“Fuck! Again!? How can we lose again!?”

“I-I’m sorry, Medrauta! I-It was my—”

“N-No! Don’t blame yourself, Viviane,” Medrauta said hurriedly. “I’m just... frustrated at myself. I thought I’d finally be able to resonate with someone, but...”

Medrauta let her voice trail off, leaving the sentence unfinished. The two of them sat in an awkward silence for a few seconds, contemplating their latest match.

“...It’s strange, isn’t it?”

“...Yeah. We haven’t been able to resonate ever since that match...”

Indeed, Medrauta and Viviane had only managed to resonate during their match against Bastiche and Ritya. Their victory hadn’t unseated their opponents from their place as fifth on the ranking board, but it had catapulted their own rank as a pair into the top fifty.

Naturally, they had been met with multiple challenges, but all of them had proved fruitless. Though Medrauta had certainly put up a fight in all of them, she inevitably lost when the opponent overwhelmed her with the power of their Crest just like before.

Medrauta and Viviane saw their rank drop precipitously yet again, but could do nothing about it. Even so, Medrauta remained by Viviane’s side.

“There just has to be a way to make it work, Viviane! I just know it!”

“Y-Yeah!” Viviane pumped her fists into the air in an attempt to psych herself up. “But how...?”

Medrauta paused to think for a few moments before sighing, frustrated with her lack of ideas. “Well... Honestly, I have no clue. We’ve tried all sorts of things since then.”

“Maybe we could visit the archives...?” Viviane suggested.

Medrauta grimaced. She didn’t like reading, and she much preferred solving problems either through force or through experimentation. But she was growing desperate. “...Yeah. Maybe.”

“Then... Let’s go right now?”

“Urgh... A-Alright.” Though Medrauta wanted to delay the visit as long as possible, there was no helping it. Not when Viviane turned those hopeful doe eyes upon her.

The moment Medrauta voiced her agreement, her fate was sealed.

With a skip in her step and a radiant smile on her face, Viviane took the reluctant Medrauta by her hand and dragged her to the archives even as the silver-haired knight complained with each step she was forced to take.

†

Attempting to browse the entirety of the archives on their own would have been a massive undertaking and a mistake.

Thanks to the empire’s long and storied history, Avalyne Academy’s archives had amassed an enormous wealth of literary material such that the building alone was the tallest and largest of all buildings upon academy grounds.

Bookshelves towered over the pair as they entered and long, winding staircases dominated each corner of the archives. The countless floors filled with naught but bookshelves and their contents seemed to be neverending as both Medrauta and Viviane stared upwards in awe.

While Viviane had visited the archives a few times before this, for Medrauta, it was her first time. The knight courses didn’t exactly cover any material that would require referencing anything contained in a textbook or something of the sort, and as Medrauta was rather averse to reading, she’d never even thought about stepping into the archives building.

Yet, even Medrauta who was practically allergic to literary consumption could do nothing but stand in place, awestruck at the sheer librarial majesty that laid before her eyes.

“How do you do?” A high-pitched, almost childlike voice called out to the two girls from the side, snapping them out of their awe-induced stupor. “Is there a specific book that you might be looking for?”

Medrauta looked to the side, only to see... nothing. Likewise, Viviane glanced around, her eyes moving to and fro, yet all she could spot were the countless tomes lined up neatly on the bookshelves.

“H-Hey! Down here!” The voice directed their gaze downwards in a tone that was a strange amalgamation of irritation, embarrassment, and resignation.

“Ah... My apologies, little miss,” Medrauta squatted down as she addressed the small girl who had called out to them. She had bright golden eyes much like Viviane’s, but dark blue hair that could’ve been mistaken for black had the lighting been poor. A cute hairstick with floral designs decorated her hair.

“Are you lost?” Viviane asked worriedly. “Did you come to visit a sibling?”

“N-No!” The girl shouted angrily, puffing her cheeks out. Both Medrauta and Viviane thought it made her seem like a squirrel attempting to be cute, but they kept that thought to themselves. “The two of you ought to show a lady some more respect! My name is Rose! I’m the librarian here at the archives!”

Medrauta and Viviane both exchanged skeptical glances, but shrugged as they both decided to play along with Rose for the meantime. After all, the girl might’ve been small, but the three of them browsing the archives together would probably be much quicker than just two.

“Ah, is that so, Lady Rose? My apologies,” Medrauta said, rising to bow elegantly in an expression of apology.

“Fufu, I’m glad you understand! Now then, is there a specific book that you would like to peruse?”

“A specific book, huh...?” Medrauta looked to Viviane for advice. When it came to research and library use, she really had no clue where to begin.

Viviane thought for a moment before answering. “Perhaps something to do with Crests and resonance...? Looking into their history might be helpful.”

Rose nodded, a sparkle in her eyes. “No problem! I know just the thing!” She beckoned for the two girls to follow her, leading them up three flights of stairs before arriving in front of a bookcase. Without even scanning the bookshelf’s contents, she reached out and retrieved a rather thick and heavy book that she handed to Medrauta.

“That’s Marquis Javier’s treatise on the history of Crests! Much of what we know is largely theory, but the marquis’ account is the most detailed by far, at least within the confines of this library!”

“Hm... Thank you very much, Lady Rose,” Viviane curtsied briefly. She glanced at the book’s cover. Indeed, it was titled A Retrospection on Crests by Marquis Javier. Still, she was having a bit of trouble believing that a little girl somehow had the exact location of this book memorized.

“This sounds impossible, but... Could you actually be the librarian...?” Medrauta blurted out after staring at the book in awe.

“W-W-What!? I told you I’m the librarian, didn’t I!? Gaaah! Why won’t anyone ever believe me!?”

Much to Rose’s chagrin, Medrauta and Viviane only laughed when the tiny girl stomped her feet against the ground angrily.

“We’re sorry, Lady Rose! Thank you so much for your help!”

“Hmph! As long as you know!”

The three of them remained silent for a few seconds before sharing another moment of laughter, this time between them all. Medrauta and Viviane bid Rose farewell, descending the stairs to reach the reading area.

“Well then, let’s get reading, Medrauta!” Viviane announced enthusiastically.

All of a sudden, a powerful feeling of dread settled in Medrauta’s heart. She could fight ten knights at a time and even endure incredible amounts of punishment. Not even the prospect of taking on countless beasts fazed her.

Yet, as Viviane shoved her thick and meaty tome before Medrauta’s eyes, the knight couldn’t help but shiver. The lengthy blocks of text made her head hurt. The lack of illustrations made her eyes swim.

But there would be no escape. 

A final, futile cry of protest echoed through the archive.

“Nooooo!”