#057

There was one thing Athanas had overlooked.

Athanas knew that people loved ‘Valentine’s’ revelations and wasted their time gossiping about stories of love and ruin.

However, he himself had no interest in such matters and believed that paying attention to other people’s business was a waste of time. Thus, whenever someone brought up such topics to him, he would advise them to spend that time doing something more productive.

Because of this, people tended to talk ‘less’ about such things in front of Athanas.

Athanas had no idea just how truly obsessed people were with stories of ‘love.’

“Hey!! I heard Athanas received a revelation from Valentine!!”

At Sereno’s words, the entire lounge erupted.

“Valentine? He received a revelation from Valentine?”

“Who’s the partner? A man? A woman?”

“Surely it’s not someone from the same order, right?”

Young men, brimming with energy and bored by the long winter nights, all flocked to this piece of gossip.

Sereno climbed onto a makeshift platform made of stacked crates.

There were a little over ten peers in the lounge. Except for a few who remained uninterested, everyone gathered before him.

“Quiet! This must not spread far! Also, our role is not to help Athanas find love!”

“Then what is it?”

“…It is to torment Athanas!”

The murmuring grew louder.

Even the few who had been uninterested joined in upon hearing that.

“Torment Athanas? How? If we hit him, will he just take it?”

“But what does that have to do with Valentine’s revelation? Did he see a revelation where the destined partner comes to save Athanas while he’s being bullied?”

Sereno relayed exactly what Athanas had explained about their first meeting and the lie he had told on the spot.

The peers reacted in various ways.

“…That Athanas went that far just to get someone’s attention? He really must have received a revelation.”

“More importantly, who’s going to be the ringleader? First come, first served? Then me!!”

Just as volunteers were flooding in for the role of the ‘enforcer’ who could hit Athanas the most—to the point where an impromptu duel was about to break out—Athanas entered the lounge.

“…What is all this commotion?”

A person who had been lying on the floor sprang up and answered.

“We were just sparring among ourselves!”

“I see. Has Sereno not asked for your cooperation yet? I have something to say regarding that matter.”

The lounge became deathly silent.

Athanas spoke.

“…I have thought about it again, and I don’t think cooperation will be necessary.”

“What?”

“What do you mean by that!”

“I almost won!”

“You all would cooperate, but in doing so, you would try to investigate that person. In that process, it seems more likely that my lie would be discovered.”

“It’s too late! We’ve already heard everything!”

“Right! How could we not be interested in something this fun! Even if you say you don’t need it, we’re going to cooperate!”

“…Even when you think it’s too late, there is always a way.”

“Wha—what are you planning to do?”

Various methods flashed through the peers’ minds.

Usually, Athanas was the one who used ‘persuasion’ (physical).

Sereno shouted as he stepped down from the platform.

“An oath! I’ll make an oath! Will that work?”

Sereno placed his hand over his heart.

“Everyone here can just make an oath! If we break it, the word ‘Traitor’ will be stamped on our foreheads for a day!”

“…You’re willing to go that far to cooperate in this?”

“Of course! Valentine is also a god under Order, isn’t he? Aren’t we Holy Knights who carry out the word of the gods? As long as it’s not something that defies the Lord’s word, we should naturally cooperate!”

Athanas fell into thought for a moment after hearing that nonsense.

It wasn’t that he judged the oath to be a useful method.

A ‘punishment’ where a word appears for a day could not be a practical deterrent. There would be plenty of fools willing to endure that.

Unless he turned back time and made it so he never told Sereno at all, these people would inevitably take an interest in ‘Fabio.’

However…

‘…On the contrary, such a clumsy approach might break down his guard.’

Fabio was very cautious.

The times he lowered his guard the most were when Athanas acted naive.

He likely felt more at ease the more Athanas differed from the ‘Athanas’ he remembered.

If so, he would show a different reaction when a completely different person approached him.

If he wasn’t particularly cautious, it meant the person wasn’t in his memory; if he was much more cautious, it meant that person was also ‘memorable.’

For now, he needed more information.

“If you go that far… I will ask for your cooperation.”

“Yes! Then how should we torment him? Should we beat him to a pulp right in front of that partner?”

“…No.”

* * *

As soon as I arrived at the Branch Office, I felt something different from yesterday.

‘There are quite a few people today.’

Three or four people dressed as monks were walking around the bookshelves, writing something on wax tablets.

They seemed to be librarians managing the collection.

‘Well, even if it’s a Branch Office, people are naturally needed to manage this volume of books.’

Since this was an era without computers, librarians had to manually record which books were acquired and where they were placed. For a building of this size, wouldn’t six librarians be necessary?

‘It would be easier if they just numbered the books.’

After Christmas, I should try mentioning the Dewey Decimal System.

Of course, there’s a high chance the Pioneer of Civilization has already mentioned it…

‘But if there are other people besides me, do I really need to wake him up?’

With that thought, as I reached the second floor, I saw Athanas standing up from his seat.

It seemed he had been waiting for me.

“Fabio!”

As Athanas called my name, I suddenly felt the gaze of several people.

‘Be quiet in the library, you crazy bastard.’

Frowning, I put my finger to my lips and went “shh.”

Athanas followed suit by putting his finger up, then blinked.

“…What kind of hand signal is this?”

‘Ugh.’

I felt like slapping my own forehead.

‘Right. This is another world.’

Gestures change meaning even when just going to a different country; the probability of this motion having the same meaning in a completely different world was very low.

“…It means to be quiet. It’s something we use often in my hometown; it seems they don’t use it in the capital.”

“Aha. It’s a sign to block the mouth. We express it like this.”

Athanas spread four fingers and covered his mouth.

It was a very intuitive hand signal.

‘I have to learn everything from scratch, even things like this…’

“But why must we be quiet?”

“Because it’s a library.”

‘Other people are staring because it’s noisy.’

I sat down and opened my book.

However, Athanas didn’t seem to have any intention of sleeping immediately.

‘But he doesn’t look like he’s reading a book either…’

Curious, I looked up and saw that Athanas seemed to be contemplating something.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter to me if he’s not sleeping.’

There’s no reason I have to spend my hiding time only sleeping.

As long as he doesn’t use me for counseling.

“…Fabio. May I ask you one thing?”

“No.”

“What is the reason you believe one must be quiet in a library?”

‘Didn’t I clearly say no?’

Even the question he asked was absurd.

Silence in the library.

Is it possible not to know this?

“Because it interferes with reading books.”

“…It interferes.”

‘This guy really does come to the library just to sleep.’

Aren’t you coming here to sleep because it’s quiet too?

This is truly ridiculous…

I shifted my gaze back to the book, and only after a long while did I realize something strange.

‘…Antonio found silent reading fascinating.’

He had asked me how I could read without moving my lips.

I thought Antonio found ‘silent reading’ unfamiliar because he was a bell ringer with limited experience.

‘But Antonio was actually an Archbishop.’

Since he gave me the astrolabe he received during his Archbishop Ordination, it’s certain he was at least an Archbishop, and perhaps even a Cardinal.

The fact that such a man found silent reading fascinating meant that almost no one in the Capital Church practiced ‘silent reading.’

‘…Then is a library originally a noisy place?’

Is it just that there’s no one else reading books right now, but if I go to the Main Hall, it’s normal for everyone to be reading aloud?

And if so, rules like ‘be quiet in the library’ naturally wouldn’t exist?

I peeked up at Athanas.

Athanas had already fallen asleep, resting his chin on his hand.

‘…Did my words just now sound very strange to him?’

In the first place, the act of silent reading itself might have felt strange.

‘…Well, what if he thinks it’s strange.’

At most, he’ll report me to a Heretic Inquisitor.

Then a report will go to Casimir.

And it will probably end with a warning to read books aloud in the library from now on.

‘But I really have to be careful with every single word.’

A world where ‘be quiet in the library’ isn’t common sense.

I became afraid of what other common sense would be ‘nonsense’ here.

‘…Elamin knows my situation, so if I make a mistake, she’ll explain it.’

Other people will just think I’m weird.

My resolve to avoid long conversations with Athanas grew even firmer.

‘But if he falls asleep like that, how is he supposed to know when to wake me up?’

I should write something like [Please wake me up at X o’clock and X minutes].

What does he expect me to do.

‘I really shouldn’t have said I’d do the favor.’

I regretted it.

Doesn’t waking someone up mean I have to stay by their side until they wake?

I should have refused, no matter how many times he asked…

After a time of lingering discomfort and anxiety, the bell announcing noon rang.

I woke Athanas before heading out for lunch.

Athanas snapped his eyes open before I could even shake him twice.

“…You are awake.”

“Thank you. I almost failed to wake up again.”

‘He didn’t seem to sleep that deeply today.’

“Then I shall head off to eat.”

“Fabio, by any chance, is there someone you’ll be eating with…”

“There is.”

I quickly cut him off and turned away.

‘Sorry, but I can’t become close with you until Christmas.’

I gave up on building a reputation specifically with Athanas. This was because it was more important not to be close to him.

‘…And if he’s truly being bullied, he wouldn’t be able to ruin my reputation anywhere anyway.’

Well, there was a bit of that calculation too.

* * *

As soon as Fabio left the Branch Office, three people gathered in front of Athanas.

“Hey, this is no joke. He’s practically screaming with his whole body that he has no intention of getting close.”

“More than that, it’s my first time seeing someone read a book without making a sound.”

“Which family does he belong to? He seems to be using a talisman to hide his hair color at the very least…”

Athanas remained silent for a moment before speaking.

“…He said he was born a serf.”

The three peers exchanged glances and then all frowned.

“That sounds like a lie.”

“Did he say that to mean ‘stop prying’?”

Even if someone is the child of a serf, it’s not impossible for them to become a priest.

There were quite a few cases where bright children began studying for the priesthood through the recommendation of a bell ringer or a parish priest.

But that was only for children. It was very rare for someone to enter the clergy suddenly after becoming an adult.

Though a Chanter isn’t a proper sacred office…

“In the one-in-a-million chance he really is a serf who became a Chanter… he wouldn’t be spending his time reading books.”

“Why would he tell such a lie?”

“Maybe he can’t let it be known which family he’s from?”

“…Could he be an illegitimate child?”

A child born with the Divine Bloodline, but not from a blessed ‘marriage.’

To put such a child on the family tree, the Head of the family had to offer a sacrifice of atonement.

However, if the illegitimate child was a boy, there were many cases where they simply claimed he died immediately after birth and raised him in secret.

The reason was simple.

Even if they spent the cost to perform a sacrifice of atonement, it was only a loss.

If it were a girl, she might eventually inherit the family, but a boy was destined to leave the family after receiving Ordination.

A body born with the Divine Bloodline is a great material for Sacred Relics. Even a single piece of flesh that rots away because it wasn’t preserved has the power to turn that land into a holy site.

However, once one takes vows as a Chanter, ownership of the physical body passes to the Church of Order.

All Chanters are buried in the Church of Order after death.

From the family’s perspective, there was nothing to gain even if they spent the money.

In that case, wouldn’t it be better to raise the child as if they didn’t exist, so that at least their bones could remain with the family when they died?

…There were quite a few families that actually put such thoughts into practice.

Chapter 58