I Went To A Bookstore...

MSG – Volume 1 – Chapter 13

The nineteen-year-old had a pair of sharp green eyes, olive skin, and wavy long black hair that he packed into a ponytail.

Standing at 5 feet and 11 inches tall, he had quite the swoon-worthy physique that made him look like a wanna-be superhero.

Using our favorite DC Kryptonian as reference, his muscles came off as being about half the size of the nearly invulnerable superhero.

As he looked from left to right, confirming that he had not been followed by anyone from the manor, some of the females could not help but swallow as their gazes locked unto his exquisite neck and jawline.

Done with scanning his environs, his figure swiftly disappeared into the crowd, leaving behind some young ladies that had raised the standards they had of their desired life partner.

Soon, a figure whose identity was hidden beneath a brown and gray hooded cloak slipped out from the crowd at a certain part of the city.

The buildings in the area were not as luxurious as the ones near the Count's mansion that he had slept in for the past few months but they were still more than cut or two above what would be found in the slums.

This would be considered the sweet spot between the average and high wealth areas if one divided the wealth class of the denizens of the city into very low, low, average, high, very high, and top.

He found himself standing before a bookstore with a wooden signboard that read 'Tskune's Bookshop' in pink.

After subtly looking left and right, stealthily scanning for any eyes trained on him, he turned the knob of the door and entered the building.

Jingle! Jingle!

The bell hung by the door made sounds that were supposed to alert whosoever ran the bookstore that a potential customer had arrived.

What came into view as he crossed the doorway was an interior with a warm vibe. There were high shelves with rows of books in them, organized by genre and in some cases authorship. There were also special displays with recently released and bestselling works.

Despite seeing no one sitting at the counter, he did not seem surprised.

Walking towards the isles of books and related materials, he picked out three specific books without even looking at them.

Bringing them to the unattended counter, he placed them carefully, arranged side by side before speaking to thin air: "The Emperor is a woman."

Silence reigned for about three seconds before something happened.

The four tiles beneath his feet started to glow in a pinkish blue light before he vanished from where he stood.

One would be shocked to see that those books he had picked out had also disappeared before reappearing where they had been picked out from.

Like that, the bookstore was left empty, again.

--- --- ---

From Solon's perspective, his vision blurred for less than a second before clearing up again with a different view.

Gone was the counter as he now stood at the center of what appeared to be a cylindrical chamber with a diameter of about 3 meters.

The space seemed to be built with some pinkish-blue-colored glass that was translucent and hence difficult to see through.

Arriving in this place, he still did not seem surprised as coming there was his intention from the start and he had been there before.

He simply strode forward and he was out of the room, walking through the glass like it did not exist.

It was not an illusion. It could be touched and would not have let him through if it did not recognize an identifier that was literally in his blood vessels.

Upon stepping out of the teleportation chamber, Solon found himself to be in a room with a few dozens of the same cylindrical construct he had arrived in.

There were no sources of light and a normal human like Solon was supposed to not be able to even see the silhouette of their own hands clearly; yet he could do just that even more.

 For him, it was like he was standing under the afternoon sun outside.

Not paying attention to the sight of so many teleportation chambers, which would shock even the wealthiest of the nobles of the Kingdom, he made his way down the room and arrived before a gray metal door.

Placing his hand on the handle, he could only sigh inwardly as he felt an uncomfortable sensation.

It was like ants were crawling underneath his skin.

It was not painful but still it was irritating.

"Tch." he clicked his tongue as he thought; 'I still can't get used to all their unreasonable security measures.'

Click.

The door opened in a moment and he stepped through, the door being left to shut itself.

With another click, it was locked again.

Paying the mechanism, that would have killed him by sucking his lifeforce if he was unwelcomed, no mind he walked down the 2-feet-wide hallway that he found himself in.

There were a few other doors like the one he came out from, leading one to imagine what was behind them.

Were there more of the rooms like he came out from, or something else?

He had always been curious of this but could only wait until he rose high enough in the organization to be given such information, or better yet—access to go in there himself.

Anyway, he did not remain stuck in the world of imagination for long.

Making his way down the window-less hallway that had only light crystals (which were embedded in the walls equidistant from each other) for illumination, he came upon an exit.

This one had no door, it was just an open doorway with a film of yellow water serving as a curtain.

Yes, it was a teleportation gate.

Stepping through it, he heard the sound of his shoes hitting sand.

Also, no more was the silence that had accompanied him from the moment he stepped into that bookstore.

Now, there was wind with the smell of the sea on his face.

Sounds of banter, laughing, and playing assaulted his ears as well.

If from earth saw it, they would easily know what to call what was going on here.

It was a beach party.