It’s been one week since I had received the library access from Maa.

It's also been nearly a week since she returned to the main family to do whatever she was summoned to do.

When she boarded the carriage that was supposed to transport her, I and Syrus the butler were showered with consigns and suggestions for what we should do in her absence.

Yes, because Maa won't be here for a while, Syrus had taken on the responsibility of taking care of me. I won't be taking any lessons from him, but waking me up and watching over me in Maa's absence was now his responsibility.

Poor Syrus. I understand your pain.

There was no need to mention how awkward it was for both of us because we lived in the same house but never really interacted much, which was convenient for us. I now have access to the library, and I've spent most of my time there, so it's just the two of us, reducing our interaction to a bare minimum.

Back to the present, I am now standing outside the manor, holding a rope and wearing a thick coat, as winter approaches. I never noticed how cold it was outside because of all the fireplaces in the manor and the fact that I am an indoor, borderline shut-in person.

When I went outside to say goodbye to Maa, I almost passed out from the cold.

I've learned from my mistakes and am now fully prepared to face the elements.

I walked past the seemingly unoccupied guard and went around the back of the manor.

When I arrived at my destination, I placed the rope on the ground near the balcony of the living room and began to extend the rope to the corner of the house where the library was supposed to be; the rope had reached the farthest he could reach and I still hadn't reached the corner of the manor; there were at least five meters left before I could reach the corner.

As expected, there was something strange about the library.

I didn't notice it at first, but it started buzzing me after a while.

The library appeared to be smaller on the inside than it did on the outside. While using the living room windows as a reference point to locate the library, I noticed that at least five meters were missing from the library.

“Well, to be exact It's not really missing; it's probably just hidden inside the library, a hidden room If I could say.”

Now that I've received confirmation of my theory, I can start looking for this hidden room.

I rolled the rope and returned to the manor. I stormed into the library and started looking for the secret room.

***

“Haaaaaa”

I sighed loudly, laying my head on the library's desk lazily.

It's been a week since I confirmed my theory, and I still haven't found any trace of the secret room.

“Perhaps I was too optimistic.”

At first, I thought that the entrance of the secret room would be hidden behind the bookshelves, so I took every book off the wall. With my small frame, it took me three days to remove every book from the wall, and when I realized that wasn’t anything, I had no choice but to put the books back on its shelves.

“It's quite ironic, isn't it? I was eager to access the library when I couldn't, for its books, and now that I have access, all I'm doing is running after a secret room that I'm not even sure exists.”

Perhaps it is hidden by magic or something similar.

While I was thinking about that, I took off the key pendant Maa had given me to gain access to the library.

This key is my first—no, this is my second—interaction with magic, my first interaction with magic was from that time, it was magic that knocked me out.

“Nobility and powerhouses” mentioned magic several times, but it was never made clear what it could be used for. All I knew was that only nobility could use it because only they could produce mana (the first requirement for using magic) and that nobility, particularly those of the church, are responsible for keeping the barrier covering the human continent in place. I'm not sure how large the human continent is, but magic must be extremely powerful to be able to repel monsters from all sides of the barrier.

The first week I had access to this room, I spent an unhealthy amount of time looking for a book that would delve into how exactly magic works, but I still haven't found anything. The majority of these books were math books, architecture books, and an unhealthy amount of financial record books.

To summarize, nothing could be remotely interesting to me, nor could it answer the question I was looking for an answer to.

“Hah…” I sighed loudly as I twirled the pendant around my finger, my head still pressed against the desk.

Suddenly, the pendant slipped through my finger and flew across the room.

I stood up and followed the necklace where it flew. I saw where the key was, but there was something strange about it.

It had a faint red glow to it. For a brief moment, I pondered whether it was safe to accept it. After all, this pendant was supposed to be magical, but it doesn't glow even when I open the library's door.

I suddenly remembered that it was almost time for me to eat my lunch? I was about to rush to the library's door when I realized I needed the pendant to leave this room.

“It can't be helped.”

I carefully grasped the pendant by its chain. It was still glowing brightly.

“What on earth is going on with this thing?”

I was walking toward the door when I noticed the pendant's light was gradually fading. When I got to the door, the red light was completely out.

I returned to the spot where the pendant had landed, and as I got closer, the light gradually became brighter.

Having no idea what caused the phenomenon.I decided to put my research on the subject on Hiatus after all I had lunch waiting for me.

I still had no idea of what caused the phenomenon. But I still decided to put my research on hold.

After all, I had lunch waiting for me.

Not because I was particularly hungry, but because I had promised a certain someone that I would never be late for lunch.

***

Having taken my lunch, I once again was on my way to hole myself in the library.

While eating I came up with one theory why the pendant reacted this way.

While eating, I came up with one theory as to why the pendant reacted in this way.

What exactly is it?

What else could it be but my secret room?

But the strangest thing is that I frequently passed by the location where the pendant had fallen, and the pendant had never reacted like it did today.

When I got to the library's door, I put on my pendant and went inside.

The first thing I did when I walked in was, of course, to the location of the spot. And when I arrived at the location, the thing I expected to happen did not occur.

The pendant I was wearing was no longer glowing as brightly as it had been.

“Perhaps it only occurs at certain points of time.”

I decided to leave the pendant in its original location. Perhaps being on the ground is required for the pendant to light up.

I then removed the pendant from my neck, and the pendant began to glow red again, just as it had before.

I think I've figured out the pattern of this thing.

When worn, the pendant does not glow.

Only when turned off will it glow, and only if I stay in this corner of the room. Which means that there must be something nearby that causes the pendant to react the way it does.

I began to use the pendant in the same way that I would a lamp in the dark. I began wandering through the library in search of a location where the pendant would elicit the strongest reaction.

It led me to a bookshelf pinned to the wall after a few minutes of searching. After all, when I was looking for the secret room, this bookshelf was one of the first I examined, but the intense light from the pendant told me there was something special about this one.

I took the books off the shelf and hung the glowing pendant as a source of light to get a better view. When I inserted the pendant, I noticed a keyhole in the back of the bookshelf.

When I was looking for the hidden room, I never noticed this keyhole on the back. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was never there.

“Could it be…”

It's a keyhole.

A key pendant.

It could only mean one of two things.

I couldn't help myself and inserted the key into the keyhole.

When I walked in, I heard a creaking noise in the middle of the room.

I ran toward the source of the noise and saw it.

A bookshelf was slowly rotating in on itself, and when it reached a ninety-degree rotation, it came to a halt.

Exposing a room behind it

No-It wasn't just a room.

“A hidden room.” I declared with a satisfied smile.