Trapped In A Blocky Wonderland | Dream Team x Reader

Ch. 66: Before and After

We went to see Oswald the next day as planned. The villagers were back to their normal work, their meeting had gone past dark last night even.

Their meetings go longer than ours ever have.

Walking into Oswald's library, it was messier than the last time we visited. There was so many new books that he seemed to have run out of shelf space. We couldn't even spy him in the overly crowded building.

"Oswald?" Clay called out as I walked over to the table to look at some of the new books.

"Back here!" The elderly librarian called back from the back of his library, before there was a dull thud and a bunch of books stacked started to tumble.

"Oh shit." Clay immediately rushed forward when we both heard a grunt from behind the books.

I jumped in to help as well, and in no time, we managed to free Oswald from underneath a pile of shabby old books.

"Thank you! That's happened far too often since I ran out of shelf space for everything!" Oswald admitted as Clay helped him to his feet and I pushed the books up against a wall where they should be more stable.

"Where did all these books come from?" Clay asked, leading Oswald around the stacks towards the table.

"Some of our scouts brought back more of my books from our old city, and I've worked day and night to restore them. They've also found other books out in the wilds, so I've...run out of space." Oswald waved a hand around at the piles of books laid about.

"We can build you new shelves." I offered since the risk of the stacks falling on him by far outweighs us taking the time to build him new shelves.

"That's alright, I already asked one of our carpenters for new shelving. They'll expand my library with a new basement and provide me new shelving for down there." Oswald revealed with a happy smile before sitting down with a sigh at the table.

Looking to Clay, he seemed unamused by the news that the scouts went back to Old Hillshire. Honestly, it's not a bright move on their part. It's dangerous, not just because of the new monsters that have moved in there but because we don't know if the Pillagers could be watching.

The less people moving around out in the wild, well Villagers, the better. It's less suspicious that way.

"So, what brings you to my library today? Interested in seeking more knowledge from my books?" Oswald asked as I joined him at the table.

"We were wondering if you have anymore books about the End." Clay admitted before joining us as well at the crowded table.

"Let me see...I've cleaned so many that my old mind has lost track of what I've readded to the library." Oswald mused as he stood back up and made his way back to the disaster that is his library shelves.

When Oswald disappeared behind the overstocked shelves, Clay turned his attention to me and rubbed a hand under his mask with a sigh. "You okay, big guy?"

"I told them not to go back to Old Hillshire. Arius agreed it was too dangerous for them. So, the fact that the scouts are going back anyways..." Clay cut off with another annoyed sigh.

"We can address it with Arius when we have the time. We have to see him before we leave anyways, right?" I reminded and scooted closer to him to lay my hand on his knee.

Clay's own larger hand came down on mine, lacing his fingers with mine and squeezing gently. "We're not going to be here forever, beautiful. When we leave, they're on their own again. We won't be here to help protect them from the Pillagers again."