The Nameless Extra: I Proofread This World

Later that evening, Ruvian found himself returning to the Velthia Library, far sooner than he had anticipated.

For reasons he could neither satisfactorily classify nor dismiss, he discovered he was not entirely prepared to confront Calyra yet.

Silvena was an exception, of course; he knew her well, understood the architecture of her thinking, and therefore understood how best to conduct himself in her presence.

Calyra, however, belonged to a different category altogether.

She was difficult to read. Even during his years as a proofreader, she was disconcertingly unpredictable to some characters, especially behind the lack of reaction of her expression.

And now, he was expected to face her directly.

The realization unsettled him more than he was inclined to admit, even to himself.

Ruvian sighed.

”It’s just a meeting with an 18 year old girl. Surely that’s nothing to worry about?”

And besides, it was hardly as though she would be there in person, at the desk to receive the book from him.

Scholars, as a general principle, did not concern themselves with such trifling formalities within the same day; they attended to such matters later, most often the following morning, once their schedules and priorities had been judiciously arranged.

And yet...

As it transpired, however, his assumption was entirely erroneous.

Upon entering the library and approaching the reception desk, Ruvian found that the reality awaiting him diverged sharply from expectation.

’Haa... Shit.’

Two women stood there in quiet patience beside the librarian.

One bore short emerald hair, a figure he recognized immediately; the other possessed long white hair with a butterfly hairpin, whose identity he likewise had little difficulty discerning.

’And speak of the devil... Why is Silvena here too?’

*****

[You have received +20 Plot Points!]

Ruvian followed a step behind them.

The upper section of the Velthia Library possessed an atmosphere distinct from the public floors below. The air was quieter here, deliberately subdued. Even their footsteps seemed reluctant to echo.

The shelves around them rose taller. The faint scent of parchment and preservation salts wafted through the air.

Ahead of them walked a library attendant in formal gray robes. The man did not speak as he led them, nor did he glance back. He moved steadily with an assured pace.

Behind the man, Calyra walked lightly, as she always did, her steps soundless with natural grace. Silvena, by contrast, made no effort at all to soften hers, yet somehow produced even less noise.

They passed aisle after aisle until the architecture of the stacks subtly changed.

Then, the attendant stopped.

Ruvian narrowed his eyes on the man as he extended two fingers and pressed them against the spine of a single book halfway up the shelf.

Click!

Then, the entire section of shelving shifted.

It receded, each adjoining shelf segment folding back magically until a concealed passage revealed itself between them.

There, at the end of the short corridor stood a tall, obsidian-toned wooden door.

The attendant stepped aside and inclined his head.

”Here is your reserved chamber, Lady Calyra, Lady Silvena.”

Calyra inclined her head a fraction toward the attendant.

”Thank you.”

Without waiting for acknowledgement, she stepped forward and moved toward the door, her long white hair gliding behind her like a steady descent of snow.

Silvena lingered half a pace.

She turned her head just enough to glance back at Ruvian over her shoulder, a hint of smile playing at her lips.

She idly lifted a finger and tapped her lower lip.

”Hm~ you don’t seem surprised at all by this.”

Ruvian calmly met her gaze.

”Well, I don’t think I have to remind you why twice.”

Silvena held his eyes for a while.

Then, she hummed softly.

”Yes, yes. I’m well aware of it, Mr.Oracle. You have a future sight. So~ amazing.”

’...This woman.’

Ruvian sighed inwardly.

Silvena turned forward again and resumed walking, following after Calyra as though nothing more needed saying.

Now that he stood here at the threshold of the restricted section, Ruvian could not deny the grandeur surrounding him.

The upper archive did not merely differ from the lower floors, but as if it belonged to a different realm entirely.

Though none of that unsettled him as much as why he had been brought here.

If he were forced to come up with a reason, then it would most likely be connected to the book he had borrowed and the strange way he had come across it.

That thought reminded him of a scene from the novel where Calyra had questioned Zian about that very same matter.

So that was it, then?

Ruvian couldn’t be sure about it.

”Hey,” Silvena’s voice called lightly from ahead, already inside.

”Are you coming in?”

He calmly lifted his gaze.

Both women had already passed through the doorway. Their figures had dissolved into the soft radiance spilling from within.

Ruvian softly nodded, more to himself than to anyone else, and stepped forward.

The moment he crossed the threshold, a bright light filled his vision and washed over everything.

Then, the first thing that reached him was the fresh air. As the light receded from his vision in slow surrender, the world revealed itself by degrees.

Ruvian found that he was standing within a garden.

Not a garden such as those sequestered behind academy courtyards or noble estates, but something of a beauty altogether more exquisitely composed.

Lattices of ivory trelliswork arched overhead, veiled in flowering vines. Somewhere nearby, he could also hear the sound of water moving.

When his gaze shifted, he beheld a narrow stream winding through the garden’s heart, its surface pellucid, its bed set with pallid stones faintly aglow with sigilic veins.

It was then that Ruvian noticed the two of them.

Not far from the stream’s gentle curve, a circular pavilion stood upon a low rise of white stone.

Within the open structure rested a seating arrangement for discourse—three crescent-backed chairs arranged around a low, inlaid table of glass.

Calyra sat already, one leg crossed neatly over the other, her hands resting composedly atop her knee. A few colourful butterflies flew around her.

Meanwhile, Silvena occupied the seat beside her, though ”occupied” was perhaps too static a word.

She leaned slightly back, one arm draped along the chair’s curve, fingers idly turning a small blossom she had plucked from somewhere along the path.

Ruvian gradually approached the two gorgeous women.

”Please, have a seat...”

Calyra said, lifting her eyes to meet his.

”There is something I would like to ask you.”

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[Chapter 55: Resplendent Library]

PP= 11160