- (Anna’s POV) –

I just left the coliseum and I’m currently walking in the street toward the castle.

After about half an hour, I finally arrive in front of the castle. I could easily sneak inside, but I’m going to use the main entrance to go in the Royal Library. I can see some knights guarding the entrance, so I go to them.

“Stop! Please state your purpose in the castle.” (knight)

“I want to go in the Royal Library.” (Anna)

“Ohh! Is your name perhaps Anna?” (knight)

“Yes.” (Anna)

Suddenly, the knight starts to tremble, and he bows his head.

“I’m sorry for my rudeness! Please follow me!” (knight)

Wow… His behavior changed completely once he heard my name… What did they tell him about me?!

I follow him as we enter the castle. We stop in front of a door, and the knight opens it. The room is huge, there are a lot of shelves full of books and there are even 2 floors. There is only a single old man in the room, sitting in front of a desk. The knight turns toward me and says:

“You can do whatever you want here. If you need something, you can ask this old man.” (knight)

The old man reacts when we talk about him, but he doesn’t even look at us and says:

“Just don’t break anything.” (old man)

Uhh, this old man is quite direct.

The knight leaves me, and I walk in the library while looking at the books. The books are quite well classed, it’s a theme classification. There is a shelve for history, one for magic, one for cooking, etc. There are at least 40 shelves with a different theme!

I take one book about history but it’s only a small book for kids, I don’t need to know everything, I only need to know the major events. I also take a few books about magic that seems interesting, I also found a book explaining the different races. I take a book about geography aswell. I think it will be enough for today.

I sit down on a sofa and start to read. A few minutes later, a maid suddenly enters the library and gives me a cup of tea. Wow! I feel like a VIP!~

************

A few hours later, I finally finished to read all the books that I took. Well, I didn’t read everything but only the most interesting pages. I look through the window, and I can see that the sun is already about to set. However, I don’t see the old man anymore, when did he leave? I was too concentrated on my books…

I wonder what this old man was doing on his desk. I walk toward his desk and look at what is written. There are 2 parchment with 2 different language on it. The first parchment has the local language, the same language as the books. However, the second parchment has something written in a language that I never saw, but I can still understand it somehow… I guess it’s the effect of the ‘language cheat’ that I got from God.

From what I can see, the old man was translating this unknow language into the local language because the parchment with local language only has a few sentences written on it while the other one is full.

I guess there is nothing to lose to help him a little bit, right? The responsible of the Royal Library can’t be a random person. It’s always good to have a friendly relationship with someone important!~

I look at what he wrote, and I can see some mistakes here and there, so I correct them. Then, I translate the whole parchment. It only takes a few minutes because I can write way faster than I could on Earth thanks to this body, and also because the language comprehension is very good.

Once I’m done translating, I leave the library. I walk in the corridor while thinking about what I have read in the books. In the history book, there was many stories about heroes, demons, dragons, and other mythical figures; but everything happened several century ago. I also found the story about the demon sealed in the dagger.

In the geography book, I found out that the world is a single continent with 19 kingdoms or empires on it. However, it wouldn’t surprise me if there are other continents on this planet that are not discovered yet. They also know that the planet is round but those that tried to prove the theory by crossing the ocean never came back. It was not written, but I personally think that there are 3 possible reasons: the ships are not good enough to survive a tempest, there are dangerous monsters in the ocean, or they discovered another continent and decided to live on it. They also don’t know the size of the planet; they only know that it’s round. I actually know a way to calculate the size of a planet so I will try to calculate it later if I have the time!~ Well, there are about 5% of uncertainty but it’s still a very good result!

In the book presenting the races, I found out that all races live separately. There are only humans, elves, and dwarfs. The elves life in several forests and the dwarfs live in the mountains. There is also the demon race, but they don’t have a country or something, we don’t know if they are extinct or if there are some of them hiding somewhere. Unfortunately, I found nothing about beastman… I might have to give up my dream to pat a nekogirl… But I still have some hope because they might live on another continent! There are also some mythical races like the fairies or the spirits, but we don’t know if they really exist.

And finally, the books about magic! I found a lot of spell, but I didn’t find anything that I can’t already do with my mana. However, I don’t know who wrote the book; if it’s only an average mage, he might not know everything.

Apparently, only very strong mages can use magic without chanting, but they still need a catalyst. To become stronger, there are several ways. First, they need to use the spell a lot of time, so the body become more familiar with the spell, thus it’s more effective. Then, they need to augment their amount of mana by absorbing the mana in the air, but they don’t need to do anything because the heart automatically absorbs the mana from the air, but the process is extremely slow. Apparently, they discovered that the mana is denser when a monster dies so the absorption is more effective, but not everyone knows about it. In my case, the absorption is not automatic, but I absorb it consciously by forcing the mana to enter my heart.

Like I said before, I don’t know who wrote the books, so this person might not know everything. Maybe there are some powerful mage who can control their mana, but they keep it a secret.

I keep walking on the corridor, then suddenly I can feel someone coming from behind me. I look behind me, and I can see Stella, the youngest Princess, running toward me with a maid trying to catch her.

“Wait!” (Stella)

“Oh! Hello Stella! How are you?” (Anna)

“Why…?” (Stella)

“Sorry?” (Anna)

“Why did you come to the castle without visiting me?!” (Stella)

OOPS! I totally forgot!

“I’m sorry… How can I repay you?” (Anna)

“Y-You have to come in my room and let me sit on your lap!” (Stella)

Ehh?! For me, it isn’t a punishment but a reward!~

“Alright…” (Anna)

She starts to run while holding my hand, so I follow her. I look at the maid, and she heaves a big sigh. It must not be easy to take care of this princess everyday… We finally arrive in a room where everything is pink, it looks like a princess’s room! Well, it’s ACTUALLY a princess’s room…~

She brings me to her bed and order me to sit. Then, she jumps on my lap and bury her head in my breast… I circulate some of my mana and bring it to her body because she said that she liked the sensation.

“Oh! It’s warm again!” (Stella)

She buries her face deeper and deeper while I pat her head. Ahh… So cute!~

***********

- (Carlos’s POV) –

My name is Carlos, I’m 66, and I’m the responsible of the Royal Library. I was delivering some document to a colleague but I’m finally back in the Library. I guess I will translate this parchment written in the ancient language for a few hours before I go to bed…

I look around and I can’t see this red-haired girl anymore, she probably left. I wonder who she is though, not everyone receive the permission from the King himself to stay in the Royal Library.

I walk toward my desk and sit on the chair. Let’s start to translate!

I look the parchment, but I think there is something different… Wait… WHAT?! How…? HOW IS EVERYTHING ALREADY TRANSLATED?!

I read everything to check if it’s correctly done, but I can’t find any mistake… Somehow, the one who did it even fixed my own mistakes!!

It’s impossible! I only left for about half an hour!! Moreover, this is not ANY language, this is the ANCIENT language! I studied this language for 50 years, but I can only understand about half of it! I’m supposed to be the best when it comes to the ancient language in the whole country… But I still need half an hour to translate a single sentence because I need to imagine what the writer wanted to say since I don’t understand every word…

Who in the world could do it?! Is it the raid-haired girl from before? Impossible! How could a 16-year-old girl understand the ancient language? But… what if? There is no other explication…

I really need to find this girl and ask her! If she is the one who did it, I absolutely need to recruit her as an assistant! With someone who can translate the ancient language so fast, our research would be way faster, and we could discover some secrets from ancient times!

However, I have to be careful. She is an important guest of the King so I can’t offend her… I should have been nicer to her while she was here… I hope she comes back one day!

************

- (Anna’s POV) –

It has been about half an hour since Stella sat on my lap, and I have been channeling my mana in her body during all this time. I look at her, but she doesn’t move… I look at her face and I notice that her eyes are closed. Wait, don’t tell me she fell asleep?!

I lift her body and make her lie on her bed. Then I stand up and whisper to the maid:

“She is sleeping. I’m going to let you take care of her.” (Anna)

“Alright! Leave her to me!” (maid)

Then, I leave the castle and go back home.

***************

It’s morning of the next day and I’m currently in the kitchen of my shop. I bought a lot of ingredients earlier and I’m planning to make a cake! I’m friend with a lot of younger girl so I think it’s a good idea to give them a cake as a present.

By the way, in this world, they usually eat fruits for a dessert. I never found any cake anywhere, so I guess it doesn’t exist here… But I’m here to invent it! I lived alone in my past life, so I learnt how to cook and prepare my own dessert. I’m not really sure if the people in this world are used to eat sugar, so I’m a bit worried. That’s why it’s better to let my friend taste it before I sell it. Yes, I plan to eventually open a food related shop; I don’t know yet if it will be a restaurant or only a shop. Whatever, I will think about it again once the festival is over, I’m too busy this week.

It has been 2 hours since I started, and I already made 3 cakes; but I still need to bake them, so I put them in the furnace. While the cakes are in the furnace, I can hear some scream downstairs in the shop. What’s going on again?

I go downstairs and look at the situation. Oh, there is someone familiar! It’s Charlotte, the baron’s daughter who is dating the crown prince! She is standing in front of a girl who is on the ground. I try to listen what they are saying.

“How dare you run into me? I nearly fell because of you!” (Charlotte)

“I-I’m sorry! I swear, I didn’t do it on purpose!” (customer)

“Do you think an apology is enough? You have to pay me 10 gold coins for mental damage!” (Charlotte)

“I-I don’t have that much money!” (customer)

“I don’t care! You can sell your house then!” (Charlotte)

Wow… Just wow… I didn’t know that she was like this… Everyone is looking at the situation, but no one dare to say anything because she is a noble. Her personality is VERY different when the crown prince is not here.

Oh! I have a funny idea! Let’s see her reaction!

“Oh! The crown prince is here!” (Anna)

Once she hears my voice, she instantly back off and make sure that her hairs are correctly combed. Then she smiles and turns toward the door. However, she doesn’t see the crown prince and her expression darken again. Hahaha! This reaction is the best!

Suddenly, she turns toward me.

“You! How dare you lying!” (Charlotte)

“Hahaha, it was so funny!” (Anna)

“You! Do you know who I am?” (Charlotte)

“Of course I know! You are the bitch who seduced the crown prince.” (Anna)

All the customers and employees in the room are shocked after my words.

“H-How dare you! Who do you think you are?!” (Charlotte)

“Let me send you back your question. Who do YOU think YOU are?” (Anna)

“I’m a noble while you are commoner, so you are supposed to prostrate in front of me!” (Charlotte)

“Hoho, and what will you do if I refuse? Do you think I’m afraid?” (Anna)

The customers are all giving me a look of pity.

“I see. Let me show you what I can do with my authority.” (Charlotte)

Oh! I’m curious what she will do! She turns toward the employees and says:

“Bring the shop owner and tell him to put this stupid girl in your blacklist!” (Charlotte)

HAHAHA! Out of all the things she could do, she decided to do THAT! She keeps looking at my employees, but they don’t move.

“How dare you ignore my order? Immediately call the shop owner!” (Charlotte)

“Ah, shut up already.” (Anna)

I raise my hand and slap her cheek. I didn’t put any strength in this slap, but it looks like it’s still enough to make her fall on the ground. Once she is on the ground, she looks up at me with her injured right cheek. By the way, an injured face is a BIG deal for a noble girl. Well, she can easily heal it with my potion, but that’s only if she CAN buy it.

Everyone is looking at me with wide opened eyes, and Charlotte is looking at me with an angry face:

“H-How dare you slap me?! Even my father never dared to do it!” (Charlotte)

I ignore her and say:

“So, if I understand correctly, you ordered MY employees to put ME on the blacklist of MY shop?!” (Anna)

Her angry glare become a glare of surprise.

“Y-You?! You are the shop owner?! How is it even possible?!” (Charlotte)

What? What’s so surprising about it?

I turn toward my employees and say:

“Please add this girl and her family to the blacklist.” (Anna)

‘“Yes boss!”’ (employees)

Ok, one thing is done. I grab Charlotte by her clothes and lift her, then I walk toward the door. She resists but she can’t do anything, so she gives up, then she opens her mouth.

“Stop! My mother won’t be happy if she can’t get her soap!” (Charlotte)

“I don’t care. You will tell her that it’s your fault.” (Anna)

I didn’t think about it, but if her mother like the soap and her father need the potions for his knights, then she might even get beaten by them when they will hear what she did. Well, they might send a servant to buy it, but I can’t do anything about it. It’s more money for me though.

I open the door and throw her body outside, in the middle of the street. While I close the door, I can hear her shouting:

“You will pay for that!” (Charlotte)

Yeah, try to make me pay. I didn’t cause more damage than that because it wouldn’t be fair; but if she tries something funny, I will make her regret being born!

I’m not really worried about myself because I can fight, and I have the king’s support. All of my friends are able to defend themselves (with their knights), so I’m not worried about them aswell. However, my shop is still vulnerable, so I need to take some precaution.

Well, let’s deal with the customers first. I look at the customers and say:

“I’m sorry for the commotion!” (Anna)

Then, I walk toward the girl who was threatened by Charlotte.

“I’m sorry for what happened! You can have a free product of your choice as a compensation.” (Anna)

“Ah! Thank you! Thank you for helping me aswell!” (customer)

“Don’t worry, it’s our job to chase away the troublemakers.” (Anna)

After that, I go upstairs, then I summon Shiro. It has been a long time since I summoned her.

“Shiro, stay here for the next few days to guard the shop. If someone try something, don’t act alone but send me a signal. I will come immediately.” (Anna)

“*woof*” (Shiro)

By the way, we can send a signal to each other from afar because she is my familiar. I think it’s not a good idea if Shiro attack someone to defend the shop, some customers might be afraid of her and run away. It’s better if I come by myself to deal with it; I can teleport after all.

Ok! Let’s see if the cakes are baked!