Chapter 11: Finger Guns

Finally back at the resthouse, the first thing that Kalender wanted to do was take a bath.

“You can go eat without me,” Kalender said. “I’ll be taking my long-awaited bath!”

“Hm?” Jyn looked at him with some confusion. “Why don’t we eat together?”

“You’re not hungry?”

“Not especially. As long as you don’t take an entire hour, I doubt my stomach will protest.” But actually, she’s already gotten used to eating together with him. It was … comforting.

“Oh, alright then.”

Jyn followed Kalender up, back to their room. They both started undressing.

“Hm?” Kalender took a pause. “Let me just stretch out the screen first.”

Jyn tilted her head. She was wearing layers on top of layers of armor, padding, and clothing. It’s not like she’d be instantly naked after loosening just a few belts.

Kalender pulled out the screen, anyway. It was like one of those old-timey accordion-style screens with silk stretched out over a thin, wooden frame. The screen partitioned off a third of the room for the bathtub and whatever room was needed for the occupant to change into new clothes—which wasn’t much room, but there was room.

Disappointingly, there weren’t any water or heating magic crystals to fantastically fill the bathtub. There was an ordinary valve for cold and hot water, and a drain to one side of the bathtub.

As he let the tub fill, he asked Jyn about the plumbing.

“Water crystals? Expensive things. Most places away from a river or can’t dig a well use a medium or large-scale magic circle in an artificial reservoir instead.”

How sad—but also, the implied city-building was sort of cool.

He dipped into the warm water, letting himself relax.

[+10 Respect]

“What on earth, that’s a lot.”

Jyn giggled from behind the screen. “It’s nothing.”

“+10 isn’t nothing! C’mon, tell me about it!”

“Fine, fine. I just thought, that you were quite eager during training, and curious about everything.”

“That’s … that doesn’t sound like it’d give a +10. Thanks, though? Was that a compliment?”

“You are a Reincarnator,” Jyn explained. “Even if you have said that you do not have memories of your past life, you still remember many aspects of your former world. I can hear the nostalgia in your voice when you talk about it.”

Kalender kept quiet, letting Jyn continue.

"You were thrown into this world with little warning, and yet, you have braved through it—and yet, you still manage to be so child-like in your curiosity, that it seems as if you have an unassailable spirit.

"All that has happened to you until now must have been a thorn to your heart, somewhat, to the point that I had almost believed that you have been forcing yourself to like your situation, even if you have no reason to.

“You are strong, Kalender. A child you may be, but a child stronger than some bitter old fools that I have met.”

Okay. That sounds more like a +10. Kalender let the quiet sink in for a moment.

“There’s one thing you’re wrong about,” he said. “I do have a reason to like my situation, you know?”

“Magic?” Jyn guessed. Kalender definitely liked magic.

“No. You.”

[+1 Respect]

“That was smooth.” Jyn chuckled as she shook her head. She heard a tongue click from the other side of the screen. She could just imagine Kalender doing his finger guns.

After Kalender got out, dried himself with a towel, and put on an acceptable amount of clothes, he stepped out of the screen. Jyn was sitting on the edge of the bed, wearing nothing but a towel.

“Oh. You wanted to take a bath, too?”

“Embarrassingly, but yes. I haven’t had an opportunity in months. Wait for me for dinner?”

“Sure. We’ve got a lot of time.”

***

The next day, after eating breakfast downstairs, they ventured to Clarinets’ public spell library—or rather, ventured to search for it. Public spell libraries didn’t record any powerful spells, but it wasn’t like they were doing anything high-leveled, and really, Jyn just wanted Kalender to get an idea of what were considered “normal” spells, so he didn’t accidentally flaunt that dead language programming business he was carelessly experimenting with.

They stopped by the Knight HQ training field and asked Lens about any public spell libraries.

“There’s one at HQ. Just talk to the Librarian and … don’t be a criminal, I guess?”

Right. It’s the knights’ HQ and all.

The HQ looked like a rook. It was a bit unbelievably small, just being three stories high and each of those stories was just a single room, about ten meters in diameter. The barracks was probably elsewhere, and this place just saw some administrative work.

Jyn talked to the guard in front of the double doors.

“I’ll have to use Appraise on both of you before you enter,” the guard explained.

Jyn turned to Kalender with a worried look, what with his status shouting “Cursed offworld immigrant,” but Kalender replied by showing the guard a gold plate. The guard’s eyes went wide, but he regained his composure and used Appraise on the plate.

“I-it’s genuine,” he murmured. “I’ll have the door opened. Please wait a moment.”

He knocked on the door, and a slot opened, revealing a pair of eyes.

“They’re cleared,” the guard said. He didn’t bother using Appraise on either of them anymore.

One of the doors opened. Jyn went in first, followed by Kalender. Inside was a grid of tables where the Knights’ bureaucrats mercilessly burned through paperwork. There were only a few right now, but Kalender could imagine a line forming outside after a spike of robberies and the like.

“Can I help you?” a woman greeted from a counter beside the door. She looked to be the receptionist here.

“We would like to consult with the Librarian,” Jyn replied.

“Would that be for the spell collection? Are you the mage?”

“Ah, that would be me,” Kalender waved.

“Hm? But this lady has more MP…”

“Please trust me,” Jyn leaned closer, “he’s far more talented than me.”

“Not unheard of, I suppose… Alright, please wait a moment.”

The receptionist turned around and spoke into a tube. There were replies, but the whole conversation was muffled. Must be some sort of information security magic.

Meanwhile, Kalender leaned to whisper to Jyn. “Can everyone in Gaia Appraise and I’m just left out or something?”

Jyn chuckled as she shook her head. “It is a common skill, but difficult to upgrade, and you have only been around the military and shadows of Lyrica who are more interested in the skill than most. Commoners who have it would only be able to see your name, or your level, at most. They would prefer upgrading their profession’s skills, after all.”

“Ah. Makes sense.”

The receptionist turned back to them. “Please wait here. The Librarian will meet you.”

After a while, a cleric-looking person, blue vestments and all, came down the stairs. She could be mistaken as a priestess if she’d had the accompanying religious symbols and headpiece. She scanned the room and quickly identified Kalender as the interested party.

“Kalender? Champion of … I am not familiar with addressing your occupation, forgive me.” The receptionist had informed her of Kalender’s and Jyn’s basic stats beforehand. This world wasn’t big on privacy, not when security was at a premium.

“Oh, don’t worry about it.” I don’t get it, either. “You’re the Librarian?”

“Yes. My name is Page Turner.” She introduced herself with a small bow.

Huh? A second name? She’s not a commoner, but also—a pun?! Kalender had some trouble keeping his face straight.

“I realize my name is quite unique. I take no offense.”

“T-that aside, is it alright that we’re having this conversation here?” They were still in front of the receptionist’s counter.

In response, the Librarian moved to the other side of the counter. It suddenly became less awkward for Kalender. He had no idea how just being across a table had that sort of effect—this felt more official and not out-of-place—but it was effective, so he rolled with it.

“Is this better?” Page asked.

“It’s actually amazing in its own way… I mean, yes.” To his reply, Page smiled. Kalender continued. “Anyway, I’m interested in the spells that adventurers normally use.”

“That’s quite specific. Why not the army as well?”

“Huh? I can ask for that?”

“You may, but I need to know—for what use is your research?”

I can invent chants on the spot but I’m a noob at this, so I need to know what’s normal so I don’t get weird looks when I use magic—no, no, he can’t say that.

Actually, there was a pretty quick way out of this.

“Uhh, Miss Turner, actually, I have an endorsement letter that can explain things faster than I can. May I move to that side of the counter? The contents are private.”

Page and the receptionist eyed each other, and the receptionist excused herself while Kalender moved beside Page. He placed his satchel on the lower desk of the counter, hidden away from passers-by, and revealed a very slim portion of the gold plate of the Inquisition.

It wasn’t much, but it was enough for Page to recognize that it was a special endorsement of a high order. A brief application of Appraisal got her frozen stiff.

“We’re not representing them right now,” Kalender assured, “but we are here on their suggestion. The spells are—” He labored very hard to come up with some pseudo-bullshit. “—for a mission. Possibly involving a local necromancer. Or not. We’ve got very little to go on, honestly.”

He wasn’t really lying, but Page ended up constructing an epic narrative in her head about how Kalender and Jyn were “unofficially” tasked by the Inquisition to investigate Clarinets’ Unalive situation and hunt down the necromancer responsible for it. She lived for this fun stuff.

“I understand,” she said, taking Kalenders hands into her own.

“Y-you do?” He was beginning to understand that the Inquisition was a lot scarier than he thought—but actually no, Page was just easily excited.

“Yes. I will grant you access to the requested Collections. Please accept.”

[Page Turner (Librarian) grants access to the ff. Collections: Adventuring Magics, Basic Extermination Magics, Basic Fighting Magics, Basic Fortification Magics. Accept all?]

Yes.

[All Collections accepted. Temporary skill granted: Access Collection]

“Huh.” Kalender squinted at the new temporary skill.

[Access Collection] (1/1): Active skill. Uses 0.02 MP/s. Access a Collection granted by a Librarian and browse any information within.

“Ah, just note that my Collection Transmission range can’t reach outside Clarinets. Also, I only activate it from 10AM to 12NN, and then again from 3PM to 5PM. The MP drain is unforgiving, after all.”

He wanted to try it out soon, actually.

“You should look at it as soon as you can to see if all of the requested is there—oh! Actually, it’s almost 10AM. Let me just—” Page looked away and focused on something. “That should do it.”

“Let me check it for a moment…” Kalender said, turning away and activating the skill.

***

[Collections]

–> Adventuring Magics
Basic Extermination Magics
Basic Fighting Magics
Basic Fortification Magics

***

He picked out “Adventuring Magics,” and it led to another panel.

***

[Adventuring Magics]

A Traveler’s Guide to Orienteering
Adventurers Guild Official Primer
Detecting Monsters and Traps
.
.
.

***

So it’s like a PDF library? Seriously? He didn’t think he’d encounter something like that here. Save for the limited timeframe when he could use it, it was a lot more convenient than lugging around some books or revisiting the library each time. Probably the only issue was that he’d eat up 1 MP every 50 seconds. He had all of 10 MP to work with, and he was only willing to part with 5 of those, keeping the rest in reserve in case of emergency.

With 5 MP, he had all of 250 seconds—or around 4 minutes—of reading time. It would be nothing more than a quick browse. He didn’t even know how fast his MP regenerated. He’d need to ask Jyn about getting better MP performance later.

He summarized all those thoughts with an “Oh wow. Neat.”

“Are there any problems with it?” Page asked.

“I don’t see any, no. If I need anything else, I’ll just ask for you again, right?”

“That’s right. One more thing—that temporary skill is only effective for three days. I’ll refresh it for you when you need it.”

Kalender thanked Page, finally allowing the receptionist to resume her usual post. Kalender and Jyn left the building not soon after.

“Kalender.”

“Yes?” He turned to face her. She had this concerned look, making him concerned, in turn.

“Did you accidentally charm the Librarian?”

“Huh? But I have the cuffs on?” The anti-charm cuffs would heat up noticeably if Kalender emitted too much charm magic. It was warm a while ago, but not searing.

“She touched you,” Jyn said. “Remember when I first tried to arrest you? The charm magic sharply increases in intensity with closer distances. If, by a farce of magic’s inner workings, she’d been charmed the moment she took your hands into hers, we will have to deal with it appropriately.”

“But—” “Just check your status, already.” “—okay.”

***

Name: Kalender
Age: 17
Occupation: Champion of Reincarnation
Lvl. 1 Human
HP: <ERROR>
MP: 10/10

[Skills]

All-Language Fluency (MAX)
Interpersonal Bubble (1/10)
Access Collection (1/1) (Temp)

[Companions]

Minimine (Flagged)
Vice-Goddess of Reincarnation
Affection: 49

Jyn (Sworn)
Knight of Lyrica
Lvl. 11 Human
Respect: 121
Companion Skills: Stand as Equals (1/5).

Page Turner (Flagged)
Librarian of Lyrica
Lvl. 6 Human
Affection: 5
Companion Skills: N/A

[Blessings]

[Blessing of Reincarnation: Champion]
…

[Blessing of the ###### God: Like Moths to a Flame]
…

***

Kalender closed his status and shot finger guns up at Jyn. She wasn’t amused, however, as his eyes were crying.