Chapter 108: Embarrassing deal

"I didn't expect to see you here. What kind of book would you like? Do you have the library membership card?"

As soon as Fen dared to enter the premises of the huge academy library located just outside of the main campus, the fate decided that peacefully browsing through the books would be too boring for him. In order to make sure that even when the opportunity was so great, the young man would still have to face some hardships in order to get what he wanted, some kind of higher power decided that putting Latiel on his way was the best way to hamper his efforts at learning about the past.

"Shh!"

Before the young man could even respond, an old lady that sat at the most extravagant chair behind the counter - meaning that it actually had a back pillow attached to the frame - shushed at Fen's new acquaintance. Given how quickly all the air escaped from Latiels's lungs, it was clear what was the hierarchy in the library pecking order.

"No, I do not have the membership card. I would like to get some history books. And I didn't expect to see you here either."

Answering those questions as calmly as he could, Fen made sure to control how the head librarian would react to the tone that he was using to say those words. Apparently, from the slight wrinkles appearing on the forehead of this old lady when he started speaking, his voice was just tad too loud, quickly forcing the young man to modify it and keep the volume that didn't seem to irk the head librarian's anger.

"Understandable. Just give me a moment."

With the first, unvoiced warning of his superior already hanging in the air, Latiel proved that even he was capable of actually acting calmly. Taking some of the papers out of one of the shelves under the counter, he quickly sorted out the things that he actually needed before pulling out a goose's feather and passing it along with a small stack of papers to Fen.

"I need you to fill all those documents as best as you can… that is if you can write. Can you?"

Suddenly raising his head to look at his new friend Latiel sent Fen a strange look of expectations.

"That might be a problem. While I started to learn it a bit in the empire, I would never claim to be proficient at it, not to speak about writing or reading at any normal pace. I was ready to do my best to decipher the books that I would be interested in word by word, but if you have any other way to accomplish this…"

Leaving his sentence open, Fen looked at his fellow academy student meaningfully. Given how this man was the one who gave him the advice how he should earn money, by directing this question to him instead of anyone else, the two of them could avoid the uneasy topic of the potential payment for the uncommon service of helping someone to read the books.

"Eh… I see. Lady Aria, would you give me a moment? This man is a fellow student of the academy, so I would like to see his request through personally. I heard he is one of the token holders…"

Once again, the topic of this promotion token that Firo organised for Fen appeared. And once again, the young man could see how the usually stern expression of the head librarian quickly changed to a more pleasant one. To be perfectly honest, this single sentence was enough to actually put something that held a slight resemblance to a sympathetic smile on her face!

"That's understandable. I will allow that."

With the head librarian's face quickly changing back to the usual cold stoicism that it was full of when Fen first saw it, Latiel quickly stood up from behind his desk. Pointing his hand at one of the many doors that filled the front wall of the where the counter was located, he didn't even need to say a single word for the young man to follow him.

"Okay then."

After going through the door and marching through a lengthy corridor infested with doors at literally every step, Latiel finally picked one of the rooms before inviting Fen inside. As it turned out, it was nothing more but a simple study with just a plain desk and three chairs placed around it. 

"You want to learn about history, but is there any specific part that you are curious about? Given how I'm in this city for a long while already, I might be able to help you even without looking for any specific book to back my personal knowledge up."

The way in which Latiel asked this question was quite strange… Or rather, it was obvious from his tone that this kind of help would come at a cost. Given how he knew that Fen didn't really have any coins to spare, the young man instantly turned curious as to what the real cost of this help would be. 

"I don't mind you helping me out like that. In fact, that would save me quite a lot of trouble. The question is… What are you expecting to receive in return?"

Instead of putting that question off for later for the off-chance of denying any debt to ever exist, Fen decided to go with the honest route. Given how this man already offered a lot of advice about earning money to him, it was only natural that with yet another great help from his side, he could also expect some kind of remuneration from Fen, even if it would never ever get close to the aspect of money. 

"And here you go, dropping such heavy questions… But sure, let me answer that."

At first, Latiel dressed an angry face as if this question alone was enough to be considered an insult, only to instantly change it to a strange smile that Fen, despite all his experience with reading people, was unable to read. 

"As soon as you will reach the point where any mercenary group would be happy to employ you, I would like you to join me on a certain endeavour. It's nothing incredibly dangerous, I just need someone with enough power to be granted a token to help me to solve a certain… problem."

Despite his initial phrasing that suggested that he would share the details of the request that he would give in exchange for the information that Fen sought, Latiel ultimately kept his words in a pretty ambiguous state, making it impossible for his newly made friend to truly know what he actually wanted to achieve.

But even with that, it didn't seem like some kind of insanely hard and dangerous task that could be pretty much akin to a scam when compared to all the help that the young man offered to Fen so far.

"If you keep avoiding the topic, I won't be able to answer your question nor swear any of my help. Right now, you are my best bet at learning what I want to know, so I'm inclined to help you in exchange for your support, but unless you openly tell me what that aim of yours is, I will be forced to just spend some time in normal work so that would be able to pay someone for helping me out with those books instead."

Even while being nearly sure that Latiel's request wouldn't be anything too bad, Fen didn't' dare to sign himself for something without knowing what that thing might be. Given everything that has happened to him during his short life, all the hints of naivety were long gone from Fen's character.

"Okay, okay! Stop digging already, I will tell you!"

Compared to perfectly serious and focused face that Fen had on his head, Latiel's expression quickly deteriorated into one of huge embarrassment, as if the reason behind how ambiguous he was, was of a strictly private nature.

"You know… There is this one girl that I want to impress. She already ignored my advances once, claiming that she can easily score a token holder, giving her way better chances at finding stability than just going out with me… But as bad as it sounds, she is actually not a bad girl. It's her family circumstances that made her look at herself as nothing but a trading product like that…"

Even though Latiel has yet to finish his sentence, Fen already could guess what was the rest of the story. While this new friend of the young arcanist seemed like a quite reasonable guy, the fact that he was unable to see this girl for the gold differ she was if Fen were to trust what Latiel said so far, only meant that he was stupidly in love with her, unable to see what was actually going on.

But first and foremost, this part of this matter was by no means, a Fen's problem!

"And you want me to flex my status to her, before allowing you to overwhelm me in a fake fight? Did you really think I would refuse such a simple request?"

Barely capable of holding back his laughter, Fen focused all his willpower to keep his face straight while faking a serious expression on his face. For someone who just bared his heart to him, despite how they were just strangers until yesterday, being laughed at would be the worst possible outcome. 

"That settles the deal!"

Hearing Fen's answer, Latiel's face instantly flared up, with the blush on his cheeks being replaced by an expression indicating an immense excitement.

"So, tell me. What do you want to know about the past?"