Inside the house, I was honestly surprised at the huge number of books and papers were lining the hallway in precariously-placed piles. There was only a slim walkway between these piles, which were taller than my head. The familiar smell of book dust and leather bindings was everywhere.

Even though nearly everything was digitized, nowadays, it was also good to experience the joys of reading a physical copy. I recalled the summers I spent holed up in my maternal grandparents’ personal library, reading through old novels. How nostalgic~.

The hallway opened into a rather large room, also piled with books. To the side, four bookcases stood, crammed full of them. He needs more bookcases. I thought to myself.

“Oy, Big Kuma! Did you die from being buried in another pile of books? Or perhaps I should come back after you’ve developed the nerve to clean up this place.” Ryuu said aloud.

“Nonsense! Each book is carefully organized according to its subject! Moving them is tantamount to loosing months, if not years of hard work!” A rather weak voice replied form the bookcases.

But, when I looked at who came out, I understood why this man’s son is named ‘Little Kuma’. Because the mayor is HUGE!!! No, I’m not saying that he’s fat, but he’s large to the point where true bears would be dwarfed by him. Like a giant, except with a more reasonable size…I mean, at least he was able to fit into the building, right?

So that was the reason why the doors were so large. I thought it was simply because it was the mayor’s house. While, in reality, it is because of what the mayor is. I think normal doors will be quite tricky…But how does he get through this maze of towering books?

“I see that even you have acquired a charge. Is training a hero-in-training the newest fashion, now? I never could quite keep up with that.” He ducked under an arch made out of books, and maneuvered his way towards his desk. Upon close inspection, it seems to be made out of books.

Come to think of it…I looked closer at the bookcases. It seems that…even the bookcases are made of books?

“I take it that you’re here to register her?” The Mayor asked, dipping a quill pen into an ink bottle with a practiced flourish as he placed a small pair of spectacles upon his nose.

Ryuu nodded. “Correct. I’ve heard you’ve had quite the number of visitors these past few days, eh?”

The mayor chuckled ill-humoredly. “You have no idea. I can’t even count the number of people that have bumbled in here that I’ve had to register. My hand still aches even now. But, might as well get this over with. Can you write, child?”

He asked me with a wearied expression on his face.

After a moment’s consideration, I nodded.

“Good. Then here, fill this in yourself and I’ll sign at the end for you.” He handed me a document sheet that looked an awful lot like the ones that sat in boxes in the far corner.

I glanced over it. It seemed simple enough, asking for my name and age and telling me to check the box that said that I am registered under Tanpopo Village. Tanpopo? Come to think of it, there really were an awful lot of dandelions around, weren’t there?

Well, having no problems, I wrote “Jade, 14” and checked the box before handing it back to the mayor. After briefly glancing it over, he swiftly signed his name to it with a quick flourishing script, and attached his seal to it, before placing it on top of a stack of papers on the left side of his desk.

A blue window popped up.

You have registered with Tanpopo town. Congratulations, you are now considered a legal citizen. Don’t do anything stupid.

Ouch. Harsh!

“Congratulations, and welcome to Tanpopo town!” The mayor said in greeting, as he put down his quill pen. “If you will go see Mrs. Pearl, she’ll start you off with teaching you one of the basic things you need to learn. Take this token and tell her that I sent you, and she’ll know what I mean.”

He flicked a shiny metal coin at me, which I caught before it could hit me in the nose. Examining it, I found an image of a bundle of dandelions was embossed upon the token.

“Now I must return to my book sorting. Some bumbling idiots came in here and knocked over several stacks of books before I drove them out earlier, so I have literally weeks of work to do. Don’t knock over any books on the way out.” The mayor said in warning as he returned to behind the bookcase.

“As you wish, we will no longer take up any more of your valuable time.” Ryuu replied, politely, as he turned around and made his way back through the piles of books. I followed behind, avoiding the tilting stacks of books.

Outside beyond the gates, Ryuu asked me a question. “Pop Quiz! Apart from being the Mayor, Mr. Kuma also has a second occupation. Can you tell me what it is?”

I glanced over at him, with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t believe you ever mentioned it?”

He slyly smiled and shrugged. “You’re not that dull. Even a baby could guess right away. I will not give any hints.”

I sighed and thought about it for a bit. “Is he a magician?” I asked.

“What makes you say that?” Ryuu queried.

“Well, he is very protective of his books, so his class must be related to intelligence-based jobs. He values any and all sorts of knowledge, as can be seen from the titles of the books he has, and his hand glowed a bit when he was signing and placing his seal upon the registration paper.

He can’t be a regular scholar or a thief, because those kinds of persons are not usually given public office, so he must have had some victory on the battlefield or some sort of grand achievement to prove his worth in order to be elected mayor. So, I thought a magician was the one class which fit all of the criteria…was I correct?” I asked. I admit it. I am a fan of Sherlock Holmes. I am a fan of the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle version, though-not the tv series.

Come to think of it, I could have just used my [appraisal] skill, right? Ah, but since he’s a magician, he’d probably quickly catch onto me.

Ryuu’s eyes narrowed a bit, turning upward as he smirked. “Not telling.”

…Can I brain this AID? PLEASE!?

“Come. This king will lead you to Mrs. Pearl’s residence. Do not fall behind.” He said, while starting out at a brisk pace. While I would have liked nothing more than to be able to match his pace, I soon found myself falling behind as his longer legs took him farther afield.

That’s when it happened.

“LOOK OUT!”

“MY CABBAGES!!”

“GET OUT OF THE WAY!”

Various screams and shouts drew my attention, and I looked to my left, only to see a fast approaching giant wooden cart, the size of a trailer, filled with round green cabbages barreling towards me. I had only a small instant to recognize it before I was slammed into the wall behind me.

IT WAS PAINFUL. Pinned between the Cart and the Wall, it was only a moment later that the pain and everything disappeared as I was shrouded in darkness, and a luminous blue window popped up in front of me.

You have died. Due to the unique nature of your death during tutorial mode, the immortals above have decided to grant you a random skill which will be decided upon your next login. For now, you will be forcefully logged out for 24 hours in game time. Real time left until login is allowed: 2:59:59

So I have to wait for three hours real time before I can log back in? I sighed as I glanced at the clock. It was already past midnight. I set my alarm for five hours from now and turned over in bed. I would continue tomorrow, since it was the start of spring vacation.

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On the internet, videos of my strange death began trickling into several yout*be gamer channels.

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“…Milady, you died too quickly…” A frowning Ryuu sighed as he watched the body known as Jade dissolve into sparks, which scattered and disappeared into the air.