CH 82

Chapter 82

Translator: Yonnee

RP: Haebaragi_syk

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“How did it come to this anyway. I seriously tried my best, but…”

Sniffling, Reina pressed a sleeve over her eyes.

“Ha… No crying. I’m down to the last book anyway.”

As she lowered her eyes, Reina was a bit perplexed by the last book title that hadn’t been crossed out yet.

「 Rosénia 」

“Rosénia?”

Reina might have heard of that name before.

Forgetting that she had been feeling depressed just a moment ago, she soon got engrossed in trying to find the book because the title drew her attention.

“Where did I hear it though?”

She’s pretty sure it’s important, but her mind could come up with only a blank.

“Ah, whatever. Let me find it first and see what it’s about.”

When she asked the librarian about the book titled ‘Rosénia,’ he pointed towards one corner.

“It’s either at the top or bottom of the shelf at the far end oooover there.”

What’s with the vague directions?

Perhaps noticing her quizzical expression, the librarian only scratched one side of his face and laughed.

“Nobody really tries to find that book, so… Haha.”

“What is it about?”

“Hmm… It recounts the events of about two centuries ago, I believe? There was a very brief era in history wherein the Empire was revived. I heard that the book is about that era.”

Then, Reina remembered.

‘I also heard about how tensions were high during that era in the Empire.’

Although those tensions in the country were completely culled at present, Reina heard that there was a greater power that was big enough to serve as a threat to the empire before.

“At that time, the one at the center of that revival was the woman named Rosénia.”

“Ah… Is she from a noble household?”

“No, Miss. I’m not quite sure myself, but… As far as I know, she’s not from a specific lineage.”

After hearing the librarian’s explanation, Reina’s light purple eyes turned round.

“She’s not a noble?”

“Yes, that’s right. I believe she was from something like a guild, or perhaps something like the academy… Umm, it’s quite difficult to put a label to it… Anyway, if I remember correctly, I heard that her areas of expertise knew no bounds—she was involved in the fields of medicine, infrastructure, and so on.”

“Oho…”

Various fields such as medicine and infrastructure, huh?

Suddenly, Reina was extremely interested.

‘It sounds exactly like a corporation.’

It was like a form of enterprise wherein there was one huge parent company with many subsidiaries separated by sectors.

“Fascinating.”

She wanted to find the book and read it right away.

“Very much so. That’s why the entire continent had been swept awa— Ah! I also heard that the head of that organization was once granted an audience with His Majesty the Emperor and His Highness the Grand Duke!”

An audience with the emperor and the grand duke. And it seemed like the head was a foreigner.

With her interest quite piqued, Reina quickly thanked the librarian and rushed to the place where the book titled ‘Rosénia’ apparently was.

“I’m going to find that book and hang out here for a few more days.”

Just at the right time, she found something interesting to read.

She’d only be subjected to Ethan’s death glare once she went back to the office anyway, so she opted to stay longer here.

* * *

“Why isn’t it here. Why. Why isn’t it showing up anywhere.”

It had already been a few days since Reina had started looking for ‘Rosénia’, which was the last book on Ethan’s list.

“Why the hell can’t I find it?”

Without any exaggeration, she had checked each and every book inside the imperial library, but she saw not the ‘Rosé’ or even the ‘Ro’ in Rosénia anywhere at all.

“Haa… It must be some kind of phantom book, seriously.”

After looking through more than a thousand books, Reina eventually sank down to the floor, her motivation depleted to the last drop.

“A corporation in this world… I was really curious.”

The government of the Pluntria Empire, where Reina lived, was somewhat of an oddity as well.

The imperial family—the dragonfolk—were the most powerful beings in the entire world, and their omnipotent power had been left unchecked throughout all of history. Yet, at the same time, they had also established a separation of authority within the state.

‘Of course, there’s still a hierarchical system that’s firmly rooted in place, but…’

If Reina were to put it bluntly, the empire could be considered to be quite ‘modern’ compared to its neighboring countries.

To keep it short and simple, it seemed exactly as if the foundation of the Pluntria Empire’s government was running under a modern system, and the most apparent difference was that the ‘president’ was called an ‘emperor’ here.

It’s a wonder how the leaders back then had been able to integrate and maintain such a system, but everything’s taken care of. After all, the ruling class was composed of the dragonfolk imperial family.

Still though, the empire was clearly a very rare case. Most of the neighboring countries were still running under a medieval feudal system, while some had transitioned to the early stages of renaissance already.

But in this era, in such a country that should be considered as an undeveloped state, someone came up with the idea of establishing a corporate institution?

How could Reina just sit still without being curious about it?

“Haa… I really, really wanna read it…”

She leaned against the bookshelf behind her and stared at the ceiling.

But at that moment.

“Oh?”

A small angular corner poking out from the very top of a high bookshelf caught her sight. It was so small and negligible that she almost overlooked it.

“…No way. Is that it?”

Reina jumped up from her seat and quickly dragged the ladder so she could climb up.

“Are you the one?”

Anticipation budding within her, she reached out as far as she could with her arm, but the more she tried to do so, the more the book slipped back.

“Uuugh… Do you have legs or something? Why’re you so slippery.”

Reina pulled back for a moment, hitting her stiff shoulder with a fist. She stared at the book.

“I’m gonna get you. Today without fail.”

As she uttered the unnecessarily grand declaration of war against an inanimate object, she reached out like an agile rabbit.

Well, inanimate was inanimate, so the book wouldn’t have really run away from her, but she gave it her all anyway. And, finally, she got the book!

“Yay…!”

Finding the book that she wanted to read very much, Reina waved it around and cheered.

“Even if you tried to run away from me like a flea… eeeeaaah?”

But her cheers might have been a little too cheery. Suddenly, the ladder beneath her lost its balance and began to teeter.

“O-Ohhh…?!”

She dropped the book to the far floor in a hurry and tried to grab the bookshelf, but she couldn’t even reach it anymore!

“M-Mister Librarian!”

Before she could even utter the words, ‘Save me!’ Reina was already mid-air.

Bookshelf, the falling ladder, another bookshelf. Then, the library’s high ceiling.

As if this was a movie, everything moved in slow-motion in her eyes.

“AAAAAAHHH…!!”

Was this how she’d die? After everything she’d been through, her death flag wasn’t stationed at that cliff, but at a library!

Even though she was screaming at the top of her lungs, what went through her mind were regrets and lamentations about the things that she wasn’t able to do in this life.

‘If I knew this would happen, then I should have tried to hold Ethan’s hand one more time…!’

Even once, she should have tried throwing herself at his broad chest while pretending to be crazy!

Pressing her lips together as if she had been terribly wronged, Reina waited for the sharp pain to hit her spine.

But it was not pain that met her.

Rather, she was enveloped with such warmth and a sense of security.

Then, a gentle thud.

‘Gentle… thud?’

She sensed a certain familiar scent wrapped around her right now—that cool refreshing scent—and she opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the face of the last person she expected to catch her.

“D-Deputy Director?”

“Are you okay, Reina?”

W-Why was Ethan here…? And with such a tender and anxious expression?

‘Did I… Did I somehow skip the pain of death and enter the gates of heaven?’