After waiting for half-an-hour, Alternis decided that he waited enough and stood up from the bench. He walked over to the 'Sadistic Collector' and walked through the doors. The familiar sight of the sea of bookshelves and the librarian's assistants swimming around them entered his eyes once more. The one difference between his first visit and now is that the assistants stared at him more, even quietly talking to each other. It seems like whatever the blacksmith is doing, it's having an effect on the staff.

'Hopefully, his intervention has gone in the right direction.'

As he walked towards the reception desk, he could see two figures talking to each other.

'Now let's hope it's going well-'

"Are you seriously asking me to trust this guy?"

"No, just askin' ya to give him a chance."

"After what they did to us!!?"

'...Seems like it's not going well.'

"...I get your frustration, but the lad's different-"

"How!? How is he different!? He and all those scum do nothing but f*&k us over-!"

"EDGAR!!!"

The librarian, Edgar, twisted his face in surprise. The blacksmith scowled at him and said, "We're not getting anywhere like this, so let me ask ya somethin': Did ya give 'im his tasks?"

Edgar twisted his face in frustration and said, "...I gave him his Unique quest."

"Ya know as much as I do that the quest only gives him the introduction and the basic info. Why didn't ya give 'im da tasks?"

"...Because he thought that I would automatically give him a fully-furnished library for free. He thought that he wouldn't have to work for it! He just went ahead and called his assigned library 'trash' and refused to do anything with it!"

The blacksmith scrunched up his face into a cringe, put his hand over his face, and said, "Edgar... If ya didn't give 'im any tasks, how would he know what ta do wit' it? And if ya didn't give 'im any other explanation beyond the quest's description, why wouldn't he complain?"

"W-well, I-"

"Ya screwed up, Edgar. You let ya own feelings get to ya and treated the lad wrong. He may have expected more than he should've, but it was YOUR job to guide him."

"B-Bert, I-"

"I know, Edgar, I know. It's hard ta not think of him to be just like the others. There weren't a whole lot of times where we were proven wrong about 'em, but da' lad proved my preconceptions of 'im ta be wrong."

"..."

"Her Grace gave us lot a duty to give these people a chance in da' Moltimania. If these kids throw it all away, dat's there problem. If us louts refuse ta give them a chance in da- first place, then we'll become just like these horrid teens, and I don't want dis to 'appen to ya."

"......"

Edgar closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out. After calming himself down, he looked at his friend and said, "Thank you, Bert. I nearly went against Her Grace's wishes. I'll... I'll give him a chance, like you asked."

The blacksmith, Bert, lightly patted him on the back in gratitude.

"Urgh! Bert, not so hard!"

"Hahahaha! Ya need ta exercise some more! Otherwise, you'll never get THESE MUSCLES!!!"

He flexed his muscles in grand manner in front of Edgar's eyes. Strangely, both Edgar's and Alternis's eyes were gradually losing light at this scene.

"Please don't be like that doctor. This realm doesn't need another person like him."

He quickly stopped his flexing and wiped away his grin.

"...Yeah, you're right. Definitely can't like 'im."

Bert shuddered at his own statement. Alternis was very confused about what they were talking about, but didn't plan on asking due to their dead eyes. Instead, he decided that now was a good time to insert himself into their conversation.

"Am I late?"

"Oh, laddy! No, not at all! You're right on time! Anyway, I'll leave ya two to it! Gotta get back ta my work!"

Leaving behind this statement, he walked out of the library. After Bert left his sight, Alternis turned back to Edgar and told him the words he arranged in his mind, "I know that you don't like me, but I really want this to succeed. I swear that I will work-"

"No need to talk anymore about that, I'll help you out."

"YES!"

"However! I'll be working you to the ground, so make sure you listen to every word I say! Got it!?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Alright! I'll be giving you your tasks!"

After the notice, the quest info appeared in front of his eyes.

After reading the updated info in excitement, his enthusiasm went down.

"...This is a lot to do."

"Giving up already?"

"No! Never! I've gone too far to give up now! I'll complete this even if I have to starve myself from food and sleep!"

"...You should probably just ask for help."

"Wait, really? I can ask for your help?"

"Not just mine, but the other assistants'. As long as they're not busy with the other people, you can recruit them into your efforts to complete this quest. Although, the librarian aspect is anything but popular these days, so you can recruit a lot of people."

After uttering this statement, he started to glare at himself and said, "However, if you abuse my people in any way, I will do everything in my power to kick you out and bar you from entering this place ever again. You'll have no choice but to complete the quest as is at that point."

"Why would I abuse my helpers? Do I look like I have no morals? Even if we set aside the matter of morals, beating them up will just hinder my work. Who would be so stupid enough to do just that?"

"...A lot more people than you could imagine are THAT brain dead. If more people had the same thought process as you did, then dealing with you people would be a lot less of a hassle."

Leaving Alternis to be dumbfounded, Edgar took out a mysterious object and blew into it, creating a loud sound as a result. The next moment, a deluge of footsteps headed their way. As Alternis looked around, shocked to see that about a hundred librarian assistants appeared in his surroundings.

Edgar nodded at this sight and announced, "Alright everybody! We finally have a kid that's actually not a piece of sh#t!"

The assistants were evidently surprised, as noisy chatter broke among them.

"There's actually somebody our boss is willing to help out?"

"I can't believe it! That person is actually listening to our boss?"

"Quiet down everyone! I understand why you all have doubts, but as you can see, this young man hasn't insulted me, interrupted me, nor demanded unreasonable things from both me and you all! So, according to the commandments of Her Grace, let's give him a chance and help him out!"

As the assistants quieted down, their boss put his hand on Alternis's shoulder and told him, "Your job is to lead and join them in their efforts to fix up your section; as long as you help them, they'll help you even more."

'...'Moltimania will help just as much as you invest!' Was that how it went?'

Smirking to himself, he went forward and addressed the congregation, "I know you still have doubts about me within your minds. I don't blame you, the academy taught me and my classmates to resort to every dreadful method we can think of to exploit you locals."

The assistants frowned at this grim revelation that caused much of their suffering.

"However, I came here to prove them wrong! I went against what was considered 'common sense' in order to find another way to become so much stronger than my surroundings! My dream is to be self-reliant and break away from their nonsensical burdens they call careful teachings! I don't want to champion their crap they call 'ideal principles'! I want to go against your awful tormentors and teach them the real meaning that festers behind their 'ideal principles'! But to do that, I need your help! Please help me and I will prove to you that I'm different!"

After this speech, he bowed his head to the helpers. The ferocity and passion he put into his speech and ending gesture was powerful enough to reach the people's minds. The fact that he did all this just to beg them for their help was surprising enough for them to be slowly convinced. All those years of having to deal with the countless attempts of intimidation and coercion prevented their weary minds from being fully convinced, but his sincerity was enough for them to think, 'Let's give it a try'.

When he lifted his head, he saw that some of these people stepped forward to join him in his efforts. After seeing this, the others within the crowd joined them until all of them came to interact with him. After catching this sight, he smiled for the first time in very long time and said, "Thank you, everyone."

It was now time to start on his quest.