Download the full version of the textbook now at textbookfull.
com
The Other World s Books Depend on the Bean
Counter Vol 1 Holy Maiden Summoning
Improvement Plan MM 1st Edition Yatsuki
Wakatsu Kikka Ohashi
https://textbookfull.com/product/the-other-world-
s-books-depend-on-the-bean-counter-vol-1-holy-
maiden-summoning-improvement-plan-mm-1st-edition-
yatsuki-wakatsu-kikka-ohashi/
Explore and download more textbook at https://textbookfull.com
Recommended digital products (PDF, EPUB, MOBI) that
you can download immediately if you are interested.
Haven s Cove The Complete Series Books 1 3 Jaclyn Quinn
https://textbookfull.com/product/haven-s-cove-the-complete-series-
books-1-3-jaclyn-quinn/
textbookfull.com
Persuasion in Self-improvement Books Jeremy Koay
https://textbookfull.com/product/persuasion-in-self-improvement-books-
jeremy-koay/
textbookfull.com
A World Apart A hurt comfort MM romance Loving Again Book
1 1st Edition Gough Mel
https://textbookfull.com/product/a-world-apart-a-hurt-comfort-mm-
romance-loving-again-book-1-1st-edition-gough-mel/
textbookfull.com
Inbound Marketing and SEO Insights from the Moz Blog 1st
Edition Rand Fishkin
https://textbookfull.com/product/inbound-marketing-and-seo-insights-
from-the-moz-blog-1st-edition-rand-fishkin/
textbookfull.com
Organization diagnosis design and transformation Baldrige
Users Guide BUG Seventh Edition Vinyard
https://textbookfull.com/product/organization-diagnosis-design-and-
transformation-baldrige-users-guide-bug-seventh-edition-vinyard/
textbookfull.com
Solved Problems in Classical Electrodynamics and Theory of
Relativity 1st Edition Radu
https://textbookfull.com/product/solved-problems-in-classical-
electrodynamics-and-theory-of-relativity-1st-edition-radu/
textbookfull.com
Uncovering Covert Innovation Bootlegging Illegitimacy and
Management s Attitude Stephan Eicher
https://textbookfull.com/product/uncovering-covert-innovation-
bootlegging-illegitimacy-and-management-s-attitude-stephan-eicher/
textbookfull.com
Navigating Organized Urology A Practical Guide Stephen Y.
Nakada
https://textbookfull.com/product/navigating-organized-urology-a-
practical-guide-stephen-y-nakada/
textbookfull.com
Sovereign Debt and Human Rights Ilias Bantekas
https://textbookfull.com/product/sovereign-debt-and-human-rights-
ilias-bantekas/
textbookfull.com
Understanding Media and Society in the Age of
Digitalisation Dennis Nguyen
https://textbookfull.com/product/understanding-media-and-society-in-
the-age-of-digitalisation-dennis-nguyen/
textbookfull.com
COPYRIGHT
Translation by Jenny Murphy
Cover art by Kikka Ohashi
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is
coincidental.
ISEKAI NO SATA WA SHACHIKU SHIDAI Vol.1
SEIJO SHOKAN KAIZEN KEIKAKU
©Yatsuki Wakatsu 2019
First published in Japan in 2019 by KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo.
English translation rights arranged with KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Tokyo through TUTTLE-MORI AGENCY,
INC., Tokyo.
English translation © 2024 by Yen Press, LLC
Yen Press, LLC supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to
encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual
property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please
contact the publisher. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
Yen On
150 West 30th Street, 19th Floor
New York, NY 10001
Visit us at yenpress.com
facebook.com/yenpress • twitter.com/yenpress
yenpress.tumblr.com • instagram.com/yenpress
First Yen On Edition: February 2024
Edited by Yen On Editorial
Designed by Yen Press Design: Liz Parlett
Yen On is an imprint of Yen Press, LLC.
The Yen On name and logo are trademarks of Yen Press, LLC.
The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Wakatsu, Yatsuki, author. | Ohashi, Kikka, illustrator. | Murphy, Jenny (Translator), translator.
Title: The other world’s books depend on the bean counter / Yatsuki Wakatsu; illustration by Kikka Ohashi ;
translation by Jenny Murphy.
Other titles: Isekai no sata wa shachiku shidai. English
Description: First Yen On edition. | New York : Yen On, 2024. | Contents: v. 1: Holy maiden summoning
improvement plan
Identifiers: LCCN 2023047036 | ISBN 9781975364342 (v. 1 ; trade paperback)
Subjects: CYAC: Fantasy. | LCGFT: Light novels.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.W3466 Ot 2024 | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023047036
ISBNs: 978-1-9753-6434-2 (paperback)
978-1-9753-6435-9 (ebook)
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Prologue
[CHAPTER ONE] Employed
[CHAPTER TWO] Promoted
[CHAPTER THREE] Examined
[CHAPTER FOUR] Aged
[CHAPTER FIVE] Implicated
[CHAPTER SIX] Dressed Up
[CHAPTER SEVEN] Set Out
[CHAPTER EIGHT] Decided
Epilogue
After the Epilogue…
[backstage] Norbert’s Reports
Afterword
Yen Newsletter
Seiichirou Kondou was exhausted.
The number of staff had been slashed, and his work continued
to increase. Budgets were being revised as soon as they were
drafted. From morning until night, Seiichirou waged an all-out war
against people bringing him their hoarded receipts, claiming they
were urgent. Assistant section chief was a misleading job title—
essentially, whoever held this position was forced to do odd jobs
from both their superiors and subordinates.
Seiichirou’s twenty-ninth birthday had come and gone before he
knew it, and by the time he realized it, the shadow of thirty was
already looming over his weary body. Not having been able to cook
for himself lately, Seiichirou was severely lacking in nutrition to
recover his energy. These days, the memories of his early twenties
where he felt rejuvenated after a good night’s sleep seemed like a
lifetime ago.
Today, like every other day, Seiichirou was told, “You can go
home now, you know.” It sounded like they were saying “I’ll let you
go home early” and were graciously sending him home. However, it
had been his day off—he had been called into work to do trivial
tasks.
Yet as Seiichirou remembered that he hadn’t done anything on
his days off recently besides sleeping like the dead, he found it was
worth being out in the sun-drenched city and decided to take a small
detour on his way home.
That was where everything went wrong.
White pillars, patterned walls, and a blue sphere in the center of a
high, domed ceiling.
It looks like the European architecture I saw as a student,
Seiichirou thought dimly.
His fascination with the details of his surroundings was a way for
his brain to escape his current reality.
Many people stood around him in the large room, as if encircling
him.
None of them looked to be Japanese—in fact, their hair and eyes
were all sorts of different colors. They wore garments you’d never
see in Japan… Armor, clergy robes… Seiichirou wondered if he’d
stumbled onto the set of a fantasy movie.
“Success! Success!”
“The Holy Maiden has arrived!”
“Yeaaaaah!”
These foreigners, who had been silent until that moment, all
began to shout. Amid the frenzy, one man watched on with quiet,
cold eyes. The peculiar darkness to his appearance set against his
good looks stood out to Seiichirou.
The girl beside Seiichirou was looking around with a similarly
perplexed expression. In stark contrast to the foreboding man, a
beautiful young man wearing flashy clothes that looked luxurious
approached them and offered the girl his hand.
Oh, right, Seiichirou remembered.
He had worked on his day off, and on his way home afterward,
he had stopped by a shopping mall. After browsing at the bookstore,
Seiichirou decided he was going to cook for the first time in a while,
so he bought ingredients at the grocery store on the underground
level. And then…
And then… That’s right…
On Seiichirou’s way home from the mall, he heard a girl’s scream
and ran toward the voice. A girl who looked like she was in high
school was being swallowed up by the ground.
“No! Somebody! Somebody, help me!!”
At that point, only the girl’s upper body was visible, and she was
sinking even farther into the circle of light on the ground.
The girl cried and reached out to him. Seiichirou took her hand
without thinking.
Knights accompanied the young man as he took the girl away,
leaving Seiichirou behind. A few men who resembled priests led him
to a separate room and offered him an explanation.
They introduced themselves not as priests, but as sorcerers and
ministers of the royal court. This world existed in a different
dimension than the world where Seiichirou was from, and they were
currently inside the royal palace of the Romany Kingdom.
In the Romany Kingdom, there was a forest full of miasma
known as the Demon Forest. About once every hundred years,
miasma would gush forth, and the kingdom would be ravaged by a
plague. A holy maiden—a girl with special powers—could purify it,
and so they would learn of her location through a divine revelation.
The Holy Maiden could live in Romany, or in another kingdom, or she
could live in another world entirely.
This time, the Holy Maiden had been a girl living in Seiichirou’s
world, so they had gathered the kingdom’s brightest minds and
performed an ancient, secret art: the parallel world–summoning
spell.
Parallel world? Holy Maiden? Kingdom? Miasma?
Truthfully, Seiichirou was mentally exhausted, and his mind was
filled with thoughts of work; he hadn’t been able to comprehend a
single thing they said to him.
This might even be a daydream I’ve slipped into because I’m so
tired, he thought.
The minister continued his explanation.
Seiichirou was, as it were, an ordinary person who accidentally
got dragged into the summoning of the Holy Maiden. As the
Visit https://textbookfull.com
now to explore a rich
collection of eBooks, textbook
and enjoy exciting offers!
kingdom was responsible for this, they would be taking care of
Seiichirou’s food, clothing, and shelter.
“Do you have any other requests?” the man asked.
Seiichirou was coming up blank; he tried to consider the
question.
They’ll take care of my food, clothing, and shelter? Does this
mean I don’t have to go back to the office anymore? That I don’t
have to work? And that I don’t have to work from the crack of dawn
until the very last train, taking phone calls straight through my
breaks without eating, cramming a jelly energy drink down my
throat because I can’t even make it through one nutrition bar? Or
having to stave off the drowsiness with caffeine as I respond to
other departments’ unreasonable requests?
Seiichirou was so exhausted.
He was tired of working from morning until night.
And having a life that was nothing but work and sleep.
Seiichirou’s mind, however, was already impaired.
Before he realized what he was doing, he looked at the
minister’s plump, distinctive face and said:
“Please give me a job.”
[CHAPTER ONE]
Employed
It wasn’t like Seiichirou wasn’t upset.
Seiichirou didn’t know if he was really in another world or what,
but even setting that aside, he had been carried off without his
consent for the sake of this strange land. Even worse, the kingdom’s
target had been an underage girl. Although Seiichirou himself had
only been caught up in it, he still thought it only made sense for the
one responsible to come apologize first. But the person before him,
if he believed what the man said, was a minister. Neither a king nor
a prime minister—just a regular minister.
Seiichirou’s way of thinking, however, placed the greatest
importance on efficiency. You could call him an efficiency freak. After
graduating college—no, even before that—Seiichirou prioritized
achieving results in the shortest amount of time over his own
feelings. Consequently, when Seiichirou was asked what he wanted,
instead of picking a useless argument with the minister, he simply
gave his response, and his answer came from his deep-seated
corporate-slave nature—a job.
The minister was also in a bit of a pickle.
They were fortunate to have been able to summon the Holy
Maiden from the other world safely with the secret art, but this
unnecessary tagalong had come with her.
Moreover, the firstborn prince, who had been in charge of the
summoning, had swiftly left with just the Holy Maiden, leaving
behind this tired-looking man. When the minister stopped to
consider the prince’s position and personality, he might have
expected this. This man was left for the remaining members to deal
with, but the commander of the First Royal Order and His Excellency
the Prime Minister were both glaring at him, and the commander of
the Third Royal Order was acting as if the man were completely
invisible.
Viscount Adalbrecht, who usually ended up getting the short end
of the stick in part due to his status as a viscount, held back his sigh.
The man before him wore silver-framed glasses and strange
gray garments. Unlike the Holy Maiden, he was very slender with
dull skin and dark circles under his eyes. When they asked about his
relationship to the Holy Maiden, the man said they were complete
strangers. The viscount began to feel a slight kinship with the man—
he seemed to also have his own fair share of bad luck.
However, they couldn’t just leave him to his own devices.
Even if no one was at fault for this, they had still accidentally
summoned a random person. Depending on what the man said or
did, the civilians might begin to criticize the royal palace, but most
importantly, the man, though a stranger to the Holy Maiden, was
from her town. Although it had been said for many generations that
the Holy Maiden was known to be merciful, their treatment of this
man could displease her.
The prime minister had directed them in advance that no
expense would be spared to provide for the man’s living costs, and
that for now, they would keep him as one would a pet. The minister
had also been instructed to fulfill some of his requests to secure this
otherworlder’s trust. The viscount and the others speculated about
what he’d ask for: money, women, a house, something like that…
But he had answered with blank, lifeless eyes.
“Please give me a job.”
And so the room in which they had been offering the captive an
apology (of sorts) metamorphosed into an interview room.
“A job…? Look, ki—I mean, sir… What can you do?”
This jerk almost called me kid!
Seiichirou felt a slight twinge of annoyance, but he suppressed it
and reminded himself that he was talking to an aristocrat.
If this were modern Japan, Seiichirou would tell them his class
and grade rankings for all the qualifications he had, such as Grade 2
Eiken English, office suite software specialist, or abacus
certifications, but these people wouldn’t understand any of that.
Seiichirou was the assistant section chief for the Accounting
Department. His strong suit had always been doing calculations on
the abacus, but he had no idea what was even considered general
knowledge in this world. He wasn’t even sure if the numbers were
the same Arabic numerals. But no…, Seiichirou realized. Mathematics
is a concept. If I remember the rules of math, implementing them
should be the same.
“I’m good at doing calculations and accounting.”
So Seiichirou was assigned to the Accounting Department of the
royal palace.
After waiting in the reception room, Seiichirou was introduced to a
mild-mannered man in his thirties with gray-streaked hair.
“I’m in charge of the Royal Accounting Department. My name’s
Helmut Somaria.”
“I’m Kondou Seiichirou. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Kondo?”
This world appeared to resemble Europe, so they probably said
their given names first. It seemed like it was difficult to say the last
sound of Seiichirou’s surname. Even the ministers, who had not
asked for Seiichirou’s name before then, were all muttering as if they
were struggling to say it.
“Kondou is my family name, and Seiichirou is my given name.
Please call me however you’d like.”
“Kondo… Kon… Got it. I’ll call you Kondo, then.”
Seiichirou wasn’t so childish as to make a fuss over what he was
called, so he nodded without correcting Helmut’s pronunciation.
They were then seen off by the ministers, who looked as though
they were finally being set free, and Seiichirou left the royal palace
with Helmut. As Seiichirou couldn’t start working the very day he
was abducted (summoned), he was led to a room that had been
prepared for him.
“This ordeal must have been terrible,” Helmut said.
Terrible or otherwise, Seiichirou would never have been in this
situation if they hadn’t performed the summoning, but he just smiled
awkwardly in response.
“I heard that you are good at calculations, Kondo.”
“Oh, well, that was back in my world. I’m not sure if my skills
will transfer over to this world yet,” Seiichirou answered honestly.
Helmut smiled for some reason and nodded.
“Is that right? You don’t need to worry about that.”
Seiichirou tilted his head, wondering why Helmut was smiling
when he had just been forced to take on a stranger who might be of
no use to him. Then he asked Helmut if he could look at books
about this world’s basic mathematics and similar topics. Helmut
smiled and nodded, promising to bring some to his room later.
Despite his situation, Seiichirou grew a little excited at the thought
of possibly seeing new theorems and formulas.
Then Helmut led him to a massive brick structure just a few
minutes’ walk from the royal palace. It resembled a European
apartment building. It looked more like company housing than a
dormitory. This was where many civil officials who worked at the
royal palace lived. Helmut had a wife and children, so he had a
house in the castle town, but most of the unmarried civil officials
lived here. The knights, apparently, had other accommodations. The
room was equipped with a kitchen and toilet, but bathing was
communal in a large public bath. Seiichirou could either cook his
own meals or eat in the dining hall. His company housing, food, and
other expenses were also covered.
Seiichirou walked through the front entrance into a spacious
lobby. An old man entered the lobby from a room with a reception
window.
“I heard about everything. I’ll show you to your room.”
The petite man introduced himself as Dusan, the caretaker of
the building.
“I’m Kondou Seiichirou. Thank you for letting me stay here.”
“Kondo?”
“That’s fine.”
Dusan led him to a room that was roughly two hundred square
feet. There was even a futon laid out on the bed. Seiichirou was
relieved the wooden floors didn’t squeak when he walked on them
and that he didn’t smell any dust or mold. The room was cleaner
and bigger than he had anticipated. As someone who had been
accustomed to the clean spaces of modern Japan, he had been a
little concerned.
Dusan told Seiichirou he would give him a call when dinner was
ready, so he ought to rest. Once Seiichirou was alone, he took him
up on that and sat on the bed. He felt the soft cotton and was once
again surprised at how well he was being treated.
He had accidentally said “Please give me a job” on instinct, but
he worried whether he could actually do it.
His seven years as a corporate slave, however, propelled him to
work.
“That’s right. There’s also that girl…”
They had no relationship or connection—the only thing linking
them was that she had asked him for help when he had been
passing by. But as she was an underage girl from his town, he
couldn’t just abandon her.
They had said that she would clear the miasma as the Holy
Maiden, but they ought to make sure such a thing was really
possible—and see if it would be safe. At any rate, this girl was young
and had probably never worked before in her life. They had
abducted her with the intent to use her, so naturally she had to be
careful she was not being treated badly.
“When things settle down…maybe they’ll let me see her.”
It felt impossible for some reason, but Seiichirou had been
abducted from another world, too. He would try to work on them to
be that accommodating, at least.
But Seiichirou had to secure his own foothold before doing
anything else.
Feeling exhausted from the strain of the day’s extraordinary
events so far, and lacking sleep, Seiichirou dozed off on his bed.
Knock, knock, knock!!
What?! This thought had barely crossed his mind before he had
jumped up in a panic at the violent hammering at the door.
Seiichirou looked around and was relieved he hadn’t slept for
very long. It was still bright outside his window. The noise from the
other side of the door, however, did not stop.
“Hey! Are you up?”
With the addition of a man’s voice, Seiichirou could no longer
ignore the situation. He got up very reluctantly.
“What is it?” Seiichirou asked, cracking open the door and
peering out.
The boisterous man on the other side of the door shoved his
face close to Seiichirou’s. Seiichirou pulled back in surprise; the man
had opened the door fully and let himself in.
“Hiya! I’m Norbert Blanc! Helmut told me to bring you some
books and clothes!”
As Seiichirou examined the man who had so enthusiastically
greeted him, he saw that in one hand he was holding three books
that were roughly the size of pocket paperbacks and a cloth bag
with garments inside.
“Oh… Thank you.”
I see, so he’s Helmut’s messenger? Then that means…?
“So you’re joining the Royal Accounting Department, I hear? I’m
in the Accounting Department, too! Nice to meetcha!”
The man’s blond hair fell in a loose, carefree style, and he wore
a shirt with a white-and-blue design. His blue eyes looked straight
down at Seiichirou without a trace of shyness.
“I’m Seiichirou…Kondou. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Kon…do?”
Seiichirou, tired of having the same conversation over and over,
wondered if maybe he should start introducing himself as Kondo
from the beginning. But the man in front of him—Norbert—broke out
in a smile.
“Sei it is! The pleasure’s mine!!”
I guess there are frivolous, happy-go-lucky guys in other worlds,
too…
Seiichirou recalled the previous year’s new hires from his office
in Japan, which was now very far away. The corners of his mouth
curled up of their own accord.
ΣΣΣ
The morning after Seiichirou Kondou had been abducted
(summoned) into another world, he stood alone at the rear entrance
of the Romany Kingdom’s royal palace.
He hadn’t been kicked out, nor had he been stood up for some
arranged meeting.
Because of his deep-rooted company-slave mentality—or rather,
because of his Japanese spirit—he had arrived of his own volition
thirty minutes before the time Helmut had told him.
After the exuberant Norbert had given him his books, clothes,
and other necessities the day before, he had shown him around the
building. There was a buffet-style dinner in the dining hall. As
Norbert explained everything, they ate dinner together and took a
dip in the bath during an off-peak time. The residents’ communal
bathing room was massive, so as long as Seiichirou avoided the busy
hours, he could use it without any problems. He had minor
complaints, like the soap lathered poorly and that the towels were
scratchy, but he was still grateful because he had almost given up on
the prospect of being able to soak in warm water.
Throughout the meal and bath, Seiichirou asked Norbert all sorts
of questions about this world.
How to count numbers, time, the cycle of the year, currency…
Everything Seiichirou inquired about was related to numbers in some
way. Mathematics was a concept, and if he knew them, he would
understand the standards through which this world operated.
If Seiichirou was to organize the information he had just
learned, the first point would be that each day was divided into six
hours: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Wood, and Light. Clocks also
existed. Seiichirou had watched the clock while counting and found
that the concept of “one second” was the same in this world, and so
one hour was 120 minutes—or two cycles around the clock.
The year was also divided into six months (Fire, Water, Wind,
Earth, Wood, and Light), and each month was sixty days. This world
seemed to have a propensity for numbers divisible by six.
The numbers in question, in both the books Norbert had brought
him and on the clocks, were expressed as Arabic numerals, which
Seiichirou knew very well.
But here, another question arose.
Seiichirou could read the books Norbert had brought him.
From the very beginning, Seiichirou had thought it was strange
that he was able to understand what these people said, and he had
wondered if perhaps he could understand the written language, too.
Somehow, every sound he heard and everything he saw seemed to
be auto-translated.
As a test, Seiichirou had written something in Japanese and
shown it to Norbert, and he had understood it perfectly.
Seiichirou didn’t know how it worked, but maybe it was an
apology from the thing they called God for abducting him from his
world. It was certainly convenient, but Seiichirou was quite
disappointed that he might have lost the opportunity to learn new
mathematical formulas.
The reason Norbert wasn’t with Seiichirou presently, despite
working at the same place, was simple: oversleeping. Norbert
overslept, of course.
Seiichirou had woken up early so he could have some wiggle
room before his expected arrival time. He had cleaned himself up
and gone to the dining hall to eat breakfast, but Norbert had not
been there. After breakfast, Seiichirou had gotten ready and waited
around for a bit, but from his guided tour the day before, he had
remembered how to get to breakfast and the royal palace with ease.
Feeling as though Norbert was not needed, Seiichirou had set out for
work on his own.
I guess I am too early… Well, it’s probably better than being late,
thought Seiichirou, looking at the watch he had been wearing when
he had been abducted. He had not taken off the mechanical
wristwatch because he could still use it normally as long as he did
the conversions in his head.
Today, Seiichirou was wearing a white shirt with vertical brown
stripes and a high collar—and white pants. Most of the civil officials
wore shirts with high collars, and brown represented the Accounting
Department. It wasn’t terribly uncomfortable.
Weather-wise, it felt like spring. Did this kingdom have a mild
climate, or did it just happen to currently be that season? Bathing in
the pleasantly warm morning sun, Seiichirou once again opened one
of the books Helmut had lent him. It was a book about basic
arithmetic, but Seiichirou found it interesting that occasionally the
explanations for certain formulas would be worded differently than
they were in Japan.
As Seiichirou was rereading the book in preparation for the day
ahead and waiting for Helmut to arrive, a shadow fell over his head.
Visit https://textbookfull.com
now to explore a rich
collection of eBooks, textbook
and enjoy exciting offers!
Seiichirou looked up and saw a man standing before him, clad
from top to bottom in pitch-black (including his hair) clothing.
His clothes, which were starkly different from Seiichirou’s
uniform, were decorated in silver. There was something familiar
about him.
He’s the guy from yesterday…
The day before, in the room where Seiichirou had been
summoned to this world, he had seen the foreboding man watching
with a bored expression. Having seen him from only a distance,
Seiichirou had gotten the impression that he was good-looking, but
now that he was seeing him so close, it confirmed that he was a
spectacularly handsome man.
He was not feminine, but Seiichirou had never met anyone for
whom the word beautiful was more fitting. He had groomed
eyebrows and sweeping black hair, as well as thick eyelashes and
striking purple eyes. He was slightly taller than Seiichirou—perhaps
slightly under six feet.
But above all else, he had a nice body. Seiichirou’s initial
impression was that of the man’s sturdy muscles, which he could
make out even through his clothes. He was not super buff, but he
had the type of physique that girls probably liked.
“What are you doing here?”
The man looked so disinterested that, for a moment, Seiichirou
hadn’t realized the question was directed at him.
After two seconds’ silence, Seiichirou saw that the man furrowed
his brow, and so he answered.
“I’m waiting to meet someone.”
“Waiting to meet someone…? Who?”
Seiichirou was standing at the rear entrance of the royal palace,
alongside the wall, a short distance away from the employee
entrance.
Even though no one else who had gone in or out had paid any
mind to Seiichirou standing there, reading his book, this man, who
seemed to be disinterested in everything, had gone out of his way to
walk up to him.
Seiichirou wondered what the man’s intentions were, but from
his presence during the summoning and his general demeanor,
Seiichirou assumed he was probably a high-ranking official and
answered him politely.
“Helmut, from the Royal Accounting Department.”
“…Why?”
The man was interrogating him using as few words as possible,
leading Seiichirou to hazard that his status must have been
incredibly high. The failure to offer good faith to a conversation
partner was a hallmark of powerful people.
“Starting today, I’ll be working at the Royal Accounting
Department, so he’s going to show me around,” Seiichirou answered
with a friendly smile.
Now the man was looking at him with deep suspicion.
“What for?”
Before Seiichirou could open his mouth, he heard a familiar, soft
voice in the distance.
“Sei! Why did you leave without me?!”
Norbert ran up to them, dressed in the same uniform he wore
the day before but with perfectly arranged hair, despite having
overslept.
“What?! Commander Indolark?!”
The moment Norbert saw the man in front of Seiichirou, he
skidded to a halt and stood frozen on the spot.
Sparing Norbert a sidelong glance, the man looked put off as his
eyes fell upon Seiichirou before heading inside the royal palace.
“Wow, that was super scary! I’ve never seen the commander of
the Third Royal Order that close before! What were you guys talking
about?” Norbert asked, wiping the sweat off his face and walking up
to him.
Seiichirou closed his book and tilted his head.
“Nothing. He just asked me what I was doing here.”
“Whaaat? Maybe he was worried about you because he knows
you came here with the Holy Maiden during her summoning?”
“Oh, that makes sense.”
The fact that Seiichirou was a man from a different world and
had gotten caught up in the Holy Maiden Summoning was still only
known to very few people. The royal palace probably couldn’t have
offhandedly let it out that an ordinary person had gotten involved.
Now that Seiichirou thought about it, the commander of the
Third Royal Order was there during the summoning. If he hadn’t
known of Seiichirou’s subsequent request for a job, it made sense
that, upon seeing Seiichirou loitering around the royal palace in a
civil official’s uniform, the commander would grow suspicious and
call out to him.
“I heard he is ruthless, but I guess he’s got a soft side, too!”
I’m not so sure…, Seiichirou thought, tilting his head.
When Seiichirou and the girl had been in a panic after having
been forcibly summoned from their former world, the commander of
the Third Royal Order had looked at them as if he couldn’t have
cared less. Before, too, the man had looked at Seiichirou as if he
didn’t trust him at all.
“In any event, what is the Third Royal Order?”
“You don’t have to be so polite with me! Anyway, it’s an order
composed of knights who fight using both swords and magic.”
“Magic?” Seiichirou repeated instinctively. This was the first he
had heard of it since coming here.
“Yep! The First Royal Order is okay at it, but the Third Royal
Order is a group of elite knights who can use magic and are super
good at swordfighting! Especially that guy from before, Commander
Aresh Indolark. He’s incredible!”
Norbert explained that there were three in total in the kingdom.
The First Royal Order guarded the royal palace and the town.
The Second Royal Order protected the royal family and other
very important people.
The Third Royal Order hunted magical beasts and other
creatures outside of the town using their superior magic skills and
swordplay.
Random documents with unrelated
content Scribd suggests to you:
the bend. Having found some of his own supplies lying cached
among the trees, Ramsay left the girl to handle the horses and
himself turned back down to the mouth of the cañon.
There, where the cañon gave on to the open desert, he
approached the clump of piñon and mesquite, and dragged forth the
pack of supplies which he had seen. It had evidently been flung out
of his car by Sidewinder. He stooped to open the pack and examine
its contents—then he suddenly stood up. A queer noise had startled
him, a noise which made him glance incredulously at the sky. An
airplane?
No. He turned and stood transfixed. There, approaching at full
speed, leaping and bounding on the rough desert floor, was one of
the two vanished flivvers, and all three men were in it.
He stood staring, helpless, not daring to produce the pistol from
his pocket and open fire. That might have been his best chance; yet
he neglected it. With a grinding squeal of brakes, the car rushed
down to a halt ten feet away. Sidewinder leaped out in the cloud of
dust, followed by Tom Emery and Cholo Bill.
“Manuel! Where’s Ximines?” demanded Sidewinder hastily.
“Up the cañon.” Ramsay waved his hand. “What’s the matter?”
Sidewinder turned to the two men, who had rifles in their hands.
Obviously, something very much was the matter, for they were
pouring out oaths at sight of the horses, and were in frantic haste.
“Go get Manuel and the hosses—quick!” snapped Sidewinder.
“This is as far as they can get in their car—we got the hosses, and
they aint got any. Move, durn ye!”
The two men stood their rifles against the car and started away,
toward the staring figure of Miss Gilman and the slowly moving
horses.
CHAPTER XIII
Sidewinder stood snarling malevolently at Ramsay, his glittering
gray eyes filled with a greenish light, his gray mask of a face bitter
to see.
“What’s happened?” demanded Ramsay.
“Hell’s to pay, that’s what! If I thought you were behind it, I’d
leave you here to the buzzards. Dunno but what I will anyhow.”
Ramsay, frowning in perplexity, came closer to him.
“What do you mean?” he inquired. Sidewinder flung out a hand
toward the desert behind him.
“I mean that the sheriff’s got on our trail; that’s what! Prob’ly
trailed that last bunch of hosses. Now we got to get along to
Hourglass Cañon, and we’ll take you and the girl so’s ye wont do no
talkin’.”
“Oh!” said Ramsay, and then lifted his eyes to the desert. “Is that
dust caused by their car?”
An oath on his lips, Sidewinder whirled—and Ramsay struck.
He struck straight and hard, mercilessly so, and his fist caught
Sidewinder just behind the ear. The little man was knocked off his
feet, knocked headlong into the radiator of the car, and fell in a limp
and senseless heap, stunned.
Ramsay, carried off his balance by the furious energy of his own
blow, staggered. As he did so, a pistol barked and a bullet scraped
his very hair. He came around, to see Tom Emery and Cholo Bill, who
were not yet fifty feet away, in the act of firing on him.
A leap, and he was behind the car. No protection here from heavy
bullets—but he had his own pistol out now, and was taking his
chances. A bullet crashed into the frame of the car. Another smashed
the windshield. Ramsay was firing, rapidly but coolly. Now he ducked
swiftly to the other end of the car, darted out into full sight, took two
quick, sure shots. He saw Cholo Bill go down and lie quiet; then
Emery came for him on the run, red whiskers flaming in the sunlight,
pistol spitting.
Ramsay stepped out, deliberately, and took aim.
A bullet streaked fire between arm and side, searing his ribs—but
to his shot Tom Emery’s giant figure came crashing forward, rolled
over once and then lay sprawled out. For a moment Ramsay stood
quiet, scarcely daring to realize that he was unhurt save for
scratches, until he saw Ethel Gilman running down the cañon toward
him.
Then he sprang forward and leaned over Emery, only to rise at
once and hurry to the side of Cholo Bill. Just in time, too, for the
halfbreed, leg broken by a bullet, was trying to reach his fallen
pistol. Ramsay kicked the weapon away, and Cholo Bull, with a low
groan, relaxed into unconsciousness. As Ramsay obtained the
outlaw’s knife, the girl arrived on the scene.
He looked up at her with a slow laugh.
“Sagebrush said it couldn’t be done, but he was only partly right.
Emery’s gone. Can you fix up some sort of bandage for this chap,
after I get his arms lashed behind him? His leg’s broken, I think. The
sheriff is on his way here, according to Sidewinder—and I’ll have to
attend to that gentleman before he wakes up. We’ve got him, and
we’ve got Cholo Bill, and it’s a good haul.”
As the white-faced girl nodded and knelt, Ramsay lashed the arms
of the wounded man firmly behind him with the gay silk kerchief that
had been at Cholo Bill’s neck, then rose and ran back to the car.
Here again he had not an instant to lose, for Sidewinder Crowfoot
was stirring, was clinging to the car and trying to haul himself up.
Knowing with what incredible swiftness the man could strike,
Ramsay did not hesitate, but stooped with a blow that drove
Sidewinder prostrate again, then flung himself upon the fallen man
and in five minutes had him disarmed and firmly bound hand and
foot.
He rejoined the girl, to find her finishing her task as well as
circumstances would permit, and as she took his hand to rise, he
saw a change come into her face.
“Another car—there!”
Ramsay swung around, and a laugh broke from him at sight of
another flivver bearing down for the cañon, crowded with men.
“Good! It looks as though the law had come to Pinecate Cañon at
last, young lady!”
Fifteen minutes afterward Ramsay and the grizzled sheriff from
Chuckwalla City were accompanying Miss Gilman up the cañon
toward the girl’s camp, while below them the deputies were getting
the prisoners loaded up and were bringing the five horses to the
cars. All five of those horses had been among the bunch recently
stolen from the other side of the range, and two of the deputies
were preparing to ride on to Hourglass Cañon and take possession
of the herd there.
As the three came to the bend in the cañon, Ramsay halted and
drew from his pocket his brother’s deed, still in its torn envelope.
“Sheriff, here’s evidence of a Federal charge to lay against
Sidewinder Crowfoot—mail-robbery. I think it will serve to give him a
long time in the penitentiary to think upon his sins. Suppose you
look it over, while I say a word to Miss Gilman, will you?”
The sheriff met his whimsical gaze, grinned, and then strode on
around the bend with the evidence in his hand. Ramsay turned to
the girl.
“What do you say about Hourglass Cañon, young lady? Do you
want to share it with me?”
“Well, I’ll go and look at it, but I wont promise anything.”
“All right. That’s fair enough. And you’ll call me Pat?”
Her eyes surveyed him merrily.
“Not until—you get a shave!” she said, and then was gone,
running after the tall figure of the sheriff, a laugh floating back to
Ramsay.
He followed, smiling.
Transcriber’s Notes
1. This story is from the January 1924 issue of The Blue Book
Magazine.
2. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations
in spelling.
3. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as
printed.
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CACTUS AND
RATTLERS ***
Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will
be renamed.
Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S.
copyright law means that no one owns a United States copyright in
these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it
in the United States without permission and without paying
copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of
Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™
concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following
the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use
of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything
for copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is
very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as
creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research.
Project Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given
away—you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with
eBooks not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject
to the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.
START: FULL LICENSE
THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or
any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at
www.gutenberg.org/license.
Section 1. General Terms of Use and
Redistributing Project Gutenberg™
electronic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree
to and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your
possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be
bound by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund
from the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in
paragraph 1.E.8.
1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people
who agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a
few things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic
works even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.
See paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with
Project Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this
agreement and help preserve free future access to Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the
Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the
collection of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the
individual works in the collection are in the public domain in the
United States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law
in the United States and you are located in the United States, we do
not claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing,
performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on the
work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of
course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg™
mission of promoting free access to electronic works by freely
sharing Project Gutenberg™ works in compliance with the terms of
this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg™ name associated
with the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this
agreement by keeping this work in the same format with its attached
full Project Gutenberg™ License when you share it without charge
with others.
1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also
govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most
countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside the
United States, check the laws of your country in addition to the
terms of this agreement before downloading, copying, displaying,
performing, distributing or creating derivative works based on this
work or any other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes
no representations concerning the copyright status of any work in
any country other than the United States.
1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must
appear prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™
work (any work on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears,
or with which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is
accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License
included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the
laws of the country where you are located before using this
eBook.
1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is derived
from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not contain a
notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the copyright
holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in the
United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must
comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through
1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project
Gutenberg™ trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works posted
with the permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning
of this work.
1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project
Gutenberg™ License terms from this work, or any files containing a
part of this work or any other work associated with Project
Gutenberg™.
1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1
with active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg™ License.
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form,
including any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you
provide access to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work
in a format other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in
the official version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website
(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or
expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or
a means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original
“Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must
include the full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in
paragraph 1.E.1.
1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
provided that:
• You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive
from the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the
method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The
fee is owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark,
but he has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to
the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty
payments must be paid within 60 days following each date on
which you prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your
periodic tax returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked
as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, “Information
about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation.”
• You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who
notifies you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt
that s/he does not agree to the terms of the full Project
Gutenberg™ License. You must require such a user to return or
destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
Project Gutenberg™ works.
• You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in
the electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90
days of receipt of the work.
• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.
1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg™
electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
forth in Section 3 below.
1.F.
1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend
considerable effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe
and proofread works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating
the Project Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the medium on which they may
be stored, may contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to,
incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a
copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or
damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer
codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.
1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for
the “Right of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3,
the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the
Project Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a
Project Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim
all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR
NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR
BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH
1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK
OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL
NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT,
CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF
YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you
discover a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving
it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by
sending a written explanation to the person you received the work
from. If you received the work on a physical medium, you must
return the medium with your written explanation. The person or
entity that provided you with the defective work may elect to provide
a replacement copy in lieu of a refund. If you received the work
electronically, the person or entity providing it to you may choose to
give you a second opportunity to receive the work electronically in
lieu of a refund. If the second copy is also defective, you may
demand a refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the
problem.
1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO
OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted
by the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any
provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation,
the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation,
anyone providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in
accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with
the production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the
following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or
any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or
additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any
Defect you cause.
Section 2. Information about the Mission
of Project Gutenberg™
Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.
It exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and
donations from people in all walks of life.
Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will
remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a
secure and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future
generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help,
see Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
www.gutenberg.org.
Section 3. Information about the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.
The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West,
Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up
to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website
and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
Section 4. Information about Donations to
the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation
Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without
widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can
be freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the
widest array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many
small donations ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to
maintaining tax exempt status with the IRS.
The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and
keep up with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in
locations where we have not received written confirmation of
compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of
compliance for any particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.
While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where
we have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no
prohibition against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in
such states who approach us with offers to donate.
International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of
other ways including checks, online payments and credit card
donations. To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.
Section 5. General Information About
Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be
freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of
volunteer support.
Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
edition.
Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org.
This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how
to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.