Chapter 3 (light novel 1)

Book of Wisdom
Chapter 3 Episode 03: Liber Sapientiae
Japanese Name	叡智の書
Romanized Name	Eichi no Sho
Volume	1
Release Date	August, 2008 (The Sneaker)
Pages	36
Adaptation	Chapter 9 (manga); Episode 3

"Book of Wisdom" is the 3rd chapter of The Mystic Archives of Dantalian light novel, volume 1. It's divided into four parts and contains one illustration. The chapter is labeled as Episode 03 in the story line. It has a sequel involving the same Phantom Book.

Hugh and Dalian go to the capital to buy more books. They meet Kamilla, Hugh's childhood friend. They discuss about the Book of Wisdom.

Summary

Some kids are murmuring in a small, dirty classroom, part of an old wooden building located in the backyard of a mansion. They are discussing about complicated subjects, showing a maturity beyond their ages. They wonder if they should entrust the world to the foolish adults. The children have eerie, vacant eyes. They are sit in a circle, surrounding the Book of Wisdom.

Part 1

It was still night when Dalian shook Hugh awake. He couldn’t believe, but Dalian was anxious to go to the bookstore. She had just finished reading all the books from Wesley’s collection, for Hugh’s amazement. Her plan is take the first train to reach the capital before noon so they could buy more books. Hugh whines before leaving his bed.

Part 2

Hugh and Dalian are in a two-story building, a bookstore situated in the oldest university town in the country. Dalian is energetic, looking for new titles, while Hugh fights his sleepiness. She decides to buy all the books from the shelves she was checking. She calls for the shop assistant in a rude way. Dalian starts to rant after she is ignored by the man. Hugh grabs her and covers her mouth. When he lets go of her, Dalian falls to the ground headfirst. She affirms that Wesley used to buy whole shelves for her. Hugh tells her choose five or six books, since they haven’t brought enough money and they couldn’t carry everything home. Dalian acts as if she was being tortured. She heads back deeper into the stores. Meanwhile, Hugh reads a newly-released detective novel. Dalian sneaks behind him and gives away the ending of it. He tries another book, but she also spoils it.

Their bickering is interrupted by a blonde woman. The young woman is Kamilla, Hugh's old acquantaince. As if to tease him, Kamilla affirms that Hugh can borrow money from her to buy the books. Kamilla keeps with the jokes, suggesting that Dalian is Hugh’s daughter. However, Kamilla is informed that Hugh is looking after the girl adopted by Wesley. The shy Biblioprincess hides behind Hugh, holding a thick book to shield herself. Kamilla invites them for tea, but Dalian apparently would never accept. Then, Kamilla removes a package of sweets from her bag to seduce Dalian. The latter walks towards Kamilla and urges Hugh to follow her.

Part 3

Dalian criticizes Kamilla's look.

Hugh and Dalian have tea at Kamilla’s holiday house, in a glass veranda from where they can admire a nearby river. Kamilla explains that Hugh is a childhood friend, since Wesley was a patron of her father’s trading business. Dalian was still wary of her. Dalian criticizes Kamilla's Western appearance. Kamilla had been in America, travelling with her father.

Kamilla explains that she was selecting textbooks for her students. She runs a small private school to educate poor kids. She asks Hugh if he found the Dantalian's Bookshelf. Kamilla always thought that Wesley was the owner of the archives holding hundreds of thousands of Phantom Books.

She asks if there is a book that can make you brighter. Mildred, from the Dewar family, affirmed that she obtained a Phantom Book that raised the intelligence of her students and changed their personalities in a few days. Now, Mildred avoids leaving her house, since she couldn’t handle her wise students anymore. Dalian believes that the children read the Book of Wisdom, which gives the reader knowledge to rule or destroy the world. Hugh stands up, wishing to look for the Phantom Book. Dalian, however, is not interest because she already has a copy inside the Dantalian's Bookshelf. Kamilla is surprised to hear Hugh and Dalian casually talking about the Dantalian's Bookshelf.

Part 4

Mildred Dewar didn’t want to meet them at first, but she let Hugh and Dalian in after knowing that Kamilla sent them. She looked tired. Mildred doesn’t want to talk about the Book of Wisdom. She affirms that they should go talk to the children, referring to them as monsters. Hugh is worried about what they would do after obtaining perfect understanding of everything. Mildred pointed to their location, an old, wooden building. It's a private schoolroom by her garden, where the kids were seated in a circle, discussing like university students. Mildred regrets ever getting the Phantom Book.

Hugh and Dalian meet the children. Their eyes show no emotion. They know about the existence of the Dantalian's Bookshelf, the Black Biblioprincess and her key-keeper. Hugh is impressed by their knowledge. They explain that one can obtain any information if the six degrees of separation hypothesis is applied. The children laugh, remembering how Mildred couldn’t understand the concept. Hugh is allowed to take the Book of Wisdom, since they had no need of it. They explain that the Phantom Book releases the potential of the brain, but only works with children. They also affirm that they wouldn’t do anything with their powers. Ruling the world would only be stressful. Furthermore, their chances of success are low. They are better idling away time.

It was almost evening when Hugh and Dalian left Mildred’s mansion. Dalian tells Hugh that they shouldn’t have come from the start. Those who read the Book of Wisdom are intelligent enough know their odds of success. They don't want to lose, so they never try anything. Hugh concludes that the most memorable people were just persistent, not geniuses. Dalian picks up her pace. She wants to return to Kamilla’s place to have her promised sweets. After that, she wants to keep her search for books. Hugh uses his lighter to burn the Book of Wisdom.

Trivia

• At the introduction, the children mention Stark's paper. It's a reference to Nobel in Physics Johannes Stark, German physicist known for the discovery of the Stark effect, the shifting and splitting of spectral lines of atoms and molecules due to presence of an external electric field. He obtained the Prize in 1919.
  • They also mention the theory of atomic decay from Frederick Soddy, an English radiochemist. In 1902, the formulation of the radioactive decay law, by Soddy and New Zealand physicist Ernest Rutherford, discussed that radioactivity is due to the transmutation of elements. Dalian also read the theory, as seen in Chapter 2 from the manga.
  • The children also read a paper by German chemist Fritz Haber, Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918. They mention his work with chlorine and other poisonous gases used as weapon during World War I. Chlorine will react with the moisture from the body, forming an acid that damages lung tissues.
• Dalian gives the ending of a couple of detective novels to Hugh. When she talks about the postman as the culprit, she is referring to The Invisible Man, by English writer Gilbert Keith Chesterton, published in 1911.
  • She also mentions a doctor and narrator as a killer when Hugh picks a second book. It's a nod to The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, by English novelist Agatha Christie, published in 1926. The book also appears in the anime adaptation.
• The six degrees of separation is an idea first discussed by Hungarian author Frigyes Karinthy, in 1929. It describes how the growing human network makes everything and everyone connected by six or fewer steps.
• Hugh's last line is "one must be a little foolish if one does not want to be even more stupid". He's quoting from Essays, by French Renaissance philosopher Michel de Montaigne.
• The chapter marks the debut of Kamilla and the first time the Labyrinth Library is not opened.
  • It also mentions Hugh and Dalian going to the capital and a Phantom Book being destroyed for the first time in the series.
  • First time there's no serious victim of a Phantom Book, nor physical violence.
  • First mention of the Disward mansion.
• The children say that they could make a profit by trading futures contract. It's the method Graham Atkinson used to build his fortune, as described in Gastronomy Worship.