Chapter 39 The Bookshelves In The Study Room
After finishing her meal, Sara left Robert and the bureaucrats, who were still being entertained by Marquis, and returned to her room. Since her formal attire was restrictive, she changed into a simple dress and headed to the study room in the library with Maria.
The adults were still attending to Marquis, so no one had arrived yet.
"It seems Grandfather was quite generous with the wine at dinner, so maybe today will be a struggle."
"I'll prepare some tea for now."
Left alone in the spacious room, Sara felt restless and wandered over to the bookshelves by the wall. At eye level, there were Academy textbooks, dictionaries, and files with thin wooden covers. Below them were children's picture books lined up.
"I wonder if Father and Uncle studied here?"
Looking up at the higher shelves, Sara saw books with no titles on their spines, lined up just out of her reach.
"What are those books?"
However, unlike the library, this room didn't have a ladder, and there was no step stool, making it difficult to reach them on her own.
"It's strange how I want to read them even more because they're out of reach. Ugh, if only I were a bit taller... Ah, if only I were taller!"
That's when Sara remembered Mike's special skill.
"Is Mike around?"
"Yeah, I'm here."
Suddenly, a crack appeared in the air, and a cat's paw emerged from it. By the way, the paw pads were a beautiful pink.
"You're just showing off with your paw, aren't you? Can you make me bigger right now?"
"Yeah, I can."
"Is that difficult?"
"No, it's just a matter of manifesting your magic, Sara. You need magic to grow or shrink."
"Does it take time to grow or shrink?"
"It depends on the state before you activate the magic. For example, if you just want to be 9 years old, it's just a blink of an eye, but if you want to be an old person, it takes around 50 counts."
"What about when I go back?"
"It's the same whether you grow bigger or smaller. The more you stray from your physical age, the more time it takes."
"Hmm, what about clothes?"
"Clothes stay the same. If you wear small clothes and grow bigger, they'll tear."
"Ugh, that's a bit inconvenient."
"That's what I'm saying..."
'It would be nice if it were like a magical girl, and the costume could change on its own!'
In Sara's mind, she was imagining a magical girl scenario, but Mike's ability only controlled physical growth, and he didn't have the ability to instantly change clothes. It was impossible to undress in this situation, so she gave up on growing to get the book.
After waiting for a while, Maria came back and got a few books from the unreachable shelf. When she thought about it, it was a simple task that could be done by asking someone, so there was no need to go through the trouble of growing her body.
When she opened the cover of the book she got, the title looked like a romance novel. Judging from the binding and paper quality, it didn't seem like an old book.
"I thought there were no novels in the library, but it was here. But this is probably someone's personal property, right? Who does it belong to?"
Just then, Robert entered the room.
"Ahhhh, Sara! What are you looking at!!"
"Uh, it seems to be a romance novel... 'The Black Knight Loves the Abandoned Lady' and 'The Temptation of the Masquerade Ball'..."
"You can't read that! Revi will definitely get angry!"
"I've already angry. I told you not to bring those kinds of books out of your room, didn't I?"
Rebecca's voice came from behind, with James and Benjamin on either side.
"Is this uncle's personal property?"
"It's not exactly personal property, but rather his own work."
"Wow, Revi's going to kill me..."
"Uncle, are you publishing romance novels?"
Then Benjamin said,
"Is Sir Robert the author of that series? I have a few of his books, so can I get them signed later?"
"No, no, it's fine. I'll sign as many as you want, but let's talk about this later."
It was clear that Robert was flustered. Sara was curious and flipped through the book's pages quickly.
'xxx is xxx's xxxxxx...'
It was an adult novel for men, with a level of maturity that would likely get an R-rating even in my past life.
".... Uncle, I think I'm in trouble if I read this. And Mr. Ben is also a fan of this series, right?"
"Ah, no, I just made it with my friends and handed out a limited number of copies to those around me at cost..."
"I also got a few copies from an acquaintance..."
'That's basically an erotic doujinshi!'
Sara looked at the 2 of them with eyes like a Tibetan fox. Rebecca probably had the same look in her eyes too.
"Eh... Sara, you seem to understand the meaning correctly. That's scary, but Revi is even scarier."
"No, Sir Robert, I think Miss Sara's gaze is scarier."
"I understand that Uncle is talented. What I saw this time was an accident, and there's nothing I can do about it. I won't interfere with Mr. Ben's personal hobbies either."
"Rob, didn't you promise to only keep your book in my room?"
"Ah, no, the servants wanted to pass it around and read it..."
'Heh, ho, fuu...'
"Let's set aside the content for now. At the very least, Uncle knows the route for printing, binding, and selling books, right?"
"Yeah. That's true."
"Then, if we gather Paracelsus' documents and compile the content, we can publish it as a book, right?"
"I think it's possible. But is it okay to make that document public?"
"We need to investigate further to know. But we should do what we can. If we don't, it'll just be wasted. The previous generation invested in that research, and it shouldn't be limited to Grandchester's profits."
Rebecca and the bureaucrats' faces changed.
"That's right, Sara. Now we need to think of a way to make money."
"Ms. Sara, why don't we print a textbook on new accounting methods?"
"Wasato's harvest forecast book might sell well too, don't you think?"
"I think it's possible to do various things, but books are expensive, you know?"
"But, maybe the publishing department of the new merchant guild can help. If that's the case, we can sell Uncle's works in the capital city on a large scale, right?"
"Sara, can you just overlook that part?"
"I'll stop talking about the hobbies of adult men. I don't know what Miss Rebecca and the maids think, but..."
Before I knew it, the maids in the office had gathered, all staring at Robert with their Tibetan Mastiff-like eyes. It seemed Eliza had summoned everyone.
'Both of them are single, after all. Well, I suppose it can't be helped at this point.'
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