Head Librarian [2/3]

"???" Looking at the mature-looking woman in front of him, Igarashi's mind went into a brief period of contemplating.

What did she say?

Various thoughts entered his mind, but in the end, he used his skill to focus and regained composure.

Adjusting his monocle, he looked at her in the eye with a wry smile.

"Pardon me but umm... Who are you?" Igarashi asked. "And are you here to purchase something?"

"My..." Lisa chuckled. "Can't even get a reaction from a tease... How boring."

Sighing as if she were disappointed, she looked at the young man in front of her.

Observing him for a few seconds, she soon recognized who he was. "Oh, you're Amon, aren't you?"

"I am indeed." Igarashi replied.

"I see..." Lisa hummed. "Well then, that makes things easier for me. I won't have to go around looking for you."

'Hm?' Hearing this, Igarashi had a puzzled expression before realizing what she meant. 'Oh right... She was said to be really lazy and only leaves the library very rarely...'

Thinking of this, Igarashi adjusted his monocle. "Now that I look at you, you must be the famed Miss Lisa, the Head Librarian of the knights of Favonius, yes?"

"You know of me?" Lisa asked.

"Haha, how could I not?' Igarashi replied. "The enigmatic librarian of the Knights of Favonius that holes herself up in the library all day..."

"That's a bit rude, don't you think?" Lisa smiled, hearing Amon's description of her. Though, if one were to look closely, one could see that her smile was fake.

Seeing her reaction, Igarashi shrugged. "Don't be offended, Miss Lisa. I was merely being honest."

"Is that so..."

"Let's change the topic." Igarashi said before climbing the stairs leading to the door of the shop. "I believe that you have business with me?"

"Straightforward, I like it." Lisa nodded. "Alright."

After saying this, she followed Igarashi inside.

Sitting on the couch, Igarashi calmly looked at Lisa as he ate a biscuit he bought. It was the afternoon and he was hungry.

On the short glass table separating Lisa from Igarashi, a tea set and some biscuits were present. They were prepared earlier by him.

Igarashi then looked at Lisa. "Tea?"

"No thank you. I will only stay for a while." Lisa held up her hand and denied it. "And I usually drink my afternoon tea in the Knights of Favonius."

Hearing this, Igarashi shrugged and poured himself some tea. He then placed two sugar cubes and mixed them. 'Acting like a true brit.'

Taking a bit of a sip, Igarashi asked. "So, Miss Lisa, what is it that you need from me?"

"Well, I heard from a little birdie that you've been selling some... interesting products." Lisa said.

"Oh... Was it Kaeya?" He instantly knew what happened.

"My, you're very fast to catch on." Lisa commended him. "If you are, then you must know by now why I'm here."

He then shrugged with a smile without saying anything.

Igarashi stood up and walked towards a bookshelf and ran his fingers through the books displayed inside.

Stopping on a red cover, his hand picked it out.

Carrying the book with him back to his seat, he placed it down on the glass table and looked at Lisa. "I believe that Miss Lisa will take a liking to this."

"Hm?" Lisa hummed before picking up the book and inspected the cover. "A stylized cover... Is it— no— Are you Inazuman?"

"More or less." He shrugged enigmatically.

"I see..." Lisa said with interest.

She then opened the book and saw the first page. It started with a blonde man with crimson eyes hanging off a cliff with another person above him.

"I am not wrong!" Shouted the man holding a cane. "You're the one who's a demon! Sherlock!"

"Oh my." Lisa said. "Explosive personality at the start and this way of storytelling... Is this a new form of a book in Inazuma?"

In the first place, there were not many books in the world of Teyvat that had drawings to portray the story.

And the concept of 'manga' is still new. So new that it is still in Inazuma and only had no less than five books.

"Yes." Igarashi nodded. "It's called a manga."

"Hmm..." Lisa hummed.

She then closed the book and looked at the man that has a monocle in front of her. "Before I continue, would you mind telling me the synopsis of this story?"

Heading this, Igarashi stopped sipping on the tea and nodded. "Sure."

"First of all, this book is set in a fictional world." He said. "Second, it's a mystery thriller revolving around a genius schemer."

"A schemer, you say...?" She eyed him.

Igarashi nodded. "In this book, it shall follow William James Moriarty. He is a Professor who lectures students at a university but on the side is a private consultant, taking cases involving cruel nobles as part of his master plan of taking down the entire class system of Britain."

"Hoh... An original story, it seems." Lisa said with a smile. "Mystery thrillers do bring out the enthusiasm in me."

"And taking on cruel nobles... A common trope among these types of books, but I shall still see it." She shrugged with a smile.

Saying this, she stood up and took out a purple purse where she took out a lot of Mora. "Eight thousand... Right?"

"Ah no." Igarashi held his hand up and shook his head. "Eight thousand is for a single chapter which contains forty to fifty pages."

"This." He then picked up the book and also stood up. "This is a whole volume. It contains approximately 280 pages."

Truth to be told, Igarashi only has two complete volumes of Moriarty the Patriot. If not for the help of Sasori, The two Lesser Puppets, and Mo Fan, he would have never produced suck a thick book containing a whole volume.

In contrast to his usual style of selling one or three chapters per book, this is different.

"...I see." Lisa said, understanding his words. "Curiosity kills the cat. You know if this saying yes?"

"I do indeed." Igarashi nodded.

Hearing this, a small smirk appeared on Lisa's face. "Truly, one cannot resist the temptation of an interesting book... Especially when the books that you've been reading lately are forbidden ones..."

"..." Igarashi did not reply and merely nodded.

However, inside his mind, something else was going on. 'Hold on, 'Forbidden' books? What does she mean by that?'

'Perhaps... Is it 'those' types of books?' Although Igarashi wanted to think more about this topic, he realized that he will only just be a creep, so he stopped.

Keeping up his calm demeanor, he said the price of the book. "50,000 Mora."

Hearing this, Lisa's calm composure faltered for a moment. "Fifty thousand? My... That's a high price."

Hearing this, Igarashi merely shrugged with his hands behind him. "That is true, but this is one of a kind."

"If you buy this book now, Miss Lisa, you will be the first to finish the first volume." Igarashi said, clearly tempting her. "As of now, only two chapters are published to the public."

He then started walking near her and walked behind her, circling her. "You should know the value of something that others don't possess yet."

"Not to mention, this is the only story in Teyvat that is being sold by our shop." He said. "Instead of publishing all of them, we publish one chapter after another once a week maybe a month in the future."

For some reason, the illusion of a slick talker appeared inside Lisa's mind as she glared at the man circling her.

"And this, Miss Lisa, creates demand." He said with a smile and open arms. "Demand to know more about the story."

After saying this, he slowly walked towards his seat and sat down once more.

Picking up his lukewarm tea and taking a sip, he looked at the standing Lisa. "So, is it a deal? Miss Lisa."

Lisa looked at the man in front of her and immediately understood his nature.

Soon, a small smirk appeared on her face. "An interesting cutie you are."

* * *

"Thank you, Miss Lisa!" Igarashi waved at her departing figure. "Feel free to come back again!"

Lisa turned behind and looked at Igarashi and nodded with a smile. After that, she left.

Seeing this, Igarashi released a heavy sigh. 'As I thought... Acting like a slick businessman isn't gonna be easy.'

'Nonetheless, at least I sold a whole volume.' He thought with a smile before going inside.

[Notice]

Suddenly, the system's notification window appeared.

[You have gotten 48 new customers today]

[Four mysterious gifts have been distributed.]

[Notice.]

[There is one skill inside one of the gifts.]

'New skill?' Igarashi thought. 'All this time, I've only had two skills...'

Then, a small smile appeared on his face. 'Time to check them, I guess.'