Stell sat in the center of the reading room, her hands a blur of motion.
Flip. Scan. Flip. Scan.
Beside her desk, a mountain of books had grown so high it threatened to touch the high vaulted ceiling. These were the "completed" pile.
But she wasn't alone.
The massive room was swarming with activity. Dozens of identical figures, small girls with violet-blue hair, moved through the aisles with terrifying, clockwork precision.
Some were runners, sprinting to fetch fresh stacks of grimoires from the shelves. Others were sorters, organizing the books by category.
Some sat at other tables, mirroring the main body, their eyes glowing as they scanned pages at inhuman speeds.
And finally, there were the shelvers, returning the processed books to their rightful places.
In total, including the original Stell, there were over a hundred units operating in the library.
The librarian, an elderly man who had spent his life guarding these tomes, stood by the entrance, his jaw slack.
He had seen magic before. He had seen mages use "Clone Magic" or "Illusion Magic" to double their productivity. But this? This was absurd.
Are they... actually reading?
It looked less like studying and more like an army of ants dismantling a sugar cube. The sheer scale of it was overwhelming.
And it wasn't just the numbers. It was the endurance.
The girl had been here since noon yesterday. She hadn't eaten. She hadn't slept. She hadn't even taken a break. She had sat in that chair, maintaining this frantic pace, for over twenty-four hours straight.
When the librarian had returned this morning, he expected to find her asleep or gone. Instead, he found her exactly where he had left her.
The only difference was that the mountains of books around her had changed subjects, from Elemental Theory to Ancient Runes.
Is she... even human?
He remembered the instructions he had received from Lady Serie herself. "Let her do what she wants. Answer her questions. Ignore anything strange."
Ignore anything strange? he thought hysterically. Lady Serie, this is the definition of strange!
He watched Stell flip a page. Her eyes lingered on the text for exactly 0.3 seconds before turning to the next. To anyone else, it would look like she was just playing with the book, fanning the pages to feel the breeze.
But the librarian noticed the tiny, almost imperceptible pause on each page. She was seeing it. She was absorbing it.
A rumor had been circulating in the city recently. Serie had returned from her travels with a rare smile on her face. People whispered that she had found a new apprentice, a prodigy unlike any other.
Looking at the young girl, who appeared no older than twelve or thirteen, devouring centuries of knowledge in seconds, the librarian believed the rumors.
Only a monster could teach a monster, he decided, resigning himself to his fate. He went back to his desk and tried to look busy, ignoring the other scholars who peeked into the room, saw the army of clones, and immediately ran away in fear.
...
Late in the afternoon, the heavy oak doors creaked open again.
A tall, muscular young man walked in. He wore the robes of a cleric but carried himself like a veteran warrior. He looked around the room, taking in the sea of clones and the towers of books.
Most people would have frozen in shock.
Takson didn't even blink.
He walked past the gaping librarian and waded through the army of clones, heading straight for the girl in the center.
"Teacher, I'm back," he said, his tone casual. "How's the progress?"
"Answer: Proceeding smoothly," Stell replied. She didn't look up. She didn't stop reading. Her hands continued to flip pages even as she spoke. "Current completion rate has increased from 38% to 86.4%."
"Whoa, that fast?" Takson whistled.
He wasn't surprised that she could talk and read at the same time. "Parallel processing" was one of her standard skills. He had seen her do far stranger things than this. To him, seeing a hundred clones power-reading was just a typical Tuesday.
"So," he asked, leaning against a stack of books, "does that mean we'll be leaving soon?"
"Affirmative."
I closed the thick, leather-bound book with a soft thud.
Around us, the library was alive with the sound of shuffling paper. My clones were still hard at work, moving like a well-oiled machine, pulling books from shelves, scanning them, and returning them in perfect order. But I, the main unit, paused my work to look at my apprentice.
"Teacher?" Takson asked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
"Query: What is it?"
"Um... how much longer is this going to take?" He glanced nervously at the towering shelves that still needed to be read. To a normal human, it looked like a lifetime of work.
I paused for a fraction of a second to run the numbers.
The Great Library was vast. Even with over a hundred of my copies working at maximum speed, the volume of data was immense. However, we were nearing the end.
"Answer: Based on the current rate of data acquisition..." I looked at him with my unblinking golden eyes. "Nine hours, fourteen minutes, and thirty-eight seconds."
"Oh... whew."
Takson let out a long, heavy sigh. His shoulders dropped, and the tension that had been holding him rigid finally melted away. He looked like a man who had just been told his execution was cancelled.
Strange.
"Query: Why do you ask?" I pressed. "Why such a strong reaction?"
Takson straightened up, trying to look dignified. "Well... honestly? I was scared you were going to say 'three months.' I didn't want to be stuck inside a library for that long."
"Rebuttal: You are aware that my schedule is optimized for efficiency," I stated calmly. "My longest stay in any single location was five months. In all other instances, the duration was between one and three months. Furthermore, during those times, your physical training was never neglected."
I stared at him. "Conclusion: No time was wasted. There is no logical reason for concern."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Takson waved his hand, giving up the argument. "You're always efficient, Teacher. I get it."
He fell silent, but he didn't go back to his training or his own reading. He just stood there, looking restless. He kept glancing at the door.
Analysis: The subject is bored.
It wasn't just the time. He wanted to do something. We were in the most famous city of magic in the world, and we had spent the last twenty-four hours inside a dusty room.
I stood up.
"Notice: We are leaving."
"Huh? Leaving? But you said nine hours..."
"Correction: My clones will continue the work. My physical presence is not required for the completion of the task." I walked past him toward the heavy oak doors. "Come."
"R-Right!" Takson grinned, grabbing his gear and rushing to follow.
….
We stepped out of the sanctum and into the bright afternoon sun.
The Magic City was unlike any other place we had visited.
The air itself seemed to hum with energy. Stone towers stretched high into the sky, connected by floating bridges.
Streetlamps fueled by glowing crystals lined the cobblestone roads. Mages in colorful robes walked alongside common merchants, and the smell of strange herbs mixed with the aroma of baking bread.
For the first time in a long while, the roles were reversed. Takson took the lead, walking with a spring in his step, while I followed a pace behind.
The contrast between us drew immediate attention.
Takson was a giant of a man, nearly two meters tall, with broad shoulders and muscles honed by years of brutal combat. He looked like a veteran warrior.
And then there was me. A petite girl, barely reaching his chest, with long, violet hair and delicate features.
I scanned the faces of the people we passed.
Confusion. Curiosity. Amusement.
"Is that his daughter?" one woman whispered to her friend.
"No way. Look at her clothes. She looks like a noble's doll. And he looks like a mercenary," the friend replied. "Maybe he's her bodyguard?"
"A bodyguard for a little girl?"
To the world, we were an odd pair. A beast and a beauty. A warrior and a child.
I ignored them. Their perceptions were irrelevant.
"Teacher, look at that!" Takson pointed excitedly at a fountain where the water was dancing in impossible shapes, controlled by a young apprentice mage. "You haven't really seen the city yet, have you?"
"Affirmative," I replied, my voice flat. "A full topographical map was generated and stored in my memory banks upon arrival. I am aware of every street and alley."
"That's not what I mean," Takson laughed. "Knowing the map isn't the same as seeing it. This place is amazing! It's the center of magic for the whole human race. You should experience it properly."
"Experience..."
"Yeah! Just walking around, seeing the people, smelling the food... that's part of the journey, right?"
He looked back at me, his eyes shining with genuine happiness. He wanted to share this with me. He wanted his teacher to step out of the data and into the world.
Inefficient, my logic circuits argued. I have the data.
Necessary, a deeper part of my programming countered. Maintaining the bond with the apprentice is optimal for long-term success.
"Request accepted," I said.
"Really?"
"Affirmative. Lead the way."
"Awesome!" Takson's grin widened. He sniffed the air. "Follow me, Teacher! I walked past a restaurant earlier that smelled absolutely delicious. You have to try it!"
….
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