Let’s Go to Town (1)
The Panis Village Grand Library. As the master of a dungeon, this is one thing I absolutely must have.
After all… this dungeon seems capable of converting information into magical power.
Once I realized that information itself might be turning into mana, I asked Edele-san to arrange for a mobile library, and I’ve also been quietly decomposing and absorbing villagers’ notes and the notices on the bulletin board in front of the dungeon, then reconstructing them immediately afterward—doing my best to secure both mana and data.
But… I want to aim higher.
No, really, the mobile library was actually very efficient. When I disassembled, absorbed, and reconstructed every book in a wagonload of them in an instant—so they “vanished and reappeared in an instant”—no one noticed a thing, and the mana efficiency was amazing…
Yeah. Books are incredibly efficient. They’re probably the highest form of information media in this world. …Well, maybe there’s video or something here too. But that’d have to be magical tech, and probably not mass-produced.
Anyway—it’s books. Books! I want to collect books.
And when books are gathered, people who can read them will gather too. Once those readers are here… people who write books might come too!
So that’s why I decided my next goal would be to build the Panis Village Grand Library.
Now then.
When building a library in the village, there’s something important to consider:
Will it benefit the village? In other words—what’s the literacy rate like here?
Living in modern Japan, literacy is basically 100%, so it’s not something you ever think about. But once you go abroad, there are plenty of countries where one out of every ten people can’t read.
And apparently, in this world too, not everyone can read or write.
… That said, in Panis Village at least, literacy is quite high.
Why? Because Edele-san taught the villagers herself! Thank you, Edele-san! Love you, Edele-san!
Also, adventurers often die if they can’t read, so they tend to teach each other the basics of reading. Makes sense—you can’t afford to misread a warning carved on a dungeon wall.
And of course, the nobles who visit can read. So, overall, the literacy rate here is pretty high. Which means that a library wouldn’t end up being totally useless.
… On the other hand, as a tourist attraction? Well, for nobles, it’s not a bad idea.
And for scholars, it’d be great too. Especially since this village has people like “I’m chasing the mysterious glowing slime!”—we’ve already got researchers here. Perfect fit.
Now, the adventurer crowd… a lot of them are probably “Yeah, I can read, but I don’t read books.” So, hmm… what do we do there? Ideally, I’d want everyone to enjoy it, but maybe we’ll start by narrowing our target audience…
“So that’s why I’d like you to help me stock up on books.”
Of course, I’d start by consulting Edele-san.
“Oh my… so you’re finally making it into a proper library?”
“Yeah. It’ll be good to draw in the scholarly crowd—it’s definitely advantageous in the long run… and besides, from a dungeon’s perspective, I want books.”
“That’s true. The mobile library only brings so many, after all…”
Exactly. Having the mobile library visit is great, but their stock is limited. Plus, for the villagers, they can’t exactly borrow and read at home, which is another issue.
“So… ordering books directly might be a little difficult.”
“Eh?”
A wall appears before my dream library.
“Right now, what we’re buying from town is meat, dairy, some luxury goods, soap, oil, candles… everyday necessities. With all the new people, demand’s gone up—we can’t skip those.”
She starts explaining the current situation in Panis Village. I’ve left all of that to her, so there’s a lot I don’t know.
“And now, we’ve got a wagon coming from town every three days.”
“Huh.”
“They bring the goods I mentioned, and on the way back, they take dungeon gemstones, vegetables… lately, we’ve started selling wine too. Those are sent back to town.”
“I see.”
Makes sense. It’d be dumb to send an empty wagon. Best to carry something both ways.
“… Ah, meaning there’s no room on the wagon to haul books, right?”
“That’s exactly it.”
I see! That makes sense! … As I’m nodding in understanding, Edele-san smiles and starts patting my head while saying, “What a clever little god.” There’s definitely a furigana reading “child” over “god” there. I just know it!
“What about increasing the number of wagons?”
“Well, that’d be one way, but… books themselves are quite expensive, aren’t they? Add the wagon cost, and… hmm, we probably couldn’t buy many.”
Edele-san frowns at the ledger, humming thoughtfully.
Since this village doesn’t collect its own taxes, public funds come either from villagers pooling money or from village-wide income.
And right now, the “village-wide income” consists of dungeon entry fees, a cut of sales from the reception shop, and hot spring fees.
In other words, not much spare cash.
… Still, considering I’ve built most of the infrastructure myself for free, the welfare situation’s actually pretty good. But yeah, it’s inconvenient without money.
“So that means… I’ll have to make something new, sell it, and use that money?”
Seems like the best plan is for me to create and fund it myself. If it becomes a village-wide project, it’ll get complicated.
… Or so I thought, until—
“Um, Asuma-sama, you do have money.”
“Eh? What?”
What’s this now?
“The weaving hall and the brewery both pay usage fees, so part of the sales from textiles and alcohol are yours. Also, a share of the vegetable sales… I never told you, sorry.”
“Eh? Eh?”
While I’m still confused, Edele-san goes “heave-ho,” opens the safe, and pulls out a bag.
“Here, this is your portion.”
“Whoah…”
… Inside the bag—money. Gold coins, silver coins, copper coins—all stacked up.
“… So, could we use this to buy books?”
“Well, purely in terms of money, yes. You could buy quite a few.”
Alright! That settles it!
However—
“If we’re buying, it might be better to go all the way to the royal capital instead of the nearby town.”
Edele-san explains, and I nod. Of course—larger cities with more scholars will have better book distribution.
“The trip to the capital takes two days, with one night along the way. So the question is, who will go…”
… There’s still one problem left.
“See, if someone uninterested in books goes, they might not buy the right kinds.”
Ah, yeah. Given how few people here are literate, I could totally see someone coming back saying, “I bought the second volume!”
That’s exactly what happens when you don’t know or care about books.
“Maybe Lisas-san could go? He seems knowledgeable… and he’s familiar with the capital. If you’re worried, Mishisia-san could go with him…”
Yeah, that’d be fine. Lisas-san and Mishisia-san are trustworthy and serious—they’d follow instructions. But…
“Lisas-san knows the capital and he’s smart. But I feel like he’d get scammed—and pick some weird books at the critical moment.”
“Ahh… I can sort of see that.”
Right? Being kind and being sensible aren’t the same thing. Somehow, I just feel uneasy about his taste!
“Mishisia, though—she seems like she’d pick perfect books. Especially for entertainment… But, I’ve got this slight worry.”
“Yes… that indefinable, tiny sense of unease…”
Yeah. Mishisia-san’s communication skills and energy are top-notch, but that’s why her crisis management worries me just a little…!
“… But I can’t leave the village myself. Should we ask some adventurers?”
“Maybe the ‘Let’s Do It!’ party. They’re enthusiastic… and probably only enthusiastic…”
Adventurers are great for errands if you pay them, even for two-day trips.
But this time? I’d be nervous trusting adventurers with books. Especially those familiar faces who’d shout “Leave it to me!”
“… Guess there’s no helping it. I’ll go too.”
Looks like I’ll have to go along. Well, if I’m there, at least I can think things through. Not much else I can do in this elementary-school-sized body… maybe just be cute.
But then—
“Eh? Asuma-sama, you can leave this place?”
“Come to think of it… I’ve never tried.”
Seeing Edele-san’s shocked face, I realize—yeah, I’ve never actually tried to leave.
So, experiment time.
I’ve got a mental map of “This is my dungeon,” so let’s see if I can step outside that boundary.
Just in case, Lisas-san and Mishisia-san wait nearby in case something happens to me… and—go!
“One step! … Ah, seems fine.”
“Are you sure!? Really sure!?”
“Yeah. One more… two more… just walking…”
Everyone’s nervously watching me, but I keep walking past the dungeon’s boundary. Yep, seems fine. I’m walking, I’m healthy.
“Though, outside the dungeon range, I can’t use dungeon powers… ah, but I can control things remotely.”
As I walk, I run some tests.
I can’t decompose or reconstruct stuff right here, but I can do it inside the dungeon. Also, I can shift my senses—sight and hearing—back inside too. Got it.
Which means, even in the capital, I could stay in touch. Like, if they post a note for me on the bulletin board, I could shift my sight there periodically, read it, and then use reconstruction to leave a written reply.
… That’ll work.
“Alright then—Mishisia-san! Lisas-san! Would you come to the capital with me?”
And so, it looks like I’m finally going to leave Panis Village and go on a little trip.
What do you think about this chapter?
