Don't Feed the Professor! - Chapter 14

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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My mind was still rigid with tension, so I forced myself to think through it.
“Ah, yes, of course I received the m—, but there’s no particular message to convey, really…….”
“…….”
The Librarian’s mouth tightened oddly. I hastened to add,
“I mean, less of a message and more of……what would you call it……regards?”
“Regards?”
“Yes, they asked me to convey regards. That is, the person of high station did.”
Silence hung in the air. I could feel Bibi stiffening with apprehension.
At last, the Librarian opened his mouth.
“Ah, so that esteemed one sends their regards to me directly—my heart grows quite warm at the thought.”
“Ah, yes, quite right……. Ha, ha.”
It was an off-the-cuff response, but the Librarian seemed mercifully satisfied.
“When you return, tell them I am quite content with my life here.”
“Ah, of course…….”
“The archive can be lonely at times, it’s true, but to polish one’s heart like a clear mirror in solitude—is that not the very essence of a true scholar? Not that I mean to lecture, you understand. You and your master surely know this far better than I…….”
The Librarian’s words tumbled on endlessly. His face was flushed with what appeared to be genuine pleasure that this mysterious figure had sent regards, though midway through I lost all sense of what he was saying.
I poked Bibi in the ribs where she stood vacant beside me. She snapped to attention and cleared her throat.
“Excuse me, Librarian.”
‘Librarian?’
“Forgive the presumption, but I came today to show this friend how to use the Library. If it pleases you, could we check out some books now?”
The Librarian—or rather, the Librarian—turned to Bibi with a benevolent smile.
“I’ve talked your ear off, haven’t I? But yes, this one is also a cherished seeker of truth. If you vouch for them, then I am quite willing to conduct new transactions.”
“Thank you.”
Bibi bowed respectfully and rummaged through the Boston bag slung across her shoulder. She set something heavy down before the pedestal.
“This is the accumulated overdue fines.”
It was a brick-thick stack of cash.
I felt my eyes bulge from their sockets. It was more money than I’d seen in my entire life.
Wait—we didn’t come here to earn money, did we? And what exactly are these overdue fines?
And besides…….
I stared at the Librarian with his kind smile. With a face like a Buddha statue, he was going to accept this bundle of cash?
“I’d like two copies of the Organic Baby Food Encyclopedia.”
“……?”
For a moment I thought it was a joke, but Bibi’s expression was deadly serious.
“Very well.”
The Librarian raised an arm that had been stretched out elegantly. The stack of cash before the pedestal flickered like a hologram, then vanished.
“However, if you continue to offer the same tribute in this manner, take note that the currency will gradually lose its value. That phenomenon is called…… inflation, if I’m not mistaken?”
The Librarian smiled slightly. In the next instant, two stun guns—small enough to hold in one hand—appeared on the pedestal.
“These are…….”
“The baby food encyclopedia, you ask? Indeed.”
Bibi spoke and pressed one of the stun guns into my hand.
“Why are you giving this to me…….”
“It’s my apology.”
I had countless questions, but I accepted the stun gun. And then, the very next moment,
Bang.
The sound came from the direction of the door we’d entered. When I peered between the bookshelves, I saw a figure sprawled across the marble corridor.
A large man in black clothes.
“Ugh……, ugh…….”
The man lifted his head. He wore a cloth mask covering half his face, but his exposed eyes were filled with terror. His face glistened with cold sweat, and his legs seemed to give way beneath him. He couldn’t stand.
“How dare you…….”
A voice crackled with an electronic quality, almost hissing, and I jerked my head away.
The Librarian’s eyes were glowing. The faint smile that had lingered at his lips was gone, and only his eyes blazed like flashlights.
“To trespass without permission and disturb the archive…….”
Rustle, rustle-rustle.
The sound came from all directions at once—from countless spaces between the books, something scuttling and crawling emerged.
I instinctively crouched low and covered my mouth. The man, too, seemed to sense something was terribly wrong.
As his eyes darted desperately about, he spotted Bibi and me.
“S-save me…….”
Bibi, my so-called paid companion, clicked her tongue. But the fool did it anyway—he screamed.
“Don’t just stand there! Help me! I-I’m from the Organization……!”
Not a drifter, then, but an expedition member sent by the Organization? I turned to Bibi in shock, but she simply shook her head.
Drifter or expedition member—once the rules of the Fortress were broken, there was no salvation.
Creak-screech.
Then, at last, the horrifying sound revealed its source. Scuttling from the shelves came grotesque spiders. Their bodies were as large as a human head, and each leg was thin and long like a fishing rod.
“Ah……, no…….”
The man had already resigned himself to his fate. Just before dozens of spiders hurled themselves at him, I turned away.
Crunch, crunch-crunch.
Only after the man’s screams faded completely did I open my eyes. Cold sweat was running down my forehead.
“……Let’s get out of here.”
“…….”
Where the man had lain, only an undefined dark-reddish smear remained. The spiders had already vanished, and the Librarian had returned to being a statue, quietly closing his eyes.
“What are you doing?”
Bibi urged me again, and I finally moved my feet.
Just then, a faint shadow fell across my head. I looked up quickly, but the window above showed only clear sky.
‘A trick of the mind……?’
I could have sworn I felt someone watching.
Just before leaving the Reading Room, I spotted a small pouch—no bigger than a palm—lying between the bookshelves. It was something I was certain I hadn’t seen when we first entered.
‘Did that man have it?’
I slipped it into the spacious pocket of my hoodie. For some reason, I had a strong feeling I shouldn’t tell Bibi about this.
“I have to go report this. So we’ll save the questions for later.”
The moment we exited the Library, I caught Bibi as she turned to leave.
“What?”
“This.”
I handed her a band-aid from my pocket. Bibi looked confused at first, but when I gestured to his hand, where blood was still dripping, his face hardened immediately.
“You know what this is…….”
“I do. But the ledger doesn’t balance like this. They caused you some trouble, sure, but that didn’t warrant ripping out your nails.”
“…….”
Bibi took the band-aid and put it in his work pocket. He warned me,
“Don’t let the Hotline know you’re involved.”
After Bibi left, I returned to the Dormitory. The moment I shut the door, I crawled into bed and pulled the blanket over my head.
Creak-screech.
The image of the gigantic spider crawling across the shelf and the man’s screams were still vivid in my ears. I never could have imagined such things lurking in a place like that.
Surely there were even more horrific creatures hiding in places throughout the school that we couldn’t imagine. If I could, I would never leave this room again.
But I can’t afford to. Amelie’s room is only a refuge as long as I’m playing her part well.
Rustle.
Then I remembered—I pulled out the small pouch from my hoodie pocket. The bag was small but looked sturdy.
The two zippers were bound together with small cable ties, making them impossible to open easily. I took Amelie’s scissors from her desk and cut through the cable ties.
There wasn’t much inside.
‘A communication device……?’
The palm-sized device had small dials and LED indicators, but it didn’t seem to be functioning now.
And there was a paper envelope. It was creased, as if someone had handled it many times.
Probably fingerprints from a dead person, I thought, and somehow that calmed me.
The things Amelie and her predecessors left behind are much the same. Most of them, if not all, are probably already dead.
I have no desire to rejoice in their deaths, but if their belongings happen to fall into my hands, wouldn’t it be rational to put them to good use?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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