It was already dark by the time we returned to the temple.
We were welcomed as the renowned guests and were quickly guided to the room where weâd be staying in the temple.
Of course, we also had dinner in the temple.
â¦As expected of a meal in a temple of life, it was close to a vegetarianâs meal⦠or isnât this actually a vegetarian meal?!
But surprisingly, they tasted good.
ââ¦Whereâs the meatâ¦,â Carbuncle protested.
Meanwhile, I could see Clavisâ face wrinkled as he wolfed down his food.
âItâs tasty enough, so whatâs the fuss?â Ein asked as he elegantly ate.
âIt still tastes different. We need meat,â Carbuncle said.
Clavis nodded in agreement.
âWeâre not here for recreation, itâs already good that itâs delicious, right? Weâre here for business, donât be fussy,â Ein said again.
I was dumbfounded looking at their interaction.
Carbuncle and Clavis grumbled as they quickened their eating pace.
In a few momentsâ¦
âIâm done!â Carbuncle put back her empty bowl with a noise, â
âKuu-chanâ¦! Be careful!â I was scared the bowl would split into two, since the one using it roughly was a dragonâ¦!
Carbuncle stood up quickly and walked towards the door.
âWhere are you going?â Maiara asked.
âIâmma ask around and search around the temple for any clue,â Carbuncle said.
A similar noise, yet smaller in intensity made me turn from the leaving Carbuncle to the direction of the voiceâit was Clavis who also put down his empty bowl as he followed after Carbuncle.
âRalph, you too?â Maiara asked.
âYeah, itâd be faster for us to split up and look around,â Clavis said as I saw his fluffy ears twitching, his nose twitching... and it was at that time that I realized.
Carbuncle and Clavis had the best five senses than the rest of us, so it was the best choice for them to look around!
Anyway, nobody but me could see Clavisâ twitching wolf ears as I was the one to put the illusion magic, so it was safe.
So, they went off to look around the temple, leaving me, Maiara, and Ein behind as we were still eating.
Maiara finished next, followed by Ein, and finally, me.
âSo⦠Whatâs our plan?â I asked.
âHmmâ¦,â Ein was thinking for a moment before he raised his head and asked to the young elf of this temple who assisted with our dinner, âIs there something where you keep the record of the saints throughout the history in this temple?â
The young elf didnât expect to be called out so suddenly, so in a fluster, he answered, âUh-huh? Me? Ah⦠We keep our records and other references in the templeâs library.â
âThereâs a library here. Good,â Ein smiled, his smile seemed to say â
âYoung one, can you guide us to the library?â Maiara asked.
The young elf seemed to be flustered when Maiara made the request, as he quickly nodded with a flushed face.
Maiara covered most of her skin, yet maybe that was what made her stand out and exude a mysterious beauty air that even the young elf that had been living in the temple for a long time could be this flustered.
âPlease follow me, dear esteemed guests,â The young elf spared no time in guiding us.
We quickly found ourself inside the library in the temple.
I was a bit anxious as well as excited.
I was excited because I was quite the nerd, and I was wondering how different the book collection in Riviera and in Cielle would be.
Meanwhile, I was also anxious⦠What if the elven kingdom had different language system in their books? What if the languages used in their books here were of ancient languages that none of us could read?
I was afraid our cover might get blown up if thereâs any cultural difference I didnât knowâ¦
I was sure that our language was a universal one, but who knows each race or each kingdom had their own, secret language found nowhere else, rarely known by outsiders?
As I tried to calm my mind down, I saw Ein who was walking next to me.
At the sight of the calm and confident Ein, I silently heaved my sigh of relief.
It was painful to admit, but this younger child has more smarts than what he looks.
I calmed down my competitive heart that just rose up from the deadâold habits die hard.
I smiled to myself.
In the middle of our journey towards the templeâs library, I saw the sight of Carbuncle and Clavis passing by, seemingly serious on keeping a look around.
I saw Carbuncle questioning a passerby that seemed to be intimidatedâ¦
The library we entered was⦠not quite like the library that I had imagined.
It was a simple and small library that contained mostly books related to their faith, the history of the temple and the village, and records.
I mean, they are important and all, but rather than a library, it would be more fitting to call it as the records room.
But with regards to our mission, this place was perfect.
âPlease take your time looking around the library,â the young elf said.
âThank you. You can take your leave now,â Maiara said.
âButâ¦! I will be on stand by here just in case thereâs something you need me to assist you with,â the young elf was eager to help.
âItâs this late already and we might be here for quite some time. You must be tired. Itâs alright, we will collect all the questions we have and ask you or the Elder Priest the next day,â Maiara smiled kindly.
I couldâve sworn I saw the young elfâs thought floating in the air, seemingly saying, â
The young elf nodded before he slightly bowed to leave us.
Being left on our own accord quickly made me feel a sense of freedom, despite knowing full well that it wasnât within the young elfâs intention to monitor us. But stillâ¦
We quickly separated inside the library to look around.
Maiara quickly went to review the records of the saints and saintess. Ein went towards the section about the history of the temple and the village, leaving me with the books and records about their faith.
I scanned through the booksâ titles, luckily I could read most of them as they were written in our universal language in Sphaela.
There were some books that I couldnât really understand what it was aboutâand I guess the language looked like elven languages as well as some ancient language. I had learned the ancient language as it was used for magic chants, but I couldnât have imagined a whole story being written in the ancient language for magic. As a result, there were some parts that I couldnât really be sure what it was about⦠As expected of the elves!
I began scanning through the pages of books that I thought might possibly contain any clue about our objective to help Eneida⦠but found no clue at all.
I closed the nth book I scanned as I sighed in disappointment.
I turned to look at Maiara and Ein who were silently flipping through the pages. Maiara flipped the pages slowly and elegantly, while Ein flipped the pages with a ridiculous speed⦠It was as if he hadnât read the pages at all and only flipped mindlessly, but I could see his eyes darting around to scan the whole bookâ¦
I couldnât have disturbed the two serious people, but I also didnât think it would be best to needlessly meddle in their investigation, so I walked around the library, to the innermost corner that we agreed was pretty much useless.
The records in these shelves are mostly about the weather and climate of the region, the statistics of their population, their folklore and cultural stuff⦠I tried reading the statistics of the population to find out any mysterious death, diseases, or curses, but there were none of itâ¦
I was bored and out of any idea on which book to pick to investigate.
I mindlessly looked at the books from a far and just randomly plucked several books to entertain myself before I went back to the hopeless and boring job of scanning through all the books, if I must.
But first, maybe I could play Scrabble using these booksâ¦
From left to right⦠Upper to lower and lower to upperâ¦
V⦠I⦠T⦠T⦠A ⦠Eâ¦
V⦠I⦠D⦠A⦠E⦠S⦠T⦠I⦠Nâ¦
Whoa, the person who sorted out these books must have been bored to arrange them to be able to form the words!
I expressed my sympathy to the templeâs librarian as I slightly pulled out the book that started with âAâ in its title to complete my Scrabble.
My brain blanked the moment I saw the middle part of the section disappearing.
The books and the shelf in the most bottom, the middle section disappeared as if some magic took them in an instant.
I wiped my eyes several times to make sure I wasnât hallucinating⦠Yep, I wasnât hallucinating.
Instead, I found out that in the place of the section that disappeared⦠There seemed to be a small hidden passageway that was covered in dust?!
I tried so hard to cover my mouth and to hold myself back from yelling out.
[Youâve unlocked a hidden map! Would you like to explore it?]
If my life were an RPG, I guess such a narration would pop out now.