Library of Rain

Newcomer

Rain closed the bathroom door one more time before banging her head against it. This wasn’t working. She’d spent over an hour trying to move her activation point with no success. She didn’t even care where it went anymore; she just wanted it to move. 

If doing this wasn’t going to help, then she needed to take a different approach. 

Rain stepped back to consider her options. She could return to Linette and try to get more information from her. That had a decent chance of providing Rain with better information, but it would also look suspicious for Rain to pester Linette too hard on the subject, particularly if all Rain’s questions showed that she had a better understanding of the process than a non-classer should, almost like Rain had tried to create a skilled item herself. 

Linette was probably too isolated from other nobles to cause problems, but was someone talented and knowledgeable in skilled items like Linette really going to be completely forgotten? Unlikely. She would have some contact with other nobles, and that was an opportunity for things to slip. Rain already felt like she had made it far too easy to connect her to the escaped slaves. She needed to lie low.

The other option was just as bad. Rain could spend one of the uses of ‘Librarian’s Search’ to find the method for creating a skilled Item out of a limited skill and hope it was enough to do what Rain needed.

There was also the chance that Rain could find a book that would give her a skill that worked the same way as ‘Librarian’s Search,’ or even a skill to copy it similar to what Ms. River had. But Rain didn’t know what was in the library, and she needed to be ready for any possibility. If Rain wasted a use of ‘Librarian’s Search’ and it led her to information she could find in the outside world but hadn’t because she failed to practice enough, then Rain would have no one to blame but herself. Like Blondy said, as long as Rain tried to learn as much as she could, she shouldn’t blame herself for what she didn’t know. But that also meant Rain needed to learn as much as she could before acting.

Rain pushed herself off the door. She knew what she would do, but she didn’t want to commit until she thought about it more, just in case she changed her mind. For now, she wanted to move. Being active made her feel like she was accomplishing something.

Peeking into her room, Rain checked that Ise was still asleep. The tangle of limbs and sheets confirmed that she was. Perfect. Rain needed to ask Lucus something. 

She had thought it over when she was recovering from the escape; even if she wasn’t good at fighting, she should still try to learn something. And who better to ask than her brother? He may not be an expert, but he should be able to teach her the basics, and she didn’t have anyone else to ask. Plus, it would be more fun with him.

Rain retrieved Snow, then eased the door to the hall open and checked to see if there were any servants about. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with their black words. Looking each way, Rain confirmed that the hall was clear and scampered across it to knock on Lucus's door.

No reply. Drat, that meant she needed to search for him. 

Rain squeezed Snow.

“You’ll protect me from having to deal with them, right?”

The stuffed wolf didn’t answer, but that was good enough for Rain. She skulked down the hall, trying to be as inconspicuous as a person could while holding a giant stuffed wolf. Needless to say, it didn’t work. The servants found her and made their inken compliments and offers of help. 

Rain tried to emulate Sunrise and smiled at the people, thanking them for their care. It actually became a little entertaining after a while. These people had been working in the same house as Rain for over half a year, yet they still winced when she smiled at them. Rain almost flexed her aura to make these people squirm a little but held herself back. She couldn’t turn her aura off, but flexing it would make her more recognizable than she needed. So instead, Rain tried to pretend she wasn’t angry that these people had forced Ise to work herself too hard.

Rain searched for Lucus in all the usual places: the library, the drill yard, and the kitchen - where she also stole some fruit while the cook tried to pretend he wasn’t furious. Nothing. Rain was pretty confident Lucus hadn’t gone anywhere. His grumpy attitude and dislike for doing things just to fit in left him with few friends outside the two boys he trained with. Rain swayed with Snow before finally giving up and asking one of the liars where he was. 

“Young Master Lucus is being introduced to his new valet. You should prepare to dine with the Lord, Lady, and the Young master tonight. From what I’ve heard, the kitchen was just informed that they should start preparing for a formal dinner.”

Rain thanked the woman for the information and the gossip about dinner. She hoped the woman was right and that the Estoms had realized they weren’t getting anywhere with her if they didn’t include Lucus. But more importantly, why was Lucus suddenly getting a valet? From Rain’s understanding, that would be the equivalent for Lucus that Sunrise was supposed to be for Rain. 

But why was Lucus getting one now, and more importantly, who was he, and could he and Rain be friends?

Rain wandered towards the main sitting room where the Estom’s greeted guests. Sure enough, the doors were closed, and Rain could hear muffled voices. Rain tried to listen at the door to ensure this was just Lucus and their new friend. 

She could hear Lucus and another voice, and she didn’t hear Lady Estom's cold tone or Lord Estom's fake friendliness. It should be safe, then. 

Rain was behind a door that should be out of sight from the guest seats, so it wasn’t likely for them to see her and cause problems for Lucus if she looked inside. With that in mind, she eased the door open to peek at the back of her new maybe friend’s head.

The boy looked to be around Lucus’s age and had his blond hair in a ponytail. That was all Rain could see over the back of his chair. Though as Rain stared at the back of the boy’s head, she couldn’t help but think that the color of his hair was slightly different from the usual shade of blond in the isles. 

Lucus, for his part, was sitting across from the mystery boy with his eyes firmly on Rain.

“What are you doing, weirdo?”

“Eek!” 

Why had he blown her cover like that! Though, she guessed that if he was willing to talk to her, then it was okay for her to come in and meet the new friend.

“Um, well, I was looking for you, and I heard that you were getting a valet, so I wanted to see who it was.” Rain said, kicking the ground. 

“You might as well come in and meet him, weirdo.”

Rain did. As she entered the room, the boy on the couch looked over to see her. He had a plain face with blue eyes and the familiar look of discomfort everyone had around Rain. When Rain rounded the couch and got a good look at him, she saw something she wasn’t expecting: shimmer. It was far lighter than shimmer from a library-touched thing, so he must have a class more natural to the world. That didn’t narrow it down much, though, and it didn’t explain why a classer was trying to apply for a position as personal servant to the scion of a falling house.

“Weirdo this is Svend Tleck. Svend, this is my little sister. Hopefully, you can stop her from bothering me.”

Rain smiled as a puff of lies escaped Lucus’s lips at the end. It seemed he liked being bothered. Rain was already thinking of new ways to spend time with him and Ise. Oh, right, the new threat. She needed to know exactly what he was after. 

“Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“I haven’t heard of House Tleck, is it far?”

“I’m not surprised,” Svend said, rubbing the back of his head. “It's a minor house only known for making beer.” 

Surprisingly, that was true. Still, something was off.

“Oh, then how did you get recommended as a valet for Lucus?”

This was the most important question. If this classer had bad intentions for her brother, she would remove him.

“Lord Estom owed my father a favor, and my father asked that I be taken in so I can spend more time with the elites of the Gathering.”

There it was, a solid fountain of lies. 

“Your father is Lord Tleck?”

Svend looked a little confused at the obvious question.

“Yes. like I said he wanted me to be a part of higher rings of the Gathering.” Svend said hesitantly. 

For anyone watching, he was the perfect image of innocent confusion at the redundant question, but Rain could see more than that; she could see the darkness seeping from his mouth.

This boy was not who he said he was.

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