The next day.

　Afternoon, after listening to the class at random.
　We had come to the library.

''I'd like to see the grimoire of the Nino type of all attributes.
Yes, of course. I'll see you in a minute.

　I spoke to the librarian lady at the reception desk, and she said so and went to the back of the library and brought me four grimoire books, "Here you are," she said. She's quite affable. It's a win-win situation for a beautiful woman.

............ good.

　I flipped through the grimoire of the fire-attribute attack sorcery "Nino Type" at random, opened the status and saw that 《Fire Attribute, Nino Type》 had increased in the list of skills under 【Magic】, and handed the grimoire to Sylvia.

　It didn't have anything to do with 'deep understanding' or anything else. Probably because it's a magic I've used in my past life, it was judged that I already have a deep understanding of it. I don't know. Well, it doesn't matter, I've learned it.

Are you sure it's all right?
Yeah, I've got it.
...... You're still the same.

　With a dumbfounded look on Sylvia's face, I flip through the remaining three books and hand them to Sylvia.

　Ok, I've memorized them all. The next one is the Sanno type.

It's a very good idea to be able to see the grimoire of the Sanno type.
Uh, ......, please hold on a second.

　The librarian headed to the back of the library, a little confused.

　After waiting for a while, she returned with a fat lady of about 50 years old with heavy makeup.

''It's nice to meet you, head librarian Silk. Are you the foreign exchange student you've been hearing about?
'Yes. Second.

　It is not at all like silk at all though the aunt seems to be called silk. It's more like an arabesque furoshiki that wraps up a package and makes it puffy.

You are handsome!　It's a pleasure to meet you.
Ha, ha.

　He shakes my hand with both hands with a gusto. Their hands look like pudgy cream bread, but the purple nails make them look like poisoned bread.

''Well. You would like to see some of the grimoires in the shape of Sanno, may I ask you a few things?
Yes, sir.
Would you mind telling us what you're up to first?

　Silk asked smilingly. But he wasn't smiling behind his eyes.

'It's a rare thing in my country, so I thought I'd give it a glance.
I see. So, you've been looking down on Type 2?
Yes, it was. It was very unusual.
'With all due respect, sir, I must tell you. If you're not very interested in what's inside, then the Type Sanno is similar to the Type 2, so it would be boring to flick through it, wouldn't it?

　Mmm.

'No, it's not. There's a lot you can sense from the book itself, not from what's inside.
Like what?

　Genuenu.

'It's the thoughts of the people who have used it, its history, and many other things. To begin with, they're rare, so just holding them in my hand is very emotional.
'I see. But it's hard to lend you one for that reason... ......

　d*mn, this old hag is tough.

To tell the truth, the procedure for lending a kata San no kata requires permission from the public, and we need a legitimate reason to be able to document it. I'm sorry, but we're afraid we can't lend it to you at this time.

...... Okay, I understand. I'm sorry.

　Geez, that didn't work!　You underestimated me - d*mn it.

　Silk bowed with a bow and left with a smiling face. I hate every single one of them.

　You have to think of something else to do with this. ......

'Second-dono. How did it go?

　When I returned to Sylvia, she asked me that, and I told her it was no good. For some reason, I was annoyed with Sylvia, who happily said, "Even Second-dono can't do that, can he?" and I told her to get on with it and decoup it.
　Sylvia had indeed memorized 《Infantry Archery》 and 《Incense Car Archery》 in about fifteen minutes at Comic Market, whereas she had barely memorized the Iino-type grimoire after reading it thoroughly for about an hour while grunting and groaning. Is it called 'deep understanding' or is it a difference in talent? You can only say that it is Silvia who struggles so much against magic, even though she is a magic archery type.

It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for, and if you're going to be able to learn it in two weeks ...... Second-dono, is there anything like a knack for it?

　Sylvia asked me for help.

　Tips - a word I hate. When I was ranked number one in my previous life, a bunch of fledgling players would ask me questions in the chat room, like "Can you teach me how to get stronger?" or "Do you have any tips on how to improve your PS (player skill)? This is the most annoying thing I've ever heard. I remember feeling uncomfortable because I could see their selfish intentions of asking the world's best player for a shortcut.

　So what about it? It's the first time I've heard the word "knack" since I came to this world. I wasn't totally uncomfortable with it.

　Sylvia is asking me for tips out of shame, because she feels that if she can't remember them in two weeks, she'll be in trouble with me. That concern is very comforting. It's a far cry from my previous life. In fact, I'm just glad to be asked for help.

I'm not going to be able to tell you what to do. I'll show you how to do it.

　I sat down next to Sylvia, who looked apologetic but happy as I chewed on the first emotion in my life: the joy of teaching people things, and I sat down next to her.



'I guess that's it for today,'

　It was time for the library to close, so I slammed the grimoire that had been left open.
　It was the first time I looked at the contents of the grimoire properly, and the text written in it was extremely long and difficult to understand. It's like a paper.

　It's better to know more about practical things than to read this stuff. So I told Sylvia as much information as I could remember about what effect it had, what situations it should be used in, and what kind of monsters it would be effective against, like a strategy wiki.
　Sylvia was a serious student who listened to me with interest as she took notes and asked me the occasional question.

'Did you remember?'
...... No, I'm sorry. Looks like it's not ready.
Yeah. Don't worry about it.

　When I ask, Sylvia shakes her head apologetically. That's because if I could learn it in one day, there wouldn't be a magic school built.

　I return the grimoire and walk out of the library.

　Hmmm, it was time to stretch and walk out to go home now.


''Hoo-hoo!''

　A beautiful little cat-eared girl appeared in front of me.

　I thought she screamed with her cat-like eyes, but now she was looking at me with her mouth open.

　Its blue-green eyes glisten in the corridor light, sharp teeth peek out of the corners of its mouth, and ears pop out of its fluffy chestnut-colored hair. And to top it all off, even his tail was peeking out from behind his skirt. A cat?

　...... And that's a great dumb face.

'Chooikeimen!'

　He spoke.

"Is it me?
Yes!

　It's kind of cute.

I'm Ekkori Fletto!　What about you?

　Eco-leaflet. Well, you're the one they say.

"The Second.
Sendo!

　Eco called my name and approached me with a full smile.
　Then I noticed Sylvia behind me.

'Ah!　What about you?
This is Sylvia Virginia. It's a pleasure to meet you.
'Shirubia!　Nice to meet you!

　He smiles and shakes her hand. Sylvia is in trouble as she buzzes her hand while shaking it.

　Something about this guy makes me feel happy when I look at him.

　This kind of petulant behavior, no, she's harmless to look at, and she's being bullied by people who say she's a "fallen beastie" or something like that. ...... It's outrageous. I can't allow that to happen.

The most important thing to remember is that this is not the case.

　I couldn't help but ask, even though I thought it was meddling.

'What?　Nothing?

　Apparently not. Huh?

Really?　If you have any trouble, just tell me. I'll take care of it.
Really?　Thank you!

　Ahhhh, cute. I didn't keep him ......, I'd love to have him as a companion.

　But there's one thing that bothers me.

"Hey. What's this haul anyway?

　It's a dolly that sits next to Eco. It's loaded with enough cargo to match her height. It's roughly 40 a meter.

'This?　This, you know, everyone was begging me for this.

　Oh, ...... I see, I see.
　I understand.

　I'm not going to be able to say that they are all books. They must be books for the entire F-group to return. It's a good thing that you're able to get a good idea of what you're looking for.

"Are you okay?
I'm fine. I'm quite all right.

　Eco stretched out her flat chest and proudly said, "Hmmm.

'I see. But since it's a good time, I'll help you out.
Really?
Yeah. I'll give you a hand in person. It's not often you get to do that. You should be honored.

　When I said that I was a big man, Eco looked sad for some reason after being happy for a moment.

Thank you, Sendo!　...... but I'll take care of this one on my own.
Hmm?　Why?


Because that's about all I can do. That's why I'm doing my best to help you. I'm sure if I get to this point, they will be more helpful to me.



............

　Suddenly, my heart ached.

　I remembered something.
　What did I remember?

　A voice from the back of my mind tells me to stop.
　Stop, Eco. It's--


Bye!

　Eco waved his hand cheerfully and then carried the load goodbye.


　The honesty and desperation of it, the ridiculously hard work of ...... and the gears of effort that kept spinning and never engaged, reminded me of the basis of that "pain".


　Futility.

　It's not going to get you anywhere if you're a netizen.
　Even if you work harder than anyone else and become the world's number one, it's still just a netsuke.

　The truth is, I knew that better than anyone else.

　It's a waste of time to bet your life on this kind of thing.

...... Yes, it's a waste of time. ......

　After experiencing the depths of that despair, I was reminded of it more than once.

　I realized how futile my efforts had been.
　How stupid, trashy, scummy and useless I was.

　I ruminated over and over again, and then I died unceremoniously.

　I ran away. I ran away from the netherworld because I couldn't deal with reality. I ran away from society because it was too much trouble. I ran away from others. I ran away from life. I ran away because I didn't want to. Like a child throwing a temper tantrum because I couldn't get my way, I was unreasonably angry at the unreasonableness of my own beliefs, repeated self-deceptions and justifications, and at the end of the day, irresponsibly threw everything away and escaped from living.

　And then he came to this world.

　It is truly a miracle. A blessing from God. I was miraculously saved from this kind of helplessness.

　......, but can miracles really happen to ecology too?　There is no guarantee of that anywhere.

　Eco will eventually experience the same kind of despair that I did.
　No, maybe she's already tasted it.

　I can understand her feelings painfully.
　That's why. It's because I've realized that that's why I want to save her with my own hands: .......


'Second Lord?'

　Sylvia's worried voice brought me back to myself.

　Eco had already finished carrying all of my stuff and wasn't there anymore.


'............ sorry. Let's go home.

　I leave the school building with Sylvia.

　The eco-leaflet - thinking of her as being somewhat like me.