," Gerald said, considering his options.

"Paladins can't go around in Lamborghinis," Sarah said with pursed lips.

Okay. So he was also a paladin. Meaning, church member? Judging from the fact that a powerful paladin wasn't rich, church probably didn't generously shower their members in money, or did it have something to do with moderation or renouncing worldly possessions?

Gerald looked sideways at that retort, confirming it had something to do with keeping the image.

August had said half the main family were in that area, but to think one of those was out to seduce Sarah... Mandy had feared of meeting a paladin due to August's warnings, but it didn't look like the guy even minded her being a ghost, there wasn't even a trace of the initial wariness random people showed when seeing her.

"Okay, whatever, let's go spook August," Sarah decided then, starting to walk. "See you later," she said to Mandy and Ian.

Mandy and Ian exchanged looks.

"...He has amazing family," Ian commented.

"I know, right?" Mandy replied absentminded. The part about spooking August bothered her a bit, but it's not like she could stop Sarah, so why worry about it.

Ian walked over to the Catalogue this time and Mandy glanced over at Chilli.

"Chilli heard," the dustbun girl replied. "I'll keep watch."

Mandy nodded and glanced at the page Ian opened. The page showed similar things to Ian, except, undead dryad was sixth on the list. Ian's list was 'Dustbun, Witten, Jeguze, Ghost, Faerie, Undead Dryad, Oracle, Bound spirit, Earth god, Other minor encounters.'

As the list finished generating, page numbers appeared by each item on the list.

Ian flipped the page. It had 'Dustbun' written as title and a list of books followed. The first book was 'Illustrated Encyclopedia of Common Astrals', a comment under it said. 'General information on what a Dustbun is and what to do with them', after it were books like 'Dustbun Breeding', 'Dustbuns as familiars,' 'How to keep your dustbun happy' and so the list went. Ian took out his phone to mark down the shelf where the first book was in a note, then flipped over to Witten. The same book was first on the list. After that Ian flipped to Ghost, glancing towards Mandy.

"Thank you," Mandy appreciated the gesture and looked over the page. "Introduction to Undead creatures," was the first title. Differently to Dustbuns, though, the following books had ominous titles like 'signs of undead infestation', 'cursed and dead zones and how to avoid them' and such. Mandy committed the location of the first book to her memory and nodded at Ian.

And so the two split up, for now, each heading to look for the book of their interest. Mandy didn't want to attract attention to undead dryad, but she hoped that the same book would have something mentioned about those too.

It didn't take long for Mandy to find the book - it was thick and bound in black leather. Next to it were two more books of the same title. Figuring it would be harder for others to sneak a peek at what she was reading if she was higher up, Mandy floated up to find a place on top of the shelf. It's not like she needed to lie down to read, but it was a bit of a habit. She set the book down and started flipping through.