Chapter 90: The Strange Bookstore
Closing my eyes, I ignored the bizarre events along the way and had Jayad carry me to the entrance of the bookstore he mentioned. At first, I wanted him to just hold my hand, but being carried felt a little embarrassing, especially since Jayad’s most efficient way of carrying me was in a princess carry.
However, with my eyes closed, even holding hands made me feel quite uneasy and I wasn’t walking steadily. In the end, I chose to let Jayad carry me. He held me securely, giving me a sense of safety.
“We’re here, it’s this place.” Jayad set me down. I opened my eyes and found myself in front of an old-fashioned shop. The sign was worn out, with an old book carved from wood.
Inside, the shelves were filled to the brim. I walked in and examined them carefully. The front rows were filled with printed books: knightly romances, travel guides, popular literature, and so on.
Further back, a row of hardcover tomes were bound in thick covers. These were genuine knowledge books: mathematics, philosophy, entomology, astronomy, and more. I saw them all.
Then, there was another row filled with tattered handwritten manuscripts, presumably acquired at a low price from others. There were ledgers, sailing diaries, mathematical manuscripts, and so on. Perhaps professionals would buy these manuscripts and gain experience from them.
In addition, there were individual compartments built along the top of the bookstore, all packed with scrolls. Jayad hadn’t brought me to the wrong place; this was indeed the kind of old bookstore I was looking for, one with a certain historical accumulation.
Strangely, some of these books seemed more than just ordinary books to me. They felt as though they emitted a faint spiritual light, especially the manuscripts and scrolls. Curious, I couldn’t help but pull out a manuscript that was emitting light.
As I opened the book, I saw a huge eye staring at me. A large tongue extended from between the pages, sharp teeth grew on the cover, and the tongue licked my hand.
“Ah!!!” I screamed and threw the book down. As the pages closed, all the strange phenomena suddenly disappeared. Lying on the ground was just a book that looked very ordinary, apart from the barely noticeable spiritual light.
“What is it?” An elderly voice with a slight lisp came from the depths of the bookstore. Then, an old man with a wrinkled face, a bit short, with slightly curly silver hair and wearing a monocle, walked out from the back.
As soon as he came out, he saw two children in cloaks, looking somewhat dishevelled, who had dropped a manuscript on the ground. He said displeasedly, “Rough treatment of books is prohibited in this establishment. This is not a place for you to fool around. Please leave.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I’m here to buy books. Can I buy this manuscript?” I carefully picked up the manuscript and said.
Although I was startled by what just happened, the opportunity was rare. I had wanted to find this kind of old bookstore, and this old proprietor who exuded such a strong scholarly aura.
People like him were generally knowledgeable and well-read. Moreover, they ran a business, so they were easier to ask questions. As long as I had money to spend, it was much easier than dealing with other intellectuals.
Then there was this book. Since it had shown anomalous phenomena, it must have a secret. Buying it wouldn’t be a loss, at worst I’d just buy a useless book. I could consider it an initial investment to curry favour with the owner and build a relationship.
“You want to buy this manuscript?” The owner seemed to have just realized which manuscript I was holding. A surprised expression appeared on his face, and he asked meaningfully, “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” I said, forcing myself, although I felt that the old owner’s specific question clearly indicated a trap.
“One gold and twenty silver.” The owner said.
“That’s too expensive! It’s just an old manuscript, how can it cost so much money?” Jayad exclaimed immediately.
I immediately covered my forehead. This was why I had come to the bookstore myself. Jayad wasn’t good at solving problems with money. In his eyes, if something could be stolen, it was best not to buy it. Moreover, his concept of money was still limited to a rather basic level.
He didn’t know that some things couldn’t be solved by stealing, and some things were much simpler to resolve with money than stealing. Jayad hadn’t realized this yet.
Of course, I didn’t think his exclamation was wrong, because I also felt that the manuscript was priced exorbitantly. Was the owner trying to swindle me? But Jayad shouldn’t have been so astonished and flustered, exposing our level.
As expected, upon hearing Jayad’s words, the owner looked at us suspiciously and then asked a very strange question: “Do you, guest, want a botanical illustration from the Italian region?”
“Ah? What?” I was stunned for a moment, then I thought, “Oh no, I misspoke too.” This was clearly a test of a secret code.
As expected, when the owner heard me unable to answer, his attitude immediately became very cold: “Then I’m sorry, this manuscript cannot be sold to you. Please put the book back and leave.”
There was nothing I could do. Without knowing what the secret code was, anything I said would be wrong. But I couldn’t miss this opportunity, so I had to bite the bullet and say, “I want to buy books, I want to buy a dictionary.”
“A dictionary?” The old owner turned around. Thinking that there was business to be done, he asked, “What kind of dictionary do you want?”
“Look at these words, I want a dictionary for this,” I took out a slip of paper. This was the paper I had just written with the feather quill Jayad had stolen, and I had copied the words from the Witch’s Notes onto it.
To ensure the content wasn’t leaked, I had deliberately spaced out the words, copying one word every few pages, so the meaning wouldn’t connect.
The old owner picked up a magnifying glass, sat down at the counter, and carefully examined the slip of paper I had written. He slowly said, “Hmm? This is Old Roman. Not many people have a dictionary for this. I happen to have one. Two silver coins each, do you want it?”
Why was it so cheap all of a sudden? I was surprised, then I suddenly realized that two silver coins was still not cheap. In fact, it was quite expensive. But compared to the exorbitant price of the manuscript earlier, this price was within an acceptable range, making it seem cheap in comparison.
“There are many branches and dialects of Old Roman. If you buy the wrong version, the translation will be incorrect. I have complete versions here, which other bookstores rarely stock, so I sell them at a slightly higher price,” the owner explained.
“Okay, I’ll buy it. Also, I want to buy an English dictionary and a map of Cando City, thank you,” I said, forcing myself to get everything done at once.
That so-called Old Roman dictionary was definitely meant to be translated into Castilian, and I still couldn’t understand it. So, in the end, I would need an English dictionary to understand the pronunciation. It was really troublesome. Being in an unfamiliar place and not understanding the local language is truly a sorrowful situation.
