Thump, thump, thump!
I was running and desperately trying to escape down the hallway.
The reason? I was being chased by a group of people and was in the middle of escaping from them.
The group was a bunch of upperclassmen from the magic academy.
There was only one reason why they were chasing me.
They wanted me, a person from another world, to join their club.
There were many clubs at this academy, and most of them were trying to get me to join.
The reasons were usually two.
The first was that they wanted to strengthen their club by recruiting me, who had high physical abilities due to the transfer correction.
The second was that they just wanted to brag to other clubs and students that they had a person from another world in their club.
I didn't want to be a spectacle, and more than anything, I didn't like how aggressive their invitations were. So, I decided to run away until they cooled down.
Besides, clubs were a hassle.
I ran as fast as I could, dodging the people in the hallway.
I saw a fork in the road ahead.
I took a right.
After running for a bit, I noticed a door on my left.
I glanced back, confirmed that the group was not behind me, opened the door, and slammed it shut.
The room was dark, and I could only see faintly.
What kind of room is this?
I thought about it, but for now, I'll just wait for them to pass.
I started to walk to the back of the room. That's when I heard a voice.
"Um, it's fine for you to come in, but this is a library, so please be quiet."
A voice came from the back of the room.
After a while, my eyes got used to the darkness, and I could see inside the room.
There were many shelves, and in the back, there was a counter with a woman behind it.
"I'm sorry. Um, is this a library? It's a little dark, isn't it?"
I apologized to the person and walked closer to the counter.
I pointed out that the room was dark because the curtains were drawn, and no light from the outside was coming in.
"I don't really like bright places or people.
I find dark rooms like this more comfortable. Hehe."
The woman behind the counter laughed.
Her laugh was a little unsettling.
"Oh, my name is Ansho. I'm a third-year, and I manage this library.
Please feel free to look at some books.
There's a candle over there."
She introduced herself nonchalantly and told me to look at some books.
Well, even if the group that's chasing me comes in, they won't be able to find me in the dark.
"Okay, I will. I'll just look around for a bit."
I said and decided to pass the time here.
I took the candle Ansho-san mentioned, lit it with a match nearby, and went to the bookshelves to look for a book.
As I was about to go to the bookshelves, I looked at Ansho-san with the candle.
I couldn't see her face very well because of her purple hair.
What kind of book should I look at?
I walked along the bookshelves with the candle.
Should I read a book about the history of this world?
I'm here anyway, so I want to read something more lighthearted, not a difficult book like that.
Are there any books like that?
There didn't seem to be any manga, so are there any other books I could read?
As I was walking, I saw a section called "Fairytales."
Fairytales, huh.
I could read them easily, and I could learn about the culture of this world. I decided to read some fairytales.
I took a few books, placed them and the candle on a table a little away from the bookshelves, sat down, and started reading them one by one.
Time passed as I read the books.
I noticed something as I read them.
The fairytales in this world have a lot of bad endings.
First, a story about protecting their world from invaders from a distant sky and invaders from another dimension.
[THE GREAT THREE WORLD WAR]
The ending was that most of the protagonists' friends died.
Next, a love story about a god who fell from the heavens and a princess who fell in love.
[A GOD AND A PRINCESS]
In this one, the god was forcibly sent back to the heavens without being able to say goodbye to the princess, and the princess waited for her beloved god for the rest of her life.
There were a few other fairytales like these.
I was feeling a little down, but I reached for the last fairytale left.
[LYNNEN AND YUTO]
For some reason, I felt something strange when I took this book from the shelf.
I read the book, a little excited about the strange feeling.
The content of the book was.
Once upon a time, there were two god children who were good friends.
One was Lynnen.
A girl god who aspired to be a mage but was better at using swords.
The other was Yuto.
A boy god who aspired to be a swordsman but was better at using magic.
The two of them always taught each other their specialties and had a fun time together, improving each other.
However, their fun days didn't last long.
One day, a god started a rebellion.
The god's name was Vermilion.
The god, with a vermilion appearance, nullified the powers of the gods who tried to stop him and killed them one after another.
Lynnen and Yuto also stood up to stop Vermilion and fought him.
The two of them fought for hundreds and thousands of years.
Lynnen and Yuto somehow managed to defeat Vermilion and chase him away.
The other gods were overjoyed.
However, the price they paid was too great.
At the end of the battle, Yuto was mortally wounded.
If this continued, Yuto would die.
Lynnen thought desperately about how to save Yuto.
And Lynnen came up with a way to save Yuto.
With her sword, she sliced Yuto's soul and body into eight pieces.
Then, Lynnen sliced the space with her sword and connected it to another dimension.
Lynnen sent each piece of Yuto's soul to a different world in the distant future.
Lynnen attached Yuto's soul to people in different worlds and decided to wait for Yuto's soul to heal and return to its original form.
Lynnen waited for hundreds and thousands of years, even in the more distant future.
She was waiting for the day Yuto's soul would return and for them to have their fun days again.
That was the story.
It felt like a bad ending, but for some reason, my heart ached a little when I read this fairytale.
I felt sorry for the girl god, Lynnen, who was waiting for her friend who she didn't know when would return.
But at the same time my heart ached, I was drawn to this fairytale.
However, a lot of time had passed since I came to this library, and it was time for me to go back.
I wanted to read this fairytale more, but I decided to go back.
I put the books back where they belonged and blew out the candle.
Finally, I said one thing to Ansho-san.
"Thank you. I'll come again."
Ansho-san waved her hand a little.
I left the library and went back to my room.
I had made a lot of discoveries.
I'll come again if I have a chance.
I thought, but one question remained.
Was it a good idea to bring fire close to all those books?
"There he is!" "Over there!"
As I was thinking that, I heard the voices of the group from before.
They're still looking for me?!
I ran to escape again.
And the chase between me and the group began.