{14}“Root Library”

  ***

  The Free Research Club members gathered in one corner of the spiral-arranged archives. Several professors came up from below and sat with them, and Professor Sven was the first to speak.

  "First, I wanted to ask what you were doing here at this hour... Ugh. What is that smell?"

  "..."

  Professor Sven stopped mid-sentence and covered his nose. The club members exchanged glances and only then realized the existence of the chicken droppings—no, chicken feather slippers they were wearing.

  "What in the world do you have on your feet?"

  While the members awkwardly removed their slippers, Rin tried to explain the situation as calmly as possible. But the fact that she hadn't even thought to take off her own slippers and was still wearing them showed how startled she was.

  Her priority was to prove that their coming here was coincidental. She explained everything from waking up to strange noises last night, coming down to find Professor Temel talking with a stranger, and then returning to ask properly only to find them gone.

  "So Professor Temel went down the passage beneath Baron yesterday?"

  "Yes. More importantly, what were you all doing?"

  "We... were looking for our faculty advisor."

  "Faculty advisor?"

  Rin finally explained that the people gathered here were members of the newly formed Free Research Club, and that they had been looking for a faculty advisor to get approval for their club activities. Due to the absence of potential advisor professors, they had been in a predicament, which led them to stakeout based on Rin's eyewitness account.

  After hearing the story, the professors exchanged words with each other. Most were critical remarks about what to do with this situation or complaints about how bringing children here after the secret passage was discovered was problematic. Professor Sven calmed them down.

  "Now, now. I understand everyone's concerns. But I can vouch for the identity of the children here."

  When Professor Sven, already known for his seriousness in everything, spoke in an even more solemn tone than usual, the confused atmosphere quickly subsided.

  "We've heard the students' circumstances, now we should tell them ours. These children must be quite frightened right now."

  "..."

  When none of the professors objected, Professor Sven took a deep breath with a "Whew." Then he addressed the huddled club members who were glancing around nervously.

  "This is the oldest existing library."

  He illuminated the center with the lamp in his hand. The shape of the roots, which had been hard to see in the darkness until now, was revealed. There sat what appeared to be a very old man, but it wasn't actually an old man.

  "Gasp!"

  Rin drew in a startled breath. The other members were equally surprised. What they had initially thought was an old man was an elderly figure meticulously formed by the tree's fine roots and ancient vines intertwined with each other. The problem was that it was now moving.

  "That's the hidden form of Grandfather Tree."

  Professor Sven said calmly.

  *RUSTLE*

  The elderly figure continued to move its hands. From the book it was holding, it seemed to be constantly writing something.

  "All he does is record."

  "Record? What does he record?"

  To Rin's question, Professor Svetrinaha seemed to contemplate for a moment.

  "Hmm... let's say the big and small events occurring throughout the continent?"

  At that, Calia clapped her hands as if realizing something.

  "Aha! So the professors collect the events to be recorded and inform him?"

  Professor Sven shook his head.

  "You're quite perceptive, Miss Lux."

  When her family name was suddenly mentioned so casually, Calia's shoulders stiffened.

  "But your guess is the opposite. He only records, and we collect it."

  Then Leo interrupted.

  "Huh? What does that mean?"

  Professor Sven slowly began to tell the story. The past of Elvlin Academy as he knew it, and as the professors here knew it.

  ***

  Nobody knows the exact age of Grandfather Tree. The tree has been rooted and living near the Lunian Mountains of Ascalia for a very long time.

  Early on, Grandfather Tree's existence was only known among some ecologists merely as an old big tree that showed above ground. Then, right after the First Evil-Mortal War ended, when the Northern Mixed Continent was busy with post-war reconstruction, a scholar named Elvlin discovered the hidden appearance of this ancient tree by chance.

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  "The headmaster?"

  Professor Svetrinaha nodded at Rin's question.

  "Yes. The current headmaster."

  The young Elvlin was originally a magic scholar. His main interest was searching for traces of the ancient magical kingdom 'Ajurat' civilization left throughout the continent, excavating and collecting forgotten ancient magic.

  Finding the hidden library beneath Grandfather Tree would have been impossible if he had been merely a scholar studying ecology or geology.

  He named the place hidden underground 'Root Library.' In this Root Library, there was a very ancient recorder that appeared to be a type of ancient spirit magic. Its life force was connected to Grandfather Tree, and without responding to any stimulus from its surroundings, it only repeated the act of recording.

  The records were written in an ancient language and documented big and small events that occurred throughout the Mixed Continent in chronological order. It was ultimately impossible to know by what principle the information was collected and selected.

  However, through Elvlin's extended research, he was able to determine at least that it was based on powerful magic and that it was highly accurate.

  By then, many traces of the First Evil-Mortal War had disappeared, and new villages and cities were being built on the ruins.

  As people's living areas expanded as before, Elvlin decided to protect this ancient relic located in this remote forest.

  So he built a structure similar to the Root Library above ground and filled it with personal books to disguise it as an ordinary library. And since that alone might seem suspicious, he went so far as to establish a school using his personal fortune.

  When that was mentioned, there were gasps from all around.

  "Personal fortune?"

  Ned was aghast.

  "Just how much wealth did he have to build a school this large?"

  The gathered professors exchanged glances. Professor Svetrinaha patted Ned's shoulder and shook his head.

  "Detailed stories about the headmaster are confidential."

  "Why?"

  "Because there's a non-disclosure clause in our employment contract."

  "Ah, I see."

  At first, since the school was simply built as a cover, not much attention was paid to its operation. The faculty consisted of only about five or six professors, the number of new students each year did not exceed twenty, and there were only a few people managing the facilities.

  The club members who were listening had questions at this point. This is because the current Elvlin Academy, while not the best on the continent, is at least a well-known prestigious institution in the Republic of Ascalia, a country of academics and commerce.

  Eventually, Calia, the quickest to act, raised her hand again.

  "Is there a reason why the school suddenly became successful?"

  "Money."

  The one who answered was a slender man who appeared to be in his mid-40s. Calia had never seen him before.

  "What? Excuse me, who are..."

  "Ah. First-years probably don't know me well. I'm Professor Libtain, who teaches Commerce and Trade."

  One day, the headmaster thought that things couldn't continue this way. For some reason, he suddenly started thinking about the students. At this point, Rin raised her hand.

  "So before that, he didn't think about the students?"

  "At least from what I've heard... yes. He wasn't particularly interested."

  Anyway, the school's operation policy changed due to the headmaster's whim, but unfortunately, there wasn't enough money to reform the school.

  So, contrary to what had been done until then, he began to leak information throughout the continent.

  Information about the Root Library.

  This was 'intelligence' cleverly inserted to flow only among high-ranking officials of each country through carefully selected informants. Thus, they succeeded in securing several clients in the Northern Continent and began a business of sharing the Root Library's information exclusively with them.

  "Can we read it?"

  To Rin's question, Professor Riden, who was standing next to her, picked up a book from the wall.

  "Anyone can read it. The recorder doesn't interfere with whoever opens this."

  The book he showed had unfamiliar characters densely written on each page.

  "Just that you need to know how to read the ancient language and..."

  Professor Riden closed the book and placed it carelessly on the floor. Suddenly, Grandfather Tree's fine roots, which were spread in all directions, began to move.

  "Eek!"

  "Gasp!"

  Seeing it in the dim light, it looked like thousands of snakes writhing, which terrified the club members.

  *RUSTLE*

  The fine roots bunched together like human hands, picked up the book placed on the floor, and put it back in its original position. Professor Riden ran his hand over the tidied book as if nothing had happened.

  "The books can only be read inside here. These are the two conditions."

  Professor Riden now looked at Professor Sven.

  "Since Professor Svetrinaha has already explained the general details, I trusted that and spoke as well. Is this really okay?"

  Professor Sven nodded.

  "I was also surprised at first, but the children here are trustworthy. Rin, whom everyone knows well, needs no mention, and Calia, daughter of the Holy Knights' Commander, and Ned's father, Gillien, also have deep connections with our academy."

  Ned jumped in surprise at those words.

  "You knew who I was?"

  "It's only known among Root Library readers, so don't worry too much."

  "Oh?"

  Leo showed sudden interest and asked.

  "What is this 'Root Library reader'?"

  "It literally means people who have the authority to read this Root Library."

  "How do you get that qualification?"

  "It's decided through internal meetings among professors."

  "Can we apply too?"

  At that, all the surrounding professors, including Professor Sven, put on serious expressions.

  "Well... usually students spend their time here without even knowing of this place's existence until graduation."

  Rin suddenly noticed something strange in the professor's words.

  "You just said 'usually'? Does that mean there have been cases like this before?"

  "That's right."

  Professor Sven seemed to be trying to recall something, tapping his forehead with his finger for quite some time.

  "That... was it Jenko Egain? Is that right?"

  Some of the older professors nodded. Calia suddenly realized that the name was identical to the current headmaster of Ascalia's top institution, 'Loarnian Academy,' but she didn't mention it out loud.

  "Anyway, that student also found out about this secret. Did we give that student reading rights?"

  Then, from below, a voice very familiar to Rin, Leo, and Shulmaier was heard.

  "Ahem! You did!"

  "Doctor!"

  Leo jumped up. The one coming up leisurely from the lower floor was none other than Doctor Gernshvatz.

  "I was wondering where you disappeared to, but you were here!"

  "Sorry, sorry. I don't come here often, but once I do, I lose track of time."

  To the doctor who was scratching his head and smiling, Professor Sven asked.

  "By the way, Doctor. That student Jenko was almost from the academy's founding era, how do you know about it?"

  "Huh? Sven. You must have forgotten because it's been too long, but the headmaster hired me specifically to teach that kid."

  "Ah, was that so? I'm getting fuzzy."

  Just then, an eerie voice came from behind. It was the man in the cloak.

  "I try to stay out of the affairs of this place as much as possible, but how will you handle these children?"

  At the word 'handle,' all the club members tensed up. Until now, they had forgotten because the professors old enough to be their grandfathers had been talking kindly, but putting it all together, they had learned quite a significant secret.

  The professors had honestly told the story to calm the frightened students, but it seemed to have made them even more scared. Even Leo, who seemed fearless, suddenly became quiet, perhaps remembering the skills the cloaked man had just displayed.

  "I don't know what books you usually read, but we don't harm people over something like this. The fact that we brought you here like this means we trust you to some extent."

  Professor Sven tried to reassure them in the kindest voice possible, but judging by their expressions, it didn't seem to be working.

  "Alright. Then right here, we'll conduct your 'Root Library reading rights' license examination."

  "Professor Svetrinaha! Is that okay?"

  When Professor Riden asked with concern in his voice, Professor Sven looked each of the Free Research Club members in the eye.

  "It's fine. The headmaster already knows about this."

  "What? How would the headmaster know that?"

  "...There are ways of knowing everything."

  -To be continued-