After-Story Chapter 21: The Boisterous Everyday Life of the Kingdom of Euphoria (Part 2)

Meanwhile, while Jeanne and Lumière were being admonished by Hakuya and Shuukin respectively, Elulu, who had accompanied Shuukin and the others to the Kingdom of Euphoria, was touring Valois Castle with Jeanne’s permission, as she was bored during the negotiations. Of course, since Elulu was a princess of the Garlan Spirit Kingdom and an honored guest of the Great Tiger Kingdom, Hakuya had assigned a guard to watch over her from a distance as her protector and chaperone.

Elulu had requested of Jeanne: “I absolutely want to see the library in this castle, which is renowned as the best in the world!” So, she was being led by a steward-maid to the library.

The destination was the ‘Valois Grand Library’ within Valois Castle. The building, adjacent to a garden where beautiful flowers bloomed, resembled a palace of a mid-sized nation. This was understandable, as the building was originally positioned as an in-castle villa for the Euphoria family. In the past, it had sometimes housed the Emperor’s mistresses, but it had since been renovated and converted into the Grand Library.

Although Valois Castle’s collection was originally housed in the ‘Great Archives,’ which was a respectable library facility, it was expanded with Jeanne’s consent after the book-loving Hakuya became consort and Prime Minister, and the equally book-loving Sami became Chief Librarian, leading to the construction of this Grand Library. Its solemn exterior demonstrated how proud the country was of this library.

(To collect books of knowledge and house them in such a magnificent structure… that is unthinkable in the Spirit Kingdom.)

Although printing technology existed even before Souma was summoned, books were expensive for the common people, and literacy rates were low in many countries (though improved in the Kingdom of Friedonia after Souma’s summoning). As such, the habit of reading had not yet taken root and was not yet a form of entertainment. Therefore, the primary value of books was the ‘legacy of knowledge.’

People learned about books because they wanted to leave their knowledge and thoughts for others or future generations, and those who wished to know would receive it. That was the nature of a book. The desire to leave knowledge seemed strongest in races with short lifespans, such as Humans and Beastmen, who rarely lived beyond eighty years.

Precisely because they don’t live as long as the Elves or Half-Dragons, they desperately want to pass on their current knowledge and thoughts to the next generation. Conversely, long-lived races have a weak tendency towards this. For example, for Humans to learn about things from over a hundred years ago, they rely on recorded media like books, but for long-lived races, they can simply ask a contemporary who was alive at the time. They can hear stories from even a thousand years ago with the same credibility as a story heard from a grandmother.

In the country where Souma once lived, the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters) is said to be a written record of the nation’s founding, which was recited from memory by Hieda no Are (or so the setting goes). In countries with long-lived races, the environment is such that there are ‘Hieda no Ares’ everywhere. This environment, where one can simply ask the person who lived through the events, lessened the necessity of preserving knowledge in books. This was also true for the High Elf nation of the Garlan Spirit Kingdom, Elulu’s homeland.

Elulu then entered the Grand Library. Stepping inside, she was overwhelmed by the shelves packed with books, lining the entrance hall. The very air she inhaled was filled with the scent of old paper and ink, making her feel as though she had wandered into another world—a forest of books, a sea of books, a labyrinth of books.

(This… is incredible.)

Elulu, who had lived for a much longer time than she looked, had never seen a space filled with so many books and was overwhelmed by its unusual grandeur. The lifespan of a High Elf averages two to three hundred years, with some rare individuals living to five hundred. As an example of long-lived races having little interest in books, the Spirit Kingdom did not have a space housing a fraction (perhaps one-hundredth or less?) of the books in this library.

(Everywhere I look, bookshelves. Bookshelves line the floors above the entrance. Bookshelves, bookshelves, bookshelves… It’s like the desperate will of the short-lived races to preserve knowledge is condensed here.)

Elulu, who did not have the habit of reading, was overwhelmed by this sight and felt a kind of excitement. It seems people get thrilled when they are immersed in a world they do not know. This scene possessed enough charm to evoke a mysterious euphoria, as if she had strayed into Wonderland or been flung into another world.

As Elulu stared, the steward escorting her spoke. “Lady Elulu. His Majesty says that you are free to browse anything except the books in the restricted section. Is there any genre you would like to read?”

“Eh… Ah, yes. I am satisfied just by seeing this view, so there is no particular book I wish to read… Oh, that’s right.” Elulu clapped her hands. “Since this is a library, you must have a librarian, right? I would love to speak with them.”

“With Lady Sami? Please wait a moment.”

The steward bowed and left Elulu’s side to speak with a passing librarian. After a short conversation, the steward returned to Elulu.

“Thank you for waiting. It seems Lady Sami is in the history section, so I will guide you there.”

“Oh, not in the Chief Librarian’s office?” Elulu tilted her head.

The steward nodded. “Yes. Apparently, Lady Sami is taking the day off today.”

“Then she isn’t in the library?”

“No, Lady Sami seems to be quite the book lover, and she reportedly comes here to read even on her days off.”

“She is… truly dedicated.”

After walking for a while, they noticed that the doors to each room had been removed, allowing a clear view inside. However, every room was filled with bookshelves and looked much the same. Elulu was guided into one such room. …And there she saw:

“…A little more to the right. No, that’s too far. Yes, stop.”

“Yes. …Is this alright?”

“Yes, that looks good.”

There was a sight of a young woman being carried on the shoulders of a burly man with a stern face.

“Hup! …There. I got it.”

The woman placed her left hand on the big man’s head and stretched her right hand to grasp a book. It seemed the woman had been trying to reach a book on a high shelf, and the big man, called Günther, was giving her a shoulder ride.

While Elulu was stunned, the two, unaware that Elulu and the steward were watching, continued their conversation in a leisurely manner.

“Thank you, Lord Günther.”

“It’s nothing at all.”

“Fufufu. But I think I could have reached it with a ladder…”

“…No, using a ladder at that height is dangerous. If this body, which others have unnecessarily called huge, can be of service to Lady Sami, please call me anytime.”

“Ah, thank you. …In that case, would you mind taking the book from that shelf over there?”

“Understood.”

The big man, Günther, then moved to a different shelf, still carrying the woman, Sami, on his shoulders. Elulu and the steward exchanged glances after watching the interaction.

“W-What was that exchange? It has a certain awkwardness, like first love.”

“That is General Günther Lail. He is famous for being a strict and taciturn military man… but he makes that expression in front of Lady Sami.”

“Could the two of them have a special relationship?”

“Now that you mention it, a colleague gleefully told me they recently got engaged.”

“Kyaaaah, a workplace romance! What a wonderful story! That’s so nice. I want Lord Shuukin to give me a shoulder ride too.”

“It makes a girl dream, doesn’t it? …So, what should we do? Should we approach Lady Sami?”

“No, no, we can’t interrupt that atmosphere! While I’d love to quietly watch, it would be rude to intrude, so we should leave quietly.”

“You’re right.” The steward nodded in agreement.

Elulu giggled softly. “So, is there somewhere quiet where I can chat with you?”

“With me?” the steward asked.

Elulu nodded eagerly. “Yes. If you have any other stories about love that your colleagues have shared, I would love to hear them.”

“…Yes. I do know a few stories.”

Elulu and the steward stared at each other, then shook hands firmly. Though they were in different positions—the country’s guest and a steward—the unexpectedly witnessed sweet and sour romantic event between Sami and Günther had brought out their inner girl-talk lovers. The two then moved to the general-staff cafeteria in the castle, where they talked animatedly over sandwiches.