Coney smiled, stretching as he walked over to his next location. Spending time with Mother Franca was always a joy. It was just the kindness she showed him, especially compared to all the other people he met. This world seemed to have some predgidiouses… he only hoped that the next master he met wouldn’t be more of the same.
It was weird, playing for so long and doing so little exploring. So far, this world has felt more chore-like than his real life. He only hoped that releasing the videos would sate his fanbase. They could get pretty ravenous for content, and since he wasn’t super popular he didn’t have anything to fall back on when he had major hiatuses.
Still, even without being super adventurous, Coney would normally have at least explored the whole settlement he’d started in. But instead, he’d spent the majority of his time either picking carrots or gardening for Franca. So he’d not even gone to the Academy since his first punishment, and certainly he’d never gone into the Archives.
He would normally have been all over it, and a part of him wondered why he’d refrained, even to try to get into Franca’s good graces. Another part of him was very clear that it did not want him to ignore the lady, her kindness was… a weakness of his. Both parts of him agreed that this was the right course. “I will not let her down.” He confirmed to himself, as well as the people who would eventually watch him.
The Academy was three stories tall, but when he’d come he’d only really explored the smaller side of the building. It had several open bridges to the other section, which from the outside he realized had a much larger footprint than the area where the other master’s office was. The main academy looked like it could hold hundreds of students in dozens of classrooms… Not that he’d seen anywhere near as many people as that.
As far as he could tell there were only twenty or so students. Maybe the school was also intended for acolytes beyond the novice level, but even then the entire compound was not filled with people. He’d seen maybe forty people in the three days he’d been here, tops. Perhaps that wasn’t enough time, but it seemed to him that the abbey had fallen on hard times.
Walking into the academy from this side he realized there was a much more obvious entry. While there was a path that led around the side into the cloistered area, the main road was paved and led right to a large set of doors that were similar to those on the church. Walking through them wasn’t easy, the bunny had to put his weight into it as he pulled them out of the way. It was exhausting.
There was an entryway, but no map of any kind, instead he just saw that the entrance was lined with cases filled with items. A school from his world might have sports trophies, but as an abbey this place had a much more strict code for what was set aside. At least, that’s what he assumed as he walked through and realized that about half of the things in cases were bones.
Looking closer he leaned down to read one of the signs next to a skull that had suspiciously long canines. “The skull of saint Andrei, Champion of Manea heart-eater. Canonized after his death during the massacre of Sunderland. Bones dangerous to the touch.” He said, reading off the placard. “Well, that’s morbid. Three silver says someone ends up getting blood on that skull and it’s a problem.”
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
As he walked down the hall, glancing at a few more of the cases, Coney found himself in the central hall. There was a grand staircase, but since it only led up he doubted it would take him to where he needed. To the left and right there were large doorways. One was labeled administrative offices, while the other was labeled Athenaeum.
“Oh right, lady Franka told me that it was the Athenaeum. Is that the same place as the archives?” Coney asked. “Only one way to find out.” He walked towards that room, finding himself in a large hall entirely filled with books. The place was about the size of a high school gymnasium, the kind that was often cut into pieces with large heavy curtains when he was in school.
In the center of all the bookcases was a circular desk. Behind the desk was a tall disheveled man with brown hair and pale skin. He had comically large round glasses, the kind Milo wore in Disney’s Atlantis. He was reading a book. As the bunny-kin got closer he got a look at the book, looking at the other books in the library this one looked different. The other books liked like the standard ones he’d seen in legal libraries, simple and to the point. This book was bound in a leather that was beautiful and ornate, something that was clearly valued by the person who created it.
“Excuse me?” Coney asked, trying to get up to lean on the desk. Sadly, only his head and arms could get over it, so it looked silly rather than the suave he was going for.
“Yes, what do you want?” The man said, not even looking up from his book.
“I’m on a quest!” he said with confidence.
“Right right, whatever you say. The master who sent you must have wanted you to look for something, tell me what it is and I’ll send you on your way.” He emphasized the word something with a hint of exasperation. “If you don’t you can stand there, because I’m prepared to sit here all day. I doubt you are, you have merits to accrue.”
Coney considered asking about Merits, but he shook his head, he no longer had the confidence he had a few minutes ago. “Mother Franca sent me to look up records of the churchyard.” No longer was he particularly enthused, just sighing. “Which section is that in?”
“The…” The man looked up. “That wouldn’t be here, that would be in the archives.”
“Yeah, that’s what she said.”
“And Mother Franca? She sent you on this mission? On a research mission?” There was an intense sound of incredulity in his voice, especially as he asked about it being a research mission.
“Yes, what else did you think I was doing?” Coney asked, genuinely confused.
“Getting a book. You know, what you travelers call a fetch quest. Pretty damn simple. Research is… more complicated, I’m sure you must understand why.”
“Oh… Uh. Okay, so tell me where to get to the archive then.”
“I don’t think you understand.” The man said, standing up. He wasn’t wearing the standard robes most of the people in the abbey wore. Instead he was wearing something more form fitting, closer to a cassock.
“Man, the robes are nice, but that looks so much more comfortable.” Coney said. He tried to do it under his breath, but he caught the man smiling at him a little.
“The archives are not that simple, it’s a maze down there. It’s not even entirely safe down there, I can’t protect the whole thing and no novices choose the path of Menerva these days… let's just leave it as it's dangerous.” The man sighed. “But, I suppose if it’s for Franca I’ll help you. I really hope you know how to use that.” He gestured at Coney’s sickle.
Coney didn’t think to question why he’d need to know how to use a gardening tool when it was mentioned. Nor did he think of it as they walked down steps that turned quickly to rougher stone brickwork, deeper into the ground.