Youngest 136
by CristaeWith a crash, the books stacked in Liam’s arms slid to the floor.
“You little rascal!”
He darted over and scooped Rubian right up.
“Ah! The books! The books!”
“What’s going on here? And how did you get in? Aren’t we supposed to be pretending not to know each other?”
“That’s right! We are! This is a secret rendezvous just between you and me…!”
“I love secret meetings, just us two.”
Liam hugged Rubian tightly.
As he looked over his little sister for the first time in a while, his eyes fell on her jet-black bobbed hair.
“But…”
Beneath his glasses, his eyes narrowed.
“Just like the rumors say, your hair looks as if you’ve been doused in venom from a sea monster…”
“That’s not true! It’s not squid ink!”
Rubian bristled, but to Liam, his little sister was nothing but adorable.
“You want to go inside the Rare Book Library?”
Liam pushed up his glasses with both hands and asked. I nodded from my seat.
“Mm. I asked Professor Yuliophe, but… she said no.”
Unlike the Children’s Collection, everything here—chairs, desks—was higher. My feet dangled in midair and swung on their own.
“…Do you know a way in, brother?”
When I asked timidly, Liam, sitting right beside me, fixed his eyes on me and they shone.
“Getting a key to the Rare Book Library is no trouble at all. That goes for the security patrol schedule and supervising professors’ shifts, too…”
“Gasp.”
“All of it’s possible.”
Liam pushed up his glasses with that clever look.
Three cheers for otaku teens! Three cheers for bookworms!
“But… Professor Yuliophe comes to the Rare Book Library almost every night.”
“Huh, really?”
“Yeah. She locks the door and I’ve no idea what she does, but for the past month she’s been here all night. It’s been a bit bothersome…”
I blinked rapidly.
‘So the night I snuck in with Kal was just unbelievably lucky.’
I thought about it again.
It must have been Professor Yuliophe who had come to the library that night. If our timing had been off, we could have been caught right then.
“Sigh, what am I going to do? I’ve got less than ten days here…”
And if I wanted to see the innermost sections I hadn’t yet explored, I’d need even more time.
“Don’t worry.”
“Huh?”
“She won’t be there two nights from now.”
“What? Really?”
“Two days from now is the memorial day for the scholars she studied ancient languages with. She’ll probably be out.”
Ah! This was an opportunity!
“……”
‘Wait—hold on.’
Curiosity rising, I lifted my head and stared intently at Liam.
“But how do you know the professor stays all night? Isn’t the library closed after seven…”
At that, Liam suddenly stood.
“Well, since you need it, I’ll get you the key.”
Hmm, this was definitely suspicious.
But because Liam was my ally, I decided not to press further. I just silently resolved to add this to the report on my two brothers’ campus lives.
“How will you get the key? Don’t tell me you’re planning to steal it?”
“What do you take me for? I’ll get it from the maintenance office. Of course, every borrowed key has to be logged… But sometimes people do make mistakes.”
“…You’re amazing.”
I couldn’t help but admire him.
And felt a little overwhelmed.
‘Just how much of a library fixture do you have to be to get a free pass at that age?’
“Then let’s meet the evening two days from now. After seven.”
“Uhh…”
I hesitated a little. I had a feeling that Liam was rather excited about going with me.
‘It’d be best to investigate alone…’
Well, it couldn’t be helped.
The important thing was to get inside.
“Alright, brother!”
I nodded with a smile.
Liam, looking pleased, patted my head. Then he opened a book beside him, and nudged me toward study.
To get to the point, on the night two days later,
Liam was unable to join me at the Rare Book Library.
“Liam! The analysis of the magical beast claw you brought is complete! It’s an incredible discovery! We’ll wrap things up by evening two days from now—will you be free then? We’re about to make a historic mark in biological sciences!”
An old professor, who burst in abruptly, said so. Liam grasped him in an emotional hug.
“Damn it, Professor, I always had faith in you!”
“Good! Would you like to join our university research division? I’ll put my seal on it!”
“Anything, anything at all!”
Ah… Liam had crossed a river of no return.
“But I have an appointment that evening two days from now…”
“It’s fine, brother. Go do your research. That’s more important!”
“You little rascal…”
So, with a genuinely moved expression, Liam secretly let me know where the key was, and the security patrol schedule. (How does he not get caught?!)
He also told me to use his name if anything went wrong.
‘It’s not like the library is a dangerous place, anyway.’
I was fortunate that Liam understood my burning scholarly zeal.
At any rate, after dinner, I pretended to go to bed and then secretly snuck out of the dorm on my way to the library.
Knowing both the guards’ and librarian’s schedules, sneaking in was easier this time.
“A gold key in the oak drawer next to the magical beast motif table, really.”
Khalid, walking ahead, muttered with a resigned air. In one hand, he held the golden key brought by a squirrel.
“Seriously? How are we supposed to find it in all that chaos?”
Kal suddenly turned and sought my agreement.
“Shouldn’t we file a complaint? Why does the maintenance office store so much sleeping equipment?”
I pursed my lips and whistled innocently.
For some reason… I felt I might know who the culprit was.
‘Investigation report update…! New content coming…!’
Big news: the eldest brother is moving his household into the library! Hot scoop!
Anyway, I kept moving briskly.
After a bit, my pace hesitated slightly.
‘Ouch, that stings…’
Earlier this morning, I’d fallen during PE class.
My knee was a little scraped, and walking fast made it sting.
‘If he finds out, he’ll nag…’
Better to keep this quiet.
That’s why I had worn a long dress on purpose.
Luckily, Kal seemed too preoccupied leading the way to notice.
I tiptoed along as cautiously as I could. Soon, a great door loomed before us.
“It’s open.”
Khalid inserted the key, and the heavy lock gave a satisfying click.
“Let’s head inside.”
“Yeah. I’ll go first.”
This time, we advanced unhindered all the way to the center of the Rare Book Library, beyond where I’d visited before.
‘The magic lingering here seems to have preserved the books all this time.’
As I breathed in the energy saturating the air, I thought.
Yuliophe had said this library was either “optimized for preservation” or “blessed with mystery.”
Ordinary people who couldn’t sense magic would simply say this place possessed a power that defied explanation.
We made our way deep into the labyrinth of cluttered stacks—
—and suddenly, Khalid stopped short.
“Ruby, look at this.”
He turned to me, wearing a strange expression.
“What is it?”
“There’s a tree in the middle of the Rare Book Library.”
“…A tree?”
I hurried over to him.
The farther in we went, the denser the concentration of magic became.
At the very deepest part of the library, we arrived.
There, in a tiny central courtyard like a glass conservatory, stood—
“…”
—an enormous tree that stole the eye.
Bathed in brilliant moonlight streaming through a vast window in the ceiling, its presence softly stirred the air.
As if entranced, I approached.
When I placed my hand on the rough surface of the trunk, its blue-green leaves trembled gently.
“Kal, this tree…”
I glanced at Kal beside me, and in the clarity of those eyes, my own red irises were reflected.
“Why is there a tree in here?”
I murmured softly.
“…It’s a sealing tree. It seems to keep the magic bound inside this space.”
“So that’s why the Rare Book Library was overflowing with magic.”
Kal nodded, then frowned.
“But, could that be why there’s hardly any magic in Babylon’s capital…?”
My head nodded slowly in agreement.
“There could be things like this hidden all around the city.”
But who in the world would have done such a thing?
I pressed my hand gently to the tree, seeking more information, but I couldn’t grasp anything further.
‘Just touching it makes me feel at ease.’
I closed my eyes, feeling the gentle magic swirl. It was a soft and warm sensation.
‘Is this sealing tree the reason the books have been so well preserved?’
But something was missing.
Magic itself was merely a source of power.
On its own, it couldn’t bring about specific effects. That was why various magic circles were needed to achieve a desired result.
“Ruby, there’s a strange stone monument over here.”
At that moment, I heard Khalid’s voice from behind the tree.
‘No way—?’
I ran over at once.