There was a certain beauty in the surrealism of seeing countless books lining stone shelves submerged in water and illuminated by a wavy light. It brought to mind the idea that this was a separate world that had once been connected to the world above but had since been cut off, leaving behind through some miracle all its accrued knowledge here at the bottom of a well, unbeknownst to anyone.

Being creatures of the sky and the land, the All Dragon and the Elven Queen were as excited as kids visiting an aquarium for the first time.

“If Lady Frederica were to see this, I bet she would lose her mind,” said Luna.

Sol chuckled. “I can see it.”

It was rare for Luna to bring up their companions of her own volition, but as she said, if Frederica had been there, her usual efforts to act like a princess would crumble in the blink of an eye and she would go full-on history nerd. The impact of having so many books lined up and the sight of how they were disappearing like magic at a simple glance from Sol were both stimulating enough to cause what Luna was imagining.

The princess knew about Storage and would therefore understand that these books, which contained knowledge accumulated over an unfathomable amount of time and sealed away where no human hand could pick up a single volume, were falling into Sol’s hands—and by extension, her own hands. There was a certain intellectual satisfaction in sitting down and letting oneself imagine what had happened in the distant past, building on that picture one discovery at a time. As someone who knew the luxury of such sophisticated entertainment, Frederica would have been overwhelmed in a moment if she had been here.

Since Sol was laughing cheerfully, Luna did the same. With the two people she was most attached to being happy, Aina’noa made the clear, high-pitched note that she always made when she was happy. In place of the fish that would’ve colored their vision at the bottom of a normal ocean, the vigorous motion of the rapidly disappearing books entertained the three as they continued their underwater journey.

Sol gasped. “Well, now, this is just...”

When they