ã€ŠThe Liberomancer [Isekai Progression LitRPG]ã€‹


 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter One

    I don¡¯t know where things went wrong.

    That is to say, if you could even say that things went wrong. Perhaps this had all been orchestrated by some higher being, as far as I knew. Maybe it was all part of a grander plan.

    But boy did I not see things that way when it all started out.

    I think I can be forgiven for my initial confusion though.

    After all, it had been a normal day. Nothing had been out of the ordinary to even remotely suggest that something like this would happen.

    It was my dog''s; Cheddar''s, birthday that afternoon. And so, I left my dormitory and drove back towards my parent¡¯s house. I wasn''t allowed to take Cheddar with me when I went to college, even though I would¡¯ve loved to- badly.

    No pets allowed in the dorms, unfortunately. And this was an iron-clad rule that I could not get around no matter how many e-mails I sent or phone calls I made.

    On my way back home though, I decided to stop by the local library.

    I don¡¯t know what brought that desire in me to stop by the old library out.

    If you considered how much time I had spent there in total, it would probably add up to a few months. It had been one of my favorite haunts and distractions from the rest of the world growing up.

    Why had I decided to stop by there again? I still can''t seem to remember what prompted me to do it, after all, there was a library at my university- though I guess the selection of books was not so much for entertainment there as they were for information. Maybe it was just nostalgia and the fact that I had been away from home for about four months now, and I just wanted to revisit the place. It had been over a year since I¡¯d last been there.

    Regardless of whatever reason that had gripped me, I had decided that it was a good idea to drop by there for a quick skim of what might be available for light reading before I went back home.

    And this decision, however small it seemed, would have an enormous impact on my life.

    I didn''t find anything that quite caught my eye as I scanned the spines of the books, but at that moment, I heard something.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    It was quite remarkable, now that I reflect on that moment, in that it seemed like I was the only one in the entire library who had heard it.

    After all, this was a library, and it was as quiet as you''d expect one to be. Such a sound must¡¯ve attracted attention from everyone, but it was as if no one could hear it other than myself.

    I heard what sounded like the roaring of a machine, almost like that of a motorcycle being kick started, only amplified. Curious, I turned my head to see where the noise was coming from - to see that there was a door in the same direction as that of the sound.

    Nothing about the door was out of the ordinary, though, once I had time to think about it, I realized it was strange that it existed there at all. I had been to the library countless times in the past, and yet, I couldn''t remember that door existing at any point in my memories. Was this some new addition to the library?

    The noise grew louder the closer I got, and after I opened the door- I felt as if multiple invisible hands had grasped onto me and were dragging me forward.

    The door didn''t seem to lead anywhere - all I saw as I opened it was a rectangle of bright white light which I was pulled through. I heard the door being slammed shut behind me and the light began to dissipate.

    All of that happened in an instant, so that I had no idea what had happened and stood there, dumbfounded, for quite a while.

    When it finally occurred to me that something was off and that I wasn''t daydreaming, I turned around to see - that the door was gone! There was no trace of it, or the library I had come from, anywhere.

    I was somewhere very far from home - that was clear. The sky was still the same azure blue, but I was standing on a road which had been paved with stone. Odd- because nothing in my hometown was made like this road. It seemed like the kind of cobblestone road you''d only see in old movies.

    So, I was just there, standing on a street. I didn''t see anyone, but there were buildings in front of me and a small stream behind me. The buildings were cylindrical at the base, with rounded roofs that ended in points kind of like a gnome''s hat, and which seemed to be made of overlapping tiles in a sort of fish scale pattern.

    I had never seen a house designed like that before- I mean, I''m sure you could build one, but I had never seen architecture quite like it before.

    I took out my phone - I wasn''t getting a signal at all. With no other real options before me, I went down an alleyway, only to immediately run out.

    What I saw first was rather cute - something that looked like an axolotl only the size of a house cat being walked on a leash. I might''ve even wanted to pet it given how much it reminded me of Cheddar in that moment, were it not for the fact that I saw what was holding the other end of the leash.

    The axolotl was being walked by something I could only initially describe as a bipedal crocodile, though once I saw its long legs, slender hands, and the fact that it was dressed in a yellow robe; in addition to its slightly more humanoid facial features did the right word occur to me to describe what I was seeing - a lizardman!

    I thought of that later, as my only immediate reaction was to get away as soon as I could. My first fear was that it would eat me, my second was that it was some kind of alien and I had been kidnapped by a UFO and they were going to harvest my organs or something along those lines.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Two

    I staggered back onto the street I originally started out on only to see a pair of them approach. One of them had bright blue scales while the other had similar dusky green scales as the first one I had seen, and so I ducked into another alleyway, hiding in the shadows as they walked on past, not sparing me another glance.

    I let out a sigh of relief when it looked like they had either not noticed me - or they had noticed me but I was not something of any relevance or interest to them.

    Either way, given these encounters, I did not have the courage to emerge from my hiding place from that alleyway. I stayed there, in the shadows, for what felt like an hour, though it was probably much shorter.

    I had seen more lizardmen pass by, though none of them so much as glanced my way - and it was only when I saw a human that I dared to step out and go back onto that street.

    They looked like they were from Southeast Asia based off their features - and if I had to hazard a guess I would¡¯ve said that he was in his thirties. He was wearing a black robe with a red floral pattern with a red sash tied around his waist. His robe only went to slightly above his knees, and he was wearing sandals that looked like they were made of wood. His hair went down to his shoulders and was neatly combed. No one from my hometown would¡¯ve dressed up like that.

    ¡°Hello,¡± I said, planting myself in his path. He stopped, surprised, but the next words I was going to say dried up in my mouth.

    Up till this point I could¡¯ve deluded myself into thinking that the lizardmen had not noticed me, and that was why I had been safe from them.

    However, now, one of them walked right by us, and didn¡¯t spare either of us a second glance.

    So, that confirmed it for me that they weren¡¯t going to try to roast me over a fire or something along those lines. Also, humans and lizardmen existed in something which resembled peaceful coexistence in this world, given how this other guy didn¡¯t seem to find the presence of one disconcerting in the slightest.

    It was the closest I¡¯d been to one, however, with this lizardman passing by within an arm¡¯s distance of us. I could see their facial features far more clearly and they certainly did have some humanoid features, though the thought that they resembled bipedal alligators was still my strongest impression.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

    ¡°Yes? You wanted something?¡± I was snapped out of my train of thought by the man asking me something.

    Thank heavens he spoke the same language as me! I turned to him and saw that he was looking quite intently at my clothes which very obviously marked me as someone who didn¡¯t belong here. ¡°I uh, got lost here and I was wondering if you could uh, help me get back home¡­ you see, I was at a library and then there was this door, which led here¡­ so is there like, another door that goes¡­ away from here¡­ maybe?¡±

    I tried to tell the story of how I¡¯d arrived here in a somewhat coherent manner, but had likely failed to do so as his perplexed expression remained throughout my narration.

    ¡°So, what is the name of this place you¡¯re from?¡± he asked. An entirely reasonable question.

    ¡°Earth,¡± I told him, and then started telling him my address before finally asking him if he had seen any magical doors that led to different places. Maybe they were quite common wherever we were?

    By now, though, he had an exasperated look on his face. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t know- ask someone else, would you?¡± he said and then dashed off saying he had somewhere to be.

    I tried to chase after him, but he glared at me while walking away, and that was enough to dissuade me from following him.

    Oh well, he couldn¡¯t have been the only human in this place, could he? And now that I knew I wouldn¡¯t be hunted on site by the lizardmen, it made sense to try to look for other people.

    Before that however, I tried to go back to where I thought I had come from to see if perhaps, it would magically take me back home somehow. No such luck, and no similar door to the one that I had seen before in the library appeared. It looked like my only option, assuming that I wasn¡¯t dreaming, was to go and find someone else. I decided to try to avoid these lizardmen for now.

    I still ended up passing by a few of them, though like my experiences had been up till now, none of them seemed to be in any way curious as to what or who I was.

    I didn¡¯t see anything like a car or any other motor vehicle, and there were no lampposts like you¡¯d see at home. Some of the streets were not even made of cobblestone but were just dirt, and I didn¡¯t see anything resembling a modern sidewalk made of pavement as I scuttled about, not even sure what it was that I was looking for.

    I tried glancing at some of the signs, but they were written in a language that I did not understand whatsoever, and I didn¡¯t see any writing even vaguely resembling English. The writing was mainly a collection of pictures, so it seemed like something like Egyptian hieroglyphics.

    About twenty minutes later, I came upon what looked like a market street which was wide and flanked with small stalls on both sides. People, most of whom were lizardmen, milled about, though occasionally you would see a human. I even saw more of those large axolotls so they seemed to be popular pets here. Aside from the stalls, there were also large shops, many of which were selling what looked like manuscripts written in the same strange lettering that I had seen earlier. I saw no point in going to them.

    Much like with the people, there were occasionally stalls that were run by humans. I went to one of them.

 The Country of the LIzardmen: Chapter Three

    The owner of the stall was dressed much like the person I¡¯d seen earlier- and shared the same Southeast Asian features I¡¯d noticed earlier. No doubt he was a bit startled by my strange appearance, but like any experienced merchant, did not let it show on his face before a potential customer.

    He was selling fruit which sort of looked like pears from back home but had a slightly bluish hue to them. ¡°I uh, have come from somewhere far away, does this money work here?¡± I took out my wallet. I didn¡¯t have much cash in it, given that you can do so much with credit cards and online banking. However, from what I had seen of this place, there wasn¡¯t even any electricity, let alone anything that could resemble a credit card payment terminal.

    The man took the five dollar bill I handed him and examined it with some interest, though he handed it back to me. ¡°I can¡¯t read what¡¯s on it, but that won¡¯t pass for money here. Three-tenths of a Denarius for a quarter kilogram is the going rate, if you¡¯re wondering.¡±

    I then noticed something I hadn¡¯t earlier - the man¡¯s lip movements were not matching what he said. I was hearing English, but he was almost definitely not speaking English. For whatever reason this handy translation feature didn¡¯t apply to anything written down, as I couldn¡¯t read what the sign over his stall said. I didn¡¯t think that the man I had spoken to earlier near the alleyway was speaking English either.

    ¡°How about these?¡± I asked him. I had some loose change which I handed over. He looked at them closely before shaking his head and handing them back to me. No dice there.

    I spent the next few hours walking up and down the road, looking at the stalls, and asking anyone whose attention I could get if they knew a way back home. I didn¡¯t see rows of doors leading to other dimensions anywhere, and while most people were vaguely interested enough in what I had to say by the time I started rambling about a different world and cars and whatnot, at that point, if they were nice they would suddenly remember they had to go somewhere and walk off. If they were rude, they would just call me a lunatic, and if they were especially unpleasant or just having a bad day, threaten to punch me.

    I saw several things that you couldn¡¯t find on Earth. I saw a person lighting up a stove with his bare hands - so magic seemed to be a thing here. When I asked around where I was, I managed to figure out that I was in a city called Arconia, which was a city in a kingdom called Chipker. I had never heard of those names before, and likewise, no one here had heard of my address before either.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    Everyone I saw was a human who had the same Southeastern Asian features, or a lizardman.

    After looking around, I also saw what looked like a different script from the odd hieroglyphic-like writing that I had seen earlier. I couldn¡¯t read it either though as I didn¡¯t even recognize any of the letters.

    The day dragged on with no progress having been made to find a way back home. My stomach growled, but none of the stalls would take the money that I had. By sundown, the market had closed, and I was left wandering the streets, feeling tired and defeated.

    I found a quiet corner under a tree somewhere, and then nearly passed out as I slumped onto the ground. My legs ached as I had walked far more than I was used to. I couldn¡¯t even remember the last time I¡¯d had to walk around this much.

    Despite everything else that was going on, I couldn¡¯t help but think of home - and not just because a warm room and a meal would be waiting for me there; things that I could normally take for granted. No, I was wondering about how much time had passed since I had left. Were my parents worried about me? Perhaps they would call the police when they realized I hadn¡¯t shown up, and they would find my car parked near the library. Then they would look for me in the library, and if that door still worked, more people would find their way here to this world.

    Was that a good thing? I mean, all that would accomplish would be that there were more people like me in this world. But perhaps we could find a way to survive together even if there wasn¡¯t a way back. I would at the very least appreciate a friendly face, if nothing else.

    Would the door even work now? I hadn¡¯t seen it earlier despite having been to that library multiple times, but I really hoped that it hadn¡¯t just appeared only for me.

    Yeah, I just needed to take a quick nap, and help would be arriving soon.

    My last thoughts drifted to Cheddar before I dozed off. ¡°Sorry buddy couldn¡¯t make it for your birthday¡­¡± Sure, he was a dog and didn¡¯t really understand the fact that it was his birthday or what that meant, but the main thing was that he would¡¯ve been so happy to see me again.

    We had only been apart a few months, though to a dog; that must¡¯ve felt like a lifetime. Heck, even to me, it felt like a lifetime.

    I was jolted awake as someone splashed water on my face. ¡°Get up!¡±

    I got up, groggy and not sure of where I was. Had it all been a dream? I hoped so, but as I came to I saw that I was still under that very same tree, and a very angry-looking lizardman was glaring at me. He was the source of the water that had me soaked and feeling cold.

    He sounded quite angry. It was hard to tell facial expressions with the lizardman, but I thought I could see his eyes narrow and nostrils flare up.

    ¡°Who said you could sleep here? Get out!¡± Apparently he owned the place including this garden with the tree in it, and I had fallen asleep on his property. I muttered a hasty apology as I walked as far away from him as quickly as I could, while I could hear him muttering about how he should¡¯ve built a fence to keep people out a long time ago.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Four

    The market from yesterday was gone, and so I tried once again to return to the place where I had originally come from.

    Again, there was no door, and again, I couldn¡¯t read anything that was written anywhere.

    Again, no one seemed to believe me when I told them where I was from.

    Some people were kind enough to point me in the direction of where another market was being held, but this really wasn¡¯t all that helpful given the fact that no one was willing to accept my money.

    By evening, I had to come to a sobering realization: If someone was going to come rescue me, they would¡¯ve come by now, or I would¡¯ve heard of some more weird people wearing weird clothes like me from other people I¡¯d spoken with.

    Either that or I would¡¯ve seen them myself. And if a way back was going to miraculously appear, I likely would¡¯ve found it by now.

    The fact that I hadn¡¯t seen anyone dressed in strange clothing that looked like it was from Earth meant that there likely was no easy way to go from here to there and vice-versa.

    Which meant that for whatever reason, it looked like I was stuck here for the time being; all on my own.

    My growling stomach urged me to find something to fill it. I started wandering around, no longer asking about a way home, but instead asking if anyone wanted to buy my shoes.

    Of everything I had on me, I thought of those as the only things that I could give up that might have some value to them that I could do without. Sure, there was also my phone, but its battery had already run out, so the most I could advertise it as was a glorified mirror, and I wanted to hang onto it in case it happened to be helpful at some point.

    Forty minutes later, I walked along the street, barefoot, but with a pouch of coins in my hand. It wasn¡¯t so odd to walk around barefoot here, most of the lizardmen and even some of the humans walked around barefoot, so I wasn¡¯t too out of place¡­ unless you noticed my facial features or everything else I was wearing.

    I counted twelve denarii in my hands- they were silver coins slightly bigger than a quarter, and they were designed so that they could easily be broken up into ten pieces in case you needed to buy something a fraction of one. They had the image of a lizardman wearing a laurel crown on one side and an axolotl on the other, as well as some text that I, of course, could not read.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    I saw a lot of stalls selling smoked fish so I assumed it was probably something very popular here, and after seeing a human buy one of them I was mostly reassured that it wouldn¡¯t poison me.

    I don¡¯t think I would¡¯ve eaten something like this out of choice, but it was cheap enough that I could make the money I had last about a week if I only ate this.

    I still had some hope, no matter how infinitesimally small, that I would be found so long as I stayed in the area.

    I didn¡¯t dare waste any coins on accommodation unless I absolutely had to; like in the case if it was raining- I wanted to make my money last as long as possible for the worst-case scenario that help was not coming anytime soon.

    I slept on someone¡¯s porch that night, though I made it a point to wake up before anyone would notice and left before I could get another face full of cold water.

    Now that I was no longer starving, my thoughts kept going back to my family.

    It was day three of me being in this place, and if there wasn¡¯t some sort of strange time dilation going on, they would definitely have been worrying about me. My parents certainly would have - Cheddar though, he would¡¯ve just thought it was another day that I hadn¡¯t visited him.

    The guilt of leaving him behind, even if I didn¡¯t really have any other option, washed over me when my darker thoughts overwhelmed me. I had had him since I was fifteen and we had been inseparable since, and he could not understand why we couldn¡¯t be together every day, but was always so happy to see me when I was able to come back home.

    When my thoughts were at their darkest, I couldn¡¯t help but think that if I died in this world and didn¡¯t return, Cheddar would have no idea what had happened to me. He would not understand why I never came to visit him again.

    He¡¯d just stay there at home, for years on end until he passed away, eagerly anticipating my return - something that would never happen.

    My parents would be distraught, wondering where I had gone without leaving a trace.

    No- I told myself.

    I had to try to remain positive, even if I was in perhaps the most hopeless situation I could¡¯ve imagined myself in. As a thought experiment I had sometimes wondered what I would do if I were stranded on a remote island - but this was worse than that. Still, help might be on the way, and even if it wasn¡¯t, surely there was a way back to Earth?

    There had to be, if I could travel from the Earth to here, there must have been a way to do the opposite.

    In the meantime, I tried to find a job because my money wasn¡¯t going to last forever, but the thing was that everyone I asked who I told that I was looking for work wanted someone who could read - and I couldn¡¯t, at least, not the writing of this world. I would¡¯ve been fine with something just involving manual labor, even if I probably wouldn¡¯t have lasted long in that kind of a job, but I couldn¡¯t find anything like that. At least, not long term.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Five

    I did get odd jobs here and there from time to time, but these opportunities were scarce and no one wanted to hire me as a regular.

    Once, I was able to negotiate unloading some boxes for a sack of apples. Another time, I helped paint a fence for some fish.

    That was all I could get. I tried my hand at a construction site one day when they needed to unload some bricks, but I lacked the strength to go more than two hours without collapsing and was kicked out. The foreman gave me a sympathetic look but told me that I just wasn¡¯t cut out for the job. ¡°We have a quota to meet kid, and I can¡¯t cut anyone any slack.¡±

    Back on Earth, I was an English major, and it was a widespread joke that people like me who majored in English wouldn¡¯t have any job opportunities when they graduated and would end up unemployed.

    A cruel irony, then, that even in this other world where lizardmen and magic existed, there was still no gainful employment for an English major.

    One night, it rained so heavily that I couldn¡¯t find shelter elsewhere and was forced to sleep in an inn. Don¡¯t get me wrong, it was nice to sleep on a bed for once, but I had to spend almost half of the money I had at that point even though it was very obviously a low-class inn. I spent the day after scratching myself constantly as the mattresses seemed to have been full of bedbugs.

    My funds were slowly but surely evaporating, and there were several days where I couldn¡¯t even find the chance to do even basic menial chores to get something out of the day. It wasn¡¯t like LinkedIn existed in this world, and wandering through the streets asking for work oftentimes yielded nothing.

    Because the first question that I was asked was whether I could read and write.

    And it wasn¡¯t like it would be easy to learn- the hieroglyphic-like script which was the most prevalent script was so far removed from English I couldn¡¯t see myself mastering it even if I was given five years to do so. And that was assuming someone would be willing to teach me. They didn¡¯t have public school in this world, and if I had the money to hire a tutor I would¡¯ve done something else with the money like open up a cabbage stall. Perhaps I could use some of my knowledge from Earth to invent something useful that didn¡¯t exist yet - but that would require having some money to invest in such a startup.

    A week passed. I found myself often, sometimes subconsciously, wandering near the same place where I had come from.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    No luck. No door appeared again. No easy way back home materialized either.

    And by then, I had lost all hope of being ¡®rescued¡¯ in some way or the other.

    However, the next day wasn¡¯t so bad. An old lady had some weeds that needed to be removed, and though the work was a bit dirty and tiring, it was still doable even by someone with my physique, and I was rewarded with some potato stew.

    She had actually been kind enough to invite me into her home when I was done with the job. Most people would offer me work, but they wouldn¡¯t let me inside their houses.

    At this point, I very much looked the part of a homeless man - no shoes, hadn¡¯t showered in a week, hadn¡¯t combed my hair, dirt all over my face, etc. It was no wonder that people didn¡¯t want me to come inside their houses, now that I thought about it. Aside from that time I had been at that inn, I hadn¡¯t been inside a building before.

    It looked like it had been a fine place at one time, but had clearly been neglected as there were signs that some areas hadn¡¯t been cleaned in a few weeks. More likely than not, the old lady who owned the place was getting on in years and had trouble keeping up with the place.

    ¡°How was the stew?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Oh, very nice,¡± I told her. Now that my bowl was empty, I made to get up and leave.

    ¡°Sit a while longer, won¡¯t you dear? Hardly anyone comes by here anymore,¡± she said, tugging on my sleeve. I obliged, given I really had nothing else to do as she went into a brief story of her life. Her husband had passed away five years earlier, and she had no children. Her relatives all lived far away, and so she spent her days taking care of the house as best as she could. ¡°But it never gets easier, you know?¡±

    She then got up to take out an incense stick, which she lit before a statue of an owl with four heads - all of which were pointed in different directions. If I had to hazard a guess, I¡¯d have to say that it was made to imply that it was looking north, south, east, and west all at once.

    It was the first time I had seen any kind of religious activity in this world, and I didn¡¯t want to offend her by asking something very basic - still, perhaps she would forgive me as an ignorant foreigner if it really came down to it? And if I didn¡¯t ask, I wouldn¡¯t know.

    ¡°Sorry for asking, but who are you praying to?¡±

    She did not immediately answer as she bowed her head before the statue, and I realized that she was still in the middle of her worship, so I kept my trap shut. Regardless of what world you lived in, that much was common sense. Four minutes later, she finished, walked back to her seat, and said, ¡°I was offering my respects to Uluka.¡±

    ¡°Who?¡± I asked.

    ¡°The mount of Serragnin,¡± she said, with an air of ¡®that should be obvious¡¯ to it. Unfortunately, I had no idea what that meant, even if it was obvious to her.

    ¡°Who¡­ is Serragnin?¡± I asked her.

    She looked at me as if I had made a terrible joke, and then, on realizing that I was serious, widened her eyes. ¡°Are¡­ are you serious, child? What kind of backwater do you come from? Or is Serragnin known by some other name where you come from?¡±

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Six

    ¡°Um, maybe,¡± I told her. ¡°She might be known by a different name where I come from - if you could be so kind as to tell me more about her, it might jog my memory.¡±

    She didn¡¯t answer this directly, instead, she took out a glass, and then filled it with water.

    She did so with a stream of crystal clear water that erupted from the palm of her hand- magic, in other words. I sorely wanted to ask her where she had learned to do that, but that was when she started talking. ¡°Long ago, the land was nothing more than wastelands and deserts. There was a village near the base of a mountain where it would rain, giving the village life, though one year, there was a terrible drought. The crops began to wither in the soil, and soon water was more valuable than gold. One day, a young woman came by the village. The villagers told her to leave, as they were already greatly thirsty and could not share what little water they had with an outsider. The woman, rather than leaving, began to sing.¡±

    ¡°She sung a song of water, describing how water was cold, how it was the elixir of life, and its various properties. She wrote this poem upon the desert sands using nothing more than her finger, and as the winds carried the lettering away, the villagers were astonished as cold, clear water, began to pour out of both of her palms. Soon, many of their pitchers were filled, but the villagers were not satisfied. After all, it was but a small stream of water, and they still had over a thousand mouths that still thirsted.¡±

    ¡°And so, the woman flew to the top of the mountains. She spent many months at the top, meditating upon the nature of water and its properties. The villagers, knowing that something special was happening - even if they didn¡¯t know what exactly, supported her. And so, one day, the fruits of her labor materialized as an epic of the rains and rivers. And thereupon, a mighty river began to emerge. It flowed down the mountain, and then spread its veins throughout the continent, bringing life and greenery to places which hadn¡¯t seen rainfall in over a century. And so, life began to grow - and the woman named this mighty river the Ragini.¡±

    The old lady had seemingly finished her story.

    ¡°And the woman who did this was the Goddess Serragnin?¡± I asked.

    She nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t know where you come from, I don¡¯t recognize the name of the place, however, wherever it is, it likely owes its lifeblood to the Ragini and its many branches in some regard. Without it, the continent would not be even half as populated as it is now. And so, you should also pay your respects to her and her vehicle.¡± She gestured towards the owl statue, and I figured that at this point ¡®when in Rome, do as the Romans do,¡¯ approached the statue, and bowed my head before it much like she had done. She nodded in approval as I went back to my seat. I fidgeted with my feet before I finally figured I had nothing to lose by asking: ¡°Could you teach me that spell you used to make water?¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    She chuckled to herself. ¡°If I was younger, it would not be a problem. But these eyes of mine can¡¯t see well, and my hands shake somewhat. I couldn¡¯t write out the grimoire, and even if I could, you can¡¯t read, can you dear? So what use would it be to you?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I can¡¯t read,¡± I said for what felt like the thousandth time since I had come to this world, encountering that barrier yet again. ¡°At least, not this place¡¯s language.¡±

    She paused. ¡°So, do you not have a grimoire from your own language that you could use?¡±

    ¡°Grimoire?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°To learn magic from?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­ no¡­?¡± I told her. I wasn¡¯t sure what she was talking about. I had seen people use magic, but I had had other priorities on my mind rather than trying to learn it. And from what I had understood, learning magic required knowing how to read, so I thought it was beyond me for the moment.

    She clasped her hands over her face. ¡°Heavens- my father, gods bless his soul, became senile towards the end of his life. He would often forget what day it was or even where he was, but even he was not as lost as you seem, child.¡±

    She sighed, and then walked over to a cabinet where she removed a few things.

    She returned with an ink brush, and a well containing some ink. She also brought out a sheet of blank yellowish paper along with a few that had writing upon them. She shuffled through the ones that had writing on them until she happened upon one and laid it out before me. ¡°This- if you could read this, you would be able to [Create Water] as well.¡±The letters on the pages were written with black ink but had a strange greenish glow to them.

    Needless to say I still couldn¡¯t read what was on them, though I made note of the fact that this rune-like script was quite different from the hieroglyphic-like one I had also seen, but what I hadn¡¯t noticed until then was that the lizardmen used the hieroglyphics and the humans used the rune-like writing.

    I filed that bit of information away, thinking that it might be useful in the future.

    She picked up the brush and began to write on the blank piece of paper. Though the letters seemed to be a bit off while her hands shook, they had an eerie blue glow to them, much like the green glow of the other papers. ¡°This is about as good as I can do,¡± she said. Her hands started trembling to the point that she couldn¡¯t so much as make a straight line, and I probably couldn¡¯t tell, but the letters must have been way off. Sighing, she handed me the brush. ¡°See if you can write something that might make a grimoire?¡±

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Seven

    ¡°Write what?¡± I asked her. I had occasionally considered noting down my experiences here in case I ever got home - but had given up on the idea as I had nothing to write on or to write with. As it was, even if I did I was pretty sure that my memoire titled, ¡®Being Homeless In Another World¡¯ was not going to sell very well.

    ¡°Write something important that you know - that grimoire gave the [Create Water] spell,¡± she said. ¡°And it has the story I told you written upon it. Think of an important poem or piece of literature that you¡¯ve been told.¡±

    I wasn¡¯t sure what to make of this, but if she wanted me to write something with significance that I remembered, I decided to write out Polonius Advises Laertes, by William Shakespeare, a section of Hamlet. I had recently studied it in depth and remembered it quite well, enough to write it out from memory.

    The brush, however, took some getting used to, and it was far more like painting than writing, but I managed to get the words out onto the sheet of paper. All throughout, I noted the faint blue glow that emanated from the letters as I wrote them. Once I was done, the glow vanished, and I felt a sense of fatigue as the letters turned green.

    ¡°A successful grimoire! On your first try, no less,¡± the granny said, sounding somewhat impressed. ¡°Ah, I haven¡¯t seen a script like this before.¡±

    I decided to read over my work. As I was done, I felt yet another sense of fatigue wash over me, as if in addition to the work I¡¯d done that day, I had also hiked for over an hour.

    And then, several other things happened.

    One, the paper I had written on crumbled to dust, and the dust was carried away even though there was no wind, until nothing remained of my writing or the paper I had written it on.

    Two, I had an odd sensation within myself, as if something had ¡®awakened¡¯ in me that was always there but I just had not noticed it before. There were three empty spaces within my mind, and one of those spaces had been filled with information from the poem I had just read.

    Third, I had gained a point towards ¡®Wisdom.¡¯ I didn¡¯t know how I knew this, there was no notification that flashed before my eyes, I just knew it as certainly as I could feel my right hand. I had gained +1 towards that stat.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    Fourth, I became aware of something I could only describe as a ¡®mana bar.¡¯ I had exhausted half of it in doing whatever I did. Again, I couldn¡¯t see an actual bar in front of me, I just instinctively knew how much I had left. It was a remarkable feeling, like I had always known how much mana I had and that I had always had a mana bar, only that I had just now remembered where it was.

    Despite all of this, one fact stood out the most.

    ¡°What the hell is this nonsense?!¡± I screamed, though I instantly took note of what kind of company I was in and apologized for my language.

    Books were a consumable item in this world? As in, pages disappeared after you had read them? Wasn¡¯t one of the great things about books that you could give them to someone else after you had read them?

    ¡°My, my,¡± the granny said. ¡°Did you discover a new grimoire?¡±

    ¡°No, it¡¯s a well-known work of literature from where I come from,¡± I told her. ¡°Do¡­ does writing always do that?¡± I gestured to the place where that piece of paper had been.

    She sighed and muttered ¡°¡­practically the village idiot¡­¡± under her breath, though I heard her loud and clear. She then paused and scratched her chin. ¡°Child, if you could do this, why did I see you wandering around the streets like a beggar? Surely you can get better employment than as a weed picker if you could do this.¡±

    ¡°Do what?¡±

    ¡°Write more of what you just did,¡± she said exasperatedly, as if it should have been obvious. She asked me to follow her and pointed me in a certain direction. She then handed me another piece of paper and the brush. ¡°Make another copy of what you had just made, and take it there. You¡¯ll find some large shops which sell grimoires. They might be run by lizardmen, but they¡¯ll gladly take someone who can write in a foreign language. Tell them that you can write more grimoires like this. They¡¯ll employ you.¡±

    I hesitated a bit. Naturally, even in a foreign world, I felt more kinship with humans than with lizardmen. ¡°Uh, can¡¯t you just teach me?¡±

    She sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t have the time or patience for such things, and my memory grows foggy. Not to mention I have no desire to set up a bookstore. Go, tell them you would like to be an apprentice scribe, they will accept you.¡± She said this with finality, before a small smile came upon her face. ¡°But, why don¡¯t you stay for dinner first?¡±

    The next morning, I did in fact walk over in the direction she had pointed me in. There were quite a few of what looked like bookstores there. The first one I walked into kicked me out the moment they saw me, so no luck there.

    The second one I walked into; I was immediately greeted by a bright green lizardmen who said, ¡°What can I help you with, human?¡± There was some slight disdain in his voice, which was quite pronounced when he said ¡®human.¡¯

    I remembered what that old lady had told me. ¡°I uh, wanted to be an apprentice scribe.¡±

    ¡°Oh? You can write?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but not in your language,¡± I said. I held out a copy of what I had written earlier. It had the same green glow to it, though I found that after reading it, this one didn¡¯t burn up for some reason. However, writing it had still drained my mana. ¡°This is a grimoire from my country.¡±

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Eight

    The lizardman took the piece of paper from my hands. ¡°A wisdom-granting grimoire, hmm¡­¡± There was a curiosity in his voice now which hadn¡¯t been there before. ¡°...and in a foreign language, no less.¡± He looked at me, noticed how I was dressed, and even though lizardmen facial expressions were hard to read, I could tell that he did not approve of my attire. The old lady had helped me clean up a bit, but all that did was make me look like I¡¯d had a rather bad week rather than a bad month.

    My appearance did not dissuade him from inviting me inside the shop, however. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a room in which about half a dozen lizardmen were writing on pieces of paper. He led me beyond this room and up a flight of stairs. These stairs were broader and steeper than I was used to, likely because they were made to accommodate the lizardmen¡¯s proportionately larger feet.

    He stopped outside a well-furnished office and told me to wait while he went in. A few minutes later, he opened the door and ushered me inside.

    The room was richly decorated, with an axolotl even larger than the ones I had seen before resting on a set of cushions near the window. It was a rich pink color, and was napping, though my attention immediately went from it to the lizardman sitting behind a desk.

    I was not entirely sure, but from what my limited experience was, this was a female. She had bright scarlet scales, and there were a set of books stacked on her desk in a neat pile. The floor of the office was decorated with a bearskin rug, onto which I hesitantly stepped.

    ¡°Quite interesting,¡± she said as she held the piece of paper I had written. ¡°Can you make anything else apart from this?¡±

    I said, ¡°Yes.¡± I was not actually sure whether or not I could, but my gut was telling me that if I could turn one part of Shakespeare¡¯s work into a grimoire, I could turn another part as well.

    ¡°Do you have one of them with you?¡±

    ¡°Sorry, no, but I can make another one if you¡¯d give me some paper and something to write with,¡± I told her.

    Unfortunately, she also did not have anything resembling a modern day pen. The brushes she had were also made for lizardmen hands, so they were a bit unwieldy in mine, but I had to make do.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    She laid down a piece of paper and invited me to sit with her. Now that I was actually tasked with the prospect of writing something - what was it going to be?

    I hesitated for a moment before I settled on Shakespeare¡¯s Sonnet 95. I had not memorized most of his work verbatim, but that one was stuck in my mind word for word.

    I started writing.

    ¡°Ah, I see,¡± she said while observing what I was doing. ¡°You write left to write¡­¡±

    I felt a similar sense of fatigue when I had finished, but thankfully, the text glowed a gentle green once I was done. She took it, and exclaimed, ¡°A mana raising grimoire? Why didn¡¯t you lead with this instead of the other one?¡± So that was how it worked- you could tell what a grimoire did when you picked it up in your hands instinctively.

    The other lizardman, who had been standing behind me without saying anything, let out a small gasp.

    ¡°Ah, forgive me,¡± she said. ¡°My name is-¡± She told me her name, but I¡¯m not sure how to describe it. The lizardmen language contained some sounds like hissing or screeching which you couldn¡¯t replicate with a human mouth, as well as occasional slams with their tails. They had three noises they could make with their tails which they also used while adding to their speech- one was a quick slap on the ground, the other was a harder noise akin to a human stomp, and the third sounded like the crack of a whip. These sounds were incorporated as syllables within their language, though thankfully whatever magic was in the air turned this into something comprehensible so normally I wouldn¡¯t even pay attention to them doing it.

    At least, normally it did. Names were not something that were easily translatable. Her name sounded like, ¡°Lar-screech-smack-der-hiss.¡± It likely had a meaning within the lizardmen language, though when it was said as a name, it was not translated. I decided to call her Lauren in my head, because it was the closest thing that resembled a pronounceable name to me.

    She then smiled at me. Lizardmen smiles were peculiar - not in the least because this was only the second time since coming to this world that I had seen one smile. The only other time was when a lizardman with gray scales, after listening to my story, seemed to take pity on me and gave me some fruit free of charge. He had a small smile on his lips as he did so. He probably did so to appear reassuring, though, with their sharp teeth exposed, in all honesty their smiles were more frightening than reassuring to look at. ¡°So, you wish to join us?¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes, I do,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Oh, you have me at a disadvantage.¡±

    ¡°My name is Stefan Dawson,¡± I told her. A bit of confusion passed through her eyes - she likely was not very familiar with human names, but she probably had not heard a name like that before. ¡°I come from a country very far to the west of here, you probably have never heard of it.¡± I had learned a bit of geography regarding this world from my limited time here, the world from what I could tell was a single large Pangea-like continent. Chipker was near the east coast of the continent, and so saying that I came from a place far to the west hopefully wouldn¡¯t invite many questions.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Nine

    ¡°I see,¡± Lauren said. She seemed somewhat pleased that I was not a native to the country - which might have sounded strange, but I thought I understood why this was.

    There was definitely some friction between the humans and the lizardmen in Arconia which I had discovered in my time there. I wasn¡¯t sure of the full details, but things were not as cordial between the two factions as I¡¯d initially thought. In truth, they seemed to just tolerate each other¡¯s presence more often than not. Case in point, the way that lizardman had said ¡®human¡¯ with disdain earlier. Maybe there had been a war between the two? I couldn¡¯t be sure, but I did note that many lizardmen treated me better once they realized I wasn¡¯t from this country - as if they were reassured that while I was human, I wasn¡¯t ¡®one of those humans.¡¯

    It was the opposite for the humans though, who, once they saw that I wasn¡¯t from here, usually became suspicious with few exceptions. And they understood that I wasn¡¯t from here once they got a closer look at my facial features - it was a bit disappointing when initially, from a distance, they¡¯d see me and be relaxed only to tense up as I got closer and they realized that I didn¡¯t look right somehow.

    As for the lizardmen, I guessed they had as much trouble differentiating human faces as I did lizardmen faces, so they probably didn¡¯t even notice I wasn¡¯t from around here until I mentioned it.

    ¡°Well then,¡± she continued. ¡°I have no problem with you joining us. Ah, first let us discuss the terms of your contract.¡±

    Although she said that, the lizardmen behind me stepped forward and started talking about things like working hours, how much I would be paid, etc. He threw around a lot of figures, and though I roughly had an idea of how much a denarius was worth in this world, I really couldn¡¯t get a handle on what these figures actually translated to.

    A day¡¯s manual labor would pay between six and eight denarii, and the cost of staying at a very low-class inn for a night was four denarii. You could feed yourself, so long as you weren¡¯t too picky, for three denarii a day.

    As such, the pay of sixteen denarii a day and a ten percent cut of the profits of anything I managed to sell sounded much better than what I was doing before, but was it a ¡®fair¡¯ wage for what I was doing? Or was I being scammed? I had no reference to go off on, and so I ended up just nodding along, saying it was all good.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°Then, let¡¯s get you started immediately,¡± Lauren said.

    I was taken outside the office by the other lizardmen, who introduced himself as, ¡°Mar-hiss-bump-tr.¡± I decided to call him ¡®Mark¡¯ in my head.

    He started giving me some more details on how the shop ran. Lauren was the shop¡¯s actual owner, but being a Rank Three Liberomancer she was extremely busy with other things, and so it was Mark, a Rank Two Liberomancer, who actually oversaw the day-to-day operations of the shop.

    I didn¡¯t know at the time what the ranks of Liberomancy meant, but from what he was saying, it appeared that the higher the number, the more important you were.

    He led me to the room which was used for writing grimoires - where I had seen the half-dozen lizardmen before.

    Now though, I got a better look at them. They were all focused on what they were doing, and what drew my attention was that one of them was writing using his tail. I had known that the lizardmen had prehensile tails to some extent, but I didn¡¯t know that they were good enough to write with. The other five all wrote with their hands, however, and all of them were right handed.

    Mark cleared his throat and they all turned their heads to look at him, and with some startled looks, noticed my presence. ¡°This is Stefan, he will be joining us as a scribe from today onward,¡± Mark said.

    There was some awkward silence. ¡°Pull the other one,¡± a voice answered. Even I could hear the disbelief in his voice.

    ¡°Yes, I know that having a human among us is somewhat unorthodox, but, rest assured, this is no joke, he will be working as one of you all, and I pray that you all can get along with him,¡± Mark said.

    They didn¡¯t seem to have fully accepted those words, but at the same time, they didn¡¯t seem to object to them either and after a few moments of hesitation, they all decided to go back to work.

    Mark helped me set up a place to work. I was handed a slender brush, and as I moved to write, I suddenly became self-conscious of one thing.

    I was left handed. That wasn¡¯t much of an issue back on Earth, but I remembered stories of what my mother and grandmother, who were both also left handed, had told me. My grandmother had been made to do everything with her right hand, as it was ¡®wrong¡¯ to use your left hand for things - she would get a rap on the knuckles if she were to ever use her left hand for anything. She was a bit more lenient with my mother, but even she had been trained to use her ¡®correct¡¯ hand at a young age. All the lizardmen used their right hands - aside from the one writing with his tail, that was. Would it be too conspicuous for me to use my left hand? Would they find it weird?

    After some internal deliberating, I decided that I was greatly overthinking this and just started writing. I made another copy of Shakespeare¡¯s Sonnet 95. I didn¡¯t read it myself though, as that would likely not fly if I was using company resources for my own purposes.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Ten

    My mana was drained after making two copies of Sonnet 95, and I handed both of them to Mark, who took them away. There was an area in front of this room, which was the actual shop that the customers visited. For now though, there wouldn¡¯t be buyers for anything I made until they advertised it a bit, but Mark was confident that people would come soon enough.

    It took four hours for my mana to come back completely, though in this time, I had thought of writing something different. Till now, I had only written things other people had written, but I decided to write out one of my own poems.

    It was a poem about summer, and one I had written a few months back. I didn¡¯t remember it verbatim, but most of it was still clear in my mind as I imbued my mana into every letter I wrote.

    When I was finished, instead of the gentle blue aura turning into a friendly green around the letters, it turned an angry red, and the paper dissolved into ash as I felt a sudden headache assault me as backlash to whatever I¡¯d done.

    Mark had noticed what was happening and said, ¡°Experiment on your own time - or the next sheet of paper¡¯s coming out of your pay!¡± I nodded, despite the throbbing pain in my temple which thankfully went away quickly.

    Mark asked me to stay behind while the others left after getting their pay. I thought he was going to lay into me further on experimenting and wasting paper beforehand, but instead, he handed me a few extra coins compared to some of the other Rank One scribes.

    ¡°Ah, normally, we provide housing or housing subsidies to most of our workers,¡± he said. ¡°And I would take a cut out of your pay in exchange for that but¡­ all the houses we have deals with only take lizardmen. I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll have to find lodgings on your own.¡± He sounded genuinely apologetic while saying these words. ¡°But ah, another word of advice- I would not go around asking any lizardmen for lodging. It would be better to ask your own kind.¡±

    ¡°Understood,¡± I said. I hadn¡¯t even thought about where I was going to stay - I was so used to being homeless in this place and sleeping wherever I could find shelter for the night, but of course, that wasn¡¯t sustainable. And I needed to get a bath and get cleaned up if I was going to be selling things in order to be presentable while doing so.

    Where to go though? And who would I ask?

    After a bit of contemplating, that¡¯s how I found myself back at that granny¡¯s house.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you. What happened?¡±

    ¡°I uh, was just wondering, can I rent one of your rooms?¡±

    Later that night, I found that I couldn¡¯t sleep. Far too much had happened so quickly and I was still trying to process all of it.

    Qi Nan, as I learned, was the name of that old woman, who was now also my landlady. She had been kind enough to answer even more of my questions about how magic in this world worked.

    I now had some basic understanding of the rules of Liberomancy.

    Liberomancers were people who gained power through the use of texts imbued with mana - commonly called grimoires, though they were given other names like scriptures, manuals, holy texts, etc. depending on who you asked.

    Both grimoires and Liberomancers had ranks, and for Liberomancers, each rank was divided into ten levels, with each level being able to hold three grimoires.

    In other words, I was currently level one, given I had only imbibed a single grimoire- Shakespeare¡¯s Polonius Advises Laertes. For each level, you had three slots, each of which could fit a single grimoire. All that was needed to advance to the next level was to fill each of the slots.

    Leveling up by itself did nothing - your stats did not increase when you leveled up. However, a level seven Liberomancer would generally be stronger than a level two Libermancer, simply because the level seven one had at least eighteen grimoires memorized while the level two one only had a maximum of five.

    And once you had filled up all thirty slots of a certain Rank or in other words, gained ten levels, you would advance to the next one. Slots of a Rank could only be filled by grimoires of that rank - you would get access to thirty new slots on leveling up to Rank Two, but they could each only be filled with a Rank Two grimoire.

    Grimoires could give stat boosts, give access to spells which required mana to cast, or skills which did not consume mana but had other restrictions on them.

    Skills could either be active, which could usually only be used for a few times during a set time period, or passive which were always active but generally much weaker.

    In this way, grimoires were not only like XP in most video games in that they were what allowed you to ¡®level up¡¯, but also what gave you skills, spells, and stats all rolled into one.

    Usually, it made some sense on what a grimoire did relative to what was written to make it. A grimoire describing the properties of fire, for example, might give you the [Create Flame] spell. I could also see why Polonius Advises Laertes gave you +1 to Wisdom given that it was a poem giving life advice, but other times it made very little sense as to why a grimoire did something. Why did Shakespeare¡¯s Sonnet 95 give a point to mana? I couldn¡¯t figure it out despite going over the poem multiple times.

    Also, not everything could be turned into a grimoire, as I had learned earlier. Most Rank One grimoires were either three or four pages long, or were famous short poems.

    Grimoires needed mana while they were being written to be imbued into each word.

    As for what I was currently doing - I was outside the house in the backyard, writing Sonnet 95 into the dirt with the help of a stick.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Eleven

    Although I had written it before, I had not memorized it yet, which is why I was doing this now. Once I had written it and then read it- a process which also consumed mana, the letters written into the soil disappeared as a wind blew and covered the soil so that it was now fresh like before. I felt the second of the three slots deep inside my mind fill up.

    All grimoires were consumable, as in they could only be read once. However, now that I had read it, the information on it was inscribed into my memory more permanently than if it had been saved onto a computer. I would never forget it so long as I lived, and so if I wanted to, I could easily make more copies of it.

    This simple activity had already exhausted me, and though I wanted to do more, I felt that it was more important to sleep right now. After all, I didn¡¯t want to be late in the morning on my second day of work.

    Turns out that I didn¡¯t need to worry about that at all as Granny Qi shook me up at the crack of dawn, telling me I needed to take a bath and make myself presentable. She had made me take one before she had let me rent out a room last night, and after I had finally made myself somewhat presentable in her eyes, she smacked my hand away as I reached for my old clothes.

    ¡°What is the point of bathing if you¡¯re going to put those back on?¡± she demanded.

    ¡°But I don¡¯t have any other clothes,¡± I told her. It was late when I had left the shop, so I hadn¡¯t had the time to pick up another pair.

    ¡°Take these,¡± she said. ¡°See if they fit you.¡±

    She handed me a set of plain green robes which were tied at the waist with a green sash. They were slightly tight around my stomach, but not to the point where they were unwearable. At least, I didn¡¯t think so. ¡°Not perfect in the least, but, what else can we do?¡± she said, shaking her head.

    ¡°Whose are these?¡±

    ¡°My husband¡¯s,¡± she said. ¡°Oh well, I¡¯ll head to the market today. Get to work, you¡¯ll be late if you don¡¯t head out now.¡±

    She gave me some more pointers on Liberomancy before I set out for the day.

    The shop was already open by the time I got there even though it wasn¡¯t time for the scribes to start yet, though Mark nodded approvingly as I had come a bit early. He was always the first one there, he explained, as he had to open up the shop.

    I started working right away. No one was bothered by me using my left hand, so it turned out that I had been worrying for nothing. Once I had written enough to exhaust my mana, I went to work near the front of the shop.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    We were not just expected to write our grimoires, but were expected to sell them to potential customers as well. It made sense - there were countless grimoires out there in the world, and who better to be salespeople for them than the ones who knew the most about them - that is to say, the writers themselves. I had not been asked to do this yesterday because my appearance wasn¡¯t deemed adequate, but I had tidied up considerably.

    However, for me, there was another reason that I had to be there when any of my grimoires were sold.

    ¡°Ah, I heard you had a new mana-raising grimoire,¡± I heard a lizardman say as he walked in. Okay, so that was my cue to take action.

    Mark greeted the man, and then gestured to me with his hand. ¡°This is the scribe who wrote this new grimoire.¡±

    The customer took one look at me and seemed quite startled - I could tell that despite his reptilian features. Then again, I hadn¡¯t seen any humans enter the shop since the morning, and as I couldn¡¯t read the lizardman script there could have very been a sign out front saying ¡®No Humans Allowed¡¯ and I wouldn¡¯t have noticed it So his shock could very well have been warranted if this was a store exclusively for lizardmen.

    ¡°It is a grimoire written from an exotic land,¡± Mark said, trying to sell my work for me. ¡°A bargain at eighty denarii!¡±

    Rank One grimoires usually cost between thirty and forty denari depending on what they did, but mana-raising ones could easily sell for double that amount.

    The reason was rather simple: of all the stat-boosting grimoires around, mana-raising ones were the most useful.

    After all, for a Liberomancer, mana was everything. It was what helped one write new grimoires, read grimoires, and also cast spells. And so, a larger mana bar would make everything else easier. No matter how big your mana bar was, it recovered completely within four hours, so it made sense to dedicate a disproportionate amount of slots to mana.

    From what Granny Qi told me, though an ¡®optimum¡¯ build was a matter of opinion, a widely accepted rule of thumb was that it was a good idea to dedicate two-thirds of your Rank One slots to stat-boosting grimoires, in other words, twenty of them. The other ten should be dedicated to spells and skills.

    The reasoning was simple - you had to find a balance between the two. If you just raised your stats, you would have no spells or skills to make use of them. If you just learned a bunch of spells, they would be nearly useless without the proper stats to back them up.

    Of your stats, your mana was the most important, so two-thirds of the slots dedicated to raising stats should be dedicated to raising your mana, or roughly twelve to fourteen.

    But, there was a problem with this. You couldn¡¯t memorize the same grimoire twice and fill up multiple slots with the same grimoire. And it turns out that since stat-boosting grimoires only give you a single point, you would need to find many different mana-raising grimoires to reach that threshold.

    As such, given there was a greater demand for them, mana-raising grimoires naturally cost far more than usual. The customer haggled down the price to seventy denarii while I struggled to remember the above points again which Granny Qi had told me.

    Mark and the customer eventually settled on a price of seventy-two denarii.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Twelve

    It was here, after the deal was finalized, that I would come in. The grimoire I had written was written in English, meaning that this lizardman couldn¡¯t read it. Whatever magic was in the air that translated speech didn¡¯t seem to extend to the written word for whatever reason, and this was true for grimoires as well.

    There were two ways around a language barrier like this. One was to have someone who could read that language, and was of the same or higher Rank of that grimoire, help you read it by reading it line by line.

    In other words, someone like me could help him read it. Of course, the main drawback was that you needed a person with you who knew that language to help you if you decided to go this route, which somewhat limited sale of most grimoires to the country they were written in.

    There were also devices that functioned as ¡®universal translators¡¯ for grimoires. Naturally, such devices were very expensive - most Rank Two Liberomancers did not own anything like that, though I knew Mark had one in the form of a pair of glasses which looked like they were made of crystal. While this eliminated the need for having an in-person interpreter, aside from the cost, another drawback was that such devices doubled the amount of mana you¡¯d have to spend to read a grimoire.

    Both methods, however, shared one massive drawback. You could memorize a grimoire written in a different language, but for whatever reason, you would not be able to write it out like you could with any other grimoire in a language that you understood without the aide of either of those methods.

    I didn¡¯t know why it was like that - and when I asked Granny Qi why it worked like that she shrugged her shoulders and said that was just how the world was. ¡°You ask too many questions - like a child! Next you will ask why the moon waxes and wanes, or why the seasons change!¡± I didn¡¯t retort that there were explanations for those things, I just accepted it because it was clear she was becoming exasperated with my constant need to inquire into why this magic system worked the way it did.

    That said, this ¡®drawback¡¯ was actually greatly advantageous to me.

    Simply put, there were no copyright laws in this world. If someone bought a grimoire from you and then memorized it, well, they could make more copies of that grimoire and there was nothing you could do to stop them. But something written in a nice language that most people couldn¡¯t read - that could be a perennial source of income because they would not be able to replicate it! This would give you a monopoly over the production of said grimoire.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    Realizing this, I could see why this shop had chosen to employ me despite me not being a lizardman - the prospects of potential steady profit were just too high for them to ignore.

    I took the customer to the side, and read out the grimoire line by line, and as we finished, the piece of paper burned away to a crisp.

    It was a bit disappointing to see something I had worked on disappear like that. After all, it wasn¡¯t like writing was easy in this world. The paintbrush took time to get used to, and the paper wasn¡¯t of the quality I was accustomed with either.

    The customer handed me two denarii - a ¡®service fee¡¯ for helping him translate the grimoire in question. I got to keep half of it as per my contract.

    News of this grimoire seemed to spread, and in short time there was a line of lizardmen asking for it. It got to the point that Mark jacked up the price to one hundred and ten, and no one haggled on the matter anymore.

    I had seen some of them buy Rank Two grimoires afterwards, which made me wonder why they were interested in what I had written. I recognized them as being Rank Two, as Rank Two grimoires were usually between ten and twenty pages long. As far as I could tell, we did not even sell Rank Three grimoires. I asked Mark about this once when the shop wasn¡¯t too busy.

    ¡°Eh? They are probably just trying to optimize their builds,¡± he told me.

    ¡°Optimize?¡±

    ¡°Yes, you can sell Rank Two grimoires for far more than you can sell Rank One grimoires,¡± Mark explained. ¡°Even considering the fact that they take far longer to write given their length.¡± The price for most Rank Two grimoires started at five to six hundred Denarii. ¡°So think about it- if you wait for the right Rank One grimoires before advancing to Rank Two, you would end up wasting huge amounts of time. You might not find them for several months or even years if a grimoire you¡¯re looking for is rare. Doesn¡¯t it make more sense then to just take what you can get and advance to Rank Two, then start selling Rank Two grimoires for more money?¡±

    Understanding dawned on me then. Although you could only have thirty slots per rank, you could overwrite them later on. So once you reached Rank Two, even if you had a horribly optimized build, you could always find Rank One grimoires later on to correct that. You could ¡®overwrite¡¯ a grimoire you had memorized just by wanting to forget it to free up a slot you had filled earlier, and then you could put in a new grimoire you wanted in its place.

    That way, you could always tinker with your overall build no matter how far you had advanced. However, once you overwrote a grimoire, whatever benefit it gave, whether a stat boost, spell, or a skill, would also be gone. If you wanted it back, you would have to memorize a fresh one, but then you¡¯d have to get rid of something else. You would always be limited by having only thirty active slots per Rank, so you couldn¡¯t just memorize a thousand Rank One grimoires to make your mana bar absurdly large.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Thirteen

    On first glance such a plan seemed like a waste of resources, but in reality, it was far quicker and faster than trying to create whatever build you wanted from the get-go.

    And that was why the price of Sonnet 95 continued to climb- because even some Rank Three Liberomancers wanted it to fix their build. After all, they also wanted to have extra mana given how important mana was, and because they had more money (although this shop didn¡¯t sell Rank Three grimoires I had heard offhand that their starting price was twelve thousand Denarii, which could buy you a small house depending on where you lived) the price could climb to extraordinary heights.

    And since it was in English, they couldn¡¯t exactly just go to a competitor.

    The price of Sonnet 95 went to two hundred Denarii by the end of the day, meaning it was likely that no Rank One Liberomancer could even afford it.

    That felt a bit odd to me, but I guess that was just how this world worked. It did give me a new goal however - clearly it would make sense to advance to Rank Two as quickly as possible.

    There was a problem with this, however. In this, my ability to write in English, a foreign language, was a hindrance rather than a help. I couldn¡¯t read the script of the lizardmen, which meant the availability of new grimoires I could read were rather limited. A translating item would be a big help in this regard, but I had heard they easily went for a thousand denarii or so, which I could not afford at the moment.

    When I went back home, I regurgitated what I had learned to Granny Qi. It wasn¡¯t that I didn¡¯t fully trust Mark, but he was a lizardmen and though I didn¡¯t know what the full details were on the matter, there was some friction between lizardmen and humans. I thought that just to be on the safe side, I should also confirm what I had learned from her.

    She nodded along to my words. ¡°Indeed, most Rank Three Liberomancers spend the first half of their lives trying to get to Rank Three, and the second half trying to optimize themselves to actually be useful.¡±

    There were several more questions that I had, which I hadn¡¯t felt comfortable enough bothering Mark with. ¡°How big are Rank Three grimoires?¡± I knew that they were expensive, but I hadn¡¯t seen one before.

    ¡°Around two hundred pages,¡± Granny Qi said.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    Grimoires had to be written manually, as in each letter had to be written by hand. When I told her what a printing press was, she said she had heard of something similar in a faraway country, but that if you wanted to make a grimoire, you had to imbue each letter with mana while you wrote it. You couldn¡¯t just make a template and then stamp it onto a page; you wouldn¡¯t be able to imbue it with mana after the fact. Because after a word had been written, if it had not been imbued with mana while writing it, you couldn¡¯t do anything to fix it.

    ¡°Don¡¯t look for shortcuts, dear,¡± Granny Qi said. ¡°There are no shortcuts on the path to become a Liberomancer.¡± She then paused. ¡°Well, I suppose if you had parents who would support you, they could write out all the grimoires they had memorized for you to soar to their levels but¡­¡± She clearly thought that I either did not have any parents, or that they were illiterate given how little I knew of this world and how Liberomancy worked. Ironic given that both my parents had doctorates, but I saw no point in mentioning this.

    Yeah, it figured that even in this world, so long as you had influential parents life was so much easier for you. That, or if you had enough funds, you could buy your way to the top.

    ¡°Don¡¯t despair,¡± she said, perhaps seeing my crestfallen look. ¡°After all, history is filled with tales of people who reached great heights although they started from nothing. My husband was the son of two farmers who could neither read nor write, and yet he reached Rank Three!¡± Her eyes lit up and like always she became far more animated when talking about him.

    I didn¡¯t interrupt her as she told me more about the man. The two of them had been married for fifty-four years, and it was clear as water that she greatly missed his company.

    ¡°Oh, heavens, look at the time,¡± she said, realizing suddenly that she had been going on and on for nearly an hour, not that I minded. She turned to me and said, ¡°You need a haircut.¡±

    Eh? Where did this come from? ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s far too long and it looks ridiculous.¡±

    ¡°Many men have long hair,¡± I told her. I had noticed it while walking around, definitely, there were different hairstyles for men and women with some being far more popular than others, but some men had long hair.

    It wasn¡¯t like I had grown my hair to below my shoulders or anything, I had just let it grow out slightly, though my hair was naturally curly while growing upwards and so I thought it looked fine. At least, no one back on Earth batted an eyelid at it.

    ¡°That suits them, with you, long hair just makes your head look like a crow¡¯s nest the way it is,¡± she said. ¡°Now, you need get it trimmed somewhat!¡±

    I sighed, but honestly, this was not the hill I wanted to die on and I let her cut it short.

    Later that night, I was once again outside in the backyard, stick in hand, wondering what it was that I should try writing.

    It wasn¡¯t like I had memorized all of Shakespeare¡¯s work, not even close to it, so I couldn¡¯t replicate much more if I relied on him. There were some other poems I remembered, but rather than that, I settled on something else.

    I wrote about water - about its properties, its chemical makeup, how it covered so much of the Earth, and its qualities that were the reason it was called ¡®the elixir of life¡¯ in the first place.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Fourteen

    I went on for paragraphs, drawing on stuff I had learned in high school and college, until I felt I was done with this rather long essay, and as I saw the faint blue aura turn green, I breathed a sigh of relief. I had been worried that I might¡¯ve failed to successfully create a grimoire, in which case I¡¯d have not only wasted my time, but my mana as well.

    I memorized this piece of work with the mana I had left, and the grimoire granted the ability to use the spell, [Create Water].

    Grimoires, much like the genetic code, were degenerate - as in, many grimoires could do the exact same thing. Two different grimoires could not only raise the same stat, they could also grant the same spell or ability. I now knew the spell [Create Water] though I had not read the grimoire that Granny Qi had used to gain it, nor the one the Goddess Serragnin had read in that story she had told me.

    However, unlike with grimoires that raise stats, you could not read multiple grimoires that granted the same spell or ability. So even if I had a translating item, I couldn¡¯t use the grimoire that Granny Qi had that gave the same spell. Well, technically I could, by overwriting the grimoire I had made - but that would just be a downgrade because then I wouldn¡¯t be able to replicate it by writing it out later. Doing so would just be a waste of time, mana, and resources.

    [Create Water] was hardly a huge breakthrough if you thought about it combat-wise, but it was still quite useful. As it was, most Rank One spells had very little combat prowess as far as I understood.

    Regarding said usefulness, for one, a reliable source of clean water was very useful if you were in the wilderness or desert. Even within a city like Arconia, there was no running water system like you¡¯d find in a modern city. And a lack of fresh water would lead to easy spread of diseases like cholera or typhoid - Arconia had a population somewhere between four hundred thousand and six hundred thousand people, and it would not be able to support such a large populace unless it had fresh water readily available. True, a branch of the Ragini did pass by the city before it flowed into the ocean, but as it was said ¡®a river is a pipeline connecting the digestive systems of those who live upstream with the mouths of those who live downstream.¡¯ I had struggled to find potable water many times back when I had been homeless, and looking back on things, it was a miracle I hadn¡¯t developed dysentery at any point.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

    Secondly, it could function as the foundation for more advanced spells. Many higher ranked spells required that you knew lower ranked spells first - you could not learn [Aquatic Slingshot] without knowing [Create Water] first. You couldn¡¯t learn Rank Three [Grand Fireball] unless you knew the Rank Two spell [Fireball], which you couldn¡¯t learn unless you knew Rank One [Create Flame] first. This sort of made sense to me - you couldn¡¯t obtain advanced knowledge without mastering the basics first. You had to take Chemistry 101 before you could advance to Chemistry 102.

    Hei Nan, Granny Qi¡¯s husband, had specialized in using fire-elemental magic, which is why I knew quite a lot about that particular tree of spells.

    I wasn¡¯t sure what I wanted to specialize in, if anything, but that was fine. At the lower ranks, especially Rank One, it was not too difficult to alter one¡¯s repertoire of grimoires. If I forgot something and wanted to relearn that grimoire, I could just have it written out before I deleted it, assuming it was in English. I could then relearn it whenever I wanted to if I thought I had made a mistake forgetting it. It was starting at Rank Three where there was a real cost to not thinking through which grimoires you wanted to learn.

    I had not seen a Rank Three grimoire by this point, but from what I was told and was confirmed by Granny Qi they were about the size of an average novel back home. In other words, around one to two hundred pages - my hand already cramped up just thinking about how long it would take to write even a single book like that out. Let alone trying to write multiple copies to sell, to memorize for later, to keep for your children later on in life, and whatnot. The length of the grimoire put aside, the mana requirements to write one were enormous. No wonder everyone valued mana-raising grimoires so highly!

    And if you wanted to try to make a new Rank Three grimoire which had never been made before - the very thought of possibly spending months writing out one only to possibly have it fail and all of your effort be for nothing in the end made my head hurt and stomach turn. Forget failing - even if you succeeded after all that effort, once you wrote it, it could only be used once. I still had trouble, even after all this time, wrapping my head around the fact that grimoires could only be read once before they disappeared. The fact that you would need thirty of such grimoires to get to Rank Four made my head hurt even more. Many of them also required you to have learned lower ranking grimoires before you could memorize them! Lauren was working on writing a single Rank Three grimoire, which was likely why she didn¡¯t actually run her shop and let Mark do it given the amount of time that would take.

    This was made worse by the fact that all trade of Rank Three grimoires had to go through the Liberomancer¡¯s Guild. It was illegal to buy or sell them to anyone without government permission, which would involve a background check for both parties before the transaction would be approved.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Fifteen

    Such a degree of regulation seemed very odd to me, before I was told just how powerful Rank Three spells were. [Grand Fireball] could kill close to a hundred normal people if they were standing close together, as per Granny Qi. Given this, it was only natural that the government wouldn¡¯t let you sell it off to any random person walking down the street. There were likely too many Rank Two and lower grimoires for them to successfully police, which was why nothing of the sort was required for them.

    I had asked Granny Qi, out of curiosity, how big a Rank Four grimoire was and hypothetically how much it would cost to buy one. She told me to forget about ever buying one - Rank Four grimoires were almost as big as a textbook back home, and they were practically never offered for sale on the open market. Most Rank Four Liberomancers had memorized only one or at most two Rank Four grimoires. Rank Four grimoires were considered national treasures and usually passed down certain family lines, and as such, Granny Qi explained, it was usually not possible to buy one.

    As a matter of fact, Arconia only had one Rank Four Liberomancer in the entire city: the current governor.

    As for Rank Five Liberomancers and grimoires; they were so rare that were it not for one fact many people would¡¯ve just considered them to be myths.

    The one fact that went against this narrative was the existence of the Ruler of the Astral Winds - a Rank Five Liberomancer who had lived seven hundred years ago. At the height of his power, he had ruled over eighty percent of the continent, and it was well documented through too many sources and eyewitness accounts that he could use Rank Five spells for it to be just a rumor.

    That said, after his death, there had been no subsequent Rank Five Liberomancers, and no one even knew how big a Rank Five grimoire would be as no one in living memory had seen one. The idea that there might be a Rank Five Liberomancer hiding away from the rest of the world in some remote cave somewhere was a fantastic and unrealistic one. They would almost certainly be detected at some point, disregarding the fact that more likely than not there would be no need to go looking for them as they would¡¯ve declared themselves to the world.

    After all, the shadow cast by the Ruler of the Astral Winds was only rivaled by the Goddess Serragnin herself.

    Granny Qi told me that in some versions of the story about the Ragini she had told me earlier, the Goddess Serragnin was said to have created the river via a Rank Six grimoire some five thousand years ago. But again, these were all myths and legends, and some people doubted whether or not there had ever been an actual historical figure by the name of Serragnin.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    I went over all of this, my head feeling heavy as it was weighed down with the sheer amount of new information, as I fell asleep.

    The next day, now that I was more familiar with how the shop worked, I decided to try to get to know my coworkers a bit better.

    I was a bit too eager at the beginning, as evident by the fact that I hadn¡¯t formulated a response to what the most normal questions would be for them to ask. Where did I come from? What was it like there? And why was I in Arconia?

    I didn¡¯t have good answers prepared for them. ¡°I come from a country far away from here.¡± I hadn¡¯t even thought of a good name to tell them yet about where I came from.

    Still, they thankfully didn¡¯t seem to mind or care that much. I couldn¡¯t understand any of their names, and so I gave them all fake names within my head.

    The guy I had seen writing with his tail when I first came in was George. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking, why do you write with your tail?¡± I wasn¡¯t well-versed with lizardmen culture or customs, and I didn¡¯t want to offend someone by doing something that was taboo without meaning too. I had asked Granny Qi about this, but she had not spent much time with the lizardmen and didn¡¯t know much about their customs, so unfortunately this was one of the areas where she couldn¡¯t help me.

    Thankfully this was an okay question to ask. ¡°Ah, when I was younger and still learning how to write, I ended up breaking both of my wrists trying to climb a tree. I couldn¡¯t use either of them for a while, but my tail came in very handy at the time. I started using it to write, and I never went back to using my hands even after my wrists had healed.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± I said.

    ¡°I see you write with your left hand,¡± George said. ¡°Is that common for humans?¡±

    ¡°Ah, no,¡± I told him. ¡°Most humans are right-handed.¡±

    ¡°Same for the lizardmen,¡± George said. ¡°Those of us who are left-handed usually just learn how to write with their right hands.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it was like that where I came from too,¡± I told him. ¡°Or it used to be - my parents weren¡¯t like that though as times changed, and so no one really stopped me when I used my left hand.¡± However, in saying this I had unknowingly dug my own grave.

    ¡°Really? Where did you come from again?¡± Of course he would ask that when I brought it up myself.

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± I trailed off. ¡°Libraria.¡± I told him.

    I had made up that name for the huge continent of this world in my head as its residents didn¡¯t have a name for it other than calling it ¡®the continent¡¯- come to think of it, I could use it for this entire world as well.

    Books were important here after all, and since names were not translated into their components, no one would know that the name sounded fake in English.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Sixteen

    The reason why I ended up giving him a fake name was because I had mentioned ¡®America¡¯ or the ¡®United States¡¯ to people, and all of them told me that they had never heard of such a place. And the thing was that I was not eager for people to suddenly think that I was crazy by thinking that I was talking about some other world or a country that didn¡¯t exist.

    I later spoke to someone else who I decided to call Rob - I noticed that he was writing on a huge leaf rather than a normal piece of paper. After some introductions, I decided to ask him about it.

    ¡°Oh, this is a special grimoire that has to be written on the leaf of the Agugav tree,¡± Rob said.

    ¡°What tree?¡± I asked him.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s this large tree that grows by the village I come from,¡± he explained. ¡°It has a lot of medicinal properties, and grimoires made using its parts can give skills like [Minor Poison Resistance] and spells like [Detoxification].¡±

    I scratched my head. ¡°I assumed that you could write a grimoire on anything,¡± I told him. I¡¯d written several of them in the dirt after all, and it seemed like, at least to me, you could write a grimoire revealing the secrets of the universe on a stack of used napkins and it¡¯d still work.

    I hadn¡¯t questioned why we still used paper in the shop though - for one, customers would not want to buy something that was not on at least decent quality paper. Secondly, just because a text was a magical grimoire didn¡¯t confer any properties on it that would save it from physical damage. If you wrote something in the dirt, the moment it rained it would be washed away, even if no one had read it. If you wrote it on paper, if it fell into water, or was burnt, or otherwise harshly exposed to the elements, it would degrade all the same. Once it had degraded to the point that you couldn¡¯t read it, the mana and time you had poured into making it was wasted and of no use.

    Since many people bought grimoires in order to store them for later or gift them, it made sense that you¡¯d want to write them on something somewhat durable. The actual best practice would be to have them inscribed in something extremely resistant like chiseling them into iron, though of course this was impractical.

    ¡°Most grimoires can be written on anything,¡± Rob told me. ¡°And most of them can be written with anything. However, some special ones require specific materials to be used either as ink or as the paper which it is written on. In return, they are usually either more powerful or much shorter than corresponding grimoires. A grimoire made of the Aguvav¡¯s leaves grants [Minor Poison Resistance], that made using its bark grants [Detoxificaton], and there is one using its sap as ink that grants [Major Poison Resistance]. Er, but that last one is a Rank Two grimoire and I do not know it.¡± He added the last part rather sheepishly, as if embarrassed.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

    ¡°Oh, this is actually the first I¡¯m hearing about stuff like this,¡± I told him. Granny Qi had not mentioned anything like this, though Rob talked about it as if it was something quite elementary.

    ¡°Really? I thought it would be common knowledge¡­ I mean, even if you hadn¡¯t seen one before, I¡¯m sure you must have heard of such things,¡± he said with an air of smugness. Perhaps that was why Granny Qi had forgotten to mention it - because it was such common knowledge?

    ¡°No, thank you, that was quite informative,¡± I said, ignoring his smugness. I wasn¡¯t sure how decorum worked with the lizardmen, but I was acutely aware that I was on their turf. Yes, there were humans here I wasn¡¯t even sure how the power structure worked between the two species and if they¡¯d even bother defending me if something happened - I was a foreigner after all.

    As such, I decided to absorb all blows to my self-esteem and let small things like this slide. As it was, I did not have much pride left after spending several days homeless. No, I had decided to make myself seem as small, unassuming, and harmless - though useful, as possible.

    ¡°Ah, no problem,¡± Rob said. ¡°No problem whatsoever- ah, if you have any other questions, you can always ask Mark, but I would also be happy to guide you. Oh, we could also swap grimoires sometime, what say you?¡±

    Swapping grimoires was basically saying that he would let me read one thing that he wrote, and I would let him do the same with one of mine. We would both help each other with the translation. The only issue was, of course, that during working hours, we had to completely devote our mana to writing for the shop, but there was nothing stopping us from staying behind after hours and exchanging things then.

    I had a feeling that most of the swaps he would likely offer wouldn¡¯t exactly be entirely fair - after all, Sonnet 95 was a mana-raising grimoire and not only was very highly coveted, it went for a very high price as well. Still, even if he offered me a more mundane grimoire, I wouldn¡¯t mind. In that way, the two of us could advance to Rank Two faster.

    ¡°I look forward to it, I¡¯m sure we can help each other out,¡± I told him. ¡°And get to Rank Two together as fast as we can.¡±

    Swapping grimoires was easy enough to do with Rank One grimoires, and occasionally with Rank Two grimoires of course. The issues came when you got to Rank Three and higher as there were several problems that were difficult to reconcile when thinking of a trade. For example, the sheer amount of mana and time it would take to write one was a big barrier.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Seventeen

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m already at Rank Two,¡± Rob replied. ¡°Only thing is that I don¡¯t know much Rank Two grimoires, but I wanted to refine my Rank One repertoire, you see.¡±

    ¡°Right, right,¡± I said. So he would likely only be interested in Sonnet 95 then.

    As for the rest of my coworkers, I really only exchanged a few words with them. None of them were cold or overtly mean or anything along those lines, but there was still an air of awkwardness whenever I talked to them. I think some of them hadn¡¯t had a real conversation with a human before that lasted longer than a minute.

    Take, for example, Rose, which once again, wasn¡¯t her real name - it wasn¡¯t even close to how she pronounced her name, but I decided to call her that because of her pink scales that really made her stand out, as I hadn¡¯t seen many lizardmen with that color of scales.

    I think she was younger than the others, as she was only Rank One like me, and also her mannerisms seemed to indicate that she was as awkward talking to me as I was with her. She asked me a few of the standard questions, where I came from, etc. but what made her stand out at first was that she seemed to be genuinely interested in those things.

    The conversation with her ended up turning towards my family, and ultimately Cheddar. While I had been in a bit of a good mood up till then because my efforts at reaching out to my coworkers seemed to be going well, but the more I spoke about Cheddar the more I ended up missing him. It ended up with me not wanting to talk about him any more and just trailing off into silence.

    ¡°Ah, I see,¡± she said. ¡°So Cheddar was your pet?¡±

    ¡°Yes, the best dog a man could ask for,¡± I said.

    ¡°What¡¯s a dog?¡± she asked.

    I chuckled lightly, and it wasn¡¯t until she asked me what was so funny that I realized that she wasn¡¯t joking. There was no way that she could be serious!

    But then again, it occurred to me that there might be some sort of language barrier even with the strange magic in the air that translated words for people. ¡°A dog is a four-legged animal, you know, with-¡± I then stopped mid-sentence as I realized something.

    I had been on the streets of Arconia for some time, wandering around the place for over a week, but I never remembered seeing a single stray dog or even someone walking one. I doubted Animal Control was as effective in this place as it was back home, and there should have been strays walking all around the place.Stolen story; please report.

    Unless they didn¡¯t exist at all.

    ¡°So, they¡¯re like wolves, but tame,¡± I told her. She didn¡¯t seem to have heard of anything like that, though she had heard of wolves and how dangerous they were - and it struck me that humanity might have never domesticated dogs from wolves in this world.

    ¡°Wait, where are you going?¡± Rose asked.

    I was nearly halfway to the door, determined to go find a pack of wolves and breed a line of dogs from them, but then I remembered what my current position was and I stopped mid-step. As it was, I already had a dog and didn¡¯t want to replace him, but if I couldn¡¯t get back home, the least I could do was create dogs in this world. ¡°Uh, sorry, lost my train of thought there for a moment.¡±

    ¡°You and Cheddar were quite close, it seems,¡± Rose said.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said. I told her some stories about Cheddar and I - how he had been a gift for my fourteenth birthday as a small puppy, how he liked to accompany me whenever I went cycling outside, how he absolutely hated the sound of the vacuum cleaner¡­

    ¡­how he was the best dog in the world, just like all dogs were.

    I wiped away some of the tears forming at the corner of my eyes. I couldn¡¯t break down, not where I worked, I told myself. Rose was still listening eagerly, though I was sure she hadn¡¯t understood half of what I had said. ¡°Ah, sorry, I just got a bit emotional is all remembering him.¡±

    ¡°No, no, I understand,¡± she said. ¡°I have a pet too, an axolotl.¡± I had seen many people with axolotls as pets, so they seemed to be quite popular.

    She told me about her pet then, about the kind of food he liked, the exact temperature of water that was best for him, and the tiny scarf she had gotten him last month.

    ¡°He sounds wonderful,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Rose said.

    After that we had to return to work, however, that turned out to not be the end of that conversation.

    The next day, after work, while we were tidying up, Rose approached me excitedly. I saw her tail moving frantically behind her - I had figured out by now that lizardmen¡¯s tails tended to do that much like with dogs, though they also did so when angry, or excited, or experiencing any kind of strong emotion, so it wasn¡¯t as useful a tell with them.

    ¡°Hey, how are things?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Great, and thanks to you, I managed to do this,¡± she said, holding up a piece of paper. I couldn¡¯t recognize the letters, of course, but it had the faint green glow of a finished grimoire. ¡°Listening to you inspired me to try to make my own grimoire, and it worked!¡± She had a lot of excitement in her voice, which I couldn¡¯t really understand. I did that a lot of the time - last night I had managed to make a grimoire for [Create Flame] after all.

    ¡°So, is this the first grimoire you¡¯ve made?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Yes, and it was successful!¡± she said. I didn¡¯t want to express anything negative and put a damper on her mood. ¡°And, just as thanks, I wanted you to have a copy!¡±

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Eighteen

    Rose handed the grimoire she¡¯d made over to me. The paper was different from the kind we used in the shop, of course, if we wanted to make grimoires for our own use, we had to get our own materials. This was of a lower quality, but if it had been made with the intent to be consumed almost immediately, it didn¡¯t matter that much.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have the money for this,¡± I told her. That was not entirely true - I could probably buy a few Rank One grimoires, but I was saving up to buy a translating item.

    ¡°Oh! I wouldn¡¯t dream of charging you for this - it¡¯s thanks to you I managed to make it after all, I just thought that you deserved a copy,¡± she said.

    ¡°Thank you very much, but¡­ ah, I can¡¯t read it¡­¡±

    ¡°Not a problem! I can help you read it!¡±

    It was the first time that someone had helped me read a grimoire - before then I had always been on the other end, being a translator. As Rose read out what the poem said, I noticed that the writing did not change, but instead, the green aura above the letters became stronger and brighter, until it morphed into different letters entirely.

    So, this was how translation worked? It now looked like there was another set of letters, in English, written in the bright green aura hovering over the original words. The direction of the translated text was still along the direction of the original text, and the lizardmen script was read vertically instead of horizontally so this took a bit of getting used to.

    The poem went like this:

    ¡°A tiny ball of fur and full,

    Upon four moving limbs of bones,

    And fangs twisted into a smile,

    Running along the dusky road,

    Returning home with a wagging tail,

    Consuming everything and anything,

    That passes their fancy,

    Coming back home,

    To their warm smiles,

    As radiant as the rising sun,Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    Upon the sea of grass,

    In the Eastern Lands,

    A blessing in and of itself,

    Ever advancing forward,

    Through thick and thin,

    With its master.¡±

    The poem didn¡¯t make a whole lot of sense, truth be told, and it lacked both meter and any kind of structure that would be familiar to me. It wasn¡¯t even like modern poetry in the sense that it was all over the place.

    However, that was likely just because it was written in a very different language than English, and all of these things were just a product of multiple things getting lost in translation.

    Was this how my grimoires sounded to the customers I read them aloud to? No wonder some of them seemed to have confused faces while I did so. Despite my confusion, it did work, and I could feel this grimoire occupy another slot within my mind as the paper it was written on crumbled until none of it remained.

    However, although I had managed to use it to fill a slot in my mind, it still felt alien somehow. As if my understanding of it was limited compared to the other ones I had. All the other grimoires I had memorized were all in English, and this was likely a result of the translation.

    Likely that was also why, if I wanted to, I couldn¡¯t write this specific grimoire and replicate it. Most grimoires that were in different languages than what you knew couldn¡¯t be replicated as many essential things were lost in translation. No one had managed to make a lizardmen script translation of anything I had written, after all. Still, I was able to gain its beneficial effects. ¡®Luck +1¡¯ was what it granted. How could I gain its effects but not replicate it? It was another one of those things that I had asked about but no one seemed to be able to adequately answer as to why this world worked like that.

    ¡°Huh, do you know why it raises luck?¡± I asked Rose.

    With most grimoires you could make some sense of why they did what they did, but sometimes, there did not seem to be any correlation whatsoever.

    Rose shook her head. ¡°Maybe pets are considered lucky?¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°Or perhaps I was just lucky to have met so many wonderful people like you.¡± It was empty flattery, though as far as I knew, flattery was still effective even when people knew that it wasn¡¯t sincere. And that didn¡¯t seem to be any different for the lizardmen.

    ¡°Ah - you¡¯re too kind!¡± she said, tail thrashing about for a few seconds. ¡°You¡¯re very nice for a human!¡±

    ¡°Thank y-¡± I was about to say, before I caught onto the last part. ¡°Um, what do you mean ¡®for a human?¡¯¡±

    ¡°Oh I uh - nothing!¡± she said, her tone suddenly shifting by quite a lot. She likely had realized she had just said something that she hadn¡¯t meant to. ¡°I um¡­ remembered I had to go somewhere, sorry!¡± With that, she turned tail and ran away as quickly as she could.

    I walked back home, wondering what it was that Rose was going on about. Aside from the mystery regarding her last statement, I still wasn¡¯t sure what stats in this world did .For one, there was no easy stat screen for me to see anywhere. I knew how much mana I had, but that was the only one that I was privy to. I knew how many boosts to stats I had, but I had no idea what the total was.

    Secondly, did the stat ¡®Wisdom¡¯ really increase one¡¯s wisdom? I asked Granny Qi, who told me that it didn¡¯t actually improve wisdom in the sense one was used to, only that there were some spells whose effects relied on ¡®Wisdom¡¯ as a stat. True wisdom, she said, came only from experience. As in, boosting your ¡®Wisdom¡¯ wouldn¡¯t make you smarter in any way or let you see some deep, profound truth about the universe that you couldn¡¯t before.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Nineteen

    Mark disagreed with what Granny Qi said though, saying that increasing ¡®Wisdom¡¯ did make one more wise although it was not in a linear fashion like you¡¯d expect and that the effect was much milder than the numbers would lead you to believe. Both of them seemed to be fully confident in what they were saying, and I didn¡¯t think that Mark was lying to me.

    It was likely neither of them really knew for sure though.

    I could understand why, it was probably incredibly hard to actually test something like this out in real life.

    Say that I had managed to greatly increase my Luck stat, and then good things started to happen to me. Would they have happened to me anyway, or was it just coincidence? Similarly, regarding Wisdom, how could you tell that you had gotten wiser? Because you feel wiser? How could you know that wasn¡¯t just a placebo effect? I mean, I didn¡¯t feel any smarter despite gaining +1 to Wisdom, but even if I had, what would that have felt like?

    I did ask Granny Qi about luck and how much it might help me, to which she said, ¡°Luck and fortune are different, raising one¡¯s ¡®Luck¡¯ stat won¡¯t change one¡¯s destiny.¡± She had the same thought process with Luck as she did Wisdom.

    She might¡¯ve said that, but I wasn¡¯t entirely convinced that anyone knew for sure what they were talking about regarding this topic.

    It was well-established that increasing something like ¡®Speed¡¯ did not make you faster in any way, and that once again it only affected the output of various spells, but that was something far easier to test than ¡®Luck¡¯ or ¡®Wisdom.¡¯ But just because ¡®Speed¡¯ didn¡¯t affect your actual speed didn¡¯t meant that ¡®Luck¡¯ or ¡®Wisdom¡¯ couldn¡¯t.

    Two other stats- ¡®Attack¡¯ and ¡®Resistance¡¯ affected damage and defense only when it came to magical attacks, not physical ones.

    As for ¡®Charisma¡¯ it was kind of like ¡®Luck¡¯ and ¡®Wisdom¡¯ in that some effects depended on it but it was unclear whether it did anything else.

    I decided that I would try to create a build that focused more on increasing Luck. Why? Because I figured that everything else was something I could try to compensate for in some way - it wasn¡¯t like my life was in any immediate danger, and I figured if Luck really did make me lucky in real life even the slightest, it was worth it.

    Maybe I would get lucky and find a way back home faster. And even if it didn¡¯t do anything, there wasn¡¯t too much of a drawback to trying new things when you were just Rank One. I was trying to get to Rank Two as fast as possible, much like everyone else, by filling in all of my Rank One slots, after all.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    How do you focus on increasing Luck though? I had to think for a while, before decided to write out a grimoire regarding probability theory and what I knew about it from my time studying back on Earth. I failed the first time I tried, though I succeeded on the second attempt.

    However, it ended up not increasing Luck at all, but rather increasing one¡¯s mana. This was actually quite fine as I now had another grimoire that could raise one¡¯s mana, and they were always in high demand - though it once again left me wondering as to what the relationship was between what a grimoire was about and what it did.

    This ¡®failure¡¯ was more closer to a success as I memorized the grimoire and felt my mana bar increase.

    It was still almost completely empty though, and I felt a wave of fatigue wash over me as I went back to sleep.

    Staying up late so many nights in order to think of new grimoires had taken its toll on me though, and for the next two days I went straight to bed without trying to make anything else.

    I learned that this world, or maybe it was just this Kingdom, operated on a ten-day workweek, meaning that you were expected to work eight days with two days off.

    Compared to Earth where this was five days of work and two days off, this felt like such a drain on one¡¯s time and effort. Then again, I could hardly complain - I had technically had every single day off when I had been homeless, and this was far better than that. Not to mention I wasn¡¯t paid for the holidays, only the days I worked (this was the norm in this place, even if paid holidays were a thing back home) so less work meant less pay.

    I did have more success when it came to making grimoires that increased luck later on, however. One of them was a short summary of the game of Poker, and the other one was specifically about dice games and gambling. Both of these provided a boost to luck, and I really hoped that they would end up helping me out in some way.

    Still, it wasn¡¯t like the weekend didn¡¯t exist at all, and before I knew it, it was my first day off since I had joined the job.

    Naturally, I first took the opportunity to go back to where I had come to this world in the first place.

    No, there was nothing. No door leading back to Earth, even now. I had expected this outcome, but I couldn¡¯t deny that it dampened my sour mood even further.

    As I walked away from that spot, I saw someone walking their axolotl. The axolotls of this world were a bit different from those at home, but they still shared the same regenerative properties as axolotls back on Earth. Because of this, they were seen as somewhat sacred and symbols of peace, healing, and/or eternity depending on who you spoke to.

    This axolotl was a bright green color with spots that I could only say resembled freckles on its cheeks.

    ¡°May I?¡± I asked its owner.

    ¡°Sure,¡± came the reply from the lizardmen. He seemed a little startled that I, a human, would even bother talking to him. After all, from what I had seen up until now, while humans and lizardmen were not strictly segregated, they usually did not interact much and had their own spaces reserved for themselves, and would not wander into shops or restaurants that catered specifically to one species, at least not usually.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Twenty

    Still, it was not as if lizardmen and humans were overtly hostile to each other. They just seemed to mostly stay in their own lanes and minimized interacting with each other whenever it wasn¡¯t absolutely necessary.

    I had mentioned two useful properties of [Create Water] earlier, but there was a third benefit.

    I let out a stream of fresh water atop the axolotl. It was a mildly hot day, and it smiled and cooed as it frolicked in the cool water. I could adjust the temperature of the stream from [Create Water] to some extent, and Rose had told me what temperature axolotls preferred. Only when it had enjoyed itself somewhat that I went to pet it, and thankfully it didn¡¯t draw away.

    It was slimy, that was for sure, but it didn¡¯t feel too gross. And given how it behaved, it really reminded me of Cheddar. I would¡¯ve loved to buy an axolotl for myself given how adorable they looked, but I did want to find a way back home somehow. And I couldn¡¯t bear with the idea of abandoning a pet to this world if I returned back to my old one. I did not want to reunite with Cheddar only to know that I had abandoned a different pet.

    I thanked the lizardmen as he and his pet axolotl trotted off in the other direction.

    I then used [Create Water] to wash my hands.

    I had a lot weighing on my mind now that I wasn¡¯t focused on work.

    Thoughts going back to Cheddar and my old family, and wondering whether or not I¡¯d ever find a way back home. Thoughts returning to what Rose had said about humans.

    I had asked Granny Qi the night Rose had said that, ¡°Why did you recommend that I join a lizardmen¡¯s shop as a scribe?¡± After all, there were human shops in the city. They didn¡¯t strictly cater to one species, but it seemed to be an unwritten rule that the species did not usually go to each other¡¯s shops.

    ¡°All of the human ones are strictly controlled by a few families,¡± she had explained. ¡°They would not have let you in unless you knew someone or could cough up a big fee, which you didn¡¯t have.¡±

    ¡°But the lizardmen did?¡±

    ¡°Their hierarchy is a bit different than ours,¡± she then added. ¡°It¡¯s not that a small group of families can control everything on their side - and you being a foreigner, would be some kind of exception to them compared to other humans. I wasn¡¯t sure they would take you in, but I thought it was a safer bet than going to a human bookstore.¡±Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    I nodded, not really questioning it further. At the time, I wanted to ask more regarding how the two sides saw each other - I was a bit rattled by what Rose had said, though I had held my tongue at that time.

    Now, looking out at the rest of the city, the question still lingered in my mind. I likely wouldn¡¯t be able to get a straight answer from anyone without things turning awkward.

    That still left me with the rest of the day free to do whatever I wanted.

    I decided to go near the port. Arconia was built around a branch of the Ragini, which was also called the Arconia, as it flowed into the sea. I had spent most of my time closer to the walls and had not actually wandered near the coastline before, and I thought I might as well explore that place.

    Before I knew it the scent of saltwater permeated through the air, and behind a line of houses I could see the shoreline. The wall that enclosed Arconia extended towards the beach, and the pier had guards stationed to keep an eye out for any would-be smugglers.

    There was quite a lot of activity on the docks. It was thanks to the Arconian river and being near the seaside that Arconia could sustain a large population like this. Though I had never been to the capital before, I was told that it was a smaller city than Arconia housing only around two hundred thousand to three hundred thousand residents, though from a military point of view it was more important than Arconia.

    As I walked along the docks, I couldn¡¯t help but marvel at the fact that despite being a port city, there was little flow of goods or people into Arconia, at least from far-off locations.

    You would think that there would be quite a number of sailors, even from distant lands, who arrived at the place. It was far easier and cheaper to deliver goods via the sea, after all, and yet, most of the ships here were only designed for shallow sailing and for fishing. I didn¡¯t see any large vessels carrying things from distant lands.

    I couldn¡¯t really understand it, and it made less sense the more I strolled around the place. The number one product was fish - of all kinds, with the smell permeating through the entire dock. That was what occupied nearly everyone at the dock - either fishing or something closely related to it.

    I didn¡¯t find much of interest to me and turned my attention to the shallow beach, or what was left of it sandwiched between the port and the walls of the city.

    It was a narrow strip of sand before being abruptly cut off by the wall¡¯s foundation, but it was still nice to stand there, with my feet sinking gently into the sand while watching the waves wash over the shore. After taking a few deep breaths, I found a patch of moist sand near the shoreline and began tracing out a few paragraphs describing the sea with my finger.

    My mana flowed into the letters, which were just far enough so that the seawater wouldn¡¯t wash them away. The gentle blue aura turned into a gentle green one as I was done. When I was done, I memorized it, filling up another one of my slots. It granted a passive skill, [Poissonnier]. This greatly increased the flavor and nutritional value of any fish-based dishes prepared by the owner, and any such dishes made by the owner would also spoil more slowly than they otherwise would.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Twenty-One

    I snorted - of all the grimoires I had made, this was almost certainly the most useless. Really - was there even a skill for something as specific as cooking fish? I hadn¡¯t even heard of a skill like [Poissonier] before, likely because no one would want it.

    Perhaps if there was a professional chef in Arconia, this would be helpful to them, but the thing was that I wasn¡¯t sure how many people in Arconia could read. Reading and writing was clearly an important skill in this world as it gave you access to its magic system, Liberomancy, but how many people could actually do so?

    Granny Qi had told me that around sixty to seventy percent of adults were literate, which astounded me. Given this world¡¯s level of technology, that was an incredibly high figure - though this realization was dampened by two ¡®asterisks¡¯ to that assertion.

    One, ¡®literacy¡¯ was measured as someone who could write their own name in any language. That was all that was required, but that would not allow someone to read even the simplest Rank One grimoire. Most people could sign their names, but they amounted to things closer to drawings than signatures made by practiced hands.

    Secondly, this figure was for the human population of Arconia, who despite being a minority population-wise, boasted a disproportionately larger number of Liberomancers. So the overall percentage in the city was likely even lower than that when you factored in the lizardmen.

    Most people couldn¡¯t read such a grimoire like the one I¡¯d made, and even if they could, they likely wouldn¡¯t find it profitable enough to purchase one.

    As I looked out at the ocean, I remembered something I had either read or heard about somewhere - that if you knew how tall you were, and you stood at a beach like this, you could roughly tell what the circumference of the earth was.

    Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t remember what the details of that had been, so I had no way of trying that out myself here to see if this world was the same size as Earth. Was this world even spherical though?

    The fact that gravity was not noticeably any different from that back on Earth seemed to imply that it was the same shape and size, though given the fact that this world was magical I couldn¡¯t be sure of that.

    I kept walking along the shoreline, wondering if inspiration for another grimoire might strike. After all, I did not have to go to work today or tomorrow, which meant that my mana could be fully devoted to this task.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    I couldn¡¯t think of anything immediately - though my thoughts did wander over to the axolotl I had seen earlier.

    Rose had managed to make a grimoire when she heard about me and my dog - could I do the same but with someone else¡¯s pet?

    I tried, but even as I wrote the last letter in the sand, I could tell that it had failed even before the blue aura turned red, and the writing disappeared.

    Up till now, I had about a fifty percent chance of successfully making a grimoire. Perhaps this was why most people didn¡¯t even bother to try to do so? I mean, it was far easier to travel along a path someone else had made.

    The only reason that I pretty much had to try creating ¡®new¡¯ grimoires was because there were no grimoires written in English for me to copy, compelling me to be the pioneer of such an endeavor in this world.

    I wandered around the city for a while longer, though I didn¡¯t find anything of value. For lunch, I had a skewer with something that looked like shrimp, though strangely enough tasted more like chicken.

    Towards the evening, after wandering a bit more, I found myself in a spot where I hadn¡¯t been before, and there was a large crowd gathered in a small clearing which I decided to check out.

    It looked like there was a play going on, and with nothing better to do, I decided to stay around for the show.

    I found it a bit odd that there was no admission fee, surely these performers couldn¡¯t be doing this for free, right? But, I did not complain as the play started.

    The stage was semicircular, and there were curtains and other props set at the side behind which I could see the silhouettes of the other actors.

    A man dressed in white robes walked up front, and silence quickly fell as the audience began to stare at him in anticipation.

    ¡°Long ago,¡± the man began. Even though he did not have a microphone - because none existed in this world, his voice was far louder and carried further than it otherwise normally should¡¯ve. Was this the effect of some sort of passive skill? It wouldn¡¯t surprise me honestly if there was a skill or spell to amplify your voice after today - given that I had discovered there was one to make cooking fish easier. ¡°Thousands of years ago, humanity was in crisis.¡±

    Someone walked onto the stage, another human actor, though he was an old gentlemen dressed in what were supposed to be rags.

    ¡°Humanity, with its soft arms and flesh, could not deal with this world,¡± the narrator said softly, each word dripping with importance. ¡°Disease, famine, drought, all of these were ever-present threats. And on top of that, man was hunted like an animal by other creatures.¡±

    Several actors spilled onto the stage. All of them were wearing masks, some of them were of animals, while others were of things I had never seen before. I wasn¡¯t sure if they were supposed to represent some kind of creatures that only lived in this world and did not exist back on Earth, or something more abstract.

    What I was certain of was that the people wearing animal masks were meant to represent other kinds of demihumans. I even saw one person wearing a mask that looked like a lizardman, with the actor even having a prop tail. Looking around at the crowd; I didn¡¯t see a single lizardman among them. Everyone was human, so I had clearly wandered deep into the human-exclusive section of the city.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Twenty-Two

    None of the actors were lizardmen either, so this was clearly a play by humans for humans.

    ¡°Mankind did not possess wings with which it could fly away. Mankind did not have sharp claws which could cut through the hides of beasts. Mankind could not breathe fire, could not spit poison, and could not burrow into the ground to hide from his predators,¡± the narrator said.

    The various actors wearing masks then surrounded the old man wearing rags. Some of the ones wearing masks had spears or other such weapons they pointed at the man, who had now fallen onto all fours.

    ¡°Mankind could do little but suffer,¡± the narrator said. ¡°Because suffering was simply mankind¡¯s lot in life. During those old days, thousands of years ago, my friends, mankind could do nothing more than hide in the caves, scrounging and foraging, hoping that the next day would not be his last. In short, our lot was worse than that of animals.¡±

    If you wanted to, you could train as something like a swordsman or archer in this world. Only thing was that your strength and speed would still be limited by a human body¡¯s limitations when it came to those two factors. In other words, there was no ¡®class¡¯ called ¡®Swordsman¡¯ or ¡®Archer¡¯ like in some games. If you wanted to go beyond what a human could normally do, magic was the only way to go. And the only form of magic that humans could use in this world was Liberomancy.

    This story though, was about what it was like before Liberomancy existed.

    ¡°So terrible were the predicaments that surrounded us, that we were nearly driven to the brink of extinction,¡± the narrator continued. ¡°That, or other species kept us around like farm animals, giving us the bare minimum before slaughtering us like they would cattle.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but think to myself- ¡®maybe that wouldn¡¯t happen if you had dogs to help you?¡¯ It was a bit tongue-in-cheek of course given what little dogs could do against most other wild animals let alone magical beasts, but I had found out from Granny Qi that Rose wasn¡¯t simply ignorant when it came to dogs.

    No, my worst fears were confirmed - this world had not managed to domesticate dogs from wolves.

    ¡°During those days, we did not even have the plow or the sickle to till the fields,¡± the narrator continued. ¡°And so, those were humanity¡¯s darkest days, my friends. And it looked like all hope was lost for our race.¡±

    The old man now began to weep. He was clearly a good actor if he could cry on command like that, or those were tears faked through magic somehow. The ring of actors surrounding him now began to circle even closer, cutting him off from the view of the audience quite quickly. Dramatic music was no playing in the background.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    ¡°And so, what was mankind to do? Mankind had few advantages to its name, its wisdom and intelligence, but without the tools to make use of them, intelligence and wisdom were more curses than blessings. Because it was due to them that we realized how hopeless we were,¡± the narrator continued.

    ¡°Save me! Help me!¡± the old man¡¯s voice came, even though he wasn¡¯t visible himself, and carried far. He likely had the same skill as the announcer.

    ¡°Not so fast!¡± a voice suddenly came, cutting through the crowd. A woman walked in from offstage, wearing a pure white robe. She was glowing - both figuratively and literally.

    She not only had a radiant smile on her face, but a literal halo of white light surrounded her form. She wore an ivory crown atop her head, and flower petals gently rained down upon her from seemingly nowhere. She carried a staff in her hand, atop which was mounted the same four-headed owl I had seen in Granny Qi¡¯s home.

    Even someone like me, who had barely been in Libraria a month, recognized that she was playing the Goddess Serragnin.

    She approached the ring of people surrounding the old man, and a small fire appeared in her free hand. Though I didn¡¯t know what kind of magic she had used to get that halo of light or the flower petals to rain down on her, I recognized [Create Flame] was what she had used to make the fire.

    At the sight of the fire, the actors surrounding the old man backed off. Several of them dropped their weapons while three of them clutched their heads in their hands - though you couldn¡¯t see their expressions behind the masks, it was clear they were trying to act terrified. After that dramatic withdrawal, they exited the stage.

    The old man stood up and looked up at the woman with a mixture of hope and reverence. ¡°Lady, thank you for saving my life. But who are you?¡±

    ¡°My name is Serragnin, Mother of Learning, and Goddess of Wisdom,¡± she said. She extinguished the flame in her hand. ¡°You do not need to thank me for saving you. Such was my pleasure and kindness.¡±

    A voice came from behind the stage. ¡°Help!¡±

    ¡°Ah, but I must go,¡± Serragnin said. ¡°After all, there are others in need.¡±

    ¡°But O Goddess,¡± the old man said. ¡°If you leave me, they will come back. And I will surely be done for then.¡±

    ¡°There is no need to fear, my child,¡± Serragnin said. ¡°Because I have a gift for you.¡± She twisted her free hand, and from it, a sheet of blank paper appeared and gently fell to the ground.

    I raised my eyebrows - that was the [Create Paper] spell.

    I hadn¡¯t seen it before, but I had heard people talking about it. It was far less useful than what you¡¯d think, because if you spent all your mana making paper, you wouldn¡¯t be able to have any left to actually make grimoires, read grimoires, or cast other spells.

    It was a spell mainly used in poorer regions where for some reason or the other, paper was not widely available. Still, if you were a Rank One Liberomancer, all you had to really do was write in the dirt. You didn¡¯t even need a stick or instrument for that, just your finger would do.

    Rank Two and higher grimoires were longer and thus could not be made like this, but any Rank Two Liberomancer could easily find work in a city where paper would be relatively plentiful.

    While there were healing herbs in this world, despite how game-like some of it seemed, there were no such things as health or mana potions. And as such, every drop of mana you had was valuable and had to be utilized fully. Using it to create paper was normally considered extremely wasteful, though it had a greater purpose here - as a sort of ¡®special effect.¡¯

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Twenty-Three

    ¡°Take this, my child,¡± Serragnin said in a gentle voice. ¡°It is my gift to you - my gift to humanity. The ability to read and write- and through it, you will gain a fraction of my power. No longer will you fear the beasts that lurk in the woods. No longer will simple disease take your life. No longer will you fear the elements. No longer will you have to cower in caves, fearing what lies outside. No longer will you be at the whim and mercy of more dangerous races- from now onward, you, humans, my favored children, will be masters of your own fate!¡±

    ¡°O Goddess, how can I possibly thank you for this gift?¡± the man asked.

    The woman then turned from him to face the audience. ¡°This is my gift to humanity - freely given, and I do not ask for anything in return. I only ask that you spread this teaching of mine to humanity at large, to all corners of the globe. Indeed, of my children, none would be more dear to me than those who would spread the importance of my words.¡±

    There were cheers from the audience, who had been silent before then. ¡°Glory to Serragnin!¡± ¡°Hail the great Goddess!¡± ¡°Honor to the Mother of Learning!¡±

    With that, the short play was over and the actors exited, and then the narrator took the spotlight. He went into how thanks to Serragnin¡¯s gift, humanity had not only survived, but thrived through the ages.

    He also referenced a few names and places which I couldn¡¯t understand, but had not been lost on the audience. They had likely seen the same thing many times over.

    He then went into how important it was that they spread the word of not only Liberomancy, but of Serragnin to every human in the world.

    They did not use an ambiguous term like ¡®person¡¯ which could possibly be interpreted to refer to demihumans as well, but the word ¡®human¡¯ in particular. It seemed that they didn¡¯t quite see demihumans the same as humans. Then again, this could just be a quirk of the translation system of this world, so I wasn¡¯t sure how much stock to put into this thought. Not all words had one-to-one translations in varying languages after all.

    I realized then why watching this play was free - because it was a religious sermon. Back on Earth there was a saying ¡®if something is free then more likely than not you¡¯re the product.¡¯ We - or at least, the chance to either ¡®convert us¡¯ or more likely to reinforce the people¡¯s existing faith was the aim of this play.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    Afterwards, a small basin was passed around which people would throw coins into. I tossed a denarius in, and the person who saw me was a bit taken aback when he noticed my features, but did not say anything else.

    They then began distributing food to the poor, and while watching that it made me wonder why it was that no one had referred me to such a place back when I had been homeless.

    During those dark days, I would have had no problem uttering empty words of praise in the service of a deity I did not believe in to fill my stomach. And yet, no one had prodded me towards an event like this. I had asked if there was something like a homeless shelter or charity home in this world back when I hadn¡¯t discovered Liberomancy yet, but had basically been told ¡®no dice¡¯ at the time. Or were such events or programs just not for someone like me?

    I could only add it to the huge list of questions I had about Libraria which had not been answered.

    And crowning the pile was the ultimate question - why was I here in the first place?

    Why had I been brought to Libraria?

    Usually, in stories, this would happen because there was a great evil that needed to be thwarted in this world and a hero needed to rise to the occasion to deal with said evil. However, as far as I could tell, the world was not threatened by anything like that.

    There was no Dark Lord amassing an army somewhere, and Libraria was in an era of relative peace. I hadn¡¯t heard of any major wars, though given the sheer size of the world, there must¡¯ve been someone at war with someone else, just not at a scale or severity that news had reached here.

    Not to say that Libraria was perfect. I had experienced enough of its downsides during my initial days. Most people could not advance beyond the station they were born in - people like Hei Nan were the exception, not the rule. And being rich and having well-educated parents gave you a massive head start in life, one that most people could not beat even with all their effort.

    Then again, how was that any different than Earth? Earth had the same problems - and I had only been in this world about a month. I did not delude myself into thinking I had any easy answers to these complex societal issues even if I wanted to solve them.

    Indeed, there was no prophecy telling of a powerful Liberomancer arriving from another world. There was no tutorial section. No deity had appeared before me prior to me being transmigrated here to give me some sort of mission. I had just been plopped unceremoniously into this world without the slightest explanation for why I was here.

    The other possibility was that I had died back on Earth, and this was some kind of purgatory. But even then, shouldn¡¯t there have been some sort of explanation at some point?

    And had I really done something so wicked as to be punished like this? A wave of despair gripped me once again as even after this time, I was no closer to solving this central mystery.

    Despite myself, I couldn¡¯t help but try to return to that same spot I had come to this world from once more, only to be disappointed for the thousandth time.

    Dejected, I decided to try to do something to take my mind off things by buying some fish and seeing if I could make some use of the [Poissonnier] skill I had gained.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Twenty-Four

    When I returned home, I told Granny Qi that I would be making dinner that night. She gave me a strange look, and warned me to be careful not to burn the kitchen down, but did not otherwise object to me borrowing her utensils so long as I remembered to wash them later.

    And with that, I attempted to drown out my sorrows as I got to work.

    In the soft glow of the sunlit kitchen capturing the last moments of the sun as it dived deep into the ocean, as I felt I could still feel the salt of the sea in the air, I found myself swept away in a reverie.

    The gentle whispers of the sea seemed to beckon to me, urging me to create something that sung of the wonders of its depths. As I gathered my ingredients, it was as if I could feel the pulse of the tide echoing in my heart, each item a note in this culinary symphony I had decided to make.

    I had never felt this way before while cooking, and I had rarely made anything more complex than macaroni and cheese, but I found my heart lit with passion. Perhaps this was a side effect of the [Poissonnier] skill? I found my hand moving subconsciously, as if I just knew what the right step was to take at each moment.

    I laid out what I had bought while I examined it. I didn¡¯t exactly know what species of fish this world had, but I had made sure to buy them from a human fisherman to prevent the scenario where I was handed something that was only safe for lizardmen to eat. Most of them looked like mackerels from back on Earth, though I had also bought some shrimp.

    With a sharp knife in hand, I began to filet the mackerel, my movements fluid and reverent.

    I ignited the stove with the help of [Create Flame], and the flames dance to life, flickering like the spirits of the sea. I poured a generous splash of golden olive oil into the skillet, expensive yes, but worth it for what I was making. The liquid shimmered like gold as I warmed it up. I tossed in finely diced shallots, their sweetness releasing a bouquet of aromas that enveloped the house. Granny Qi also began to notice as the mouth-watering smell spread all over the house.

    As the shallots gently softened and caramelized, I gently laid out the mackerel into the skillet, the skin sizzling with a glorious crackle in response, sending tiny bursts of joy into the air. I turned my attention to the shrimp, which I slid alongside the mackerel, allowing them to mingle in the pan, sharing warmth and flavor.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    With a flourish, I sprinkled fresh thyme and parsley over the fish, their verdant green adding a burst of color and a touch of the earth to the fruits of the sea. A squeeze of lemon follows, its tartness brightening the dish, capturing the very essence of sunlight dancing upon the waves.

    The mackerel and shrimp sit proudly atop the pan, their colors vibrant and alive. I garnished the dish with a sprinkle of sea salt, each flake sparkling like stardust against the night sky.

    As I stepped back to admire my work, the flickering candlelight and the light from the stove casted a warm glow, enveloping the kitchen in a strange hypnotic light.

    I had never been much of a cook, but I knew that I had made something remarkable here. I had not just prepared a dish; I had captured a moment of love, a celebration of life, a delicious testament to the bond between the land and the sea - a romantic dance of flavors, a sweet serenade to the ocean¡¯s eternal embrace.

    Or was I just hyping my own cooking too much?

    There was only one way to tell.

    I had cooked some rice on the side - the Arconians, at least the humans, ate almost everything with a side of rice, and fish with rice was a staple food here. Sometimes people would eat just fish - though most people with means would eat fish with rice, and Granny Qi and I weren¡¯t hurting for money.

    I waited, holding my breath as Granny Qi looked over what I had made. Her expression was undiscernible - I had seen culinary television shows before, and right now I felt like one of the contestants who was having one of their creations examined by the judges. There weren¡¯t a million eyes trained on me via a few cameras, but the pressure was intense nonetheless.

    It seemed that my work had passed her initial inspection, as she took a bite and then nodded.

    ¡°Just the right hint of crispness and salt, along with flavor,¡± she said. She sat down and motioned for me to do the same. We usually did eat dinner together, and this time was no different.

    I ate what I had made, and I thought it was pretty good - though needless to say I was a biased judge after all.

    ¡°If you could cook this well,¡± Granny Qi said in the middle, ¡°why didn¡¯t you do so more often?¡±

    ¡°Ah, honestly, I was never this good,¡± I told her. ¡°This is all probably thanks to the [Poissonnier] ability.¡±

    She gave me a confused look and I explained what it was and did.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t heard of such a thing before,¡± she said.

    I started to get a rush of excitement. Had I discovered a new skill? ¡°You think this is new?¡±

    She shook her head. ¡°There are countless ways you can arrange words in any given language, and countless grimoires that can be made - even at Rank One. The odds that you¡¯ve made one that has never been done before are rather low if it is just Rank One; more likely than not, no one thought it was useful and so it was lost to time.

    ¡±Right, I thought. Anyway it wasn¡¯t as if being the first one to discover it would confer any additional usefulness to it, but it might¡¯ve lifted up my mood a little.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Twenty-Five

    ¡°Not to mention,¡± Granny Qi continued. ¡°Even if you were the first one to discover it, just because an ability is unique doesn¡¯t make it useful. There are many Rank One grimoires that have effects that are virtually pointless.¡±

    ¡®Just because you¡¯re different that doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯re useful,¡¯ was a similar saying from back on Earth as well, and I could see what she meant.

    After all, [Poissonnier] could not make fish out of nothing, just make the taste more flavorful, and so was a grade even below [Create Water] in usefulness. And people were not going crazy over [Create Water] either.

    Once we were done, I used another spell I had recently learned, [Clean] along with [Create Water] to wash the dishes and utensils. It made something that might¡¯ve taken twenty minutes back home if we tried to do it by hand take less than a fourth of that time.

    Despite all of these basic utility spells that I had learned, I had not yet found something that could recharge my phone.

    Of course, there was no cellular signal or Internet in this world, but there was something else in it that would¡¯ve made being able to use it very helpful - I had downloaded a library¡¯s worth of books on it before I came here. There weren¡¯t just textbooks and works whose copyright had expired, but also books I had purchased as well.

    Not that copyright was a thing in this world - if you had read a grimoire, you could make more with ease. The concept of the original author ¡®owning¡¯ the text was completely foreign, and if you didn¡¯t want other people to copy a grimoire you had made, well then, the wisdom was that you shouldn¡¯t sell it.

    I had run out of things that I remembered word for word, but I was sure that many of those things could¡¯ve been made into grimoires. It would take away the effort it took to think of new things to write, and I thought I could easily reach Rank Three if not Rank Four if I just had access to the virtual library I had on it.

    However, nothing like a [Recharge] spell had appeared no matter how much I tried to write about my phone, how it worked, or just about electricity in general.

    And so, my phone was little more functional than a brick at this point.

    The next day, I explored a different part of the city. I found a shop that was able to make me something akin to a fountain pen- up till then I had been writing using brushes which was something I was not very used to.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    There was nothing as convenient as the ballpoint pens back home, and this pen was basically a hollow reed with a reservoir of ink that could be filled into it. It was still cumbersome to use, but much better than using a paintbrush, and even though it cost me a day¡¯s wages to commission, I felt that it was worth the money.

    I tried again to make some more grimoires later on in the evening, but none of them really gave me anything that was interesting.

    And with that the weekend was over, far too soon I felt. But that was the schedule this world worked on, so there was little I could do but complain about it - not that I did so openly.

    Granny Qi had been right about the grimoire that gave the [Poissonnier] ability not being very high in demand - I did show it to Mark, but he said to focus on making more copies of Sonnet 95 and that there would be few buyers for this kind of grimoire.

    Rose had decided to bring her pet axolotl to work that day.

    ¡°She gets a bit antsy when I¡¯m not there, and I thought I would bring her along for today,¡± she explained. Her axolotl was a light blue color, and the other scribes took a moment out of their workflow to pet it, which it was quite receptive to. I knew some dogs which wouldn¡¯t let anyone but their owners near them, and others who were quite friendly to everyone - this pet seemed to be more of the latter.

    When there was a lull in traffic in the shop, and it was just me, Rose, and her axolotl, I decided to bring up what she had said last time. She hadn¡¯t expected it, and still looked like she wanted to escape the situation somehow, but no such convenient excuse appeared.

    ¡°Listen, I won¡¯t get upset or offended based on what you say,¡± I told her. ¡°I just¡­ I¡¯m new here to this city, and I want to know if there¡¯s something awful the humans here did.¡±

    Rose¡¯s tail drooped a bit. ¡°It isn¡¯t very nice to say¡­¡±

    ¡°Like I said, I wouldn¡¯t mind,¡± I told her. This had been weighing on my mind over the weekend.

    She didn¡¯t look at me directly while talking, and stroked her pet in an effort to calm herself down somewhat. ¡°Well¡­ I want you to know that none of this is something I¡¯ve experienced or think about¡­ but other lizardmen they¡­¡± she gulped. ¡°Promise you won¡¯t get mad?¡±

    ¡°I promise I won¡¯t hold any of this against you,¡± I told her.

    ¡°They say that¡­ humans always think only of themselves,¡± she said in a low whisper. ¡°That in places like Chipker, where they are a minority, they always talk of equal treatment, though when they gain power, they oppress everyone else around them. They always take the best areas to settle in, strike down those who they don¡¯t agree with, and when they are in power they demand taxes from other races.¡± When she saw that I still had a poker face on, she continued. ¡°There is a country near the center of the continent - I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard of it, but they practice a religion worshiping the Goddess Serragnin. But they don¡¯t just worship her, they say that she invented and gave Liberomancy specifically to humans and humans alone, and all other races that use it ¡®stole¡¯ it and don¡¯t deserve to use it. They try to actively suppress other races who wish to use Liberomancy.¡±

 The Country of the LIzardmen: Chapter Twenty-Six

    I reflected on what Rose was telling me.

    So there were human supremacist countries in this world? My mind flashed back to the play I had seen earlier of Serragnin handing mankind the secret to Liberomancy. Only humans were in that crowd and on that stage, and though it had never been overtly said; it did seem to implicitly imply that Liberomancy was specifically given to mankind and mankind alone.

    I had considered that there might be something lost in translation at the time, however, what she was telling me fit with what my initial impression was.

    By this point Rose¡¯s axolotl seemed to have noticed her discomfort, and began nuzzling her, perhaps trying to cheer her up.

    ¡°Ah, thank you, let¡¯s leave it at that,¡± I told Rose. ¡°I - that wasn¡¯t easy for you to say clearly, but thank you for telling me anyw-¡±

    ¡°-you¡¯re not mad, are you?¡± Rose asked. ¡°And, I just want to say, I don¡¯t think those things myself. And you¡¯ve been so friendly and nice I have trouble believing that it¡¯s true - but there are-¡±

    ¡°-other lizardmen who think like that,¡± I finished for her. ¡°Yes, thank you again. And no, I¡¯m not mad of course, I was just curious. I wanted to know more about this place, and this was a part and parcel of it.¡±

    The rest of the day passed without any further incident.

    That night, I was able to make something out of writing about my phone and how it worked - a grimoire that gave me an ability called [Shock Stun]. By making contact with someone, it would deliver an electrical current that would zap and stun them for a few seconds. It could be used once every five minutes, but as for actually charging my phone, it would not help in the slightest. It would be more than likely to cause it to explode or shatter from the current overload than anything else.

    I had no way of charging it through some other means, all of Libraria still seemed to be in a preindustrial state where agriculture was still the main occupation for most people and the major pillar of the economy. The odds of finding some way to charge my phone safely without damaging it were practically nonexistent at the moment. There were two very famous countries which were more advanced than the others, but that was considering the field of Liberomancy, not technology.

    The days went on by, with little change. I made new grimoires when I had free time, I continued working eight out of ten days (that still felt so wrong), and I often went back to that same place I had come from whenever I could, hoping against hope that a door would one day open up again and I could just walk through back to my old life.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    That never happened.

    During my days off, I had taken to wandering into local bars and whatnot where there would often be bards and other people swapping stories.

    I wanted to know if I could find something, anything - even a scrap of information that might give me more insight into what had happened to me. Was I the first person from Earth brought to this world? It was possible, though unlikely, but the question of ¡®to what end¡¯ still remained.

    Perhaps in some story I would hear of a person who was fated to come from a distant land to slay a mighty best or something along those lines; and that way I could get a clearer idea on what my purpose here was.

    I didn¡¯t find any answers, though some of the stories were quite fascinating to listen to nonetheless.

    Something of note did happen during one of these excursions. I was getting up from the table I was seated at and headed towards the exit, when I accidentally bumped into someone¡¯s outstretched arm, causing them to spill most of their drink onto the floor.

    ¡°Ah, sorry ¡®bout that,¡± I said, rummaging through my pocket to buy the man another drink. I slammed a denarius onto his table. ¡°How about a round for all of you, on me?¡±

    I thought that was enough and the matter was settled as I turned to walk out the door, only for someone to grab me by the arm.

    The man whose drink I had knocked over didn¡¯t seem to think that my apology was good enough.

    The table seated five men, all of whom looked like laborers based on their physiques and their clothes which were slightly dirty. They had well-toned muscles and would have had no problem kicking my teeth in if it came to a fistfight.

    ¡°Oi, what makes you think you can get away with disrespecting me like that?¡± the man I had bumped into asked. ¡°And then throw a denarius onto our table like I¡¯m some sort of beggar and hope it¡¯s going to be alright?¡±

    All the men at the table seemed to be already partially inebriated, and I couldn¡¯t help but sigh. I had seen such groups of people back on Earth too - those who would start heavily drinking early on in the day and were just looking for an excuse to cause trouble. And look at what happened - I had just given them an excuse, and clearly looked like an easy target who was all on his lonesome. The denarius was more than enough to buy them all a round of drinks each, and so I had more than enough paid him back for his trouble, but he clearly did not think so.

    Either that, or more likely, he just wanted to create a fuss.

    The man got up and grabbed me by the collar. His comrades at the table uttered cheers of approval at his behavior, and he grinned, clearly enjoying the attention and relishing the idea of being able to teach someone else a lesson and prove his own toughness in front of his friends. That, and he probably thought he could shake me down for even more money. But before the man could lift up his arm to punch me in the face, I used [Create Flame], showing the man I could instantly make fire.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Twenty-Seven

    [Create Flame] was next to useless in a fight, however, you wouldn¡¯t have thought that from his reaction.

    The man let go of me immediately - and his demeanor had gone from one of cocky self-assurance to outright fear and horror faster than a traffic light would change colors.

    His friends at the table were no longer cheering; but their faces mirrored his now-terrified expression.

    ¡°I uh,¡± the man began, gulping. Even in his partially inebriated state, he seemed to have realized he had picked a fight with the wrong person. ¡°Ah, sorry, so sorry for my behavior sir, here - as an apology-¡± he grabbed the denarius I had put on his table and handed it back to me. He then lowered his head. ¡°So sorry sir, I didn¡¯t know you were a Liberomancer. I mean, why would one as esteemed as yourself come to such a place? I uh, if you would be so kind-¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± I told him. ¡°Water under the bridge.¡± He relaxed somewhat and went back to drinking with his friends as I hastily made my way out before I could get into anymore trouble.

    That was a close one! If I had still been my homeless self when I had first arrived in this world I would¡¯ve ended up getting a beating for sure!

    But, those men were not Liberomancers.

    And if you were not one, why would you pick a fight with a Liberomancer? Why antagonize someone who could potentially turn you inside-out with just a thought?

    Back in America, if you picked a fight with someone, you didn¡¯t know whether they were packing heat or not. Here, if you didn¡¯t know how strong someone else was, who could say whether or not you might end up on the receiving end of [Nine Heaven¡¯s Tribulation¡¯s Five Elemental Emperor¡¯s Divine Ultimate Lance of One Billion Strikes]? Even the mere implication that someone could do something like that was enough to stop most people in their tracks.

    True, the bar I was in was rather low-quality, but I had chosen it specifically so I wouldn¡¯t have to waste too much of my hard-earned coin, and hoping that I could hear a story I wouldn¡¯t have been able to elsewhere. I didn¡¯t realize it was that run-down, however, as that man seemed to imply to the point that no one of means would ever go in there.

    Of course, if things had come to blows, I would not have really been able to do anything. Perhaps [Shock Stun] would do something, but most Rank One spells were more of ¡®utility¡¯ spells than anything else. It was only starting at Rank Two that anything that could actually be somewhat useful in combat would be available.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Still, I guess they probably assumed that even if I wasn¡¯t that powerful, that I would likely have strong Liberomancer allies who would avenge me if anything happened to me. I didn¡¯t think anyone at Lauren¡¯s shop would¡¯ve bothered to hunt those people down for my sake, and it wasn¡¯t like I was affiliated with any human Liberomancy organizations, but I could see how someone might reasonably assume so.

    This world was mainly built upon Liberomancy, and as such, Liberomancers stood at the top of the social and economic pyramid wherever they were.

    Laws favored Liberomancers, but at the same time, it wasn¡¯t like Liberomancers could do whatever they wanted. For one, the real Liberomancer favoritism only started at Rank Three, so for a simple Rank One such as myself, I wouldn¡¯t be getting much preferential treatment. Secondly, a Liberomancer actively oppressing non-Liberomancers would be seen as ¡®punching down.¡¯

    The legal system wouldn¡¯t even need to be involved to punish such people- they would be ostracized by the majority of the Liberomancer community if their behavior was seen as objectionable enough. And societal isolation was a death sentence to a Liberomancer¡¯s career - you could only go so far on your own. If people refused to buy your grimoires, and also refused to sell you any, good luck on ever advancing.

    Of course, for the more egregious offenses, the courts would step in, societal pressure notwithstanding. But for something as small as knocking over someone¡¯s drink, it would not escalate further. Even if it did, I had offered to repay the man for it, he had been the one who had refused and said all was well, so I was fairly confident nothing would come of it.

    Still, I made a note to never return to that bar ever again. I had no problem going into slightly seedier places, as not only were they cheap, but you could hear stories you might not hear elsewhere. But if it came at the risk of finding someone thinking that the space between my shoulder blades would make a nice scabbard, it was best to avoid them.

    Just like back on Earth, most of Arconia was safe so long as you stayed out of certain areas. I was usually good at figuring out what those were, even if I had never been in the city before and no one had told me what they were. But, just like one of the tourists back home who might¡¯ve taken the wrong turn, I could be wrong at times, like just now. I was just glad it didn¡¯t have any serious repercussions.

    I suppose the only good thing that came out of the following weeks was that I got better at cooking.

    ¡°This is the best fish stew I¡¯ve ever had,¡± Granny Qi told me one evening. I took a sip myself - I couldn¡¯t say that she was wrong.

    Skills and spells also took practice to use them - and I was practicing using the [Poissonnier] skill in a way quite often, and so I was able to bring out its effects to the maximum.

    It was good to know that I had a backup career as a chef lined up in case this whole Liberomancy thing failed. And who knows - if I made my way back home, and I could still use my powers there, I could even impress my parents. As for Cheddar, he used to love whatever I made regardless.

    I didn¡¯t even need to make anything - he would¡¯ve been so happy just to see me back home again.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Twenty-Eight

    When I had free time that I wasn¡¯t using in writing grimoires or practicing cooking, if I wasn¡¯t back at the same spot I¡¯d arrived in this world from, I was out exploring. I didn¡¯t run into any scenarios that could¡¯ve resulted in a bar fight like that one instance before; this was not to say that things were always smooth sailing, however.

    For example, there was another small incident where I accidentally walked into what I quickly realized was a lizardmen brothel thinking it was a tavern (it probably functioned as both actually), though thankfully I hightailed out of there fast enough before it could¡¯ve ended up going horribly wrong.

    All in all, life was not bad here in Libraria. I might¡¯ve even recommended it as a vacation option to some people - but I wasn¡¯t here on vacation.

    I had to get back home, and whenever I would become too relaxed or complacent, that thought would always jolt me out of my stupor.

    One day, over dinner, Granny Qi said, ¡°Looks like the Book Fair is coming on time this year. I don¡¯t know if you heard the news, but they weren¡¯t waylaid by the dryads thankfully, and should be here in two weeks like they usually are.¡±

    She said this as if I was expected to know what she was talking about. Upon seeing my confused face, she sighed. ¡°Did no one at work mention this to you?¡±

    ¡°Uh, no,¡± I said while she started explaining what she was talking about.

    There was a large merchant caravan that made its way through several countries in a regular path throughout the year. It carried lots of normal goods like rice, spices, oils, and whatnot. But, this world was run by Liberomancers, and much of what they carried were the greatest treasures of all - grimoires. Grimoires from various countries and differing languages as well as regions. If there was a rare grimoire that did not exist in your own language, this would be the best place to find it. That was why most people called it the Book Fair, although things other than books were also bought and sold during this event.

    This caravan made its way from the neighboring kingdom of Hitutsa, which I had heard occasionally came under attack by creatures called dryads. Many people had feared that there might be such an attack that would lead to the caravan being delayed, or worse yet, not even come at all, but thankfully nothing of the sort had happened.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    The huge caravan would make its way first to the capital of Chipker, and then to Arconia. News of them approaching the capital had already made its way to Arconia, meaning it was only a matter of time before it arrived.

    The caravan would not only unload a good amount of merchandise here in Arconia, but would also be picking up new merchandise as well.

    ¡°Including grimoires,¡± Granny Qi said. ¡°Get used to working on your days off as well for the coming weeks.¡±

    My stomach sank at that thought. Working eight days for only two days off felt like a scam anyway, but now you¡¯re telling me that even that was going to be taken away? ¡°Even on my days off?¡±

    Granny Qi nodded. ¡°They¡¯ll want as many grimoires as possible to sell during the Book Fair. And you¡¯ll get time off enough when the Book Fair is set up.¡±

    I sighed - I hoped it wouldn¡¯t be so, but something was telling me that Granny Qi was talking from experience.

    ¡°Chin up,¡± Granny Qi said. ¡°The Book Fair is also filled with many opportunities - you¡¯ve been saving for a translating device, haven¡¯t you? You can probably win one in this year¡¯s tournament, or get one for cheap from there.¡±

    My mood perked up at that.

    And hey, there was also the chance that I would be able to find something that might tell me more about this world. Or figure out why I was here.

    The next day, at work, Mark had an announcement to make - and confirmed what Granny Qi said. Even the part about having to work weekends for the next few weeks.

    I had kind of been anticipating that, but I groaned inwardly all the same. Sure, we would be paid overtime for it, and the more we produced, the more we earned since we got a cut of all sales. Still, it was a hard thing to ask someone to work for weeks on end with no day off, no matter how much money was involved.

    There were special instructions for me - I was asked to stop making anything other than Sonnet 95. Lauren and Mark were convinced it would sell like hotcakes, and they wanted as many copies as possible. I was no longer even selling any of them, everything I made was stored just for the Book Fair. As for other grimoires, their prices had jumped by twenty percent that week, and then forty percent the next. Some of them, like Sonnet 95, simply could not be purchased on the open market.

    Twelve days in I felt absolutely drained. At this point I wanted to ask for a day off or just pretend to be sick - it wasn¡¯t even as if the work I did was in any way meaningful. I just copied the same poem over and over again until my mana was exhausted, and then waited for my mana to recover, only to do it again.

    I didn¡¯t even get the customer interaction I used to have since I wasn¡¯t selling anything. Which meant I saw nothing in tips or sales commissions either for now.

    Yes, this would eventually pay off, but ¡®eventually¡¯ had its limits as to how long it could motivate someone for.

    The only reason that I kept up the pace even though I really did not want to, was because no one else in the shop complained, and I did not want to be the odd one out. Yes, I could see that they were also becoming exhausted, but they managed to trudge on - so why couldn¡¯t I?

    And with that in mind, trudge on I did.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Twenty-Nine

    ¡°Good news,¡± Mark said. ¡°We¡¯ve sighted the Book Fair outside of the city walls!¡± There had been talk of them coming closer and closer, with many people coming from the nearby villages in anticipation of the same. But today, they were spotted from the walls, and the market would start in two days.

    During the actual Book Fair, we wouldn¡¯t be working, but would take turns manning the store, so we had some time off of our own to participate in things during the Book Fair. That was all fine and good for me, but Mark¡¯s next words hit me like a sledgehammer.

    ¡°Ah, we¡¯ll need you on the first day, Stefan,¡± Mark said nonchalantly, but I wanted to faint at that. So I would get no rest between all this work and my shift during the Book Fair? From one point of view you could say I was lucky to get it over with as soon as I could, but it was honestly getting to be too much.

    The real kicker was that I was on the cusp of filling out nearly all of my Rank One grimoire slots - in short, I would soon reach Rank Two. But I had to put making grimoires of my own on hold because of having to work everyday. It was too much to ask to do that, come home, and then rack my brains for the script for a new grimoire. No, all I did was work and sleep nowadays.

    With that in mind, the next day, I decided to take a look at the Book Fair on my own. Granny Qi¡¯s house was near the walls, so it wasn¡¯t that much of a trek to go there, and once I was atop the walls, what I saw blew my mind.

    When they had said that a ¡®merchant caravan¡¯ was coming, I had imagined at most a group of a few hundred carts and thought that maybe a couple of tents would be there outside.

    This however, looked closer to like there was an entire army parked outside the city walls! I could¡¯ve been wrong about this, but I thought there had to be at least twenty to thirty thousand people there. Tents were set up all along the circumference of the wall, and it was clear that not everyone outside would be able to come within the city walls. They would have to set up their wares outside the walls, and even now I could see people from the local villages bringing in carts with their produce to sell.

    The produce I was most interested in were of course, grimoires, but that seemed to be only a fraction of what people were setting up for sale. There were all manners of delicacies to feast on which made my mouth water even from this distance, different kinds of clothes, swords, armor, pets - whatever you could seemingly imagine was apparently on sale there.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    The word ¡®merchant caravan¡¯ really did not give justice to what I saw - it looked more like an organism made up of countless limbs that was ever-changing. From this high up it looked like I was watching a giant multicolored anthill, or an amoeba with countless pseudopodia constantly changing and shifting in shape.

    Looking upon it seemed to re-energize me, if I still had some mana left I might¡¯ve even tried making a grimoire on what I had seen, but I didn¡¯t have that much energy in me.

    Perhaps all the work I had put in would finally be worth it?

    The next day I had to get up half an hour earlier than I normally would have - and I felt absolutely dead inside as I trudged my way to Lauren¡¯s shop. I was ten minutes later than the agreed upon time, but by this point I had almost stopped caring entirely.

    To my surprise, Lauren herself was there to greet me. I didn¡¯t see much of her, she spent most of her time in her office, probably working on a Rank Three grimoire, and it was Mark who I actually interacted with.

    Today though, she had come there to seemingly welcome me personally. She had a slight grin about her, revealing rows of pointy teeth. Even now, I thought lizardmen smiles were more terrifying than reassuring, but I was able to tell the difference between a smile and a lizardman baring its fangs at me.

    ¡°Good morning, Stefan!¡± she said. I was a bit taken aback that she remembered my name, but it was probably easier for lizardmen to learn human names than the other way around. Mark came out of the shop and stood alongside her. ¡°Good news - your grimoires are all sold out!¡±

    I stopped right there in my tracks. ¡°Sold out? Already?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Mark said. ¡°We were talking to someone last night, and upon hearing of your product they bought all of it.¡± He chuckled to himself.

    ¡°Ah, if only we had five of you,¡± Lauren said. ¡°We would be swimming in denarii then.¡±

    I guess I should¡¯ve felt happy that my hard work had paid off - but the thing was that on the contrary it felt like an enormous letdown. I had put in several days of work to make them, and they had all been snatched up in minutes? It felt anticlimactic.

    ¡°Are you¡­ alright?¡± Mark asked hesitantly. I think he could pick up something of my thoughts from my face.

    ¡°Uh, yeah, just a little tired is all,¡± I said.

    ¡°Oh, well, I know how hard you¡¯ve been working,¡± Lauren said. ¡°Why don¡¯t we give him the rest of the time off?¡±

    ¡°Ah, right,¡± Mark said. ¡°I had wanted you here because I knew that grimoire of yours was going to be a surefire bestseller, and thought that some people might want an in-person translator, but now that it¡¯s all sold out¡­ I guess there¡¯s not much for you to do here then. Take the rest of the day off, matter of fact, I think we can go the rest of the week without you well enough.¡±

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Thirty

    The offer of having the rest of the time during the Book Fair off was tantalizing, not to mention I could hear the siren song of my bed calling out to me even from here.

    I think the polite thing would¡¯ve been to decline or at least put up a token resistance saying that I didn¡¯t mind staying for a while - but by this point I was completely done with things and just said, ¡°Thank you very much.¡±

    I had begun walking away when Mark yelled out, ¡°Wait!¡±

    I spun around on my heels, annoyed, wondering what it was now, when he walked out of the store carrying a bag of coins. ¡°This is the commission from your sales.¡±

    I took the bag, and it felt far heavier than I had been expecting. ¡°Just¡­ how much did Sonnet 95 sell for?¡±

    ¡°When people realized what we were selling, there was something of a bidding war,¡± Mark said. ¡°It went to three times what we were originally selling it for.¡±

    It was already being sold for far more than a normal grimoire, so this was almost highway robbery - but it looked like there had been many people more than happy to pay such a sum. As I thought more about it, I realized that they had sold it for as much as a Rank Two grimoire! That was insane!

    I carried the bag of money home and then emptied it out onto the kitchen table. It was almost twice of what I¡¯d saved up till now and more than made up for the lack of commissions and tips in the last few days.

    I now had slightly under three thousand denarii at my disposal - while a part of me wanted to rush out and see how the Book Fair was, I was still so very tired, and decided to go upstairs and take a short nap instead.

    At least, it was supposed to be short. I became aware of someone shaking me and opened my eyes to see Granny Qi, who was frowning at me.

    ¡°It¡¯s midday already, how long do you plan on sleeping in?¡± she asked in a harsh voice. ¡°And weren¡¯t you supposed to be at work today? What happened? Did they fire you?¡±

    ¡°No¡­ everything I made got sold out¡­ gave me the day off¡­¡± I said, or rather, grumbled to her. ¡°And I¡¯m so tired¡­ can¡¯t I sleep another hour¡­?¡±

    She sighed and shook her head, exasperated. ¡°Alright, but if you¡¯re not up in another hour¡­¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    I didn¡¯t even hear what she said as I had nearly instantly drifted back to sleep.

    Just five minutes later it seemed, I became aware of someone splashing cold water on my face.

    Now that woke me up instantly, and I leapt out of bed, to see Granny Qi using [Create Water].

    ¡°It¡¯s been two hours since you asked for one,¡± she said as she stopped the spell.

    I looked out the window, it was early afternoon.

    The stupor of slumber still haunted me, but I no longer felt quite so dead inside as I got ready. The extra bit of rest had done wonders for me and my mood.

    Instead of feeling like a strong wind could topple me over, I now felt somewhat refreshed in anticipation of what was coming up and ready to run out.

    Now, I really became excited for the Book Fair! And the thought of all the money I had saved up brightened up my day all the more.

    It was a good thing that Granny Qi had woken me up when she did - because any later and it would have been too late to get anything done. Then I¡¯d be up all night because I¡¯d slept too much during the day, and have basically wasted an entire time span of twenty-four hours.

    Granny Qi didn¡¯t take long to get ready. We usually didn¡¯t head out of the house together unless she had to buy groceries or do something else that needed my help - if I wanted to explore, I tended to do it on my own.

    It was clear though that she didn¡¯t want to miss out on the Book Fair - and she wanted to show me some places that she knew were important. I appreciated that, after all, the Book Fair was so large that I would¡¯ve gotten lost if I tried to explore it myself, almost guaranteed.

    She was dressed up in a new scarlet robe and honestly looked far tidier than I did - I looked like I had hastily dressed myself after getting out of bed too late in the morning, which was true, but still, I didn¡¯t intend to look at it. She looked me up and down and thought I was ¡®passable¡¯ though clearly she didn¡¯t entirely approve.

    The streets of Arconia were crowded like I¡¯d never seen before as the two of us stepped out. There were alleyways where you couldn¡¯t get a cart through, and there were streets so jam packed you couldn¡¯t pass a person through. People were shuffling about, trying to get through this area nonetheless. Children, being smaller, whether human or lizardmen, could often be seen sneaking out of small crevices and crannies that their parents couldn¡¯t. If ever there was a cart that got stuck somewhere, it would end up creating a huge mess of people who had to suddenly turn around while the owner tried to furiously get it unstuck. To add to this chaos, beasts of burden, whether donkeys, horses, or other animals, added their noises to the cacophony of sounds.

    The city was nearly unrecognizable in its current state, though from how Granny Qi behaved this was just how things were whenever the merchant caravan came. I could see now how so many copies of Sonnet 95 had sold out, even among just the people coming into the city for the Book Fair, there would be more than enough to consume all the copies I had, let alone for those who wanted to sell it elsewhere in distant lands.

    Granny Qi didn¡¯t head towards the area where they would be selling books like I¡¯d thought she might, nor to the spot to register for the upcoming tournament.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Thirty-One

    Rather than heading for the section with grimoires, Granny Qi went to a place where there were many hawkers selling fruit in open stalls. She was clearly looking for something, though when I asked her what, she just waved me down and resumed searching.

    We wandered around this place for about ten minutes before she found what she was looking for - a bunch of round fruit which resembled peaches though they had dark violet skin and looked rougher in texture.

    ¡°This is the Rikela fruit,¡± she explained. ¡°Back when I was a young girl, I lived on a farm with six other siblings. We were dirt poor - we didn¡¯t even own the roof above our houses and had to farm our village chief¡¯s land to eke out a meager existence. One day, I saw the daughter of the village chief munching on one of those fruits while I was out helping my father transport carrots, and I pointed to it and asked him if I could have one. He laughed and told me that it was expensive, and that I wouldn¡¯t be able to afford one in my entire life no matter how hard I tried, and to give up on ever trying to eat one.¡± She had a distant look in her eyes, as if she wasn¡¯t standing here, in Arconia, but in a farm miles away and decades past. ¡°I always knew we were poor deep down even back then, I mean, for heaven¡¯s sake, we didn¡¯t even have shoes¡­ but it was when he said those words that I truly felt the weight of how little we had.¡± She went over to the stall and picked one up, examining it.

    ¡°During our third - no, I think it was our fourth - wedding anniversary, it turns out that my husband had heard me mention that story sometime in passing,¡± she continued. ¡°We weren¡¯t as well-off as we are now back then, he was still just a Rank One during those days, but he still scrounged enough money to buy us a few to enjoy during our anniversary. I thought he was saving that money up for another grimoire - and I even chastised him at the time for buying them for me. The money would be better spent on something like a grimoire, or saving up for a house, I thought, even as I felt tears coursing down my face as he handed them to me.¡± She turned to me and had a sly smile on her face. ¡°Do you know what the funniest part of that story is?¡±

    ¡°What?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°They did not taste good at all!¡± she said and then laughed for nearly a minute. ¡°Ah, I pretended otherwise of course, how could I not after all he had done to buy them? Of course, as the years went on we could afford it more often, and I actually grew to somewhat like the taste.¡± She handed the stall owner a few coins as she handed me a Rikela and she took one herself. ¡°Enjoy!¡±The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    I took a bite - it tasted a lot like a kiwi, though there was a hint of blueberry mixed in - that was the best way I could describe it.

    ¡°Not bad,¡± Granny Qi said, munching on it. ¡°Though quite honestly, not very good either.¡± The stall owner seemed slightly offended, but she waved her hand. ¡°Nothing against your produce, good sir, only that I was never a fan of this in the first place.¡±

    She still bought some more as she began walking to another section of the city, seemingly lost in her own memories as she had a dream-like smile on her face.

    ¡°Right, how could I forget? Let¡¯s get you registered for the tournament,¡± she said as if she had suddenly remembered it out of nowhere.

    The tournament had an entry fee of fifty denarii, though as I was affiliated with Lauren¡¯s shop, I got a discount and got in for twenty-five. The rounds would start tomorrow afternoon, so I had the rest of the afternoon free.

    It was then that we headed towards the section that we were really here for - the books!

    Just because magical grimoires existed in this world, didn¡¯t mean that people had stopped writing actual books. There were many of these on display - poems, novels, textbooks - everything that you¡¯d expect.

    I even saw something which I thought resembled an old-style printing press - at least, I thought so. I didn¡¯t have the faintest clue as to how an old-style printing press actually worked, but it looked like pictures I had seen in some history books.

    If only it was possible to somehow mechanize the process of making grimoires - I thought this for the hundredth time since coming to this world.

    But asking why you couldn¡¯t do that was like asking why the sky is blue.

    ¡°What are you looking for?¡± Granny Qi asked.

    ¡°The cheapest Rank One grimoires I can find,¡± I told her. I was going to hold off on buying a translation device, in case I won one from the tournament, but I was so close to getting to Rank Two and starting to experiment with creating Rank Two grimoires that I was just looking for anything that could fill my remaining Rank One slots.

    The prices for most grimoires in Arconia had gone up since the Book Fair started, but that had only been in anticipation of selling them during the Book Fair.

    I, on the other hand, wanted to buy something from a distant land. Sure, many of the selections offered were expensive, but I was sure that I could find something on the cheaper side.

    Most people did not have the money to rent out a proper shop for the occasion, and so had set up stalls much like the fruit vendors had. There were people yelling out prices, and displaying what they had on sale.

    I saw over twelve different kinds of scripts as we walked - but none of them resembled any kind of script that I had known from Earth.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Thirty-Two

    In this sea of various grimoires and shopkeepers, a stall caught my eye because of the owner¡¯s eye color. That may seem strange to say, but the person running this stall was a human (I was relatively sure of that), but when I took a look at their face, I saw that their irises were rainbow-colored.

    I bent over low to whisper to Granny Qi, ¡°Is¡­ that person a human?¡±

    ¡°Why yes, why would you ask?¡±

    ¡°The eye color.¡±

    ¡°Oh, she must be one of the rainbow-eyed people from that country up north,¡± Granny Qi said. She frowned. ¡°I can¡¯t remember what it¡¯s name was, but it¡¯ll come to me the moment I stop thinking about it, just you watch. She¡¯s a bit far from home, but rest assured, she is human.¡±

    I was not afraid of encountering a demihuman, I mean, I spent a good portion of my time with the lizardmen, I just did not want to accidentally offend her.

    The second thing that drew my attention was the scent - there was a soothing fragrance around the shop she had set up. She seemed to have caught my eye and said, ¡°Hello there - looking to buy a book? Or perhaps a grimoire - I have cheap ones for only fifty denarii.¡±

    That was pretty cheap, especially considering the fact that it must have come from far away. ¡°So what do they do?¡± I picked up one of them and saw the faint green glow of a completed grimoire. It was written on paper that felt¡­ different for a lack of a better word.

    ¡°Ah, that one gives the ability to use the [Fragrance] spell,¡± she said, stroking her hair.

    I lifted the paper up, examining it, and took a sniff. ¡°Is this¡­ scented paper?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely it is,¡± she answered. ¡°It¡¯s a special grimoire that has to be written on scented paper.¡± I examined the script on it - it was a bunch of circles with parts filled in. I hadn¡¯t seen a writing system like that before.

    ¡°I um, can you help me read this?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Of course! I made all these grimoires myself,¡± she said proudly.

    ¡°And what does [Fragrance] do exactly?¡±

    ¡°Oh, it allows you to create an aroma around yourself,¡± she said.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    ¡°Is¡­¡± I was about to say ¡®Is that it?¡¯ but then stopped myself at the last second as I didn¡¯t want to appear rude.

    ¡°Sure, it doesn¡¯t do much,¡± she said, seemingly reading my thoughts. ¡°But, I want to experiment with it, to see if I can one day create a Rank Two grimoire with an even greater effect.¡±

    I looked back down at the paper. I realized why she was selling it cheap - sure, the fact that it had to be written on scented paper and was written with a script from a country far away made this very unique, but as the saying back on Earth went, ¡®just because you¡¯re unique doesn¡¯t make you useful.¡¯

    This was borderline useless, even something like [Create Water] or [Poissonnier] could be said to do something at the very least.

    I noticed that nearly all the grimoires she had on sale were this exact same one. This meant that she very likely did not see a lot of sales, once again contributing to the low price. ¡°Do you mind me asking something?¡±

    ¡°Sure?¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you sell something¡­ more lucrative?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Because,¡± she said, stroking her hair and raising an eyebrow as if this should¡¯ve been obvious. ¡°This is what I want to do. I want to make more spells based on aromas, and I can make a passable living by doing so, so why change?¡±

    Ah, so she wasn¡¯t going for the most optimized route - she was doing this out of artistic passion. I had to say that I kind of respected that, and well, I was looking for something to fill out one of my remaining spell slots, and this was cheap enough. I handed her the coins and she began reading me what was on the piece of paper.

    It was a poem about flowers and the fragrances of spring, though much like with what Rose had written, it didn¡¯t make all too much sense to me. The sentences were oddly structured and I¡¯m sure that they were written like that for a specific reason in whatever language she wrote in, but they came off as very odd when translated.

    Once done, it disappeared, and I found that I could use [Fragrance] if I so chose. I wished the stall owner good luck with her endeavors and then decided to set out to find one more.

    ¡°What do you think?¡± I asked Granny Qi after telling her about the grimoire I had bought.

    ¡°Well, you know how to use [Clean], a skill that makes you a better cook, and now this to make places smell nicer,¡± Granny Qi said. ¡°If your goal is to become the perfect housewife, you¡¯re certainly on the right track.¡±

    She snorted sarcastically after saying that.

    ¡°I¡¯m just trying to be done with Rank One so I can focus on experimenting with Rank Two grimoires,¡± I told her. ¡°Once I find something better I¡¯ll overwrite it.¡±

    That was a viable strategy when I was only Rank One. Sure, at the higher ranks there was a significant penalty for doing something like this, but it was not too bad at Rank One or even Rank Two.

    ¡°Just remember that build composition is extremely important,¡± Granny Qi said. ¡°You could advance to Rank Three and be completely useless if you don¡¯t choose what goes into your brain carefully. And you might not get the chance to buy something like you¡¯ll find here again for a long time - you should see if there¡¯s something that might actually be useful to you.¡±

    But something that would be more useful would cost more, and I wanted to hang onto the money I had for now. After all, there was no guarantee that I would win a translation device, and so I wanted to hedge my bets and keep my war chest full, so to speak, for as long as I could.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Thirty-Three

    I also thought that hopefully, I would be able to return home before long. As such, worrying too much about the long term consequences of my actions didn¡¯t make much sense. And even if it came to that, there was always next year¡¯s Book Fair.

    I hunted for a good bargain for a while longer. There were many Rank Two grimoires for sale along with the Rank One grimoires, though I hadn¡¯t seen a single Rank Three - likely because they were locked up somewhere given how valuable and dangerous they were. Not to mention they would be far, far out of my budget range anyway.

    The second grimoire I bought was another one that boosted Luck - I was still not sure if all the Luck boosts I was getting actually helped in any way to enhance my overall luck in life, but I figured I may as well commit to the bit for now. If it didn¡¯t pan out, I would just fix it later.

    Not to mention, since they weren¡¯t in high demand (which kind of countered my own theory because if they did boost your fortune way more people would want them) they were also relatively cheap.

    This grimoire was a collection of jokes and was sold by a rabbitman. Although fully grown, he was only slightly over four feet tall, and on first glance his face looked very deformed though I quickly realized that was just his rabbit features.

    Two ears sprouted from the top of his head, and though I was taken aback by his appearance he was quite friendly as he read out the grimoire for me.

    As it was a collection of jokes, unfortunately it made very little sense to me. Take for example: ¡°Two hunters go into the forest to catch a raccoon they were hunting. The raccoon runs up a tree and hides there, only to run into a monkey. The monkey, angry, knocks the raccoon off the tree and it falls into the lap of one of the hunters. The hunter, however, tosses it away. The other hunter wonders why he¡¯d do such a thing, to which the first hunter replies, ¡®I ate too much fruit this morning.¡¯¡±

    The rabbitman stopped reading just so that he could start laughing for nearly a minute before he continued with the translation. ¡°Sorry, that was quite a knee-slapper back where I¡¯m from, I¡¯d actually forgotten how funny this was¡­¡±

    I hadn¡¯t seen a grimoire written this way before - it seemed to just be a collection of unrelated jokes. From my experience making grimoires, just writing multiple unrelated paragraphs would mean that you were nearly guaranteed to fail.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    Perhaps there was some semblance of structure to these jokes that tied them together? And maybe I just couldn¡¯t figure out what it was due to the language barrier?

    Still, even though it was quite confusing, I memorized the grimoire and it vanished, finally filling all thirty of my Rank One slots!

    As of now, this is what my slots were filled with:

    1. Polonius Advises Laertes which gave +1 to Wisdom

    2. Sonnet 95 which gave +1 to my mana bar

    3. An essay on the properties of water that granted [Create Water] as a spell

    4. A similar essay on the properties of fire that granted [Create Flame] as a spell

    5. A short summary of the major organ systems of the human body that granted [Soothe Wounds], a weak healing spell

    6. An essay on basic geometry that gave +1 to my mana bar

    7. The poem Rose had written about Cheddar that gave +1 to Luck

    8. An essay on probability, that gave +1 to my mana bar

    9. An essay on poker that gave +1 to Luck

    10. An essay on dice games and gambling that gave +1 to Luck

    11. A grimoire I had traded from Rob that gave [Minor Poison Resistance]

    12. A poem I had written back in high school on how much I loved drinking coffee, which gave +1 to Resistance

    13. A description of America¡¯s political system that gave +1 to Wisdom

    14. A poem I had gotten from Rose that gave +1 to my mana bar (I had exchanged Sonnet 95 with her to get this)

    15. An essay on farming that gave the [Green Thumb] passive ability, that helped with farming and otherwise growing plants

    16. A description of how soap was made and worked, that gave the [Clean] spell

    17. An essay on various properties of triangles that gave +1 to my mana bar

    18. A description of Newton¡¯s Three Laws of Motion that gave +1 to Speed

    19. A grimoire I had gotten from one of my other coworkers that gave +1 to Charisma

    20. An essay on how the stock market worked that gave +1 to Luck

    21. A brief history of Egypt that gave +1 to Resistance

    22. A description of basic Game Theory that gave +1 to Luck

    23. A description of Lanchester¡¯s Law that gave +1 to Wisdom

    24. A description of how ranged weapons had evolved from the common bow and arrow to the modern gun that gave +1 to Attack

    25. The essay I had written on the sea that gave the [Poissonnier] ability

    26. A description of how modern banks worked that gave +1 to Luck

    27. A summary of The Wizard of Oz that granted [Wizard¡¯s Blessing], a passive ability that let you cast a single spell once a day completely free of its mana cost

    28. A description of electronics that granted [Shock Stun]

    29. The grimoire I had bought that needed to be written on scented paper that let you cast [Fragrance]

    30. The grimoire of jokes I had bought that gave +1 to Luck

    In terms of levels, I had completed everything I needed to at level ten, and would now need a Rank Two grimoire in order to ¡®level up¡¯ to level eleven. Reading more Rank One grimoires would not do anything for me anymore when it came to increasing levels - and in case I did find an interesting one that I wanted to have, I¡¯d have to erase one of the above to accommodate the new one.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Thirty-Four

    Looking at my build, it was clear that it was a mess. There were far too few mana-raising grimoires for it to be viable and there was too much of everything else.

    Many of those slots would have to be overwritten later on, but for now, I was just happy that I could finally work on crafting Rank Two grimoires, and even buy a few. Even if I didn¡¯t win one and had to buy a translation device with my own funds, I was fairly certain that I could buy at least two or three Rank Two grimoires with the money I had left over.

    I still had no way of knowing what my current base stats were though. If I knew my base stat total, it would be easy enough to extrapolate given what boosts I had gotten to know what my overall stat total was, but I simply did not know right now. There were grimoires that let you know this, I just didn¡¯t have access to any at the moment.

    Even if I knew what my total stats were, the mystery would still remain on what it was that they exactly did.

    Some of them, like my mana bar, Attack, and Resistance were relatively easy to understand, but what things like Wisdom and Luck accomplished were things it looked like not even the people of Libraria were completely certain of. They knew that certain spells were boosted by those stats, but regarding whether or not they had any other effects - who knew?

    Right now though, I had had a busy last few days, and I wasn¡¯t going to start trying to make Rank Two grimoires anytime soon. For now, I would enjoy the Book Fair, and focus on the tournament.

    ¡°So what now?¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell me?¡± Granny Qi asked.

    ¡°Well¡­¡± I said. I wanted to check out some other things - but there was so much to do, and the sun would be setting soon. What was the one thing I wanted to do most?

    We wandered around the stalls aimlessly.

    For once, I didn¡¯t feel like I stood out like a sore thumb as I had since I had arrived in Arconia. My features really set me apart and oftentimes, even now, people would stop to stare at me for far too long. Back when I had been homeless, the stares were mostly those of disgust, though now they were just of curiosity. It did get old after a while, but here, where there were many merchants from various places and of different species, I was now finally just another face in the crowd.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    And that felt so good!

    I kept my eyes out while we walked, looking out to see if anyone¡¯s mouth movements matched what they were actually saying. I was kind of used to everyone talking as if they were in a badly dubbed movie as of now - but I wanted to see if I could identify someone who was from Earth. But, not only did I not find someone like that, I didn¡¯t find a writing system from Earth either.

    Something did stick out to me - the lack of any accents that I could hear.

    You¡¯d expect wildly different accents from people coming from far away lands, but everyone¡¯s speech sounded strangely sterile and bland. The slang they should¡¯ve been using wasn¡¯t apparent either making it seem that most of their personality had been drained from their speech when they talked. This was probably just a function of the translating magic that existed in this world, but the more I thought about it, the weirder it seemed, though again, there was little I could gain by wondering why it worked that way.

    Some things were translated and others weren¡¯t - for example, I heard the word ¡®denarius¡¯ being used for the currency, but I could tell that wasn¡¯t what other people called it, just what I was hearing. It was quite surreal - during my first days in this world I had been too lost and preoccupied with other things to notice it much, and I did slowly get used to it, but it still felt very odd at times.

    Seeing all these stalls, many of which had wheels at the bottom for easier transport, made me wonder about something I had been thinking of before.

    ¡°Why does the Book Fair come over land? Wouldn¡¯t it be easier for them to have a fleet of ships?¡± I asked Granny Qi. After all, moving things via water was much cheaper and easier than over land. And yet, whenever I had gone near the docks, all I saw were small ships that were built for fishing near the shoreline and not for sailing into deeper waters. I couldn¡¯t find any large ships - and I think the city¡¯s lack of ethnic diversity spoke to itself regarding how little foreign traffic it usually got, something that would be vastly different in a large and busy port city on Earth.

    ¡°If you go too far out to sea,¡± Granny Qi said, ¡°It is too dangerous to sail there. You¡¯ll encounter huge whirlpools and sea serpents - creatures who are very territorial. It is harder to fight such creatures on a boat than it would be on land. Not to mention strange weather phenomena that are hard to predict.¡±

    ¡°So why not sail along the rivers?¡± I asked her. From what I had heard, the Ragini was the largest river in Libraria, with many branching segments. If you couldn¡¯t sail along the coast, why not along the Ragini, following it to the Arconia, and then to this city?

    ¡°There are important spots where the river doesn¡¯t flow near like the capital,¡± Granny Qi said. She would normally be exasperated when I asked too many questions like this, but she was in a rather good mood today. ¡°And some areas where it passes through which are dangerous, in territories not controlled by humans. Some places can use it to their advantage for moving things here and there, but Arconia is not one of those countries, at least not on a large scale.¡±

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Thirty-Five

    Granny Qi¡¯s explanation regarding why there wasn¡¯t as much maritime trade as I¡¯d expected was kind of unconvincing, though I didn¡¯t have any information to counter it, and she was a native to this world. All I could do was try to look into things later, and anyway, as it was, it wasn¡¯t like the information would change anything about my current predicament.

    We passed across numerous hawkers and vendors, but nothing really caught my eye until I chanced upon a workshop which made things which were very like the fountain pens back on Earth.

    These were a step above the modified reed pen I was using up till now, and the craftsmen who made them allowed me to try one out. It flowed easily over the paper and was far more natural than anything else I had used up till that point.

    ¡°So this is how you use it,¡± he explained, disassembling the pen to show a small sack in there. ¡°Take a bottle of ink, squeeze this sack, and dip the end of the tip into the ink well.¡± I watched as the ink slowly went into the sack through a mixture of suction and capillary action. ¡°But be careful - it can only be used with some kinds of ink. Other kinds will corrode the insides and eventually make it unusable.¡±

    I bought six of them - they cost ten denarii each. Granny Qi looked at them funnily - likely she was used to writing with brushes and couldn¡¯t understand why I paid so much for them, but if this made writing more comfortable to me, it was worth the price. I also bought a few bottles of ink from the guy for another ten denarii. The ink would not last me the whole year, but I hoped I would be able to find a reasonable substitute somewhere in Arconia even after the Book Fair was over.

    By then the shops were slowly closing as the sun descended towards the horizon, and we headed back home.

    I woke up late the next morning too - or at least, late by my usual standards. Granny Qi was already up and about and said that she would come by to see how the tournament went for me. Otherwise, she was going to stay at home for the morning while I went out.

    What to do until then?

    After buying a strange sweet made with honey that I had never seen before I chanced upon something that seemed interesting - a play that was being performed. The performance had actually started yesterday, meaning that I had missed a good chunk of the plot, but this last bit was self-contained to the point that I hoped I hadn¡¯t missed much.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    It had begun by the time I had entered after buying a ticket - there was a special seating arrangement for Liberomancers, so I didn¡¯t have any trouble seeing what was going on in the stage.

    From what I had understood, the play was about the events that led to the downfall of the Ruler of the Astral Winds, with a good portion of it being focused on King Faussius III. I hadn¡¯t heard that name before, but I figured I might learn something since the play was supposed to be based, at least loosely, on historical events.

    The stage was set up in what looked like a throne room, with a man sitting upon a throne placed in the center who I guessed was King Faussius III - though I didn¡¯t want to be the guy asking other people in the audience what was going on during the play and decided to just keep quiet for now and check it out.

    A man walked onto the stage, dressed in a peculiar green robe embroidered with an emblem of sword crossed with a quill pen. ¡°Allow me to greet the magnificent King Faussius III, rule of the Faussian Kingdom.¡± The man then bowed.

    ¡°You may proceed,¡± the man sitting on the throne said leaving no doubts now as to his identity.

    ¡°I bear a message from my master, the Ruler of the Astral Winds, overlord of the Raswatian Empire. My Lord¡¯s kingdom stretches from the headwaters of the Ragini to the sea, from Mt. Pehar to the Valley of the Dragons. The magnificence and power of his realm is known throughout the world, Your Highness. And My Lord is so gracious as to allow the Faussian Kingdom to become a piece of this prosperous realm, and for this he merely asks for a few meager offerings,¡± the envoy said.

    King Faussius III snorted - the actor was really trying to ham in the expressions, but it just looked like over-acting to me. ¡°So he wants us to bow down and become his slaves - this is no gracious offer, it is a demand of fealty. And what, tell me, will happen should we refuse?¡±

    ¡°If you turn away this hand of friendship, it will have to reluctantly become a fist of war,¡± the envoy said. ¡°And the displeasure of My Lord will rain down upon Your Highness¡¯s kingdom.¡±

    ¡°So, he has finally dispensed with beating around the bush and has decided to become open with his intentions,¡± King Faussius III said. ¡°My armies are well-trained, and I myself command the Rank Four of Liberomancy. It will not be so easy to trample upon us!¡±

    ¡°With all due respect to His Majesty,¡± the envoy answered. ¡°To fight My Lord is not to fight an army - but to fight a force of nature itself. One can no more fight him than a man can fight a hurricane or an earthquake. No doubt your illustrious self is skilled in the arts of Liberomancy, but My Lord has prevailed over foes far more accomplished than your honored self - he is the kind of genius that is seen only once every ten thousand years. The gap between Rank Four and Rank Five, Your Highness - though you may not know for the scarcity of Rank Five casters - is the difference between heaven and earth. I have no doubt of Your Majesty¡¯s or his people¡¯s resolve. But to resist My Lord is the definition of futility.¡±

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Thirty-Six

    The envoy finished his declaration with a flourish.

    King Faussius III did not answer him for some time. ¡°Give me some time to consider your proposal.¡±

    ¡°Of course, Your Majesty,¡± the envoy said, bowed, and then exited the stage.

    King Faussius III stepped off his throne to the front of the stage, now addressing the audience directly. ¡°The Ruler of the Astral Winds - he may style himself as a great learned and wise Liberomancer, and yet his greed knows no bounds. He has so much of the world in the palm of his hands, and yet he still weeps over the tiny sliver that is not his. My father had been foolish indeed to think that we would be left alone so long as we did not antagonize him. I cannot bend the knee - I cannot allow it. We will fight this tyrant.¡± He then paused and shook his head. ¡°Yet, I also see no hope for victory.¡±

    He then exited, and the set was changed to what looked like a royal bedroom. The curtain lifted to show that King Faussius III was still awake, working at a desk, when something came in off stage.

    ¡°Who goes there?¡± he suddenly said, getting up, as if he had noticed an intruder walking into the room.

    They must have used some special effect for this with the help of Liberomancy, much like the earlier play I had seen about the Goddess Serragnin, because there was a dark shadow in the middle of the stage, though the sunlight was still streaming into the theater.

    Nothing was casting the shadow and yet it was still there, I had no other way to describe it other than as if they had invented something like a ¡®flashdark.¡¯

    A voice came from somewhere off stage, though from the direction of the shadow.

    ¡°Do you seek power?¡±

    ¡°Who is it?¡± King Faussius asked again.

    ¡°I will ask you once more, do you seek power? The power to overcome the Ruler of the Astral Winds?¡±

    King Faussius stopped. He peered at the shadow and then recoiled. ¡°What manner of beast are you?¡±

    ¡°Not a beast, Your Highness, but a spirit,¡± it answered. ¡°One who has seen the mountains rise and fall, valleys formed from rivers, one who traveled the land freely when humanity was still crawling through the mud in caves, and one who greeted Lady Serragnin when she descended upon this mortal realm.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    King Faussius looked nervous now. ¡°You - you are the Darkness?¡±

    ¡°Most perceptive, Your Highness,¡± the Darkness said. ¡°The Spirit of the Darkness - and I have come to give you aid during your time of need.¡±

    ¡°Aid? What could the Spirit of Darkness wish to aid me with?¡± King Faussius asked.

    ¡°I can show you how you can defeat the Ruler of the Astral Winds,¡± the Darkness said. ¡°Your people would never again have to fear living in his shadow. Peace will return to your kingdom, and your father¡¯s legacy will be saved. Moreover, the world will be rid of a terrible tyrant.¡±

    ¡°That sounds far too good to be true,¡± King Faussius answered, and then narrowed his eyes. ¡°And what do you ask of me in return for such help?¡±

    ¡°Very perceptive, Your Highness, but I only have a small favor to ask of you,¡± the Darkness answered. ¡°I merely wish for a place to stay.¡±

    ¡°To stay? Like a house or-¡±

    ¡°-no, no, Your Majesty. Tell me, where does the Spirit of Light live? In the streams of sunshine that embrace the Earth. Where does the Spirit of Water live? In the streams and rivers of the world. Where does the Spirit of the Earth live? In the soil beneath us. Where dose the Spirit of the Air live? In the winds themselves. Where does the Spirit of Fire live? In the flames that light the world. And where do I, the Spirit of Darkness live?¡±

    ¡°In the hearts of men,¡± King Faussius replied.

    ¡°Ah, correct you are once again, Your Majesty. Yet I am at a disadvantage when compared to my spiritual brethren - I cannot live in my natural place without permission. And so, that is what I ask of you, Your Majesty. Give me your heart, and I will show the path to victory,¡± the Darkness said.

    ¡°You lie, trickster,¡± King Faussius said. The anger was apparent in his voice as his actor had no real understanding of the concept of subtlety it seemed. ¡°Tell me first, what help could you possibly give me?¡±

    ¡°The gap between Rank Four and Rank Five is vast indeed,¡± the Darkness said. ¡°The only hope you have of bridging that gap is a demonic grimoire.¡±

    The sound of thunder came.

    ¡°Demonic¡­ grimoire?¡± King Faussius asked.

    I had heard of them - much as there were some grimoires that required certain materials to be written on or special kinds of ink, well, there were some that were considered ¡®demonic¡¯ for a very simple reason: they required the murder of an innocent in order to be made.

    They usually had to either be written with the blood of the victims, on paper made of their skin, or both.

    There were no work-around or loopholes as to who you could kill - you couldn¡¯t kill a convicted convict or someone in self-defense and then make one.

    No, the act of murdering an innocent victim itself was necessary to their creation. Very little information was available regarding many of them for the simple reason that they were very obviously banned. Using a spell or skill from a demonic scripture was tantamount to declaring yourself a murderer after all. They were, however, said to be far more powerful than usual spells of whatever Rank they belonged to.

    And the moment a demonic grimoire was mentioned in this story, I realized that I had heard of this King Faussius III person before - not by that very name, but by another title in the stories that I had heard. A title he would become far more famous for.

    ¡°You ask of me to slaughter innocents?¡± King Faussius asked.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Thirty-Seven

    ¡°Innocents? What of the innocents the Ruler of the Astral Winds has slaughtered, Your Majesty? What of the life of your countrymen? Surely the sacrifice of a small number of individuals is worth it for the well-being of the whole - would you not cut off your finger if it meant saving your life? And as ruler, is it not your duty to be above the morals of mortal men and make such decisions? Do you not, in many ways, already decide who lives and dies? Which soldiers you send to the front line in battle? If a man were to see two people drowning simultaneously, and could only save one, does he not, in a way, condemn the other to death by choosing to save one? And yet, no one would declare such a man to be a murderer, only that he was right to choose to save at least one person. And this is not an equivalent deal we speak of, Your Majesty, by the suffering of a few, great prosperity will be granted to millions who will be free of the Ruler of the Astral Wind¡¯s tyranny. Men will sing of your deeds - of how you defeated the great conqueror for centuries to come,¡± the Spirit of Darkness said.

    ¡°You seek to destroy me,¡± King Faussius said, though there was now hesitation in his voice as he measured the weight of the Darkness¡¯s words.

    ¡°No, I seek to help you save your country,¡± the Darkness said. ¡°Dawn soon approaches, and I will be gone then - make your mind up quickly, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I cannot do this,¡± King Faussius finally said, sporting a tormented expression.

    ¡°I see that your heart is still weak, Your Majesty,¡± the Darkness said. ¡°It is an unworthy offering for one such as I. I will return in three night¡¯¡¯ time to speak with you again, Your Majesty. Ruminate upon my words carefully, and I hope that one with wisdom such as you will eventually see the reason of my words.¡±

    The shadow disappeared, and King Faussius walked to the center of the stage again.

    ¡°I see no way out of this quagmire, but how can I slaughter those subjects who so lovingly look towards their king for protection? No, I must find another way¡­¡±

    The scene changed and the narrator spoke. ¡°The next day, King Faussius III was approached by a messenger.¡±

    ¡°You Majesty,¡± a woman said. ¡°The Queen wishes to speak with you regarding an urgent matter.¡±

    ¡°Ah - can it not wait? My mind is troubled as of late - tell her this,¡± King Faussius said. The actor had his face buried in his hands.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    ¡°I think you will want to hear this, Your Majesty,¡± the woman said before bowing and heading out.

    The scene changed again to that of a different royal bedroom, and there was a woman wearing a tiara who I guessed was the queen. I had missed part of the initial play, so as a consequence I didn¡¯t know who some of the actors were.

    ¡°What is it that you called for me?¡± King Faussius asked, a hint of anger unmistakable in his voice.

    ¡°Ah, Your Grace, you would have absolutely wanted to hear this news from my own mouth,¡± the queen answered. ¡°We are soon going to be welcoming your heir.¡±

    I think the actor who was playing King Faussius, at this moment, was trying to convey sudden shock and then joy - but he really overplayed it to the point that I had to stop myself from bursting out into laughter. It nearly took me out of the play.

    ¡°What wonderful news!¡± he said.

    The scene shifted again, now showing King Faussius pacing around in his bedroom.

    The narrator spoke again. ¡°For many hours did King Faussius deliberate on what the Darkness had said. The news that his wife was about to bear his child only further muddled his mind. The envoy of the Ruler of the Astral Winds later told him that his master would not wait forever for an answer. And finally, when the time that the Spirit of Darkness had said would come, came, and the king had his answer.¡±

    The shadow once again appeared in the room. ¡°I sense you have changed, Your Majesty. Your heart - it has been steeled and become hardened and strong. Excellent! Now it is a home worthy of one such as I.¡±

    ¡°You speak as if you already know my answer,¡± King Faussius said.

    ¡°Do I not?¡±

    King Faussius shook his head. ¡°Alright - fiend, though I may end up regretting this for a hundred years, I cannot deny the reality of my situation compels me to take action. I freely give my heart to you, the Spirit of Darkness.¡±

    The shadow vanished, and the narrator said, ¡°And so, King Faussius III gave his heart to the Darkness.¡±

    Another scene played between the king and the envoy, in which the king asked to meet with the Ruler of the Astral Winds alone in order to discuss terms.

    The envoy hemmed and hawed at the request, but ultimately the Ruler of the Astral Winds agreed on a date one month in advance.

    In the meantime, King Faussius made the demonic grimoire he needed.

    ¡°And so,¡± the narrator said, ¡°King Faussius was told by the Darkness that this grimoire required the slaughter of a hundred innocents. After some thought, he had found a worthy target.¡±

    The scenery shifted again, this time cardboard cutouts of huts were propped up and people who I guessed were supposed to be peasants were miming farming with prop tools.

    ¡°He chose the village of Pali. It had the appropriate number of residents, was in a secluded place a ways away from the other villages in the area, and did not contribute much to the kingdom. Its loss and the loss of its people was considered acceptable,¡± the narrator said.

    Soldiers burst onto stage, wielding weapons, and forming a tight circle around the now-cowering villagers. King Faussius walked onto the stage and began striking them down.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Thirty-Eight

    ¡°One hundred,¡± the narrator said. ¡°One hundred innocents were needed to create the demonic grimoire that the Spirit of Darkness Darkness told King Faussius about. And so, everyone in Pali was slaughtered so that no witnesses were left, not even the children were spared. Each page of the Rank Four demonic grimoire was made of the skin of one of the victims, and contained some of the foulest language dictated by the Darkness scribbled onto each leaf of the grimoire in their blood. King Faussius and his soldiers told the rest of his kingdom that it was bandits who had ransacked Pali, and in so doing, they washed their hands clean.¡±

    ¡°Then, with the wicked deed done, King Faussius prepared to meet the Ruler of the Astral Winds. He, not fearing any man alive, agreed to meet with the king all alone, so long as the king did the same.¡±

    The scene shifted again, to show King Faussius sitting at a table, a white flag flying above his head.

    Another actor walked in dressed very funnily - though I could only assume this was the Ruler of the Astral Winds. He wore a long flowing blue cape over what looked like scarlet armor (hard to tell if it was meant to be armor or something else given it was a prop).

    ¡°King Faussius III,¡± he said, slightly inclining his head.

    ¡°How overjoyed I am to greet the Ruler of the Astral Winds,¡± King Faussius said. ¡°I trust your journey here was pleasant.¡±

    ¡°Yes, yes,¡± the Ruler of the Astral Winds answered. ¡°My journey was pleasant enough. Now may I ask why it is that you wished to meet me in person? I do believe that my envoy made my wishes clear. Is this simply so that you may swear your loyalty to me in person?¡±

    ¡°You are as perceptive as you are strong,¡± King Faussius said. ¡°When I heard of your grace and magnificence, I wished to see it with my own eyes. And for that reason, I hope you will forgive this vassal of yours for being selfish.¡±

    ¡°No, no,¡± the Ruler of the Astral Winds said, waving away the king¡¯s complaints. ¡°I do understand - and it is the duty on behalf of a liege lord to see to the needs of their vassals.¡±

    ¡°But that is not all,¡± the king answered. ¡°I wished to show you a magnificent spectacle you can gaze upon from this location. A true wonder of nature¡¯s magic you can spot from here.¡±

    ¡°Oh? You mean something like the double inverted rainbows of the western desert? Or the floating crystals of the Pathaj Forest?¡±

    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    ¡°Something similar, yes,¡± the king said. ¡°Merely cast your sight over there.¡±

    As the Ruler of the Astral Winds turned his head, and dropped his guard, the king attacked.

    The way they showed this was with a bright flash of light, and the Ruler of the Astral Winds fell to the ground.

    ¡°You knave!¡± he screamed as he fell to the ground.

    ¡°The two of them fought, but with the Ruler of the Astral Winds wounded badly, he was unable to prevail,¡± the narrator said.

    The actor playing the Ruler of the Astral Winds lay down motionless.

    ¡°I have done it! The great tyrant is dead!¡± King Faussius proclaimed to the audience.

    ¡°After his death,¡± the narrator said. ¡°The Empire ruled over by the Ruler of the Astral Winds attempted to rally against King Faussius for the death of their leader, though they feared him and none were ready to strike first. Soon, the Raswatian Empire he had built devolved into a multitude of fractious states, and King Faussius was even able to assimilate some of the lands around his own kingdom in the following confusion. By now, he had adopted a new title for himself-¡±

    ¡°The Blood-Emperor,¡± I whispered to myself as the narrator said it. That was the name under which I had heard of him.

    ¡°Yet, things did not look up for the Blood-Emperor,¡± the narrator continued. The scene shifted to show the man sitting upon a chair. ¡°Over time, he was haunted by what he had been forced to do to the residents of Pali. When he slept, he could hear their screams and wails asking for mercy. He had granted them no quarter, and this weighed down on his conscience. He had not been a wicked ruler before his actions, and as he tried his best to deal with the aftermath of assassinating the Ruler of the Astral Winds, strange incidents began occurring.¡±

    One scene showed him overseeing the distribution of grain to refugees, only for him to ask one of his attendants why a child in the back was not coming forward.

    ¡°Who, Your Majesty?¡± an attendant asked.

    ¡°That boy over there,¡± the Blood-Emperor said, pointing.

    ¡°Pardon me, but there is no one there,¡± the attendant replied.

    The Blood-Emperor frowned, and walked to the corner where he saw the boy. ¡°Is everyone around me suddenly blind? How could you not see-¡±

    I really don¡¯t know what kind of spell they used for this next effect, but it was the best ¡®special effect¡¯ I¡¯d seen up till this point. The actor, the boy, vanished, and in his place there was a puddle of scarlet liquid.

    ¡°No! No! No!¡± the Blood-Emperor screamed.

    And so it continued.

    In another scene, as he was holding court, he would see a woman holding an infant behind his courtiers, who no one other than him seemed to be able to see. The king watched them cautiously, until they approached him.

    ¡°What do you want?¡± he asked them, fear in his voice.

    ¡°Why did you kill us? Why did you kill us? Why did you kill us?¡­¡± the woman repeated. No one else could hear her, but her words greatly troubled the king.

    Even when he slept, he could see shadows of his victims in the corners. He would hear them whisper to him at night from the shadows.

    Eventually, he stopped eating properly and started losing weight, becoming ill despite the attempts of his healers.

    ¡°And finally, he could live with his deeds no longer, and ended his life by his own hand,¡± the narrator said. This next set was a single staircase that led to a noose at the top, and as King Faussius took his first steps up the stairs, the curtain closed.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Thirty-Nine

    There was silence for a few moments, and then applause as the play ended.

    As I left the theater, I could hear people talking and giving their opinions about the play.

    I had my own questions - in the version of the story that I had heard before this, the Blood-Emperor hadn¡¯t taken his own life, he had simply become so worried that he fell sick and refused treatment, allowing nature to take its course. Also, there was no ¡®Spirit of Darkness¡¯ who he made a pact with, in the versions I had heard he had been told a rumor about the demonic grimoire from one of his advisers.

    Obviously, when you speak of any story, there would be different versions of it. However, this had really happened - though I guess even when it comes to historical events there would be conflicting accounts on what had happened. Even in plays or movies based on historical events, creative liberties were often taken and it wasn¡¯t like the theater had sold it off as being a historical documentary, after all. So, I couldn¡¯t really take this as entirely what historians thought had happened.

    After all, I could tell that the writer of the play was slightly biased against the Blood-Emperor. Then again, most people were.

    Even after all the horrible things the Ruler of the Astral Winds had done (even with my limited knowledge of this world I could name three things off the top of my head that he had done that would be classified as war crimes back on Earth) his name was still spoken with reverence all throughout the continent.

    I personally would¡¯ve thought that people would¡¯ve seen the Blood-Emperor as the real hero of the story, a man who had stood against a seemingly unstoppable tyrant and tragically had to commit a heinous act to save most of his people. But on the contrary, his name was usually spoken with disdain - and I had heard that statues made in his likeness were often defaced by people.

    Maybe people sympathized with the Ruler of the Astral Winds instead - he had been born a simple man without any powerful family backing him, and yet had risen to a height in Liberomancy which had never been seen since the time the Goddess Serragnin walked the Earth. There were likely those who wished that they too, could reach that level - he was a paragon of the phrase ¡®lifting yourself up by your bootstraps¡¯ when you thought about it.

    Contrasted to him, the Blood-Emperor had been born into royalty and had had much of his path already set up for him.

    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    Along the same lines, I think that people thought that he ¡®deserved¡¯ to beat the Blood-Emperor and that the Blood-Emperor had simply cheated the Ruler of the Astral Winds out of his victory. It wasn¡¯t just the fact that he had used a demonic grimoire, after all, but that he had slain the Ruler of the Astral Winds while they had been under a banner of truce. I could see people thinking that was not exactly playing fair - though on the other hand, was it fair for the Ruler of the Astral Winds to demand everyone submit to him? Maybe from a ¡®might means right¡¯ perspective, but I doubted that people wholly thought that that was a reasonable philosophy to live life by.

    Or perhaps people wished he had conquered all of Libraria and united it under one banner. Many problems today between countries could be traced back to the demise of his empire, and I guess some people thought that if he had united the world there wouldn¡¯t be any more wars. Which was true from a certain point of view.

    Even back on Earth there were some people who wondered why it was that a strong dictator didn¡¯t suddenly come along who could solve all their problems instantly, regardless of how unrealistic it was.

    That said, the capital city of his empire, Hansini still stood and was a bastion of Liberomancy to this day even if it was only a shell of its former self when you considered its political power.

    As I walked around the Book Fair and saw a family chatting together, it struck me that maybe the answer was far simpler. The Ruler of the Astral Winds, despite his cruel deeds had one thing that differentiated him from the Blood-Emperor - he had done them to his enemies.

    You wouldn¡¯t condone someone doing such horrible things, but if it was a time of war, I guess some people could write it off as ¡®understandable¡¯ to some extent. Not to mention that as this world lacked a lot of moral sensibilities back on Earth like the Geneva Convention, it was easier to overlook such actions.

    It was far more palatable for a man to do horrible things to his enemies than to do them to his own people, like the Blood-Emperor had. He had slain the villagers that by every right, he was supposed to protect. As it was said, betrayal is the worst only becomes it comes from a friend.

    I left such heavy-handed thoughts behind as I wandered the Book Fair for a while more. I wanted to kill some time before my round began, and I thought of wandering around places where there might be bards and the like to see if I could find a story or a poem, unlikely as it was, that might give me some insight into why I was in this world.

    I didn¡¯t find anything like that. The talk of the town currently was the dryad threat, and that was what nearly every story or tale swapped around was about.

    When I though of dryads, I thought of beautiful women who were tree spirits from the Greek myths back on Earth.

    Here though, they were different - actually, the translation system of the world probably just called them ¡®dryads¡¯ because that was the closest thing that I would understand.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Forty

    North of the Hitutsa Kingdom was a large forest that had been uninhabited since the fall of the Ruler of the Astral Winds. The soil there was very poor in quality, but the place was home to a large number of magical beasts known as dryads - which from the descriptions that I got were essentially evil trees that were sentient and could walk around. They could get most of their nutrition from water and sunlight, but the thing was that because of the soil quality, in order to obtain some of their other nutrients they had evolved a lot like plants such as Venus Flytraps back on Earth in that they were carnivorous.

    Only instead of eating insects, they hunted large creatures like deer and cattle, and when such prey were scarce - they would also resort to hunting humans.

    As a consequence of the poor soil and foliage, the availability of prey in the forest was limited, and the dryads were able to replicate at a rate much like rabbits on Earth so long as they had enough sunlight and water - which given the Ragini flowed through the area, they had an abundance of.

    As a matter of fact, it was because of their presence that people couldn¡¯t simply sail down the Ragini with goods towards Hitutsa or Chipker as they would be attacked by them along their journey.

    The dryads would replicate to the point that their need for blood could not be satisfied by the forest, and then descend towards the frontier villages of Hitutsa before being repelled by its armies. They would occasionally, after several years, overpopulate to such numbers that they came not in the tens of thousands - but the hundreds of thousands. They would be defeated at the cost of a large number of lives, and the cycle would repeat.

    ¡°I think we¡¯re going to see a big wave soon,¡± a trader told me. ¡°This wave was around twenty thousand, but I could still see so many in the distance. Barely got away with the skin of me teeth.¡±

    ¡°How¡­ intelligent are they?¡± I asked him. ¡°Can you talk to one?¡±

    ¡°Barely smarter than animals,¡± the trader said. ¡°Can get a few words off, but there¡¯s no negotiating with them. They want blood and they¡¯re out for blood. I¡¯d stay away from Hitutsa for the next few years at least - next year I think we¡¯ll skip them entirely and come here straightway.¡±

    ¡°I see, thanks,¡± I told him as I wandered off to go check out the other attractions in the place.

    I saw a short play called M¡¯kartha which was interesting but didn¡¯t tell me much else about this world.

    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    I did see one other thing of interest - someone advertising a magic show.

    I couldn¡¯t help but think- did people still do magic shows in this world, even though there was real magic?

    Or was it more of using magic in a way that was performative - like theater troupes sometimes did, only on a larger scale?

    Maybe it was just authentic fake magic instead.

    The show started late, and I would¡¯ve missed my round in the tournament if I stayed behind for it, so I couldn¡¯t check it out, but I made a note to drop by if I ever got time later just out of curiosity.

    I had bigger fish to fry - it was time for the tournament to begin!

    When I had first heard of a tournament, I had thought it involved Liberomancers duking it out on a battlefield with magic.

    Thankfully, that notion was wrong. If that had been the case I would have just declined to participate in the first place.

    Because, much as non-Liberomancers did not want to fight Liberomancers, Liberomancers did not usually want to fight each other either. Conflicts would naturally arise between people, but to have it escalate to the point of an all-out fight?

    What kind of people became Liberomancers? Mainly shut-in bookworms. If they were not like that, then they would usually become like that.

    And people with such temperaments usually did not rush to fight other people (at least, even if there was an argument or disagreement, they wouldn¡¯t rush to violence as a first resort). Even if you agreed to use non-lethal spells, all it would take would be someone casting [Diarrhea] on you to ruin your day - as well as your pants for that matter. And if the fight got very intense, even if you were the victor, your enemy might decide they may as well take you with them with their final move.

    That was to say nothing of the collateral damage such fights could cause. Many spells had area-of-effect damage that could harm multiple bystanders and buildings if they were used.

    So what to do? Liberomancers throughout the ages had scratched their heads of finding a solution - a way for Liberomancers to compete without blowing up half of a city block. They could just agree to fight outside the city walls where there would be no one to get in the way.

    But, the death of a high-ranking Liberomancer was a great loss to any country. And even if it was someone low-ranking, that Rank One Liberomancer who died could¡¯ve been the person to invent another mana-raising grimoire or the like in the future.

    And so the concept of a Liberomancer¡¯s Duel had been made.

    The idea was simple- what did Liberomancers do? Create grimoires of course, and that was what such Duels tested.

    The idea had caught on to such a degree that people trained for such things like a competitive sport, and that was what this tournament was about.

    ¡°Thanks for coming,¡± I said to Granny Qi as I saw her waiting for me near the reception.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t miss it for the world,¡± she said. ¡°Now, remember what I told you?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°I¡¯m sure that I can win fourth place.¡±

    She frowned. ¡°Fourth place?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, the prize for Fourth Place is a translation item,¡± I said. Third place was a Rank Two grimoire, second place was also a Rank Two grimoire (though a better one), and first place was a Rank Three grimoire.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Forty-One

    The translation item was worth less than the grimoires, naturally, which is why it was the placed lower than them on the prize list, but it was what I was really after.

    Granny Qi sighed. ¡°Even so, why would you start out aiming for fourth place? Shouldn¡¯t you at least aim for the top?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I have a chance at winning first place,¡± I told her. I had only just started my journey of Liberomancy a few months ago, after all.

    ¡°Still, what kind of loser aims for just fourth place from the very beginning? Why don¡¯t you set your sights higher?¡±

    ¡°I just¡­ don¡¯t think I can. And I don¡¯t want to be disappointed if I fail to hit that kind of target, you know?¡±

    ¡°When you first learned to walk, did you not stumble over and over? If you were so afraid of failing, you¡¯d still be crawling on all fours,¡± Granny Qi said. ¡°Well, whatever it is, I can¡¯t force you to be more optimistic. Let¡¯s hope you put on a good show at least.¡±

    The first round of the tournament was five Duels against different people - you had to win at least three of them to qualify for the next round, which was set up in more traditional tournament fashion with brackets and the like.

    The rounds were set up in a large building that belonged to the Liberomancer¡¯s Guild which had been reserved for this very purpose. I was led to a small room where there was space for spectators on the side, though other than Granny Qi no one was there. That was kind of to be expected for the first round.

    My opponent for this round was another human from Arconia. We bowed before starting and took our places, with each of us getting several sheets of paper as well as ink and an ink brush. I showed the referee my fountain pen and he said it was fine for me to use it instead if I so wished.

    We both took our seats. ¡°Do you need the rules explained?¡± the referee asked. Both of us shook our heads. He reached into a hat filled with folded pieces of paper and took one out. ¡°The word is ¡®sword.¡¯¡±

    That was how Liberomancer Duels worked - a word would be stated, and we had to make a grimoire revolving around said word successfully. A higher ranked Liberomancer would have an advantage in having a larger mana pool and more experience - but it was not a guaranteed win based on simple ranking.

    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    I had realized that people like Rose did not spend much time making grimoires on their own. There was little point - after all, it is easier to walk on a path that has already been made in the woods rather than carving your own. You might make something interesting, of course, but you were more likely to fail, and even success could be counted as a failure if you took opportunity cost into account.

    That was another reason that such tournaments existed - to incentivize innovation of new grimoires.

    As such, I had a massive advantage in the sense that nearly all that I had been doing up till now was mainly making my own grimoires.

    But I had another ace up my sleeve - my education from Earth!

    It wasn¡¯t completely correct to say that I was carving my own path here. I was relying on knowledge that I had learned back on Earth- that was why I wanted so desperately to find a way to recharge my smartphone so that I could have access to a wider library - as it was, it wasn¡¯t like I had memorized every single text or poem I¡¯d read.

    Still, even the basic education system back on Earth was far superior to what it was in Libraria.

    That wasn¡¯t to say that the people of this world were dumb or anything - quite the contrary, they did the best they could, but they still lived in a pre-industrial society and relied heavily on agriculture or fishing to sustain themselves.

    Those who were ¡®literate¡¯ could mainly just write their names, and although there was a patchwork of standardized schooling in some places, most of the people there could only read and write at what would be considered a fourth or fifth grade level back on Earth at best. That was fine for some Rank One grimoires, but you would want to be able to read at least at an eighth grade level to really get any mileage.

    Universities did exist, but most of their textbooks were rather paltry compared to even high school textbooks back home from what I¡¯d heard. Paper was not as cheap as it was back home, and as such, the rigor of such places was also beneath what you¡¯d find back on Earth.

    Writing grimoires could be said to be sort of like an essay writing competition in a way, which is something anyone back on Earth would have far more experience of than most people here in Libraria if they¡¯d gone through school.

    Once again, the people of this world were not dumb by any means - but it was often said that your modern high school math textbook would have information that Archimedes would¡¯ve given a limb in exchange for.

    It was much the same in this world, it was just that I had been exposed to more literature and written more than what many of the people of this world would have.

    Coming to actually writing the grimoire - now, I had initially had a success rate of only fifty percent with writing Rank One grimoires. After some trial and error, I had come to understand some of the nuances and what you could do to increase the chances of successfully creating a grimoire. Many people understood that some works of writing were more likely to be successfully converted into grimoires than others, though few of them knew what would set such works apart. This was because few people tried to make as many new grimoires as someone like me, and though I¡¯d had to go on this journey without any guidance, I had picked up a thing or two.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Forty-Two

    For one, although poems were shorter than the usual length of grimoires and so theoretically easier to write, the failure rate with them was much higher as well. Granted, this could just be because I was bad at writing poetry, but unfortunately I didn¡¯t really remember many more of Shakespeare¡¯s or other famous authors¡¯ poems word for word and so I couldn¡¯t rely on these things too much.

    Secondly, usually nonfiction is easier to turn into a grimoire than fiction, though again, this could be more of a result of me not being able to write good fiction rather than a universal rule.

    Third, a certain degree of mistakes and variations were acceptable while writing grimoires. Too many though, and the grimoire would burn up before you had even finished it. Not to mention that the actual text on grimoires didn¡¯t seem to necessarily need to be entirely factually correct, else it would not be possible to turn works of fiction into grimoires at all.

    Fourth, while making grimoires was mostly about what words you put on paper, there was a hidden element to it that I could only describe as ¡®passion¡¯ or ¡®emotion.¡¯

    It was hard to describe or define - but the right amount was needed or else the grimoire would fail, and how much and what it was varied from writer to writer based on their writing style. The only way you could figure out the nuances of what worked for you and what didn¡¯t was trial and error. That¡¯s why I think even if I had an Artificial Intelligence to help me like I would¡¯ve back on Earth to write stuff for grimoires, it really wouldn¡¯t work because I would have to end up altering most of its output anyway.

    Writing grimoires was ninety-five percent science and five percent art. I had gotten my success rate up to seventy-five percent after experimentation, but I don¡¯t think I would ever get it higher than ninety-five percent because of this.

    Coming to this contest - the word was ¡®sword.¡¯

    There were several ways that I could approach this. One was to describe a sword itself, going into details on how a sword was made. Unfortunately, while I had read up on how swords were made back on Earth at one time, I had forgotten most of it so this would be unlikely to succeed.

    Secondly, I could go into details of swordplay. I had never taken fencing up as a hobby so this was out as well.

    Third, I could write a poem describing the sword - from my own experience this was unlikely to succeed.

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    Fourth, I could go into how the sword did compared to other weapons like the spear in terms of range, expense, historical usage, etc.

    Fifth, I could go into what the sword symbolized for people and why they were so popular. This was a bit more abstract than what I was used to writing and as such I felt it carried a higher chance of failure.

    After some deliberation, I decided to go with the fourth option. I felt that I did have enough knowledge to go through with it, at least in order to write a Rank One grimoire.

    I picked up my pen and began, to the shock of my opponent and referee. My opponent was likely still deliberating on what to do and had not even begun thinking of what to write.

    The referee likely hadn¡¯t expected me to start so soon either.

    I paid them no attention as I focused on getting the words out onto the paper. What was the ultimate secret to making grimoires? To develop an understanding of what you were writing about - to use words to put it on paper, but also to use mana to embody that understanding of the concept.

    And it was the mana shaped by the words that lead to its effects, which was probably why grimoires disappeared after usage, because while the words were important, it was the mana imbued within them that actually gave them their effects. And once the mana was used up to transfer that information to someone else, it was gone.

    At least, that¡¯s what I thought. No one had been able to give me a good answer on that ever since I had come to this world, so I could only guess. My theory didn¡¯t explain why the lettering or the paper itself burnt up on reading a grimoire though - I mean, if it was just the mana that was important, you¡¯d think the grimoire text itself would be left untouched, but it wasn¡¯t. So, my theory could only be partially correct at best.

    I did not write continuously, taking pauses at times wondering about phrasing or the like, though finally, I felt like it was done. With bated breath, I watched as the gentle blue aura turned green.

    I relaxed - it had worked! I looked up at my opponent who had not even started yet.

    Technically speaking it was still possible for him to win. Points were given for speed, yes, but they were also deducted for failed attempts, and the rank of the grimoire also mattered. If this guy managed to write a Rank Two grimoire, he would probably win.

    But that was almost certainly impractical given how long Rank Two manuals were. Most people did not have the mana capacity to write one of them in a single setting even if you could get the words out.

    I had clearly unnerved the guy by finishing so quickly and being successful on top of that, but he still picked up his ink brush, and began writing.

    Halfway through the first page, he dropped his ink brush and said, ¡°I concede.¡±

    A feeling of elation soared through me, and I felt like jumping up and pumping my fist in victory.

    Instead, I simply said, ¡°Well played. Thank you for this round.¡± I extended my hand and he shook it.

    He was disappointed, and was cursing under his breath that he got unlucky that he had been paired with a strong opponent.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Forty-Three

    Normal Liberomancer Duels were ¡®best of three¡¯ but the Duels in this initial round were simply a single session for the sake of expediency. And so, he had lost.

    That said, you only had to win three out of five Duels you were assigned to this round to advance, so it wasn¡¯t like this had doomed the guy. He still had a chance of getting to the next stage.

    The referee remarked that he hadn¡¯t been expecting for the Duel to end so quickly, and then said I was free to go. The next Duel was tomorrow morning, and I would have another one later that afternoon as well. Any plans to start working on a Rank Two manual were thrown out the window given that I had to preserve my mana for them.

    I picked up the grimoire I had made - it gave +1 to Speed. While this effect was somewhat more useful than some of the ones I had memorized, I didn¡¯t think it was worthwhile enough to erase one of my old slots because Speed was not very essential to optimization. It would be better to just sell it to someone - since I had made it without the shop¡¯s ink or other resources, I was definitely not giving them a cut of it.

    ¡°See?¡± Granny Qi said as we walked out. The other Duels were still ongoing - it was not unheard of for a single set to last an hour or so while the two participants failed two or three times to make a successful grimoire. ¡°You were losing confidence for no reason and giving up on ever reaching the top before anything had even started! But look how well you did!¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°That guy there was only doing this casually. There are going to be people who actually train for these kinds of events the higher up we go. They won¡¯t be so easy to beat.¡±

    ¡°With that kind of defeatist attitude, I am surprised that you learned to walk and didn¡¯t just lie around crying on the floor your whole life,¡± she replied, with a look that said, ¡®you¡¯re hopeless!¡¯

    There was still some daylight left, and I went to find a buyer for my grimoire - I found one within five minutes. It was one of the benefits of being at the Book Fair, the stores here needed to refill their inventory, and with all the buying and selling going on it was incredibly easy to find someone willing to buy it.

    Otherwise this kind of grimoire might¡¯ve ended up waiting for hours or even days at the shop during normal times.

    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    I did try to check out the magic show given I still had time left.

    It turns out that a ¡®magic show¡¯ was mainly performers blending magic in ways that were supposed to be performative. Some of them simply showed mastery over a single spell - like the lady who could use [Freeze] to create lifelike ice sculptures. Others combined spells in various ways, like one person who created a storm of falling leaves that turned into rose petals as they drifted over the audience.

    I couldn¡¯t figure out what she had used to create that kind of effect - and the adage ¡®a magician never reveals his secrets¡¯ applied to this world as well.

    People in the crowd were also guessing which spells she had used, but it didn¡¯t look like any of them had guessed correctly. Part of the fun seemed to be in figuring the trick out, just like with magic shows back on Earth. Only thing was that it was a bit harder given they were allowed to use actual magic - still, I saw stuff that I felt that I couldn¡¯t explain so it wasn¡¯t like they were bad at their jobs or anything.

    After that, daylight had faded and it was time to hit the hay. There was still so much of the Book Fair to explore, but that would have to wait for the coming days.

    I woke up feeling well-refreshed the next morning - getting two nights of adequate sleep and rest did wonders for the body.

    Granny Qi told me that she would be sitting this round of Duels out, but that was fine with me.

    The first round started in the morning before I could get any other shopping or exploring done.

    This time, both the referee and my opponent were lizardmen. The referee wanted to check my fountain pen once before the round started to make sure I wasn¡¯t cheating with it - I didn¡¯t see how that was possible but I complied and he just handed it back to me a minute later.

    He then reached into the bag of folded chits and picked one out.

    The word was ¡®lightning.¡¯

    In a flash I remembered a story that I had heard back on Earth.

    Benjamin Franklin, in order to prove that lightning was a form of electricity, walked onto a field in the middle of the thunderstorm flying a kite. Attached to the kite was a metallic key, and when lightning struck the kite, it flowed down the string to the key.

    Now, I wasn¡¯t sure if this was something that actually happened or not - and from what I understood of physics, if you did something like this you were probably guaranteed to get electrocuted and die, but making grimoires wasn¡¯t entirely about being factually accurate.

    I took out my pen, contemplating on how to frame the story, and once that was done the words seemed to flow on their own.

    I finished- and the blue aura turned green, signifying that I was successful.

    My opponent was still writing, and he actually succeeded in what he was writing out, but he had done so nearly half an hour after I had finished. It was a Rank One manual just like I had made, so I won being the person who had finished earlier. Like I had done before, I thanked him for the round and shook his hand.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Forty-Four

    The grimoire I had made gave +1 to Wisdom, and so I ended up selling it like I had yesterday the moment I could.

    I now had some free time before the next round that evening, and decided that while waiting I¡¯d check out something I¡¯d been curious about ever since Rose had told me about it.

    Did this world really not have any dogs? It was hard to believe, but from all that I had seen up till now, it seemed to be the truth.

    I had seen from a distance something that had looked like a zoo which was set up outside the walls of Arconia. I was sure that the circus would also have some exotic animals doing some kind of performance, but I couldn¡¯t attend that event as it was set up later in the evening when I would be having one of my Duels.

    I paid the admission fee to enter the zoo before walking in. It was set up like a lot of zoos back on Earth - only thing was that the animals were kept in tighter spaces and honestly it broke my heart seeing them.

    Zoos on Earth I guess tried to at least make an attempt to make it seem as if the animals were well cared for. In the ones that I had visited, most of the larger animals were kept in places that were reasonably big and made to somewhat simulate the natural environments the animals were taken from.

    Not so here - probably for practicality purposes, and also because it was cheaper, all the animals were stuffed into cages which were at most the size of my house back on Earth. The lions looked like they were completely dead inside as I passed by them; there were three of them stuffed in a cage and they looked at me lazily as I passed by. The overcrowding issue was made worse by the fact that they were almost twice as large as lions back on Earth.

    That was to say nothing of the smell, which permeated through the air and all around the zoo - it was no wonder that they had to set up outside the city rather than within it.

    Attendants were present near almost every exhibit and you could ask them questions about the animals, their habitats, etc. It was the only part of the entire experience which I found was somewhat pleasant.

    ¡°These lions live in the savanna north of the Western Desert,¡± the person near the lions explained. They went on to explain where they¡¯d been captured from, their usual diet, hunting patterns, etc. ¡°They don¡¯t really have any special magical properties to them, but, given how strong and fast they are, they¡¯re still quite dangerous.¡±

    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

    I had never been much of an animal rights activist back home - not to say that I condoned animal cruelty or anything like that but I had never felt the compulsion to join the ¡®Meat Is Murder¡¯ rallies or the like back on Earth. However, my heart really went out to these animals, and I couldn¡¯t help but occasionally think of Cheddar while seeing their plight.

    And it turns out that there really weren¡¯t dogs in this world.

    I did see a wolf with black fur the size of a horse, and was told that they had special skin that was resistant to lightning-based attacks. I guess that was somewhat useful information if I ever ran into one, though given that they came from even further up North, that was unlikely.

    The wolf looked at me with fierce eyes. Unlike the lions it did not seem to have given up and resigned itself to its captivity, but it was heavily restricted and could do little but gnash its teeth at me.

    The idea that something like Cheddar could eventually be bred from a creature like this seemed fantastical. I wouldn¡¯t have believed it if I didn¡¯t know it was already possible.

    Other than this world¡¯s versions of Earth animals which were usually bigger and occasionally had some magical properties, there were proper magical beasts in the zoo as well.

    There was a unicorn, though it didn¡¯t look nearly as magnificent as you¡¯d see back in depictions on Earth. Its skin was a dull gray, and its horn was chipped off at the top. ¡°It was hurt during capturing it, you see, though don¡¯t worry - the horn will eventually grow back. They are quite violent so if you ever see one in the wild I¡¯d advise staying away from it,¡± the attendant explained as I pointed the broken horn out to him. The unicorn gave me a tired look as I walked past.

    There were animals I could only describe as looking like small Loch Ness monsters from back on Earth (or at least the drawings I¡¯d seen made of Nessie), though they were about the size of a cow. ¡°These live near the lakes in Hitutsa, they¡¯re mostly peaceful creatures, though I wouldn¡¯t get between one of these and its mother. The mothers can be quite overprotective of their young, a lot like bears.¡±

    There was a winged elephant that I was told was called a Butterfly Elephant. The wings were large and colorful, though they were more like that of an eagle¡¯s than that of an actual butterfly¡¯s. A small chain was attached to its hind left leg, though it looked pitiful when compared to the creature¡¯s size. If it wanted to fly- no, if it just used its natural strength that chain would break like a twig. I pointed this out, and the attendant said, ¡°Oh, that thing¡¯s been in captivity it¡¯s whole life. When it was young, the chain was strong enough to keep it down, and now, as it¡¯s older, it¡¯s given up on ever trying to break free of it. Don¡¯t worry about it escaping or nothing.¡±

    It looked way too big for its wings to actually carry it up, so I could only assume that it used magic in some form to fly. It turned its head towards me - I had no idea what it was feeling but it didn¡¯t seem to be in pain or agony, and it looked like its attendant really did care for it a lot. He told me how the winged elephant trusted him so much that he usually slept right under it without the slightest concern that he would be stomped.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Forty-Five

    I moved away from the larger cages, feeling quite disappointed. Not by this world¡¯s variety of animals, but because of the zoo itself.

    Although humans had not domesticated dogs in this world, they did seem to have domesticated some other creatures.

    I saw a group of silver foxes which had been bred to be pets and were even being offered for sale. Something about their eyes and faces seemed vaguely different from those of usual foxes and even reminded me of dogs in some way. Instead of looking at me with anger or apathy, they seemed to be quite curious and eagerly followed me around with their gazes. It looked like they wanted to be petted, and I did just that. However, I was not going to buy one of them. I already felt guilt-ridden enough when it came to leaving Cheddar back on Earth, I did not want the burden of another pet I might have to leave behind in this world when I went back.

    After that I just walked out of the zoo. I had thought it might cheer me up but it had the exact opposite effect. I usually thought of zoos as happy places, but that had been close to the most depressing experience I¡¯d had since coming to this world.

    The animals - forget about them looking happy, most of them didn¡¯t even look like they were being taken care of well. It honestly sickened me.

    And yet, what could I do?

    I couldn¡¯t free any of them. Most of them were not from around here, and if they got outside most of them were dangerous enough to nearly guarantee several deaths.

    They were clearly operating under the letter of the law to be so open with what they were doing. I also saw other people at the zoo, some of them families, who were enjoying the sights they were seeing. Was I just wrong for thinking the way I did?

    I shook my head. There was little I could change these people, no matter how much I thought over a way to do so. In the end I just cast [Fragrance] over myself to try to wash away the stench and the guilt that I felt had lingered on me even as I walked back into the city.

    The meat skewer I bought along the way back to the gates tasted like ash in my mouth. I couldn¡¯t help but see memories of Cheddar in my mind. Back on Earth, I had heard stories of dogs being mistreated in kennels and the like.

    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    They just felt like far-away stories from a distant land, but back there, in the zoo, they felt all too real. Sure, some of the animals might¡¯ve been happy like the elephant and the foxes, but the others¡­

    I was interrupted in this train of thought by one of the guards at the gates saying, ¡°Halt! Are you a Liberomancer?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± I said absentmindedly.

    ¡°All new Liberomancers entering the city must submit themselves to inspection before walking in,¡± the guard said.

    That caught me off guard - then again, this was my first time going outside the city walls. And I had spawned right into the city, so I wouldn¡¯t know if this was a rule or not.

    ¡°But, this isn¡¯t my first time in the city,¡± I told him. I guessed the guard might¡¯ve thought I wasn¡¯t from here because of my facial features - which was true, but I couldn¡¯t see why I would have to submit to inspection when I was already living there for so long. I took out a token that Mark had given me that signified I worked for Lauren¡¯s shop - it had helped in some places to show that I belonged to the city and that I worked for her shop to get the occasional discount.

    The guard peered at the token and seemed to recognize its authenticity. ¡°Where do you live?¡±

    I told him, and he squinted at me as if wondering if he¡¯d seen me before, but then just said, ¡°Alright, off you go then.¡±

    He waved me inside and I walked back into the city, heading towards the familiar building for the next round of the tournament.

    This time, I was pitted against a lizardman and the referee was also a lizardman like last time, but no one bothered to inquire about my pen. Maybe that other referee had just never seen anything like that before?

    Whatever. I was trying to get over what I had seen at the zoo and focusing on this contest instead.

    The referee reached into the pile of slips, and opened up a slip that said, ¡°House.¡±

    Two possibilities immediately came to mind - I could¡¯ve written about my house in particular, and the memories I¡¯d had there.

    Secondly, I could talk about the form and function of houses in general, and how they differed over the ages.

    I went with the first idea - although this was a more personal way of approaching the problem, the second one seemed a bit more abstract and I wasn¡¯t too confident in it succeeding. I was no architecture major, and although there were numerous differences in the houses here in Arconia from Earth, I wasn¡¯t sure whether I could give that kind of work a satisfying conclusion.

    And so, I started writing about the first time we had moved into the house my parent¡¯s currently lived in, which had been when I was four. I also added a few notable anecdotes, like that time our roof had started leaking and made the dining room uninhabitable, and lastly, ending with the time when I had to leave to go to college.

    As I finished the last letter the blue glow changed to the telltale sign of success- green. My opponent was still writing, and unless he could pull out a Rank Two manual the game was as good as mine.

    However, despite the fact that I had won I didn¡¯t feel happy in the slightest.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Forty-Six

    Writing about my home just made me remember how much I missed being there. Forget my parent¡¯s house, even being back in my college dorm, as small and cluttered as it was, felt like such a warm and fuzzy memory.

    And worse still, it reminded me of how much I missed being back in my old world.

    The sight of those animals back at the zoo earlier hadn¡¯t helped at all, only reminding me of Cheddar.

    How much longer did I need to stay in this world?

    I had not been brought here for any reason it seemed, so couldn¡¯t the deity who had dragged me over here just send me back given I seemed to have no real use?

    I missed a lot of things about home.

    About how much more comfortable the beds were.

    I missed the feeling of driving my car which I had bought just two months ago.

    Surprisingly, I even missed sitting in lectures - I mean, I had thought that those had been tedious, but try copying the same poem over and over again by hand and your brain will quite literally start melting and oozing out of your ears.

    And it wasn¡¯t just about missing old things from back in my world. I hated quite a many things about this one.

    How there were no dogs¡­

    How much I hated having to work eight days out of ten¡­

    How I had ended up homeless and probably would¡¯ve starved to death or gotten dysentery or the like after I first came had I not ran into Granny Qi¡­

    Worst of all, just how isolated I felt. I hadn¡¯t made any real friends other than Granny Qi (which was really sad when you thought about it). Both the lizardmen and the humans looked at me like I was some ¡®other¡¯ - it had been relaxing when no one had spared me a second glance during the Book Fair, but the way I had been stopped by the guards when coming back in and the way they had addressed me before knowing that I worked for Lauren¡­ was a sad reminder that I would never fit in here. Not even if I lived here fifty years; even then I would still be seen as nothing more than an outsider to most.

    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    I scrunched up my face. I hadn¡¯t cried in public since I was twelve, and I had no desire to start now, but really all I wanted in that moment was for this guy to finish his grimoire so this could finally be over.

    He might as well have given up - granted, I knew why he hadn¡¯t. If he made something successfully, there was a chance that it could be a useful grimoire. Not to mention, practice makes perfect after all, and if he gave up, he wouldn¡¯t know what worked and what didn¡¯t.

    But, my bad mood betrayed me and I could only impatiently tap my foot really hoping that he would just hurry up.

    This was not improved by the fact that once he was done, the soothing blue aura turned to an angry red, and the paper burnt away. So he had basically wasted my time.

    ¡°I think it¡¯s reached the point where I can call the match,¡± the referee said, looking at both of us, as if asking if there were any objections.

    I shook my head. My opponent seemed to want to try again - but also seemed to recognize the futility of giving it another go. After a pause, he also conceded.

    And that would¡¯ve been all - I mean, it didn¡¯t make me feel any better, but at least it was over, I could go back home, hit the hay, and then hope that I would wake up the next morning feeling a bit better about myself.

    That was until we heard a large amount of shouting.

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± I asked no one in particular.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± the referee said, though he also seemed to be somewhat perturbed by it. It wasn¡¯t just that there were shouts, it was that there were some bangs as well, as if someone was using some kind of spell or there was fighting going on. It was quite the commotion.

    I decided to leave the room to take a peek at what was going on - there was a large crowd gathered near one of the other rooms, and while there was still some shouting, the sounds of what I thought were fighting had faded.

    I found out the details of what had happened later on - apparently one of the contestants had been handed their third loss, meaning that they were disqualified from advancing further. Before this point, a loss didn¡¯t necessarily mean that you had been booted from the tournament.

    It looked like they had then gotten into a heated argument with the referee and their opponent because they knew this was their last chance - which had almost resulted in a real Liberomancer¡¯s Duel (in other words, with magic, not trying to make grimoires). Thankfully cooler heads had prevailed, but damage had already been done to the building.

    ¡°You¡¯d think the youngsters would have better sense than to do these things.¡±

    ¡°Shameful¡­¡±

    ¡°...beneath his station¡­¡±

    ¡°...losing is one thing, but throwing a tantrum like a toddler¡­¡±

    I saw many Liberomancers and normal people walking away, shaking their heads in disgust alike. Whoever had put on such a shameful display no doubt would suffer quite a loss of reputation.

    That was why whenever I had won, I didn¡¯t start jumping up and pumping my fist, or sticking out my tongue and going ¡°Take that loser!¡± Trash talking before events like this was somewhat commonplace back on Earth, but here, sensibilities were different. It was important to give your opponent face even when they had lost, which is why what I did instead was shake their hand and say that I enjoyed the match. You had won, there was no need to be a jerk about it after the fact.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Forty-Seven

    It''s hard to piss someone off as long as you were respectful at the end - though someone had evidently managed to.

    No, I couldn¡¯t just go ahead and blame their opponent for this kind of behavior - that was ¡®blaming the victim¡¯ in a way. Whoever had lashed out needed to get a better hold on their temper.

    From the gossip I overheard, the lizardman who had lashed out was the son of Arconia¡¯s governor. That was likely why they had felt entitled enough to do something like that, but their position would not end up pardoning them.

    They were still out of the tournament and barred from all future tournaments until further notice.

    The grimoire I had just made gave an ability called [Homing] fittingly enough. It let you select a target you thought of as ¡®home¡¯ and no matter where you were in the world, you would know in which direction to travel and exactly how far away it was.

    Basically it was a terrible version of a homing beacon you would see in many video games, which often manifested in a big arrow over your head, though this was entirely something you would be able to ¡®sense¡¯ innately. The fact that it only worked on one target made it pretty terrible - if a map in an actual video game only showed that people would¡¯ve definitely complained about it. That said, I also guess it sort of worked as an innate compass as well, if you knew which direction your house was in.

    I still had no use for it and sold it to the first buyer I could find.

    When I went back home, Granny Qi saw that I had brought some fresh fish and a bunch of Rikela fruit.

    ¡°What happened? Why the long face?¡± she asked when she saw my facial expression. I think she could tell that my mood was down in the dumps, even if she didn¡¯t know why. ¡°Did you lose a match? There¡¯s no need to be disheartened. You still have a chance to make it up even if you did - you only need to win three out of five the first-¡±

    ¡°-No, I won both matches,¡± I said and tried to give her a reassuring smile. ¡°I just uh, thought I¡¯d make dinner tonight. I got an interesting idea.¡±

    I knew I couldn¡¯t go on sulking - I had to do something else to get out of this funk I had landed myself in. And cooking, which was entirely new to me but also something that I had found to be surprisingly satisfying, seemed to be a welcome reprieve. I had an idea on how I could use the Rikela fruit along with the fish I had bought, boosted with my [Poissonnier] skill to make something truly spectacular.

    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    Much like with before, I found my hands suddenly working on their own. I decided to use the fruit juice to marinate the fish before cooking it.

    Behind me, Granny Qi watched with an expression I couldn¡¯t read. I was probably doing something she had never seen before, but at the same time, she had tasted my ¡®experiments¡¯ before and so was not complaining about me possibly ruining dinner.

    Which is why I sorely hoped that this would work out.

    Once the fish was done marinating, I started cooking it, adding some of the Rikela fruit¡¯s juice for flavor. I was used to doing these steps by now, but something crossed my mind. Despite how odd a choice it seemed, I decided to add a small sprinkle of fresh milk to what I was making. It was ¡¯t enough to be considered full-on poaching, but I just somehow knew that it would add a creaminess to the fish that wouldn¡¯t have been there otherwise.

    I was pretty sure that stroke of inspiration came from the [Poissonnier] skill, because I would have definitely not have thought of that before. Granny Qi also thought of the decision as quite odd given that was usually not something you¡¯d do, but by now, she wasn¡¯t questioning my decisions.

    ¡°Alright, we¡¯re done,¡± I said, as the fish was done cooking. I sliced up the remaining Rikela fruit to serve on a platter next to it.

    The whole exercise was not overly complicated, but did help in somewhat taking my mind off of things.

    And hey - it also reminded me that not everything was terrible in this new world. There was some small benefit of being here. I wasn¡¯t sure how much of what had resulted in the kitchen was from my own short experience and how much of it was

    Granny Qi took a bite.

    ¡°How is it?¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± she said. She then turned to look at the Rikela fruit. ¡°Not worth all the money spent on the fruit though¡­¡±

    I waved her concerns away. It had been a tad expensive, but I had also been able to sell two Rank One grimoires today. I was not breaking the bank, but she had a point - there was no way that we could go on eating something like this every single day.

    I tried it myself - I had to admit, considering how much it cost to make it, it was kind of disappointing. Not that it tasted bad per se, completely on the contrary, it was just that I had eaten similarly tasting things for far cheaper.

    But, I guess that¡¯s what you get when you experiment. And a ¡®successful¡¯ experiment can mean all sorts of things to different people. I did feel marginally better after that, so I couldn¡¯t think of it as a failure, now then could I.

    I think Granny Qi could still tell something was off though, and after she had asked it the second time I just decided to tell her the incident with someone getting into a fight after losing a match. It wasn¡¯t the whole reason as to why I was down in the dumps, but it was a plausible enough explanation to get her off my back.

    ¡°And yeah, it was a big deal,¡± I told her once I¡¯d finished.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Forty-Eight

    Granny Qi contemplated the whole story. ¡°Youngsters these days - behaving like that after a loss! They should be exiled from the city for such behavior. Weren¡¯t they prosecuted at least?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re the governor¡¯s son so no¡­¡± I said. All I heard was that they were barred from these tournaments in the future as well, but nothing beyond that. That seemed like nothing much beyond a slap on the wrist compared to the outrage the incident had initially caused. Granted, I had only been in this world a short while and wasn¡¯t certain what the appropriate punishment for something like this would be. When I told Granny Qi about it though, it was clear from her expression that this was, indeed, inadequate in her mind.

    Yet another reminder that this world wasn¡¯t that different when compared to Earth, I thought bitterly.

    ¡°Must¡¯ve been the younger one, the older one has more brains than that - or so I¡¯ve heard,¡± Granny Qi said. ¡°Still, you shouldn¡¯t worry about things like that - people aren¡¯t going to attack you even if you win. And regardless of what position they have - governor¡¯s son or not, don¡¯t hesitate to serve them up on a platter if you¡¯re up against them!¡±

    I nodded. I hadn¡¯t been worried about that whatsoever, but at least I had given Granny Qi some sort of satisfactory explanation as to why I was kind of off-balance.

    The next day I headed out to my fourth match. Technically speaking, I could¡¯ve just forfeited the next two matches given that I had won and used the time for something else - but I decided against doing something like that. What was I even going to use all that extra time for anyway?

    Not to mention it was a chance to practice more. I had won the last three matches without any issues, but the competition would only get fiercer in the next round.

    Had my victories been just a fluke? There was only one way to resolve both of these issues: to get better, and to reassure myself that I wasn¡¯t just getting lucky.

    To keep on competing!

    My opponent this time was a human and the referee was a lizardman.

    We did the usual ritual of shaking hands and the referee took out a piece of paper that said, ¡°Garden.¡±

    ¡°Huh-!¡± both the referee and my opponent let out sounds of shock as I had already started writing.

    The fact that I was already guaranteed to get into the next round meant that I could be more reckless during these matches, and I just decided to go with what first came to mind.

    Back in elementary school, we had a school garden that I had been a part of taking care of. Memories flowed onto the paper - of slowly watching those seeds grow, of hours spent with hands handling soil, of watering plants, of worrying whether they got enough sunlight or not. All of this culminated in the joy of seeing the plants blossom in the spring.

    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    I had taken a few of the tomatoes back home, and I remembered my mother making¡­ something with them. Had it been a sandwich? A salad? Or had she just made it into a sauce? Whatever it was, it tasted amazing - that much I did remember.

    I wrote without stopping for even an instant, and as I was done, the bright blue light turned green signifying yet another victory.

    My opponent was struggling - he had barely gotten three paragraphs out, and as he realized that I had already finished he dropped his brush and then pointed a finger at me. ¡°He¡¯s cheating!¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡± I said.

    When he had stopped writing, I thought the guy was going to concede. His accusation threw me for a loop, because I knew I hadn¡¯t done anything against the rules.

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± the referee asked.

    ¡°He started writing without even hesitating!¡± my opponent said. ¡°That was clearly done on purpose to throw me off!¡±

    The referee shook his head. ¡°Please do not throw around meaningless accusations. He did not do anything against the rules. Do you wish to concede?¡±

    The man opened and closed his mouth several times - clearly wanting to say something.

    However, whatever he said next must¡¯ve been nothing more than gibberish in his own language because for once, what I heard matched his lip movements exactly and was not translated into English. Eventually he just said, ¡°...I concede.¡±

    He shook my hand none too gently afterwards as I wished him luck and thanked him for the match.

    With that, I was done and had changed my mind.

    I was not going to participate in the fifth match, and let the organizers know I was basically conceding that one.

    Competition was good, but this had gotten to the point where it was no longer fun. Sure, winning another round could be seen as being unnecessary given I was given someone else another loss, but there were only going to be sixteen people at most advancing to the next round. If there were more, there¡¯d be extra rounds just to weed other people out.

    So from that point of view I wasn¡¯t really doing much wrong.

    I guess some people wouldn¡¯t see it that way though. Starting out the moment the referee finished the word would no doubt unnerve the other guy - and he likely felt pressured to start his own grimoire as fast as he could, only to find out midway that it wasn¡¯t going as he had planned and was forced to give up.

    Some people would take the fact that I was still playing to win as a sign of me bullying others unnecessarily, and I didn¡¯t want that. Not after what happened yesterday. People can do all sorts of things when they are riled up.

    The grimoire I had made gave a passive ability called [Green Thumb] which I already had a grimoire for, so it was an easy decision to sell it.

    Since I wasn¡¯t going to the fifth match, I now had time to kill that evening. There were plenty of other things I could¡¯ve done, but a lot of them required me to go outside the city walls. And after my experience with the zoo, I didn¡¯t want to go back anywhere near that place.

    Instead I went and saw another play. This one was about a famous romance story in this world, in which a man fell in love with a spirit that resided in a doll. Eventually, the man was going to pass away from an incurable disease, but found a way to turn himself into a doll as well, meaning they ended up together as two magical dolls.

    By the time that was done, the sun was setting already and the only thing to do was to await the next round tomorrow - when things would get serious.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Forty-Nine

    I walked into the building where the tournament was being held early next morning.

    This round would consist of proper duels between Liberomancers, with us being paired off into brackets against each other until there was only one winner.

    When I walked in and spoke to the receptionist I was led to an area where the other people who had advanced to the second round were seated.

    Surprisingly, there was an almost even spread between humans and lizardmen, despite the fact that there were way more lizardmen in Arconia. There were also two humans from outside of Chipker, who were likely members of the Book Fair who wanted to participate.

    What immediately drew my attention were the two people with purple sashes on their waists.

    Purple was not an easy color to make in Libraria, just like it had been back on Earth during certain periods. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was because it was also made from rare snails in Libraria as well, as I figured that there had to be a spell to dye clothes even if I hadn¡¯t heard of such. Regardless, this specific shade of purple was hard to get your hands on.

    On top of the distinct color, these sashes had the emblem of the Liberomancer¡¯s Guild, signifying that they were Master Liberomancers.

    In order to achieve the rank of Master Liberomancer there were two prerequisites - one was to be a Rank Three Liberomancer, and two, that you had to have created a new Rank Three grimoire that did not exist before.

    The first task was already difficult enough - many people in this world aspired to become a Rank Three Liberomancer much in the way people back on Earth would want to become a first-class physician or lawyer. It was not an impossible dream to achieve by any means, far from it, but it was not easy either.

    Far more people failed than succeeded, and many who succeeded did so only after decades of effort. Hei Nan, Granny Qi¡¯s husband, had taken nearly twenty years to reach Rank Three, and it was even more impressive in his case given the fact that he had had no strong backer or resources to fall back on in the beginning. He also had to teach himself to read in the beginning, making it doubly hard for him.

    The second criteria was even harder still. You had to make a new grimoire - and not just any grimoire, but a Rank Three one. Rank Three grimoires were the size of shorter novels back home, and just the process of copying one could take months. The amount of effort involved in trying to make a new one - and given the fact that you could fail and have all of that effort and mana be for naught, dissuaded most people from even trying.

    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    And even if they were willing to try, they needed some kind inspiration or deep insight to start writing the Rank Three grimoire in the first place. Many couldn¡¯t get past this first step, and even if they could, they would find themselves floundering a third or a fourth of the way into writing the grimoire.

    I hadn¡¯t met or even seen a Master Liberomancer up till this point - Granny Qi had told me what the purple sash meant, but neither Hei Nan nor Lauren, nor anyone else I had met up till this point, had been a Master Liberomancer.

    The second requirement was just that hard to fulfill.

    The fact that these two had experience in making new Rank Three grimoires meant that they were at least a cut above the rest when it came to this kind of contest.

    You could say that I had been lucky - or unlucky depending on how you looked at it, in that I hadn¡¯t been paired up with anyone who was really serious about this kind of tournament up till now. The people I¡¯d been up against had basically been hobbyists or those who had decided to join just for fun.

    That was why my victories had been so easy and one-sided which was good for my confidence, but that also meant that I had no idea what it was like to face off against someone who really knew what they were doing.

    Of course, these guys wouldn¡¯t be trying to make Rank Three grimoires during the tournament. Your mana would run out way before you could finish a few pages - many Rank Two or even Rank Three Liberomancers did not even have the mana capacity to write a Rank Two grimoire in one sitting. Forget about actually being able to think of an entire Rank Three grimoire on the fly.

    One of the Master Liberomancers was an old man who seemed to be taking a nap, and the other was a lizardmen with red scales.

    Without a doubt, the competition was going to get a lot harder here on out.

    There were only fifteen of us rather than the sixteen there should¡¯ve been, so I guess either the math had worked out funny or someone had dropped out.

    Since there were supposed to be sixteen of us, that meant that there would be four total segments to this round of the tournament. I wanted to get fourth place at the very least, which meant that I was aiming to at the very least get to the semi-finals.

    ¡°Alright, everyone, we will be mixing in your names on some blank pieces of paper and will invite some of you over to see how you will be paired up,¡± one of the organizers said.

    I was third in line to pick out a piece of paper - I desperately prayed that I wasn¡¯t going to be paired up with either of those Master Liberomancers. After all, this wasn¡¯t a format where winning three out of five battles would still let you advance - if you lost, you were eliminated.

    I had very little confidence in being able to go toe-to-toe with either of them, and it would¡¯ve been a rather sorry sight if I lost the very first duel during this second round.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Fifty

    My heart was racing as I unfolded it, only to see there was nothing written on it. Granted, even if it had someone¡¯s name on it I wouldn¡¯t have been able to read it, but both sides of this paper were blank. I was confused by this and showed it to the organizers.

    ¡°Ah, there are fifteen of you so one person was going to be moving up by default,¡± she said. ¡°Congratulations! You¡¯re quite lucky - you¡¯re going to the next round automatically!¡±

    I breathed a sigh of relief. That meant that I only had to get through the next round, and then I would be guaranteed fourth place at the very least.

    Also, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if this was a consequence of me investing a few slots into the Luck stat. I knew that most Liberomancers didn¡¯t think that it actually worked like this - but did I get this default victory because of investing in my Luck stat or was it just my normal luck?

    It was impossible to tell, which again, was likely why no one knew what the Luck stat did exactly aside from affecting the outcome and power of some spells.

    There was now quite a bit of a crowd who had gathered to see the matches. I saw Granny Qi standing among them.

    ¡°Uh, turns out I lucked out and won this round by default,¡± I told her. I then shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s a bit anticlimactic but victory by default is still victory - I think I¡¯ll go see some of the other matches just to check out the competition.¡±

    Granny Qi nodded, and waved me off as she walked away. I guess she had mainly been here to see me, so if I wasn¡¯t here, she decided to either go back home or wander the Book Fair.

    The first round of matches had taken place in very small rooms, almost no bigger than my living room back on Earth.

    These rounds, though, took place in large halls, and there were actual bleachers for spectators to sit on. A very elegant stone table was set on an elevated platform rather than a wooden one, and the windows were set so as to focus most of the light on the central area between the two contestants.

    There were only four such rooms allowing for only four matches to be conducted at a time, which is why there was going to be a morning, noon, afternoon, and evening session. I was told it was not uncommon for this first set of contests to go well into the night given how long some of the matches could last for.

    You couldn¡¯t really call this much in the way of a ¡®spectator sport¡¯ - there was no cheering or jeering allowed after all, in order to let the dueling Liberomancers concentrate on the what they were doing. Not to mention you couldn¡¯t really see what the two sides were writing from up in the bleachers either.

    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    A significant crowd was watching regardless.

    I first saw a match up between two lizardmen - neither of them were the Master Liberomancers I had seen earlier.

    There was definitely a lot more style and pomp to these matches than the first round, with the referee making a big show of taking a piece of paper out before reading it - ¡°Bird.¡±

    The two lizardmen hesitated for a few minutes before one of them started writing. The other one didn¡¯t seem to be too perturbed that his opponent had already started and only picked up his ink brush five minutes afterwards.

    The first lizardman naturally completed his grimoire sooner, but the gentle blue hue turned an angry red and it turned to ash.

    The other lizardman had started later, but was able to finish his grimoire successfully.

    ¡°I concede,¡± the first lizardman said. At this point, there was basically no hope of him winning this round, but the duel was best of three, so it made sense that he wouldn¡¯t want to waste his mana in a futile attempt to try to make a Rank Two grimoire and instead focus on the second round.

    The referee declared a winner for that round, and the next one began.

    This time, the first lizardman still started on his grimoire before the other one, but he was successful.

    So, it was all up to the third set!

    It was here that things got a bit exciting as it could go either way.

    This time, both of them failed to make a grimoire the first time around, and it looked like both of them had run out of mana.

    And so, there was nothing to do but twiddle their thumbs and wait while their mana recovered. This was why this first day was likely going to go well into the night, mainly because of issues like this.

    Once they had their mana back, they started again, and it was the first lizardman who ultimately ended up victorious.

    I was trying to view these matches in an attempt to get a feel of how other people were doing but these two lizardmen didn¡¯t seem to be that much better than the other people I had been up against till this point.

    The next set of matches had already started in the other rooms in an attempt to get things going. I walked into one of the rooms that had one of the foreign human Liberomancers I had seen earlier. I wanted to see if I recognized the script they used from Earth- I didn¡¯t.

    They were not that much better than the lizardmen, and I was beginning to become more confident in my prospects of victory.

    This confidence lasted only until I later walked into the room with the human Master Liberomancer.

    I learned his name was Jiah Pei - I recognized the Pei surname as one of the three big families that controlled the human side of selling and buying manuals in Arconia. So this man was likely an elder of that family.

    He was in a league of his own - the moment a word was said, his brush would begin to move. Granted, I had been like that during the last match I had played, but I had been that reckless only because I knew that the outcome of that match didn¡¯t matter.

    He won the first round, and the second round as well. He did not fail in creating a grimoire either of those attempts, and his opponent conceded, not wanting to play a futile third round.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Fifty-One

    I realized upon seeing Master Jiah Pei¡¯s performance that I wasn¡¯t just lucky to get the default victory, what was really lucky was the fact that I hadn¡¯t been paired off against him.

    The matches did go on late into the evening and even into the night, but I went home by then as I figured getting a good night¡¯s rest would do me more good than watching a few more duels.

    One thing that did make me feel better was that there had been no threats of, or actual violence in these matches, despite what I had witnessed two days ago - meaning that it really had been just a one off thing that didn¡¯t happen very often.

    Also, since there was more scrutiny on people¡¯s behavior given how there were spectators, such incidents were less likely.

    That, and the people who had advanced this far weren¡¯t just hobbyists and were probably more professional.

    I walked in the next day a bit nervous as to who I would be paired up with. This time, there would be no ¡®victory by default¡¯ to save me.

    I took a look at what was written on the slip of paper I had drawn, only to sheepishly realize that I couldn¡¯t read the name that was written on it - it was written in both the scripts of the lizardmen and humans, neither of which I could make heads or tails of.

    I had to ask one of the organizers to read it out for me.

    It turns out that I was paired up with the lizardman who I had seen in the first match. We shook hands, no one batted an eyelid at me using a fountain pen, and we began.

    Despite myself, I could feel the sweat on my forehead. There were quite a number of spectators this time around as there were fewer matches going on simultaneously, and even the sight of Granny Qi in the front row did little to ease the anxiety I felt under so many foreign gazes. There was a world of difference between sitting there on the bleachers, and being here in the hot seat.

    I barely registered as the word was read out loud, ¡°Sunlight.¡±

    Before it felt like my mind had even fully processed the word, my pen began moving seemingly on its own. There were a number of ways I could¡¯ve handled it - the importance of sunlight, poems on the beauty of sunlight over the seas of grass that coated the hills, but I decided on something different.

    A memory struck me at that moment. Something one of my professors had said - it had been a long conversation on how long it took for light to come from the sun and get to Earth. A photon would be trapped within the sun for countless years before covering the distance between it and the Earth within minutes.

    Stolen novel; please report.

    It was quite detailed for something so simple, which is why it had stuck in my mind for so long.

    If there was one regret I had had while being in this world, it was that I had not paid more attention during school. It wasn¡¯t like I had slept through my classes, but a lot of the time I had only done the bare minimum.

    If I had put in some more effort, I likely would¡¯ve remembered more. And that would¡¯ve made making grimoires going forward easier.

    After all, my education had been leagues more informative than anything this world could currently offer - because things like the Internet and widespread access to education in a post-Industrial society made it so much easier to get access to information.

    Still, that wouldn¡¯t matter at all if I didn¡¯t remember most of it!

    That was why I really wanted a way to recharge my smartphone. But I had been completely unsuccessful in that endeavor. It might have only a fraction of a percent of the information that humanity had managed to accumulate back on Earth, but that would still be extremely helpful.

    I finished the grimoire, and I was thankfully successful yet again.

    I hadn¡¯t run into any failures during the tournament until now. Part of that was because I had gotten somewhat better at making grimoires, and part of it was that I just hadn¡¯t made all that many attempts as of yet.

    My opponent conceded and it was time for the second round.

    The word was, ¡°Silver.¡±

    My mind kind of blanked out at that moment regarding what I should write. The word had kind of come out of left field, and I wasn¡¯t sure how to approach it.

    My opponent began writing a minute before I did - but I didn¡¯t panic. One thing that I had learned from my own duels and watching other people¡¯s was that just because your opponent started first; didn¡¯t necessarily mean you were going to lose. But if you started to freak out and just started writing whatever without thinking of it in advance, in that case you were definitely going to lose.

    I started a minute after him, but there were still things working in my favor. For one, with a fountain pen, which I was more used to, I could write faster than most people. Two, because I had thought through what I was doing beforehand, so I didn¡¯t really need to pause while writing like I had seen him do sometimes.

    I also thought my grimoire was shorter than his, but given the different way the scripts were made, I couldn¡¯t entirely be sure if that was true or not.

    As I wrote, I could feel the sweat dripping down from my forehead, threatening to rain down on my grimoire and ruin it if I didn¡¯t take a moment to wipe it off. The room wasn¡¯t too hot - it was just that the stress was, despite my best efforts, beginning to get to me in a way. Just one win - if I did this right, I would be guaranteed that which I had entered the tournament in the first place for!

    Ultimately, I did finish before he did, my writing finally turning a soft green. He finished thirty seconds later, but the round, and the duel, was concluded.

    ¡°Thank you for the duel,¡± I said to him as I shook his scaly hand. Lizardmen skin was not slimy like I had first thought when I came to this world - it was cold and smooth mostly like leather. At least, their hands were, a place where their scales were thinner - their scales were quite thick or rough in other areas as they acted as makeshift armor for them.

    I didn¡¯t feel a trace of sweat on his palms though - either he wasn¡¯t as nervous as I was or the lizardmen couldn¡¯t sweat. I had never wondered about that before, and I wasn¡¯t going to start asking that question now.

    ¡°Congratulations,¡± Granny Qi said.

    ¡°Yeah, thank you¡± I said. Fourth place was guaranteed now!

    ¡°So now do you finally realize you should¡¯ve been aiming for the top from the start?¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± I was really only still thinking of fourth place, even now.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Fifty-Two

    ¡®If you¡¯re not first, you¡¯re last,¡¯ is a saying my parents had told me a lot of times. They were not overly critical of what I did usually, but wanted me to do better - or to be the best at what I did. I was ¡®okay¡¯ or ¡®average¡¯ in a lot of things like theater and sports, but I eventually ended up dropping a lot of them because I felt that ¡®okay¡¯ wasn¡¯t good enough.

    I didn¡¯t want to aim for first place, because I knew I was going to be disappointed if I failed. And until now, although things had gone smoothly, I somehow knew deep down that I wouldn¡¯t be able to get the top spot.

    For example, I knew that I probably couldn¡¯t beat Master Jiah Pei.

    ¡°What¡¯s on your mind?¡± she asked.

    ¡°Uh, nothing,¡± I said. I looked through the two grimoires I had made.

    The first one let you cast [Illuminate] which allowed you to light up an area. That was potentially useful, though I felt that [Create Flame] had more uses in addition to helping light up places, though naturally, its illumination would not match that of a spell fully dedicated to that facet.

    The second one gave a passive ability called [Mobile Wallet], which created a pocket dimension which only you could access that could store up to five hundred Denarii. I was once again reminded by this how much video-game like this world was - but if that was the case, where was my tutorial? I felt like I was really owed one any time now.

    I hadn¡¯t decided on whether I wanted to keep the two or sell them so for the time being I just tucked them away and watched the next round.

    That man - Master Jiah Pei, still seemed to be unbelievably good at this.

    I honestly wished that I hadn¡¯t watch his match because it just made me feel even more nervous about this whole thing.

    The next day, the semifinals would take place in the morning; the finals as well as the round to determine who would win bronze would take place in the evening.

    The crowd was even larger this time around, and this time, I wasn¡¯t one of the people chosen to pick out slips. Instead, Master Jiah Pei stepped forward, picked someone who thankfully wasn¡¯t me, and so I was paired with someone else.

    Inwardly, I couldn¡¯t help but think I had already won a small victory. Master Jiah Pei had been paired off with the other Master Liberomancer who was participating, meaning that at least one of the strongest contestants would be eliminated before we went to the next stage.

    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    My opponent was a human - though someone from outside of Chipker. We made some small talk, she told me she came from Hansini, the former capital of the Ruler of the Astral Winds¡¯s Empire . The city still stood and exerted considerable influence over the surrounding region; not to mention it was still quite a vibrant hub for Liberomancy.

    ¡°Why¡¯d you leave then?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°I wanted to see more of the world before I settled back down there,¡± she told me. She had brown hair and light freckles - I thought that I could probably blend into a place which had people like her way more easily than here in Chipker.

    I learned a bit more about the pathway that the merchant caravan took - from Hitutsa they came down to Chipker, from here they would cross over to Falmouth, then to Tharius, the Hansini, a few frontier cities on their way down to Meloukas, and then to Hitutsa again.

    ¡°However, there are still places to see where the caravan doesn¡¯t go,¡± she added. ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to go to Serragnia - I¡¯ll probably switch to a different merchant caravan somewhere along the route just so that I can see it. I feel like you can¡¯t really say you¡¯ve seen the world ¡®till you¡¯ve gone there, right?¡±

    Serragnia was a country located near the headwaters of the Ragini - said to be the home of the village in the story that Granny Qi told me about how the Ragini had been first formed. There were multiple stories in describing the Goddess Serragnin¡¯s life when she had been on Earth. If those were to be believed, she had spent most of her time while on Earth in the area now known as Serragnia. Along with Hansini, it was the other place within Libraria where the practice of Liberomancy flourished the most.

    There were other things that I wanted to ask her, but the duel began before we could continue talking.

    ¡°The word is: fish!¡± the referee said.

    I started writing without hesitation - I knew that I had this in the bag because I already had made a grimoire revolving around fish. It was what had granted me the [Poissonnier] ability.

    It was not against the rules; if by chance, the word they picked described a grimoire you had already memorized, to write said grimoire. It was due to this slight element of luck that these duels were best of three, after all.

    That was another reason why someone who was an old hand at this, like Master Jiah Pei, would naturally have an advantage. Even if you didn¡¯t memorize all the grimoires you¡¯d made, you would still likely be able to recall bits and pieces if you had ever made anything based off the topic.

    I could feel sweat beginning to coat my forehead, and I had to pause to wipe it off just like with the last round. I didn¡¯t want it splashing over the paper and potentially destroying my work.

    I had discovered that the ink used here did not dry nearly as fast as the kind used back home - unfortunately this discovery had been while I was trying to transport a grimoire and I ended up smearing the ink all over the page, ruining it. Ink had to be left on paper for at lest ten minutes before you could say it had fully dried.

    Needless to say I still found writing to be very cumbersome in this world. Even with the fountain pen; it was better than using a brush, but still not as good as something like a simple ballpoint pen from back on Earth.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter FIfty-Three

    The grimoire was a success, obviously, given I had already made it. Also, as I had an eidetic memory for any grimoire that was occupying one of my slots there was no risk of me forgetting what to write either.

    ¡°...that was fast,¡± my opponent said. She wasn¡¯t sweating, but did look quite anxious. It was good to know that I wasn¡¯t the only one who was nervous as I wiped away the sweat off my brow. She looked like she was about a fourth of the way done with what she was working on. ¡°Very well then, I concede.¡±

    The next round began, the word being, ¡°Lake.¡±

    A memory came to me of a large lake near our house where we used to go - the park that was near it had had to close for some reason I couldn¡¯t recall right now. However, I still had fond memories of the place.

    And based on that, my pen began to move.

    Things were going swimmingly well, until I ended up doing a mistake.

    Sometimes, while writing, instead of focusing on what you were writing in the moment, your thoughts would wander to what the next paragraph should be.

    I had ended up doing something like that, and then messed up two sentences so that they didn¡¯t mesh together well. I had ruined the flow of ideas in my head.

    Looking back, I should¡¯ve just discarded that piece of paper and started over again - there was still a chance based on my speed that I could¡¯ve won in that circumstance, but in the heat of the moment I chose to go forward, trying to alter what I was writing to fit the mistake I had made.

    I was rewarded with an angry red aura and my paper turning to ash as a result. My first failure since the tournament had begun!

    My opponent was about halfway done with what she was writing.

    I did the math in my head - I didn¡¯t think I could make something else that would work, and if I couldn¡¯t win I wanted to make sure that I had enough mana for the third round.

    I waited to see if she was going to succeed - if she failed to make a grimoire, I would start rewriting what I had been writing before, but if she succeeded, I would just concede.

    Stolen novel; please report.

    I could barely hear some whispers from the crowd, probably wondering why I had stopped writing.

    I noted that whatever script she used, it was also written vertically like with the lizardmen script. I had seen all sorts of script style and directions of reading during the Book Fair - one of the ones that nearly broke my mind was someone who was writing in spirals. Just the thought of having to read something like that nearly gave me a migraine.

    As she finished the last letter, the aura around the text turned a grassy green. I conceded at once.

    Each of us had a single victory now. It was down to this last round to see who won the duel.

    ¡°The word for this round is: Time.¡±

    My thoughts immediately went to time-keeping devices- from the sundial, to simple candles, to modern watches, and to the atomic clock. Granted I didn¡¯t know exactly how each of them worked, but it was enough for a Rank One grimoire.

    I finished - feeling the sweat building on my forehead all the while. I just adjusted my head to let the drops fall anywhere other than the paper and kept on writing - I felt wiping my brow was an unnecessary waste of time right now.

    I finished without any mistakes and the grimoire turned a nice shade of green at the end.

    ¡°You¡¯re really fast,¡± she said, sighing as she conceded. ¡°Congratulations on winning.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for the duel,¡± I said.

    ¡°So, you¡¯ve asked me but you never told me where you¡¯re from?¡±

    ¡°Oh, I¡­ uh, basically live here in Arconia,¡± I told her. ¡°I didn¡¯t come here with with the Book Fair.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ you don¡¯t uh-¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t look like the people here,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Is this your first time in a tournament like this?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°This is the fifth one I¡¯ve been in so far - I¡¯ve never gotten this far ahead, but seeing how you and that old man make grimoires is something else,¡± she said, probably referring to Master Jiah Pei. ¡°Oh well, at least I¡¯ll get something out of this. Good luck with the finals!¡±

    ¡°And good luck to you,¡± I told her. She was still going to be competing in one more duel - with the loser of the other fight this round to see who got third and fourth place respectively.

    ¡°If you want, you can drop by my stall after this,¡± she said, giving me some directions on where to find it. She was a scribe, like I was, though she worked for a store that traveled along with the merchant caravan. ¡°My name¡¯s Stella by the way.¡±

    ¡°Stefan, and yes, I¡¯ll definitely remember to drop by,¡± I told her.

    To no one¡¯s surprise, the winner of the other round was Master Jiah Pei.

    I immediately went outside to get a breath of fresh air and restrained a desire to scream at the top of my lungs.

    Why did the finals have to be the same day as the semi-finals!?

    Then again, it was probably for the best. If I had to wait another day while knowing I was going to be up against him, I probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to sleep very well at night.

    I wandered around the stalls, trying to distract myself as much as possible from what was going to come. I considered visiting Stella¡¯s stall until I realized that she was likely going to still be at the tournament, not at the stall.

    And so, after a while, I went back to the same building the tournament was being held.

    ¡°Mister Dawson?¡±

    Someone called out my name, so I turned my head reflexively. ¡°Yes?¡±

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Fifty-Four

    The origin of the voice, a young girl, approached me - she looked around seventeen or sixteen years old or so. She had long blonde locks of hair and was clearly someone who had come to Arconia via the merchant caravan.

    I couldn¡¯t place where she was from, but that was more of because I wasn¡¯t fully versed with the different cultures of this world rather than her not wearing anything that would identify her or certain facial features that would clue in someone to where she came from.

    I noticed several things that set her apart from other people including her cardigan which was made of something I couldn¡¯t identify, but despite having the puzzle pieces I couldn¡¯t put them together.

    She looked distinct from Stella, so it was less likely that she was from Hansini, but that was as far as my limited detective skills could go.

    Since she was speaking a totally different language, that meant that what I heard lacked any discernible accent that might¡¯ve been otherwise helpful in pinning down where she came from.

    ¡°I wanted to congratulate you on your latest victory,¡± she said. She had very striking blue irises, something that I had not seen among the natives of Arconia.

    ¡°Oh, uh, thank you,¡± I said.

    ¡°I also wanted to know - could I perhaps buy a grimoire of yours? If you haven¡¯t sold the ones you just made?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Oh right,¡± I said absentmindedly. I was going to sell them, but I was too anxious to focus on that and hadn¡¯t found a buyer as of yet. I handed her both of the pieces I had made - one of them granted the [Poissonnier] ability, and the other gave an ability called [Internal Clock] that basically let you know what time it was in your head. Additionally, [Internal Clock] also let you set up a stopwatch in your head as well as an alarm clock.

    I already knew [Poissonnier] and [Internal Clock] was not useful enough to overwrite any of my current slots for.

    She went over the two pieces that I had written, scanning them closely. ¡°I just wanted to confirm, these are grimoires you wrote yourself, correct?¡±

    ¡°Uh, yes,¡± I said.

    ¡°Alright - may I have them please? I can give you two hundred Denarii,¡± she said, drawing out a pouch of coins.

    It was a reasonable enough price - a bit on the higher side, but why should I complain about that? As it was, during the Book Fair, the prices of most grimoires went up anyway.

    ¡°Uh, sure,¡± I said.

    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    ¡°I just wanted to inquire - you don¡¯t seem to originally be from Arconia¡­ which country are you originally from?¡± she asked this innocently enough.

    ¡°Oh, somewhere far away from here.¡±

    ¡°Right,¡± she said, a small smirk on her lips.

    ¡°Do you need help translating it?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°No, but thank you,¡± she said as she walked away.

    I had taken twenty paces when several things hit me.

    For one - why did she call me ¡®Mister Dawson¡¯ when very few people knew my last name?

    Secondly, she had had a small smirk on her lips as she read what I had made.

    As if she recognized it¡­ and the way she smiled when I responded as to where I was from was like she had also been expecting that answer.

    Could it be¡­?

    I froze and turned around, seeing if I could find her. I didn¡¯t see her - but it shouldn¡¯t have been hard to find her given how distinct she looked.

    Unfortunately, I had little luck with that as even after ten minutes I could find no trace of her.

    ¡°Hmm? What¡¯s going on?¡± Granny Qi asked me when she saw me searching around frantically.

    ¡°It¡¯s about this girl I saw - I was looking for her,¡± I told her.

    ¡°Dear heavens, child, the final round is going to start soon, you should be focusing on that. This isn¡¯t the time for you to be chasing after skirts.¡±

    ¡°No, Granny Qi, it¡¯s not like that,¡± I said.

    I could¡¯ve been wrong, but I thought that she recognized the English I had written as well, English.

    Which was a first since I¡¯d come to this world. Could she have also been from Earth? If so, why hadn¡¯t she said something instead of just buying the grimoires I had made? ¡°I think that she might¡¯ve been from my country but - eh, she had long blonde hair and blue eyes. Did you see anyone like that? Or any group of people like that?¡± Most people who came along the merchant caravan came in groups, and those groups usually consisted of people from the same place.

    It wasn¡¯t too much of a stretch to imagine that there might be other people who looked like her.

    Granny Qi shook her head.

    The final round was starting soon, and with an exasperated sigh I decided that I would look for her later.

    I greeted Master Jiah Pei. ¡°Honored to meet you, Master Jiah Pei,¡± I said to him.

    ¡°Ah? I wasn¡¯t aware my fame had gone so far from this city¡­¡± he replied. He had a very calm air to him, and was dressed elegantly but simply. Only his purple sash really stood out, but there was an air of a strange ¡®energy¡¯ to him, as if he was far younger than he appeared. His eyes gave an aura of wisdom no doubt developed over countless decades.

    ¡°Ah, no,¡± I corrected him. He had likely marked me down as a foreigner, which wasn¡¯t technically wrong, but also not correct in the way that he was assuming. ¡°I work here, in Arconia.¡±

    ¡°Hmm¡­?¡± is all he said, while stroking his chin. That seemed to surprise him ever so slightly.

    The crowd this time was enormous.

    ¡°Master Jiah Pei¡¯s got this in the bag - that hatchling doesn¡¯t stand a chance!¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t count on that - I¡¯ve seen him do pretty well.¡±

    ¡°Master Jiah Pei doesn¡¯t just ¡®do well¡¯ - he won the last fifteen tournaments, you know?¡±

    ¡°Ah, Master Liberomancers really are in a whole other league all together.¡±

    ¡°Still, you usually don¡¯t see foreigners in the final rounds like this.¡±

    ¡°Oh, that boy isn¡¯t a foreigner - I¡¯ve seen him around the city.¡±

    ¡°Is that so?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve heard about him - he¡¯s a human who¡¯s working in a lizardmen bookstore.¡±

    ¡°Now I know the two of you are lying - that¡¯s ridiculous! Why would a human be working under a lizardman?¡±

    ¡°Alright, maybe I¡¯m wrong about that - but he¡¯s still pretty good. Master Jiah Pei won¡¯t be able to steamroll him like he did the others.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right about that - with these two clashing, it¡¯s going to be a fight between a lion and a tiger!¡±

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Fifty-five

    The crowd made all sorts of comments. I for one, just tried to keep my breathing even.

    I saw Granny Qi in the crowd who gave me a small smile. Right - I had already done pretty well by getting this far and securing second place at the very least. No need for me to be afraid.

    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s begin,¡± the referee said after making a long introduction about this being the final round, and thanking all the participants up till now.

    My opponent was a Rank Three Liberomancer, but that by itself didn¡¯t grant anyone advantages when it came to duels like this. Of course, he would likely have a larger mana capacity, would have more experience with making grimoires, and as such would be more likely to make something successfully, but I wasn¡¯t out of the game simply because of my low rank.

    ¡°The first word is: Medicine!¡±

    I began writing without thinking twice - describing how modern medicine had developed with a short section at the beginning describing Aristotle¡¯s theory of humors, a bit into naturopathy and homeopathy, and ending with modern pharmacy.

    As I finished it, I held my breath in as it seemed to take forever for it turn from blue to green, but when it did, it felt like the weight of the world had been taken off my shoulders.

    By then I was sweating profusely - I was pretty sure that my pits were visible, but I wasn¡¯t worried about that now.

    Master Jiah Pei finished twenty seconds after me. ¡°Well, well, looks like I¡¯ve been bested.¡± He said so with the mildest shock, but the crowd couldn¡¯t help themselves now.

    ¡°No way - Master Jiah Pei lost a round?!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s his only loss this tournament till now.¡±

    ¡°Maybe the other guy has a chance - Master Jiah Pei¡¯s fifteen-year streak might be coming to an end!¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the other guy¡¯s name again?¡±

    The crowd was in a frenzy after the result.

    Master Jiah Pei up till now had looked rather relaxed, but upon losing he got up, adjusted his seat, and then adjusted his posture ever so slightly.

    He was fully alert now, as if he had been half-asleep till now and was just now getting serious.

    Despite the fact that I had won, I couldn¡¯t help but gulp.

    This duel was far from over!

    The referee told the crowd to shut up before we started with the second round.

    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    The next word was: ¡®Furniture.¡¯

    I began describing my furniture at home and any memories I had associated with it.

    About three-fourths of the way in, I found myself at a loss for words and had to pause, which ended up being my downfall as that gave Master Jiah Pei the lead he needed to win that round.

    We each had a single victory. So it came down to this¡­

    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen the crowd so heated in a long time!¡± the referee said. ¡°Still, I request you all keep quiet so that the contestants can focus on what they¡¯re doing. Alright, everything rides on this - the next word is: ¡®Volcano.¡¯¡±

    I thought of volcanoes back on Earth, and settled on writing about Mt. Vesuvius and the eruption that buried Pompeii.

    The words were flowing without resistance, and I found myself in a strange trance-like state where I no longer felt so nervous. No, there was just me, the pen, and the paper.

    And so I finished.

    Only for the words to turn a bright red¡­

    I sighed. No matter how much you practiced and thought you had it in the bag, there was always that small factor of uncertainty.

    Why had this grimoire failed? I couldn¡¯t pinpoint the exact reason at the moment, but if I thought over it, I¡¯d likely find something in common with it and the other failures I¡¯d made.

    Master Jiah Pei had no such issues and finished his - marking him as the winner of the duel.

    I sank into my chair as I shook his hand. ¡°Thank you for the duel.¡±

    He looked at me with newfound interest. ¡°I should be the one thanking you. I can¡¯t remember the last time I had a duel that made my blood boil like this. You say you work here, in Arconia, lad? How about you come work for me in my shop? I can already see you have outstanding talent.¡±

    ¡°Oh, I already work with a bookstore,¡± I told him. ¡°Here, I mean, in Arconia.¡±

    He frowned. ¡°No that can¡¯t be true - when did you join? I would know if that were true¡­.¡± How high up was this guy when it came to the equivalent of the Liberomancy corporate ladder here in Arconia? Well, he was a Master Liberomancer, and I guessed he figured he would¡¯ve heard of someone like me joining a human Liberomancy shop. ¡°Ah, I work under a lizardman,¡± I told him.

    ¡°Oh, yes, that makes sense,¡± he said. ¡°Otherwise I would¡¯ve know that we had a young phoenix in our midst. Well lad, thank you for this duel, and luck be with you!¡±

    With that he turned away.

    I still felt the sting of defeat, though Granny Qi had a wide smile on her face. ¡°Excellently done! I told you to have more confidence in yourself.¡±

    ¡°I uh, didn¡¯t win after all,¡± I said.

    ¡°I think that¡¯s where you¡¯re wrong,¡± she said, pointing to the crowd. All of them were muttering about me, and sure, most of them were talking about Master Jiah Pei naturally, but many of them were talking about me as well. ¡°You¡¯ve earned the admiration of the crowd. And you¡¯ve gained experience. And you¡¯re better for this. There are a thousand lessons in defeat but none in victory. You have yet to grow- and a defeat will teach you much. But there is no need to be disheartened, the fact that you could hold your own against him was already fairly impressive.¡±

    That made me feel a lot better about myself. If my parents had been here instead¡­ they definitely would¡¯ve said something like ¡°You did great- absolutely you did, but if you¡¯d won first place, it would¡¯ve been even better, no?¡±

    Granny Qi said nothing like that. No one in the crowd seemed to be looking down on me for losing either, if anything, they were quite excited and told me how great I¡¯d done and how I¡¯d probably win next year.

    I sincerely doubted that.

    The gap between Master Jiah Pei and myself couldn¡¯t be expressed simply as me being second best and him being the first; it was far more enormous than that statement implied. I felt like I wouldn¡¯t be fully confident of dueling with him without having at least five more years of experience under my belt.

    Even the round which I had won, I could only do so because I had some amount of luck on my side.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Fifty-Six

    My reward for winning was a Rank Two grimoire - and when I saw what it was, I realized why it was rated so highly to be considered the prize for second place.

    It was a grimoire documenting the properties of axolotl. Axolotls are known for their regenerative properties even back on Earth - being able to regrow limbs and even some internal organs when damaged. This grimoire as such gave the passive ability - [Regeneration].

    It would regenerate your wounds over time - even things such as lost limbs or eyes, for example, could be healed over time back to new if you had this kind of ability.

    Essentially, it gave you the healing properties of an axolotl! And since it was entirely a passive ability, it required no mana usage.

    There were drawbacks, of course.

    For one, as it was a passive ability, you couldn¡¯t use it to heal any ally.

    Secondly, it was extremely slow. It could take a few weeks for something like, say, a limb to grow back, and during that time it would just be more convenient to pay for a healer to get it stitched back up.

    Third, if you took more damage than it healed, which was easy given how slowly it worked, it wouldn¡¯t stop you from dying.

    Fourth, it did nothing against disease or poisons.

    Still, despite these drawbacks, it was something that was entirely free. Well, not exactly - you were still sacrificing a Rank Two slot for it, and there was hence the opportunity cost to learning it, but it was well worth it to have this ability.

    As you can imagine it was highly in demand and would¡¯ve been hard for me to buy if I wanted to normally even if I had the Denarii needed, so it was quite fortunate I had gotten it in this way. It was written in the language the humans in Arconia used, but I was going to get a way around that soon.

    Stella, tragically, had lost her round and was in fourth place. She already had a translating item, so I bought this prize off of her. ¡°I¡¯ll drop by your stall tomorrow!¡± I told her.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll be waiting for you!¡± she said. ¡°And¡­ you know what? I¡¯ll see if I can prepare a little present for you!¡±

    I spent what was left of the evening trying to see if I could get another glimpse of the other girl I¡¯d seen earlier who had bought my grimoires, but to no avail.

    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    The next day, festivities were winding up. The Book Fair would be leaving tomorrow, and some people were already packing up and heading out.

    ¡°You had something for me?¡± I asked when I finally found Stella¡¯s stall.

    ¡°Yes - I thought you might appreciate this,¡± she said. She pulled out a Rank One grimoire, one that raised mana. ¡°I wrote this myself- and they¡¯re all sold out, but for a small fee¡­¡±

    It was well worth the money I spent on it. I deleted the slot that gave me the [Green Thumb] power and overwrote it with this grimoire.

    Stella worked with a group of scribes in a shop, much like I did with Lauren - though their shop was mobile and had a lot more scribes.

    They had actually been able to rent out a real building in Arconia during their time here which spoke to their affluence, and all of the scribes still seemed to be quite busy - but that might¡¯ve been because they were in a hurry as they would be leaving soon and wanted to seal some last-minute deals.

    Stella had been given some time off for the tournament, but she was working today, though she seemed to be able to spare a few minutes as I ordered a round of tea for both of us.

    ¡°So, say, I supposedly wanted to join the merchant caravan, how would I?¡± I asked her as we began talking. The tea was bitter and watery, but that was just how most people in Arconia preferred it.

    ¡°Ah - what Rank are you again?¡±

    ¡°Rank One but I¡¯ve filled out all of my Rank One slots - I¡¯m going to be Rank Two soon¡­¡± I just had to read my prize, and I would ¡®officially¡¯ be a Rank Two Liberomancer.

    ¡°Hmm¡­ we don¡¯t really have that many openings¡­ though if you¡¯d like, I could put in a word with my boss,¡± she offered.

    ¡°Ah? No, sorry, I think you misunderstood, I didn¡¯t want to join like, today,¡± I told her. She seemed a bit disappointed at that for some reason. ¡°I meant, possibly next year?¡±

    If I was still in this world and hadn¡¯t managed to find a way back by then I¡¯d probably just have to come to terms with the fact that there was likely no such pathway back to Earth in Arconia, and the doorway that I¡¯d come through was never going to open up again.

    You¡¯d think the easiest way to go back would be through the same way that I came in - but the area where I¡¯d first appeared had shown no abnormal activity despite all my time here and frequently asking around about that place.

    I was still determined to stay within Arconia for another year for a couple of reasons, but beyond that, I¡¯d probably have to move to seek the answer somewhere else.

    The place I wanted to visit the most was Hansini, and hitching a ride on the merchant caravan seemed the best way to do so. Not to mention I might accidentally run into someone from my world or who would know what I was supposed to do somewhere else.

    ¡°Well again, you¡¯d need to find someone who is recruiting,¡± she said. ¡°Either that or speak to the manager of the caravan and set up your own shop - but usually only Rank Three Liberomancers can do that.¡±

    ¡°I see,¡± I said. I then remembered something. ¡°I was looking for a girl, and I was wondering if you¡¯d seen her.¡±

    She seemed rather annoyed now. ¡°A girl? What for?¡±

    I couldn¡¯t exactly tell people exactly why, and ¡®she comes from my country¡¯ wasn¡¯t much of an explanation. ¡°Um, she has something I want. She had blonde hair - blue eyes, ring a bell? No?¡±

    Stella¡¯s attitude had turned frosty after that and she said she had to deal with work, which I understood.

    Still, it felt like I had upset her in some way which I couldn¡¯t figure out.

    I spent some time looking for the girl on my own, but I had no luck.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Fifty-Seven

    I did drop by Lauren¡¯s shop just to see how things were holding up on that front - most of their work, Mark told me, had already been done the first few days, so they were not really doing anything and most of the other scribes were enjoying the festivities like I was.

    ¡°Oh, I heard of you winning second place in that tournament, congratulations,¡± Mark said absentmindedly while I was walking away.

    ¡°Right, thanks,¡± I said, not even sure if he had heard me as he had already gone back into the shop.

    I had sort of been expecting some kind of extravagant event, maybe something like fireworks, to signal the end of the Book Fair, but it just looked like everyone was packing up and heading towards the next city without much ceremony.

    That meant there was a chance to buy some things at a relative discount, and I ended up buying a Rank Two manual that granted the spell [Fireball]. Finally - I would have a real offensive spell!

    The next day only a few stragglers were left, and the day after all traces of the merchant caravan were gone as it was now far beyond the horizon.

    I hadn¡¯t been able to catch even a glimpse of that girl from before, and now it looked like she had departed along with the merchant caravan.

    Was I looking too far into her actions? I mean, did she really recognize the language that I was writing in? She had denied my help translating it, but she could have intended to sell it to someone else or had a translating item. That was a far more likely explanation than thinking that she was from Earth or knew someone from Earth.

    The good news was that the Book Fair ended on a weekend, so I had the next day off.

    The bad news was that I realized how frustrating it was to use a translating item!

    What I had gotten was a medallion with a four-headed owl inscribed on it, a creature commonly associated with the Goddess Serragnin. I was told that as long as the device was handled properly and not mistreated, it would be good for at least ten years before it would have to be replaced.

    I opened up the grimoire I had won which gave the [Regeneration] ability and tried using the translating device. I channeled my mana into the device, and as I did so, I saw the aura over the letters begin to shift, just like when Rose had helped me read a grimoire.

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    I had been told that using a device was harder than if someone was translating for you - but this was the first time I was experiencing firsthand as to why that was.

    For one, the translation did not change the direction of the original script.

    And I had now learned something about the script the humans of Arconia used - it was written ¡®as the ox plows the field¡¯ as someone had described it to me.

    As in the first line was read left to right, the second was written right to left, and so on.

    Needless to say, it was headache-inducing to try to keep up with this. Why couldn¡¯t they pick a direction and stick with it?

    Not to mention this doubled the amount of mana I had to expend while reading.

    I ended up giving up midway when my mana was almost finished. Instead, I tried working on an idea I had for a Rank Two grimoire.

    I had bought some citrus fruits from the Book Fair for this very idea, and they were still fresh. Time to see if my experiment might also bear fruit.

    I wasn¡¯t able to finish it as the last dregs of my mana were used up, and as it was, I had to return to work the next day.

    I groaned while getting up that day, wondering if maybe I should just quit - until I remembered that my savings had been completely drained by the Book Fair.

    I did manage to negotiate a slightly higher rate at the shop given I could potentially make Rank Two manuals now - though the issue was, as Mark put it bluntly, that I couldn¡¯t actually make any.

    The day started out rather slow, as people were still recovering from the festive spirit of the last week. They were talking about their purchases, how much money they had made, and apparently some of them had even participated in the same tournament I had.

    Though it seemed none of them made it past the first round.

    ¡°I saw what you did though, that was a really good performance!¡± came compliments on me getting second place.

    After work, while I was heading home, Rob tapped me on the shoulder. ¡°Hey - we were all going to celebrate at this restaurant after work. It¡¯s on the boss¡¯s dime too- you should join us!¡±

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± I began to say, wondering if I really wanted to tag along. The grimoire I was experimenting with back home was almost done and I probably could¡¯ve finished it if I went back now, but I might not be able to if I went with them.

    On the other hand, I hadn¡¯t really socialized with anyone from work outside of work - and this was the first time they had invited me to anything. Did I really want to turn this down? I didn¡¯t want the others thinking I was stuck-up or that I thought I was too good to hang out with them. ¡°Is it really okay if I tag along?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Of course, why wouldn¡¯t it be?¡±

    ¡°I mean, I know there are some places that only take lizardmen,¡± I began. If all of them were going one place, it might¡¯ve been an establishment exclusively for lizardmen.

    ¡°Oh, no, don¡¯t worry- that won¡¯t be an issue,¡± Rob reassured me.

    ¡°Okay,¡± I said. I figured potentially sacrificing an evening was well worth it to maintain a cordial relationship with my coworkers. Also, I might end up seeing or finding something I wouldn¡¯t otherwise.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Fifty-Eight

    Rose wanted to wash her face before heading out, and Teal had something to take care of, so they were going to head out in about ten minutes.

    ¡°-yeah, I can get that,¡± I said. I didn¡¯t really have anything to take care of at home, and as for changing my robes, I didn¡¯t really see the point.

    The only kind of preparation I did was cast [Fragrance] on myself.

    Yeah, I had to hand it to that girl with rainbow irises, this spell was somewhat more useful than it seemed at first glance.

    Lauren wasn¡¯t with us, but everyone else was there, including Mark.

    Once we got to the restaurant, my reservations against coming here immediately increased. Everyone in the restaurant was a lizardman.

    It was even possible the sign outside said ¡®No Humans Allowed¡¯ and there would be no way I would know given I couldn¡¯t read their script. My translation device was at home and even if I had it, it could only be used to translate grimoires and didn¡¯t work on normal text.

    ¡°Uh¡­ is it really okay for me to walk in?¡± I asked again.

    The lizardmen and the humans had a habit of self-segregating even if most places were not officially exclusive to either species. Both sides were rarely openly antagonistic to each other, but they had separate facilities for nearly everything - restaurants, shops, etc. I¡¯d never been denied service from any lizardmen run shop and hadn¡¯t seen any other human get denied either - though that only went so far.

    No one would decline official business, but a lizardman or a human shopping somewhere they shouldn¡¯t would definitely raise some eyebrows.

    For things like renting houses, lizardmen and humans did not mix at all apparently as I had learned when I first joined Lauren¡¯s shop.

    ¡°Oh yeah, it¡¯s fine, don¡¯t worry¡± Mark said, leading us all in. ¡°Trust me - this is one of the best seafood restaurants in the city, you won¡¯t regret this!¡±

    That was high praise given most restaurants in the city were seafood restaurants - a simple consequence of being a coastal town and near a large river. Not to mention that the lizardmen absolutely loved fish - they would eat it with each meal if possible and would consider their diet deficient or themselves impoverished if they could not.

    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    So if they were saying this place was good, it was probably very good.

    Mark asked for a large table, and though I did get some weird looks, no one stopped me from walking in.

    The store had a slightly different aesthetic than I was used to - I guess this was something that differed between the architectural preferences of the lizardmen and humans.

    For one, lizardmen preferred a slightly higher room temperature than humans - which explained the fires burning even though it wasn¡¯t that chilly out. I took off my vest as I knew I¡¯d start sweating if I had it on, but my colleagues didn¡¯t mind the temperature one bit. They also seemed to be fine with slightly lower levels of illumination than humans, which is why I had to strain mine a bit.

    Since it was mainly for lizardmen the seats and tables were also larger and made in a way to accommodate their tails. In the center of the restaurant there was a fish tank with several axolotl in it with different colored skins - I hoped they were decorative and not something being served on the menu. There was a stone statue of a lizardman who I didn¡¯t recognize near the reception, and I could read what was written on the plaque below it to get an answer either.

    Despite these small differences, it wasn¡¯t like it was too uncomfortable for me or anything.

    Once we were seated though, I was immediately presented with another problem.

    What should I order?

    We were given two menus, but I couldn¡¯t read what was on them. Also, was all of the stuff they served¡­ edible for humans?

    ¡°Uh¡­¡± I said when it was my turn to say what I wanted. ¡°Any recommendations?¡±

    I was immediately given a few, but Mark mentioned he had once dined here with some humans who preferred the shrimp bowl.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll go with that then,¡± I said.

    I took a glance at the other tables. There were lizardmen there¡­ talking. No one was paying undue attention to us because of me, which I was grateful for.

    Our food arrived - most of them had bought something with either squid or octopi in it, which seemed to be a popular delicacy in this place.

    I had to note that a good portion of the fish served seemed to be raw. ¡°Ah, humans usually don¡¯t eat raw fish do they?¡± Rose asked me while noticing me eating my shrimp bowl.

    It tasted okay - but nothing spectacular, especially compared to what I could make with the [Poissonnier] skill, but at the same time it didn¡¯t seem to be something that would give me food poisoning either so I wasn¡¯t going to complain.

    Why didn¡¯t the food live up to the reputation Mark had given it earlier? I noticed everyone else thought whatever they were eating seemed to taste divine, so it was either that I had ordered something that did not suit me, or that lizardmen and humans had differing palates. Most likely it was a combination of both of those things.

    ¡°We do occasionally - we have this thing called ¡®sushi¡¯ where I¡¯m from,¡± I told her. I had tried sushi on occasion, though only with sauces and other condiments - the lizardmen though, seemed to have no issue with eating fish entirely raw. ¡°I don¡¯t know if the other humans in Arconia eat fish raw though.¡± I hadn¡¯t seen Granny Qi do it, and every stall that sold fish for humans sold them cooked.

    That being said, I had seen some lizardmen eat their fish live; that was also a popular option that some stalls offered. Thankfully no one here was doing that. I just personally found the sight rather odd.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Fifty-Nine

    ¡°Interesting,¡± Rose said. ¡°Want to try some? I can¡¯t possibly eat all of it.¡± She had ordered something that looked like starfish fileted and filled with what she told me was caviar. I wasn¡¯t even sure what it was, let alone if it was safe for me to eat.

    But she had offered it so earnestly that I felt that I couldn¡¯t refuse without appearing like a giant jerk, and so I accepted.

    It tasted¡­ I can¡¯t say that it was bad, but the mix of flavors in my mouth was something I hadn¡¯t experienced before. It was likely something more suited to the tastes of lizardmen rather than humans.

    ¡°You don¡¯t like it?¡±

    ¡°No - it¡¯s good,¡± I told her, trying to keep a happy face. Then again, I wasn¡¯t sure if she would notice. Lizardmen were likely just as bad at judging human expressions as the other way around, or so I figured.

    The meal continued and the conversation moved on to more trivial topics. I began to somewhat relax. Was it like hanging out with my friends back home? Most certainly not, but this was still better than nothing.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get a bottle of wine!¡±

    ¡°We have work tomorrow!¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll just be a few sips, nothing too much.¡±

    ¡°Did you know? I heard of a grimoire you can make with red wine that lets you drink without ever getting hungover, too out of your mind, and even spares your liver!¡±

    ¡°Oh? Haven¡¯t heard of that one.¡±

    ¡°But I swear it¡¯s true! C¡¯mon guys, someone else must¡¯ve heard of it too!¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t - but it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if one existed. There are a lot of them which completely nullify poison completely- but that also means you can¡¯t ever get drunk.¡±

    ¡°Bah! Not worth it!¡±

    ¡°Even if there isn¡¯t something like that, I¡¯m sure Stefan could make one!¡±

    I wasn¡¯t sure how the conversation turned to me, but it did.

    ¡°Yeah - did you see him back in the tournament? He probably could pretty easily.¡±

    ¡°Oi - let¡¯s get him a jar of wine and see what he can do!¡±

    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Guys, guys,¡± I said, trying to make sure things didn¡¯t get too far out of hand. ¡°I mean, I¡¯m not sure I could really do this on the spot like this you know¡­¡±

    However, they didn¡¯t seem to take a simple ¡®no¡¯ for an answer and after some prodding I agreed.

    I didn¡¯t drink any alcohol as I still wanted to be sober in order to work on my own project later, and had instead sipped on something I can only describe as resembling a fruit smoothie.

    Despite the fact that the restaurant was being heated, the drink was ice-cold, meaning it was very likely that the spell [Freeze] was being used here.

    I didn¡¯t know that spell myself, but I had heard that there was a way to use the spell on a box and make something akin to a modern day refrigerator - though very few people could afford to do that. Actually, no, the pain wasn¡¯t in affording one, it was in maintaining the spell throughout the day. You¡¯d need to pay someone to do it all day long unless you could do it yourself.

    The simple fact that this restaurant could afford to have someone use the [Freeze] spell to chill drinks spoke volumes and indeed, indicated that it was a first-class restaurant.

    Teal knew the [Create Paper] spell, and so we had everything that we needed. They asked for a small cup and an ink brush - which the restaurant had for some reason, and then practically pushed it into my hands.

    I scratched my chin a bit as I considered what to write down. I didn¡¯t have that much experience drinking, and neither did I know much about wine in the first place.

    Scientifically, I knew how alcohol was made, its chemical formula, and the side effects of drinking it - sure, I could write a short essay on that, but would it be enough?

    There was only one way to find out - as it was I wasn¡¯t too stressed out about this whole interaction. This was more like a party game than an actual attempt to make something, though it might mean I wouldn¡¯t have enough mana left over to finish what I had been working on tonight, but I had kind of given up hope on finishing that today anyway.

    And so, I dipped the ink brush in the wine (I was not going to put that in my fountain pen, I had no idea what kind of effect it would have on it and I did not want to ruin a fountain pen) and began to awkwardly try to write something down.

    It was hard given I had to go back to using the ink brush, and also because the wine didn¡¯t make for very good ink. It was a bit too watery and the letters would often smudge before I got the hang of it. I had to give up on my first two attempts as the paper was completely ruined, though I had far more success on my third. I was about halfway done when I was interrupted by a voice.

    ¡°Having fun are we?¡± I turned my head up to see a lizardman who I didn¡¯t know who had dark blue scales.

    Several other things made him stand out. His robes were fancier than what I was used to seeing - I had seen Lauren wear such things but that was on special occasions only. There were also two other lizardmen behind him who I guessed were his friends though from their posture looked more like servants or lackeys. ¡°Why not- hic-¡± he paused here. Was he drunk? ¡°-why not have a real Liberomancer¡¯s Duel?¡±

    It took me a moment to process he was challenging me. But why? I mean, Duels were mainly a way out for solving conflicts without resorting to violence, but what conflict did this guy have with me?

    I took a closer look at him, wondering if I hadn¡¯t recognized him because I wasn¡¯t that good at telling lizardmen apart aside from their most obvious trait, their scales - nope, I was definitely sure that I hadn¡¯t seen him before.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Sixty

    ¡°Sir Drake,¡± Mark said, standing up. ¡°Thank you for dropping by our table - but we are only here for an evening dinner after work.¡±

    ¡®Drake¡¯ was the closest thing that I could think of to this lizardman¡¯s actual name, and not how Mark had actually addressed him. He seemed important from the way the others were looking at him, but I had never heard of him before¡­ which wasn¡¯t saying much given how little I went out.

    One of his friends tapped him on the shoulder and whispered something to this Drake fellow. ¡°Alright, sorry for bothering you,¡± he said, dropping the subject of a duel entirely as he staggered off and out of the restaurant, being supported by his friends.

    Our table was silent until the moment we were sure he had left, after which we exploded.

    ¡°Man, that almost scared me for a moment!¡±

    ¡°He really is too reckless though - challenging people to duels willy-nilly like that.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯d think he¡¯d learn to behave after the incident last week.¡±

    ¡°Probably why he dropped it so quickly. At least his friends have more sense than he does.¡±

    ¡°No wonder his father favors Zeke over him...¡±

    ¡°Um - who was that?¡± I asked, feeling very out of the loop.

    Every eye was on me and Teal even laughed, saying, ¡°Good one!¡± before realizing I was dead serious about the question.

    ¡°Weren¡¯t you at the tournament?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but I didn¡¯t see him,¡± I said.

    ¡°He¡¯s the younger son of the city¡¯s governor,¡± Mark explained.

    Ah, that explained things. He was the guy who had made such a ruckus back in the tournament!

    ¡°Oh, was he upset because I was trying to make a grimoire?¡± I asked. It sort of made sense to me now - if he knew I had ranked second and saw me making one, it probably awakened bad memories in him. Still, it really was something else to just walk up to someone else demanding a fight. Especially given how likely it was that I would¡¯ve beat him only embarrassing him further¡­ and to add to that, he might¡¯ve burnt the restaurant down if he threw a tantrum which would¡¯ve been a bigger issue.

    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    I would¡¯ve normally thrown the match rather than let it come to that - but if I hadn¡¯t known who he was (and he didn¡¯t seem to be the type inclined to introduce himself, more of ¡®you should already know who I am) I would¡¯ve likely swept the floor with him.

    The atmosphere at our table never really became fully relaxed after that, and we hurriedly concluded dinner and went on our own ways. I never even finished the wine grimoire I had been in the middle of making and it ended up being nothing more a soggy piece of paper and a waste of mana.

    I didn¡¯t have the energy to finish the grimoire I was working on that night, and so I was only able to finish it the next day.

    I couldn¡¯t help but hold in my breath as I made the last stroke with the ink brush I was using. The gentle blue aura¡­ it finally turned green!

    I pumped my fist in the air - I was home so thankfully there was no one to see me do this.

    This was the first Rank Two grimoire that I had managed to make - and I was successful on my first try!

    Was this luck? I knew there was an aspect of luck involved while making grimoires, but the Luck stat didn¡¯t seem to help in any way. Some people had told me that a higher Wisdom stat did make it easier to make grimoires, but much like with Luck and actual fortune, there was no real way to confirm that.

    No one in this world had been born with an instruction manual - and to them these features were as normal as any of the natural laws back on Earth. But that didn¡¯t mean that they were obvious.

    I had just enough mana to finish reading the grimoire, after which it disappeared.

    There was a knock at my door - there was only one person it could be. ¡°Come in!¡±

    ¡°Thought you¡¯d like some tea,¡± Granny Qi said. She noticed the strange paraphernalia on my desk. ¡°What is all of that?¡±

    I thought about explaining things to her - but then figured a demonstration would be more effective.

    Looking back on things, I realize that I probably should¡¯ve told her what I was going to do so she¡¯d be prepared.

    I activated the spell I had just learned, [Invisibility]. As I did this, I didn¡¯t notice anything off about myself, but somehow knew deep inside my mind that I was invisible.

    And if that wasn¡¯t enough, the fact that Granny Qi shrieked and drop the cup she was holding was more than enough to let me know that something had indeed, happened.

    I ended the spell and started helping her clean up while she stared daggers at me.

    ¡°Sorry - I just, well, I thought it would be easier to show you what I had been up to rather than explain it,¡± I told her.

    I thought that I was going to break a rib from all the effort to keep myself from bursting into laughter when I remembered the look on her face.

    Once we were done and she had calmed down somewhat, she asked, ¡°Why the fruit?¡±

    ¡°Ah,¡± I told her. ¡°So, you can use lemon juice - I wanted to get lemon juice, it¡¯s these small yellow fruits we have back where I come from, but I didn¡¯t find any - but you can use any citrus fruit actually, and if you write with it it will disappear, but if you heat it up - it becomes visible. I thought if I wrote a grimoire with it I might be able to camouflage myself or make myself invisible¡­ so I wrote one on the properties of light with it and it worked!¡±

    It was also my first time making a grimoire with something other than normal ink and paper, and I was glad that my idea had been successful.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Sixty-One

    ¡°Where did you learn about this¡­ invisible ink thing?¡± Granny Qi asked.

    ¡°Oh, my father told me about it once,¡± I said. He had showed me how it worked back when I was doing a project in elementary school.

    ¡°Alright, don¡¯t do that again,¡± Granny Qi said, glaring at me. ¡°If I were you, I¡¯d keep that grimoire hidden for now. I don¡¯t think anyone else has a grimoire that can give that ability in the city.¡±

    I understood what she was saying - right now, [Invisibility] could be a helpful last resort trump card, and if I went around selling a grimoire that gave this spell, people would know about it, making it far less useful. Not to mention it was one of those spells that could potentially cause a lot of chaos.

    However, I couldn¡¯t help but sigh inwardly.

    This was another reason why it was harder to advance as one moved up the Ranks. As people found valuable grimoires, they would not want to sell them.

    The higher ranked ones were even considered national treasures at times and matters of national security for many countries. It was much the same way that a large corporation back on Earth would consider certain patents and other trade secrets valuable intellectual property - though unfortunately no such laws existed in this world.

    And because of this, many people, for the same reason I was withholding this grimoire, guarded theirs with intense jealousy. Once a copy was leaked out to the public, there was nothing stopping someone from making copies of it.

    ¡°I won¡¯t,¡± I reassured her.

    ¡°Also, if I learn you¡¯ve been using it to peep on women while they¡¯re bathing¡­¡± she said fiercely.

    ¡°I won¡¯t, I promise¡­¡±

    She shut the door behind her.

    She didn¡¯t make me another cup of tea, though I couldn¡¯t blame her for that.

    Still, even if all of that hadn¡¯t gone the way I expected, I was quite pleased with my work.

    Maybe there were people who knew [Invisibility] in the city, but just hid it? There was a Rank One spell called [Camouflage] that was somewhat similar, but it was only good for hiding if no one was looking at you closely. Thankfully [Invisibility] did not require you to know [Camouflage] in order to learn it.

    As it was, clearly there was a world of difference between Rank One and Rank Two spells. You could at most do what could generously be called exuberant party tricks with Rank One spells, but when you got to Rank Two you got some things that were very useful.

    This whole deal left the issue that I didn¡¯t have a grimoire I could make and sell, so more experimentation would be needed. I did have two more Rank Two grimoires - the one I had won which granted [Regeneration] and the other that I had bought that granted [Fireball], but both of those were in different languages so while I could read and memorize them, I couldn¡¯t replicate them.

    I didn¡¯t have the mana reserves to read those two right now as they had been spent making this grimoire, but once I did, I would have three Rank Two slots filled up. That still left twenty-seven to fill, and without swapping with other people or buying more it would take forever to fill them on my own.

    For now, I wanted to know the limits of [Invisibility]. I had read The Invisible Man and so some questions popped into my mind.

    I decided to experiment a bit.

    When I turned invisible, my clothes also turned invisible, though the chair I was sitting on did not, and the floor did not change whatsoever.

    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    I had only recently eaten dinner, though the food was not visible in my stomach even though it wouldn¡¯t have had time to assimilate yet. Thank heavens for that!

    I picked up a pen - it turned invisible when I picked it up, but turned visible the moment I dropped it. However, I could still push my chair without it turning invisible.

    There were some things I knew about the spell by simple instinct. For one, I couldn¡¯t cast it on anyone other than myself - not on another person, and not on another object either.

    Secondly, its use in combat was somewhat limited as it would stop working the moment I took an offensive action. Say I was to turn invisible and sneak behind someone and try to stab them - when I tried to stab them I would become visible. Same thing would happen if I tried to turn invisible and cast, say, [Fireball]. Perhaps there was a Rank Three stealth spell similar to [Invisibility] that got around those restrictions?

    Other than those specific restrictions to the spell, there were the more obvious drawbacks such as invisibility not hiding your scent or any trail you would make while walking.

    Still, even with these restrictions, it was no doubt extremely useful for both reconnaissance and also escape from situations where force could not prevail.

    I could maintain it for about fifteen minutes with my current mana reserve. I would have to work on making another Rank Two grimoire later, for now, I just cleaned up and went to sleep.

    As I drifted off, my train of thought took a different turn.

    I was not arrogant enough to believe that I was the first person to have thought of making a grimoire that gave this [Invisibility] spell, despite what Granny Qi said. In some other language it may not have even needed to be written in invisible ink. What could be invented by one person could very easily be thought of and invented by someone else. There were countless examples of different grimoires giving the same ability or spell.

    I hadn¡¯t seen anyone disappearing in the middle of the street though. If there was someone who could use it though, most likely, like me, they would be hiding their ability.

    With that said, had I ever been out on the street, being watched by someone who was invisible, but I just didn¡¯t know it at the time? It was a Rank Two spell, so it wasn¡¯t like they could give it out freely to government officials, but it would be of immense use to certain people like spies.

    I tossed and turned in bed and resolved to think about this issue later. As it was, there was nothing I could do about it.

    <hr>

    Qi Nan closed the door to Stefan¡¯s room.

    She had still not gotten over her shock at him suddenly vanishing before her eyes. That boy really was something else!

    Perhaps she had overreacted - but Stefan had not explained anything about what he was going to do and simply turned invisible!

    To her, it looked like he had vanished into thin air, which is why it had startled her so much.

    However, right now, that wasn¡¯t what lingered on her mind as she made her way downstairs.

    No - it was a comment Stefan had made earlier. When he had told her that his father had shown him how to use that strange ink. It had been so spontaneous that she was sure that he was telling the truth.

    Qi Nan was not blind - she knew that something was definitely off about Stefan. His story did not add up in the slightest.

    When she had first met him, she had been sure that he was illiterate. Or why else would he be wandering around the streets with no job and not a Denarius to his name?

    But that clearly had not been true. He was clearly lying about where he came from. He said he came from a country ¡®very far away¡¯ but had taken weeks before giving it a name.

    Qi Nan had her theories as to what was going on.

    He was a foreigner, and the guards would not have let him into the city if he had no money or job lined up. They were known for throwing out beggars, vagrants, and the homeless who caused too much trouble inside the city limits.

    So, that meant that he had come into the city and some kind of misfortune had befell him causing him to end up like that.

    But why wouldn¡¯t he simply tell her that?

    And that didn¡¯t add up with another thing that was plainly obvious - Stefan was the dumbest smart person she had ever met in her life.

    There was a story told back in her village about a young girl by the name of Torako, who was a poor farm girl who grew cabbages.

    She had no family, and her entire day consisted of tending to her cabbage patch. One day, she found something odd while she was working - there was the head of a baby among the cabbage heads planted in the ground! She wandered over and saw that the baby was still alive, and she took it out of the ground.

    Despite her efforts, she could not find where the baby had come from - it looked like it had just sprouted out from the cabbage patch.

    Needless to say the other villagers did not believe this story, and what they assumed was that Torako had gotten pregnant out of wedlock, and so they banished her from the village.

    Still, Torako found that she could not abandon the baby, who had started to grow remarkably fast. Even at such a tender age, he was able to hunt and provide food for his adoptive mother, and was able to keep the magical beasts away from her. The boy eventually grew into a giant standing over twenty feet tall, and eventually Torako would get her revenge on the village that had scorned her so.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Sixty-Two

    Qi Nan felt much like Torako in that story. She had found Stefan so unexpectedly, and although he was an adult, he was almost like a toddler in the way he had questions about everything. Down to the fact that he often asked questions that no one had answers for but for some reason seemed to think that Qi Nan would know.

    He was clearly not an idiot however - the fact that he had managed to climb up to Rank Two so quickly was proof of that. Also, he could read and write quite proficiently, but only in a language she had never seen before. However, his skill was apparent even with the language barrier between the two of them - she would''ve fully expected someone like him to already be at Rank Three.

    His ability to make grimoires clearly was the result of an undeniably large intellect.

    And yet he was ignorant in so many ways of the world that if she had not experienced it firsthand herself, she wouldn''t have believed it.

    As an example, when he had asked if he could rent out a room from her the day that he had joined Lauren¡¯s shop, she had instinctively raised the price of the rent by about thirty percent. It was common to do this in Arconia because it was understood that buyers would want to haggle down - so by starting out at a higher price the seller also had the ability to go down without much of a hassle.

    However, he had agreed to it without hesitation almost immediately! She knew that many other people were also ripping him off either directly or indirectly; likely by preying on his inexperience and ignorance regarding prices.

    She had initially shrugged such matters off - after all, if he couldn¡¯t figure those things out on his own, why should she care? She had already given him quite a bit of help.

    Now though, as she had become more attached to him, she felt deeply guilty that she hadn¡¯t said something.

    The only explanation as to why he was so na?ve was probably because his parents had practically kept him locked up while raising him. But if he really was that sheltered, how did he end up on the streets?

    Surely his parents couldn¡¯t have been simultaneously so overprotective as to have told him nothing about the world and cruel enough to just dump him on the streets?

    Were his parents even alive? She had asked that question and he had given her evasive answers until ultimately saying, ¡°Yes.¡± She could get nothing further from him - but what he had said earlier implied that they were knowledgeable enough to know about things like disappearing ink.

    So why hadn¡¯t they taught him about the basics of Liberomancy when they had taught him to read and write, or at least hired someone else to teach him? He looked like he hadn¡¯t even heard of the phrase ¡®Liberomancy¡¯ before she had mentioned it to him.

    Why wasn¡¯t he with his family right now? He mentioned he was looking for ¡®a way back¡¯ occasionally, and initially she could¡¯ve just assumed he needed money for the trip back, but on further reflection, he should have an alternative way to reach out to them whether by regular mail or magic.

    The one question that was still at the forefront of her mind remained: why had Stefan¡¯s parents supposedly abandoned him in the first place?

    She could only imagine he had done something to dishonor his family¡¯s name for them to leave him on his own, practically, for all purposes to die on the streets. Had he chased after the wrong woman? Or committed some kind of heinous crime?

    He had no violent tendencies from what she had seen and seemed the type to flee from a battle unless he had no choice, so the idea of it being murder or robbery seemed ridiculous.

    Regardless of what he had done, if it had been such a large scandal - surely she or someone else would have heard of it? And yet, even to everyone else, it also looked like he had sprouted out of the ground like a flower blossoming in springtime.

    And if the incident that led to him being disowned happened far away from Chipker, why abandon him inside Arconia?

    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    The whole thing made no sense - so the other possibility was that he was some sort of spy or here for other similar nefarious purposes.

    The idea almost made her break into laughter. Even if he was the world¡¯s finest actor, all he was really doing up till now was drawing more attention to himself, not less. Even if he was pretending to be an ignorant civilian - there was a limit to how much you could dumb yourself down to.

    Part of her wanted to march right up to his door, shake him awake from his slumber, and demand that he explain himself.

    And yet¡­

    She had not called him out on anything yet.

    In her heart, she knew the reason for that.

    It was because she did not want to break this illusion - no matter how unrealistic it was.

    Much as Torako did not abandon the child she had found even as she was ostracized by the village, Qi Nan did not want to potentially ¡®abandon¡¯ Stefan.

    She had hardened her resolve to force him to spill the beans multiple times, and yet she had lost her courage at the last moment every time.

    She could not find it within herself to give up on him - and if she pried too deep, and found out something unsettling which she could not keep quiet about, what would she do then?

    Would she send him to the guards? Would she kick him out?

    She couldn¡¯t stand the thought of doing either of those things.

    It was so much easier to pretend. To pretend that what he said made sense and was not about as riddled with holes as Swiss cheese.

    This resolve of hers, though, was tested the next day.

    Stefan was off at work as usual, and the house was as quiet and lonely as it had been since her beloved husband had passed away during these moments - though today, she would be surprised by two visitors.

    ¡°Coming!¡± she said as there was a knock at her door. ¡°Ah-¡±

    She found herself at a loss for words as she opened the door to see two of the city guard. Both of them were human, and their uniforms, consisting of segments of wooden armor, were unmistakable.

    ¡°Sorry to intrude upon you like this, Lady Nan,¡± one of them, who was slightly older than the other, and probably the senior one, said. ¡°Ah, we had run into a matter and hoped that you could sort this out.¡±

    As she invited them into her house and offered them seats, she couldn¡¯t help but feel her heart sink.

    She had never been visited by them before, which likely meant they were here for one thing, or rather, one person - Stefan!

    Was he really wanted for some heinous crime? It was unlikely, but sometimes people weren¡¯t who you thought they were. She had learned that with time - but at the same time, she felt that she was a good enough judge of character to think that Stefan was not capable of something like that.

    ¡°What is the matter, officers?¡± she asked, not letting her inner turmoil show as she did her best to put on a pleasant smile.

    ¡°It¡¯s regarding a tenant of yours - a man by the name of Stefan Dawkson?¡± the senior officer asked, mispronouncing his name, but Qi Nan nodded. ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Well, something came to our attention which was rather odd, so we hoped you could shed some light on it,¡± he said. ¡°How long have you know the man?¡±

    ¡°About two months.¡±

    ¡°And can you tell us more about his background?¡±

    She wasn¡¯t sure how much to say without implicating Stefan in something somehow - but there was little she could do given she didn¡¯t even know what he would want to keep hidden. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about how he was like before coming to Arconia. He says he comes from a country called Libraria far away.¡±

    ¡°And what brought him to Arconia?¡±

    ¡°I am not sure. He says he got lost and wants to return to his home country,¡± Qi Nan said.

    ¡°It must be quite far away if I¡¯ve never heard of it - well, that¡¯s interesting, but there are two things that piqued our interest,¡± the officer said. ¡°For one, as you said, he came in about two months ago, yet none of the guards seem to remember his face.¡±

    Qi Nan knew what the man was talking about. With a face like his, Stefan stood out like a sore thumb in Arconia.

    So, the chances that the guards wouldn¡¯t remember meeting him were slim.

    Had Stefan really just popped up out of the ground in a cabbage patch somewhere? She just hoped that he wouldn¡¯t change into a giant anytime soon - the house wouldn¡¯t be able to hold him in that case.

    Still, she could somewhat deflect this line of questioning. ¡°Perhaps he ran into a few lizardmen guards the day he walked into the city? They aren¡¯t too well with remembering human faces I think, or perhaps some of them simply forgot?¡±

    ¡°Hmm, we always do have human guards near the city gate, and I find it hard to believe that they would¡¯ve simply forgotten,¡± the guard replied. ¡°Because there is a far more pressing matter - the fact that he is a Liberomancer, but we have no record of him declaring such in our ledgers.¡±

    All foreign Liberomancers were required to declare themselves upon entering a city, and also to submit themselves to the [Inspection] spell used universally by the guards. This spell was very useful as it could weed out anyone who knew a demonic grimoire, and also to help ascertain the Rank of Liberomancers entering the city. All of this would be recorded in a ledger, and evidently, they didn¡¯t see Stefan¡¯s name in it.

    To not declare oneself was a felony. Qi Nan wasn¡¯t sure what the punishment would be, though it likely depended on the mood of whatever judge was presiding over the case, and whether the guards really wanted to pursue the case or not.

    That was what had warranted a visit from the guards, not the fact that they didn¡¯t remember him.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Sixty-Three

    However, there was a simple excuse that would let Stefan worm his way out of this sticky situation.

    ¡°He would not have needed to declare himself,¡± she said, ¡°because he was not a Liberomancer at the time. He only started just a while back, after he was already in the city. And after that happened, the shop he works at must have registered him with the Liberomancer¡¯s Guild once he started working for them.¡±

    ¡°Ah, yes, he is registered with the guild - which is why this discrepancy was noticed in the first place,¡± the officer said. ¡°But - did he really just start a while back? I find that hard to believe.¡±

    It was not technically impossible for anyone to become a Liberomancer at any age - all you needed to do was to learn how to read and write in one language. That said, nearly all of them had started basic training and finished it by their late teens.

    His speed of progress was also unheard of - reaching Rank Two in only two months? From the way he wrote and the depth of his knowledge of literature from his home country he seemed to display, he should¡¯ve been at that level years ago.

    ¡°I mean,¡± the officer continued. ¡°We know how he performed at the tournament - it was like he had been practicing Liberomancy for years!¡±

    ¡°And yet,¡± Qi Nan said, ¡°it is true. I saw him make his very first grimoire, you know?¡± She did not have the [Inspection] spell itself, but she had enough brains to put two and two together. If Stefan had known magic beforehand, he would not have been wandering the streets like a common vagrant. He could have been pretending - but what for? To get into her, a random old lady¡¯s, good graces?

    No, she had seen the light flash into his eyes when he had realized how magic worked. Without a doubt, that had been genuine surprise.

    ¡°Ah, is that so?¡± the officer said. He didn¡¯t seem to be very convinced, but in the light of what Qi Nan had said, he had no real rebuttal. ¡°Well, we were also hoping we could have a word with him as well. He isn¡¯t here today?¡±

    ¡°Ah, no,¡± she said. ¡°He¡¯s at work - I can give you directions to the shop.¡± She was quite eager to see them leave - though she felt she was obligated as a host to offer them lunch if they stayed, which they thankfully declined.

    She waved them off as they walked away, quite happy to see their retreating backs.

    Still, this did nothing to satiate her curiosity.

    If he hadn¡¯t come in through the gates, where did he come from then? The sea? No boats went further than the coastline, and they didn¡¯t get ships from far away countries due to regional factors like the sea serpents limiting travel that way. There was likely a way to smuggle goods and people into and out of the city, that was almost a given, but why would he want to be smuggled into here in the first place?

    It really did seem like he had just fallen out of the sky one day - but that was impossible!

    <hr>

    Over the next few weeks, I tried making more Rank Two grimoires. However, both of my next two attempts failed. I had been trying to create a grimoire that would give the spell [Water Whip], an offensive step up from [Create Water] much like [Fireball] was to [Create Flame], but my approach wasn¡¯t working so I had to switch tactics.

    I had been trying to write more about water and its uses hoping it would get me something, but given that had failed twice - I changed to something that I was more familiar with.

    Even with a basic knowledge of human biology, I was able to write out several pages detailing the functions of various organ systems of the body and how they meshed together.

    And from this, I was successful and created a grimoire that gave the [Mend Injury] spell, a massive step up from the Rank One [Soothe Wounds]. While [Soothe Wounds] only worked on minor scratches and abrasions, [Mend Injury] worked on any wound so long as there was no major damage to any of the target¡¯s internal organs. Repeated applications of it could also be used to mend broken bones faster.

    Without a doubt, this was a life-saving spell in many situations. Even when it couldn¡¯t fully heal internal injuries, it could often patch them up long enough for either [Regeneration] to work or for you to find a healer for a more permanent solution.

    Being a spell, it could also be cast on other people unlike [Regeneration], though this also meant that there was a mana cost to using it.

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    I remembered that I had human physiology textbook saved on my smartphone - if I had been able to access it, I likely would¡¯ve been able to create a grimoire that would give the Rank Three [Fountain of Vitality] that could save one from all but the most life-threatening injuries.

    But, I still had no way to charge it, so it remained little more than a fancy brick.

    Still, even if I didn¡¯t have my phone, I could leverage this new grimoire and start selling it in the shop and also swap it with some of the others in the shop who were Rank Two to get a few more.

    That alone made the effort more than worth it.

    Unlike the grimoire that gave [Invisibility] I had no problems with selling this as [Mend Injury] was already a well known spell.

    But now my mind went to what I was going to write next. That was what my thoughts mostly revolved around - what grimoire I should either write or find next, even while I was walking down the street.

    That¡¯s why I took a moment to react when someone called out my name one day during the weekend when I was taking a stroll, looking for inspiration.

    ¡°Hey,¡± I said to the shopkeeper who had called out to me. He was a lizardman, and even now I had trouble remembering their names. This shopkeeper sold things like rope and candles. I didn¡¯t interact with him much, I just knew him because his shop was close to our house and I¡¯d often see him unloading goods sometimes in the morning when I was on the way to work.

    ¡°Someone was looking for you,¡± he told me.

    ¡°For me? What for?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know - they were human and I - well, I¡¯m not too good at telling you apart, truth be told,¡± he said. ¡°But he had a different hair color than most of y¡¯all. I think he was definitely a foreigner, and was asking around if we had seen a foreign Liberomancer who he was supposed to meet up with.¡±

    In this local area, ¡®Foreigner Liberomancer¡¯ pretty much only applied to me. ¡°Really? Did he say what he wanted?¡±

    ¡°No, but he went over that way,¡± he said, pointing. ¡°He was wearing some weird clothes as well.¡±

    My heart began to beat faster as I considered the implications of this.

    Was¡­ this someone from Earth?!

    I had gone back to the place where I had been dumped into this world countless times for nothing to happen.

    I had pretty much lost any hope that someone might be coming to rescue me - but my mind flashed back to that girl who had bought two of my grimoires.

    I was able to find no traces of her afterward - but did she have someway to go back home? Or to contact someone back home? Did the U.S. government secretly know about this world?

    All my thoughts on grimoires, on leveling up, on what to write next - they all went out the window as my legs carried me as fast as I could run.

    Now, my thoughts instead went to the taste of pizza from my favorite pizza place. To how much Cheddar must¡¯ve missed me - I could barely forgive myself for missing his birthday, but I knew he wouldn¡¯t be too mad, just happy to see me. I could almost hear the sound of his frantic footsteps as he bounded towards the door when he realized that I had returned.

    And drat; this meant that I had more than three month¡¯s worth of coursework to catch up on once I got back!

    I couldn¡¯t help but feel a wide grin grow on my face.

    I might finally be going back home!

    As I rounded a corner, I saw who they must have been talking about.

    But then, I faltered somewhat.

    Yes, their clothes were different. They were wearing a strange red gown that was not native to this country - and would not be common back on Earth either.

    Their facial features were different from those of the humans of Arconia, that was for sure, but they didn¡¯t have anything like a smartwatch or smartphone or any of the other things you¡¯d expect someone from my world to have.

    Still, maybe they were hiding those things in order to be incognito or whatever.

    ¡°Hello,¡± I called out to this person as they turned to face me.

    ¡°Hello,¡± he said, seemingly annoyed before he noticed my facial features. ¡°Are you¡­¡±

    I faltered yet again. His words - they didn¡¯t match his lip movements. So he was not speaking English for some reason, assuming that he could. ¡°I heard you were looking for a Foreign Liberomancer?¡±

    ¡°Ah, so it¡¯s you!¡± he said, now far more pleasant. ¡°The night sky is filled with diamonds as far as the eye can see.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know what he was getting at with that last line. ¡°Okay¡­ but, are you here to take me back?¡±

    That didn¡¯t seem to be the response he was looking for as he frowned. ¡°The night sky is filled with diamonds as far as the eye can see.¡± He repeated those words again, more slowly, as if they had some sort of hidden meaning to them.

    ¡°I¡­ that¡¯s fine, but I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re getting at,¡± I told him. ¡°Are you not here to take me back home?¡±

    He shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡±

    My heart sank.

    This was not someone from back on Earth. It looked like this was someone from a different country here in Libraria, and he was here looking for someone who definitely wasn¡¯t me.

    ¡°What country are you from?¡±

    He frowned, his earlier cordiality now gone with the wind. ¡°None of your business. Now, if you¡¯re not the person I¡¯m looking for, scram!¡±

    The man¡¯s friendly demeanor had completely evaporated when he realized that I wasn¡¯t the person he was looking for.

    Sighing despondently, I turned around and walked back home.

    I should¡¯ve known it was too good to be true.

    ¡°Did you find him?¡± the shopkeeper asked me as I made a slow trek back in defeat.

    ¡°He wasn¡¯t looking for me,¡± I told him.

    ¡°Ah, is that so? Sorry, when he mentioned a foreigner Liberomancer who was a human you were the first person who came to mind so¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s not a problem,¡± I told him. I understood why the shopkeeper had thought the way he did.

    It was bad enough to be stuck here in this world, but to have been given a glimmer of hope only to have it snatched away so abruptly- whichever deity ruled over this land, if there indeed was one, had a very twisted sense of humor to be playing this kind of a trick on me!

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Sixty-Four

    A carriage approached the walls of Arconia, but it didn¡¯t go for the main gate used by the ordinary pedestrians of the city.

    Instead, it halted before a smaller gate to the side. One look at the insignia inscribed on its doors - that of the city¡¯s governor, explained why it had not used the common entrance.

    ¡°Sir Zeke!¡± one of the lizardmen guarding the door said as a lizardman with deep blue scales stepped out of the carriage.

    Zeke was the eldest son of the city¡¯s governor. He had been away on a mission on behalf of his family in the Royal Court of Chipker in the capital, and was returning to Arconia after several months.

    He headed towards the governor¡¯s palace, but did not go to immediately visit his father - or to rest and freshen up for that matter.

    Instead, he went straight to his brother¡¯s quarters.

    He had heard some¡­ disturbing rumors about his younger brother¡¯s activities while he had been away. If even half of them were true, his brother was in deep trouble, and the news of his father being extremely irate with him made sense.

    His younger brother, Drake, was in his study, though he wasn¡¯t studying much, just absentmindedly looking out the window.

    ¡°Oh, elder brother, welcome home,¡± he said upon noticing Zeke enter, which he didn¡¯t until Drake was practically hovering over his shoulder. ¡°What¡¯s with that look?¡±

    ¡°Is it true? What they say you did?¡± Zeke asked.

    Drake sighed and his tail began to thrash around in agitation. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m sorry for what I did. I didn¡¯t mean to strike out like that but¡­¡± He then buried his head in his hands, clearly ashamed.

    Zeke sighed. This was a hard thing to fix.

    Their father only had two heirs - and though Zeke loved his younger brother dearly and there wasn¡¯t a hint of bad blood between the two, only one of them could inherit their father¡¯s title as governor.

    Zeke had done his own duties without reproach in the capital, while his brother¡­ had humiliated himself badly.

    Someone else in Zeke¡¯s position might¡¯ve felt happy, as it would¡¯ve secured their victory and ensured their position at the top.

    But the only thing that Zeke could feel was extreme sorrow at his brother¡¯s condition..

    ¡°Why even bother with all of that?¡± Zeke asked.

    ¡°I¡­ wanted to show that I could do something on my own,¡± Drake said. ¡°I just¡­ hadn¡¯t expected it to be so hard.¡±

    Zeke understood. Drake was a Rank Three Liberomancer just like him, but both of them had been practically spoon fed grimoires their entire lives. They had had their paths carved out for them due to their family¡¯s wealth and influence.

    Neither of them had made a single original grimoire in their lives - because there was no need to!

    At the level that both of them were at, it made far more sense to manage their family¡¯s estates, take the profits, and buy the grimoires they needed. That was a far more productive use of their time.

    Still, Drake was right that if he had done well in the tournament, it likely would¡¯ve raised his standing with his father. The reason that their family was so powerful and influential was because their great-grandfather had been an extremely wise Liberomancer in his own right.

    After meditating near an active volcano for a decade, he experimented for almost a decade more before creating the Rank Four grimoire that granted the [Inferno] spell. [Inferno] was an upgraded version of [Grand Fireball] - it contrasted with the royal family¡¯s signature Rank Four spell [Magma Pillar] in that [Inferno] was an area-of-effect spell while [Magma Pillar] was more suitable for striking down a single target.

    It was thanks to this that their family occupied the position they did right now. Making a new Rank Three grimoire was an incredible feat in and of itself, enough to grant one the title of Master Liberomancer - but to make a Rank Four grimoire marked one down as a genius that was seen only once every few generations.

    Rank Four grimoires were national treasures and could not be bought or sold. Most Rank Four Liberomancers only had a single or at most two Rank Four grimoires given how rare they were - and how no one was willing to freely trade them. They were incredibly powerful spells which could spell ruin if they fell into the wrong hands.

    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Replicating them was a hassle as well given how much time it took. No matter who you were - whether you were a peasant plowing the fields or a king ruling a country; both only had twenty-four hours to work with in each day. And both only had about a century to live.

    People who knew Rank Four grimoires were people in high places - and they had other duties to attend to, such as governing and the like which consumed most of their time. Such people could usually only make two or three copies of the Rank Four grimoire that they knew in their entire lives.

    And given that many people had multiple children, not all of them would be able to inherit a Rank Four grimoire.

    Zeke¡¯s father was much the same - he had almost completed a copy of the Rank Four grimoire that granted [Inferno] and had promised it to whoever he would select as his heir.

    Drake, for all that Zeke loved him, had trailed behind his elder brother when it came to official matters. His younger brother was too carefree and oftentimes lax with his duties.

    In an attempt to bolster his reputation, he thought by either winning the tournament on his own merits or at least getting a respectable ranking that he would be able to emulate some aspect of their great-grandfather by demonstrating a proficiency in creating grimoires. Most powerful noble houses were similarly founded on the efforts of one genius within the family line who had managed to make a Rank Four grimoire that was then later passed down through the generations - but, simply because the family line had created one such genius, it did not mean that the latter generations would also have such ability.

    Drake thought that if he made a good showing, it would signal to their father that there was a slight chance that he too, in the future, might have the potential to make a new Rank Four grimoire.

    However, this idea had backfired significantly. Drake had lost three rounds in a row - a laughably terrible performance.

    However, even if Drake had performed miserably, this could be brushed off.

    After all, participating in and of itself and showing a willingness to learn - if one wanted to, one could say that Drake had demonstrated those qualities at the very least.

    Such a statement would be a bold attempt to stretch the truth and save some ounce of his dignity, but that might¡¯ve worked. Somewhat at least.

    But then Drake had attacked someone after his loss! Such a thing was unacceptable - even more so given his status and position! No wonder his father was livid - it wouldn¡¯t have been a surprise if Drake had been exiled for what he had done.

    ¡°Ah¡­ I really screwed up, didn¡¯t I?¡± Drake said, once again burying his face in his hands.

    Zeke took a look around the room. There were empty wine jars scattered about, and the servants had told him that Drake had stopped going outside a few days ago - likely because he was afraid of someone recognizing him and what people would say when they spotted him.

    It even looked like Drake was close to tears at this point - and in that moment, it was as if the two of them were no longer in the study.

    No, Zeke thought of them as they had been when they were children, playing outside. Once, Drake had fallen and skinned part of his knee and started crying. Zeke had calmed him down and cast a minor healing spell at the time, fixing it. His father had praised him for his talent at the time - but simultaneously, this was also likely one of the first times that Drake had felt inferior to his brother.

    Zeke even felt guilty, strange as it might seem, because he felt that he was responsible for this in a roundabout way. If he hadn¡¯t been so successful - no, if he had just been in Arconia when this had happened, he could¡¯ve prevented this from happening.

    ¡°Relax, brother,¡± Zeke said, placing a claw on his brother¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry - people will soon forget this. And about your actions - I¡¯ll also speak with father. He will calm down as well and this will all be water under the bridge. I just¡­ just please stop drinking so much, alright? And why don¡¯t you come with me for a walk later on this evening through the city? I think some fresh air would do you good.¡±

    His brother protested but eventually agreed.

    Later on in his study Zeke was going over a grimoire that the servants had bought for him while he was away.

    ¡°Sonnet 95,¡± he mused to himself, reading the title. That implied there were ninety-four more of these things, but if they were all mana-raising grimoires like this, he would¡¯ve expected more to be on the market.

    Even though he was Rank Three, his set was not fully optimized yet. It spoke volumes to how difficult it was to do so if even someone with his connections struggled, though this was more a function of Zeke¡¯s tender age rather than lack of resources.

    This year¡¯s Book Fair was disappointing as it did not have a single Rank Three grimoire up for sale which he had not already memorized by now.

    He took out a translating device. He had been taught how to read the scripts of both the lizardmen and the humans who lived in Arconia, but this belonged to neither of them - even though, strangely enough, it had been made within this city as per the servants who had bought it. A logo of one of the stores within the city was stamped at the bottom. He recognized the stamp as belonging to a lizardmen bookstore - which made such a thing doubly curious as there were no large populations of lizardmen outside of Chipker. So why was a lizardmen within Arconia writing in a completely foreign script?

    He channeled mana into the device to try to read it - and found that it was surprisingly frustrating to do so. The language was complex and he failed to read it once - thankfully though, failing to read a grimoire didn¡¯t destroy it, it only meant that one had to read it again from the beginning and the loss of howsoever much mana was used to try to decipher its contents. The second pass was usually easier than the first one and more likely to succeed as well given a Liberomancer would retain some comprehension from their first failed attempt.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Sixty-Five

    Poetry was usually harder to read compared to a fictional text or play, given that it relied on complex wordplay and aphorisms of language that usually did not translate well. And, given the intricacies of the writing of someone like Shakespeare, even a short work was doubly difficult to decipher.

    With a short work like this failing to read it once or twice wasn¡¯t too much of a setback, though if one failed to read something like a Rank Three grimoire it could mean days of progress would be lost.

    It took Zeke half an hour to do so, but the grimoire finally turned to dust and he relaxed a bit, his gaze going to a certain drawer in his study.

    There was a reason why most Rank Four Liberomancers only had one or two Rank Four grimoires at most. Back in the days of the Ruler of the Astral Winds - many Rank Four Liberomancers at the time had six or seven Rank Four grimoires, and some had even filled out half of their Rank Four slots.

    The Ruler of the Astral Winds was a man who believed in hoarding power - and that meant hoarding grimoires. Many powerful Rank Four Liberomancer had been slain by his hand, which meant that there were many Rank Four grimoires that were now lost to time.

    Not only that, but he had died unexpectedly, meaning that his own stash of grimoires had never been found or passed on to anyone. The loss of so much was much like the destruction of the Library of Alexandria back on Earth - there was so much that had been tragically lost to the sands of time..

    That was why the ¡®power level¡¯ of Liberomancy in Libraria had declined greatly since his death.

    People speculated about where his secret stash of grimoires might be, if there was such a thing.

    There was another reason why the Ruler of the Astral Winds was such a significant departure from the rest of the world when it came to his accomplishments - humans had a lifespan of about a century, and most races were very similar. Not a single intelligent race within Libraria lived for much longer than that.

    This was another reason why Rank Four grimoires were hard to find - because those that had the talent to make new Rank Four grimoires usually passed away before they got a chance to make a second one.

    However, the Ruler of the Astral Winds had lived for at least two hundred and fifty years - possibly even longer. The earliest records documented the time when he had risen to power in the region that was now known as Hansini, and the period of time from then to his death spanned two hundred and forty-seven years. He was probably at least twenty or thirty when he began rising to power, so one could somewhat estimate what his total lifespan had likely been from that information.

    Too many independent sources documented this large length of time for it to be false or an exaggeration.

    This meant that there was either a Rank Four or Rank Five grimoire that could extend one¡¯s lifespan.

    The only other person said to have an unnaturally long life was the Goddess Serragnin herself, who was said to have roamed the mortal realm for around a thousand years. But that was a religious story and many people, Zeke included, felt that little stock could be put into it compared to a documented historical fact like the life of the Ruler of the Astral Winds.

    Had the Ruler of the Astral Winds been able to extend his lifespan indefinitely, or just by many multiples of a normal human lifespan? No one knew as whatever method he had used seemingly died along with him.

    Zeke¡¯s eyes went to that drawer in his study again for a simple reason. When he had been studying abroad in Hitutsa, he had chanced upon something that could¡¯ve possibly lead to a location that might have a treasure left behind by the Ruler of the Astral Winds¡­

    He shook his head. He had dreamed at times of leading an expedition to that place, finding that treasure, and returning triumphant to Chipker, with a full set of Rank Four grimoires and even some Rank Five ones in tow.

    He now realized how childish those dreams had been given his station and how he would have to remain in Arconia as the likely future governor. He couldn¡¯t go around traipsing through the continent looking for buried treasure!

    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    He then went to go join his brother for an evening walk.

    <hr>

    I was greatly disappointed by the interaction with that guy earlier during the weekend, and remained in a sour mood for the rest of the week because of that. I did start working on another Rank Two grimoire, but it would take time to finish.

    I still had work eight out of ten days, the only real change was that I now mostly made Rank Two grimoires instead of the usual Rank One grimoires like I did before. There was still a demand for grimoires like Sonnet 95 but it was much lower now, so overall, in terms of time and cost effectiveness it made more sense to write a Rank Two grimoire. The price of Sonnet 95 had been pushed up due to the Book Fair, but now that it had departed Arconia, it was no longer the hot item it once was.

    That was why people rushed to get to as high a Rank as quickly as possible - because it ultimately made moving forward much easier with the higher amounts you could earn.

    It was just another day at work - that was until some of the city guard arrived.

    I wondered if they were here for me again.

    They had talked to me and told me that it was apparently some rule that all Liberomancers had to declare themselves when they entered the city, and I should¡¯ve done that when I first arrived - though I had smoothed things over when I told them that I wasn¡¯t a Liberomancer at the time. I don¡¯t think they would¡¯ve believed me if it was just me telling them that but I also had Granny Qi¡¯s word to back me up on the matter.

    In actuality, while that was true, the fact of the matter was that I had never passed through the gates in the first place when I ¡®arrived¡¯ in Arconia.

    However, these guards were all lizardmen, while those prior had been humans. So perhaps they weren¡¯t looking for me?

    ¡°Ah, is there an issue?¡± Mark asked them.

    ¡°Yes,¡± the one leading them said. ¡°If I could have your attention for a moment, please.¡±

    All activity in the shop paused for a moment as all eyes were on him.

    ¡°There has been some distressing news,¡± he said. ¡°Yesterday, a delivery was made of a template of a Rank Three grimoire for Sir Drake. However, after it was brought into the city limits, midway on their journey, the guards were attacked by an assailant and the template was stolen.¡±

    There were gasps at that.

    A template was just the words that made up a grimoire but non-magical. As in, I could write Polonius Advises Laertes in normal ink, without imbuing it with mana whatsoever. The benefit of this was that some longer grimoires could be made into templates by non-Liberomancers, or Liberomancers who had not achieved sufficient rank for to make them.

    Sometimes Liberomancers made templates themselves in case they wished to forget a certain grimoire and relearn it later on - just so that they would have an easy record of it.

    Once you overwrote a grimoire from one of your slots, you no longer had a photographic memory of it.

    Templates could also be mass produced with a printing press, but most were not. The reason was that most templates were of high ranking grimoires, and as such, could not be distributed freely.

    But, because templates could be produced relatively cheaply, they were sometimes sold as a substitute for grimoires. The issue was then that the buyer would not only have to know the language it was written in but also copy it by hand themselves.

    Still, a template being stolen was almost equivalent to the corresponding grimoire being stolen. If the grimoire in question contained a spell or skill that was specially developed by a nation, the text being spread around would weaken that nation¡¯s strength by revealing one of its trump cards and also by making it less valuable.

    There was no notion of intellectual property like copyright law in this world - so if you didn¡¯t want something to be circulated without your permission, the only real way to do so was to restrict it physically.

    Back on Earth, I had heard of a market where bookstore owners kept their books in the open at night without fear that they would be taken. The saying went, ¡°The reader does not steal, and the thief does not read.¡±

    Such could not be said to be true in this world!

    ¡°We do not know the identity of the assailant,¡± he said. ¡°Because all of the guards were found slain and the template missing. However, it is likely the thief will attempt to sell the template or move it somehow, so we wanted to let you all know to watch out for such. Additionally, if you see anything suspicious please let us know.¡±

    That would¡¯ve been it, but then something hit me.

    ¡°Hello - please wait!¡± I called after the guards just as they were about to leave.

    I could¡¯ve been wrong about this - but my gut told me there was something off, and so I felt it didn¡¯t hurt to tell the guards about my suspicions.

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°I¡­ did see something suspicious, or rather, someone,¡± I said. I told them about the foreigner I had met over the weekend.

    The way that he had been talking about stars and diamonds and the like made it sound like it was part of a saying, and I was supposed to say the other part.

    In other words, it was part of a code of some sort.

    What kind of people spoke in codes? Spies and thieves. It seemed like he was either delivering or selling something.

    I gave them a detailed description and they even sent a sketch artist later for me to better describe the man¡¯s features.

    When I was done with this, and as I sat back down to work, I couldn¡¯t help but have second thoughts.

 The Country of the Lizardmen: Chapter Sixty-Six

    Was that guy really that suspicious? The only reason I had thought so was because he was a foreigner - but, then again, so was I. Even the lizardmen had given me puzzled looks when I mentioned that fact, likely noticing the irony of what I was saying. Even if they had trouble distinguishing human faces they also worked with human guards so that shouldn''t have been a problem (or at least I hoped so).

    What he had said about diamonds and the like was odd, but maybe it was just part of a poem that he and a friend liked to recite together? It didn¡¯t necessarily mean that it was something nefarious, after all.

    I began to feel guilty as time passed.

    I mean, what if he was just a normal guy and I ended up causing trouble for him by reporting him? My gut told me that something seemed off at first glance, but after thinking over it a few times and second-guessing myself I couldn¡¯t help but feel like I had made the wrong call.

    Still, there was little that I could do about it now. I just tried to assuage my conscience by thinking that at most, the guards would drop in, ask him a few questions, and that would be it.

    No harm done.

    Right?

    <hr>

    Zeke and Drake stood outside the remains of what had been a house.

    ¡°Did they recover the template?¡± Drake asked.

    ¡°Looks like it was destroyed in the fighting,¡± Zeke said, sighing. That template had cost a pretty penny and was not easy to replicate. It had come from another city, and the reason they had wanted a template in the first place was that no corresponding grimoire of the same was available. But the loss of the template was not the main concern.

    ¡°Six people are dead,¡± Drake said, sighing. He began pacing around nervously.

    The bodies of the two assailants were brought out. One of them matched the sketch they had been given, the other was another human, but neither of the brothers were very good at distinguishing human faces.

    Was this a foreigner? Likely, but they would need one of the humans to tell them.

    ¡°To think we found two demonic Liberomancers here in the city,¡± Zeke said. He was nearly as nervous as Drake, he was just better at hiding it. ¡°How did they get in? What were the guards doing?¡±

    All Liberomancers were inspected when they walked into the city - and the main purpose of such inspection was to weed out those who might possess demonic grimoires or had learned the such.

    How had these two made it past those checks? And were there more of them?

    The only people who could give a real conclusive answer regarding that were the two of them, and they were dead.

    Any secrets they were carrying had gone to the grave with them.

    ¡°Father isn¡¯t going to be happy about this,¡± Drake said.

    ¡°Relax, this isn¡¯t your fault,¡± Zeke told him. While their father didn¡¯t have a high opinion of Drake, this was one thing that was very clearly not his fault.

    ¡°Why did they steal the template I had ordered though?¡±

    ¡°I doubt they were here for that,¡± Zeke said. ¡°I think we¡¯ll need to speak to the human who saw this man first - but it looks like they were here to exchange something. But, if the human¡¯s testimony is to be believed, he spoke with that man before your template was stolen. So they were likely exchanging something else and just so happened to hear of your template and thought it was a decent opportunity to steal it.¡±

    Drake sighed. ¡°We really need to find out how they got in. Do you think there¡¯s a defect along the wall? Or a tunnel that goes under it leading to someone¡¯s house?¡± Those two ideas seemed fantastic and improbable, but what else was he supposed to think?

    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    Zeke shook his head. ¡°If it¡¯s smuggling things, they most likely came through the side of the city facing the sea. It would be much easier to get a single rowboat past the checks of the harbor at some times of night than it is to get into the city via a land route.¡±

    The two brothers concluded their investigation for now - but something popped up later on in the day.

    ¡°Look at this,¡± Drake said. ¡°They found a demonic grimoire - an actual active one!¡±

    Zeke took a look at it. It was written on old, yellowed, crusty paper with black ink that was clearly dried blood. A gentle green aura hovered over it like with all complete grimoires. It was surprising that it had survived the aftermath of their raid.

    But, Drake was right, this was definitely a demonic grimoire - Zeke could tell the moment he took it in his hands.

    More likely than not, the demonic grimoire had been made somewhere else and this was what the two of them were buying and selling. One could not sell demonic grimoires in an official bookstore, after all.

    ¡°Alright, what do we do with this?¡± Drake asked.

    ¡°Mmm¡­ if I¡¯m not wrong, there¡¯s something we have to do with this,¡± Zeke said. ¡°And I don¡¯t like it, but our hands might be tied.¡±

    <hr>

    The events that transpired after I had given the description of the guy I had met over the weekend to the guards ended up going far beyond any expectations that I¡¯d had.

    For one, it turns out that I had actually been correct. The person who I had seen was, as a matter of fact, indeed guilty.

    The moment the guards came knocking at his door, it looked like he had panicked, thinking the jig was up, and began attacking indiscriminately. Six people died, not including the two criminals in the fighting that followed.

    Neither of the two killed were very powerful, both were only Rank One Liberomancers, but one of them had access to a demonic grimoire which is how he had been able to hold the guards off for so long.

    Ultimately, he ended up running out of all of his mana which is how they were able to apprehend him, and given the nature of his abilities, they had no choice other than to kill him to ensure he didn¡¯t start casting again once his mana recovered. The other one had lit a stash of explosives when he realized that there was no hope of victory and destroyed most of their safehouse. Because of that a good portion of evidence from the scene of the crime was lost.

    As for how they had gotten into the city in the first place - the leading theory was that they had snuck past the docks when it had been past sunset, though no one could really confirm something like that.

    The only tangible piece of evidence remaining was a Rank One demonic grimoire, which they were likely selling, and was probably the reason they were here in the first place. It had been carefully stashed away which is why it had survived the fighting, as it looked like they didn¡¯t have the time to destroy it.

    The remains of the stolen template were found, but they were half-burnt and were unusable now.

    And I¡¯d thought that was it - but there was yet another small little twist to this tale.

    It was during the weekend, and I came back home after a stroll to see Granny Qi looking at me with a frown on her face.

    ¡°Uh, what happened?¡± I could tell there was some kind of trouble.

    ¡°This - is for you apparently,¡± she said, holding up a piece of paper that was slightly grayed out. It had a light green aura to it which I could see even from a distance, meaning it was a grimoire. I crept closer to realize that the letters were in a strange blackish ink and the characters were not something I was familiar with - meaning it wasn¡¯t a language native to Arconia. ¡°The demonic grimoire that they found with that man you helped apprehend.¡±

    I nearly dropped the piece of paper right then and there - that meant that the writing was in human blood! ¡°You could¡¯ve told me sooner! And what do you mean that it¡¯s for me?¡±

    ¡°The city guards dropped it off,¡± Granny Qi said. ¡°It was your information that led to the arrest of those men - and as per city law, given that you are a Liberomancer, any stolen grimoires, if their owner cannot be found, so long as they are Rank Two or lower belong to you.¡±

    It took me a minute to process this. ¡°Wait - so I own this? But it¡¯s a demonic grimoire, surely this doesn¡¯t count?¡±

    Granny Qi shrugged. ¡°The law is strange sometimes - someone should¡¯ve thought of that when drafting that law, but I suppose bureaucrats can¡¯t think of anything now then - can they? There are all sorts of odd loopholes when it comes to the rules.¡±

    It felt wrong - but then again, it wasn¡¯t like I was familiar with the laws of this world.

    There were also weird legal loopholes back on Earth. People who were deemed ¡®not guilty¡¯ of criminal offenses because of technicalities. Companies that didn¡¯t have to pay old debts because of strange language in their contracts.

    Revulsion filled me again once I glanced down at the grimoire.

    The first thing I thought was that contact with the paper could¡¯ve spread something like hepatitis given I had no idea who the victim was - though I calmed down somewhat when I realized that this had to have been made months prior so there was little risk of that.

    ¡°What do I do with this now?¡± I asked her.

    ¡°Hmm? I don¡¯t know why you¡¯re asking me - but a similar thing happened about twenty years ago in the capital. It ended up being auctioned off for a large sum,¡± she said. ¡°That is, if you don¡¯t want to read it and take its powers for yourself.¡±

    The grimoire granted access to the spell [Crimson Lance]. Despite being only Rank One, it was an extremely powerful attack against a single target - even if the initial blow did not kill them, it had an anticoagulant effect so the target would bleed to death eventually unless they had a Rank Two or higher healing spell. If it hit a vital organ or the like though, only a Rank Three healing spell could possibly save the target.