Chapter 24

“Oh…!”

A voice escaped me unconsciously.

In a corner of the alley stood a two-story building with a garden. The entire structure was covered in greenery, making it resemble a temple quietly nestled in the depths of a forest at first glance.

There was a signboard on the street. This was definitely the bookstore I was looking for.

“Suisui Shoyo Antiquarian Bookstore” — quite a stylish name.

I crossed the atmospheric garden and entered the shop.

Whoa… once again, I almost let out a gasp of surprise.

Books were piled so high that there was barely any room to step. It was like a maze made out of books.

Is this really okay as a bookstore? This feels less like a hidden gem and more like another world altogether.

Who could possibly run a place like this? I couldn’t see the store clerk anywhere. I seriously wondered if they were buried under all the books.

I glanced to my side. Tirara was trembling.

“Is this heaven?”

Oh wow… she’s deeply moved. She advanced towards the back of the store as if she might start skipping. Before I knew it, Eiri had also wandered off to look for books.

Alright then. I guess I’ll enjoy the bookstore for the first time in a while too.

As I slowly browsed the nearby shelves, I nostalgically recalled my guild days. Back then, I hardly ever read books for fun.

Novels, graphic novels, biographies, history books—so many tempting titles to walk among.

The creaking sound of the floor. The smell of old books. The quietness, almost heavy with history.

Nice.

Occasionally stumbling or bumping my head was just part of the charm.

—But hold on a second.

Isn’t this bookstore’s collection pretty insane? They’ve got specialized guild-related books and statistical data just casually lying around. Their range is way too broad.

Seriously, who is this store owner?

As I was walking up the stairs to the mezzanine, I finally spotted someone.

Behind the counter sat an old lady, who seemed to be the store owner—and, for some reason, Eiri.

And Eiri was knitting.

The store owner noticed me.

“Oh, are you this child’s guardian?”

“Ah, yes. Eiri, what are you doing?”

“Knitting a lap blanket.”

A short response. She was swiftly moving the knitting needles with skill.

“The old lady hurt her fingers, so she couldn’t do it well. I’m helping her out.”

“I see. You’re as kind as ever, Eiri.”

With a soft grunt, Eiri stopped her hands, embarrassed. The old lady laughed cheerfully.

“Quite impressive. I wonder what skill you’ve developed. Say, have you appraised her?”

“No, not yet—wait!?”

Hold on. How does this person know about my skills!?

The old lady’s eyes sparkled.

“I’m retired now, but I used to be an appraiser. This child is quite talented, but I can sense a larger brilliance from you—a Fate Drop of Destiny. You have the scent of someone who sees people’s talents.”

“That’s…”

“Well, Griffore’s boy told me about you. I knew right away it was you. Isto Rilos.”

“Please, don’t scare me like that.”

That really startled me. I thought someone had been secretly digging into my past.

Trying not to disturb Eiri’s work, I quietly activated Awakening Appraisal.

《Monitoring Lv1 activated. Displaying the skills of the target.【Dexterous Fingers】
— Required number reached.
Monitoring has leveled up to 2.
Displaying the next skill the target can acquire.
【Metalworking】》

Oh, so this is the additional effect of ‘Monitoring’. This will make it easier to support the children’s goals. Eiri really is suited to craftsmanship.

“You can’t just be satisfied with recognizing someone’s talent. The important thing is to align ‘talent’ with ‘heart’.”

The store owner suddenly spoke to me.

“That’s advice from an elder who’s been appraising people for years. Consider it the payment for the lap blanket.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Suddenly, the sound of books collapsing echoed from downstairs.

Could it be—

“Are you alright, Tirara!?”

I rushed over.

Tirara was sprawled on the floor with books on her head. As I helped her up, she glanced at me.

“Mr. Isto.”

“What is it?”

“You really are a gifted person with special skills, aren’t you?”

She must have heard my voice when I activated the skill. There was no need to hide it, so I nodded.

“That’s amazing. I don’t have any talent.”

Tirara pressed her forehead against a book.

Despite usually being strong-willed, she quietly admitted her true feelings.

“I can’t act all high and mighty about Eiri. I’m gloomy, and hiding away in dark places like this, reading books, is more fitting for me.”

I see. So she bottles up her worries because of her strong personality.

I gently patted Tirara’s head.

“Do you like books?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you like this place?”

“I love it. It’s so calming.”

“Me too. When I worked at the guild, I spent most of my time buried in a basement like this, sorting through documents.”

Tirara lifted her head.

“That sounds fun.”

“Well, in that case, you’ve got the talent to work in a guild. See? You’ve already found something good about yourself, even without a skill.”

“Really?”

I spoke firmly.

“Some people think working with documents is dull and meaningless. But I don’t. Every document, every page has meaning and intent behind it. It’s an essential job to gather and understand that.”

“Yeah… I think so too.”

Tirara closed her book.

“Hey, Mr. Isto, you can use gifted skills, right? You can see other people’s skills, that amazing thing. Look at mine.”

She bit her lip.

“No matter what the result is, I’ll accept it if you’re the one who sees it.”

“You don’t have to be so tense. No matter what skills you have, being yourself is all that matters.”

“That’s why I want you to look at it… Please, understand.”

She pouted. After apologizing, I activated Awakening Appraisal on Tirara.

《Monitoring Lv2 activated. Displaying the skills of the target.【Memory Organization】
Displaying the next skill the target can acquire.
【Shorthand】》

When I told her the result, Tirara frowned slightly.

“As I thought, it’s nothing special. I can usually remember what I read in books, anyway.”

That’s not normal. That’s pretty amazing.

“Do you want to become something, Tirara?”

“……”

She hesitated more than usual.

“I want to…”

“Yeah?”

“I want to be a teacher.”

She added quietly.

“A teacher like you, Mr. Isto. Someone who can encourage others and guide them properly.”

“I see. Thanks for telling me. Let’s work hard together.”

“Yeah.”

Tirara smiled softly.