“Before I show you the ropes, Let’s first introduce ourselves Cutie~” The librarian suggested, Her voice had this motherly tone.

 

“Uh Right! My name is Itsuki. And the little guy on My shoulder is Nugget, although I wanna rename Him Teriyaki.” I introduced Myself and addressed Nugget who was perched on My shoulder.

 

“Squaaaaaaawk~!!!” Nugget screeched softly.

 

“Ara~ what lovely name Sweetie~ It’s My turn then, My name is Kei Hayase~ but You may call Me, Kei or Ms. Kei whichever one You like sweetie~” the tone of Her voice was soft and tender with that of a motherly care.

 

     After We introduced ourselves she gave me a tour of the library, which were just the different corners on where to find specific types of literature and what genre or style they fit in.

 

     The books ranged from Sci-fi, general fiction, mystery, horror, history, alchemy, legends, biographies, thesaurus, scrolls, and much more. Needless to say, I was enjoying the time that I was spending here in the library. During the entirety of our tour, Kei was behaving very sweetly and caring, always asking in whether I was getting bored, or tired, and offering Me snacks, or water, Never would I have thought I would be working for a lady like Her.

 

     The tour lasted roughly 15 minutes before We went back to her Station. The library was very cozy after adjusting to it’s warm atmosphere.

 

     “Alright Sweetie~ did Ya have fun on Our little adventure~” She spoke very sweetly while doing a wink.

 

“Yes, I did! Thanks for everything! I’ll be sure to live up to your expectations Ms. Kei.” I responded eagerly.

 

“Very good Sweetie, You may start working in 3 days from now, but for now You may use your time to get acquainted with Me and this lovely library~” the way Kei talked seemed to make it easy to get along with Her.

 

“Yes! I’ll be sure to use this time I have here nicely!” I thanked her before going to check out some of the bookshelves to look at the works of literature I might read on the free time I had.

 

     I first went to the history and alchemy section, It was going well until Nugget talked to Me and asked a peculiar question.

 

“Squaaawwwkkk~ Itsuki feeling bad?” she lively asked Me.

 

“Feeling bad? What do You mean?” I asked.

 

“The other day, Nugget saw You trembling when you were first job hunting~ Squawwwk~” she somehow knew I was feeling something.

 

“Well…. It just felt like… Someone was following Me….” I responded to her.

 

“But Nugget wasn’t sensing nobody when You got home Squawk!”

 

“I… I see… Let’s keep this between us…”

 

“Squaaaawwwkkkk~~” Nugget Nodded.

 

     Did Hotaru sent Nugget to follow me? Was I actually sensing some sort of danger? Or Was it all just Nugget who was sent by Hotaru…. I think I’am gonna confront Hotaru on this matter later when We get back Home.

 

     I picked up 3 books out of the shelves, One was titled, “Divine Treasures and Blessings,” the second one was “History of Mages,” and the last one was “Beasts of the Deep.” I returned to Kei’s workstation and sat on the chair across from it and started reading the “History of Mages.”

 

      The first thing I noticed is that magic exists in this world.

 

     It has been said magic can be utilized using the elemental accessories which can be emblems, insignias, rings, earrings, and badges are apparently accessories that let’s a person with mana to harness elemental energy that range from Fire火, Water 水, Wind 風, Earth 石, Plant 木, Ice 氷, Electric 電気. 

 

     It says that “Mana” is a rare gift that only 1 in 1,000 people are naturally born with, People born with mana are called mages. Mages are people equivalent to at least 12-15 pirates, as mages are naturally much more resilient and dangerous than the average humans, elves, and demi-humans.

 

     Mages are able to harness their mana to strengthen themselves by raising their strength, defense, speed, reactions, etc albeit not all the time as a person doesn't have infinite mana and if fully drained can take 3 days to refill. Although a mage can use mana to make themselves stronger, It has been said that they can only utilize magic using accessories.

 

“Did this mean, Me and Hotaru can use magic!?” I was shocked to the core by this revelation.

 

     The elemental accessories were said to have been forged by an unknown civilization, although it's rumored to be Divine blessings from the gods, that has now gone missing or extinct. The amulets react differently to people with or without mana, if a person doesn't have mana or little of it they will not react at all, if a mage has a decent amount it will show glints, sparkles or a flash temporarily. If a user has a huge amount the emblem itself will glow brightly. 

 

     Different colors may shine to also show how much mana a person could have although this is only a theory. The amulets aren’t actually a source of magic but a way to convert mana into magic which helps individuals cast spells to different effects and outcomes. 

 

“. . . . . . . . . .” I was silent, but inside I was so excited, if we get to use magic means We can do things We wouldn’t be able to back in our old world!

 

     Although the rarity of mages are said to be 1 in 1,000 chances,  mana can actually be inherited from parents as mages have more control over the potency of their seed and fertility through the usage of their mana which might result in exploiting the 1 in 1,000 only chance to becoming 1 in 100 which could lead to more mages in parts of the world where there are many mages.

 

“Oh hello there, what might you be doing? Is this Seat in front of You taken?” a deep voice called out to Me.

 

“Hm..?” I looked up to see where the voice was coming from.

 

     I looked up to see a 6’5 tall, very stocky man approaching Me.

 

     He had short golden brown hair with soft brown accents, sharp bangs that point to the left, and sharp but at the same time soft rose-gold eyes, he also seemed to have soft crimson mascara under His eyes. He had a chiseled jawline was what you’d expect from a young man or aprince. 

 

      He was wearing a long dark gray coat that reaches below his knees, it had a silver fur on it’s neckline and the end of the sleeves, It’s collar had what looked like gold shards studded on them. He had a white V-neck polo shirt, and long jet black pants with a symbol that looked like jade or lapis embedded on the upper chest. A brown belt with gold studs embedded. He had a silver earing on His left ear and a gold ring that resembled a wedding ring on His right hand.

 

     This Man was essentially any woman’s dream….

 

“Ah! Of course not. You may sit if You’d like!” I assured him

“I’ll take you up on that offer~” His voice was deep but He had a charming aloof resonating from him.

 

“Oh, I apologize I haven’t introduced Myself Yet, My name is Makoto, Lugh Makoto, but you may call Me however You wish.” His voice was gentle like Kei’s but it lacked the motherly tone and more of a nobleman tone, something You’d hear from an aristocrat.

 

“My Name is Itsuki, It’s a pleasure to meet You Lugh.” I introduced Myself in return.

 

“The pleasure is all mine, and thank you for letting Me sit here.”

 

“It’s not a problem at all, I was getting a bit bored reading this book anyway.” I laughed while expressing myself.

“I see, don’t worry I’ll be studying here for a quite a while, So You may talk to Me if You wish.” He responded kindly and took out a book which would be His journal, and started reading.

 

“Thank you, as a matter of fact, I would like to know about these divine treasures,” I spoke softly and pointed at the book I was reading.

 

“Oh? You’re not familiar with them?” He seemed to have been caught off guard by this.

 

     I just nodded in return.

 

“I see, well no worries, I’ll be sure to explain them.”

 

“Divine treasures are said to be weapons, tools, and types of equipment made by the gods. They are said to be Indestructible and grant it’s wielders powers beyond comprehension. From the studies I had on them, there are confirmed to be 12 divine treasures and counting.” He carefully explained so that I can keep up.

 

“Are these divine treasures dangerous?” I asked

 

“Yes. They are very dangerous, almost catastrophic according to the rumors. The notable ones are the “Calamity’s Queller, the Vortex Vanquisher, Theres also the Stray Cat’s Claw, and Harvest’s Reaper.” Those are only some of the ones I heard of.” Lugh’s voice got very stern and serious when discussing these treasures.

 

      How is He so familiar with them?

 

“Ahh, Thank you very much! Your explanation really helped a lot Lugh” I thanked him repeatedly.

 

     Our talk lasted for around 30 minutes. Me and Lugh seemed to get along well, I guess He is my first friend in this world.

 

“Ah, that was a nice chat! Anyway, I gotta get going now, A dear friend of Mine is probably waiting outside for Me now and I dont wanna keep Her waiting.” Lugh got up and stretched His arms and cracked His knuckles before packing up His book in his satchel.

 

“That’s fine, Thank you for everything you taught Me.” I bowed respectfully.

 

“You’re welcome Itsuki, May our paths cross again soon.”

 

      His appearance makes Him look like an overconfident person but That impression is wrong, this man is very kind and humble.

 

“May our paths cross!” I eagerly responded as we shook hands

 

      He left the library shortly after. And I went back to the shelves to return the books I was reading. I also noticed that it was becoming nighttime and that I should leave soon.

 

“Don’t judge a book by it’s covers….” were the words I thought as I returned back to Kei’s station.

“Ara~ Have you enjoyed the books You read sweetie?” Her voice was as charming as ever.

 

“Yes I did, and um it’s getting quite late, I should be heading out now,” I asked for permission to go.

 

“That’s fine sweetheart just give Kei a warm hug before you go.” She proudly announced

 

    I went to give her a hug but her own embrace was stronger than I expected, Kei was patting my head while hugging my head deep in her chest.

 

      For what felt like an eternity of both suffering and blessings she let me go.

 

“Come back in three days Cutie~” She waved me goodbye.

 

“I’ll be in your care.” I bowed before leaving the library.

Back at the Polar Star Inn

“WHY DO I SMELL A WOMAN ALL OVER YOU~~!!???!!!” Hotaru yelled the moment I was about to greet her.

“A what now!?” I snapped back at Her.

 

“DON’T LIE TO ME!! I CAN SMELL THE SCENT OF A WOMAN COMING FROM YOU, HEAD TO TOE!!!!” She was pouting, shouting, and her face was red all over.

 

“Does it matter though?” I asked calmly.

 

“What have you been doing out there Huh!!!!!!” She wouldn’t stop

 

“. . . . . . . . . .” I went to our room ignoring Her screaming.