Vol 2 Prologue (1/2)

Prologue: Sakaguchi, Michiyo “Cra Cra Diary” Bungeishunjū Part I

A flock of sparrows flew up all at once fro sliding door

They fled across the street until they reached the train station platfor an unusual number of birds all over the place recently It was probably because so theardens in the area, so it wouldn’t be strange if there were people around here who liked having wild birds in their yards

The weather thisin fro heat wave froreenery above un to fade a little as we entered the month of October

Kita-Kans of autu to see the criaku and Kenchou temples

I took the rotating iron sign outside the shop The engraved lettering was in old-fashi+oned brush strokes, but the sign was actually brand new The old one had recently been daed in a small commotion the other day, and a special order had been put in with a longstanding and reputable local blacksmith to make a replica It was certainly well made, but its only fault lay in how heavy it was

I placed it in front of the store with so of old books, providing honest valuation” The sign spun a bit as I set it down, and the name of the shop came into view

“Antiquarian Bookshop Biblia”

That’s right, this was a shop that specialized in old books It was a business that had been establishedhere last summer—

Well, putting it that ouldn’t be entirely accurate I did quit the job once and only started working here again about a week ago So s happened the short tined, that it would be difficult to explain in a word In fact, if I were to tell the story in its entirety, it could probably turn into a book Leaving that aside for now, I had to get everything ready in order to open the store for the day

I moved the cart with the 100-yen books outside, and after that, swept away the dust that had piled up in the aisles with a broom The books not only filled the bookshelves, but spilled into the aisles as well, giving off the damp smell only old books could have

This shop specialized in classical literature as well as history, philosophy, and other humanities books There weren’t many recently published books that could be found here as a result Naturally, all of the books that the store owned had once resided in someone else’s bookshelf in the past Each and every one of them carried some sort of story There were books that had been carefully read and loved by their owners, and books that had probably been stored away and forgotten

It’s said that an old book handed down from one person to another contains more than just its contents; the history of the book itself is also a story waiting to be told The books in this shop will eventually fall into another person’s hands, and that will be the beginning of a brand new story

Well, assuet sold at all, that is

“…ra”

I heard a wo to turn my head There was a door behind the counter that led to the main house where the shop owner lived The voice seee into the cash register, the owner had said earlier that she was going to pick up a few things inside the house, but she still hadn’t come back

“…Goura-san” She was calling for me

I opened the door behind the counter and came across a small space to place my shoes in front of the dimly lit hallway that extended inside I still could not see the person who had called o

“…orry… Umm…”

AIt sounded like she was on the second floor I hesitated a bit, then took off my shoes and stepped into the hallway

Thewas just as old as the shop and the warped floorboards creaked as I made my way across the hall I nor to use the toilet Just because I was an employee, it didn’t mean I could walk into the owner’s house whenever I felt like it There were two young ladies living here, after all

“Do you need any help?”

I spoke frole halfway up, whichon the second floor The owner had a bad leg, and a brand new handrail had recently been installed to o up and down the stairs

“…please…a moment…”

I heard the muffled voice reply but wasn’t sure what it was supposed to mean Did she want me to come upstairs or wait down here?

“Is it alright if I come up?”

“……yes”

What could this be about? I started to get nervous as I climbed the stairs I had heard that the owner’s room was on the second floor, so I told myself not to look around any more than I had to

“…Whoa!”

My eyes hen I finally reached the dimly lit second floor The short hallas filled aist-high stacks of old books piled up together If so, they would definitely have thought it was just a storage area There was a narrow path between the books that led to a sliding door at the end of the hall

To be honest, co across a scene like that really wasn’t much of a surprise The owner of the Antiquarian Bookshop Biblia was someone as happiest with her nose buried in a book That is to say, she was a bookworm in every sense of the word She had been hospitalized until just recently, and the nurses had constantly co too many books in her hospital room

I stopped at the sliding door at the end of the hallway and I was just about to call out to her when soht my eye The wall to my immediate left had yet another pile of books

There was also a s the on a canvas caught between the books and the wall The corner of the painting was the only part of it that I could see

Why is there even a painting here?

I tiltedlooked pretty old, and its surface was covered in a thin layer of dust The fact that it had been carelessly tossed into a pile of books instead of being hung up or stored away struck me as odd

The painting itself piqued my curiosity as well

There was a round behind the bird to the point that it looked like it could have been a part of this hallway’s scenery I had never seen a painting with such a heavy bookthis made me wonder what the rest of it looked like

The sliding door opened suddenly, jolting me back to my senses

“Ah…!”

The one who let out that cry wasn’tblack hair She had a pretty, pale face, and looked to be about 25 years old She wore a plain outfit coan over a blue floral-patterned dress, and the glasses set on the bridge of her thin nose had almost collided into my chest just now

“Ex-excuse me…”

Her face, devoid of ht red as she took a clurabbed onto the handle of her crutches to regain her balance

Her name was shi+nokawa shi+oriko, and she was the owner of the Antiquarian Bookshop Biblia

“Are you all right?”

“Um…yes…”

She averted her eyes and turned around with embarrassment—

No, that wasn’t it She was actuallysure the Modern Popular Literature Full Collection stacked behind her hadn’t fallen over

The partition between two small rooms had been removed to co by the bed and wardrobe near the south-facing , the second floor was their living area

The rest of the room, however, was filled with books There were steel racks with multicolored paperbacks, photo albuh that they alside theed neatly behind glass doors Even the floor was piled with everything from niche philosophy and history books to old literature collections and back issue ies It was just like the hallway in that there was barely any space left to stand

The clutter in the hallas probably just the overflow fro until the books spilled down the stairs onto the first floor

“I-I couldn’t keep everything organized It’s a bit much, isn’t it?”

“Eh? Not at all”

I didn’t plan onany follow-up to that I’d already known she would have at least thisthe roo

It wasn’t like I hated books or anything I had an interest in the was extrees or so, I would break out into a cold sweat, and ers would treical Simply put, it was a problem with my “condition”