"Huh-? You want us to leave a perfectly capable human with you? Who knows what you’ll do to that poor kid?"

Reina immediately rejected the idea. Even Rin had to agree with her.

Shelly was a lot of things, but being good with kids was not one of them. At least, Rin had never seen her interact with children before.

Their reactions immediately made Serena anxious, and she clutched the child tighter in her grasp to keep her safe. She was specifically trying to keep the librarian away from Shelly.

But Shelly stood confidently in the middle of the room where even the child could see her clearly. So it was only natural that the girl would become curious about her.

"We should let the librarian decide if she wants to talk to me or not. What do you say, little lady?"

Shelly placed all the pressure on the young child, who looked like she wanted to hide.

But because Shelly had addressed her directly, the child also felt obligated to respond to the offer.

"If you are willing to show me, then I’d like to see."

The young girl decided, causing Reina to immediately explode.

"Shelly, you cannot be serious about showing things to that girl. She’s six years old."

"So what? I was also six years old once. I know what’s normal to show and what isn’t."

"I doubt we can count your case as normal."

But since the situation had somehow turned in their favor, Reina stopped arguing and left the young girl with Serena and Shelly.

...

It took an hour for the gate to open again, but everyone looked satisfied with whatever had happened inside.

Rin wanted to ask questions, but there were some things that should not be brought up unless the other side mentioned them first. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Was it a fun time?"

Madam Yao asked playfully, but the young librarian paused and gave her a serious look.

"I wouldn’t say it was fun, but since these two look satisfied, I suppose I should be satisfied as well."

Serena replied in a neutral voice. It was impossible to tell what she was feeling from her tone, but Rin could sense a hint of dissatisfaction.

"Uhm...now that I have seen the true way of this world, I am ready to answer any questions you might have. In exchange for a small price, of course. I will need one piece of candy per answer."

Candy was hard to come by during these troubling times, but the young librarian must have been loved enough to receive some from the people around her.

However, Serena’s ears turned red upon hearing that demand.

"Didn’t we talk about this? You cannot ask strangers for candy. What if they try to take advantage of you?"

"But these people are not strangers. They’re people you brought here, so they should be fine. Besides, I saw the lady’s memories. That makes us partners in crime. I’ll be fine."

Anyone could tell that things would not be fine, but no one wanted to disappoint the child.

"It’s alright. I can arrange some candy."

Rin stepped in to play the role of the good cop, causing the kid to trust him even more.

"See? He said he can arrange the candy. There is no need to worry. He is a reliable person based on Shelly’s story."

Rin pretended he did not hear that conversation. The less he knew about this situation, the better it would be for his mental health.

Finally, everyone reached an agreement, and the real question was brought forward.

"We want any information you have on turning this monster core into a guardian spirit."

Madam Yao sounded more serious than Rin had ever seen her before. Her son’s soul was on the line, so it was understandable.

The young child looked slightly flustered after being pressured so suddenly, and she quickly lost her composure. Madam Yao softened her expression slightly, and the child finally nodded before stepping toward the freezing room behind her.

"Welcome to my library. Please place the core down. I will try looking into it."

Rin took out the core and placed it where the young girl instructed him to. They all backed away and watched as the librarian slowly turned blue.

"Is she...freezing? Should we do anything to help?"

Reina asked in a concerned voice, though she did not move to help.

"It’ll be fine. This is our librarian’s favorite way of searching for information. Let her do things the way she wants."

Even Serena looked troubled after saying that. The way she looked at the young girl resembled the concern usually shared between siblings.

[What a touching scene. However, what a pity. That child won’t get to live for long. Only people desperate enough to survive give the system unfiltered access like that child did.]

[Ah! But this situation is quite different from the one between us, Rookie. The system would never take over another employee’s body without permission.]

Those words were far more terrifying than Rin had expected. The system was only trying to reassure him, but instead it felt like he had been hit with information he never wanted to know.

’So, can the system take over anyone at any time?’

[Of course not! The system is not a brute. Some skills require system assistance, so the system can offer support. Others, like the user in front of you, are offered temporary possession in exchange for more time. These are called sleeper agents. Rookie, you do not need to know too much about this.]

Rin felt like he absolutely needed to know more. If the conditions and possible fates were similar, then what made the system decide that he would become a Rookie instead of a puppet?

Could it be age? Or something else entirely?

[Your habit of overthinking is getting worse. Who knows what you might imagine next? Well, regardless of what you think, please remember that the system is neutral and exists for everyone’s benefit.]

There was definitely something the system did not want Rin to discover. And it was even willing to throw random words at him just to distract him.

’Tsk, what a hassle.’