Something had happened.
The moment I returned from the dim warehouse to the library, that was the impression I got.
And for good reason: the stacks were terribly quiet.
They were usually a quiet place to begin with, but the silence now felt deeply alien.
I had told the books they could play war to their hearts’ content, so there should have been sounds of scuffling.
But now, there was only silence.
Clatter.
‘...No, but why am I being so careful?’
Like a middle school girl sneaking home after curfew.
There was absolutely no reason for me to creep in like this, all nervous and on edge.
So I squared my shoulders confidently and approached the stacks.
And the closer I got, the more I realized that a certain aura—one I hadn’t been able to sense easily before—was wafting out.
“......”
A tingling sensation.
Touching the handle of the stacks’ door felt as if it might give me a static shock, an alien feeling prickling at my skin.
Clatter.
Creeeak...
The interior of the stacks, which always maintained just the right level of brightness, was terribly dark.
And quiet.
No, now that I looked, it felt as if all the light in the stacks was being absorbed into one place.
The books that had been enjoying their war game were collapsed or lying about on the floor and shelves.
For a moment, I thought they were all dead, but the faint fluttering of their covers showed that they were still alive and moving.
...And in the midst of them, one book was exuding an ominous aura.
It was absorbing all the light in the stacks while softly scattering a green glow of its own.
It was a dreamlike light, as if every color except green had been erased from a nebula of countless hues.
[Giant of the Swamp Universe]
That child was quietly burning with green rage.
A rage that seemed ready to send a massive tremor through the library at any moment was encroaching upon the surrounding books as well.
The only ones holding out were... a few books, including Jijongi and Unu Octopus.
The wrath of the swamp, which had been trying to spread in every direction, changed course when I opened the door.
Flutter...
Swamp slowly descended from midair and, unlike its usual way of rolling around, walked toward me step by step.
Then it conveyed a wordless message to me.
[.̞̟̜̙͍̠̱͓̃̓͊̐̃̌͋̓ͅ.̠͚̖͚̜͉͕̪̖͋̑͋͛̊̏́̾̿̓̀̋.͓̜̜̗̣̦͈̈́̾͂̀̅̾͐̂̑͐͂͌ͅ.͖̮͇̖̯̩̞̗̖͕̠͋̉̀̐͒̔̈͑̑̿̿̋.̪͕̭̘͚̩͍̩̥̭͎̏̋͂̊̾̈̀͋̒ͅ.͓̥̜͎͔͈̳͂̀͒̚̚ͅ.͍͖̪̖̗̲̥̆̆͂̈́̃ͅ.̮̝̫̟̎̃̆̂͋͗̂͑̂.͚̰̬̱̋̋́͋̓̐͗̅.͍̖̣̪̝͎̞̳̣͎̓͂́̏̊ͅ.̟̞̮̙̽̄̒͊.̥̜̩̗̪̯͔̪̟̮̽͐͊̃͗̆̎̈́ͅ.̯̱̖͕̯̮̟̘̳̓͂͌͗̏̂ͅ.͓̙͖͉͔̮̣̯͂̓̂̈̆͆̅̎̃̒ͅ.̱̮̰͔̊͂͗̚.͍̥̭̲̱̲͍̭̖͇̭̟̌́͐̃̑̅͊]
“Hm? Ah, I just got back. I’m not hurt anywhere.”
[.̣̮̟̘̜̯͚́̈̋͑̄̍̾̃.̩̦͓͍͓̠̽͋̆̉̃̐.̠̞̤̩̯͕͋̌̇̏͂̏̓͋́̏̚ .̠̗̗̥̣͔͍̪̗̠̩̅̃͛͛̓̆͗.̗̲̘̙͔͎̖̲͔̯̎́͐̓́͛͂̆̂̄̑̚.̲̣͔̬͔̱̖̪̒̍̄̎̽́̚ͅ.͈̣͓̠̭͍̤͔͍̭̙̱͊͑̈́̅̔̎͛͑͛̔̚.̞͍͔͍̝̗̙́̉͋̀́̅.͔̟͎̲͆͒͑͑ͅ.͉͍̲̯̙͎͕̪͖̬̥͐́̔̀̈́̈́͗̓̀͌̀̆ .̬̞͕͎̫͑̀̏͐͛̎̚.̲̰͎̥͍̱̗̞̩̯̲̳̓̃͒̄̍̇͊̎̚.̜͉̖̯̦̭̰̰̀̾́̈́͗̅̈́́̽͒̽.̱̭̟͇̳͓̙͈̬͑̌̇̄́̃̾͑̔̽͐ͅ.͖̳̮̲̙̣̞̣̃̔̎͆.͖͔̬̖̭̩̪̳͇̪̘̘̾̾́͑͋͗̏̚̚]
“Nothing much happened. Look, I’m not really hurt or anything. And I had the page that one child gave me before, too. I don’t think this is something to get that angry about...”
But Swamp said something different from what I had expected.
[.̤̱̟͉̖̬̾͑͌̇̓.̙̫̗̖̬̾͗̋͐͐̒̃́ͅ.͈̯͕͉͖̪͔͇̱̠̩́͌̋͋̓̔ͅ .̙̲̗̯̫̜̯̗͌̍͋̚ͅͅ.̗̙͖̳͎̖̲͍̱̆̓̈̏̄̊͒̿̔.͇͇̘̳͚̜̓̑̋̾̽̑̏̓̆̆̍̚.̗͖̝͕̫̮̝̫̠̀̅͒̂̌̆.̫̜̜͒̐͛̂̿̚ͅ.̱̣̣͖̯͕͚͖̩̖̟̇́͋́̋̑̚.̱͇̯̘̦͚͕̬͇͌̒̎͋̀̓̑͗ .͕͔̳͚̮̭̠̲͙͕̇̽̔͋ͅ.͚̲̫̘̳̱̰̙̳͍̋̄͒̿͆̓̋̋͛̿̚.̩͈͚̮͖̞̀̑̾̾̊̒́́̽ .͈̩̯͚̏͛͂̋̎̂̀̉̎̾̑.̩̫̰̫͓̜̤͆̿͂͂̋.͔̰͓͇̃̑͒̆̍̑̍̃͒̚]
“...What? My existence disappeared for a moment...?”
That... was different from what I’d thought.
My existence disappeared? ...Judging by Swamp’s words, to be precise, it might be closer to saying I briefly left this world.
‘Is it because the deep warehouse is a space different from Earth?’
That was the most likely possibility.
It didn’t seem as though the white girl in that warehouse or the Bureau had done anything in particular.
And above all, hadn’t I returned normally through the locker in that warehouse?
“But I came back safe and sound, didn’t I? So calm down. Honestly, it’s not like I wanted to go over there that way, either. My body suddenly moved on its own.”
But saying that was the wrong choice.
Because Swamp’s gaze turned from me to the physical education textbook held in my arms.
Flutter! Flutter! Flutter!
Pshk.
Drip, drip.
In an instant, the physical education textbook was torn from my arms by some incomprehensible force and began bleeding in midair.
It thrashed about as if in pain, but Swamp paid it no mind and simply stared at it.
“No, wait...!”
Of course, it was true that it had tried to attack me, but now it was a child who would become part of the family.
So I had intended to give it a suitable warning and let it become one of us, but Swamp had gone beyond that.
...As if it were trying to kill that book.
But there was another problem: the reactions of the other books.
The one spewing the greatest rage was Swamp, but Jijongi and Unu Octopus were the same.
They were the sort who normally kept one another in check to win my favor, yet now they were merely standing by and watching Swamp’s actions.
Drip, drip. Tap.
In an instant, a large amount of blood fell beneath the physical education textbook.
...I couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Stop! Swamp, stop it!!”
With those words, I strode over with a stern expression and lifted Swamp up in both hands.
Then, before it could react in any way, I shook it up and down to calm it down.
“I’m fine! Stop it! What are you doing!”
Flut, flutter. Flutterrr.
“You’re not a little kid! If you’re one of the Three Greats of the library, huh?! You should know better!”
I disciplined Swamp as if it were a child going through puberty who had made a grave mistake.
Flutter!
“Argh, this little—! You’re getting a spanking!”
Smack!
Flutter!
I slapped the back pages of Swamp, which was trying to unleash an even more ferocious aura toward the physical education textbook.
Then Swamp, feeling no pain but filled with bewilderment, gradually began to settle its aura.
Ting. Ting, ting...
Once Swamp calmed down, the lights of the stacks returned as well.
Seeing it get smacked, Jijongi and Unu Octopus also looked flustered and shrank back, trying not to show me their backs.
“Listen carefully, all of you. This is way too overprotective. I am, after all, the librarian of this library.”
Taking the opportunity, I declared it to all the books.
That in the end, the administrator of this library—and the one at the top of the hierarchy—was me.
I should have done this earlier, but I hadn’t been able to find the right timing.
“First of all, Swamp, thank you for worrying about me. But this time, you went too far.”
I set it down and took out the ancient tome and quill.
Information about the aftermath caused by this one’s anger was already beginning to flow into my head.
“The Anomaly Management Bureau on Earth, the Multidimensional Observatory, as well as the IA Stellar Civilization, the Aneurekteusya Civilization, and others have detected your main body. You rampaged too much.”
Scratch. Scratch.
“Unu Octopus, Jijongi. Help me. Swamp, you too. You made this mess, so you have to clean it up. The other books, help too if you can.”
At my words, the two books pressed close to me and began sharing their energy with me. Belatedly, Swamp also stuck itself in front and began giving me energy.
Then the influence of the ancient tome, which had almost only covered Earth, stretched out across the entire universe.
“This was too drastic a change in the current flow of the universe.”
Scratch. Scratch.
And they had a great many things to do.
The information about Swamp, which was gradually disappearing from memory, would become trivial, and soon they would enter complete oblivion in order to solve the problems closer at hand.
Scratch. Scratch.
Reality slowly began to change.
Earth and several alien civilizations knew nothing about Swamp’s main body.
That was the natural result.
‘More importantly, Swamp had a main body?’
I learned this information only now, while using the ancient tome.
Because until now, I’d simply thought it was an unusual book with an author...!
But in truth, most of the books here had another true form, and the same went for Jijongi and Unu Octopus...
Swamp’s main body was a being within a black hole, possessing an unfathomable scale, and since before the universe was born...
Then just what kind of existence was the grandmother who had managed all these books?
“...Anyway, from next time on, don’t overreact this much. Got it?”
...Flutter.
Swamp weakly agreed.
Still, it had gotten angry for my sake, so I felt needlessly sorry.
“...Even so, since you did it for me, I’ll give you a reward for that.”
Flutter!
Sharararak?!
Flutterrr!!
At my words, Jijongi and Unu Octopus, who had been staying still, protested.
They said that if they’d known this would happen, they would have gotten angry in my place.
Unbelievable.
Flutter! Flutter!
“Hey, no matter what, you can’t just tell me not to care about those two. Anyway, the reward I’ll give you is...”
Flutter?! Flutterrr?!
Swamp jumped up and down, making all sorts of guesses.
Exclusive management rights, an admission ticket to the management office, and so on... a list that looked luxurious at a glance.
But the reward I would give it included a small measure of payback.
“It’s... giving feedback on my novel for one week— Hey! Where are you going...!”
Flutterrr!
Before I could even finish speaking, Swamp fled far into the stacks.
Watching that, Jijongi and Unu Octopus flopped about and made fun of it.
“No...”
Is my novel really that horrible...?
Now I was getting depressed for no reason.
“...Next time the Bureau people come, I should tell them to read it.”
Still, since they were people, they would surely give me better feedback on my novel than those useless books.
And so, a peaceful day passed.