The experiment was cleaned up.
Normally, we’d pull out some playing cards or UNO at this point, but today we’re diving straight into a discussion—or rather, some deduction.
“Well then, let’s start thinking about it. The reason for requesting only dictionaries.”
“As for me, I’d like to propose the theory that it’s an act of harassment against the library committee and the librarian!”
Kariya started speaking suddenly. I kind of… understand the feeling, but still.
“In other words! This is an evil attempt to incapacitate the library by requesting only dictionaries!”
“There’s no way that’s the case.”
Hagasaki-kun immediately cut him off.
“No, no, no! But think about it carefully, Hagasaki-kun!”
But Kariya didn’t back down.
“Listen! Dictionaries are thick, big, and heavy! They’re books that come with all three of these traits!”
Yeah. They’re even used as paperweights sometimes. Dictionaries.
“If something like that were added to the collection in large quantities, what would happen? Our jobs as library committee members would turn into heavy labor!”
No, that much isn’t really… I mean, it’s just dictionaries, right? You can hold them in your hands just fine…
“So, Kariya’s theory is that this is all about ‘harassment toward the library committee,’ right?”
“Yes!”
I feel like that’s a bit of a stretch. Why would someone go out of their way to do something so roundabout? There are better ways to harass someone, like pulling all the books off the shelves and stacking them up horizontally, or rearranging them in a random order…
“Oh, and there’s another piece of evidence for the ‘harassment theory.'”
There’s more?
“Handwriting.”
Handwriting.
Kariya had said that the request slips for the dictionaries all had somewhat different handwriting.
And that maybe it was deliberate.
“I think that the same person is requesting dictionaries after deliberately changing their handwriting.”
Yeah. Actually, it’s hard to believe this is being done by multiple people. That makes sense.
“So, you’re saying there’s ‘clear malice’ behind this?”
“Exactly. If there wasn’t any malice and someone just genuinely wanted to request dictionaries, there’d be no need to change their handwriting. So I think these requests aren’t about actually wanting dictionaries in the library, but are rather a form of harassment carried out with some sort of malicious intent!”
“Harassment might not be entirely out of the question, considering Kariya’s distress, but I don’t think it’s about making you do heavy labor. Definitely not.”
I think Hariu’s right. There’s something off about this.
“So, even if it’s harassment toward the library committee, it’d have to be someone who knows the inner workings of the library, right? They’d have to know that weird requests would cause problems. That’s how I’d do it, anyway.”
Ah… I see.
“So the person making these book requests is only… someone who’s frequently in the library, huh?”
“That’s it! That’s exactly it, Kadomi! The request box hasn’t been advertised in the library newsletter yet, so the only way to know about it is to actually see it in the library! In other words, the culprit is someone who frequently uses the library! Now we’ve narrowed down the suspect!”
“But isn’t it obvious that only someone who uses the library would have a motive to do something like this in the first place?”
Yeah. Well… we can at least rule out the possibility that it’s someone who never uses the library but holds a grudge against the library committee… right?
Since you wouldn’t even know about the request box without going to the library, only someone who frequently uses it could carry out the act, and probably only someone who frequently uses it would have the motive to do so…
“So, should we check out the library?”
Suddenly, Katori suggested.
“We don’t use the library that often, so we might not know much about what goes on inside. There could be things we won’t understand until we actually see them.”
Yeah. I think that’s true. Honestly, I can’t really picture what the inside of the library looks like right now.
“Huh? Are we really all going to the library together?”
“Yeah.”
Hagasaki-kun looked annoyed, but Katori wasn’t fazed at all. Well, whenever Hagasaki-kun looks annoyed, it’s not usually because he actually dislikes something.
“Let’s go. While we’re at it, I might borrow an interesting book if I find one.”
“My recommendation is right at the entrance of the library! You should check it out!”
“I don’t really want Kariya’s recommendation.”
“That’s so cruel…”
So, when Hariu and Kariya stood up, Hagasaki reluctantly followed suit, and we all ended up heading to the library together.
It was quiet. Of course, it’s the library.
“Ah, please be quiet inside the library.”
Kariya was acting like a library committee member. Well, he is one, after all.
…The library was full of books. Well, that’s to be expected too…
“Uh, so this is the request box.”
Katori said in a small voice as he walked to the desk beside the reception counter.
There was a small box there with “Request BOX” written on it, and the only other thing written was “We are accepting book requests!” There were also request forms next to the box.
Both the box and the forms were placed on a desk next to the counter, which means they were at the edge of the library, in a spot that wasn’t very noticeable. It was hard to see even from the counter. This made it difficult to identify who had submitted a request.
After we took a distant look at the request box, we moved over to check out the dictionary shelf.
“This is where the dictionaries are lined up.”
There was no need for Kariya to say that. It was a shelf with dictionaries and other reference books. …I’m pretty sure I’ll graduate without ever using any of these books…
“The shelf is quite large.”
Since it also held large books like encyclopedias and such, the shelf itself was rather big. Because of that, it looked pretty sparse. Some sections were almost empty. The empty shelves were around waist height, making them look even more vacant. It felt like a layout mistake.
“They don’t have that many dictionaries, huh?”
“Well, they wouldn’t keep stuff people don’t use. …And this is more than enough.”
There were a few copies each of Japanese, Kanji, Japanese-English, and English-Japanese dictionaries… there were even French and German ones. Yeah, it’s enough.
“Oh? There was a request for a Japanese-French dictionary, right? But we already have one. No need to request it.”
“Exactly! Why would anyone request something we already have?”
I understand Kariya’s frustration, but I wish he wouldn’t raise his voice. The area behind the dictionary shelf is a study space, so he should be more mindful. I mean, he is a library committee member…
We checked out the dictionary shelf, but there wasn’t anything noteworthy. Just shelves.
We then walked through the quiet study space and returned to the request box.
“Oh, I’ll put in the request you filled out earlier.”
Kariya pulled out the request form from his pocket and was about to stuff it into the box when he stopped.
“Huh, there’s something already in here.”
It seemed there were already some forms in the request box.
Kariya rummaged around and pulled out the papers from the box. Quite a few came out.
Then he opened them and took a look.
“Oh, these aren’t dictionaries… but, hmm…”
He made a very ambiguous expression.
Curious, we peeked over as well.
“Eh…”
“Uh, this is…?”
“Well, at least it’s not another dictionary request, right?”
“No, no, no, but, this is… eh…”
The first one: “Encyclopedia.”
The second one: “Books about publishing.”
The third one: “About selling books.”
The fourth one: “How to read books.”
The fifth one: “Encyclopedia.”
The sixth one: “Books about school libraries.”
…And so on, with similar requests. We counted about 20 of them.
“…Do you think the person who requested these will actually read them?”
“I mean… yeah… I’m not in a position to criticize someone’s hobbies, but I can’t help thinking this is kind of strange.”
I think it’s strange too.
It’s like… the requests are really skewed towards a niche, and they’re all books that most people wouldn’t normally be interested in.
Sure, there might not be many books in such obscure genres, and people who want to read them might wish there were more, but… hmm.
…I give up.
I just don’t get it…
In the end, we tried to figure it out that day, but we couldn’t come up with an answer. Not surprising…
As for the requests, Kariya said he’d consult with other library committee members and the librarian, so I don’t think there’s much harm done, but… it still doesn’t sit right with me.
It bothered me so much that the next day, since it wasn’t a club activity day, I dropped by the library.
It felt out of place. Walking in alone made it feel even more out of place.
…Just as I was thinking of leaving.
“Oh, Kadomi, you’re here too?”
I ran into Katori.
Yeah, I guess we’re both curious.
We decided to check the request box together. I felt a bit guilty as we peeked inside, but today, it was empty. Well, it was only yesterday, after all.
Next, we went to look at the dictionary shelf again.
…And there.
“Oh? What brings you two here? It’s unusual.”
Maito was there.
…
“Uh, Maito-san, why are you here?”
“Because it’s very comfortable here.”
Maito had brought a chair to the shadow of the dictionary shelf and was sitting there reading a book. There’s a proper study desk, so why not read there…?
“Well, there’s something nice about being in the corner. I get it.”
“Yeah, corners are nice. …Whether reading or studying, when you go to the study desks, you often end up sharing a table with someone, and it can get awkward, so I don’t really like going over there.”
Oh, I can understand that. It doesn’t seem relaxing to share a table.
“Especially when there’s someone who likes to share tables. Even when there are other empty desks, there are people who intentionally sit with you.”
Are there really people like that? I don’t know…
“I get that the study desks are limited, so we should use them efficiently, but when you’re sharing a table and accidentally make eye contact, it can be uncomfortable…”
“Yeah, yeah, I see what you mean.”
…Wait. It looks like Katori started thinking about something.
“…I wonder if it’s Kariya’s turn today.”
When Katori peeked toward the counter, Kariya appeared right on cue. Wow.
“I should ask him about this.”
With that, Katori walked toward the counter.
…Did he figure something out?