Avalyne Academy Stories

9th Story - Minerva

"Lady Rose, where's this book supposed to go?"

"Ah, that's a history book, so it should be sorted on the second floor in the history section. Since it's focused primarily on contemporary history, please make sure that it's sorted into section two properly."

"O-Of course! Thank you very much, Lady Rose!"

"Ufufu! Not a problem, Lady Minerva! I'm always happy to help when it comes to books!"

As I scurried off after giving the tiny dark-haired noblewoman a curtsy, I couldn't help but feel just a tad embarrassed. After all, I was a proud graduate of the Imperial Academy, but I could barely wrap my head around the incredible sorting system that Lady Rose had invented.

I'd first heard of it during my third year of study at the Imperial Academy, and though I didn't really understand the importance of what she'd come up with at the time, I was still rather intrigued. Books had always been sorted alphabetically in the empire, so a sorting system that took into account the subject matter of a book was unheard of.

As a noblewoman who prioritized my studies over court politics, my goal was to become a scholar and work my way up to an archivist. Of course, my greatest dream was to one day manage the imperial archives, but after meeting Lady Rose, I honestly felt like I was a long way from getting anywhere close to my lofty ambitions.

After all, if there was anyone who should be managing the imperial archives, it should be Lady Rose. Not only did her new sorting system make it infinitely easier for patrons of the library to find the books that they were interested in, but the detail of the sorting system was so in-depth that it'd taken into account things that I'd never even thought of.

In fact, I'd honestly consider her method of library organization vastly superior to what I'd been taught at the Imperial Academy. Of course, when this method was first proposed, many nobles strongly opposed it, stating that it would be an insult to the long-standing traditions of the grand archivists that had championed the alphabetical sorting system since the dawn of the empire.

Though I loathe to admit it, I was originally one of those nobles who thought that Lady Rose was nothing more than a mere upstart who wanted to somehow worm her way into the position of grand archivist by introducing something new and unique despite being nothing more than the daughter of a mere baron, but after actually hearing her out, I began to understand how wrong I was.

I'm sure quite a few other nobles realized it too, but because they still couldn't let go of their pride, they'd ended up forcing her to work at Avalyne Academy instead of allowing her to assume her rightful place as the Imperial Academy's archivist.

Honestly, it was quite the travesty, and though I'd been offered a rather cushy job at the Imperial Academy's archives immediately after I graduated, I chose to come here and work under Lady Rose instead.

Despite that, I couldn't deny that I was having quite a bit of trouble adjusting to the sorting system... Sure, it was relatively simple after it was explained, but the four years of information they'd drilled into my head at the Imperial Academy wasn't forgotten that easily and it certainly didn't help that Lady Rose's sorting system was pretty much the complete opposite of what I'd been taught.

Plus, over the year that it'd taken me to graduate, the system had somehow evolved even more, and it was borderline impossible for anyone to not find a book they were looking for after learning how books were sorted. It truly was a miraculous method that only a goddess of the library could think of.

I felt a shiver of pleasure run through my body as I gently slid the history book I'd been carrying into the small crevice formed by two neighboring books, inserting it snugly and ensuring that both book and bookshelf finally became one. I nodded once to myself contentedly and then stepped back to admire my work.