An Adventurer Mom, Who Awakened [Housewife] Skill Through a Login Bonus, Is Making the Most of Her Adventurer Life With the Weekly Flyers She Gets! - Chapter 23

“…Where is this place?”

Beyond the door stood countless bookshelves, every wall entirely covered with books.

“Mother, this is a grand library!”

“We’ve arrived, haven’t we?”

Kachua and Ed, unable to help themselves, clasped hands in joy—but then, ehem, came a loud clearing of the throat.

Turning around, they saw a man standing alone, dressed in a black robe.

“This is a library. Please keep quiet.”

“「「We’re sorry.」」”

The two apologized together in hushed voices.

The one who spoke to them was the librarian.

“Welcome to the Grand Library of Loa Academy. Is this your first visit?”

“Yes, it is. Um, I came here because I wanted to read some books… Do you happen to have a book called The Complete Guide to Supreme Potions (Second Volume)?”

Kachua asked as quietly as she could.

“We do have it.”

“Really!?”

So surprised, her voice rose again.

“Please keep quiet.”

She got scolded once more.

“Um…Am I allowed to read that book? I’m not a student here…”

“Some books do have restricted access, but The Complete Guide to Supreme Potions (Second Volume) is not one of them. However, it is a supreme-class rare book, so please handle it with the utmost care.”

“Um, even though it’s a『supreme-class rare book』, we’re still allowed to read it?”

Ed asked the librarian.

Rare books are ones so uncommon they almost never circulate in the market. And a supreme-class one among those must be incredibly valuable.

“The Complete Guide to Supreme Potions (Second Volume) is a magic tome. It chooses its reader.”

Kachua and Ed tilted their heads.

“The book chooses?”

“Unless the book acknowledges you, you won’t be able to read even a single page. Well, you’ll understand once you see it for yourselves. The rare book section is on the fourth floor, second room from the left. But remember—『if you don’t follow the rules, the door won’t open』, so be polite. Now then, before you go…”

The librarian looked up at the large grandfather clock hanging on the wall.

“It’s almost lunchtime. Food and drink are prohibited inside the library, so please feel free to use the attached café terrace.”

Now that it was mentioned, they realized they were indeed hungry.

Kachua and Ed decided to head first to the recommended café terrace for a meal.

The café terrace had both indoor and outdoor seating and was quite stylish.

Students and teachers alike were enjoying tea or meals while reading books or writing something.

It was just before noon, so the café was still relatively empty.

It was a nice-looking café, but more importantly, this was a golden opportunity to read The Complete Guide to Supreme Potions (Second Volume), the book they had been seeking.

Usually, Kachua and Ed would take their time and fret over what to order, but just for today, they made their decisions right away.

“Seafood doria, please. Iced jasmine tea for the drink.”

“I’ll have half-sized macaroni and cheese with hamburger steak. Milk for the drink, please.”

There weren’t any kids’ menus, given the setting, but perhaps because some students had small appetites, there were half-size portions available, which was very convenient.

“Aa, and for this child, please add the side salad.”

Macaroni and cheese was a dish of boiled macaroni drenched in cheese sauce.

It was a favorite among children but it had no vegetables at all.

After filling their bellies with café food, Kachua and Ed returned to the library and headed for the second room from the left on the fourth floor.

A picture of a set of scales was painted on the door.

“This is the place.”

When Kachua and Ed tried to open the door, it wouldn’t budge—as if it were locked.

“Huh? Did we get the wrong room?”

“I think this is the right one though…”

The two looked confused and exchanged glances.

“Is anyone there?”

While saying this, Kachua knocked on the door with a kon kon kon, but the door still wouldn’t open.

“I wonder what’s wrong?”

“Maybe it’s another riddle? There might be a hint.”

Ed carefully examined the area around the door.

“There’s nothing written anywhere.”

The door was made of wood, with an inlaid mosaic illustration of a scale crafted from pieces of different-colored wood.

It was a solid, intricate design, but…

“It’s just a picture, right?”

“Huh?”

Ed stared closely at the image and tilted his head.

“What’s wrong, Ed?”

“This picture… it’s weird.”

He pointed at the left side of the scale.

On the scales were round ball-shaped weights.

“There are three on this side, but only two on the right. Yet it’s not tilted. Ah, that’s why the door won’t open—it’s unbalanced.”

“???”

Ed turned to Kachua with a proud look.

“Mother, watch this.”

He knocked once on the right scale—kon—and then turned the doorknob.

The door opened easily.

“Amazing! How did you know!?”

Even though she had knocked before, the door hadn’t opened. Kachua couldn’t understand what made the difference this time.

“There was one missing on the right, so I knocked once to add it. Remember what the librarian said? 『If you don’t follow the rules, the door won’t open.』 That meant you had to knock the correct number and in the correct spot.”

When Kachua and Ed entered the room, they found rows upon rows of books.

There were a few others already there, engrossed in their reading.

Careful not to disturb them, Kachua and Ed quietly searched the shelves—

“Found it!”

At last, they found The Complete Guide to Supreme Potions Volume II.

There was a reading space by the window, at the far corner.

Carrying the book, Kachua and Ed moved over there, hearts pounding, and gently opened it.

The Complete Guide to Supreme Potions Volume II was a large-format book, spacious enough for the two of them to read side by side with room to spare.

On the first page was written:

『What do you seek from this book?』

Kachua was the type of person who talked to flowers while watering them, saying things like『Bloom beautifully, okay?』

So, even though they were in a library, she quietly whispered her reply.

“To cure my friend’s illness… I need a supreme-grade status ailment removal potion.”

Parari—the page turned softly, and on the next one was written:

『What illness do you wish to cure?』

“That child was bitten by a wolf beastkin and turned into a werewolf. He wants to become human again.”

Kachua personally thought that Og, covered head to toe in wolf fur, was cute but in this country, beastkin were often despised.

For the person himself, living like that must be incredibly difficult.

『I see. The curse of beastkin transformation is a semi-permanent magic—once afflicted, it’s impossible to return to one’s original form. There are very few ways to reverse it. The Supreme-Grade Status Ailment Removal Potion is one of those ways.』

“…Eh?”

Even Kachua finally realized it by this point.

“Is this book… talking to me?”

『For the sake of a friend, very well. I shall teach you the recipe for the Supreme-Grade Status Ailment Removal Potion.』

“Eh, really!?”

To be given the recipe so easily—Kachua was flustered by the unexpected stroke of luck.

“A memo… I need to write this down, memo, memo…”

She frantically rummaged through her backpack, but of course, in times like this, she couldn’t find anything.

“Mother, you can borrow my pen. Here’s a notebook too.”

Ed, much calmer, handed her a pen and notebook.

“Ah, thank you! You’re a lifesaver! So, dear book, what’s the recipe?”

Kachua eagerly asked, but the book replied:

『To make the potion, one must first understand the disease it cures. Why are werewolves born?』

“Uh… I’m not really interested in such complicated stuff… I just want the recipe…”

Kachua whispered with a hint of pleading but Ed seemed curious. He looked at her with a puzzled expression and asked:

“Mother, people become werewolves when they get bitten by wolf beastkin, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then why do wolf beastkin bite humans?”