In the room, a woman who looked exactly like Elina3 was sitting. “Have we met before? My name is Elina4.”

Lara stopped glancing at Krion, who followed her in, and stared at Elina4. There were books piled on the sofa and table where she was sitting, and it seemed like she was teaching Krion how to read.

Lara exchanged a quick greeting with Elina4 and sat on the sofa across from her. “I’ll go dry my hair and come back. We’re talking.”

While Elina3 went into another room, Krion sat across from Lara across the table. Silence naturally flowed, and the only thing that could be heard was the sound of Elina4 turning the pages of a book. Krion took out a word card from his vest pocket.

“If you don’t mind, could you read what’s written on this word card? My reading comprehension skills are still lacking, so I don’t really understand the meaning of this word.”

“Ah.”

Only then did Lara come to her senses. I was embarrassed that Krion didn’t try to bite me and spoke to me normally, but that was only for a moment, and his bashful smile made me feel a little more relaxed.

Lara smiled and took the word card from him. The front of the word card had a cute picture of a chick. “Let’s see… … .”

The moment she turned the card over, Lara’s face turned pale. The back of the card was densely filled with crude letters that looked like three letters were overlapping each other.

‘No, this is an ancient sentence that even I can’t read… … .’

Was this how it felt to get hit hard in the back of the head with a brick? I couldn’t read a single word. These days, kids’ education systems can’t be like this, so what on earth are these word cards that require such high-difficulty reading comprehension skills?

When Lara hesitated for a while, Krion, perhaps understanding this, spoke first, looking around.

“I’m sorry for bothering you… … . After all, economic jargon is longer than other words, so it’s annoying… … . Actually, I’m taking the national ancient language specialist qualification exam in two weeks. Oh, I have exactly 900 points on the GOEIC right now. Will I be able to get a level 1? I’m so nervous. They say that if you study like this, you won’t even be able to hand out business cards… … .”

If the man had ears on his head, he would have looked sullen. Lara didn’t know how to give him advice. She wished someone would give her some advice.

‘You’ve made such great strides!’

I don’t know how you can make such great progress in such a short period of time. While Lara was frozen, Krion took the vocabulary cards from her again and shoved them at Elina4, who was reading a book.

“I learned similar content last time, but I don’t know… Elina4.”

“It’s not shameful to not know. I’ll explain it again. It’s easy if you understand this Vergne-Paron principle. The 56 ancient words used in this equation… The established Killianon Association has interoperable… … .”

Lara couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. She listened to the two people’s intellectual conversation while humbly placing her hands on her folded knees. The jargon was so mixed that she couldn’t tell what they were talking about. Were they really her own people speaking the same language? It seemed like she needed an interpreter.

After 30 minutes of explanations of the vocabulary cards, a break finally came. Lara, who had been nervous that someone might ask her a question, was finally able to let go of her worries.

When Krion left for a moment to go see Elina3, Lara was left alone with Elina4. Elina4, who had closed the thick book with a loud thud, opened her mouth.

“I’ve finished reading the book, so I think I should get a new one. Could you wait a moment?”

“Oh, of course. Go.”

Lara quickly answered, thinking it was a good thing that she had been awkwardly waiting. Elina4 stood up and lifted the books that were piled high in one go.

Lara was anxiously watching her walk toward the door. Soon, the tower of books that had been piled up precariously began to shake, and several books fell to the floor with a thud. Lara approached Elina4 and picked up the fallen books. “If you don’t mind, I’ll help you move them.”

“I’d appreciate it if you would.”

It felt like a cliche scene from a romance novel had occurred between the female protagonist and an extra, but Lara pretended not to notice.

The place she arrived at after following Elina4, sharing the books, was her room. The vanity table, full-length mirror, and closet that are commonly found in children’s rooms were gone, and three sides of the room were filled with bookshelves.

Lara walked around the books piled on the floor and placed the books on a desk that was large enough for a person to lie down on.

“Thank you for helping me.”

“Haha, don’t be so kind. It seems like you have a great passion for books.” “Books are the only way to satisfy my endless thirst for exploration. There are probably almost no books in the empire that I haven’t read.”

“Oh, then have you read 『Magical Girl Lilyka』?” “『Magical Girl Lilyka』… …?”

Elina4 asked with wide eyes. Her silver eyes rippled with excitement at the fact that there were books in the world that she didn’t know about.

<This otaku!>

Meanwhile, God’s shout echoed in Lara’s head.

<Don’t try to sell me something secretly. Are you going to make the heroine an otaku?> ‘What’s wrong with comic books!’

<Are books and comic books the same thing? What’s the point of comic books to a wise model student? Hurry up and take that back before the heroine looks it up.>

When God got angry, Lara had no choice but to stop selling. “… Haha, no. You don’t have to know. Anyway, it’s a comic book, so it’s useless to read… … .”

“No, there’s no such thing as a useless book in this world.”

Lara was delighted at that.

“Right? Right? What kind of ignorant god in the world would rate books? Oh ho ho! Just read it! Being a fan enriches your life!” “Wait a minute.”

“Huh?”

“I think I’ve seen that book you mentioned earlier somewhere. What exactly was it called?” “『Magical Girl Lilyka』… … ?”

Suddenly wondering why she was so serious, Lara put down her teacup for a moment. Elina4 got up from her seat and walked over to the desk. She put on her glasses that were on top of a thick book and immediately began to look through it.

“I found it… … .”

Elina4 took out a piece of yellow parchment from the book and her face was filled with joy, like a scholar who had made a major discovery.

“What the heck is that… … ?”

“It’s the list of forbidden books in the palace library. I found it by chance while reading a book, but I hid it away just in case.”

<If the palace library is as cliche says… it’s where an incredible forbidden book sleeps. With that forbidden book, you can turn back time in the world, or you can gain great magical powers that can rule the empire.>

Lara couldn’t understand why such a powerful forbidden book was kept in the palace library, the most visited in the empire. If it were her, she would have burned it right away, fearing that it might pose a threat to the nation.

Elina4, who had been looking through the list of forbidden books written on parchment, pointed to the center with her finger.

“It’s here. 『Magical Girl Lillica… Limited Edition』.” “If it’s the limited edition… … .”

Lara’s eyes lit up. That was truly a treasure with great power. It would not only turn my genre world upside down, but anyone who possessed it would be the object of awe for all nerds.

“By any chance… when are you going to the Imperial Library?”

As Lara’s mood suddenly changed, Elina4 felt an inexplicable sense of discomfort.

“Please take me with you when you go! Please!”

Even if Youngae, who was of low status, could enter, she would not be able to go deep enough where the forbidden book was hidden. Instead, Lara pinned all her hopes on the slim possibility that she could enter with the princess. Elina4’s fingertips trembled slightly at Lara’s desperate appearance. She felt as if a gigantic tidal wave of knowledge was coming, beyond her imagination. How great of a book must it be for her to beg like this? She couldn’t help but feel intellectually curious.

<What are you doing with a magical forbidden book that can have incredible magical powers! Can’t we just follow the cliche right now!>

“I’m curious about that book too. Then shall we go together now?”

“Oh, thank you! First, I’ll tell Elina3 that I’m a guest.” “In the meantime, I’ll prepare the teleportation magic circle. I know the coordinates of the Imperial Library.”

<You’re talking about taking a plane to the comic book store just to borrow a comic book, F*ck! …

I’m going crazy.>

And so began the journey of the two young women to find the 『Limited Edition Magical Girl Lilyka』.

“Let’s go in.”

Lara swallowed her saliva silently due to tension. It was her first time in the Imperial Library. The interior of the building was so magnificent and splendid that it was hard to tell if it was a library or a ballroom.

A long, shiny carpet like white sand covered the hallway. Lara, who followed Elina4 up to the third floor of the Imperial Library, let out an exclamation.

The tightly packed bookshelves looked as big as the walls of a building. Although the materials were classified, it didn’t seem easy to find the books because there were so many of them.

After passing through the complicated maze of bookshelves, a deeper interior was revealed. The further inside I went, the fewer people there were, and eventually I was able to reach the last section of the library where no one was.

“If there is anything, it’s probably in here. All the books that people don’t look for or haven’t classified are here. It’s a good place to hide banned books.” I finally felt like I was one step closer to what I wanted. But this was just the beginning. The two of them began to act separately. Lara started from the back, and Elina4 started from the front.

Elina4 took out books one by one from the bottom shelf and looked through them. Usually, they don’t put them between books, but hide them under or behind books.

“Whew.”