The Bookkeeper

Leo began firing his two anti-material handguns, while keeping his distance.

While the bullet speed of an anti-material handgun is much faster than that of conventional handguns, they still pale in comparison to the attacks of Death Dolls.

The thirty-two bullets Leo fired were all deflected by my photon edge.

Even though he was constantly moving to maintain distance, his shots were precise, even without Akasha’s assistance.

"Is that all you've got, Leo?" I asked.

"Just wait and see," he replied, quickly reloading another clip.

This time, the bullets looked different.

I noted the yellow projectiles. Red ones were anti-material, blue were armor-piercing, which left the explosive rounds.

I jumped backward to avoid the barrage of explosive rounds.

To my surprise, the explosion was followed by a thick cloud of smoke.

Tactical rounds, smoke type.

The loud whirring of a rotary mechanism reached my ears, and I saw a minigun.

Before the minigun barrel could unleash its barrage of hundreds of bullets per second, I activated Self Acceleration, consuming the last two virtual black cubes.

Leo continued to fire a relentless barrage at my position for a minute as the smoke screen cleared.

When it lifted, Leo saw the ground had been destroyed, but I was gone.

He dropped the minigun, realizing I had already moved.

"I give up," Leo said, raising his hand as he realized the Photon Edge was pointed at his throat.

Even though it was a virtual reality duel, having your head cut off still leaves an unsettling feeling.

"Duel ended, winner: Rinares Nonus Prospera," Akasha announced.

"Halting Virtual Arena in 3...2...1," her voice echoed.

"Are you okay, Leo?" a young female voice suddenly asked.

Penelope Deci Caelum, one of our classmates, approached Leo with a concerned look.

"I'm fine, Nel," Leo replied.

"It’s my loss," he added as he walked toward me.

"Well, then you’ll be accompanying me on Friday after class," I said.

"Where?" Leo asked.

"You’ll find out when we get there," I answered.

"Okay..." he said in a resigned tone.

"You can come too, Nel," I added.

"Can I?" she asked, surprised.

"Of course," Liz responded.

As class ended, Professor Gregory walked over to me.

"Congratulations, Seventh," he said suddenly.

"If you know that…that means..." I said.

"As I said before, I'm Gregory Tertius Rex, also known as Third, the Gatekeeper," he replied.

"No wonder you know. Did Akasha set this up?" I asked.

"Yes and no," he answered.

"Yes, because Akasha was concerned about Eliza, and no, because I really just wanted to see our youngest member in action," Professor Gregory added.

"You knew about Leo and Nel, didn’t you?" I asked.

"Akasha is really a perfectionist," I said.

"Even if Leo eventually gets into a relationship with Nel, that doesn’t mean his friendship with Liz will be fixed."

"Yes, Akasha is quite the perfectionist, even allowing us Anomalies to continue living," he replied.

"You're right, Professor.

I realized that when Akasha gave me the title 'Seventh, the Bookkeeper,'" I stated.

"Looking back at the exam, it was clear that Akasha designed it for me to pass," I added.

"Well, that’s the end of my greeting, Young Rin," Professor Gregory said. "The others may visit you someday.

Take care." With that, he walked toward the door.

"Let’s have some snacks," Liz suddenly suggested as she approached, seeing that the professor had left.

After enjoying some snacks, I headed to the library to spend my free time while Liz went to GRID 25 to check on the Autumn Festival preparations.

"Rin, are you available to talk?" Akasha asked suddenly.

"Yes, we can talk now," I replied.

Once I responded, I realized that Akasha had pulled my consciousness into her world, the virtual realm.

In an instant, I found myself sitting in a chair beside a tea table full of sweet treats.

Across from me, Akasha was enjoying a cupcake while sipping tea.

It was my first time being invited to her tea party.

In the background, I could see endless bookshelves stretching in all directions.

"Welcome, Rin. I’m Akasha, the world's library," Akasha said.

As I had suspected, Akasha’s name was derived from the Akashic Record.

Often referred to as the World’s Library, it is said to contain the Universal Knowledge, preserving the history of every soul and its experiences throughout all of time, whether in the past, present, or possible future.

"Rinare Nonus Prospera, today I will inform you of the perks and responsibilities that come with the title 'Seventh, the Bookkeeper,'" Akasha added.

"In exchange for being the first neoman to access the forbidden library, you are responsible for keeping my main body safe," Akasha continued.

"I thought your main body is located in GRID 1?" I asked.

"I used to reside there, but every decade my main body moves to a different location," Akasha replied.

"Every few years... you mean the Autumn Festival?" I asked.
"You’re really sharp; with just a little information, you quickly arrive at the truth," Akasha complimented.

"I always thought the Autumn Festival was something special. It's been held every five years and twice consecutively in the same GRID," I said.
"And it's the biggest event in Fruma, where almost all neomans gather," I added.

"I doubt you figured it out from just that information," Akasha remarked.

"Honestly, I’ve had doubts for a long time, but when Professor Gregory mentioned that you were worried about Liz, it all clicked," I explained.

"What do you mean, Rin?" Akasha asked.

"This year’s Autumn Festival marks your departure from GRID 25. After all, the Autumn Festival five years ago was a celebration for your arrival," I replied.

"As expected from the one I entrusted with the responsibility of being my caretaker, no, my Bookkeeper," Akasha said.

"Liz has treated me like her very own little sister for the past five years, and it’s one of my fondest memories over the last two centuries," Akasha added.

"Rinares Nonus Prospera, I’m ordering you to protect me and everyone during the Autumn Festival," Akasha said.

"You don’t need to ask. As one of the current protectors and the one holding the title of Seventh, the Bookkeeper, I’ll make sure to protect everyone," I replied.

"Regarding your perks, you now have full access to the Forbidden Library," Akasha continued.

"Remember, Rin, there is no concept of good or evil when it comes to knowledge.

What matters is how you choose to use it," she added.

"I’ll always remember that, Akasha," I replied.

"You can choose what you want to read now, Rin. You still have an hour before lunch," Akasha said with a smile.

Akasha must’ve noticed the gleam in my eyes as I looked around at the endless shelves of books.

Within moments, I began browsing through the vast collection Akasha holds.

After half an hour, I picked a few books that caught my interest.

Though I still had a few minutes to read more, I decided to check on Liz.

Akasha confirmed that Liz was still at the Autumn Festival venue.
"I’ll be going, Akasha," I stated.

"Get going, Rin. Liz is already grumpy waiting for you to pick her up," Akasha said.

In the next instant, I found myself sitting in a chair at the corner of the Library.

I decided it was time to head towards Liz's location and grab some lunch with her.

After a little while, I spotted Liz in her school uniform, sitting on a bench.

"I thought I would see you in the Ceremonial Dress," I said as I approached from behind.

She turned to look at me, her gaze almost asking why it took me so long to catch up.

"Akasha invited me to her tea party to talk about the other day," I explained.

She sighed.

"I thought you forgot about me and didn't want to spend time with me," she said quietly.

"Why would I forget about the person who's always on my mind?" I replied.

She blushed slightly.

"Let's grab some lunch... my treat," I added with a smile.

"Let's go, I'm already starving," she replied eagerly.

It had been a year since we started eating together, nearly every chance we got.

"Are we going back to the school cafeteria?" she asked.

"We're going to a nearby restaurant that Akasha recommended," I answered.

She grabbed my left arm tightly, and we made our way to the restaurant.

After lunch, we headed back to school for our last class of the day: Classical Science.