Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 143 - Wall of Questions

"Medrauta, Medrauta! Look at this! It's so wonderful!"

"I'm not sure if you should be saying that right now, Viviane." Medrauta heaved an exasperated sigh as she continued holding onto Viviane's wrist as if her arm were no more than a leash. Truth be told, no one could've expected the interior of the supply tower to look like this, but now that they were here, it would be practically impossible to restrain Viviane any longer.

"Why not!? These must be ancient!" Viviane gushed. "And to think we're the first...!"

"Careful!" Medrauta warned, quickly tugging Viviane back once more. "They might be trapped!"

"No one's going to trap books, Medrauta. Now c'mooooooon!" Viviane pleaded, pouting cutely as she stared at Medrauta with wide, doe-like eyes. She even fluttered her eyelashes once or twice for good measure, but the knight's grip remained firm and unyielding.

Medrauta returned her lady's gaze coolly, unwilling to let Viviane's cuteness sway her no matter what. She hadn't expected the supply tower to actually host a library. Large floor-to-ceiling bookshelves were set into the curved walls of the tower, each of them holding an enormous wealth of knowledge in the tomes contained therein.

In the first place, Viviane's lust for reading wasn't exactly a priority given the pressing situation at hand. Not only were they completely sealed off from the outside world, but countless soldiers were probably fighting for their lives against the witchspawn rushing toward the south. In fact, Medrauta's keen senses could still pick up the faint thunder of their advance echoing from outside the tower.

Originally, Viviane shared the same sentiment as Medrauta. After all, reading could always come later once they finished excising the witchspawn from the area, but one glaring problem allowed her quite the convenient excuse to satisfy both her craving for books and address the situation at hand. Namely, the interior possessed no staircase or passageway up to the upper floors, not to mention the fact that the ceiling looked rather solid and integral for the tower's support. Should Medrauta simply attempt to bust through with brute force, it probably wouldn't bode well.

"At least let me check the books first," Medrauta sighed. "With any luck, we'll be able to find something that opens up a stairway or something."

Viviane nodded. "That's what I was thinking. We'll look around for any books that talk about architecture first. Maybe we can find a clue to help us find our way up."

"You don't think the stairway works like the entrance, right? Maybe if I just touch the ceiling, the bricks'll come falling down to form a staircase?" Medrauta mused.

"You could certainly try," Viviane said. Incidentally, she hadn't found the time to dispel her Crest thanks to the distraction provided by the tower's wealth of books. Although maintaining her Crest used to be something that she had to actively concentrate on, it was now second nature to her after experiencing so many pitched battles by Medrauta's side.

Medrauta nodded in response and squatted down before thrusting her feet against the ground, propelling herself upward until she was within arm's reach of the ceiling. Slapping her palm against the smooth stone surface produced a rather satisfying sound that echoed through the tower's interior, but nothing else of note occurred. The knight landed on her feet, clicking her tongue in annoyance.

While she'd been occupied with that, Viviane had already made a beeline to the closest bookshelf, rifling through its contents rapidly as she searched for any content that pertained to the construction of towers similar to the one they occupied. Although reading about architecture certainly wasn't her first choice, it wasn't her last either and it wasn't as if she had forgotten about the true reason why they'd come to the supply tower in the first place.