Chapter 8: Chapter 8:

… Wait, the library assistant?! Shoot. I look up and see Cynthia with a smug smile plastered across her face as she motions to the man aggressively. So this was her plan all along, huh? I could just walk it off and say nothing, but I’m sure I’ll get an earful from Cynthia later. Plus, this interaction could teach her a lesson about how this country works. Alright, I’ll take this opportunity for Cynthia’s sake.

I start stating my—or rather Cynthia’s—issue. “Yes, I wanted to discuss the commotion with the two children.” 

He raises an eyebrow at me. Then, his eyes light up as if a lightbulb turned on in his head. I assume that means he’d already forgotten about the kids. It’s only been 3 minutes! Are they really that irrelevant to him?

“Ah yes, them. I apologize, Lady Adeline. We will make sure to wash the books they’ve sullied. There will be no more issues like that in the future.” He lowers his head into a shallow bow. It’s just as I suspected. He thought I was bothered by them dirtying the library. I look up at Cynthia, who’s still sitting on this guy's head. She’s glaring daggers at me as if telling me that I’m dead if I throw away this discussion. I sigh.

“No, no, you misunderstand. I would like to discuss something different. The commoner’s presence in the library is not what troubles me, but rather the aggressiveness of how you had treated the children. Despite them being commoners, they are still children, no? I believe we shouldn’t use such harsh disciplinary methods on them since they are still young, and do not know any better.” I smile at the assistant. It has a hint of malice behind it, but it’s a kind smile nonetheless. He puts his hand on his chin and thinks for a few seconds. 

“I understand. I appreciate the suggestion, Lady Adeline.” I look him in the eyes. He seems to have actually listened to everything I was saying. I breathe a sigh of relief, but apparently, I’m still not done yet. Cynthia is still glaring at me, which means I haven’t actually addressed the issue she wants me to address. What a pain. I wanted to avoid bringing it up. 

“In addition,” The assistant looks up, startled. I guess he thought that was my only problem. ”Is it really that much of a problem that commoners enter the library? It is a public library after all, so why is it that only nobles or the wealthier middle class are welcome here? I believe the commoners should at least have the right to read in the library, as long as they don’t damage or steal the books.” 

The library assistant looks surprised, or I daresay, shocked at what I said. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought it up after all. Still, instead of the awkward silence or displeased lecture I was expecting, he smiles at me.

“How considerate of you Lady Adeline! You put the well-being of others before your emotions, even if it troubles you! You are an inspiration! No wonder you’re Viscount Ordelia’s daughter!” 

He says these words so dramatically that I can’t tell if he’s being sarcastic or not at first, especially when the textbooks said that people in this era stood by their opinions no matter what. 

However, his sparkling eyes are hard to deny, and I can see that his words are genuine. My face flushes, and I quickly avert my eyes, hoping that none of the other nobles heard that. 

“I would gladly consider your thoughts. Sadly,” He continues. “I’m not so sure the others would. Although your suggestion may benefit the commoners, I’m not so sure the other nobles would agree. This library is only tolerated by nobles because it was founded by the Viscount, even if the librarian and the workers like me are in the middle class. If we were to receive such complaints about the commoners from the nobles…” 

“The library would have little funding, and would have to shut down.” I finish his sentence. “I understand. I apologize for acting out of consideration. In the end, this idea is a but a pointless musing of mine.” I bow. When I look up again, Cynthia is off the man’s head and is on the ground. She’s frowning, obviously unsatisfied with how this ended, but I hope she’s finally accepted the situation. 

“Lady Adeline, there is no need for an apology,” He says, sweating profusely from receiving an apology from a noble. I hold back a giggle at his uneasiness. This is actually a pretty funny reaction. 

He takes a moment to think about things, “I do admit that our system does not treat commoners well. Especially when the wage gap between the commoners and the middle class is nearly the same as the wage gap between commoners and nobles.”

Oh, that was new information. So the middle class here was as rich as the nobles. That’s how big the difference was. 

The assistant sighed and continued. “At this point, the middle class could even be called nobles, and there is regrettably nothing we can do to change this.” He shrugs when the sound of a handbell can be heard ringing through the library. 

“Ah, I must get going. I hope we will have more chances for discussion in the future.” He bows, and makes his way out of the maze of bookshelves. I sigh and tap Cynthia’s shoulder.

“And now you know why I can genuinely do nothing about it.” I tell her with a hint of smugness. Even so, I’m as disappointed as she is, even if I try not to let it show in my voice. Cynthia attempts to glare at me for my “I told you so.” tone, but ends up making a pouting face, almost like she’s admitted I’ve won. I look down at her and smirk condescendingly. 

“Fine!” She yells. I move to shush her until I realize nobody in the library could hear her. “I get it. The hierarchy system thing here just loves rich people and we’re just barely rich and powerful enough to be one of the tops. But like barely.” 

I nod, even if her voice is obviously sarcastic. Thank god she finally gets the situation.

“SO!” She shouts as I turn to leave. I look back at her with disbelief. Is she still not done?! She shows me her classic huge “bad idea incoming” grin.

“We’re going to climb that chain! We’re gonna gain so much of a good reputation and we’re gonna change the entire system!” 

She throws her fists into the air and starts laughing. I stare at her in shock. I grab the bridge of my nose and shake my head.

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“You mean you want ME to climb the chain. You’re not going to do a single thing.”

“What? No, I’ll-”

“Have you forgotten you can’t even interact with anyone except me? This is probably the stupidest thing you’ve ever suggested. Plus, I don’t even think that’s possible! There can’t be a way to climb the social hierarchy that easily except for maybe participating in a war and saving citizens and whatever people do, or maybe marry someone, and guess who doesn’t want to do that?!” Then suddenly something I read in the books emerged in my mind. It might be a little bit of a stretch, but still, it could work. 

“Unless…” I mutter, hand on my chin. 

“Unleeesssss?” Cynthia says with a smug grin. I snap my eyes open and step back startled. Did I say that out loud?! Why, out of all the times, do I have to think out loud here?!

“Ugh.” I look away from Cynthia. “Okay so, I may or may not have found a way in one of the books I read. But it’s probably not going to work. I don’t really see a point in trying…”

I look back at her. She’s staring at me with sparkling eyes. Almost like a little puppy. I tense up at the sight, then sigh. Fine, maybe there’s no harm in telling her. Maybe telling her can show her how crazy of an idea this is, and that it won’t work.

“Alright so, we could try and join the church. God is heavily worshiped here, and the book tells me that the church’s word is sacred and even regarded as law since the Pope and occasionally the Saint or Saintess can apparently hear directly from God.” I start to explain as Cynthia listens intently.

“As always, there’s a hierarchy in the Church. First, there’s the one closest to God, the Pope. He’s basically God’s representative, and everyone listens to his word. Next down the line are the Cardinals. They were appointed by the Pope, but as a converse, they appoint the new pope when he dies. They’re like his right-hand men. Then, there is the Saint or Saintess. They’re believed to be spiritual guides to help the public and are blessed with an abundance of holy power.” I paused, thinking about something for a second. 

“I don’t know what the benefits of excess holy power are though, honestly. I think it’s just like, more holy power, more chance of becoming a Saint and hearing God.” I shrug at the thought. “Oh, and the Saints can be commoners too! They usually gain a baron title when they become appointed as a Saint though. You know, keeping up that ‘nobles good’ kind of thing.” 

Cynthia nods along, seeming to write this information down in her brain. “Further down the line, there are Bishops and Priests, but those aren’t too important. Anyways, my main point is that the top three have a ton of power!”

“Any questions?” I sigh as I finish my lesson. Cynthia nods. 

“How did you memorize all that?”

“Spirit power, next.”

Cynthia just folds her arms and rolls her eyes, “So basically the plan is to get to the top three so that way we can use God’s word that everyone is obsessed with to change the system into a much friendlier one. Right?”

“Right.” I look out the window. It’s almost completely night-time and I can barely see the sun. We’ve been here for a lot longer than I expected. I turn around again, “We should get going. It’s almost dark out- Wait a minute!” I shout, spinning back just to meet Cynthia’s smug beaming face. “It was just a suggestion! We can’t just go through with such a reckless-!”

“You already agreed to the plan~!” Cynthia says in a sing-song voice. Damn it! She worded her question weirdly so that I would accidentally agree! Maybe I shouldn’t have taught her any tricks.

“Ugh! Fine! But this won’t be easy, you know!” I sigh as I put my hands on my hips.

“Yup! I know. We’re gonna have to work hard to get our ranks up!” She says, skip-walking towards the exit.

“You mean I’M going to have to work hard. Let’s head back and I’ll teach you more about the church.” I snap back as I put my book down and head out the door.

This idea may be crazy, but maybe. Just maybe it might work. I mean, I also wanted to help the townspeople anyway, and since we’re stuck here, maybe helping to fix their society won’t be so bad.

Well, if we can even get that influential in the first place anyway.

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