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Chapter 53: Library of Ghosts

“So, kid, whaddya wanna know about?” Jim asked as the three of them browsed the bookshelves. “I’ve been here once or twice before, so I know where things are.”

“Ghosts. Angelicas. Their origins. Anything about the paracausal, really,” Finn replied quietly.

Jim stopped. “Well. That’s bloody broad. In that case, you can read this whole bloody library. Can you pick one specific topic, mate?”

“Hm…” Finn fell into thought.

He had originally wanted to visit this place to learn more Abilities for his various Angelicas, but now that he had opened up to the squadron, he could just learn techniques from them directly — which, of course, would be a whole lot easier than reading a textbook. Therefore, it was best to spend this time learning about something else — Ghosts and Angelicas themselves.

“Are there any… encyclopedias of Ghosts?” Finn asked hesitantly. “Large books that contain entries on every found species of them.”

Jim scoffed. “Aye, there are. But, it’s only reserved for S-Rank Hunters and above. Ay, don’t look at me like that, I can’t take it out of the bloody library for ya.”

“Why though…?” Iris asked in puzzlement. “Are there only a few copies, or what?”

“Not a few, girl. There’s only one.”

“So… why not make more copies?”

Jim sighed. “If only it were that easy. Ya see, the book was written by a bit of a weirdo. He claims that anyone who ain’t strong enough would ‘succumb to the book’, as he calls it.”

“And people believe him?” Iris frowned in bewilderment. “And why hasn’t anyone else who wasn’t crazy made their own version of an Ghost encyclopedia to be distributed?”

“Oh trust me, they did. They tried alright. And anyone who did, never finished. Unlucky bastards all died the same way — blood spillin’ out their eyes, noses, ears, and mouths while they were sleepin’.”

“What the hell…?”

“You aren’t messing with us, right?” Finn asked, just for confirmation.

“Naw. You can ask anyone, kid. They’ll tell ya the same story.”

“This sounds like some sort of mysterious curse that shouldn’t exist…” Iris trailed off. “But then, how did that weirdo survive?”

“Beats me,” Jim said with a shrug. “Apparently, he had mastered the Divinity Angelica, so it might be that.”

“… So we can identify Ghosts in our minds, but we can’t categorize them down on paper due to a mysterious curse,” Finn concluded. “That much is clear, since we have different names for different types of Ghosts.”

“Bingo! It’s also why there’s one major guild for each of the five bloody Ghost archetypes — humans got limited memory, after all. They can only focus on remembering one archetype’s characteristics and species.”

“I see. What about encyclopedias for Angeli-“

“No no, ya can’t ‘see’. How many times do I have to remind ya?” Jim sighed and shook his head.

“… How many times do you have to repeat the same joke over and over again?”

By this point, Finn was getting annoyed. Even though most of his emotions were gone, he still held dark ones like hatred, annoyance, and anger, fueled by his passion for revenge. Jim clearly hadn’t been expecting this rebuttal, and flinched a bit upon hearing the coldness in his voice. Iris sensed the tension in the air, but she didn’t interrupt.

After a few seconds of silence, Jim finally spoke.

“… Sorry, mate. But to answer yer question, there are indeed bloody encyclopedias for Angelicas. Follow me.”

*****

The trio headed for the second-highest floor of the library via elevator. Once there, Finn and Iris were told to sit down at a nearby table while Jim went to find the book. There weren’t as many people up here, but it wasn’t completely empty either.

About half a minute later, Jim returned with a book in his hands and set it down on the table.

“Here. Take a look. If it’s what yer lookin’ for, we can bring it to a receptionist to take out of the library.”

Iris flipped it open and scanned through it for a few moments, then closed it back up.

“Finn, this details all the currently known Angelicas in the world. New ones may still be yet to be found, but for the most part, this covers everything.”

“Alright. Let’s take this one, then.”

“Aye, mate. Let’s go check this out, then. No point wastin’ time here readin’ when the tour’s not over yet,” Jim said with a smirk, picking up the book and heading for the receptionist’s counter on this floor. Finn and Iris followed.

After checking out using Jim’s Hunter Card, the trio left the Melinoe Archives and boarded an elevator once more. Jim pressed on a button to go further up, onto the 11th floor. The process was quick and simple.

They had to come back here every seven days to either renew their borrow time or return the book altogether, and naturally, if any damage was caused to the book or if the book was returned late, charges and punishments would be inflicted. The Melinoe Archives functioned just like a library in the public world, the only difference being that the books and stories in here all relate to the paranormal.

“Er… where are we going now?” Iris asked, confused as to why they aren’t going back down to the 1st floor.

“I said it, didn’t I?” Jim chuckled. “The bloody tour ain’t over yet. Trust me, you’ll regret it if ya miss this.”

“… What even is it?” Finn interjected. “If it’s just sightseeing or something, I’m not interested. I can’t appreciate it anyway.”

“Relax, relax. Always so uptight, aren’t ya? Don’t worry, I’ll make ya loosen up soon enough.”

“…”

Finn didn’t want to be ‘loosened up’, but perhaps Jim was actually leading them to somewhere useful. That’s the only reason he didn’t object any further and just went along with the flow.

Soon, the elevator arrived at its destination. The doors slid open with a familiar dinging noise and the three exited swiftly. Before them lay a polished, pristine room with white walls, a white ceiling, and a white floor. Within it was various capsule-shaped cockpits where people could enter, one each. They were like the cryo-pods seen in sci-fi movies and video games, where the subject placed inside would be frozen in ice until it’s time for them to break out.

“What is this…” Iris gasped in wonder, looking around at all the pods, neatly arranged side by side. Most were full, but some were still empty.

Jim turned around to face the two and smiled widely as he spread his arms.

“Welcome, my friends, to Project: Simulacrum.”