Herald of Steel

The term 'Public Library' written just above the building's gate in large bold white letters was enough to capture Prince Prince Perikles's interest the moment he laid eyes upon them.

And for a moment he was confused by it.

Prince Perikles of course knew the two words.

But always separately.

He had never heard of, much less seen them together.

"What is that building for? The words say public library. Is it a library meant for the higher ups of the city?"

Hence, thinking at first that it was meant as a public place for the higher ups, Prince Perikles turned to one of his bodyguards to ask this.

The prince did not even contemplate whether it could really be a library open to the commoners because in his mind, that very idea was too ridiculous to even consider.

'What are these lowly peasants going to do with books? They cannot read or write!' The prince had thought to himself.

"Ummmm… I'm afraid I do not know, sir." The leader of the bodyguards however was unable to quench Prince Perikles's curiosity, at least proving Prince Perikles's thinking half right.

This man of the sword had little interest in books.

But the warrior was able to give him an idea, pointing to two men relatively well dressed men entering the building and proposing, "Would sir like to enter? There does not seem to be any other restriction."

And given the Prince had little else to do, as well as being very curious to see what was inside, immediately accepted.

Thus, the small entourage of men quickly stepped into the building, the two guards stationed at the gates letting them in without any trouble.

As Prince Perikles entered the premises through the large gate, the very first sensation to hit him was the air, rich in smell the of ancient manuscripts and paper, the deep richness stunning him momentarily.

And as Prince Perikles then turned his head to look at the insides, he found the dimensions to be breathtaking.

The building, converted from a large mansion had been extensively renovated to convert it into a library, but still possessed that marvelous classical design.

Great pillars of stone rose majestically with towering columns three stories high, decorated with intricate friezes and frescoes depicting men in various modes of study like reading, writing, and thinking.

The center of the library was one single huge floor, starting from the ground and reaching all the way up to the roof of the building, with rows and rows of tables and chairs arranged for prospective readers to use.

All around this arrangement grew three floors, each holding hundreds of huge wooden shelves, each filled to the brim with books and scrolls.

There were enormous windows on all those floors, each large enough to fit two adult horses, designed to let in as much sunlight as possible to the prospective readers.

In supplement to these, there were also large braziers on the ground and very large chandeliers hanging all the way from the roof to provide additional light, although since it was daytime these artificial sources were turned off.

Numerous men in robes and tunics could be seen moving to and fro busily the place, carrying large, heavy books or shouting in hushed voices.

Some were seen deep in their reading, while others busied themselves with arranging the books into their appropriate category.

"Is something the matter sir?" As Prince Perikles was taking in the inside views of the building, suddenly this slightly alarmed voice rang from beside him.

And the prince quickly turned around to see the source originated from behind the nearby counter, where a man dressed in pristine priest garbs could be seen standing up, his face slightly alarmed.

It did not take Prince Perikles long to understand the context of his question- seeing a group of alarmed men enter the premises, this priest in charge had been naturally alarmed.

"No worries. We serve the Lord." However, the bodyguard with Prince Perikles was quick to alleviate the man of his worries, stating so rigidly while flashing an iron badge.

"Ahhh… that's good." The proof was enough to finally let the priest finally release a sigh of relief, as he sat once again with a low mumble,

"I got worried that robbers had come to steal the books. Hah hah, then again would would dare to rob this place in broad daylight?"

Prince Perikles's lips twitched as the words reached his ears.

Among the many times he had been called in life, ta hief was not one of them.

But he was no longer the prince of a country.

Thus pretending he did not hear that, Prince Perikles approached the slightly portly man, and flashing a light smile, asked,

"Hello, honorable priest, I'm new to Zanzan. So I was curious to know what is this place. Might you be able to inform me?"

"Ahhh! Yes, yes, of course." Prince Perikles's refined manners and his entourage of guards that belonged to the lord of the city left little doubt in the priest's mind that this man was a high ranking member of the city.

Thus with an enthusiastic nod, he relayed with a grin, "We get this question a lot. Many from nobles like you, sire. But as the sign says, this really is a public library. Meaning anyone of the public can come during opening hours and read any books they desire for free."

"They can even copy the contents if they like. Look, there are two of our regulars already sitting by the tables doing exactly that. I hear both are aspiring priests." The priest finished by pointing to those two well dressed men whom Prince Perikles had seen enter the building, who were by now furiously scribbling their quills against a few leaves of paper.

But for now prince's attention could not be spared at that sight.

For it was too occupied feeling shocked and alarmed.

"You mean Zanzan lets anyone and everyone handle all these expensive books as they wish! Anyone? Isn't the lord afraid they will ruin them? What happens then?" Prince Perikles's eyes bulged outward in truly extreme shock.

Even as a member of royalty, the price of books had always been enough to scare the prince.

Because not only were some books worth almost their weight in gold, unlike gold, which was basically indestructible, these papyrus or vellum based products were nnotoriouslyeasy to damage and ruin.

Prince Perikles still vividly rememberedth one time during his childhood that he had received a complete thrashing from his father for spilling wine onto one and it made him shiver to this day.

And worse still, even if they were kept under the most immaculate conditions, simply the passage of time would cause these wood based products to become brittle and crumble on thier own.

Thus, many books required regular maintenance.

So, even if he was a fully altruistic person who wished to do nothing but share all the knowledge hidden in those books with the public, just the threat of the wear and tear these manuscripts would go under under the hands of the regular public would have made the idea utterly inconceivable to the prince to even contemplate.

Hence he was flabbergasted to see such rich treasures given up for free to the general public.

It made no sense to him.

"Hah hah, yes we get that asked a lot." Towards the prince's almost pale face, the receptionist lightly chuckled amicably, and then spreading his palms to either side he shook his head,

"But that is not our decision to make. It was the pasha who decreed this. We just obey and maintain the place."

"..." The lack of a definitive answer was enough to make Prince Perikles pause for a second.

He had interacted with Alexander a few times before and recalled the young man was neither foolish nor wasteful.

Instead he was quite shrewd and even greedy.

Which made it all the more mysterious that he could choose to do something like this.

But as much as Prince Perikles wished, he was unable to see the benefits of giving the general populace access to all this knowledge at such high costs.

And from the looks of it, the priest in front of him did not know the reason either.

"Would you mind if I toured the library?" Thus, deciding to put that at the back of his head for now, for now the prince grew eager to check the establishment himself, wanting to peruse the collection for himself.

"Of course, sire. Just please be aware if you damage the books, you will have to pay, hah hah." And the priest invited him with this light joke.

So Prince Perikles quickly stepped into the center of the building and then rapidly made himself over to the wooden shelves, finding themselves to be filled with rows and rows of grey, leather bound books.

The books were divided according to their topic, such as literature, poetry, astronomy, history, geography, etc.

And many of them, especially the most expensive ones were actually bound to their respective shelves by very long chains, something that the man quickly understood to be designed as an anti theft measure.

The lengthy chains let them be taken to the nearby tables to be read but prevented them from being taken out of the library.

Furthermore, there was sometimes this inscription on the front pages of the books:

'Steal not this book my honest friend

For then the gallows should be your end

And when you die, the Gods will ask

Where has the book you stole gone now?'