CH21 — Stagnant

「 Are you sure you want to stay over in an inn instead of my mansion? 」Elras asked, uncharacteristically concerned. Just a few weeks ago he wouldn’t have cared where I slept on our adventuring quest.

「 I feel bad for bothering you Elras, and besides, you’ll be busy in the frontline. 」

「 It doesn’t bother me the slightest, but fine... I recommend the Diamond Bed Inn, it’s the best Inn in the city. Show your nobility insignia and tell them you’ve come to visit the Reinhardt family. They will provide you the best room they can offer. 」

「 Thanks, I appreciate it. 」

Elras drops me off in front of the Diamond Bed Inn. That’s… Very nice of him. He even bothers to get off the carriage and gives me a proper handshake.

「 I wish you good fortune and health in the frontline Elras. 」

「 Thank you Renald. I also wish you will find whatever you’re looking for here. 」

Then off he goes, back to his carriage again. He waves his hand, trying to give a proper farewell. Which kind of shocked me since it doesn’t fit his strong character to flimsy wave his hand. But of course it would be rude of me to not wave him back, so I did. I did not expect that gesture coming from him, but it was a welcome change.

The Inn in front of me is surprisingly unlike any other. It seems rather new with polished white stone instead of the usual black stone bricks common throughout the Veinard commoners architecture. Elras really wants to bore my wallet empty huh… I told him from time to time I’m not one of those spoiled nobles who needs a silk bed to sleep on. But I guess he didn’t pay any heed onto it.

I go inside and immediately I see a man behind a counter.

「 Who are ye? Looking to rent a room for the night? 」The man behind the counter says.

「 Yes, for about two weeks, 」I show him my Alderhide nobility Insignia, 「 Elras Reinhardt sends his regards. 」

「 I-I… Forgive me, Sir. I didn’t knew ye a nobleman. 」He says panicky, slightly bowing his head, hands grouped together, fear clearly plastered in his face.

To be fair, I’m not wearing a lavious attire like what most nobles would wear. But my spotless, bright blue and white adventure clothes should’ve at the very least signals the amount of wealth I have in possession.

「 No harm done, 」I say, trying to calm him down,「 How much will it cost? 」

「 For the best room fit for a nobleman, it will cost ye a single gold coin for your whole stay. 」

I’m pretty sure that’s quite pricey for a room, but I guess that’s a reasonable price for a noble’s accommodation. I rarely touch the money in my bank account so I should have quite a lot in store from the quest rewards and monthly allowance. Around thirty gold coins I suppose. That’s not including the one I have in my pockets too.

「 Fair enough. 」I pass him the coin.

「 Please follow me, sir. 」He says, after receiving my payment.

We climb up the stairs and after a while we stop at a rather luxurious door decorated with golden ornament.

「 Here is the key to your room and another key for the small vault provided. We provide breakfast on the house on the pub’s second floor starting tomorrow morning. Please enjoy your stay in the Diamond Bed Inn. 」

He bows deeply then goes back to the counter presumably after giving me everything I needed. Not wanting to stay outside much longer, I immediately go inside.

And as expected it’s worth all of my coin, especially with the soft carpet installed on every nook of the floor. There’s even a gigantic window which gives a spectacular view of the sunset in the tall Vosgant mountain range far out.

Apparently I “deserve” this much wealth and comfort just because I was born a noble when before in my previous life, I would be extremely frugal. Being born in the right family truly gives you an advantage unlike any other. I’ve known this beforehand but experiencing just how easy the privileged wealthy to live an easy life really questions all of my hardwork and effort in my previous life.

How back then living with a bowl of rice for a day is normal to me…

How my routine is only filled with studying and working with barely any time left for leisure…

How happy I was just to be able to eat gyudon...

Yes, thanks to my hard work I was able to escape the poverty line and live a decent life. But in the end, it’s all for naught when a rich fucker steals my wife.

F-fuck… I wonder how’s my father is doing? He did so much for me. He works day and night to feed me and provide schooling. I know back when I was a kid we rarely talked and developed a proper father-son relationship but he sacrificed a lot for my future…

And I ruin it all by committing suicide… I hope he’s doing alright. Not wanting to bother me, he insisted on retiring in a retirement home. I place him in one of the best retirement homes, but a bit of guilt lingers within me when I place him there.

Whatever, I’m tired… But it’s too early to rest…

Let’s head to the mystical sky palace, there’s nought to do here.

I lay down in the ridiculously large king-sized bed.

Closing my eyes, I whisper my spell chant.1 The master of all things ancient; Ruler of the arcane sky palace;『 Palatium 』 」

Drowsiness comes to me as I fall asleep.

……

I open my eyes, and as always I’m sitting on the throne in this vast palace. It truly is humongous. Even after claiming this place as my somewhat second home, I still can’t fathom its scale.

It just magnifies the desolateness and emptiness of this place… Everything looks perfect and pleasing to the eyes, but it’s soulless — no warmth to brighten up this place. Me being the single sentient resident in this place doesn’t help either.

What’s the use of such a large palace when I’m the only one living in this place?

God, I really wish my shadow minions at the very least can speak or create a conversation. It’s always just one-sided conversation with me giving commands and them responding.

What’s the use of wealth and power when your heart is forever empty — brimmed with unease to the fullest?

That reminds me... What is love anyway?

How come I’ve always craved something I can’t even define or pinpoint?

Ahh… I don’t know…

Damn it, after that event I always fall into a self-pitying state. I need something to do to occupy myself.

I should head to the library. There was that spell that I needed to learn for my next magic class.

I go to the library, it always has been my go to place to immerse myself in books and studying. Moving through the corridor on my way to the library, the mysterious purple room shows up. Emitting it’s arcane magical aura as always.

This purple room is still the biggest mystery this palace could offer. And I’m at a dead-end for as long as I can remember.

I should go inside again, the learning can be put on hold. Perhaps, I’m missing a rather important clue.

I come inside and everything looks exactly the same. Hooded angels statues on every single corner, the gigantic magic circle that compases almost all the room space, and the altar.

These angel statues lead me to the conclusion of it becoming related to a religion of some sort. Their sheer size of almost twice as tall as I even on their kneeling position lead me to believe of their importance. But was my assumption wrong? I haven’t gone into depth regarding the possible connection with the goddess Maria, but it seems there’s no connection with any ancient religion, even if it exists. And this is coming from the History professor, Krig Meyer. One of the most prominent figures in the historical academia field.

The engraved magic circle with its core is a white ten sided decegram star doesn’t provide much clue either. Only that no magic circle ever uses a star as it core – a completely new take in creating a magic circle. So that means this magic circle could be anything and nobody has a clue...

From what I’ve learned so far about the construction of magic circles in the academy, magic circles are mostly used to activate a spell that a normal being wouldn’t be able to activate from within his body alone. So they would need a source of mana, either from an item or from the air itself… Which is basically impossible since the air have very few mana lingering.

But as expected this magic circle didn’t have any slots or parts where you would insert or place a manaritium or any other items that contain highly concentrated mana.

Which leads me to assume the magic circle draws mana from this very room or palace itself. I can feel the plentiful mana surging in the palace and even more so in this room. Something I’ve never felt in the normal world.

But what kind of spell would this magic circle activate?

Now that I think about it, there’s also the altar here...

Servire et adorare dominum

The chanting spell cast embedded in the altar.

『  Servire et adorare dominum 』

Calling the chant doesn’t activate anything… So there’s definitely something missing as always. Now that I think about it… It’s an altar, some sort of a place for an offering. But this altar doesn’t have any single magic runes embedded on it…. That’s why I assume it’s nothing significant...

Maybe that’s what I’m missing? I need an offering – an item to activate the spell? But what would it be?

I should try to place different sorts of things on the altar, maybe that will lead to something. Finally, there’s a lead or a direction I could pursue. Can’t believe I missed this altar to focus on the magic circle and hooded angels statues instead. Oh well, it can’t be helped. And this is why research is best done in a team since multiple perspectives actually helps unwind and bring something new on the table

There’s nothing I could gain from this room anymore. I should call this room a day and head back to studying the《School of Wits》spell. I leave the room.

『 M̶̛̯̬ȧ̷̰̥̊s̷̬̜̀͠ṫ̵̘͉̔e̵̤̎r̴̗̻̈… 』

God, It’s that ghostly yet sultry voice again. This is the second time I think, and what’s more I’m not even inside the room.

Where does it come from? Who is this master she is calling to? Is she calling for me? But why would she? It doesn’t sound like it’s aimed at me.

Master huh…

It would be nice to have someone to call me like that with such affection. Her pleasant voice feels like a soothing breeze amidst this hollow emptiness. It almost sounded like she actually cherished the person she is calling to. Did my wife ever call my name with such tenderness and affection? Heck, when was the last time she calls my name? Didn't even bother to call me as danna-sama2Husband or anata3Honey/Darling...

...Why does being called “master” sound so nice?

It feels like I’m in control, like everything will go in my way.

That I will get the yearnings I so desire...

Maybe… Just maybe… What if I buy a slave?

It reminds me of that slave girl, with her absolute and unwavering devotion towards her master…

That man, Galeal O’dinn. Didn’t he offer a slave beforehand?