Ronald did not linger too long on the first floor.
His gaze roughly swept across the lowest tier of bookshelves before he proceeded to climb the spiral staircase within the building.
The library’s collection was diverse and complex.
Even the glimpses he caught while ascending were enough to muddle his mind with the information they contained.
As he continued upward to the highest floor of the library, Ronald also noticed sothing interesting. Within the walls of the building hovered a very steady Magic Power, undoubtedly the protective spells the church employed to safeguard the books.
"..."
"No wonder there are so few people in the hermitage..."
He murmured to himself softly.
Soon, Ronald reached the topmost floor of the library.
As he expected, the books here exuded an ancient and worn feel just by their appearances, far from the advanced and neat bookbinding craftsmanship of the pristine volus below. So were even manuscripts, with loose pages bound together and laid flat on the shelves for storage.
However, as his gaze swept over this complex collection,
The initial brilliance in Ronald’s eyes gradually dimd.
The church’s collection was indeed extensive, but much like the "Scroll Research Society" or the Bureau of Investigation, it was composed almost entirely of works from after the Dark Age; there was no record of the ti before.
Had he thought wrong...
Or was there a similar limitation inherent to the church’s library?
Pacing back and forth in front of the top-level bookshelves, Ronald’s disordered footsteps sounded like an unhappy bow sliding across coarse violin strings.
While he would be very pleased to understand more detailed history,
The absence of records from before the Dark Age was quite disappointing, to say the least.
"Hmm...?"
Suddenly, a puzzled sound escaped Ronald’s mouth.
In an inadvertent glance upward, he noticed the skylight at the top of the library.
It was made of a material he had never seen before, distinct from glass or plastic.
While maintaining the conical shape of the roof, this substance also boasted an excellent light transmittance, even allowing the entire library to bask in illumination without seeming too dark.
That brought up a question.
Considering the industrial standards of this era, this material was definitely not factory-processed.
If it wasn’t an industrial product...
Was it a creation from the mystical side?
With such a design used for the top of the church’s library and defensive spells on the walls, was it likely that underneath the coherent architectural design there was just a simple brick-and-timber structure?
And such a building, was it only for storing these books?
Might as well look downward...
Turning his gaze down, Ronald squinted to recall the scenes he had seen that day.
Upon careful comparison, one could notice sothing.
The floor area of the hermitage’s building was inconsistent.
The structure housing the books above was considerably wider than the entrance corridor used to access it below.
A spacious area was clearly left empty beneath that long row of ascension escalators. When comparing it with the building’s exterior seen before entering the hermitage, it seed there was a significant amount of empty space within the lower walls of the library!
Was sothing hidden here?
With a casual movent, he picked two books he hadn’t read yet from the shelf and turned to head downstairs.
Perhaps it was because there weren’t many people who ca here to read.
During the ti Ronald went up and down, he hadn’t seen any other clergy appear in the library.
"Hmm..."
Making sure no one around was observing him, Ronald boldly reached through the gap in the stairs and knocked on the wall behind it.
Thud, thud, thud——
The sound ca through, and the result was quite obvious.
The tapping clearly wasn’t from a solid structure.
Sure enough, behind the corridor at the entrance of the first floor of the library, there was a hidden zzanine that hadn’t been opened!
"Really there is one..."
Having confird this, the choice in front of Ronald was simple.
Either find a way to enter the hidden space behind without attracting the attention of the church and see what was really inside, or deal openly with the church to see if there was a chance they would voluntarily open their collection of books.
The forr option carried more risk and would most likely offend the church as an organization.
But Ronald was confident in his ability to find such an opportunity.
The latter option had a lower chance of success, but it was the one with less risk.
"..."
"Hehe—"
With a chuckle and a shake of his head, Ronald undoubtedly chose the latter.
To take without asking is to be a thief.
The church had given him the privilege to read various books here, and if he, like a thief, broke their spells to sneak in...
That thod certainly benefited him, but Ronald could not accept it ntally.
This wasn’t a ti to play "The Legend of Sword and Fairy."
Breaking into just anyone’s house at the roadside and insisting on ransacking it was not the way to go.
Ronald briefly looked at the two books he held, then placed them back in their original spots, and walked alone out into the courtyard of the hermitage.
With the introduction from the old man earlier, he went directly to a room at the back where soone was.
Extending his right hand, Ronald knocked on the door three tis very politely, in keeping with etiquette.
Knock, knock, knock—
"Is anyone there?"
"..."
"Mr. Ronald?"
The response ca quickly from inside.
But the one who opened the door was not the elder who had attended to Ronald before, but another monk who looked a bit younger, probably in his forties or fifties, and ca out.
The monk sized up Ronald with his gaze going back and forth.
Then he hesitantly asked,
"You should be reading in the library, no? Is there sothing that has brought you here?"
Ronald was very forthright:
"That’s right, I would like to take a look at the more hidden books beneath the library, may the church allow it?"
The middle-aged monk’s expression visibly froze.
"Eh...?"
"This... this..."
"If it were you, it would be expected that you found them."
From initial shock, the monk’s tone gradually softened.
Then, with a sigh and a shake of his head, he continued:
"Mr. Ronald, indeed, there are so very special books beneath our library. However, those things require the submission of appropriate docuntation and permission before you can peruse them. We understand your request, but if we notify the higher-ups, it will take at least a week for the result to co back."
Ronald responded with a smile:
"Then I’ll leave this matter in your hands."
"I’ll behave myself in the library this week, borrowing books without overstepping any boundaries."
Facing Ronald’s deanor, the monk seed to breathe a sigh of relief and nodded:
"If that’s the case, then thank you very much for your understanding."
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