6 Library in Chaos

Bam!

Nigel switched from pounding the door with his fists to kicking the door after realizing that he was going to need more force to crack it open. After a series of kicks and slams, he was able to destroy the door's lock and immediately went inside the library.

He saw the scattered books and fallen down bookshelves upon going inside. It was a complete mess, making him wonder just what would have caused such a big chaos. He was walking around the room investigating the possible cause of this chaotic scene when he heard another noise that sounded human.

Running towards the direction of the source, he saw a young woman lying beneath one of the fallen bookshelves. Luckily for her, the bookshelf that has fallen over her had fallen over another nearby fallen bookshelf, causing it to slope over her which also created a gap where she was now lying still.

The young woman had silver hair, something unique even in this generation. She was also wearing a white frilly dress, which was now covered with dirt and dust. She did not have any bag with her, but he assumed that she must have placed it in one of the library's private lockers. She was comparatively small, somewhere around five by three. However, her small stature complemented her beauty as her appearance has the charm of making men want to protect her from harm.

'She is indeed lucky', he thought as he lifted the bookshelf that was on top of her. After seeing the young woman close-up, he was astonished at her appearance that was akin to an angel sleeping rather than an unfortunate person stuck in a disaster.

After removing the obstacle in the form of the bookshelf, he checked her body first for any sign of fracture as it is hazardous to move a person with broken bones. Noting that it doesn't seems to be the case, he lifted her up princess-carry style and placed to a nearby sofa.

He then continued his investigation on what had caused the library's bookshelves to topple down like dominos. He also tried to call Rena again, as he was worried that she might have also been buried underneath the bookshelves. He was glad enough that his call did not sound any phone nearby, which means that Rena was possible not here.

But he did not stopped from looking around, as there was still the possibility that she did not have her phone in her person. While checking the room, he was also busy trying to repeatedly call her for multiple times.

Finally like water in the middle of a drought, he heard his call has finally reached the other side. A couple more seconds after hearing the confirmation sound, he heard a childish cute voice of the young lady whom he had tried so hard to reach for the past hour.

"Hey Nigel, did something happened? I saw your missed calls, and it almost reached a hundred at this point."

"Thank god you are fine. Can you go here in the library? Also, call additional help. The library is super messy right now, with bookshelves in the floor and books scattered all around."

"WHAT!? What happened!? And are you inside right now!? The library is supposed to be closed!!"

"It's better than I explain it to you later once you arrived here. Also, please bring a medic with you, we might have an injured person here."

"Okay, gotcha. I will be there shortly."

Finishing their call, Nigel went to the sofa where he had placed the young woman. He sat on the empty space at the end of the sofa, near the head of the young woman. He looked closely at the young woman's face, realizing once again that she was, in fact, a beauty. Compared to Rena's nerdy scholarly look, this girl looks like an angel with her childish charms and aura around her.

Suddenly, the girl began to nudge slightly with her face changing expression. She looked like she was in pain. Not knowing what to do in this situation, Nigel put his right hand on top of her forehead and started lightly caressing it. He continued doing it as he noticed that there was a significant change in the girl's expression. She was slowly changing from showing a painful expression that to a more relaxed and comforting one.

'So it wasn't physical pain, but a bad dream?' Nigel thought as he was still busy petting the head of the young woman. A couple of minutes passed by until Nigel began to hear people running by, and from the sound of their footsteps it seems that they there heading here inside the library.

"Nigel! Hey, are you here!?"

A young woman of blonde hair began to shout upon entering the library, while her face displayed a worried look. It was more so shown evident as when she saw the messy appearance of the interior of the library.

"I'm here. Where's the medic, we might have an injured person here."

"I'm the medic, who is it that needs medical attention?"

"She is right here officer. I saw her below a fallen bookshelf, luckily for her, there was another bookshelf that had fallen near her, so when the other bookshelf as fallen over her, it created a slope with a small gap below it. She was inside that gap when I found her."

"I see, let me take a look."

"Hello student, I'm the head of security. Would you mind explaining what happened here? I noticed that the door was forcefully opened, so depending on the situation this might become a serious case."

"No problem, sir. Rena, come over here too so that I can explain it in one go."

Nigel began explaining the sequence of events that has led to the current situation inside the library. It took some time before he finished telling his side of the story, and it took more time answering the queries of the head of security.

"Just to clarify, you heard someone inside the library and thinking it was this blonde gal right here you destroyed the door? Afterwards you saw that silver-haired gal sprawled in the floor with a bookshelf on top of her?"

"Yes sir. That's what happened."

"To tell you the truth, you are the prime suspect of this case. However, you look like a trustworthy person and you did save the girl. We will have to wait for the girl to wake up then, and get her side of the story."

"So what happens to me now? Can I go home?"

"Sorry, but I can't let you go, not until we get this girl's statement, provided that it does correlate with your story."

The head of security regrettably told Nigel about his current situation. Nigel, understanding the implications of his actions, could not do anything else but obey the security head's command. Now, he has to wait for the silver-haired woman to wake up and prove his innocence.

"Don't worry Nigel, I believe you. I'm pretty sure that you will be proven innocent later. I will accompany you while we wait for her to wake up. After all, I am kinda in the fault too for not answering your call immediately. You wouldn't have to go to the library then, and be involved in this mess."

"No… I actually think that you not answering your phone immediately has saved this girl's life."

"Thank you… In any case, we will have to wait for her to wake up."

Both of them didn't have to wait for too long, as the girl has finally woke up from her slumber. The medical officer did not move her away from the sofa as he diagnose that nothing's wrong with her body, and they didn't want to disturb her as she was sleeping comfortably in the sofa.

She rose her body in an upright sitting position and began to look around. She was still in a dazed, clearly not recognizing her surroundings. She looked at the people arranging the books and bookshelves, then to the people who were investigating the case, and then to Nigel and Rena who was seated near her.

The head of the security went towards her as he began to ask her about her situation. However, he started with some light questions first while accompanied by the medic in case of unseen injury and trauma. The girl's mind is clearly still muddy as she was unresponsive with his questions.

As the girl is clearly not suitable for questioning as of the moment, the officer decided to ask for some water for her to drink, as it may help in clearing her mind. He also asked the medical officer that if she is still unresponsive after sometime, they might have to bring her in the hospital for a checkup.

The medical officer was very distraught when hearing what the security head had said as this might implicate him. After all, it was him who decided to not bring her to a hospital. In the end, he still has to do his duty as the medic and began to prepare for hospital transfer via ambulance.

While this was happening, there was a crowd forming outside the library as the news spread like wildfire among the students. Everyone was curious to the mystery of the chaotic library, with some speculating that it was burglary while others took it to the extreme and treated it as a serious evidence of poltergeist.

However to Nigel, he was faced with a tough decision. He was contemplating of using his last hint point to help uncover the mystery of the chaotic library, because if the mystery is left unsolved he will really be placed as the primary suspect of the case.

'Originally the Good Samaritan turned into the sinner. What irony.' he thought as he considered his options. If he wasn't going to do it now while he was still inside the library, he might not any chance of uncovering any hidden clue. But he also knows that using the hint point is very risky, and might even implicate him further.

On the other hand, his 'safe' option was to wait for the young woman to be responsive to the officers' inquiries. But from the looks of it, it was not possible as of the moment. He was slowly running out of time. In the end, he decided to use his last point to help him solve this case.

'Total hint points: 1. Use one now?'

Before he replied 'yes' in his mind, he sorted out all the information that he has. He wanted the hint to be as accurate to a solution as possible for this is his last shot. After finally organizing his thoughts, he consented with the dialog box. He saw the value of his total hint points dropped to zero, and again felt the sensation of something leaving his body.

A short while after using his last hint point, he saw the familiar arrow appear out of thin air pointing to a particular spot in the library. It was pointing on to one of the bookshelves that did not topple. Nigel began to stand up from the sofa and walked towards the bookshelf.

The floating arrow vanished out of sight when Nigel reached the front of the bookshelf. Now, just like in the previous time that he used his hint system, he can a see a book being covered by a shining light. However, he did not get the book from its place but rather turning around towards the sofa where Rena was sitting with the young woman.

He went back and sat between the two women. He leaned a bit towards Rena, in a very intimate pose, causing the latter to blush. On the other hand, the silver-haired girl was staring at him making him a bit uncomfortable.

"W-what are you doing!?"

"Enjoying your smell, and maybe the suppleness of your body too."

"S-stop! This is embarrassing!"

"Hey, Rena…bring your head a little bit closer."

"W-why?"

Rena's face was tomato-red at this point, clearly from embarrassment. But she still did what Nigel asked her, which resulted in them sitting very close with each other and their face almost an inch away. This caused the people around them to start gossiping. While Nigel knew that he has no choice but to do this, however, he also knew that he will be having a very challenging morning tomorrow.

"H-hey, just tell me be what you need! This is really embarrassing!"

"Oh please, I can just imagine the rumors that will be spreading by tomorrow. Anyway, let's get right into it. Please help me get that book on that shelf over there. It's in the second row from the top, the second book from the left."

"Why do you need it?"

"Just trust me. Pull it out from there and you'll know. Also later on the officer might ask you as to why you did it. Tell him that it was because you got bored and wanted to read something. Don't tell them that I asked you to get it, please? You are my only hope!"

"Ugh…fine. I'll do it."

Rena then stood up immediately, either because she wants to get over it or she wanted to get away as soon as possible from the shameful position that she and Nigel were earlier. She went towards the bookshelf and identified the book that Nigel wanted. The book's title was not written in its side so she doesn't have any idea about its content.

However, as soon as she pulled the book out of the bookshelf, the ground began to tremble restlessly.