Welcome to Japan, Mr. Elf.
Episode 14: It's the library, Mr. Elf.
There are so many libraries and other public facilities in the area around here, and they say there are places where you can read books on the terrace. However, since there are many such facilities in newly developed areas, it is a little impossible to walk away.
Well, for today, I'm just here to find something Elf likes, so let's keep it a little tiny in the near field.
"Wow!... I'm not surprised it opens automatically. I just got a voice because the glass moved"
Yeah, I wouldn't mind sticking around if I were surprised......
Take Marie around to the library for a moment. We had just opened the building and few people, and the air-conditioned building was waiting for us.
The hallway walls were affixed with the children's productions, as well as an introduction to the book, and I decided to take a look with the elf girl who seemed unusual. Probably attracted my eyes to the colorfulness of using colored paper.
"A place called a library is not what I imagined. I thought it was darker and dusty. See, direct sunlight is poison for the book, isn't it?
"Oh, yeah. I don't go in the library. However, leather and paper may indeed be sensitive to sunlight and humidity"
The book over there needs to be handwritten and naturally expensive. They also have a limited number of people who can enter the hotel and are judged by magicians, identities, etc. Some stores have books available to the public in the city, but few people still buy them.
Yet there is an atmosphere in the library where the child is the lead actor, and she seems surprised.
"Shall we look at the in-house map first? Uh, I guess a book centered on painting is a good idea. Let's go to the children's corner to try it out."
"Yeah, I knew your kid was going to read a book."
Yeah, because there's no printing technology yet over there.
It can also be said that only valuable information is packed instead of expensive. I thought so, but Marie has been shaking her neck to the side.
"Yeah, it's not about the literacy rate. I think about 30% of them can read letters over there, and most of them only look at nobles and us magicians."
"Oh, speaking of which, yeah. Even so, I can't read it and I don't have many problems."
Mages like Marie, of course, can read letters and are natural. They have made a proposition to unravel the secret art of the past, based on decrypting books that can also be chunks of information.
Nevertheless, there is no such grand task for the average person, and it is good to think about daily meals. If anything else, maybe the people who can see the status screen. Nevertheless, the Adventurer Alliance and others have taught me the meaning of the word, and the majority of them have done so.
"Yeah, let's head to the library for now, Marie"
"... just give me a minute. Maybe you want me to read a book for kids?
"Oh, I thought I had something to catch my interest in. If that's not the case, I don't care."
The light purple eyes seem to have narrowed and made me a little grumpy. I suppose you have the idea that I, the spiritual mage, would look at a book for children.
In the meantime, when I spoke to him to just look at it, he followed me with the look of shabu-shabu.
Now, entering the library opens up a nostalgic sight.
Although I was visiting here a long time ago, it's where I went from elementary school. For the first time in a long time, the sight and smell make me remember the nostalgia.
I was only slightly impressed by the fact that the lady at reception did not observe the elves persistently enough to say hello lightly. I think it's very good to be able to take care of reading.
That, speaking of which, looks familiar to that woman...
But you've spoken to her a few times before. Well, Marie is the star for today, so shall I put a greeting to her behind me?
"Beautiful... Lots of colors......"
As she walked across the bookshelf, she muttered those words.
So was the sticky paper in the hallway, but all the back covers lined up were colorful, and for a moment the elves looked around intriguingly.
That's when her footsteps stop perfectly.
Looking back, the light purple eyes were poured into the corner of the bookshelf. When I go back a few steps and follow her gaze...... oh they realize if I could have seen it in this.
The cover of the book depicted a cat.
He wears a fine hat and has clear, round eyes pointed at him like a real cat. During the day, she adored the cat she wanted, something she usually had a hard look at.
"Did you have a book you liked?
"Beh, that's not happening. It just caught my eye because it's a beautiful color."
Yeah, whining, I take the book gently.
It has a shimmer and heavier fitting than it looks, and when you look at the back cover, you can tell it was issued abroad.
"Shall we take a look? They have beautiful colors inside."
"So I'm not interested..."
He turns his eyes to show a slight interest in the book, even though he says so. I smiled at her while she was doing her job, and I turned a page. Then the atmosphere came from the open page that the story featuring the cat was about to begin.
"I do think this was a series of cats traveling to various places. It was more popular before, and I remember it being lent out a lot."
When I tell her that I'm staring at the book, she turns her round eyes towards me.
"What, you're not popular anymore? Because it's a very beautiful book..."
"There's also a fashion in picture books. It's just that you might be back in popularity again from now on. … Shall we just sit for a little while?"
Indicate the round chair that was nearby and the two of us sit side by side.
The day was much brighter and the sunlight was hitting the floor to keep the room warm.
There are many stories in this room. Yet having an elf girl to grip her sleeve just makes me wonder a little bit.
"But you look just like that girl I saw in the morning. She's so cute..."
"Would you like to read it? And books, they want people to see them."
Turning around the other one, the cat appeared one step further into the adventure.
The elf stops so close that his cheeks are likely to touch him, and peeks into the picture book.
"I'd like to read it to you too... but I still don't know the letters"
"Yeah, this is a habit that's passed down from foreign countries, but they say you can have a good dream if you read it to them before you go to sleep. Let me borrow you like it and read it to you at home"
She blinks her eyes and Marie looks back at me.
"Can I borrow it? 'Cause it could get dirty or stolen, right?
"That's why you borrow it important. It's due, so I'll come back with you."
She pulls my sleeve as hard as she can, and she has something close to the look she was giving her cat earlier.
I whisper it's settled, close the book, and give her the picture book. Receiving it like it mattered, she grinned so that her surroundings would be brighter.
All this time the lady at the reception seemed to enjoy the look of the elves by dyeing her cheeks. He looked like a fluffy flower dancing around his head.
"Thank you, I'm so excited."
"Yeah, well, let's see if there's anything else we like."
Well, let's keep quiet that it's a habit to deal with children. I want to read it to Marie. [M] Rubbing my eyes to sleep and scrubbing my elves... Ugh, I'm looking forward to it.
I think only a little bit about Marie comparing her picture books with enthusiasm.
Hmm, is Marie interested in painting? If you think about it, the entertainment called painting belongs to nobility and is more solid and heavy. Naturally, there is no such idea as for children.
If you think about it, there are places in Japan where children first learn words from picture books, cartoons, etc. In that sense, animation makes me think that animation is an ant as well... etc.
Too much for kids, though, might bore you.
Something for adults and children to enjoy and be interested in…?
There was something that came to my mind all the time, so I decided to rent a video later, even on my way home.
She took the time to worry and eventually seemed to decide to pick about three books from an earlier cat book series.
Heading to the counter to make a loan, the lady at the reception was rushing to correct her posture.