Club in the Library (3)

The library.

A closer inspection of the place left me baffled. Yes, it was huge. Located in one of the glass dome towers, you could see the open sky through the roof looking upwards. Unfortunately it was still raining— how depressing.

Five main granite pillars that stretched all the way to the top, acting as support beams to hold the dome in place.

The book shelves? Oh man, four times my height, it's those kinds that have two floors to them. Steel ladders are placed to the side to allow you to climb and reach for books. A good workout for bookworms alike.

The wooden floor had built in light columns along the edges of the bookshelves. Golden coloured glass tempered signs that lit up to show the category of books located for each shelf. Fancy indoor plants could be found at almost every corner, softing the feel and soothing the eyes.

A butler-like guy holding a silver watering can, nurturing the plants with adequate sustenance—water.

FUCK?! THIS IS A LIBRARY?

The direct Liliath went didn't bypass the reading quarters, so I'm really curious of what the main reading zone would look like. Is there a barista there or something, I'm seeing some people holding drinks. That would be amazing.

We stopped at one of the book shelves, on the upper floor. I sat on the complementary chair provided as I watched Liliath do her 'stuff'. Even this seat feels top notch. This is bliss..

"Hey Liliath, You're alright with joining this club right?"

I'll be totally honest here-- No harem. I said it once, I'll say it again. No matter how my TALENT tries to pull me into a mess that has me pick up another girl-- nay way. My heart isn't going to waver all that easily.

But I can't imagine not joining the light novel club because of a single girl.

"Her aside, there's nothing particularly I dislike about this club." Liliath said, flipping through book upon book as fast as shooting an AK, hands that flashed across the shelves like lightning, repicking and returning books. An actual human scanner.

Oh, and if you're wondering why she's doing this-- that's because there's this rule of only being able to borrow up to three books. You have to return all previous books before borrowing another set.

That is exactly what Liliath was doing. By the way, we're in the world history section. So I could imagine Liliath stumbling across things like the world war, the Nazi, the Wright brothers, Industrial revolution, the dark ages, Darwin's theory of Evolution and nuclear weapons.

"Then it's confirmed then," putting the thought aside, I started flipping through some of the more notable history books on the shelves-- King Henry the Eighth. Known as the tyrant who married and executed and remarried and executed his many wives. There's a whole 300 page book dedicated to him, and him alone. I shivered at the thought.

"I think I've made my picks," Liliath said.

Finishing up, I turned to the three books she chose. One being a large encyclopedia talking about the developments during the Industrial Revolution, thick as my arm, another being Darwin's Theory of Evolution, also quite thick but definitely smaller than the first book and the last being-- a small, I think less than 20 page children's book about dinosaurs?

Okay.. let's not dig too deep into that. She must have her reasons. Yep-- Actually, I should be more worried about the fact that you could find such a book in such a grand library-- I wonder what other secret this place holds… maybe there are some inappropriate books here. Like one dedicated to an in-depth coverage of a certain body part for the sake of learning biology.

Cough.

As for me, I decided not to borrow anything.

We came back down and were about to reach the main counter when Liliath suddenly came to a halt.

"What's up?"

"Noel, I have a question. Do you know her?"

"Her?"

I looked over Liliath's shoulder, at the girl at the counter talking to Grei. Who's that? I have no idea.

"No idea. What about her?"

You know, I'm inclined to think that Liliath might be jealous but.. jealous of a girl I don't even recognize? No, that probably isn't the reason.

"I saw her in Nine's class conversing with Kai. I just thought to ask-- for prudence sake."

"Okay?"

Kai huh? Actually, ever since that day he told me about his TALENT-- determined as a lie by Teacher Glib-- I've not really spoken much at all with him. And for some reason, it's like he just disappeared from my life. I know it's only been less than a week, so in a sense, there's really nothing wrong with that. Some people just don't work well together after all.

"What about that person? Why did you ask if I knew her?"

The girl nodded at Grei's explanation before heading off a different direction.

"Nothing particular."

I think I just saw Liliath shrug.

"Alright then.."

"Excuse me. Noel, Liliath?"

Both of us turned around at the same time. The person that called out to us, a voice we would've never thought to hear-- Eunice, the girl who reads a lot of light novels.

She repositioned her glasses before asking.

"Were you stalking someone?"

"No?"

How should I reply to this? We came across someone suspicious so we thought to stop and look?

"It would be more accurate to say that we were being mindful of our surroundings," Liliath said.

"Avoiding someone, okay," Eunice nodded. "Could you fill in the form, the pen is here. You can use the table there for support."

"Okay, thank you."

Passing over the pen and name list we went over to the small table close to the counter for support. Grei gave us a glance before returning to reading behind the counter.

I wrote my name, my contacts and signed it-- Liliath did the same, making sure she didn't mess up the contacts and her signature.

Looking at the list, I realized how unique Liliath's writing style was. The kind of style people used to write their names on the list differs but for the most part, the feeling 'normal' comes to mind.

Unlike the norm, Liliath writes words in cursive or a semi-calligraphic style? I wasn't too sure how to put it. Cursive words were usually hard to read but Liliath's writing style was easy to read and is just pleasing to the eyes.

"Noel, can I attempt something with my TALENT? I heard that you're resistant towards Rishell's TALENT?" Eunice asked all of a sudden.

"Yeah? Explain what you mean by 'attempt', first?"

"I don't mind if you don't tell me your TALENT. My TALENT can put people in a state of avidity-- or fervor."

"Okay…"

And? Don't tell me you're going to make me die for you?

"Would that be alright, Liliath?" Eunice called out. oh great, she's now asking for Liliath for permission to test drive me.

"Can I first determine your intentions? You are not going to turn Noel into your zealot are you?" Liliath replied in a harsh tone.

"That's some amazing vocabulary-- yes, but to a lesser degree. I just want to see if Noel is possibly one of the rare few who isn't affected by my TALENT. Till now, I still don't know about the factors which determine whether one becomes affected by my TALENT or not."

"No thanks," I shook my head and crossed my arms in front of myself to exaggerate.

My TALENT is trying to kill me, yeah! A zealot?! Fuck! In the beginning it was Rishell, now Eunice? I'm going to lose my mind if the two of them tried to group up and turn me into their guinea pig. Eunice is beautiful, no doubt, but that's entirely different from love!

I'm devoted to Liliath, no one else.

"I've already done it without your permission. It's true then. Congratulations. You're the eleventh person so far."

Eleven? Huh? I was made into a guinea pig already? That's the fastest experiment ever..

Ding!

'Liliath's Special Quest Completed.'

Oh? I turned to Liliath and noticed that she was scrutinizing me. Liliath's Special Quest? I wonder what it was. It has nothing to do with Eunice right.. ha.. hahahaha..

"Thank you," Eunice took the list from the table and checked her watch. "It's almost time, we should return to class."

"I agree. Noel?" Liliath bit her lips and held my hand tightly-- It would be a lie to say I wasn't embarrassed by this. There's something wrong with this suspicious situation.

"Eunice, what exactly happens when someone gets affected by your TALENT?" There's just this one question I still can't really wrap my head around.

"That person falls in love.."

She didn't need to finish that sentence. I knew I was already dead.