Chapter 7: Book

I'm not sure about the situation, but I let swordguy in the library for the meantime. I order shorty (who wanted to run straight to the dungeon but couldn't escape my death grip) to get us all some water. We're not close enough for me to give out coffee for free.

Swordguy finally calms down after three swigs. This is the perfect time to ask.

"So, why'd you come to the library again?"

"Thanks, thanks for the water. Right, why I'm here. That's right. Well, it's like this..."

He explains away. Apparently, while swordguy, shorty and... I forgot, came to the library to convince me in joining their merry band, witch girl and two other partymates went in the dungeon together to train. Somehow, the witch girl gets all uppity and pushes through their self-imposed limit of 60 floors down. And expectedly, she triggers a trap right on the 61st floor and falls on this trap hole that sends her straight down on the lower areas. Is she dumb?

"...I still don't get it. What does any of that have to do with me?"

"The others immediately rushed outside and told the whole story to me, so we could form a sear——"

"Wait, these 'others' rushed 60 floors in just, add a few zeroes here and there, approximately four hours?"

"It's easy once you mapped an area, and Fel's good at avoiding monsters."

That name's familiar, but I just can't put my head on it.

"Hmm, okay. Skip the boring stuff, just tell me why you're here."

"...This is what triggered the trap."

Swordguy take an thick and tattered book from his bag and places it on the table. It takes me a moment to take it in. Ela sees it too, and she's as shocked as I am.

"This is...!"

"Farwitch Labyrinth: A Complete Comprehensive Walkthrough..."

What the hell, a complete comprehensive walkthrough? Is it implying that someone actually wrote a complete "guide" to the Farwitch Labyrinth? But that's not possible, since nobody has conquered that dungeon before.

Except for that girl.

"You, you said they found this on the 61st floor?"

"Yes. Shine managed to throw it to them before she fell."

"That's pretty admirable, in one way or another. Can I check what's inside?"

"Of course. Actually, that's what I'm here for."

"Hmm?"

I wear my reading glasses and open the book, and I see what he means. It's nothing but jumbled text, and weird random scribbles on where the illustrations are supposed to be. Or at least it would seem to the untrained eye.

"Hey Ela, look, what do you think?"

"——!"

"Cypher Code. And by the looks of it... Cypher 3."

In an instant, a tense atmosphere surrounds me and Ela.

Cypher Code. It's a series of coded writing Erika made up jusbecause she thought the kingdom could read whatever she wrote on capital-made papers. I argued that she'd have an easier time if she just bought papers NOT from the capital rather than make a whole new system of writing, but she rejected it as she wouldn't settle for some "second-rate piece of junk". I never understood her completely.

But she did teach us the Cypher Code. The first ten characters would determine its cypher level, ranging from Cypher 1 (easy to write, easy to read if you memorize some few conversions) to Cypher 5 (takes a lot of time to write, near-impossible to decode unless you're crazy). Ela can read up until Cypher 3, and I until Cypher 4.

... Wait, reading it isn't the problem here. It's the existence of the code itself.

The only people who knew this was Erika, Ela and me. And among those, there's only one who presumably conquered that dungeon.

"This is Erika's book, there's no doubt."

Ela says the words I fear she would.

"Can you read it?"

Swordguy quickly cuts to the chase. I return my glasses to my pocket and give him a complicated look.

"It's Cypher, some code Erika made up because... I don't know, she's scared of paper. And yes, it's possible to read it. Let's see——"

"Then there's no time to waste. Shine is down there, alone in an uncharted floor without any proper provisions. The longer she stays there, the more dangerous that dungeon grow. But with the walkthrough, we can search through every floor in a flash! I just hope we'll make it in time."

He cuts me off.

"Let's go! Go! Go! We'll save Shine!"

Even La? Her usually pathetic face is now filled with bravery and determination. Heh? Is that even possible? It almost fills me with pity. Almost.

But it feels like there's some sort of misunderstanding here. I take a small glance at Ela, and I see she's busy flipping through the book.

"What the hell are you guys talking about? It's going to take about a week to transcribe this whole book. Three days maybe if I start at floor 61."

Silence.

It's like I just doused their energy.

"Three days...?"

Swordguy reacts first.

"Look. I can work without sleeping if you pay enough, but it's hard. The Cypher Code isn't something you can just read instantly you know."

Of course, I'm lying through my teeth here. Cypher 3 is easy to read, disregarding illustrations. It'll take me a day and a half to transcribe both book and drawings without sleeping, but I'm not gonna do that. Swordguy has caused me enough trouble.

"Can't you just... go with us? Please Key, Shine needs your help."

La's getting uppity. I try to stare her down, but she doesn't flinch a bit. She's... kinda scary. But I don't budge.

"Dumb shorty. I don't care enough to risk my life for this one witch girl. And you think trying to decode this super complicated code in a hazardous area will be much faster than doing it here, in the library?"

"Uh..."

"No. Of course not."

"Key, is there any way you can decode that book faster?"

Even swordguy's trying to appeal.

"Look, I know how you're feeling. I know what it's like to lose a friend and be powerless against it. I really do. Even Erika... never mind. Sadly, no matter how much I try — I just can't do the impossible. I'm no hero after all. But I'll do what I can. Even if it's just because shorty's an acquaintance."

I look at swordguy straight to his eyes, my words flowing with sincerity and emotion.

"...Thanks. Thanks for doing this——"

"For a small price of 5000Gs. I'm not doing this for free."

He only wryly smiles at me. He wordlessly places five transparent G coins on my desk... worth 5000Gs each... Jackpot.

"Once again, thanks. You know, I believe that everyone's a hero in their own little way. Even you."

With a pat on my shoulder, swordguy leaves the library like the cool guy he is. Ha. La comes to me and takes my hand. Whoa, there are tears in her eyes.

"Thank you...! You the greatest friend I ever had! I know how sad you were when Erika left... La won't forget this, ever!"

... Crap I'm feeling a bit guilty. Those pure and honest eyes are piercing through my soul. So this is the power of naive girls, huh? Should I actually work hard...? Nah, I already said three days. Too bothersome to change it now.

"Yeah, go already. You're just gonna disturb me if you're here. Go train or something."

"Mm!"

She leaves with skips in her steps.

The library is finally quiet once again. As for my little sunshine, she's been oddly quiet all this time. I wonder what's up. She's just sitting there in front of the book, blankly staring at a particular page. I try to take a peek but she closes it immediately.

"Was there something interesting there?"

"The monsters down there... they're interesting."

A lie. But I don't push further. I'll know it when I read it.

Seeing that it was already sundown, I start to prepare an early dinner. It's been a long day, after all. And I want something filling, since I'll be working on "decoding" Erika's book. I settle on meat stew, cooking it slowly to get the best taste as possible. Once I took a whiff of that meaty aroma, I knew it was perfect.

Dinnertime. We eat our dinner in silence. Ela's a lot more dismissive than usual, especially when I try to ask her how she feels about Erika's book. Normally she'd be all emotional about it. I shrug that small feeling away. It's probably hard for a ten-year old to take everything in.

Hmm.

I send her to bed early. I volunteered to clean up the library for today (which is normally the assistant librarian's job) with the reason that I'll be staying up a bit late anyways. She accepted that so quickly that I'm a bit worried.

I wonder how she feels right now? This day is a disaster for her, that I know. I'll give her some time alone to think.

For the meantime, I clear the mess on my desk, get my magic-crystal-powered lamp for the best illumination, prepare stacks of papers and extra pens, place the worn-out book on the middle, and lastly wear my reading glasses.

Without further ado, I start on decoding the book. I find the page for the 61st floor.

Ahh... this makes me tired. Only 230 pages left. I should've asked for more money.

I go on, and on, and on. Writing page by page, while my eyelids grow heavier and heavier. My head's aching... *Yawn* It's late now...

At this pace, I'll hit the three-day deadline with some time to spare.

I decide to hit the sack for tonight.

The next day, Ela disappears.