Episode 108: Record of War
The next morning.
After having brunch, Kazura visited the library with Liese.
Liese led the way, holding a candle. Then they gradually advanced through a dimly lit area.
“Surely there was… around here. Is it alright for the import and export of goods?”
“Yeah, it would be nice if there were any records that could tell us the number of resources produced in the territory. Also, I would like to see references from other countries.”
Liese nodded and handed the candles to Kazura, then took out a bundle of leather paper from the shelves.
Moving to the long desk at the back of the room, and transferring the fire to a candlestick by the wall she unfolded the leather sheet.
The content seemed to be a transcript of a transaction with the neighboring territory of Gregorn.
“There was a record of salt imports…”
Kazura flips through the contents, and puts them together in the desk’s corner.
This was to select only what he needed and bring back to his room.
“Are there any diplomatic information materials?”
“Yes. Let’s take it all to the room. It’s a hassle to return again and again.”
They then both split up and stroll around between the racks, gathering all the necessary materials.
After gathering it for a while, Kazura suddenly saw a plate with the words “Wartime Record.”
“War-related details… That’s a lot. Is this the whole collection?”
While muttering, he looked at the racks lined up in a row.
There seemed to be quite a few racks of martial documents, all the shelves packed with a multitude of records.
Kazura took out a bundle of files from 10 years ago, referring to the year written on the attached plate.
Moving to a long desk, he spread them out and illuminated them with a candle.
The content was a historical record of an army, in the territory both before and after the war began.
“What’s this? On May 12, 511 Arcadia, under the command of General Ixios Slan, along the river near the Barbert border… Well, damn it. I can’t read any of this military jargon…”
He was now able to read a lot more characters than before, but as the number of technical terms increased, he was in a state of disarray.
As Kazura groaned, the fluffy and pleasant scent of lavender tickled his nose.
Glancing in that direction, Liese was peering into the material right next to him.
It was the same as when he was pressed against her before, but in this faint light, Liese’s face looked even more delicate than usual.
To be honest it made him tense.
“Oh, wartime materials. Are you going to take it?”
“Well, let’s review it for the time being.”
Kazura replied, feigning to be relaxed, and Liese nodded along and moved back to the rack.
He glanced at Liese as she turned her back and then moved his head back down to look through the contents of these records.
Naturally, the material was filled with technical terms and could only be read at a snail’s pace.
After a few moments of struggling to decipher it, he gave up and went back to searching for different references.
After returning to Kazura’s room, the two continued checking the materials.
Sitting next to each other, Liese answers Kazura’s questions.
“Let’s look at import-export relations first.”
Kazura spread the material and started his laptop and printer.
He scanned all the materials which he had brought and saved them as data with a descriptive name.
By the way, the other people who were not in the room were out for another job.