The giant wall before them was full of countless square windows and its top could not be seen, disappearing into the haze way overhead. Because of the walls of books on either side, it was hard to get the full picture, but the gray wall at the end of the passageway was possibly the side of a tall skyscraper.
They advanced a few steps farther to see that it was indeed a tall gray building, with a large glass doorway at its base. There was a sign above the door marked Entrance.
“I guess that means we should go in,” said the cat, looking decidedly unimpressed. It headed straight for the door, which slid noiselessly open in welcome. A woman in a spotless, lavender-colored suit appeared out of nowhere and bowed to the three visitors.
“Welcome to World’s Best Books, the world’s number one publishing company.”
She had a perfectly mechanical voice to match her perfectly mechanical smile. She also had a lot of nerve introducing her own company as the world’s number one.
“May I ask your names and the reason for your visit?”
Caught off guard by the fake cheeriness of her voice, Rintaro struggled to speak.
“All those mounds of books outside the building, what are they?” he managed to ask.
“Outside the building?”
With that mechanical smile still anchored to her face, the woman tilted her head inquisitively about thirty degrees to the left. Rintaro couldn’t help being a little impressed with her precision.
“Outside this building, there are books that are being horribly—”
“Oh my goodness, were you walking outside?” said the woman, putting her hand to her heart and frowning with concern. “I’m afraid that’s terribly dangerous. I sincerely hope you weren’t harmed in any way.”
Rintaro began to feel incredibly weary, but the cat’s calm voice was there to revitalize him.
“Stop this, Mr. Proprietor. This woman is not the one we’ve come to talk to.”
“I suppose not,” said Rintaro with a shrug.
The woman repeated her original question.
“May I ask your names and the reason for your visit?”
The question was delivered without affect but Rintaro took his time before replying.
“My name is Rintaro Natsuki. I’m here . . . to meet with the president of the company . . . I guess.”
In response to Rintaro’s awkward explanation, she bowed her head and went over to the reception desk. She made a brief phone call, then came back and bowed once more.
“Thank you for waiting. The president will see you now.”
“Right now?”
“Of course. You’ve come all this way to visit him.”
She delivered the information and immediately set off without waiting for Rintaro’s response.
Rintaro couldn’t tell if things were going well or badly. He had no idea what the president’s purpose was, or even whether he had any purpose at all, but at least he was free of the pointless exchange.
“He must be a very open-minded president to agree to meet with visitors who turn up unannounced this way,” remarked Rintaro.
“What on earth are you blabbering about?” said Sayo in his ear. “Company presidents are generally fat, balding men with a nasty personality. Watch out!”
Slightly disturbed by Sayo’s prejudiced statement, Rintaro followed the woman along a long straight corridor. The floor beneath their feet was made of thick black granite, polished to such a sheen that they could see their own reflection. Along the center of this spotless gleaming floor ran a red carpet along which the woman now strode. After a while she stopped suddenly and turned to look at the three visitors.