Things were moving at her pace. He didn’t even know if that was a bad thing or not. What he knew for certain was that it wasn’t advisable to let his emotions get the better of him; he needed to think with his head on straight. Especially if the woman wanted to have a serious conversation.
The woman didn’t seem satisfied by Rintaro’s sudden silence. She raised her right hand and indicated that he should sit on the sofa opposite her.
Rintaro didn’t move, so the woman looked at him curiously.
“I see. Well, I believe you’ll be more comfortable sitting here.”
With a snap of her fingers, the plush sofa melted away and was replaced by a small wooden stool. It was the very same battered old stool that Rintaro always sat on back at the bookshop.
Every aspect of her performance had been carefully devised. But there was not a hint of warmth or consideration for the boy who was trying mightily to stay standing. Every one of her actions was quite simply the shortest means to achieving her goal.
Rintaro realized that to fight it was pointless. He sat down on the stool.
“Okay—what do you want me to talk about?”
“So impatient! But I get it, you’re a boy worried about his girlfriend. I forgive you.”
She tossed out the words in a matter-of-fact way.
“Would you care to join me for a little movie?” she asked, snapping her fingers again. A large white projector screen appeared in front of the bookcases to Rintaro’s right.
“Here’s the first one . . .”
As she spoke, an image of a magnificent gate in a long stone wall appeared on the screen. Before Rintaro had time to search his memory for the familiar scene, the camera passed through the gate and on into the mansion beyond. Entering through the traditional Japanese door, it passed through corridors lined with traditional ink paintings, stuffed deer and statues of Venus, and a general mishmash of decorations. Finally, it stopped at the figure of a man sitting on the engawa veranda.
The first time Rintaro had met this man he had been dressed in a brilliant white suit, but now he was wearing a worn shirt and gazed blankly at the garden. The old arrogant overconfidence that had once filled him was gone, and he sat watching the carp swim in the garden pond. By his side were a few books, their covers all creased and wrinkled as if they had been read over and over.
“Look familiar?”
“Yes, it’s the first labyrinth.”
“Right. And this is the result of saving those books. After all his book collection was released, his reading habits took a turn for the worse. Suddenly, this energetic critic who had read over fifty thousand books was no longer impressive, and his loyal following quickly lost interest in him. The position he had worked to build for himself was taken over by another man who had read sixty thousand books, and now he is a shadow of his former self. He has lost status and honor, and all he does every day is sit and stare at his garden.”
The woman looked indifferently at Rintaro. After a moment she gestured to the left-hand bookshelf and a new screen appeared.
“Let’s see the next one.”
With those words, an image appeared on the screen of a huge space filled with white columns. The space had a high arched ceiling and polished stone floor. The bookshelves that covered all the walls were filled with books and there were narrow passageways and staircases leading off in every direction. It was the second labyrinth.
However, the main library, once filled with men and women in white coats scurrying around with books in their arms, was now deserted. Moreover, there were random books and papers lying around, giving the impression that the place was abandoned. It looked completely deserted, except for one lone figure sitting at a desk in front of one of the massive bookcases.
The camera approached to reveal the chubby middle-aged scholar. When Rintaro and his friends had visited him, he’d been absorbed in his research in his underground office; now he sat forlornly at a table in the corner of the room, looking as if his soul had left his body. His stubble had grown and he stared down at the single small book he held in his hand.