Ana opened the door to her room in an exhausted manner.
She immediately made for her bedroom and fell upon her spacious bed.
It wasn't as though the furniture was extraordinarily large, but Ana's tiny frame made it appear so.
As she sighed and contemplated the events of the day, the young girl couldn't help but feel tired.
'I never expected so much to happen...'
She had a lot to think about, and, starting from tomorrow, she would be busy with Jared's project.
It was a chance to show him just how much she had grown.
Still...
'... At this rate, will I ever surpass him?'
>FWUSSHH<
As she was having this thought, a gust of wind appeared in her room, and a flash of blue light swirled.
Space warped, and someone made an entrance.
Ana—who was already on her guard—sharply made to prepare a Spell to protect herself and destroy her enemy.
The Automatons and Golems all around the room were also on standby.
Whoever the intruder was... they made a fatal error in coming to her sanctuary!
"Ana, relax! Jeez... it's me!" A familiar voice rang out from the looming ball of blue energy.
The child-like girl instantly halted her actions and gave a surprised yelp at the person who appeared.
"J-Jared?!"
The boy smiled and gave a light, awkward wave.
"Hi... I wanted to see yo—"
Before he could complete his statement, Jared's eyes traveled across the room—spotting the bed, the wardrobe, spare underwear, towel, and many other things one could only find in a particular area.
"... A-ah..." His voice quivered the moment he realized what he had done.
Ana, who was also gaining awareness of the whole situation, began to blush violently. While she was still in her regular attire, thanks to how tired she was, it was still very embarrassing and uncomfortable to have a man suddenly barge into her room.
Even if the man was Jared. NO! It was precisely because it was this boy that she felt even more flustered.
"W-what are you doing here!"
"I... just came to say a few things and—"
"In my room?!"
"I simply sensed you here and teleported inside. I didn't really..."
The back and forth went on for quite some time, with both parties looking flustered and defensive.
Finally, after a moment, their energies simmered out.
Once that happened, both friends stared at each other with simply awkward and tired expressions.
Huffs escaped from their lips as they have heavy breaths.
"Why... are you here...?" Ana finally asked, taking a deep breath and having a seat atop her bed.
She beat the surface of the large mattress, signaling Jared to have a spot beside her. The girl was already tired of arguing, and rest was what preoccupied her mind.
Well, that wasn't all...
"Ah, thank you," Jared said, moving swiftly to sit beside the young lady.
Their bodies brushed by each other as he sat atop her bed. His taller body sank a bit as his buttocks met the fluffy surface of Ana's resting space.
As much as she was trying not to steal a glance at him, Ana noticed those little details.
"I'm sorry for interrupting your rest. You must have had a very busy day..." Jared began by saying.
He wasn't wrong about that fact. All she had wanted was to simply relax and let go of everything.
That was before Jared showed up.
With him around, her mind was in shambles, and it took every ounce of her self-control to keep from gushing out in emotion.
"I'll be leaving Ainzlark this evening... in a couple of minutes, and I simply didn't want to go without saying goodbye."
"Oh? Okay... how long will you be gone?"
"Two weeks. I'll be back for the device once it's complete."
Ana felt a little sting in her heart.
Somehow she felt that he was only going to come back to see the device she would be making... and not her.
While she felt more motivated to work harder, Ana felt a void within—that Jared wasn't seeing her as she wanted him to.
"And also... I came to give you these."
A sudden warp in space appeared, and from the portals came at least a dozen books, packaged in two neat piles—all arranged on the bed.
The books looked old-fashioned, but properly preserved by Magic.
At first, Ana was puzzled by Jared's motive and intentions for bringing such old books to her.
Did he want her to study? Despite how busy she was going to be, did he still plan on giving her more work?
What kind of guy was he?
"I can guess what you're thinking, but... why don't you open one and check it out?"
Ana eyed Jared as he smiled after saying this. Deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt, she chose one of the books at the top of the pile.
"I swear if this is just—"
Before she could complete her statement, her eyes bulged and she nearly guffawed. What her sights were feasting on... were words she had never expected to see.
Lewis Griffith's Hidden Treatise. [Vol. 1]
"L-Lewis Griffith's... I haven't... seen this one before...!!!"
She began flipping the pages, desperately scouring her attention and checking out the details of the book's contents.
"This is...!!!"
It was at this point that all the exhaustion of Ana vanished.
She had been met with an unexpected surprise—the stockpile of Lewis Griffith's Hidden treasures!
*************************
'I'm happy she's excited about this...' I smiled, watching Ana pick each book from the pile, going through them like a crazed maniac.
Those were my secret books... knowledge I never shared in my past life.
Of course, the details of Spellcraft—among a few others—weren't there, but this much was plenty enough for her.
I noticed Ana's growth had reached a precipice, and it would be unfair of me not to grant her more materials to increase her capabilities.
For a Scholar like Ana, Lewis Griffith was the biggest gift I could grant her.
