Chapter 7: The Maid, An / A Library

The maids led the heroes to their rooms.

“Hi, nice to meet you, I’m Haruto! What’s your name?” Asked Haruto with a big grin.

The maid seemed surprised.

“Are you okay?” Haruto asked

“My name is An.” Said An, the maid. Regaining her composure.

“Nice to meet you,” Haruto smiled.

The maid, An, was a very nice lady. She had been assigned to make sure that all of her guests' needs were met, in this case she was to take care of Haruto. Maid An had met a lot of people in the time she had worked at the castle. She found that a lot were quite nice, at least the people who worked in the castle with her, but a lot of them were bad people. There had been people who tried to bribe her, tried to convince her to betray the kingdom, tried to take advantage of her, and more. She became wary of new people, and didn’t trust visitors or outsiders. Despite this, she made sure to be polite and nice to everybody. She had never met a man quite like Haruto, however. To be quite frank she felt she had never met someone that was this kind of stupid before. It wasn’t because he was dumb or foolish, but he acted excited and jolly, always wearing a big smile on his face and talking to anyone he met. He was, in other words, a goofy idiot, a fool who couldn’t see reality, and he tended to get punched or slapped because of things that were complete accidents. There had been one time when the scream came from her, although An was not the type of person to hit or slap another. He had slipped on soap, which was out in the hallway, oddly enough. And it was especially odd, since the baths were on the other side of the castle. He slipped and slid down the hall and under maid Ans skirt. This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence, but it also wasn’t intentional, which is why maid An found it all the stranger.

“Sir Haruto, this is the room you will be staying in, from today onwards it is yours. If you need anything else you can ring the bell, I will be right outside of the door to come and assist you.” Said maid An.

“Thank you! I appreciate it! Can you help me with one thing, then?” Asked Haruto.

Hesitant, and remembering all the things the previous people had requested or done, she asked

“Is there something you need?” She inquired.

“I don’t know anything about this world, I’ve just arrived here. I’d like to learn about it. Is there anything I should know?” Haruto asked.

“I-I see, so that’s what it was. In that case, I can bring you to the library. It should have everything you are looking for. Unfortunately, I’ve spent my life here as a maid. I don’t go out too often, nor do I know enough about the current turmoil to help you.” Said maid An.

“Awesome! There’s gotta be some cool stuff I can learn about there! Can you take me there?” Asked Haruto.

“Certainly, my lord” replied maid An, as she led him towards the royal library.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Oh, Haruto. I didn’t think you liked books, much. I didn’t expect to see you here.” Said Sora, who was shocked to see his (dumb)friend in the library.

“What are you talking about? Of course I would love to read the books of another world, though, do you really think I’d like to read dusty old books that are boring and forced on us in class? I read quite a lot otherwise! There’s lots of different... works of...uh... literature I find fun.” Said Haruto.

“What.” Said Sora.

“Where did you learn a word like literature, and why do you make a surprisingly good point about not wanting to read boring books. Who are you, and what have you done with my friend.” Sora said, drawing his knives, and holding them to Harutos' throat.

“Dangit, Sora! You taught me that term, I was trying to sound smart! Please let me go now. Ow.” Said Haruto.

“Sir Sora, if you could, please let go of my lord. I can confirm this is indeed the real Haruto. Though, I must admit, I was surprised to hear that as well. Even though I haven’t known him for that long, sir Haruto doesn't seem like the type of person to read anything harder than a picture book.” Said maid An, out of shock, not realizing how much those words must have stung.

“Ow.” Said Harutos' pride….and Haruto himself.

“Oh dear, I’m so sorry! That was incredibly rude of me, I let my thoughts slip out for a second.” Said maid An, panicking.

“It’s ok, you were right.” Haruto.

“Though, it is true I don’t read often, and the books I read are around the level of a middle schooler.” Said Haruto.

“I don’t know if that’s good or bad, what exactly does that mean?” Asked maid An.

“It’s how we categorize the level of education in our school systems, middle school would be middle level education, and high school would be high level education. After that would be college. I would still be in high school, given my age.” Explained Sora.

“I see, that gives me a little bit more understanding, but I don’t have an education. I haven’t been to school, that’s more for the upper class. So I apologize, but I don’t fully understand…” said maid An, slightly depressed.

“It’s not that important, don’t worry yourself too much over it!” Said Haruto.

“This is why you got bad grades” grumbled Sora, who was slightly upset because he had to tutor Haruto multiple times before, and yet Haruto still had low scores<--(understatement). Sora thought for a moment, if only Haruto was just a little different, and not so carefree. Sora thought about Harutos flippant personality for a few seconds, then froze, remembering how Haruto behaved when the god brought out Harutos other personality.

Sora went into a cold sweat, and nearly collapsed, out of breath, just remembering the pressure he emitted. Sora was dizzy for a second or two.

“SORA!” Screamed Haruto.

“Eh?” Replied Sora, still a little dizzy, but trying to get up.

“You collapsed on the floor for almost 10 minutes, are you ok?!” Asked Haruto, in an extremely concerned tone.

Sora looked at him, and it came back, he remembered the aura Haruto had emitted, he felt as if he were being choked by an invisible force, and that gravity had increased around him tenfold and his vision doubled. He dropped to his knees.

“Sora?” “Sir Sora!” “Sora!”

Multiple voices called to him. He came to once more, and the feeling of the suffocating pressure had disappeared.

“Was a mere memory really enough to cause me to pass out?” wondered Sora, feeling that something about this library was connected to this mystery. He felt energized at the thought of helping his friend, and curious as to what could emit such pressure. The god was his friend, but he could tell he didn’t like to, or want to discuss it, though he was sure the lady who had been next to him had something to do with it. She reminded him of Haruto, a little. He wasn’t too sure why she did. Sora started looking around, after having assured everyone he was fine, trying to find what emitted the aura he had felt. What had caused him to feel a more powerful pressure than just Haruto? He was sure it was something here. A mere memory can’t leave marks on a person's throat. He scratched at the marks, again curious as to what kind of thing could do that, and started exploring the library.