章 9: Visiting Public Library.
Rob considered whether he should take Hajime's place as the main character or not. He had to carefully consider it because he would have to fall into the true Orcus Great Labyrinth to take over Hajime's role as the main character in this world!
Rob knew how dangerous the true Orcus Great Labyrinth was. He didn't underestimate the danger that place held.
After all, Oscar Orcus had gone 'fuck it! Let's turn this labyrinth into a death trap that forces the idiots challenging this place to break their limits!' and also poured all his sadism into building that labyrinth!
'Oh well, I have to test if I can learn Transmute first. I'll have more confidence to take over his place to fall into the true Orcus Labyrinth if I can learn it to an acceptable degree. Nevertheless, I have to amass power, be it physical strength, magic abilities, or any other knowledge for now. I only have around two weeks before our expedition to Orcus Labyrinth if nothing changes here.'
Rob stopped thinking about it after that. At the same time, the clamor around Hajime came to an end as Aiko unintentionally gave the poor guy a finishing hit.
Finally, the meeting with Meld in the training ground was over. The summoned heroes went to the banquet hall, led by a knight.
By the way, Meld had informed the heroes that he would call them for real training after lunch, so they had a few hours to spend freely. In the meantime, Meld and his people would prepare the equipment for the heroes.
After a sumptuous breakfast, Rob decided to leave the banquet hall where the heroes spent their free time chatting with their close friends. He ditched Kentarou and Jugo without a second thought.
As he walked out of the banquet hall, Rob could hear them calling out Kousuke's name behind him. However, he ignored it.
Soon, Rob saw a young maid walking towards the banquet hall. He guessed the young maid would collect plates and cutlery to get cleaned.
She had brown hair in a braid, purple irises, and freckles on her cute face. She wore the standard maid uniform worn by all maids in the castle.
She looked one or two years younger than Rob's current physical age. Though her face was still innocent, there was a hint of maturity in her, which a girl her age on Earth rarely had.
A fleeting thought about seducing the cute maid flashed through his mind, but Rob decided against it. He vaguely remembered how the servants in the castle loved to gossip. If he slept with this maid, their affair would spread fast.
Rob was sure of it!
Rob didn't want the students and Aiko to discover him sleeping around with maids in the castle. If he did something out of Kousuke's character too much, they would become suspicious.
They all knew that Kousuke was an inexperienced virgin. His thin presence gave him no chance to experience dating a girl like ordinary boys his age.
What a poor bastard- wait! Our protagonist had become that poor bastard, so never mind!
If the other heroes realized that Kousuke Endou had changed so much, they would interrogate him. Then, the truth about him might come out.
That was something that Rob couldn't let happen no matter what!
Back on topic, Rob immediately approached the young maid. "Excuse me..." he politely called out to the maid.
However,
"AH?!"
The young maid screamed in surprise. Her scream attracted the attention of other servants not far from them.
"Sorry for surprising you!"
Rob lowered his head and apologized in a hurry. He didn't want someone to accuse him of harassing the young maid.
Once again, Rob realized how troublesome his Presence Isolation was.
"N-no problem, Lord Apostle! I apologize for raising my voice! And please stop bowing! Someone of your status shouldn't lower your head for someone like me!"
Rob straightened himself after hearing the maid's flustered response. He was glad that it didn't turn into something troublesome.
"Do you need something, my lord?" The young maid asked timidly after giving Rob once over.
Her eyes glimmered with awe and wonder as she stared at him. It appeared that the maid knew his identity as one of the summoned heroes due to his uniform.
Nevertheless, Rob asked the young maid, "Could you lead me to the library?"
The maid tilted her head in confusion. "Library? May I know why you want to head there?"
"Well, I am free until Meld calls me and the others for training after lunch. In the meantime, I want to do something productive with my free time. Also, I want to know more about this world. I think a library is a good place to get information, don't you agree? I hope that you can lead me there."
"I understand. Well, there's a public library not far from the castle."
"Is that so? Would you mind leading me there?"
"May I, my lord?"
"Yeah. Please do."
"Please follow me, then."
After that, Rob quietly followed the young maid as she led him to the castle library. However, not long after that, she lost him.
"Huh?!" The maid looked around her in confusion, trying to find Rob in the empty corridor. "Where is he?!"
"I'm here, miss," Rob said from his spot beside the maid.
Rob was always there, never leaving or intentionally hiding from her. However, she still lost him!
"EEEEK?!"
The maid shrieked after hearing a flat voice from beside her. From her perspective, Rob had just appeared out of nowhere and spoke up to her from next to her. It startled and spooked her so much!
Though it was natural for the maid to overreact, Rob still flinched when the maid shrieked in surprise. After all, the maid was standing next to him when she shrieked, so his poor ears took the full brunt of her shriek.
Because of the trouble caused by his thin presence, Rob couldn't help but feel helpless and somewhat resentful.
Nevertheless, they continued moving towards their destination after Rob somehow calmed the young maid.
To prevent anything like what happened before to repeat, Rob decided to chat with her. thankfully, their conversation kept the maid from losing him.
However, Rob would be happier if he didn't need to do such a thing. Therefore, he wanted to control his Presence Isolation at will in the future.
Back on topic, Rob and the maid chatted about themselves slightly.
"So, you have learned swordplay despite being a maid, huh?"
"Yes, Sir! Since my family is a family of knights, my father and brothers taught me swordplay!"
"Is that so? Then, compared to Nia, I'm less than a newbie. After all, I have never held any real sword before getting summoned here."
"I'm sure the knights will teach you, sir! And being God's Apostle, Lord Ehit's blessing will surely help you learn fast! You will be able to surpass me soon!"
Rob had a thin, mocking smile after hearing Nia's words about Ehit's blessing. Inwardly, he commented, 'I prefer it if I don't get any blessings from that bastard.'
By the way, Rob had realized that the young maid helping him to reach the library was not a no-name background character. Nia was supposedly Shizuku's personal maid who got killed and turned into an undead puppet by Eri in the original story.
At that moment, Nia still didn't get the task of being Shizuku's personal maid. About her dark future, Rob decided not to think about it.
However, if Rob could do something to help her at that time, he wouldn't mind lending his assistance.
Nia was a sincere and honest individual. It would be a shame if she ended up like her other version in the original story.
Nevertheless, Rob and Nia soon arrived in front of the public library.
By the way, when they exited the castle, Rob was stunned by the bustling castle town. Even though he had seen the castle town from the sky yesterday, it felt different when he directly saw the hustle and bustle closely like that.
After saying their farewells and other pleasantries to each other, Nia returned to the castle to attend her duty. Meanwhile, Rob entered the public library.
---
--
-
Several hours had passed since Rob closed himself in the public library to read books.
Thanks to the Language Comprehension skill, he had no problem with the written language of Tortus, as was the spoken language.
When lunch came, Rob headed to the banquet hall in a hurry, but he was still a bit late.
"Where have you been?" Jugo asked after he got over his overreaction from Rob's new 'sudden appearance out of nowhere' shtick.
"I've been in the library," Rob replied honestly.
"Why were you here?" Kentarou asked Kousuke this time.
"Trying to get to know this world better."
The truth is that Rob didn't see a reason to lie to Jugo and Kentarou. Besides, it wasn't like being honest in this case would bite him, so he thought.
However, as if Fate herself wanted to pick a fight with Rob, Jugo's following words jolted his mind.
"That's so unusual of you to become diligent suddenly."
Rob had to stop himself from flinching. He didn't expect Jugo to be sharp despite his looks.
"I just want to find out if there's an alternative way to return home," Rob lied with a straight face.
"Is that so? Have we not made it clear that we'll get back after we help this world?"
"It's not like I'm gonna lose anything important by doing it. Besides, it's better to not place our eggs in one basket."
"Hmm..." Jugo hummed pensively as he nodded in agreement.
Rob was relieved when Jugo didn't seem to figure out the truth. 'I should be more careful,' he warned himself inwardly.
After that, Rob and the other summoned heroes continued their lunch.
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