Lescatie Library

Unfortunately, Astramille was going to be trapped in this world for longer. It really pissed him off. Astramille wanted nothing more than going back to his world or waking up from this crazy nightmare, whichever one it was. But it seems that Princess Aeris is hell bent on keeping him here until he brings her the papers or destroys them.

"Damn it," Astramille cursed as he tugged at his hair, "what did I ever do to get into this situation? I got groped by a werewolf, had my face ripped open by a dragon and am currently living in a world with no modern medicine."

He paused as the realisation hit him, "Speaking of which, is my face getting infected?"

"For the love of the Chief God," Primera exclaimed as she passed outside the door, "Are you ever going to stop complaining? A little infection isn't going to kill you."

Astramille sighed and looked at his pile of books, "You know what? Since Sasha said we are done with chores for now, I intend to study for my examinations. Criminal Law in Context test will be in less than two weeks and Police and Society will be in eleven days."

"You could go to the Lescatie Library," Sasha suggested, "that place is nice and quiet."

"Yes," Primera said entering the room, "then maybe this place will be nice and quiet too. Actually, you know what? I will lead you there myself."

"Oh," Sasha looked surprised, "how kind of you."

Astramille picked up two text books and followed Primera out of the room.

Primera led Astramille though the streets of the Lescatie slums.

"So," Astramille tried to make conversation, "how is it in Lescatie?"

"Hmph," Primera snorted, "it was just as everything you said to Sasha."

Of course, Astramille mentally facepalmed, Sasha would have told her everything. I must really watch my mouth from now on. The last thing I want is to get executed or something.

"Well?" asked Primera, "How about your world? How is it there?"

"It is a massive place," Astramille replied, "thus it is extremely diverse. Some regions are poorer than the slummiest regions of Lescatie while others are so rich that…well…it is hard to explain to someone who hasn't seen it."

"And you?" asked Primera, "How were your conditions?"

"Average for my age group in my region," Astramille said, "I currently have to pay rent to live in my place of residence. I work inside a shop and study at a university. Criminology and Criminal Justice."

"Care to explain?" asked Primera.

Astramille smiled, proudly, "A Bachelors degree in Criminology will let me work within the criminal justice system, which is tasked with protecting the rights of the people and punishing wrongdoers by upholding the law."

"I don't understand what you mean," Primera chuckled, "bachelor's degree. Sounds like a marker for loserdom."

"Being granted a bachelor's degree means that I have studied for at least three years in a very specific field," Astramille cut in sharply, "after finishing twelve years of education in more general subjects. Should I want to continue, I can get a master's degree or a PhD by studying more."

"Hmph," Primera retorted, "so you're a scholarly type, right? You won't be much use around here."

"Only because it is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong," Astramille grinned like a Cheshire Cat, "as said by François-Marie Arouet, also known as Voltaire."

Primera clenched her teeth as she spun around, "You are a really smug person, you know? And it is grinding on my nerves."

Astramille stopped and looked at her, "I fail to understand. I have barely spoken to you. Why do you think of me in this way?"

"No reason, really," Primera said, "perhaps it is because you have no soul. Perhaps it is because you ramble on about things that nobody knows. But you give off an aura that is very unsettling. You look and behave in a human way, but you are not a human. Or a monster. You are an enigma, one that makes me feel creeped out."

"So it is the uncanny valley effect" Astramille frowned, "understandable, but you are still discriminating against me for something I cannot change. Well, I won't bother trying. Just take me to the library."

The duo reached the front of the Lescatie Library. Astramille looked up at the structure. It resembled a gothic cathedral, with its pointed roofs and stain glass windows. Astramille couldn't see the exact details. The library sat at the top of a flight of stairs.

"Here," Primera huffed, "the Lescatie Library."

"Thank you, Primera," Astramille said politely, which was so out of character that Primera seemed surprised, "I will return when it gets dark."

"Huh," the half-elf raised an eyebrow, "it seems there are other sides to your personality."

"Well," Astramille said, "I am not a two dimensional character."

"What?"

"Nothing."

Astramille quickly hurried up the stairs and disappeared into the library, leaving Primera confused.

And suspicious.

Astramille walks through the open doors of the library and enters the structure. Compared to the other buildings in the upper class district, the library looked older. It was as if all money meant for infrastructure went to building those beautiful yet useless churches. Astramille sighed. It reminded him of those corrupt regimes that starved their own people just for a bit of shiny stuff. Was it really worth it? Especially when those regimes usually met their demise at the hands of those they oppressed.

Regardless, he entered the building, walking past the doors and into the building. Astramille looked around. Despite the unimpressive exterior, the roomy interior held row after row of bookshelfs. A few tables are laid out neatly. Various people walked around or sat at the tables. Astramille looked around before finding a table. Walking over to it and sitting down, Astramille puts one of his textbooks on the table while opening the other one. It didn't take long for him to get tunnel vision and lose track of everything around him.

SPACE

A young woman walked through the library, pushing a cart that contained many books. She wore a short white skirt secured by a belt, which has a buckle with the Lescatie crest. The belt support pouches that carried writing implements. A tight white blouse made her curves obvious, though her looser jacket somewhat countered the effect. The woman herself has long hair that is a light pink, tied up in a low ponytail. Her aqua eyes looked over the books before returning them to their places on the shelves.

She is Stella, one of the librarians of the Lescatie Library. Librarians were tasked with maintaining the archives of Lescatie that contained all knowledge that was at the disposal of the nation.

As she prepared to enter the next aisle, she stopped dead. A human sat at a table in front of her. The word human is used loosely, because while the...thing looked like a human, it certainly did not give off the aura of one. Not a single whiff of spiritual energy could be detected, indicating that the...humanoid creature, did not have a soul.

Stella stepped out from behind her cart and walked over to him. Librarians were not trained for combat, but Stella has more than a few tricks up her sleeve, just in case anyone tried something funny.

Just then the man looked up and made eye contact.

Astramille was intending to stretch himself. He had no idea how long he has been here, but he was feeling fatigue creep up his legs. Sitting for long periods of time was never comfortable for him. That's when he looked up and saw a young woman in front of her. Like quite a few others in this world, she had bright pink hair and light blue eyes. Astramille still can't wrap his head around how people could get technicolour hair. Of course, having weird hair is pretty mundane in a world with fucking monsters, magic and gods.

"Umm," Astramille said, "hello there, madam. Is there something you want from me?"

"Oh," the librarian seemed surprised before mumbling a reply, "no, not really. I have just never seen you before. Who are you?"

"I am Astramille," Astramille replied, "I arrived in Lescatie a few days ago. This is the first time I came to this library."

"You?" her eyes widened, "you're THE Astramille?"

The man raised an eyebrow, "Yes. Is something wrong?"

"Well," the librarian calmed down, "you went against the word of the Order and the monarchy, yet you are still alive."

"Barely," Astramille grinned, "though I have decided to keep my mouth shut. Better safe than sorry. By the way, you haven't told me your name."

"Oh," the librarian blushed, "forgive my rudeness. My name is Stella. I am one of the librarians of the Lescatie Library."

She saw the books Astramille were reading, "Can I see your books?"

Astramille nodded and handed her the books. Stella flipped through the pages quickly, evidently not looking closely at the words and pictures.

"Fascinating," she said, "what kind of parchment is this?"

"Oh," Astramille replied, "uh, that isn't parchment. This is paper."

Stella's eyes went wide, "Really? You must be a foreigner, because the paper of Lescatie is of lower quality. Only parchment can be this good."

"Well," the man smiled, "I am not from around here, that is for sure."

Astramille paused for a bit before taking out the brass watch.

"By the way, Stella," he said, "can you tell me more about these clocks and where they are made?"

"Ooh," Stella's eyes lit up, "a brass pocket watch. These things are expensive in Lescatie."

"I didn't buy it," Astramille smiled, "Sasha gave it to me."

"Really?" Stella said, "I thought Sasha barely made enough money to look after all those kids in her orphanage."

"Recently," Astramille replied, "she kicked out a dragon from the Asacreta Mountains and took all of her stuff. There was so much treasure. As thanks for my support, she gave me this watch and a sword. Anyway, can you tell me where these are made?"

Stella took the watch from Astramille and opened it skilfully.

"Hmm," she said, "mechanical pocket watch, spring driven. Lots of intricate parts. Certainly made by a master craftsman."

"Can you explain?" Astramille asked.

Stella smiled, "Every craftsman needs to start off as an apprentice, where they acquire a license to practice in a regulated profession. This can be carpentry, metalworking or whatever. After they acquire the license, they become a journeyman, where they travel for years, acquiring experience in different places and learning different techniques. After that, they can settle in a guild for a few years before presenting a masterpiece. If it is accepted, they can then go off an open their own guilds."

Astramille stayed silent as he contemplated all of this.

"Well then," he said, after digesting what he heard, "would it be possible for me to find the ones who made this one?"

Stella looked over the clock before shaking her head, "I am sorry, but I cannot tell. What I can tell you is that the chances are, people who make such high quality watches are rare. These things are expensive, largely used by the church, the government and the military. The average commoner cannot afford one."

She then asked, "Why are you so interested?"

"Because," Astramille grinned, "I believe the techniques that are used in the construction of clocks can be used to build devastating gunpowder weapons that can wipe out entire armies of monsters."

He stands up, "Now then, what kind of writing implements do you have? I hope you are not limited to quills."

"Of course not," Stella laughed, "we also have many brushes which are mainly used for art, but can be used to write. We also have styli, which leave dark lines in paper that can erased."

Astramille paused. Styli is the plural form of stylus, those pointy sticks used on interactive boards and graphic pads. But there is no way that this world could have that kind of sophisticated digital technology. Then and again, with all kinds of magic, who knew what kind of wacky technology these people could come up with.

"Can you show me?" Astramille asked.

Stella smiled and led Astramille away from his table towards the back of the library. The young lady pushed open a door to what appeared to be a storeroom. Inside are rows of shelves tables. Astramille looked around. Upon the shelves sat boxes of various writing implements, containers of ink and stacks of paper. On the tables are tools for writing and binding books.

Stella walks over to one shelf and takes out a long thing object before presenting it to Astramille.

"This is a pencil," Astramille said incredulously as he takes it, "not something I expect in Lescatie. What next, steam power?"

Stella tilted her head, "Well, not here, but if you go East to the Sax-Jutons, they have ships that are powered by paddles. The paddles are driven by what the Sax-Jutons call 'steam power'. To the north of the Gaulberian kingdoms lie the Gothian kingdoms and they too use steam."

Holy shit, Astramille thought to himself, okay, this was unexpected. For starters, I saw no sign of technology in Lescatie. Hell, I didn't see a single musket troop or cannon. Nothing here suggested that technology was anywhere beyond the medieval level. Now we're talking about steam? Either the Gothians and Sax-Jutons are incredibly advanced or that Lescatie is incredibly backward.

"Ahem," Astramille cleared his throat before continuing, "that was unexpected but moving on. Can you tell me about the Sax-Juton kingdoms? Better still, can you give me a lecture with a map?"

"Really?" Stella's eyes practically lit up, "You are asking for a lecture? Most people aren't interested in learning about things that do not affect their daily lives! It isn't often that I get to talk to people for extended periods of time."

"Ah, yeah," Astramille nodded and gave a fake smile, "um. Okay. Then let us begin."

I hope this won't take too long. This girl is kind of...eccentric. The last thing I want is a person from this world stalking me all the way back to Earth. That will be really bad. It would be WORSE if that happened after she turned into a monster.

By the time Astramille returned to the orphanage, the sun was beginning to set.

Damn, he thought, Stella sure can talk.

Stella certainly gave an interesting (though long) talk about the world. She even used a map to help Astramille study. It is only a map of the order continent. The Galberian kingdoms, similar to the French on Earth, is where he currently is. The difference is that while the kingdoms share a similar language and culture, they are not a part of a single sovereign nation like modern day France. This would be similar to Earth's own history, reflective of the times before kingdoms joined to form nations. To the east of the Galberians lie the Sax-Juton Kingdoms and to the north the Gothian Kingdoms, not dissimilar to the English and Germans. It is a real pity that he won't be around for long enough to explore, because Astramille is plotting to get back to Earth.

And he might just have the way.

"Well, well," Sasha said, "you sure took your time. That means no dinner."

"Heh," Astramille chuckled as he put his two textbooks into the pile, "that's okay."

"You seem to be in a good mood," Primera said, almost suspiciously, "what's up with you?"

"Oh, nothing," Astramille smiled, "I've just thought of a few ways I can get home. I don't know why Princess Aeris is so intent on keeping me here, but she won't have what it takes to."

Sasha and Primera looked confused. Astramille has no magical powers and has zero connections in this world. How can perform dimension crossing magic? Aeris said that he is to be kept here until the papers are found, so anyone who helps him will incur the third princess's wrath. Nobody know what it like, for nobody experienced it and lived to tell the tale.

Yet Astramille is an enigma as well. Raised in a completely alien civilisation. Judging by the huge stash of books, he is evidently literate and well educated. The way he almost instantly recognised there were feelings between Elt and several heroes indicated that is very perceptive even without mind reading magic. Sasha knew this even better, when Astramille predicted that the Priests will try to take the money she confiscated from Mary. So it wouldn't surprise her if Astramille pulled out a plan out of the mass of insanity that is his mind and gets back to his world.

Sorry, buttson117, Astramille doesn't always talk like that. It really depends on where he is and when he is at the place. For example, he wouldn't talk like that in the library with Stella. But I do like how you described him as having an endless supply of insanity. Mind if I use it?