Hey guys, Crescent Rider here and I am back with the first part of the 7th chapter. But before that, I would like to share something with everyone.
The planned story that I mentioned last time. I posted it and it's called 'Tales of Lost Souls'. If you wish to read it, you may find it on my profile page.
That is all I have to say and as always, enjoy the chapter.
City - A
Nadia was seen in the public library where she usually tends to sit throughout her visit to the library.
Just now, she had finished reading her 20th book and goes to read another book from a stack of books on her right side.
But as she kept reading, she hears a couple of books falling and went to investigate. Apparently, the librarian had dropped a couple of books despite Nadia's magic lightening the weight and took notice of her pale complexion.
"Hey, are you alright?" Nadia asked as she tended to her,
"I-I'm fine," The librarian assured, then stands right up after regaining her balance, "I'm just tired, that's all,"
Nadia then proceeded to grab the fallen books from the floor and places them by the counter. But as she places the last book, a voice spoke from her mind, "S-She's not alright,"
"Huh?" Nadia muttered,
"T-The old lady," A Timid voice said,
Nadia glances at the librarian and used magic to thoroughly examine the librarian's physical condition. After some time, she noticed a particular spot in the librarian's body. Something that constricts her condition...
'What is that...' Nadia muttered, 'Could it be...'
Before she could assume what it is, she snaps out of this and shook her head a couple of times to put her thought aside, 'No, no, no, no. Let's not jump to conclusions just yet... I need to console with a professional first, then I'll determine my next course of action. But I can't just tell her that...'
"Oh my, It seems I'm not as young as I used to be," The librarian said as she returned to the counter,
"What do you mean by that?" Nadia questioned,
"Well, looking after this place has put a lot of pressure for thirty-six years. It's only natural that I feel weak as the time comes to pass," The librarian said,
"I see..." Nadia understood, "Then how about you take a day off?"
"I would, but I don't have anyone to look after this place," The librarian said, "And there's still a long of work that must be done around here,"
"Then I can contact a few friends of mine and have them watch over the library," Nadia said, "Since I'm a Class A Hero, I'm bound to know a few people who could watch over this place while you're good,"
"That's very grateful of you, but I am not sure how I would spend my day off," The librarian said,
"In that case, where do you use to go when you were younger?" Nadia questioned, "Surely, there must have been a place where you used to go?"
"Well..." The librarian thinks for a moment, then vividly remembers a certain place in mind, "When I was your age, I used to go to this ice cream parlor with some of my friends. The last time I was there was during my late 50s,"
"What stopped you from going?" Nadia inquired,
"I no longer have someone come along," The librarian said,
"Oh... I-I'm sorry for asking," Nadia solemnly apologized,
"No need to apologize. For I have grown to understand the circumstances of their lives," The librarian assured,
Nadia cups her chin in thought, then comes an idea to mind, "In that, Why don't I come along? I could use some ice cream or two,"
"My dearie little girl," The librarian said, "There is no need for you to go for my sake,"
"I don't have anything else to do right now, and today's rather peaceful with the monsters currently in hiding," Nadia explained, "Plus, it's getting a little warm around here,"
"I must agree... Working in a public library is quite warm," The librarian said, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to go out for some ice cream again,"
With that, Nadia and the librarian go out to the ice cream parlor after the former called for Assassin to watch over the library.
A few minutes later...
Due to the librarian's current condition, they had to take a bus to get to the ice cream parlor.
Nadia assisted the librarian to a priority seat while Nadia sat next to her. As the bus departs, the two waited until they reached their destination.
But as they waited, a tall man enters the bus and approaches the chairs, specifically near the librarian's chair.
"Hey," The tall man said as he looks down at the librarian, "Would mind letting me have that seat?"
"I would, but I'm not as young as I once was," The librarian politely rejected,
"I don't care, just move," The tall man said,
Nadia glances at the other passengers and notices that they merely staring at the guy talking to the librarian. But they have no intention of intervening whatsoever.
With that, Nadia had to intervene herself, "Hey, can you just stand right there?"
"Stay out of this, kid," The tall man said,
Nadia sighs and goes for another alternative, 'Can you take care of it for me?'
'With Pleasure...' A Strict Voice insisted as Nadia's shadow extends across the bus,
The tall man tries to force the librarian to stand up, but before he could lay a hand on the librarian. He felt someone holding on to his shoulder and quickly turns around.
That's when he spots something from the bus window. The Masked Individual was seen standing behind the passengers, and started to freak out for a bit as no one was able to see him despite pointing his finger towards the window, "What the hell is that?"
The passenger turns in the direction of the tall man's finger and saw nothing. Though the only one who was able to see this Masked Individual without being affected was Nadia alone. But she merely watches the poor man descend to madness as no one believed him.
"Seriously, What the hell is," When the tall man turned around, he sees the Masked Individual once more. But he stood between Nadia and the Librarian and was rather closer when he first saw him.
The Tall Man began to feel paranoid and screamed a bunch of things that caused people to see him as more of a delirious man while the bus driver shouted at him to either quiet down or get off the bus.
The tall man continued to scream some loud while turning in all different directions as the Masked Individual went closer than ever. Once the bus driver had enough, he pushes his feet onto the brakes, stands up from his chair, and shouted at the tall man to get out.
The tall man agrees to the driver's request and flees out of the bus. Nadia watches the man go while the Masked Individual returns to her mind, 'Satisfied?'
'For now, but take care of him once he's alone. Can't have him becoming a problem in the future,' Nadia instructed,
'If you insist...' The Strict voice complied and chases after the tall man,
Meanwhile, the Bus driver apologizes for the commotion. But directed his apology to the librarian, but the latter remains quite generous and assured him that everything was alright.
As for Nadia, she merely dismisses the matter when the driver turns to her. After a while, the bus continues with its departure. Only this time, nothing happened as the bus ride was quite peaceful.
Bus Stop
Upon arrival, Nadia assisted the Librarian out of the bus and the two made their way to the Ice Cream Parlor just a few blocks away.
With the assistance of Nadia's magic, they were able to get there faster than they normally should. But Nadia would carefully use her magic to not raise suspicion whatsoever.
After they've arrived at the Ice Cream Parlor, the owner greets them. But stops mid-sentence when he and his customers recognize Nadia.
"Hello," Nadia said,
The customers then whisper to themselves as they were aware of Nadia's reputation. But she and the librarian ignored this senseless chatter as they walked toward the counter.
"What can I get you?" The Owner inquired,
"Two vanilla sundaes with chocolate fudge, please," The librarian ordered,
The owner nods and Nadia escorts the Librarian to an empty booth to sit in. Once the librarian sat down, Nadia sits on the opposite side of the table and both waited for their sundaes to come.
After some time, A waitress approaches them with a tray holding two sundaes and places them.
The two just smiled at the sight and began eating the sundae as the cool and sweet flavor of vanilla was quite enjoyable for them.
But as they were about to finish, they hear the front door open, then followed by a few guns being cocked near the counter.
"Hey, Give me all your money, and no one gets hurt," A Robber said while aiming his firearm at the owner,
The other customers' gasped, but the other robbers specifically told them not to do anything. In fact, they started to go to them and demanded to hand over their money to them.
As one of the robbers approached the librarian, he demands that she hand over any money she has. But she seems more preoccupied with her sundae than the robber threatening her.
The robber grunts in irritation and tries to reach her, but before he could lay a finger on her. He suddenly went stiff as he felt something pricking his skin and then falls onto the ground like a statue much to the other robbers' surprise.
Upon close inspection, the robber had some sort of needle on his neck and was laced with a paralyzing agent. Nadia then gets off her seat and the librarian still doesn't mind as she focuses on her sundae. Thus coming to the conclusion that Nadia used some type of magic to keep the librarian bliss from the noises.
"All I want for today is some peace and quiet," Nadia muttered, "Isn't that all I have to ask,"
"Why you!" A Robber yelled and fires a few rounds at Nadia,
But the bullets didn't hit their mark as Nadia had somehow caught them in mid-air and dropped them on the floor. Before they could get a chance to react, Nadia rushes toward the robbers in a short amount of time and proceeds to knock them all down with a few hits to the waist.
When they fell to their knees, Nadia turns to the owner.
"Can you open the door for me?" Nadia questioned, and the owner did just that and opens the door,
Nadia then proceeds to throw all the robbers out of the Ice Cream Parlor, dusts off her hand a few times, and turns to the waitress, "Call the police please?"
"S-Sure," The waitress responded and used her phone to contact the authorities,
Nadia then goes back to the librarian, undo the spell she cast on her, and continued with her sundae until they had finished every last drop of ice cream in their cups.
Afterward, Nadia helps the librarian to her feet and assisted her to the counter before reaching out for some money to pay for the sundaes. But the owner raises his hand to the two, "Uh, how about you forget about it. Cause these ice creams are on the house,"
"What why?" The librarian inquired,
"Well, the girl you're with just handled a certain situation, and I wanted to repay her generosity," The owner stated, "Didn't you notice anything earlier?"
"Not that I know, why?" The librarian asked, and the owner was rather confused about this,
But Nadia brings up her finger, and silently shushes him as means to dismiss the matter. The owner gets the message and lightly nods to them, "It's nothing. But still, I want to repay her generosity when she stopped a bank robbery not too long ago. My wife worked there on the day of the robbery and she told me all about this girl,"
"Ah... I see," The Librarian understood,
"Therefore, the ice cream sundaes are on the house," The owner said,
"In that case, consider this as a tip from both of us," The librarian said as she handed some money to him,
The owner politely accepted the money and the librarian left with Nadia beside her and went to their next destination. Which was the city park that she used to go to with her friends long ago.
The Following Hours...
As the day ends, Nadia escorted the Librarian to the public library rather than her house per her request.
Upon entering the library, The librarian gazes around the library, shelves, counter, and all the books gathered through the years. Nadia couldn't help but stare at the librarian and wondered what was going on in her mind.
Before long, The librarian speaks to her, "Nadia, Would you mind if you take me to my office?"
"S-Sure? If you say so," Nadia said and assisted her into the librarian's office,
When she opens the door, she noticed that the room had gathered a lot of dust. Meaning that the librarian had never used this room for a long time.
Nadia then assisted the librarian inside the room and pulled a chair towards a desk by using her shadow. Once they were close to the chair, Nadia assists her to sit on the chair and the librarian leans her head against the chair's headrest.
"Are you comfortable?" Nadia questioned,
"I am," The librarian said, then looks at the books and pictures in the room, "It's been a long time since I've been in this room,"
"From the dust alone, I can tell," Nadia said,
The librarian sighs to herself while Nadia remained by her side.
Silence was appropriate for this occasion as the librarian took the time to reminisce about the past. Many of these books were preserved for decades and remained in perfect condition.
With a single glance from Nadia, she could tell that every book here was properly cared for by the librarian and those before her.
After a few minutes of silence, The librarian speaks to her with a soft tone in her voice, "Answer me this, Nadia..."
Nadia turns to her but remains silent as she waits for the librarian to speak. But notices the librarian forming a small smile on her face, "Why are books important?"
"To preserve the knowledge of human history," Nadia replied,
The librarian scoffs at her answer, and lightly shook her head a couple of times, "If so, then you still have much to learn, My little scholar..."
"Then what do you think of them?" Nadia questioned,
The librarian turns to stack books in front of her, and stares without an expression on her face, "More than what you've said,"
Nadia raises an eyebrow at this answer but notices the librarian closing her eyes and sleeping on her chair. As to not bother her, Nadia decided to pull out a blanket with magic and places it on the librarian so as to not let her catch a cold.
Then Nadia pulls out her phone and sends a quick message to Saitama and Genos about her not going home for today. She then created a small sleeping bag and unrolled it onto the floor.
To ensure that no one comes into the public library, Nadia inscribed a dome-sized spell around the library. The effects of the spells let everyone in, but it doesn't let people out without Nadia's permission.
A simple but quite unbreakable spell unless a counteracting spell or an anti-magic spell is used to break it entirely. Nadia then assigned Assasin on night watch while she went to her sleeping bed and slept throughout the night with the librarian in the room...
That's it for this part of the chapter, guys.
And as for those who ask about what I had written in this part of the chapter. Well, it involved an IRL event when I attended a funeral after an aunt from my original hometown passed away from terminal cancer.
If you all ask how I'm taking it, I'm fine since I've already known about her deteriorating condition way before she passed away. But I will never forget the time she was still around.
The whole ice cream parlor scene represents my aunt's favorite desserts. Coincidently, It's also my favorite dessert whenever I get the chance to order it.
But enough about me, as for what comes for the next part of this chapter. It'll be a minor time skip and involves the meteor on City - Z. That is all and I'll see you guys in the next part of the chapter!