Chapter 42

Today is the day Serea works as a librarian in the library. She handles book lending and returns.

This is her first job as a library committee member. Let's take a peek.

This academy's library is quite impressive. It has over 50,000 books.

There are quite a few students here! It's bustling!

"Hey, Serea, how's it going? How's the library committee work?"

"There are more people today than usual. It's a good thing."

She says this with a smile.

All the students in the library look at us briefly, all at once. That's what it is.

Anyway, whether it's the future princess or the prince who came to meet her, if they appear in the library like this, the number of students who want to get closer to them will increase, and there will be no complaints. "I want to increase the library's usage rate" – with Serea here, it might be solved, right?

"I heard from the teacher that the records of the student council activities are also stored here."

"Yes, they are. I'll show you."

It's a separate room with a locked door. I get Serea to unlock it and bring the files. Seven years' worth. If you sign the register, any student can view them.

This will show how the academy has changed since my older sister, Princess Saran, enrolled. It will also show how it decayed after she left for her studies abroad.

An empty seat... It just so happens that the seat is occupied by Harthis Kepler, the hero of the literature club and a target for the protagonist to pursue! He is the third son of the Count Kepler, the intellectual type, and the healing type. He has a neutral face and is a bit short. If he weren't wearing the boys' uniform and had his long hair tied back, he might look like a girl.

"Is this seat okay?"

"Ah, sure. Uh, Your Highness..."

"Please don't call me that. Just call me Shin. I'd appreciate it if you did that in the school."

I plop down the seven years' worth of files.

Looking at them like this, you can see that in the past, the student council activities were actually done by the students themselves. Look, there are a lot of handwritten documents from my sister. She was doing all this even as a first-year. My sister really does everything...

Since my sister left the school six years ago to study in Halva, the files have gradually become thinner. The student council's work has been decreasing. What are they doing...?

"Is this about the student council's work? Are you investigating something? Can I help?"

Harthis speaks to me quite normally. He seems like a good person.

"No, I'm not looking for anything. I intend to go through all of it."

"All of this?! That's amazing!"

Harthis is surprised.

"I'm surprised too. The current student council doesn't do anything. Everything is left to the advisor. In the past, it wasn't like that, so I thought I'd look at the records."

"That's true... If that's the case, it's lamentable."

"I'm glad you think so. Look at this. The files get thinner year by year. If the students can't even manage the operation of an organization like the student council and rely on others, it means that we can't expect the kind of talent that could become my right-hand person from this school in the future."

"Your Highness... Shin, you're amazing! You cut through the student council members with one stroke. I saw the commotion in the cafeteria. I can't say it out loud, but it was refreshing."

He says this with a smile. Yeah, he's easy to get along with. Maybe we're similar. We could be friends.

"Serea is also amazing. I'm impressed."

"Serea? I heard she joined the literature club. Are you a member too?"

"Yes, I should have introduced myself earlier. I'm Harthis Kepler."

"I'm Shin Midland."

"Ha! It's about time! Thank you for talking to someone like me."

"We met at a party two years ago."

"I'm glad you remember that."

His smile is cute, even though he's a guy. He must be popular. As expected, he's the healing type and a target for the protagonist. He's a good guy.

"I've been talking to Serea a lot. I was surprised by her deep knowledge of astronomy."

"Hmm... Well, girls love fortune-telling."

"That's astrology, not astronomy. With the current proof that stars and planets move in regular orbits, astrology has lost its meaning. The movements of the stars can now be predicted. Even solar eclipses can be calculated precisely."

Serea, I hope she's not talking about things like "Hayabusa's errand" or "A Trip to the Moon." If they heard about that, the scholars in this world would be shocked.

"Do you know about planets, Shin?"

"Yeah, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. Bright stars that move through the constellations."

"They're called planets because they seem to be wandering."

"Right."

"Serea knows that they orbit the sun along with the Earth. She also knows that the moon orbits the Earth."

"Is that the heliocentric theory? It's been recognized in this country and the textbooks have been rewritten for over a hundred years, but some parts of the church still oppose it. Many people at the citizen level don't even know about it."

"It's not just that. There are parts of the planet's orbit that don't match the calculations based on the observational records. My father has always had doubts about this. It's still a topic of debate at the academy, but Serea said, 'I think the orbits of the planets are elliptical!'"

Serea's past life knowledge is coming through!

"Excuse me, but your father?"

"Oh, my father is the head of the astronomy department at the academy. His name is Jofnes Kepler."

"He's a count, right?"

"He's Count Kepler. I'm honored that you know him."

"It would be nice if Serea's idea could help in some way."

"It's more than just help! When I told my father, he went through all the past observational data and recalculated everything, staying up all night. The astronomy researchers at the academy are in a big commotion. If the orbits of the planets are indeed elliptical, the observational data matches perfectly, and everyone is amazed!"

"Shh. Please be quiet in the library."

"Ah, I'm sorry!"

We both look around, bowing our heads. Oh, everyone is looking at us. We quickly switch to a whisper.

"The celestial bodies were created by God and are supposed to be perfect. They should be drawing beautiful circles. This is a revolutionary discovery that overturns the common belief."

Serea, you're turning the scholars upside down even in this area... What are you doing...

"By the way, Serea is a bit different and sometimes says strange things, but she's not being ostracized in the literature club, is she?"

"Don't worry. She's well-liked by everyone. She's good at finding interesting books, and recently, thanks to Serea, I've started reading these kinds of science fiction novels, and they're really enjoyable!"

He holds up the book he was reading. It's Wells' "The War of the Worlds." What is Serea reading...

"The Martians who invaded Earth were wiped out because they didn't have immunity to Earth's diseases. It's scary not to have immunity!"

So that's what she was reading, Serea. The concepts of bacteria and immunity, which have been recognized enough to be used as themes in science fiction, might be one of Serea's contributions. The smallpox vaccination will start soon, and it would be nice if it could spread widely among the people.

"Harthis, when you introduce a book to someone, I don't think it's a good idea to start by explaining the ending, 'They were all wiped out.'"

His straightforwardness is admirable, but...

"Ah! You're right! I'm sorry. I'll be more careful."

I beckon to the dejected Harthis and lean in.

"(Serea would get really mad if you did that!)"

"(I've noticed a few times that her eyes weren't smiling... Thank you for the advice.)"

A strange sense of camaraderie has formed between us. Ahahaha!

"...Serea is a wonderful person. She can truly be friends with anyone without discrimination. I'm envious that you have her as your fiancée..."

Harthis, a bit red, looks at Serea, who is smiling and interacting with students at the librarian's desk.

Oh, Harthis, you're being targeted by Serea.

That's one way to do it. I didn't see that coming.

"A, s, sorry! That didn't happen! It didn't happen!"

He stands up from his chair and bows to me.

"Okay, okay, it didn't happen. Ahaha. Sorry about that. I really like Serea too. Let's be friends, okay? Not as a prince or anything, just as Shin."

I extend my hand, and he shakes it.

"Serea's ideas and words sometimes seem a bit heretical to others. They might be considered unbecoming of a noble or a princess. As a fellow literature club member, could you subtly remind her and support her?"

"It's a waste of her talent... But you're right. I understand."

"Thank you."

"A――――! There――――!"

...Please be quiet in the library, Miss.

You appear everywhere, don't you, Pink Head!

"Harthis! I have something I don't understand in class... It would be great if you could help me."

"...I told you to stop calling me 'sama,' Rinse. We're students. And this is the library, so please be quiet."

"I just can't figure out how to prove the Pythagorean theorem."

"There are over fifty ways to prove it... You should at least remember one of them."

"I'm sorry... I'll try harder."

The intellectual type is also being targeted, Miss. Impressive. Asking for help with studies is indeed a good strategy. You've already had the meet-and-greet event, haven't you? You're really going for it. You're tough.

I don't want to get involved, so I return to reading the student council records.

"Ah, Prince."

"..."

I don't want to get involved, so I ignore him.

"Your Highness? Shin-sama, Shin?"

I can't avoid it.

"Yes?"

"Um, Shin, do you know Harthis?"

"We've been friends for two years."

Hearing this, Harthis smiles happily. I have to be a bit pushy too. I can't lose to the heroine.

"I didn't know."

Sure, sure.

"Rinse, Shin is on official duty. You shouldn't disturb him..."

"Okay."

Since I'm here, I might as well check the situation.

From what I can see, Harthis seems to prefer intelligent and wise women. He doesn't seem to be captivated by the heroine at all. He's just reluctantly helping her, and he seems distant.

I can't let my guard down, but if I can bring Harthis, like Jack, to our side, that would be great.

Before that, I want to become good friends with Harthis.

Next: "42. The Tradition Left by My Sister"