Through a long drive on the busy roads that are filled with crowds and cars, the two finally arrived at The Patrimony Library to investigate any clues that could lead to The Deviler's whereabouts. Although the journey took a long time, to the point of almost waiting for hours for the traffic light to turn green, it was worth it to arrive at this destination as one of the leads they needed to get to the bottom of all this.
Parking on the sidewalk, the two men exited their vehicle before making their way towards the main entrance of The Library, passing pedestrians while breathing the fresh air of these late hours. Night has befallen them, and it is beginning to affect them with cold breezes and chilling weather.
As they approached the main entrance, they saw the building in front of them. It was a towering structure of steel and glass, with pillars of white marble supporting the building from collapsing. The Library looked like a fortress, with its massive windows and doors that seemed to be made of chiseled quartz.
Seemingly out of touch compared to the other buildings with similar appearances of technologically advanced designs and structures, The Library looked more antique and ancient, but nonetheless beautiful as it reflected its grand design of unique artistry in a different fashion.
Walking up to the row of stairs leading towards the entrance, Miller and Adam passed by several individuals coming and going from their own lives, even seeing some children running past them in excitement or fear, all having a different purpose for visiting this intriguing place.
Upon opening the large double doors, they entered into the lobby of this establishment, with a wide open space filled with shelves filled with books upon books, most stacked atop each other, while others were placed on tables or desks altogether. There weren't even any signs of dust or dirt on the floor or surfaces, as if they were cleaned frequently.
Groups of people walked around in silence; a few spoke with each other at low volume, suggesting everyone entering here must keep their voices down. It was eerily quiet, though there were some sounds of laughter or children yelling echoing throughout the building every now and then.
"So," Adam coughed, "where exactly do we find this person?" He asked, "This place is pretty big and seems to be very popular with everyone, even kids and adults," he stated, taking a couple of glances around him in amazement of this place despite not being a really big fan of books.
Scratch that, he actually has a liking for reading, but he hasn't done it for years due to the constant life he has been living of being extremely occupied by other things. And yet, the desire to read a book was still there somewhere within him, ready to come out when needed most.
Miller shrugged. "Just keep looking around," he said with a shrug. "Don't worry about getting lost or anything; just follow me," he added, gesturing Adam to follow him while he led the way. "We will eventually bump into our person at any moment." Patience is key to finding the person they are looking for.
Nodding with a sigh, "sure," saying in monotone, the two began to transverse through the shelves of books as Adam walked at his boss's side, impressed by the many books being kept here and seeing them to be categorized in different sections. "Do you read books?
"Yeah, I read them once in a while," Miller replied as he suddenly took a book out of the shelf before examining its cover, "sometimes when I have free time," extending the said book to his partner, "want to borrow this?" Adam examined the book's cover for a few seconds. On its cover was the image of a young woman holding a candle in one hand, looking up towards something.
It was a mystery to him before taking the book: "I can borrow books here?" Surprised by this, I said, "I mean, isn't that breaking the rules?" Adam hadn't forgotten about paying them back in NYC to simply read one of their books, a crucial reminder that everything isn't free.
However, perhaps this is different. From the confused look on Miller's face, Adam can certainly tell that it is acceptable to do such a thing. "It's fine, man," his boss assured him. "Everyone can borrow any book from here, for free, anytime and anywhere as long you return it back," he explained while smiling at the young man's reaction. "You don't need to pay or anything to take them."
"Borrow?" Flabbergasted from the word "that is something I never heard of before..." In his old city, no one was allowed to borrow items from public establishments because it was considered stealing and breaking the law entirely. To think this is actually allowed for the public is quite the opposite from what he has learned in the past.
Buying, paying, and renting are how New York functions. Borrowing and sharing aren't forms of payment, but simply to experience and return the item to its rightful owner. This is Hope City for them; it's nothing like what he experienced before, and he starts to like this place.
"New York doesn't do that." His expression was filled with confusion before he sighed exhaustively, "It's been a long time since I left that awful place. I didn't expect to get into a new place where everyone is more lenient on what they do. And yet, it feels like it should have been done a long time ago," he continued to smile. "Anyway, don't worry about all of this," he advised his colleague with a grin. "Why don't you take a quick peek? Maybe you will like it."
"Fine," Adam said as he opened the book, flipping pages in rapid speed while memorizing every word and sentence that came across him, quickly analyzing the story and concept in a matter of seconds, shocking his boss from this, "Fascinating story; although there's nothing interesting going on, I've seen this type of thing before," he remarked, closing the book before turning to look at him. "This isn't my type of genre."
"Holy shit..." Miller exclaimed, "That is quite impressive, Adam." He admitted, "But how are you certain that you actually read everything?" He is doubtful; no one is capable of flipping pages around by the hundreds and finishing them within seconds; it's simply not possible.
Raising his eyebrow, he said, "You don't believe me?" The young man said, disappointingly, "You think I am lying?" I'm telling you, this story is interesting but not at the same time, the character designs and descriptions are fine but the plot itself is dull and predictable," he said, turning around with his arms crossed.
Miller frowned at this, saying, "I think you're full of shitt but..." He paused for a moment, thinking thoroughly in finding a solution to verify whether his partner is truly an insanely fast reader. "There is a book I know off," he said in a serious tone before heading towards the other direction of the shelves. "Come with me," he requested to his partner.
Adam sighed, "alright, alright..." Following him as they moved through the rows of books more, I asked, "So you have a book that will prove my legitimacy?" He was ready to prove his boss wrong about what he said, as it is true: he has fast reading capabilities, and understanding the stories, plots, and concepts is easier than he expected. "Easier said than done," he said, confident in his own intellect. "Bring it on," he smirked.
"Here," Miller stopped, pulling a book out of the shelf before giving it to him, "it contains hundreds of pages for the reader to help them speak Latin." He explained, "if you can finish reading this in one shot, I'll be surprised and believe every word you said," challenging him to try it out.
Certain he could do this, he grabbed the book from his hand, opened the first page, and read through it as quickly as he could. His eyes focused on every text in front of him, moving swiftly around the letters as his mind processed every single piece of information. Soon enough, he found himself getting to the end of the page. "Done," he said as he closed the book.
"Now answer some of my questions," his boss smiled devilishly, believing that this is impossible for any normal human being to accomplish such a feat. There's no way he can just read those thousands of pages in one go without any single pause or stopping at all. "I'll start with the word 'how.' Translate it for me in English."
"Quam," Adam replied confidently, already knowing what it meant from having his eyes go through the words without missing a single detail of it, not even a single bit. He had made sure to process and analyze the meaning of those letters, making sure he got everything correctly, as there was no mistake or error when it came down to translating a word in a foreign language.
"Alright, alright," Miller laughed, "now translate the word 'fool' to Latin," he questioned further, waiting for his answer with patience as he saw how much time his partner waited. Soon he will go with full sentences—an entire paragraph—in making sure the man is not trying to deceive him.
"Asinus," replied his correct answer as he took another breath, still undefeated and haven't forgotten about their wager. He knew he would win this little game of his against him, as nothing would stand in his way of proving himself right. The only question is whether his boss is ready for another round or not.
Feeling irritated, Miller went through the point, requesting him to translate long Latin sentences into full English, a task seemingly impossible for beginners in learning another language, especially when it came down to translating Latin. It is harder than it looks, as there are numerous words he has to learn and understand, which means he won't just get away from it easily.
But the young man succeeded, answering all the questions and translations that his boss gave him in perfect English; not a single mistake or wrong translation can be found throughout their whole conversation. It is as if he spoke it like a native speaker and never had any difficulty whatsoever with pronouncing the words correctly.
Miller's expression was priceless, sweating profusely from the impressive trait his partner has; he didn't expect anyone to be capable of such a thing, and Adam managed to do exactly what he thought impossible: "Okay, okay, okay..." He said nervously as he rubbed his forehead, "You win, you win." He admitted his defeat, "but seriously though, you must have some crazy memory abilities to remember an entire piece of literature."
"I've been like this for years," Adam said with an shrug, "though I prefer to call it eidetic memory; I remember every single thing I experienced throughout my life," explaining his ability as he closed his eyes momentarily, "although there is a thing called 'Mind Palace,' which is basically a mental structure that allows you to remember whatever you want. A sort of filing system that will organize your information into a memory format, making it easier to recall information at anytime, anywhere."
As his boss was about to his mouth, confused of what he was talking about; sudden familiar and feminine voice called them out from their side, breaking away their focus of the conversation they were having, "Miller?" She said with surprise in her tone, "I didn't expect you to be here at this late of the hour," her eyes staring at both of them in curiosity.
Having not forgotten their reason for being here, they turn to meet the person standing before there; revealing a young woman with brown long skirt and tucked white shirt along of having brown pigtails, brown eyes, and pale white skin tone. As the sight of worn glasses were also visible to the two men before her.
