The next day, it was maybe 10 AM by the time I actually woke up. Sleeping on a bed and out of the elements really made a difference.
After getting some breakfast and putting away a bunch of food for later—there was enough space in my Inventory to do so easily now. I was tempted to place the occasional statue I saw into the Inventory to test out a side-effect of possessing a Grimoire: I was no longer restricted from placing larger objects now.
[Nori. No.]
'I was just kidding!'
Keeping the smirk from appearing on my face, I defaulted to Scanning the streets as I headed back to the Library.
The crowds were diverse in the light of day. I saw dwarves and wandering alfr (thank you, Scan function, for finally answering that question of elve vs alf).
It also showed in the architecture, the buildings man-shaped structures but with polychrome brickwork and wrought-iron and glass. There were a fair few parks in Crown City too, along with waterways and bridges.
Strolling back to the Library, I entered through the front double doors into the reception hall/room. That same short-haired alfr manned the desk, looking rather interesting with pince-nez glasses. I couldn't actually tell if the washed out hair color was a sign of age or not.
Resisting the urge to Scan the alfr, I simply nodded and made my way to the geography books which was, in actuality, part of the History/Culture section of the Library.
I spent a few minutes trying to find a good starter that covered why I wanted to know before finding it in a pristine-looking almanac. Considering the size of the hardcover, I can reasonably figure out why it looked like it was rarely used.
Starting to flip through the pages as I scanned (speed reading, not the psychometric skill mutated to visuals with game aesthetics) the book, I directed part of my attention to my partner AI.
'So you came online in Aure Forest when I arrived in Gaellia.'
[Yes.]
'You have information about this world, right?'
[Yes, but I am mandated to help my principal, my Partner grow.]
'And handing me information on a platter is not conducive to do so,' I finished his reasoning.
[Yes. I'm sorry, Nori. But I will tell you information if you are at risk of lethal harm.]
'Nah, it's fine. I'm not happy about it but I understand. But, well, does that mean we can't put our minds together to think of a cover for me? I'm not exactly local.'
[I have considered this, actually. Unlike on your Earth, personal identification is not standardized. As long as the Aurean Alves do not place a bounty on you, there should be no problem. You just need to make up an origin that would not have people pointing out the discrepancies.]
I glanced at the world map again, considering the location of Crown City and Westria, the continent it was on and compared it with the other landmasses.
'So how about the truth?'
[The truth?]
Or at least part of it.
Returning the almanac back to its shelf, I looked around for some actual staff instead of scholars and students to figure out this 'Library Key' that kept getting mentioned.
My eyes stopped when I spotted the label "Librarian" under a name: Elin Auteberry.
It was a girl Victoria's age, dressed like a schoolmarm from the Edwardian Era. She had dark auburn hair in a straight bob and when she looked up, I saw she wore large circle-frame glasses and was about as fair-skinned as I was.
"Excuse me?"
"Yes, how may I help you?" her voice had a tone of professional courtesy. The only sign she was taken aback by my appearance for some reason were two quick owlish blinks. Her mouth remained firmly without a smile.
"I was curious if there would be a way for me to gain access to the Library after public hours? And what exactly are the hours that the Library is made available to the public."
Elin Auteberry gently placed the book she had been checking the condition of down, before smoothing her cotton gloves even though there were no creases. She pushed her glasses up with an upturned palm instead of her fingers before replying, "Public hours are from noon to an hour after sunset. Only an academic part of the Studium Generale or Particulare can have access all-hours."
Tilting my head I considered becoming part of the university (Studium Generale) for a moment. Better to try something else first, judging from my own experience in school.
"How about a wandering theoretician specialized in spellcraft that needs the Library's books for research for a dissertation they're working on?" I don't think people would understand the concept of a scientist in Gaellia—even if they did, it was better to generalize phrases for maximum comprehension.
The librarian paused and gave me a look as if check to see if I were serious. Too bad for her, I was mostly telling the truth and I had a killer poker face.
"You have a research paper to work on?" she clarified.
"Actually…"