「Umm, earlier when we went to greet you at the first island, I noticed you were holding a book and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since! It looked completely different from anything I’ve seen before. What was it? It looked almost like a picture book, but it was not the sa!」
Shalwina’s body was brimming with curiosity as she leaned forward, showing just how strong her love for books was, bordering on obsession.
Printing techniques had evolved faster than during the industrial revolution in the last thirty years, so the presence of books exploded in the overworld. Shalwina had noticed that when she was summoned to keep watch over Haxthausen while looking for Fuzzy Dice. Seeing so many books she had never even heard of before had set her heart ablaze.
But she was in the middle of a mission, so she was forced to hold back. Still, the curiosity lingered in the back of her head, and when she saw the book Mira was holding earlier that day, she could no longer hold back. She related all of that, her voice full of excitent.
「Ah, I see….」
Mira was aware that Shalwina’s emotions could be strong, but did not know that they could explode so violently, so she was learning sothing new. Then she tried to rember what book she was reading earlier.
(I think that was…)
She had taken out a book to read after filling her stomach with all the fruits brought to her by the little animals. Shalwina had described it as a picture book but not quite the sa…so it had to be a comic book.
「Do you an this?」
A comic book did not really match Shalwina’s more studious bookworm appearance, but Mira still retrieved the book and held it out. It was a recent series titled Treasure’s Avalon.
In short, it was a sitcom set in an academy, with many common tropes Mira was familiar with, so she was pretty certain the author was a forr player.
On top of the sense of familiarity with stories from her past world, the overall plot was also similar to the mangas she liked, making that series one of Mira’s current favorites.
「Ahh! Yes, that’s the cover I saw! That cute artstyle I’ve never seen before! Just what kind of story is contained in its pages?!」
Shalwina’s face moved really close to Mira’s hands, posing one question after another, her eyes twinkling with inquisitiveness, almost like she was seeing an invaluable treasure.
But she had likely only read regular books with only text in the past, so Mira was slightly worried she would be let down once she saw the contents, still Mira replied, 「It’d be faster to check yourself,」 and let her hold the book.
「Can I really?! Thank you so much!」
Shalwina took the book with a very respectful action, almost like she was receiving a valuable sword. Then she examined the book’s cover, spine, and rear, muttering, 「She was on the cover too…」 and once she saw enough, she finally opened the first page.
「Is this…! Could it be? Are these pictures showcasing the story?!」
Her eyes darted around the pages as she began to leaf through, eventually raising her head in excitent and asking questions to Mira again. Her excitent had won over the lack of regular narration.
「Yes, that’s correct. These are called comics, and as you’ve noticed, the story is told through the pictures and dialogue.」
Once Mira explained that much, Shalwina repeated 「Comics…」 and continued leafing through the pages, adding, 「I never knew such books existed out there,」 still excited by it.
「I wonder how long it took to draw all of this… But I can tell just how much effort the author put into every single page.」
Shalwina continued voicing her thoughts as she looked through her first comic book, becoming deeply impressed by that new world she was discovering.
There were multiple drawings on each page, separated by panels. Sotis they showcased rapid movents, and other tis the characters were depicted with super deford proportions. It was a completely different type of art from paintings, and that was sothing marvelous for Shalwina.
「Would you like to try reading a few?」
Seeing the strong reaction Shalwina displayed when seeing it, Mira asked that.
「May I?! Or rather, this isn’t the only one?!」
Her eyes were lit with expectation. Mira was still a bit unsure whether her eyes that had seen so many books in the past would be satisfied with comics, but if Shalwina wanted, Mira would grant her that wish.
「Yes, there’s a lot more.」
Mira nodded and began taking out comic books from her Item Box and piling them up on the table. Those were all the comics Mira would buy whenever she spotted a bookstore. There were academy stories, mysteries, romcoms, pure codies, adventures, and even sci-fi. Many years had passed since comics appeared in this world, so there was a wide span of genres available, with plenty to choose from in each one.
「Ahh…there’s so many!」
In the end there were around fifty books in total piled up on the table. Seeing them, Shalwina let out a joyous cheer before clinging onto the table, smiling happily. Her usual composure and intellectual nature was gone, replaced by the primal senses of a woman spellbound to treasure.
Mira was still learning new things about Shalwina, and told her that she was free to take any title she found interesting.
「Is it really alright?!」
Mira had said that anticipating Shalwina would want to borrow a few, as she was already eyeing which ones she was most interested in. Shalwina looked slightly embarrassed that her desires had been read so easily, but her voice kept getting louder as she could not contain herself anymore.
「Of course, of course. I’m already done reading everything there after all.」
Just seeing how happy Shalwina was, had made it worth it to buy so many, and glad that her investnt had been repaid that way, Mira chuckled as she added, 「If you want, just take all of them.」
That made Shalwina’s face lit up even more.
「Are you sure?! Thank you so much!」
With Mira’s permission, Shalwina’s pick was everything. In just a re seconds, she picked up all the books and held them in her arms.
「I’ll go read them right away!」
Beaming a delighted smile, Shalwina trotted with a light gait to the door.
「Try to not stay up all night reading.」
Mira casually warned her, and noticed that the Shalwina would not be able to open the door with both her arms busy carrying the books.
Just dropping one of those books could end in disaster, so Mira stood up to help Shalwina open the door.
But before Mira could do anything more, Shalwina’s right arm seed to vanish for an instant, turning the door knob, and a mont later, her arm was back holding the books, which barely moved a little in that ti.
「If you’ll excuse then.」
No doors could get between Shalwina and her books anymore. She looked back to say those parting words, and with the sa dexterity as earlier, she closed the door. Then her footsteps rang out as she dashed through the corridor, almost like she was not bothered at all by everything she was carrying.
「She’s a Valkyrie alright…」
It was clear Shalwina would read through the comics as soon as possible, and Mira was curious to hear what she would think of them. At the sa ti, Mira made a ntal note to look for books that Shalwina would enjoy the next ti she was in a bookstore.
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