First Time Visitor

The following days were very, very overloaded with work for every guardians, and of course, this included Falthène. Albedo and Demiurge where revisiting the communication system from scrap, probably a useless thing to do, but he wasn't one to stop their devotion, no matter the useless overwork it made them do, Aura and Mare were busy hiding the uppest part of the tomb to the best of their abilities, and the rest probably were restablishing their authority over their levels. Falthène wasn't as lucky. Thankfully, Lord Momonga retracted his order for him to explore the eight floor, but he still had a lot of work to do, in priority he had to handpick a list of servants worthy of entering the domain of the supreme beings. The guardians was a given, their close following, but then, it was more... tiresome to find competent and deserving servants.

The list he curated, will probably go in the hands of Albedo for a final check before going in the hands of lord Momonga, well, as frustrating that this was, he could trust to some degree the quality of the work the regeant was doing. She will probably be strict however, so it might be better to offer a small list first, and try to submit another one at a later time. Then, he had to check every book present here, to be sure none where lost, but this was more of a personnal thing than an order, Finish his painting, and finally... well, that's it really. Once it's all done, there wont be much more to do for him until the next orders are given.

He was in the middle of checking the stocks when the soft steps of a visitor stopped him in his track. Soft footstep, with still the distinct sound of heels hitting the marbles of the corridor. This wasn't Albedo's footstep, and as far as he knows, mare doesn't wear these kinds of heels. As girly as he dressed, this wasn't part of his dresswear. Not that he was one to judge, if this is what his creator deemed an appropriate way to present himself, then it was, but still, he couldn't help but wonder if the boy wanted to dress as one sometimes.

Anyway, all that to say, this was not someone who came in this library before, not even once. He wondered, should he let Titus deal with it ? Well, he was in the midst of his inventory, while Falthène could see the end of this seemingly endless and pointless endeavor. Might as well let him have his peace, and assume his role as the master and protector of Ashurbanipal. He took out of his inventory a bookmark unusually fancy, slightly magic, and slipped it between two books. Thanks to that little item, he could go back to his activity without looking for his last recensed book for hours. It was on paper a super bookmark, and for the use of his magic, it was really usefull, a must have for any libromancer.

Then, with a flicker of his wings, leaving a beautiful trail of fairy dust in his wake, the red head was in an instant in front of the door opening up, slightly in the air as wind came behind him form the speed of his movement. His speed was, for a spellcaster type, irreal, moreso when realising he wasn't using any boost casted in advance, simply his natural speed stat, and the passive skills of his species class. But the speed of the one entering his sacred temple wasn't anything to laugh at either, as she could even be faster than him in the sky.

"Should i have knocked ?"

"There was no need to, Lady Shalltear. My colleagues are more than welcome to enter this place the way they want to."

A library was a place open to all after all. Well, aside from the forbiden area, but we are not speaking about it. Still, as welcome as the pure vampire was here, her sudden coming was quite surprising. Out of any guardians that never set foot here, the eternaly young vampire wasn't on the top of the list. Still, he as sort of glad that she did, and curious as to why.

"What do i need to thanks for the honor of your presence ?"

She smiled slightly, probably amused by the silver tongue of the fairy that was now back on the ground. "As i finished my tasks, and since Demiurge is in my levels at the moment, i decided it was time to know the mysterious tenth guardian a bit more. We are bound to work together after all, now more than ever before."

Not a bad idea, definitely, as aside from Albedo and Mare, Falthène didn't know many other members of the guild. He was created to be a sort of "Secret Boss", as his purpose isnt to protect the tomb or even the tenth level, but to protect this place and the precious forbiden section. Where resided very important items that could allow invaders to warp in the treasure room before defeating the Supreme Beings in the throne room. It does seem like a very dangerous "self destruct" button... But not a living soul could beat the Supreme Being in the first place, and as his creator said : "Nobody, dead or alive, can beat my creation in his domain, no matter how many they are."

"So, this is the library of Nazarick ?" Oops, Falthène was definitely lost in thought for a moment there.

"Yes, this is Ashurbanipal, the greatest library in the world, probably of this new world too. If you want a book, we most certainly have it here. A Supreme Being even retranscribed books from their world here, thousands and thousands of them."

"Is there a "risqué" section here ? I don't read that much, should as well start with something i might like."

Right, the tastes of the pure vampire were very, very perveted. More than the fairy, who was in his own opinion, quite the pervert himself. Only a bit more functionnal, or well in comparaison of her, a lot more. He could be compared to Demiurge and his relationship with sadism, probably, but he doesn't stand the comparaison as the demon prince has his emotions kept in check at a whole other levels. But even with his strange tastes, Falthène doesn't thirst over his companions... but he had to admit, the vampire was perfectly his type of woman, to a scary degree.

"We have one. Lord Peroroncino has greatly contributed to it, my creator too."

"Master Peroroncino ? I definitely need to read them now. But say Falthène, don't you find it weird ?"

"What should i find weird ?"

"Well, Master Peroroncino and your creator were great friends right ? And i was often alongside Master Peroroncino, at least when he was in the three first levels and sometimes the ninth. But until now, we never met."

That... Would be weird in this reality that's true. He digged in his new memories to find the cause. "It is odd. My creator wasn't one to have me follow him as closely as yours, but he wasn't shy of showing me off."

"And i have heard of you plenty of time too, Master Peroroncino really liked you."

"I have seen him a lot of times in here, sometimes he would look at me rather than at the books. Mhh..."

The answer to that question was held by Momonga, and the duo won't find the answer just yet. As they grew rather bored one particulary low activity week, Peroroncino and Falthène's creator wanted to see wich of their two npc would win in a regular duel. They were both the best theorycrafter after all, with Tabula, so the match between their npcs, dubbed the strongest guardians, would be a sight to behold. And as they discussed it with passion, from a fight it became a whole story arc. Sadly, as Falthène's creator was one of the first one to quit the game, and before they could convince the other members to participate, it went nowhere and Peroroncino did not want to be reminded of it by seeing the two together. There is however, a few line of text in Shalltear's description and Falthène's new description, hinting at what may have been the ending of said arc.

"Should i accompagny you to the section, my lady ?"

"Please do, you seem unphased by my request however. I thought you were more... prudish."

"Oh ? Well, even if i'm an undead, and from a rather innocent species in that aspect, reading and using the dark tomes that have been put under my care do afflict me with some... Needs."

"I thought undeads were immuned to this kind of things ?"

"This is beyond magic. But don't worry, i have it all under control. However if we could manage to catch some habitants of this world and they happened to be my type..."

"You have a type ? Do tell me more, what is that "type" of yours."

"Oh hum, it's a bit specific and complicated to explain... I like corrupted things. People with a heart of gold and shining innocence, corrupted by an extern **** or their own pulsions, like lust or ****. Seeing them fight to gain control over it, and tilting them ever so slightly toward the other side of the line until they cannot come back from it and embrace that darkness withing them, making it shine ever so brightly. Those are the people that get my attention."

"Very specific indeed. But i kind of get it. Like a pale flower with an ungodly thirst for blood getting more beautifull as she sheds it. It's a rather exciting things for vampires too, that's mostly why vampires are young in appearance. Well, at least that's how master Peroroncino explained it to me."

"Exactly. Lord Peroroncino was very knowledgeable on that matter. So, shall we get going ?"

"Sure, i can't let my levels unnatended for too long after all, so we should hast."

... "Unnatended ? Wasn't Demiurge there ?"

"Was he now ? I must have forgotten ~ Let's hurry along fairy, don't keep a lady waiting."

"Huh ? Hum, sure, sure thing Lady Shalltear." Somehow, he felt like he was being played like a mouse. When it came to that, no book could give as much experience as Shalltear had.