Take good care of the library, won’t you.
Those were the words left behind by the grandmother who had saved my life and then vanished without a trace.
In other words, in a way, this mysterious library could be considered my grandmother’s inheritance.
A mysterious library filled with countless books, each of them a little special.
I liked this place, and so I was sincerely taking care of it.
“Nununeuneu~.”
Sweep. Sweep.
Humming cheerfully, I swept the floor of the stacks with a broom as tall as I was.
Sweeping in a library that didn’t have so much as a speck of dust was a kind of routine.
Inside the library, I couldn’t tell what time it was outside.
So if I dozed off for a moment, or lost track of time while immersed in writing a novel or reading, it became difficult to distinguish day from night.
That was why I had set sweeping as my morning routine, so I could have the sense that another day had passed.
‘Of course, I can leave if I want to…’
What the grandmother who saved me entrusted to me was only the management of the library; I wasn’t directly bound to it.
So if I set my mind to it, I could leave the library at any time.
Then why didn’t I leave?
……To be honest, it was because I had no desire to.
More specifically, because I wanted to read even one more book in the time I would spend going outside and doing things.
Several months had passed since I became the new librarian of this library, but there were still new books within it.
That was because the shelves in this mysterious archive had a strange phenomenon: the moment you perceived them, they appeared endlessly.
Mm, how should I put it?
Think of the natural numbers.
Let’s say the bookshelves on either side currently within my field of vision are from -100 to 100.
Then it would look like there were a total of 200 bookshelves.
But when you applied this mysterious phenomenon, shelves that hadn’t existed began to increase beside them as if they had been there from the start.
If you put it in numbers, shelves called 1.1 and -1.1 appeared.
Because of that, there were still books in this library I hadn’t read, and even books at the far ends that I hadn’t so much as perceived yet.
What was strange was that even though I hadn’t perceived them, on the other hand, when the proper time came, they would naturally come to mind.
It was like all the information in the library had been placed inside my head.
Anyway.
‘Last time, I only managed to reach the far end by putting myself under self-suggestion…’
In any case, since there were effectively infinite shelves, even the time spent going outside felt wasteful.
And there was also a rather realistic reason.
“I’m not earning any money, so I can’t even rent a room…”
Unfortunately, this librarian job didn’t come with anything like a salary.
So my goal was to one day earn money from the novel I was currently writing and rent a room.
Flutter! Flutter flutter!
“Hm? What’s that supposed to mean? Why would I leave the library…?”
When I questioned the fierce protest of a book beside me, several other books that had apparently been listening to me from somewhere came tumbling over.
Frrrrrrt!!
Flutter flutter!
“Nooo… I said I’m not leaving…! Why are you all suddenly like this…!”
Fwoosh!
“Hey, I told you I’m not leaving…!”
And finally, there was the slight possessiveness of the books.
In any case, for those reasons, I was currently in a position where I didn’t leave the library.
Of course, separate from that, it wasn’t as though I was never curious about the situation outside.
That thought had been part of why I saved that man last time, too.
Come to think of it, I was curious.
What that man and the two others were doing by now.
* * *
“What? You can’t cancel the team’s disbandment? What kind of bullsh—”
Manager Lee, who had unconsciously slipped into coarse language out of sheer absurdity, belatedly cleared his throat.
“No, what are you talking about? You can just cancel the personnel transfers for Staff Seo Yuna and Assistant Manager Lee Gyeongseong, can’t you?”
Manager Lee looked at the female employee sitting across from him, expressionlessly typing something on her laptop.
The female employee, who handled various matters within the Bureau, had been dispatched to investigate Manager Lee, who had been reported dead in the recent “White Mother” incident.
“If it’s because you’re short on personnel, then the usual procedure is to add more people to the existing team, isn’t it?”
“You are correct, Manager Lee. According to the procedures carried out within the existing Management Bureau, the disbandment of Field Response Division Team 3 should be canceled, and the personnel transfers of Staff Seo Yuna and Assistant Manager Lee Gyeongseong should likewise be canceled, with additional personnel transfers made to replace the deceased team members.”
“Then why is it impossible?”
There was a reason Manager Lee felt so frustrated.
Having worked there for nearly ten years, he had gone through several personnel transfers and team disbandments.
And among them had been a case where a team’s disbandment was canceled after a member thought dead returned alive.
Since he had experienced that personally, he had assumed the procedure would be carried out similarly this time as well.
In fact, within the Management Bureau, they prioritized forming teams with members who worked well together above all else, making that even more likely.
Separating the three people who had survived the “White Mother” and an unknown anomalous space was not a measure the existing Bureau would take.
That was why Manager Lee was voicing his complaints to the female employee in the empty office of [Field Response Division Team 3].
At Manager Lee’s question, the blunt-looking female employee pushed up her glasses slightly and spoke.
“First, I will state this precisely. It is not currently impossible to cancel the disbandment of Field Response Division Team 3.”
“……Pardon?”
“Furthermore, it is also not impossible to cancel Assistant Manager Lee Gyeongseong’s personnel transfer. Assigning additional personnel to Team 3 is likewise not impossible.”
“Then what on earth is…”
“There is only one exception. At present, Staff Seo Yuna’s personnel transfer cannot be reversed.”
“……Staff Seo Yuna’s, you mean?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“Why on earth…”
“There was a headquarters director-level decision.”
“……!!”
A headquarters director-level decision.
At the female employee’s words, Manager Lee could not help flinching.
A headquarters director.
The name of the team Manager Lee currently belonged to was “Field Response Division Team 3.”
But to put it in more detail, it was “Anomaly Management Bureau, Anomaly Handling Headquarters, Field Response Division Team 3.”
In other words, in the broadest classification, they belonged to the “Anomaly Handling Headquarters.”
The Anomaly Management Bureau was organized into several major groups called “headquarters,” with more detailed departments beneath them.
And the “headquarters director-level decision” the female employee mentioned referred to the person in charge of one of those “headquarters.”
For example, the Director of the Anomaly Handling Headquarters.
“……Are you saying the Director intervened in Staff Seo Yuna’s personnel transfer?”
“That is correct.”
“Why would the Director…?”
During his long years of service, Manager Lee had encountered the Director of the Anomaly Handling Headquarters once or twice.
And considering the Director’s appearance, personality, records, and so on… he was absolutely not the kind of person who would intervene in the personnel transfer of a mere staff member.
‘There are rumors that the Director personally controls a team… but isn’t that only for selecting exceptional talent?’
But as far as Manager Lee could see, Staff Seo Yuna was… sadly, not talent on that level.
“For now, as a result of the internal assessment, the disbandment of Field Response Division Team 3 has been canceled. Assistant Manager Lee Gyeongseong’s personnel transfer has also been canceled with his consent. Additional personnel will be arranged within the week.”
In the end, the Field Response Division Team 3 the female employee was talking about… meant everyone except Staff Seo Yuna.
“Hoo…”
Manager Lee found this situation deeply frustrating.
He already felt sorry, as though he had become a superior for nothing and failed to properly protect even a single new employee. And now, to think it was a headquarters director-level decision.
Of course, if interpreted positively, it could be said that she had caught a headquarters director’s eye.
But…
“Then I will be going.”
“……Understood.”
“And for your reference, the one who made the headquarters director-level decision was not the Director of the Anomaly Handling Headquarters.”
“……Pardon?”
“The team Staff Seo Yuna was transferred to is ‘Anomaly Development Headquarters, Information Support Team 2.’”
Click. Click.
Leaving only those words behind, the female employee left the office of Field Response Division Team 3.
After she left, Manager Lee sat blankly in his chair for a while, thinking, then rubbed around his eyes.
“……You’re saying the Director of the Anomaly Development Headquarters made the decision…?”
That meant only one thing.
Now, Staff Seo Yuna… would absolutely never be able to return to Field Response Division Team 3.
Because the whims of that Director of the Anomaly Development Headquarters… were extremely famous even within the Bureau.
.
.
.
The Anomaly Management Bureau deals with “anomalies” in a truly wide variety of ways.
Among them, the most representative was the “Anomaly Handling Headquarters,” whose purpose was to eliminate anomalies that could become threats to humanity and the Bureau.
But they were not hostile toward every anomaly.
In the case of anomalies beneficial to humanity and the Bureau, they sometimes requested cooperation or actively made use of them.
And among them, there was also a department that delved even deeper into that specialty.
It was the “Anomaly Development Headquarters,” which developed “anomalies” to make them even more useful to humanity and the Bureau.
“The Mystical Library, huh! It has a nice ring to it. Sounds like it’ll have lots of creepy things.”
A woman with short blond hair and sunglasses got out of the vehicle and looked around.
Dressed in a suit and a pure white trench coat, she gave off an extraordinary air.
“H-hueeek…”
“Oh dear, feel like you’re going to get carsick? Want to rest for a bit?”
“Th-thank you… Then just for a moment… Uuugh.”
The black-haired woman holding a terminal clung to a nearby trash can and did not move for quite some time.
“If you’re going to work in our headquarters from now on, you need to be able to endure at least this much.”
“Haaah… Haaah…”
After leaving behind that bit of advice, the blond woman smiled and read a sign.
[Goru Bookshop]
“Now then, Staff Seo Yuna? Shall we try looking for the anomalous space that you and your former team encountered? I’m curious whether it’ll be useful to humanity!”
And so the two women began tracking the Mystical Library.