“I was just wondering if I can beat the seals that invaded my privacy and not face any punishment,” Lirzod glanced at him, eyes asking for affirmation.

The librarian was startled. “T-That’s probably not a good idea. They are just regular animals, justbeasts, so they do no harm to you. You can think of them as pets waiting for your call to serve you.”

“You think so?” Lirzod slanted the head a bit as his little finger meddled with the ear.

“For sure, I’d not recommend fighting with seals,” the librarian said, standing stiffly.

“Why?” he let out a loud breath. “There’s no rule saying we can’t beat them... or, is there?”

“Looking for trouble, are you?” the librarian’s face no longer was as pleasant as before.

“Just querying. Nothing more.” Lirzod smiled, and his feet swiveled to his right in the direction of the shelves. “Where’s that book?”

“Check the 23rd shelf,” the librarian said, putting a jutting chin on view.

“Spank you very much.” Lirzod proceeded towards the shelves.

The librarian stood confounded for an instant. Did he say thanks or spanks? Shaking his head a little, he looked at the register and saw the name that was written there. “Tarqa Pudota. So that’s your name.”

Lirzod didn’t take long to find the book he was looking for. It was titled Einfalt’s Epics. and he wasted no time in opening it.

The frontispiece had the picture of Surya Chand dressed in a suit, standing under a tree in what seemed like a garden, but one of the low branches kept his face hidden. “Geez, it’s this photo again. I can’t see his face.” He frustratingly turned over the title page and stopped at the dedication page. Only a few words were written on that page.

“Before you honor me, make much of the one who made me,

for he is a writer without equal, not in that he doesn’t rewrite but crafts characters that write their own lives.”

— Einfalt.

Lirzod briefly looked at the page and then flipped it. He flipped a few more pages.

“Here it is.” In its table of contents, he didn’t find the poem he was looking for, but he found a familiar one. “Two alrights make one good. I didn’t think I’d be reading it here on this ship.”

TWO ALRIGHTS MAKE ONE GOOD

Like the glow of the moon

Glows the face of every woman

Like the grace of the moon

Goes above the fashion of every man

Alike in many ways

Be it in grace or in face

The woman and the moon go way back

Like the shine of the sun

Shines the semblance of every man

Like the service of the sun

Outvies the avail of every woman

Alike in many ways

Be it in service or in semblance

The man and the sun go way back

Like the twin celestials of the skies

Must complement the man and the woman

Like the two lights sharing a full day

Must share the glee and the gloom

To make their two alright selves as one good self

And grow rich in the time they stay around

For the man and the woman go just as way back

***

Drift: Man and woman share so many similarities with the sun and the moon. A full day isn’t complete without the sunlight during the day and the moonlight during the night, gracing us in turns. Earth wouldn’t prosper without any of the two. In the same way, the bond between man and woman cannot flourish if they don’t learn to complement each other. The man and the woman are alike in many ways but aren’t the same. They must not try to outclass each other in every aspect. A man must do his work, the one he’s good at, and his woman shall support him. A woman must do her work, the one she’s good at, and her man shall support her, for they are more complete together than alone.

After reading it, Lirzod felt a bit nostalgic. It reminded him of the time when he and Duera used to play games as wife and husband. “I sure miss those days. Maybe, I should play with her again when I get back home.” Nodding to himself, he looked down at the book. “I think I’ll copy this one. But wait, where do I copy this?” His eyes scanned the surroundings, hoping to find a paper and pen but didn’t find any. So, he was on his way back to the librarian, holding the book in his hand.

At that moment, two people entered the library.

“Commander Zentzu,” the librarian hurriedly came over to him and bowed deeply.

“You don’t owe me anything. There’s no need for you to bow so much,” Zentzu said in a gleeful manner. “You tried doing a great thing, and in return, success seemed to have found you.” He looked around. “Looks like you have gathered a decent amount of books.”

“Currently, 4859 books, Commander,” the librarian’s voice unconfined in an ecstatic manner.

“Mm, so close to hitting five thousand, huh…” Zentzu nodded. “You are almost halfway to making this a leather-quill[2] library.”

“Yes. I hope to achieve that feat.”

“I’ll be looking forward to that,” Zentzu said and glanced at the guard, who then stepped ahead. “Did someone named Lirzod enter this place by any chance?” the guard asked in a stern tone.

“Lirzod?” the librarian raised his eyebrows. “Isn’t that the guy who picked a fight with Egg Diggers?”

“Egg diggers?” Zentzu's eyebrows vertically shifted in opposite directions as he looked at the guard. “Why wasn’t I told about this?”

“U-Uh,” the guard’s shoulders tightened, and his heartbeat sped up. “It’s my first time hearing this as well.” His words brought back a cold stare from the commander, and his chin trembled like that of a chicken.

“Hide the Wattle Chin[3],” Zentzu glanced away with displease. “You are disgracing yourself.”

“I’m extremely sorry, sir,” the guard quickly turned back, covering both his mouth and chin.

The librarian pitied the guard. Working under a commander of the deck and yet wasn’t aware of it? He must be sleeping under a rock. “Ahem, I don’t think he came here. But, just to be sure, I will check the register once.”

“P-Please do so,” the guard’s voice was that of a shivering rabbit—soft and delicate. He didn’t dare make eye contact with the commander.

The librarian turned back when he heard a sound coming from behind, and his eyes broadened after seeing someone searching at his desk. “Mr. Tarqa! What are you doing?” His voice wasn’t loud but wasn’t too quiet either.

However, he got no response.

“Where is it?” Lirzod kept checking one table cabinet after another, only to find old and torn books.

“Where is what?” a stressful voice reached Lirzod’s ears, making him stop whatever he was doing.

“Oh, hey,” seeing the librarian, he smiled and said, "What's wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” he placed his hands on his waist. “You looking through the drawers without my permission isn’t wrong at all.”

Lirzod was a bit upset. “I was looking for a blank sheet of paper.” He basically never bothered to take anyone’s permission whenever he visited any of his clan’s two libraries. To add to that, he was under the impression that it was a public place.

“I don’t care what you’re looking for. Get back to your seat or get out.” His voice was as cold as ever.

Lirzod took a couple of steps and somewhat turned back. “But the paper...”

“I don’t have a blank paper in here. The only extra book where one can write is in the register. If you have wanted to write,” he harrumphed, ‘“you should have bought a book before you boarded the ship.” Though he knew that writing books could be bought at book booths, he purposely didn’t say that.

“Hello,” at that time, the guard’s soft voice broke their conversation.

The librarian quickly took the register and also brought two chairs at the same time. “I’m so sorry for keeping you waiting. It’s always a pain in the butt when mannerless people make their way here.”

The commander sat on one chair and put his short legs on the other, and began to stretch his body a bit.

Lirzod heard the librarian’s words. Not mannerless, I’m only faceless, fool. His eyes fell on the register. I should get my hands on that book, but how?

The librarian had observed quite many pages in the register. “I’ve checked the past week’s entries just to be sure, and there’s no one named Lirzod.”

“Let me check again,” the guard took the book in haste.

Lirzod, who was looking at them, ended up freezing at the spot. Did he just say my name? He looked at the other two. Are they talking about me?

Zentzu shifted his pupils toward Lirzod. Both their eyes met. The line made by Lirzod’s lips stretched while maintaining its shape. “What’s your name?”

Zentzu’s question surprised Lirzod, and both the guard and the librarian turned in his direction.

Lirzod watched them with a blank face. His gaze is hostile. Is he another one of that man’s accomplices? Geez, there’s no peace even in the library?

A few seconds of silence passed.

“He’s Tarqa,” the librarian said in a disgruntled inflection.

Lirzod nodded and slowly distanced himself and got out of their view, thanks to the shelves blocking the space between them.

That scar on his face… The guard knitted his brows a bit and bent down before whispering to the commander. “The description matches the one we are looking for.”

“Confirm,” Zentzu said, without even pausing for a moment to think, and the guard nodded and walked toward the shelves, leaving the librarian in gauze.

Ballu was sneakily trying to peek inside the room, trying to understand what was going on. So he didn’t notice the four shadows that lay their eyes on the coin sack he held in his hands.

Lirzod, however, was busy tearing the paper off the book while making sure none of the other nearby readers noticed him. “Ghnhuhmmhuhmm.” A clearing of the throat that came out successfully grabbed their attention. All four people looked at him, and they clearly saw the torn paper in his hand. Lirzod’s body swayed both sides, but he was quick to put up a fake smile. “The paper seemed out of place.” He covered his mouth with that paper and coughed. “Got cold. Needed this one.”

Despite his effort, he couldn’t tell whether they fell for his pedantry or not. In his eyes, his performance contained precision, but in the eyes of others, it contained pretension.

However, the readers didn’t deplore his actions but simply shook their heads before returning their stares back to the books. Lirzod was quick in shoving the paper into his pocket and closed the book. Sorry for tearing a page from your book, Surya. I had to do this to save a woman from an ascetic life. This might get her to grow her hair again. He put it back in its previous spot. Whew, it’s done. He felt relieved. Even though I coughed here, nobody cared. He couldn’t help but remember the libraries back in Helenia where they collected a copper coin as fine for every cough. Just thinking about it made him feel uneasy for some reason.

The guard came into his view and stopped beside him and spoke in a low voice. “We know who you are," he waited for a moment as if waiting to see Lirzod's reaction, but all he received was a blank expression. "Commander Zentzu just wants to talk. He would appreciate it if you don’t complicate things.” The guard’s tone didn’t contain due regard, but it wasn’t scornful either.

Lirzod glanced at him but uttered not a word.

“What does the silence mean?” the guard paced up his speech.

Lirzod appeared puzzled as he fully shifted his head to take a look at the guard. “I’m sorry, did you just say something? My ears are not working well for the past few days. Can you speak loudly?”

The guard studied Lirzod from top to bottom while his fingers scratched the back of his head.

Meanwhile, Zentzu was patting his leg over and over. He had the habit of patting the side of his left thigh whenever his emotions raised to a certain level or more.

“Commander Zentzu wants to talk with you!” the guard’s voice echoed in the room, surprising many. Some of the people got disturbed and took a look at the librarian through the gaps between the shelves, but the librarian could only break eye contact with them and stand right where he was.

A few moments later, Lirzod and the guard came together.

“So, you’re Lirzod,” Zentzu’s voice was somewhat quick but wasn’t craggy.

However, he got no reply.

The guard hurriedly bent closer and said softly, “he has some hearing problem, Commander.”

Zentzu raised his eyebrows and looked at Lirzod. “Mediate. I thought you would have already entered the 11th deck, but here you are—reading books. What brought you to the library?”

The guard immediately repeated whatever Zentzu said in a louder fashion.

“I would have, man,” Lirzod replied in a free and easy manner, his eyes keeping contact with Zentzu, “but I had to take care of Gerugura or whoever it was.”

His words surprised the guard. Who was Geragorn? Most if everyone on the tenth deck feared the guy. He was a pain in the butt to the commander, who couldn’t take action for all the offenses that Geragorn committed, simply because of his strength. Since Geragorn never bothered Zentzu’s dealings, he also turned a blindside to most of Geragorn’s actions.

Everybody thought twice before they discussed things related to Geragorn, let alone bad mouth him in public. Yet, this boy spoke so casually of him as if the matter he dealt with wasn’t a big deal.

The guard looked at the commander as if waiting for his next sentence. Zentzu, however, seemed to be in a daze, his overall visage radiated from the thrill of delight.

Man. The three-letter word took him by a storm. Looking back, he couldn’t even remember a single person referring to him as such. His mind shifted gears and broke into a healthy state. The single word surely galvanized him off the chair and made him infuse his voice with credence as he spoke, “I see. That’s understandable.”

The guard felt stumped to repeat what the commander had said. It wasn’t an abrupt reaction, but it still seemed like the commander stood from his seat on his own accord. Why was he giving such regard for this boy? Did he, by any chance, fear the boy? No, it didn’t make sense. He never saw the commander fear anybody for their brute strength. If so, was he trying to get the boy on his good side? As thoughts flooded the guard’s mind, the librarian came forward.

“Wait, if you’re Lirzod, then who’s this?” the librarian spoke aloud as he pointed at an entry in the register.

“Mm,” Lirzod nodded as he glanced at the register, “that’s Tarqa.” Saying that he looked back at the commander.

“Huh? What the hell do you mean?” the librarian stepped onward, vociferating, “you think you can write the name of whoever you want in here?”

Zentzu lifted his hand a bit and gestured the librarian to stop before pointing his thumb at the “Keep Silence” board hanging to the wall. The librarian squeezed his mouth shut in transience.

“Commander Zentzu,” the librarian’s voice came back to a normal level. “He's been misbehaving a lot since he entered the library. He crossed the limits by recording a fraudulent name in the register. Since you are here, you must punish him appurtenant to his actions.”

Zentzu viewed at Lirzod, who portrayed a pococurante face, causing him to ruminate. He must have not heard him. What should I do?

..............................................................

[1] Two alrights make one good: A poem of the West that’s gotten ever so popular in the East. It’s written by Surya Chand aka Einfalt, the latter being his pen name.

[2] Leather-quill: It’s a rating given to libraries all over the world to accredit them. Leather-quill library is the lowest-rated among the authorized libraries, with a licensed book count of over ten thousand, and an average rating of over four of the top ten percent of the highest-rated books.

[2] Wattle Chin: A chin that trembles that like the wattle of a chicken is called as such. Typically, the people who cower in fear and expose trembling chins are referred this way.