第２５４堀：子供の頃、毎日が冒険だった。 (Part3)
"Memories?"
Yes, memories.
Tearing apart a weekly magazine—that was something we guys used to do when we gathered together, just to show off our strength.
Man, damn. It really brings back all sorts of things.
The foolish things we did back then—now they feel like nostalgic, heartwarming memories.
...Would Ria even understand if I told her?
"Yeah, it’s a memory. You know I went to school, right?"
"Yes."
"Well, back then—well, even now, actually—a new manga magazine would come out every week. Various authors would write for it, and it was published weekly. We used to look forward to reading it every week. But it’s tough to pay for it every single time, so we’d rotate them among friends or borrow them from the next class over."
"Is that what you remembered?"
"Ah, yeah, that happened. And then, we’d tear the old issues we were done reading in half with both hands. Like, they were about the same thickness as these books here."
Taiki-kun joined in on the conversation between me and Ria.
It seems he’d finished a quick scout and returned.
"Eh? Tearing a book in half? That’s such a waste. Besides, there’s no way you could tear a book this thick. What’s the point of that anyway?"
Ria picked up one of the books from the shelf and looked at me with disbelief.
If she released her Hero’s power or her combat strength, she could probably snap it easily, but with her base strength, it seemed impossible.
Watching Ria struggle with a "hnnngh" sound was actually pretty cute.
"No, Ria-san, don't actually demonstrate it. And as for the point... well, it’s like a contest of strength among men, you know?"
Yeah, yeah. It’s hard to explain the point, but it was basically just showing off.
Is this the kind of reaction I get from women?
My idiot classmates used to say tearing up magazines made you popular, but I guess that was a lie.
Not that I was interested in having a girlfriend anyway.
If I let my guard down even for a second, every day was an adventure.
But enough about the past.
Right now, we were exploring a hidden room.
"So, Taiki-kun. How was the back?"
"Well, the passage itself is quite long, but at the end, it’s literally just piles of books."
"...So there’s a possibility they used magic to fix them in place to keep the stacks neat."
"Seems like it. That’s a luxurious use of magic for a continent where mana is so scarce."
Thinking about the mana depletion on this continent, this academy is truly mysterious.
What is the cause of the many types of monsters living here? And why do they use magic so wastefully for daily life, like in this library?
"So it’s a dead end at the back? But the hidden passage is supposed to be further in, right?"
"Yeah. The location is somewhere along the way, but it’s behind a wall of books that won't budge at all. I thought it would be bad to start messing with things on my own, so I came back."
"I see. Let’s go check it out together."
Good judgment, Taiki-kun.
If he and Airi-san had discovered the passage alone, there was a chance we wouldn't be able to follow them.
And before you know it, you get dragged off to some unknown part of the academy, only to be chased by the standard ghost or something.
...To think of ghost stories even after coming to a school in another world—I guess even though I said I wasn't interested, it still stuck with me.
Well, I’ll say it again: student life was a nightmare for me.
But considering my age, I’ve spent most of my life as a student, so I suppose it’s natural for it to leave a mark.
"So this is the wall of books blocking the hidden room..."
"Whoa, it really is a wall of books..."
"Taiki-sama, is there really a room beyond this?"
"Yeah, there is. Look, even if you check the call screen, if the blueprints are right, there should be something past here."
As Taiki-kun said, the map screen confirmed that there was space ahead.
However, in front of us was a wall of books—no shelves, just books stacked perfectly vertical to a height of about four meters.
There’s no way to do this without magic.
"Well, this is a classic trope."
"Indeed."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Taiki-sama?"
The two women seemed to think the only way was to destroy the wall, but for us who have seen all sorts of "tropes," the way to break through was obvious.
Well, it narrowed down to a few possibilities.
"In this type of setup, there’s usually one book you can move."
"Exactly. Either you move that one, or you rearrange several books into the correct configuration to open the way to the back room."
"Destroying it is the last resort. I want to avoid making a scene if possible. So, both of you, even if you find a book that moves, don't touch it."
"Eh? Why?"
"Because it could be a trap. If it moves even a little, stop and let us know."
"We’ll make sure it’s safe before we do anything."
Traps like this usually involve gas, pitfall floors, or the whole pile of books collapsing.
I’m going to make sure we’re fully prepared.
And so, we began investigating the wall of books, which was about four meters high and five meters wide.
Searching randomly would lead to overlapping efforts, so we divided it into four sections and assigned them.
Since we can all fly thanks to my Dungeon Master skill, checking the books four meters up wasn't a problem.
We searched for a while, but the collection was a complete mess.
From recipe books to guides on how to use grand magic.
I have no idea which of these are valuable on this new continent, but wouldn't a guide on grand magic be rare?
Still, they wouldn't budge, so I decided against pulling them out.
Besides, this new continent doesn't have a system for mass-producing books like movable type printing.
Which means they’re all handwritten.
The sheer volume of this collection is terrifying.
While I was thinking about that, I finished searching my assigned area.
There wasn't a single book that would move.
Hmm, I thought there would be at least one. Could it be that there’s only one movable book in the entire passage...?
If so, that’s going to be a long, tedious task.
At that point, I’ll just blow the wall away.
I admire the idea of an adventure, but I don't want to read an adventure story that doesn't progress.
I’ll just physically flip through the story. Or skip it, rather. Just flip through until we get to the good part.
"Yuki-san, nothing over here. How about you?"
Just as I was thinking about the fastest route for our adventure, Taiki-kun finished his search and walked over.