With the pen in her hand, she methodically crossed completed items off her checklist, one by one.
Solvale Beast Master High School's monthly break occurred on the first Friday of each month, lasting until Sunday—a total of three days.
This week happened to coincide with the first week of October.
In other words, tomorrow, she could take advantage of the break to head up to Azure Bay Mountain and search for the Ripple Fruit the old man had mentioned.
However, perhaps because these rare Spirit Fruit couldn't be artificially cultivated, Ash had found no detailed information about their exact ripening season, whether online or in relevant books, despite extensive research.
All she could do was rely on the old man's description and the sales information posted by online merchants dealing in Spirit Fruit to roughly estimate that the Ripple Fruit in Azure Bay Mountain might mature sometime in mid-to-late October.
So, for this trip to Azure Bay Mountain, even though Ash had done everything she could to prepare, she wasn't holding out much hope.
Even if she managed to follow the old man's directions and locate the Ripple Fruit he described, chances were high that the fruits wouldn't be ripe yet and thus couldn't be picked.
Still, Ash planned to go and take a look.
Even if it was just to scout the area, it would be worth it.
If she actually found unripe Ripple Fruit, she could always wait for them to mature before returning to harvest them.
After all, if there was one thing she had plenty of, it was time.
...
"Hmm? Are you here to return a book again?"
Inside Solvale Town Library, the old man wearing reading glasses looked up from his newspaper at the sound of movement near the entrance.
He saw Ash with her backpack slung over one shoulder, slipping through the partially opened door.
The dimly lit library was as quiet as ever, with the old man sitting alone at the service desk as usual.
Ash smiled at him before responding to his question. "Yes, I've finished reading <
She walked to the service desk, set down her backpack, and unzipped it.
From an inner compartment, she retrieved the book she had borrowed and handed it to the old man. "I don't think I've exceeded the free borrowing period, have I, sir?"
"No, you're good." The old man remembered Ash had borrowed the book just last weekend.
Five days wasn't nearly enough to surpass the free borrowing period.
"Are you borrowing another book this time?" he asked, taking the book from Ash.
He scanned it at the return machine, then tossed it into a nearby empty box with a dull "thud."
Ash turned her gaze toward the source of the sound.
The empty box contained only a single book, highlighting how quiet this public library was on most days.