The library stood tall in the center of Hargeon, and it was truly a spectacular sight—a spiraling tower-like structure.
It resembled an ancient magic tower, and in fact, it might have originally been a magic tower.
No one knew exactly when this spiral building was constructed. Noel was certain that Natsu's flames had scorched it during the earlier chaos,
so why was it completely unharmed?
As Noel approached, he sensed the presence of magical energy within the tower.
No wonder it hadn't been damaged—there was a barrier spell in place. After a quick calculation, Noel estimated that the barrier had been active for several centuries.
It must have been created using some rare type of magic array, but that wasn't what Noel had come here to research today.
The moment he stepped inside, Noel was stunned by the sheer scale of the library. It was massive, and the number of books was overwhelming, with each floor likely holding tens of thousands of volumes.
And the tower had over a hundred floors. Noel sucked in a breath, unable to help but marvel at the collection.
However, finding the exact book he wanted in this sea of texts would be like finding a needle in a haystack,
which probably explained why there were so few visitors. At that moment, he was the only person inside.
Realizing there was no shortcut, he decided to start from the first floor and search methodically, despite knowing it would take an enormous amount of time—
just another high-pressure task in his string of exhausting days.
He soon found the library's teleportation magic circle. Although not especially rare, these circles were limited in their use.
First, they consumed an immense amount of energy, and constructing a teleportation circle was complex, involving spatial magic conversions.
Ordinary people would never bother studying such things, except for certain eccentric alchemists.
But the effect was worth it; with just a small input of magical energy, one could instantly travel to any designated floor.
It was a contradictory creation: highly effective, yet impractical.
Noel transported himself directly to the 20th floor. Why the 20th? Because the first twenty floors contained books collected from across the country,
making Hargeon's library a true reservoir of knowledge.
Upon arrival, Noel immediately began searching.
But even after a long search, he found nothing useful. Some of the texts were in ancient languages he couldn't read, as most ancient texts were.
He would have to learn while searching.
Fortunately, Noel was highly skilled at languages, and after repeatedly studying them, he was now able to do basic translations.
Of course, this was thanks in no small part to the magical reading glasses he used, "Wind Reading Glasses,"
a magical tool that was anything but cheap, but invaluable for rapid reading.
Reading book after book wasn't dull; on the contrary, he discovered many fascinating contents within.
If a book didn't interest him, he simply skipped it. Eventually, Noel forgot the original reason he came—to find clues about alchemical materials.
As Noel immersed himself in reading, the library welcomed another visitor.
Noel sensed another presence but paid it no mind. This person had the aura of a celestial spirit key, just like Lucy's.
Another Celestial Spirit Mage, huh? Noel thought it was rare for Celestial Spirit Mages to enjoy reading enough to come to such a library.
Now, there were two people reading quietly in the vast, empty library, neither disturbing the other, with only the rustling of pages between them.
Suddenly, Noel found something that caught his attention—
a book about the Legend of the Snowstorm.
The legend told of someone who saw a miraculous tree within a blizzard, with its branches dancing amid the falling snowflakes.
It was said to grant a miraculous gift: a crystal-clear fruit surrounded by a strange, shimmering light.
And the location recorded was Mount Hakobe. It seemed Noel would need to visit Mount Hakobe, and who knew—maybe he would get lucky.
Noel couldn't help but exclaim, "Finally! I found it!" unable to contain his excitement.
But loud noises were forbidden in the library, and his outburst drew the displeasure of the girl who had just entered.
She frowned, clearly annoyed, and seemed to be waiting for the person upstairs to come down, wanting to see who lacked such manners.
Using the teleportation circle, Noel descended to the first floor and saw a girl holding a book, glaring at him impatiently.
Although he didn't know her personally, Noel felt she looked familiar, like someone he had seen in a magazine—a young but well-known Celestial Spirit Mage.
If he remembered correctly, her name was Yukino Agria.
And, honestly, she was quite cute.
"Sorry about that, I didn't realize there was anyone else here," Noel apologized sincerely.
"The library prohibits loud noises. Don't let it happen again."
"I truly apologize for disturbing your reading," Noel said, bowing slightly.
"…Forget it, I'll let it slide this time." Seeing how sincere Noel was, Yukino decided not to press the matter further.
"There aren't many people who come here to read. You must be looking for something in particular, too. You can tell me about it; maybe I know something."
Yukino hesitated at first. Could she trust him?
But even if she told him, it wasn't like it would cause her any loss, and she might even gain some useful information.
"…Actually, I'm looking for information about Ophiuchus. I'm still too weak, and I want to become stronger so I can be of help to my guild." Yukino lowered her head, her expression troubled.
"Ophiuchus, huh… I've heard it's a constellation that stands above the Twelve Zodiac Keys, extremely rare." Noel commented.
Yukino's face brightened slightly, surprised that he knew about it. Perhaps he truly had some valuable information.
"Do you know anything about Ophiuchus?" Yukino asked hopefully.
"Ophiuchus…" Noel thought for a moment.
After reading so many ancient texts, his mind was filled with alchemical materials, and Ophiuchus wasn't exactly in his area of research.
Besides, he needed to return to the guild quickly. Otherwise, the batch of fresh alchemical materials he had ordered would spoil, costing him a significant amount of money.
"I have urgent business to attend to. If you ever want to talk, you can come find me at the Mond Alchemy Workshop. For now, I'll have to excuse myself," Noel said, politely declining.
"But you may be looking in the wrong direction. If Ophiuchus truly stands above the Twelve Zodiac Keys, it would not appear in a simple manner." Noel added.
Yukino fell into thought where she stood. "Maybe I really have been going about it the wrong way… what he said makes sense."
Noel hurried to buy a train ticket and rushed back to Fairy Tail. He was ready to settle accounts with Natsu, who had left him in Harujion to take the blame.
Only he could pull off something like that.
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