Chương 14: The 7 Day Warning

Bart sat behind his solid oak desk. He was organizing a small pile cards when a loud, sharp beep echoed through the quiet room. A bright blue System screen popped into the air right in front of his face. SYSTEM ALERT: PATRON NOTIFICATION REQUIRED Patron: 001 - King Aurelius of Tremendia. Checked Out Item: Private Journal of King Aurelius (Original). Time Remaining: 7 Days. Action Required: Deliver standard seven-day return reminder. Bart pushed his glasses up his nose. He read the screen twice.

"Has it really been two weeks in Tremendia?" Bart muttered to himself. A smaller blue window expanded beneath the first one, answering his question. Archive Time Elapsed: 4 Days Tremendia Time Elapsed: 14 Days The flow of time between the Archive and the countless worlds it connected to was complicated. While Bart had only spent a few busy days fighting Index Beasts, organizing Restricted Sections, and teaching Gregor the alphabet, fourteen days had apparently already passed in the golden kingdom.

"Standard library rules," Bart said with a sigh.

"You always give the patron a one-week reminder before the late fees start." He looked over at Albert, who was happily sweeping a clean piece of stone.

"Albert. Does the Archive have a mail service? A magical owl? A delivery dragon? Can I just throw a letter through a door?"

"Oh, no, Keeper," the skeleton replied, leaning on his broom.

"Unaccompanied objects cannot cross an outbound staff portal. Postal regulations, sir. All mail must be delivered by hand." Bart sighed again. He opened his top drawer and pulled out a thick, heavy piece of white ivory paper. He picked up his pen and wrote a very polite, very firm note. Dear King Aurelius, This is a friendly reminder that your book is due back at the Infinite Archive in exactly seven days. Please return it on time to avoid escalating daily penalties. Sincerely, Bart, The Keeper.

Bart folded the paper neatly. He looked across the desk. Gregor the Thief was sitting on the floor, happily practicing writing his name on a scrap of parchment. He was up to his twentieth attempt at 'G'.

"Gregor," Bart said.

"Are you good at putting things into people's pockets?" Gregor stopped writing. He looked deeply offended. He stood up and put his hands on his hips.

"Boss. I am a professional, I can put a live, wet fish into a city guard's pocket, and he will not notice until it starts flapping. Why? What are we reverse stealing?" Bart held out the folded ivory paper.

"Standard library policy dictates that we must warn King Aurelius that his book is due soon. But we cannot just mail it. I need you to slip this official notice into the king's pocket." Gregor's missing-tooth smile stretched wide across his face. He took the paper and tucked it safely inside his leather vest. A reverse heist. This was exactly his kind of work.

"I will be like a ghost, boss," Gregor promised. The blue System screen flashed above them. QUEST ISSUED: BUREAUCRATIC DELIVERY Target: The pocket of King Aurelius. Rule: Do not get caught. Gregor ran to the plain white bathroom door. As he grabbed the handle, the heavy wooden STAFF RESTROOM sign shimmered, briefly changing to read ROYAL PALACE SERVANTS' CLOSET. He took a deep breath and pulled it open. Whoosh. Gurgle. Gregor stepped out of a heavy wooden servants' closet in the Royal Palace of Tremendia.

The plain white door remained hidden at the back of the closet, waiting for the delivery to be completed. He carefully closed the outer wooden door behind him. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. The palace was exactly as shiny and irritating as Gregor remembered. Gold covered the walls, furniture, statues, and almost everything else that did not move. The face of King Aurelius seemed everywhere from doors, walls, statues etc…

But Gregor was in his element. He was not just a hungry alley rat anymore. He was the Junior Helper in Acquisitions. He had an official job to do and melted into the shadows. Two royal guards in heavy gold armor walked past the closet. Clank, clank, clank. Gregor did not even breathe. As soon as they passed, he dropped to the floor and rolled silently behind a giant potted plant. He climbed up a heavy red curtain, swung across a wooden beam, and crawled through a small hole in the palace.

A few minutes later, he found himself high up in the wooden rafters of the Grand Throne Room. He looked down. The room was packed with rich lords and ladies wearing fancy clothes. At the front of the room, King Aurelius was standing on a golden stage, waving his arms around.

"And that is why I invented rain!" the tiny, angry king shouted to the crowd.

"Because the flowers that spoke to me in the dreams asked me to! You are welcome!" The lords and ladies started clapping wildly. Standing slightly behind the king was a tall, very tired looking man. He had dark ink stains on his fingers and heavy bags under his eyes. He was holding a large clipboard and a quill. This was Thaddeus, the Royal Historian. It was his job to write down every single accomplishment (lie) the king told.

Every time the king claimed he invented something new, Thaddeus let out a long, quiet sigh. He looked like a man who loved truth, but was forced to write fiction all day. Gregor watched from the ceiling. He needed a distraction. He waited until the king raised his arms for his grand finish.

"I am the greatest mind in history! A stable genius as some would say" King Aurelius yelled. At that exact moment, Gregor pulled a single copper coin from his pouch. He took careful aim and dropped it through the rafters. The coin fell perfectly, striking the lever of a ceremonial trumpet held by a statue near the back doors. PING…. Every single person in the room including the guards and the king turned their heads to look at the sudden sharp noise. It was a window of exactly one second.

Gregor dropped from the rafters. He landed on the red carpet without making a sound, right behind the king. He stepped forward. His hand moved like a blur of speed. The folded ivory paper slid perfectly into the deep velvet pocket of the king's royal coat. Before anyone turned back around, Gregor scrambled under a long table with food. His boot caught the edge of the banquet cloth, making one silver plate wobble dangerously before settling. He held his breath and waited.

As the cloth fell back into place, Thaddeus briefly glanced toward the movement. The historian's tired eyes narrowed. He looked as though he remembered seeing that dirty leather sleeve somewhere before, but kept his mouth shut. The king turned back to the crowd. He lowered his arms, looking very pleased with himself. He was bit sweaty due to the vigorous speech and reached into his velvet pocket to grab his silk handkerchief. Instead, his fingers touched thick, stiff paper. The king frowned.

He pulled the folded ivory paper out of his pocket. He read the first line, and his face tightened into a mask of pure outrage.

"What is this?" he shrieked.

"I did not put this here!" He spun around and shoved the paper into Thaddeus's chest.

"Historian! Read this insult aloud so the entire court may hear how I am being persecuted!" Thaddeus the Royal Historian took the paper and unfolded it. Gregor watched through a tiny gap in the tablecloth. Thaddeus's tired eyes scanned the neat, perfect writing. As he read Bart's words, the historian's eyes went wide. His jaw dropped slightly.

"Well?" the king demanded.

"What does it say?"

"It is... a return reminder, My King," Thaddeus whispered, his voice shaking with pure shock.

"It is from the Infinite Archive." The throne room went completely silent. The lords and ladies gasped.

"What?" King Aurelius squeaked. He looked around wildly.

"The magical library? How did they put that in my pocket? I have fifty guards in this room!" Thaddeus stared at the ivory paper. To Thaddeus, who had spent every night dreaming of returning to the Archive, the impossible delivery felt almost like an invitation. A power that could bypass fifty guards, sneak into a royal throne room, and plant a letter directly on a king and do it all just to enforce a return deadline on a single book.

While King Aurelius raged and began screaming at his guards, Thaddeus quietly pulled a small charcoal pencil from his pocket. He carefully sketched the strange Archive seal from the ivory paper into his own private notebook, and wrote beneath it: Seven days until return deadline. Watch for another Archive manifestation. Under the table, Gregor smiled. His job was done. He crawled quietly toward the kitchen doors, slipped past a confused cook, and found his way back to the servants' closet. Whoosh. Gurgle.

Gregor stepped out of the plain white door and back onto the floating stone floor of the Archive. He walked proudly up to the oak desk.

"Delivery complete, boss," Gregor reported, puffing his chest out. Bart looked up from his paperwork. The blue System screen flashed above the desk. QUEST COMPLETE: BUREAUCRATIC DELIVERY Status: Warning issued. Stealth Rating: Exceptional. Mission Discipline: Questionable. Unrelated Royal Property Removed: One Item. Bart slowly looked up. Gregor grinned. He reached into his pocket and placed a shiny gold spoon on the desk next to the coffee grinder.

"Old habits," Gregor said.

"It was just sitting near the cake." Bart looked at the stolen gold spoon. He looked at the proud thief. Bart sighed, but he was smiling. He picked up his heavy red rubber stamp and brought it down hard on a piece of paper. THWACK.

"The rules must be followed. The king has been warned. Now, put the spoon in the lost and found drawer, Gregor. We need to research on Trolls."