I stood in front of the Library for who knows how long, enjoying the feeling of my scalp being pulled in both directions as I closed my eyes. Aria and Karen gave my hair one final touch on either side, then both laughed at the same time.
"All done."
"So cute!"
I heard both the flat tone and the excited voice. It was somehow fascinating how you could sense a person not just from their voice but from their manner of speaking too.
My head had just felt heavy before, but after their touch, it felt like weights had been added to both sides. Maybe because my hair was long, the weight felt distinctly different.
When I shook my head following the weight, my swinging hair pulled me to one side.
I briefly lost my balance and hopped to one side, but Aria quickly caught me.
"Careful."
"Ah, th-thank you."
Golden hair and golden eyes. It was always a mystical combination of colors. Like a golden person. Aria grabbed both my forearms and steadied me.
She lowered herself to meet my eye level and stared at me intently.
"...What is it?"
Slightly flustered by the sudden eye contact, I saw Aria tilt her head.
"Nothing, I was just thinking it would be nice if you grew a bit taller."
"That's what I'm hoping for too."
Agreeing with Aria, I slightly raised my arms. My twice-folded sleeves fluttered, expressing my feelings.
As I looked down at my clothes while swaying, Aria gently raised the corners of her mouth.
"Since we gathered to go to the Library, shall we head in?"
"Ah, sounds good."
Karen nodded. Even though we were delayed because of my hair, we couldn't just forget and not go, so I moved my feet.
As we entered, the familiar vast landscape of the Library greeted me. I turned my head from right to left, left to right.
I still couldn't get a sense of where to start.
It seemed impossible to just wander around and look at books in categories that caught my interest. It would probably be simplest to come with specific books in mind beforehand, like Karen had done before.
But since I was just here to accompany Karen, I didn't have any particular books in mind.
"Hmm, what are you looking for?"
"Books related to my lectures, and I need to return the ones I borrowed before."
Karen patted her bag. It seemed she had borrowed books inside. I just nodded as I quietly looked at the bag slung over one shoulder.
"So that's how Karen studies. I think you're the most studious person I've seen."
"...But I don't know much despite that, hehe."
Karen scratched her head awkwardly at Aria's words.
"Then let me play the role of a Study Group senior."
Aria, who had been carefully observing Karen, said that and headed toward the search desk. Karen looked at her with surprised eyes and followed.
I was impressed and thought I couldn't miss this opportunity, so I followed along on my short legs.
I took a spot beside them and watched the two.
"So what kind of content are you looking for?"
"...Um, books about Mana circuits."
"For a freshman, 'Introduction to Mana Circuits' should be enough."
Aria seemed to think for a moment, then rapidly typed on the keyboard. After quickly scanning the book list on the screen, she printed out a small piece of paper and showed it to Karen.
"This should cover the freshman lectures pretty well."
"...Oh."
"Sera and I are in the Dept. of Spellcraft."
Karen took the paper Aria handed her and stared at it blankly.
I wasn't sure if she was reading the book titles or figuring out where to find them in this vast library, but it shouldn't take that long.
"What about Demon God research?"
"It's easier to get papers from professors for that. ...I noticed before that you're attending the Academy while aiming for the Institute, so practice reading Theses."
"Ah, thank you. I think we need to go this way."
Karen bowed her head once.
We moved toward where Karen's paper directed. With the three of us moving together, we quickly reached the section filled with books on Mana circuits.
A huge bookshelf stretched out before us. It was amazing to think all of these were about Mana circuits.
I knew that many books could be written on the same subject, but I never imagined seeing so many gathered in one place, and my mouth fell open.
"...Wow, I think I'll need a ladder. Just a moment."
"Here it is."
Each bookshelf had a ladder prepared. Given how tall the shelves were, it seemed like an essential item. As Karen brought the ladder and started climbing, Aria watched her and casually asked me:
"Is Urr interested in magic?"
"Very interested. ...I'd like to try the magic Sera showed us before again."
I recalled when I attended a lecture with Sera and Aria.
Advanced Applications of Mana Circuits. In that course, I watched them create clouds using a fire magic circle. It was truly fascinating.
But how they did it remained a mystery. If they start with fire and water, I wondered how they would handle age, and tilted my head.
When I honestly shared my curiosity, Aria let out a small groan.
"Sera acted like she created something amazing, but it was probably just pieced together from various papers. ...It would be difficult to understand, though. Those papers are written by professors who graduated from the Institute."
"...Ah."
"The same goes for Sera. If you asked her to dissect and explain it, she'd probably have many gaps. Anyway, if you want to reach that level, you need to start from the beginning like Karen."
After saying that, Aria looked around. Her gaze, which had been wandering within this section, soon found a book in the corner.
"This should work."
"It looks like a picture book."
It was hardcover, but unlike other books, rather than looking sophisticated, the cover had simple geometric shapes drawn on it.
Aria began to skim through the contents.
"It's similar. You could say it's a book that children interested in magic typically go through..."
"Really?"
"No, I'm joking. I've only been here for three years myself."
"..."
Since Aria's facial expressions and tone barely changed, when she joked like this, it felt like being hit from behind.
Since it was hard to distinguish between jokes and serious statements with her, it was difficult to let my guard down.
I pouted. When I glanced at Aria with narrowed eyes, she waved her hand and chuckled. When Aria smiled, I thought she was so pretty that I couldn't understand why she usually maintained an expressionless face.
I quickly turned my head away.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to tease you. But from what I can see, you should be able to study this easily."
"...Then I want to see it too."
I took the book. Inside were shapes along with a lot of text. I thought it might be explanations about the shapes. I tried to read the words I could understand, but it was still difficult to grasp the context.
As I pouted and tilted my head, Aria's hand entered my field of vision.
"A circle represents circulation and completeness. The center and the edge maintain an equal distance, and at the same time, it connects the beginning and end without breaking anywhere. Additionally, since you can't tell where it begins or ends, it also symbolizes eternity."
"Hmm, I see."
"Do you understand?"
"...A little. Because it circulates, it's used as the foundation for magic circles... right?"
When I recalled information I'd picked up from the previous lecture, Aria's eyes widened and she clapped. It was impressive how quietly she did it, considering we were in a library.
"That's right. To activate a magic circle, you need to flow Mana through it. To distribute Mana evenly to the shapes inside, you have no choice but to do it that way."
"Yes."
"Urr, you're smart. Then can you understand this too? This is a triangle."
I knew that, but the problem was the rows of text below it.
"It's the most dynamic shape, but also a balanced one. An upright triangle has positive properties, while an inverted triangle has negative properties. ...You see? Remember how this triangle was the main component when drawing the fire magic circle."
"Then can't you use fire magic with just this?"
"No. What do you need to start a fire? There are three things."
"Oxygen?"
"Right."
My brain suddenly froze when asked to name three things.
"...Umm, fuel?"
"Yes, you need fuel."
"Temperature!"
"Ding dong deng."
Aria said that and then quietly recited:
"But when using fire magic, you don't create fuel separately, right? You use Mana as fuel. You also need to raise the temperature accordingly. When you think about it that way, you can understand why even simple magic is made so complex."
"So you have to prepare everything."
I felt like I'd taken one step closer to understanding magic.
As I carefully looked at the book, I lowered my head toward my name tag that reached down to my solar plexus.
"...I want to borrow this."
"Then I'll help you read it."
"Great."
With Aria's help, I could certainly learn about magic more comfortably. Plus, studying this way might help me learn to read the text too.
I was already learning about circles and triangles, after all.
"If it's that simple, I could teach you too..."
"I welcome everyone...!"
Karen, who had come down from the ladder and was hugging her books, looked at me. Surprised by her slightly disappointed voice, I waved my hands frantically as I spoke.
Only then did Karen smile awkwardly and chuckle.
I realized that managing friendships was difficult too.
"Ah, it's Sera."
Meanwhile, Aria stared at her phone and tapped the screen.
[Hey, why are you all meeting without me!?]
I was startled by the loud voice that reached us even though the speaker wasn't on. Aria, meanwhile, answered quietly without any change in expression.
"It's your fault for oversleeping. Urr's hair is already neat."
[Ah!!]
A cry mixed with regret and disappointment at being left behind came through.