Chapter 4 - Skill Acquisition
This Seronian Royal Palace, befitting a family of such influence and power as that of the nation's king, was rightfully huge.
Upon this relatively swift and obvious realisation, Jae stopped kidding himself with the deluded assumption that he would be able to sketch and maintain a wholly accurate mental map of this entire place within a mere few hours―speaking realistically, what would most likely happen is he would immediately forget everything he had mapped out the instant he went to bed and awoke the next day.
He knew such an idea was preposterous and thus didn’t even plan to humour it further. Plus, it was necessary to take risks every now and then; when one's life was on the line, this was even more so the case.
Scrawling lines on yellowed paper―as if drenched in tea and dried on a summer's noon―as he power walked through the various hallways and corridors of the palace, Jae mapped out as much of the layout of the building with the magic pen and parchment from his room as he could.
Having resolved himself to do whatever it was that he had to do to survive, Jae bit the bullet when it came to risking being questioned or interrogated about why he was making a map of the royal palace; something that could be argued as suspicion of high treason; and something that, were he to get caught, may end in the worst of outcomes. The excuse he came up with?
There was no such thing.
Jae thought that no matter what kind of rationale or motivation he had claimed to have for his actions, the palace executives would find it nevertheless inexcusable.
If there were to be something like a silver lining, it would be his status as a Summoned Hero. Taking that into consideration, he hoped to be mercifully spared for the potential he held. There was nothing aside from said hope to cope with, so he simply convinced himself that it would be the case.
So, if he was caught, Jae decided he would simply make up some random bullshit and hope it was enough to not get him punished, relying on his Summoned Hero status to carry him right through to the end.
Somewhere along the way, something rather surprising occurred.
Conditions met. You have acquired the Perception Skill: 「Charting」
"Huh...? Oh... Ohh...!"
Taken aback, it took a moment to process, but Jae’s eyes quickly widened. Staring in wonder at the message seen by nobody’s eyes except his own, he felt a flicker of something unknown flare up within him.
―Skill acquisition.
It seemed that acquiring skills is possible by simply fulfilling the set conditions, and in the case of this particular Charting skill, the condition appeared to be nothing more than drawing an accurate map of a place. He had started doing it for his own reasons, but it resulted in this?
Did I get it after mapping out a certain percentage of the palace’s area or something...? Else, how would it know?
There was no way to tell how exactly everything worked just yet. Still, could he assume from this that skills will be acquired and their levels will rise by just doing those same actions repeatedly? It was a relatively simple system, similar to those he had read about before; it made sense, too, so he was quick to understand. Nodding to himself, he made a mental note to remind himself and test it out at a later date to figure out exactly how similar it was to what he already knew.
The instant he acquired it, Jae felt a noticeable change within him; as if a switch had been flipped inside his brain, the map of the palace he had been drawing on the parchment until now has been engraved directly into his mind. If he focused, he could even almost physically see the locations he had already visited and mapped out.
It was as if he had not only gained a skill, but a 'mind's eye' too.
“Haha...”
Involuntarily, he laughed, tightening his grasp on the parchment in his hands. He wasn’t sure what exactly the cause was, but the ends of his lips arched upwards as he examined the mental map within his mind.
What was it that I said about it being impossible? Screw that.
Since he had spent such a great amount of effort and risk working on it, he was simply glad that his efforts weren't wasted. Like this, even if the map of the palace itself turns out to be useless, at least he got a skill out of the ordeal.
...I should burn it when I get the opportunity so I don't leave any evidence behind. Pretty sure the rooms have magical fireplaces in them, so I'll do that later.
Folding the parchment several times, Jae put it and the magical pen into his pocket.
Fortunately, the halls were all freakishly empty at this time―perhaps due to all the guards being temporarily stationed around where the class was staying―and so his fears of being spotted whilst wandering turned out to be unwarranted.
Now that he had gotten a skill, though, Jae felt the desire to give himself a break. Although mentally enervated from everything that had happened today, he thought it was still too early to just go to sleep, but he simply wanted to.
There might not be another choice. It’s early, but I’m exhausted... Anyway, it’d be good if I could wake up early, so...
Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like ‘fatigue’ counts as a 'mental abnormal status effect', so his trait was ineffective against it. Thinking about it, that too was something he needed to figure out the details of... But at a later time.
"Argh, no, I can’t..."
I have to remember, I’m doing this so I can live. I can’t afford to slack just 'cause I'm a little tired.
Pushing away such easygoing thoughts about resting, he reminded himself―Now was not the time to be carefree, after all.
Moreover, wasn't it better to keep the ball rolling once it got going in earnest than to suddenly halt it and resume half-heartedly later on?
I have a map; since I got a skill from it, it's probably enough, so now I should look for potential escape routes, right?
Now that he didn’t have to waste time drawing a physical map while slowly waddling his way through each corridor, he could fly around at a much faster pace than previously. There were a few obvious places to start with such as the windows at the end of the long hallways and shorter corridors, but of course, there are guards he had observed frequenting the halls, so it would be extremely risky to explore that route.
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Not to mention the existence of patrolling guards outside the palace; I haven’t seen them with my own eyes, but I’m sure it would be safe to assume they exist for a high-security place like this.
Incidentally, the Summoned Heroes’ bedrooms were all located in the deep, inner sections of the palace where it was the safest; although there were indeed windows there, they were not at all the way to go if one wanted to escape as all they would lead to is one of the many inner courtyards or flower gardens within the palace―places likely swarming with royal guards.
In the first place, it may have been the safest wing of the palace to be staying in, but it fundamentally functioned as a sort of prison to ensure the Heroes are kept within the palace and under observation. At least, that was the most plausible explanation for the royal executives to assign these specific rooms to the Heroes instead of the rooms in any of the palace's exterior wings.
The moment Jae realised that reality, he wanted to curse. After all, if not for that, he might've been able to get out at night from his room and it would’ve been as easy as that. Aside from any windows, however, there were a few other places with the potential to be a way out.
First of all, there was a main hallway near the backdoor that appeared to lead directly to all the areas belonging to the knights, such as the training grounds, barracks, and the knights' refectory; although it was called a backdoor, it was located on the palace's right-hand eastern wing.
Secondly, there was also a rather grand entrance hall located at the front side of the palace in the northern wing; as the students are not allowed outside the palace, he wouldn't be able to freely leave without incurring a huge amount of risk, but it was the most obvious place to escape from.
The final place, although small and quite out of the way, is a strange door in the centre of the palace, locked behind several layers of magical seals and black-iron chains. Where it leads is completely unknown as of yet, and considering what it would take to get inside, it’s automatically crossed off the list.
I've never seen anyone go there, but it's always heavily guarded and secured behind many locks, both magical and physical... Mm, definitely off the list of options.
In truth, the students weren't supposed to know about the existence of the door. The only reason Jae discovered it in the first place was that he inadvertently witnessed some high-class-looking middle-aged men going there in discretion.
Even then, he doubted a place at the very centre of the palace was going to be able to lead him outside anyway, so he probably wouldn’t go with it even if it was a viable option.
Unless it contained something like an escape portal to take the royal family out of the palace in an emergency, still, breaching the door would be impossible.
Therefore, the former two are the best options currently available. Thinking about it a little deeper, the entrance seemed the only realistic route. That was, of course, due to the other area being jam-packed with royal knights.
Going there, especially at this time of day, is just stupid, right?
Ultimately, Jae decided to take a look at the place that was not only closest to his current location but what was also seemingly the most logical choice for now.
He made his way towards the entrance hall.
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Entering the grandiose main hall, I was stunned.
Excessive designs and lavish decorations, all clearly planned and placed for the sole purpose of impressing visitors and guests. I didn’t need to think twice about keeping my hands away from any of the exotic flower-filled gilded vases on the side, but at least they were pleasant to look at.
The palace as a whole was already quite ostentatious, but... Fuck, isn't this too much?
It made me realise for the first time that this place is indeed somewhere royalty resides. Looking at it all now, though, brings something else to mind...
Are there any valuables I can take before I escape?
I know I really shouldn’t touch anything for fear of being executed if I get caught, but wouldn’t I probably die if I get caught trying to escape anyway?
Either way, I haven't been able to find anything small enough to pocket that would be worth the risk, so I gave up searching that deeply.
...Maybe the pen? It didn't look like much, but since I don't know how magic tools are valued here, it might fetch a pretty penny outside... Well, if I saw something I could take, then I’d take it; if not, it’s whatever.
Other than that... Why are there no windows? What the hell? Ah... Do they want to stop people looking into the palace from outside...?
After examining the entrance for a while without going outside, I was beginning to doubt whether it was even possible to escape the palace. I couldn't even take a glance outside because the entrance doors were closed and I was certain about the presence of guards on the other side; even if there wasn't, the risk was simply too large just to get a glimpse of the outside that I left it alone.
I didn't think they would be foolish enough to not have guards at the entrance of the royal palace 24/7, after all. Although, when I thought about it that way, perhaps coming here was the wrong decision after all...
"Haa..."
Just as I finally got comfortable, or rather fed up enough to sigh, I heard a sudden noise behind me.
Thud-!
“!!”
Reflexively turning my head, I noticed the door I'd entered through had opened.
Fuck.
Surprisingly, the person who entered was someone I have seen before, though only once; the female knight captain(?) from earlier. I didn’t get a good look before because of the sudden turn of events, but now that I'm thinking straight, it's hard to keep a straight face.
Royal Knight Captain―such a title might ordinarily induce the thought of a big buff dude with countless scars and bulging muscles. The reality in front of me, however, was a tall and scarlet-haired lady; she had a single deep scar running diagonally across her face, but I was sure that her original look was one of astonishing beauty.
No, even with the scar, it'd be hard to rate her as beneath the level of a model.
Seemingly having unequipped her trademark platinum-plated armour from earlier and instead wore a more comfortable black gambeson. It was thick, but shockingly enough, failed to hide the muscles of steel most likely trained over decades that hid beneath. She looked young for her position, but way more physically fit than any adult I'd ever seen, even including all our previous physical education teachers and sports captains.
Well, I suppose you would have to be in such a shape to become a knight with direct connections to royalty, but still.
Is this the power of being in another world? It's really impressive.
Within an instant, the lady noticed me and her eyebrows lifted.
“Oh... You are one of the newly-summoned Heroes, yes? Were you not informed that nobody is allowed here?”
I replied in a composed manner, as I had already thought about what to say in this situation beforehand. Of course, I tried not to give away my composure, but I wasn't very confident in my acting.
“Wait, really? I'm sorry, I didn’t know... Um, I’ll go back to my room.”
“No. It is alright. You are aware now, so it's fine. You do know the way back, yes? So you don’t get... Lost again. Do you require assistance with it? I can show you the way back if need be. Although I may not have held my position for very long yet, I've worked here for a while now and know my way around the palace.”
I had a thought as I listened to her tough voice that pretended to sound gentle; that this person was a little strange. It might be rude, but it was just a thought. I didn't mean it maliciously or anything.
“No, that’s alright; I remember the way I came. Thank you for the offer though, Miss. Have a good evening.”
Ending our conversation with haste, I briskly walked past her and returned to my room.
I held a faint hope in my heart as I passed her.
――That this would be our first and last meeting.
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Camilla stared at Jae’s back until he disappeared out the door.
She tilted her head slightly and mumbled to herself.
“That’s odd...”
That boy... Why do I get a bad feeling about him...? He certainly doesn’t appear to be a troublemaker like that other boy, and he spoke rather politely; as if raised in a noble family. I don't feel anything dangerous from him either, so it’s most likely nothing serious, but...
"...Hm..."
Her decades-old warrior's intuition was not one to fool her lightly, but there was simply no way she could make sense of it.
I suppose now I'll have to keep an eye on the both of them.
With a light shrug, she continued her patrol.