The Nameless Extra: I Proofread This World-Chapter 46: Are You Doing Here?

[Calyra’s POV]

Near the towering bookshelves of the upper section, stood a solitary figure, poised within their august shadow. If someone walked past too quickly, they might think she was just another statue the academy put for decoration.

Around her drifted a quiet procession of books, suspended in obedient orbit.

[Guided Levitation].

It was one of the privileges granted to those permitted entry into this sanctified tier of the library. A simple spell that allows any chosen volume to follow its reader.

They circled her now in patient attendance, three at her shoulder, one hovering slightly behind, another reclining in the air near her waist.

But if one was being honest, it’s not the spectacle of the library that caught most eyes at the moment... no, they were all drawn inevitably to that girl instead.

Her hair flowed down her back, white as fresh snow powder, so pale and light that against the sober majesty of the library’s dark wood, it stood in serene contradiction.

Her eyes, when she lifted them from the open page before her, were a deep sapphire blue, bearing the tranquil vastness of the Sea of Laplace itself.

There was a demureness to her bearing, an austerity so natural it seemed so inherent. Even her features were delicate, almost doll-like.

The maiden of such untroubled beauty was none other than Lady Calyra of House Arcanis.

"It’s not here either..."

She said as she traced her hands along the aisles.

"My lady."

"Might I inquire what volume you seek?" A library attendant stood a respectful distance away. Her gaze lingered no higher than Calyra’s shoulder.

Calyra lifted her sapphire gaze toward her, calm as ever, and for a short moment she simply looked at the woman without speaking, not in a rude way, more like she was gently considering how to shape her answer so it came out properly.

Then she spoke in that same soft tone that never seemed to hurry.

"I am searching for a book bearing a crest of nine spiral lines."

"I see. And the title, if it pleases you?"

Calyra raised one pale finger to her chin.

"I do not know," she answered, serenely as before. Not a hint of confusion accompanied the admission.

The attendant bowed, accepting this impossibility without question.

"Understood. I shall locate it for you."

Without another word, she withdrew into the towering aisles.

Calyra kept walking along the aisle for a while, still looking here and there even though, honestly, she already checked most of these shelves before and knew very well there was nothing new hiding there.

Yet, she walked anyway.

"I wonder if it’s still here... it has been years already."

Suddenly, she felt a small ripple brushing against her senses, like a faint knock but made of mana instead of sound, coming from the lower section.

Now, normally, she wouldn’t care much, since people used magic inside the library all the time and nobody made a big deal out of it.

Especially in the upper section, where the academy even provided those convenient little spell formations to help readers, like lifting books down from high shelves or turning pages without touching them.

But the lower section was different, because there weren’t any of those helpful formations there, not even a single one.

While the rules never actually said magic was forbidden down there, the absence of support made it feel like using it would be... strange.

Hence, no one from the lower section would dare to use magic.

She slowed her steps without realizing it, her attention drifting toward the direction of that disturbance.

At first, she told herself she should just ignore it because it really wasn’t her problem and she came here for her own reason, not to poke her nose into whatever odd thing someone else was doing.

But then, just as she was about to dismiss it, another pulse brushed past her senses, softer but clearer, and this one made her brows knit a little.

Those sensations felt a little bit too familiar...

"This mana reaction..."

And that was enough to ruin her intention of minding her own business.

With a small sigh that was half reluctance and half curiosity, she lifted her hand slightly and casted her [Clairevoyant] spell, without the need of any incantation.

The mana gathered obediently as if it already knew what she wanted before she even finished shaping the thought.

Her perception stretched downward through the layers of shelves and floors, slipping quietly toward the lower section.

Until her vision reached a distance where the disturbance was.

The lower section came into view slowly, shapes forming out of blur and arranging themselves into a vision, clear enough to observe.

There, sitting alone as if the whole floor had been reserved just for him, was a dark-haired young man with a sharply defined face.

In front of him rested a massive book, thick enough that most people would need both arms just to carry it.

Calyra’s senses immediately began searching for the source of the mana disturbance she had felt.

And it was then...

What she saw made something inside her jolt in surprise, even though her face did not change even a little.

The cover of the book bore the crest she had been looking for, the nine spiral lines she knew too well.

"It’s really here."

But why was it there, in the lower section?

More than that, why did he have it?

Her focus sharpened without her telling it to. She leaned her sight closer and tried to read the page he was on.

That was when she saw the riddle, and recognition touched her at once, because it was the same riddle taught to her long ago by her master.

"I have to tell him."

Calyra immediately moved to where the young man was, almost rushing—

Bam!

—But then her vision shattered.

Her [Clairvoyant] spell collapsed instantly and dropped her back into the present world. All because she had walked straight into something soft and solid that had not been there a moment ago.

"Ow..."

She landed sitting, touching the floor. Calyra rubbed her head lightly while a voice from in front of her answered in the same tone of pain.

"Ouch, hey!"

Calyra blinked a few times, vision still catching up with reality.

But once it cleared, she saw a woman sitting before her, short emerald hair framing a face she recognised, eyes bright, viridian and amused even now.

The woman looked exactly the same, or maybe that was just how memory liked to preserve her, as if it won’t let her forget it.

Calyra also did notice the softness she had bumped into, which explained the gentle rebound she had felt.

"Well, well~ As I thought. I knew you would be here. Though, has anyone told you it’s not proper to run in a library?"

As if finally recalling the memory, Calyra uttered her name slowly.

"...Silvena? What..."

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[Chapter 46: Are You Doing Here?]