The walk to the guild’s library was not long.

  In fact, it was quite easy to find. Even though he had forgotten to ask Mila for the exact location during the heat of his conversation with Isolda, Mark didn’t need much effort.

  He was already standing in front of the library. The building was an imposing structure directly connected to the east wing of the guild itself, still within the Bronze District.

  Its structure stood out from the others, with pale stone walls and tall stained-glass windows that captured the midday sun, functioning like a beacon and drawing the eye.

  Mark paused for a moment, feeling slightly surprised by the effort they had put into constructing that place.

  He had expected something simpler and more ordinary, perhaps a functional room with basic shelves, but the guild seemed to have invested a considerable amount of resources there. It made some sense, considering that Gold Rank granted full access to the place, but the luxury of the architecture still made him question the real reason an adventurers’ guild would possess a library of that magnitude.

  Well, he didn’t want to think too much about that right now.

  As he arrived before the large oak doors reinforced with metal, Mark was immediately stopped.

  Two guards in full armor, their breastplates shining from careful polishing, crossed their spears while maintaining a rigid and impersonal posture.

  “Identification, please.” One of them said, the muffled and deep voice coming from behind the visor of his helmet.

  Since Mark carried no visible plaque hanging from his body or attached to his cloak, the guards exchanged a quick glance and relaxed their posture. They seemed to have concluded that he was just another clueless traveler who had recently arrived in Luminaris and gotten lost.

  Mark said nothing.

  He simply reached inside his cloak and took out his Gold Rank adventurer plaque.

  “!!!”

  The effect was immediate.

  As soon as the golden shine of the metal reached the guards’ eyes, their posture of authority collapsed. The two quickly lowered their spears and showed expressions of deep respect, bowing slightly in a formal gesture while opening the doors with an agility that bordered on nervousness.

  “We apologize for the interruption, sir! Please, go ahead!”

  Mark merely gave a short nod, storing the identification back beneath his cloak.

  “Thank you.”

  He thanked them simply, without extending the conversation, and moved inside. Passing by the guards with steady steps, he quickly disappeared from their sight as he entered the library.

  The two guards remained still, watching Mark’s figure vanish behind the doors. The silence lasted a few seconds until one of them relaxed his shoulders, letting out a heavy sigh.

  “Do you know that adventurer?”

  The other guard shook his head, still processing the shine of the metal he had just seen.

  “No. And you?”

  “Me neither.”

  Inside the library.

  Mark entered, hearing the heavy sound of the doors closing behind him, isolating the external noise of the Bronze District’s streets. He stopped for a moment, remaining still while his eyes adjusted to the soft lighting of the place.

  The interior of the library was vast, with a high ceiling that made the silence feel even more pronounced. The smell of paper and wood filled the air, and the sunlight, filtered through the colored stained-glass windows, drew geometric patterns across the polished marble floor.

  Mark looked around, analyzing the arrangement of the immense shelves that stretched out of sight along the side corridors. Some were so tall they reached toward the ceiling.

  “...”

  There were many books here, which was expected of a library.

  The problem was that, in his previous life, he had never been someone who read much. Books were, most of the time, just game manuals or mandatory texts he ignored whenever possible.

  Mark couldn’t even remember the last time he had set foot inside a real library.

  And now, ironically, he was here.

  Well, he was inside a library that was inside a game… or something close to that.

  Mark took a few steps forward, noticing that the place was enormous. The main hall opened in several directions, with corridors that seemed endless, giving the impression that the library was far larger inside than its external structure suggested.

  As he walked through the silent corridors, his eyes searched around for any sign of life. Mark expected to find other people or perhaps staff members, but to his surprise, he found no one.

  Completely empty.

  ‘Strange...’

  Mark continued forward, feeling Pippin stir slightly beneath his cloak.

  “Sovereign...” Pippin poked his head out, blinking his enormous milky eyes at the immensity of the shelves.

  The small servant looked eager.

  “What?”

  “Can I come out?”

  ‘Come out?’ Mark looked around, confirming that the corridors remained deserted and that there were no guards or other people in sight.

  “Be careful.”

  With permission granted, the small homunculus jumped out from his hiding place beneath Mark’s cloak.

  “Look for anything related to this world, maps or general records. I need information.” Mark thought for a moment before giving the order.

  He intended to find a librarian or someone who could help him, but there was no one around.

  Fortunately, he had his servant.

  Pippin nodded promptly, his ears swaying with the motion. Without wasting time, he began rummaging through the lower shelves, moving nimbly between the dusty books while Mark continued examining the titles at his eye level.

  Mark walked along the corridors, his eyes jumping from spine to spine.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  His intention was clear: he needed information about the current world. He wanted names, locations, and any record that could explain where he was and what lay around Luminaris.

  Since this was the guild’s own library, Mark expected to find useful local information, perhaps detailed maps or records about the surrounding areas.

  If he could understand the geography of the region and how the city connected to the rest of the continent, it would already be a major step forward.

  While looking upward, focused on trying to read the titles engraved on the spines of books placed on the upper shelves, he failed to notice another person approaching as they passed through a crossing between shelves.

  Thump!

  The impact was sudden and unexpected.

  Mark felt a smaller body collide against his left shoulder. The hit was followed by the dull sound of several books hitting the floor and a muffled groan of pain.

  “Ow!”

  Mark took a step back.

  “Ow... ow... ah-sorry! I-I didn’t see you!”

  Sitting on the floor, in the middle of a mess of books, was a girl rubbing her hip with a pained expression.

  She had vibrant green hair cut to shoulder length and wore round-framed glasses that were now slightly crooked on her face. Her body was dressed in a robe of cream and brown tones, with several pens and pieces of parchment tucked into a utility belt.

  From her appearance, she looked to be around twenty years old.

  The girl quickly adjusted her glasses, looking up with her face completely flushed with embarrassment.

  “I-I’m sorry! I really didn’t see you in the way!” She exclaimed, her voice trembling. “I was carrying some books and... I wear glasses, and you just appeared out of nowhere! I swear the corridor was empty a second ago!”

  Mark looked at the several books scattered across the floor.

  The girl had been carrying at least twenty thick volumes. That definitely wasn’t what he would classify as just “some.”

  While some people read little, others read that much... The world really balanced itself.

  Upon hearing that he had appeared out of nowhere, Mark remained expressionless but felt a spark of understanding.

  It was probably the fault of his [Threat Dissipation Cloak].

  The cloak was so efficient at erasing his presence that, for someone distracted like that girl, he might as well have been part of the furniture until the collision happened.

  Mark crouched down, extending his hand to help her up.

  “I share some blame.” He said calmly. “Are you alright?”

  The gesture made the girl blush even more, if that was even possible. She quickly nodded and hesitantly grabbed his hand, stammering while trying to deny it.

  “N-No! It was my fault, I was the clumsy one!” She said, getting up with his help.

  “Normally this place is always empty, so I don’t usually bump into anyone... I’m already used to this corridor, I really didn’t expect there to be someone here today.”

  She began bending down to gather the scattered books with quick and nervous movements.

  Seeing that, Mark hesitated for a few seconds before crouching down and starting to stack the books, helping her. He picked up most of them quickly. In a few moments, the pile was organized.

  The two stood up simultaneously, and he returned the stack of books to her arms, which she hugged tightly.

  “Thank you... thank you very much.” She murmured, adjusting the stack against her chest. The weight was considerable, making her sway slightly, but she seemed determined to carry them on her own.

  “It was nothing.” Mark waved casually at her. He observed the way she hugged the books, as if they were a shield.

  ‘So people like this exist even in this world...’

  That girl was what he would have called a “bookworm” in his previous life; someone who clearly felt more comfortable among pages than talking to people.

  Mark felt a faint sense of solidarity.

  All that nervousness, the eyes avoiding direct contact, and the constant stuttering... he knew that type of behavior well.

  Someone who just wanted to go unnoticed and be left alone in their own corner.

  If he weren’t in Vaelin’s body, with all the imposing presence the avatar carried, he would probably be acting exactly the same way in a similar situation.

  It was like looking at a female, otherworldly version of who he used to be:

  “Do you work here?” Mark asked, trying to keep his voice as neutral as possible so he wouldn’t scare her even more.

  The girl hesitated for a moment, biting her lower lip and looking at the floor before gathering the courage to lift her gaze to Mark’s face.

  “Y-Yes! I mean, more or less...” She took a deep breath, trying to balance the pile of books that threatened to slip. “I’m Celina, the librarian responsible for this sector. But since almost no one comes here, I end up doing a bit of everything... organizing, cataloging, cleaning...”

  She let out a nervous laugh, her cheeks still red. “And you, sir?” Celina tilted her head slightly, the weight of the books making her arms tremble a little.

  “I... I’ve never seen you here before. What would your name be?”

  “Vaelin.” Mark answered simply. “And I’ve been looking for someone like you this whole time.”

  However, he failed to realize how that sentence would sound to a girl who spent most of her time talking to bookshelves.

  ‘What?!’

  Celina froze in place.

  For a moment, silence reigned again, broken only by the sound of Pippin rustling some paper in a nearby corridor. She didn’t seem to notice the small servant, or perhaps she was too nervous to process anything other than Mark’s words.

  Her face went from pink to a furious shade of red in a matter of seconds.

  The sentence, spoken with such deep seriousness and calm voice, sounded like a confession straight out of one of those cheesy romance novels she hid in the library drawers.

  “R-Really? You... looking for... m-me?” She stammered, eyes wide behind her lenses.

  Mark, without changing a single muscle of his neutral expression, simply nodded solemnly, confirming what he had said. He raised his hand and pointed to the identification pinned to her robe, the brooch that signaled her role as an official guild librarian.

  “I need help finding some books.”

  Oh.

  Reality crashed against the girl’s expectations like a bucket of cold water.

  Celina felt her ears burning.

  She let out a forced laugh, a shrill sound that clashed completely with the silent environment, as her face reached the color of a ripe tomato.

  “Oh! O-Of course! Books! Yes, books!” She exclaimed, laughing awkwardly and shaking the pile of books. “Of course! It’s my job, after all! I work here, so... books! Yes, books are my specialty!”

  She let out another nervous laugh, desperate to avert her gaze.

  ‘Celina, you idiot! How could you think someone like him would be looking for you like that? He barely knows who you are!’

  She took a deep breath, trying to steady the heart still hammering against her chest, and forced a professional posture.

  “What exactly are you looking for?”

  “I’m looking for records about Luminaris and maps of the region.” Mark said directly, unaware of the girl’s thoughts. “Information about the surroundings and the geography of the continent.”

  Celina’s eyes instantly lit up behind the round lenses, the nervousness being replaced by a spark of excitement.

  “Ah! Geography! You came to the right place! Most people only care about technique manuals or monster records, but local cartography is fascinating!”

  She nearly hopped in place, making the stack of books sway dangerously.

  “Follow me! I know exactly where the most recent books are... and some older ones that are much more detailed, if you don’t mind!”

  Mark simply nodded, following Celina as she walked with quick steps, still wobbling slightly under the weight of her own stack of books.

  “You probably know this already, but the guild’s library works with a fairly strict access division.” She said without looking back, her voice regaining confidence as she stepped into her domain.

  “The content is released depending on your adventurer Rank. But since what you’re looking for is geographic information and basic records, you won’t have any trouble finding what you need in the common areas.”

  Mark felt a realization. So that was the reason they demanded identification.

  “If there’s anything restricted that only Gold Rank adventurers can access, you can bring that as well.” He said casually while pulling the plaque from beneath his cloak, keeping pace behind her. “I’m a Gold Rank adventurer.”

  Celina froze mid-step. She slowly turned her neck, eyes wide behind the round lenses as she processed the information upon seeing the golden plaque.

  “G-Gold? Ah... yes! Right! Understood!” She stammered, nodding frantically before walking again, now with an even tenser posture.

  Celina began weaving through the shelves with impressive agility, stopping here and there to pull specific volumes.

  “This one is the Atlas of Luminaris: Current Decade Edition.” She said, handing the first book to Mark.

  “This other one details the surroundings and the trade routes to neighboring cities. And this...” Celina pulled out a book with a worn leather cover. “...is a topographic record of the continent. It’s a bit old, but mountain ranges and rivers don’t change that quickly.”

  In a few minutes, she had transferred a small stack of books into Mark’s arms, briefly explaining the contents of each one.

  “Thank you. This should work for now.” Mark accepted the stack, thanking her.

  “No problem. It’s my job!” Celina adjusted her glasses, looking a little more composed now.

  “You may take these volumes, but remember to return them once you finish reading. As a Gold Rank adventurer, there’s no strict time limit, so you can keep them as long as you need, without late fees.” She said with a sparkle in her eyes.

  That was an advantage... a good one.

  “Alright. Thank you.”

  Mark said goodbye to Celina with a short nod, leaving the librarian still a bit dazed behind. Before heading to the exit, he took a few strategic turns through the side corridors, away from anyone’s sight.

  In a darker corner, Pippin emerged from the shadows of the shelves, jumping nimbly back inside the cloak.

  With the servant hidden and the books under his arm, Mark walked back through the main hall.

  As he passed through the large oak doors, the same two guards from before struck the shafts of their spears against the ground in a rigid salute, keeping their heads lowered until he crossed the Bronze District.

  The outside air was warmer, and the noise of the city began filling his ears again.

  However, Mark had barely taken ten steps when something made him freeze in place.

  A voice, clear and powerful, echoed directly inside his mind, overlapping with the sound of the streets.

  “My Lord!”