As the banquet atmosphere gradually relaxed, Rias's mother, Venelana, also joined the conversation, sharing some family anecdotes.
Grayfia, meanwhile, remained standing quietly at the side, ensuring everything at the banquet proceeded in perfect order.
As night deepened, under the Gremorys' warm hospitality, Zeroy and Patchouli felt a gratitude that exceeded mere courtesy.
The banquet passed without incident and concluded in a pleasantly relaxed atmosphere. Even the presence of Kuroka, a stray devil, caused no disturbance—since she was brought by Zeroy, and Sirzechs was aware of the reason Kuroka had become a stray.
After the banquet, Rias personally escorted Zeroy and the others to their guest rooms.
"By the way, Zeroy, Patchi, do you want to go to the library now, or rest for the night first? Whenever you go, believe me, you will not be disappointed."
Zeroy and Patchouli exchanged a glance, immediately reading each other's thoughts.
[Now?] [Let's go!]
"Let's go now."
"You really are enthusiastic… very well."
With a helpless smile, Rias changed direction.
The Gremory library was a vast annex. Its size was considerable. Though not on par with the greatest national libraries, in sheer scale it wasn't far behind.
"Plenty to keep you busy, Patchi," Zeroy teased, glancing at her.
With this much to read, she herself would never finish it in her lifetime. She wondered if Patchouli, who so loved knowledge and books, might feel some distress facing such an ocean of texts.
"It's manageable."
The witch's calm reply carried a trace of confidence. Her evaluation: it was not equal to her Voile Magic Library—though nestled within the small Scarlet Devil Mansion, it was layered with countless spatial enchantments, its true size far beyond imagination.
"As for the sensitive volumes that cannot be borrowed, my brother has already secured them elsewhere. All the books here are available for lending," Rias explained as she pushed open the grand doors, leading them inside. Her clear voice echoed faintly in the vast chamber.
"So normally, you needn't worry about restrictions. However, although the sensitive books are removed, many dangerous, forbidden texts remain, so you must still be cautious when reading. Of course, I'll also accompany you during this time to prevent any mishaps."
Yet Rias would inevitably fail in that role. Zeroy and Patchouli—those two could go on for three days and nights straight, truly without pause.
Once in the library, they did not leave, did not eat, drink, or sleep, simply immersing themselves in books. Rias tried to dissuade them, but to no avail.
In the end, it was Zeroy who broke first, putting an end to it.
Zeroy was not Patchouli. Her thirst for knowledge was nowhere near as strong. And while Patchouli could swiftly absorb and comprehend what she read, Zeroy could not. Magic that seemed simple to Patchouli proved extremely difficult for her.
After three days and nights of accompanying Patchouli, she truly could no longer bear it. She wanted to continue challenging strong opponents to grow stronger, to keep experimenting in simulated worlds.
She felt the sheer volume of books was overwhelming. Even if she read nonstop until the mission's end, she would never finish.
"Uu… Patchi, I can't take it anymore…"
Her mind overloaded, Zeroy flopped limply into a pile of books.
At that moment, two small cats, one white and one black, padded over and nuzzled against her. Kuroka and Shirone had been accompanying them these past days too, though with no interest in such knowledge, they hadn't read at all. While the two studied, the cats simply dozed at the side.
"How about we stop for now? If we keep going like this, we'll never finish. We… we could just copy these books, preserve them, and read them slowly later, what do you think?"
Rias had made a similar suggestion earlier, yet Patchouli had ignored her. She was not one to be swayed by others' words. Her nature was indeed one of aloof detachment toward outsiders.
With a new world's sea of knowledge before her, expecting her to listen to others was a tall order.
But Zeroy's words were different.
Patchouli pulled her attention from the text, considering Zeroy's proposal. Undeniably, Zeroy was right. Even if someone else had said the same, once Patchouli listened, she would have agreed. She had simply lost herself in the flood of new knowledge, clouding her judgment.
Still, even if they followed Zeroy's suggestion, the key issue remained—how to execute it.
The Gremory library's books were not ordinary paper volumes, not something you could casually copy. Bring in a copier, and it would only break down or produce meaningless gibberish. The more powerful a grimoire, the more force it contained, the harder it was to reproduce.
"Zeroy, go do something else first. I'll prepare some copies."
Not all duplicates required Patchouli to make personally. The Gremory family had already created copies for many of the rarer, more valuable works—and those were precisely the ones most difficult to replicate.
Since duplicating was not easy, taking too many of them away would be inappropriate. After all, their ties to the Gremory family were not that deep. The family's generosity in opening the library was not solely for Rias's sake, but also in hopes of building ties and goodwill.
So while Patchouli wanted copies of everything, she also intended to pay for them. As for the volumes without duplicates, she would make them herself.
"Emmm…"
Zeroy propped herself up as if to think of something else to do, then gave up and flopped back down.
"Forget it. I'll just rest first."
Her head was stuffed full of knowledge, leaving her dazed and weary.
In this state, she couldn't possibly go challenge strong foes, much less conduct simulation experiments.
...
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