Konbini Ossan Volume 1 Chapter 15 – Knowledge to Survive
Now that my exile had been decided, I was finally free to move about as I pleased.
…With Marceline as my overseer, of course. Still, just being able to research and gather knowledge about this world was a huge step forward.
And having access to the palace archives? That’s bound to help me immensely.
The only problem is the time limit — just one week. I’m not sure I’ll be able to absorb everything I need in that time.
It’s a race against the clock. I need to start researching immediately.
“So then, Lady Marceline. I apologize, but could you guide me to wherever books on magic and skills are stored?”
“I’m not sure what the ‘so then’ is referring to, but fine. I was ordered to let you act freely, after all.”
As soon as we left the audience chamber, I made my request to Marceline.
The place I was led to was called the Great Library. Apparently, most materials were centralized here, and it covered everything from basic to advanced studies of magic and skills.
“You’ve saved me, Lady Marceline.”
“Don’t mention it.”
With a quick word of thanks, I got to work immediately.
Strangely enough, I could read the letters in this world without any difficulty. It felt exactly like reading Japanese.
This must be something that happens to everyone summoned here. Language barriers are a huge obstacle, after all. No doubt the goddess adjusted that for us.
Scanning the book spines and titles, I quickly picked out all those related to magic and skills, grabbing as many as I could carry and bringing them over to a reading desk.
“Y-You’re really going to read all that in one go?”
“Oh, no, not at all.”
I shook my head at Lady Marceline’s surprised question.
“I probably won’t even read ten percent of these. I’m just gathering a wide net first — then I skim through them quickly, and select only the ones that seem easy to understand or especially useful.
…
That way, I can focus on reading just the essentials.”
“I see. But what if you skip a book that had important information?”
“Then that’s just bad luck. I’ll read as much as I can in the time I have. Any info I don’t get is… well, like counting your chickens before they hatch.”
“Counting… what now?”
“Oh, it's a proverb from my world. If I’ve done my best and still miss something, it can’t be helped.”
“Ah, I see. Makes sense.”
We chatted casually while I combed through the book contents at high speed.
After about 30 minutes of intense triage, I narrowed down my choices and began reading in earnest. With nothing to do while I read, Marceline started flipping through random books of her own.
By the time the Great Library’s closing time approached, I had finished reading all the books I selected for today.
“Well? Was it fruitful?”
“Yes, very.”
I smiled and nodded in response to Marceline’s question.
“Tomorrow, you’ll move on to the rest of the books, right? At this rate, you’ll finish all the books on magic and skills before the week is up.”
“Ah, no. I’ll be redoing the selection from the beginning.”
Marceline gave me a puzzled look.
“Your behavior is hard to predict. Explain why.”
“It’s pretty simple. Thanks to what I read today, my knowledge has expanded.
…
So now, when I look through the books I didn’t pick earlier, I’ll probably find some of them more interesting or easier to understand.
…
That means I can refine my selection further.”
Marceline’s eyes widened in surprise. Then she nodded, seemingly impressed.
“I see. That way, you don’t miss anything. Like putting everything through a sieve multiple times.”
“Exactly.”
“You read in a very meticulous way, Otsugi-dono.”
“Well… I guess. It was a hobby of mine.”
I used to experiment endlessly with efficient ways to read a lot of books back in college.
Though, in the end, I skipped classes too often, read too much, and ended up failing out entirely.
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E/N:
Knowledge is also Power. Ossan, keep it up!
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