There is nothing quite like a good breakfast after a night’s rest.
And, my gods, the food here is fantastic.
After waking up, I reconfigured my clothes into my day-to-day affair, with the long coat, shirt, trousers and sturdy boots. I didn’t wear any weapons on me, since the only one I currently had was Nightfall, and it didn’t have a sheath. I didn’t feel comfortable walking around with a naked blade either, so I just left it in the room.
Bea came to pick me up almost as soon as my feet had hit the floor, and brought me to breakfast.
When she said that I would be eating in the main hall, though, I had imagined a large number of people crammed into one massive space, with maids bustling to and fro, delivering platters of food and getting rid of used ones.
Instead, I was met with a cozy room, with one table occupied by only a dozen or so people. Joan and Anhara were there, with Joan seated at the head of the table, and Anhara next to her. The fact that the only two seats left open were next to them was very telling.
I sat down next to Joan, across from Anhara, while Bea sat to my other side. Everybody seemed to have been engaged in pleasant conversation while we had entered, but now the room was silent, and I was cast under the scrutinizing gazes of most the people at the table.
And, the silence was broken by a pompous and weedy looking man near the end of the table, who started saying some things in a very aggressive tone. I might not know the language yet, but it would take a fool to not realize that he didn’t want me here, for one reason or another.
However, his outburst seemed to not be received well by the rest of the table. There were a few disdainful snorts, and annoyed looks cast at him. He must not be a very popular member of this little gathering.
Despite the looks he was getting, the man continued talking until catching a glimpse Joan’s smiling face.
Wow—I think her smile is even more threatening than mine.
Anyway, he properly shut up after that.
A few of the other members of the table asked a question, to which Joan gave a long answer. I can make a very educated guess, and say that the question was about me, and why I was here.
A few of the people here nodded their heads at Joan’s answer, smiling.
Finally, Joan turned to me.
“I trust you enjoyed the bath here?” she asked in English.
I nodded.
“It was great. I haven’t felt so at ease in quite some time.”
“I’m glad to hear that. It took a while to get the baths to just how I envisioned them. Most nobles here don’t seem to care for them.”
I was curious as to why none of the nobles liked the baths, but before I could ask, Joan moved on.
“I’m happy to let you know that most the people at this table are capable of speaking English, to varying degrees of success. In fact, the only one who doesn’t know English at all, is that man over there.” She said, pointing out the man who had spoken out earlier, with that aggressive and uppity tone.
Oh, so he would be the only one left out? I think that would be very fun for everyone at the table, excepting him of course.
Introductions were made for me—In English of course.
As it turns out, most of the people at this table were members of the military, or the heads of various organizations overseen by Joan. Many of them were involved in the more discreet side of politics, managing covert and highly trained divisions. A few of them were generals of the armies protecting the city, and the nation though. As for the man who couldn’t speak English, they just told me to ignore him, as he wasn’t important.
“Why wouldn’t he be important? I mean, he is sitting at this table in a capacity, is he not?” I asked.
“Not by our choice.” Replied a hulking bear of a beastmen, General Ygver. “His addition to our…table only happened due to pressure from other young, foolish nobles.”
“They wanted to gain more control over the military sectors in the kingdom, and to marginalize our own power.” Added in Claus, who was the leader of this kingdom’s scouting regiment.
Ah, it seems to be a classic case of the bureaucrats and nobles fearing the power of the military, and wishing to gain a modicum of control over them, mostly for their own agendas. Politics, how I hate you.
I will admit that it was fun watching the man get more and more angry, since the whole table was basically ignoring him. He didn’t even know what we were saying, since it was in another language.
After a while, he just got up and left. Some of the people at the table started laughing openly at him after he was gone, but the beastman in charge of the kingdom’s largest intelligence organization—the same Blackwatch that Bea is a member of—pointed out the other side of the proverbial coin.
“As happy as you people are that the prick is gone, you should also know that there will be hell to pay later. Those young nobles don’t like it when they are ignored, or taken lightly.”
“Yes, but with this, those nobles should now know that they are unable to participate in our discussions, if we do not wish for them to.” Said Jaihed, a lithe and lean looking beastman who was the face of the castle guards. They never had a leader, preferring to have an elected council of guards that decided the rotation schedules for the rest of them.
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“Ah, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. They underestimate you guys greatly, and think that their words have a place among us.” Said Joan. Everybody more or less agreed with her.
The morning after this was pleasant. I got to listen in on some of the underpinning elements of this kingdom, and get a better feeling for this place I had ended up in. Of course, I got some questions about my origins, which was to be expected. I didn’t give away much about myself, but I got the distinct feeling that the rest of the people at the table understood and respected my reluctance to share personal information.
After breakfast ended, everybody went their separate ways. Joan, Anhara, Bea and I all left together.
It was time for me to see those inventions Joan had included in the contract.
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We walked away from the breakfast room, and down several winding corridors. As we went, the walls and decorations displayed more signs of their age. It would seem that we were venturing into one of the oldest parts of the palace.
It was still immaculately clean though, proof that this place must employ a veritable army of cleaners and helpers.
Eventually, we reached the end of the winding corridors and were met with a guarded metal door.
Oh boy. If these inventions are being kept under lock and key, behind such a thick and heavy looking iron door, then they must be worth my while, right?
The guards obviously recognized both Joan and Anhara, but stopped our group anyway. A few words were exchanged, and one of the guards pointed at Bea and I. Ah, we must be one of those security concerns, right?
Joan however, waved away any objections the guards had brought up, and we gained entrance. The door was opened through a set of keys placed on either side of it, after which a series of serious sounding thuds and metallic rasping noises could be heard. My gods, how many bolts does that door have?
The door swung open silently, without so much as a single squeal from it’s thick hinges. Behind it, a staircase wound into the darkness, descending to a space below the palace grounds.
We shuffled into the narrow staircase one at a time, led by Joan. I decided to go in last, and heard the bolts of the iron door scraping closed behind me.
As soon as the door closed, a series of lights bloomed above us, lighting the stairway somewhat.
At the bottom of the stairs, a tunnel stretched into the gloom, the lights fading far off into the distance.
“What sort of inventions have you guys made, that they would be required to be placed so far from the palace, and underground?”
Joan chuckled.
“Well, there are a few rather…volatile things there that we would prefer were left well enough alone. Also, like I said, some of these inventions are state secrets, and would get this country into quite a bit of trouble, should others find out about them.”
Oddly enough, the walls of the tunnel were perfectly straight, like someone had simply cut away a precise portion of the earth four times, and taken out the earth between those cuts. Or, someone developed the worlds most perfect bore.
The tunnel itself angled downwards ever-so-slightly, a fact I only knew due to the feeling I got from my inner sense of balance.
Really, I think the tunnel by itself would be enough to make that contract worthwhile, since I’ve never seen it’s like before.
I was tempted to ask Joan how it had been done, but something told me I would find out at the end of the tunnel.
And, indeed I did.
It took a good hour or so to reach that end, though.
I didn’t even realize we had arrived until the space around me opened up, as the tunnel widened into a massive underground cavern. Off to one side, a metal cube about the size of the tunnel rested, obviously having been unused since after that tunnel had been finished. I started approaching it, curious as to how it would have been able to make a tunnel with such perfect walls.
However, Joan had other ideas.
“Come on, Kai, you can see that later. Most of the truly fascinating items are over here.”
At the other end of the cavern, there was another set of thick iron doors, which were currently opening after Joan had produced a key.
Hurriedly, I followed Joan and the others.
Beyond these doors, another long hallway greeted us. Expect, this one had more of those iron doors set into its walls, leading to other rooms. Joan walked up to the first one, and placed a key into it. Immediately, it swung open, revealing a dimly lit room with a single pedestal in the center. On the pedestal rested a metallic orb with infinitesimally small lines etched into its surface.
“Well, this is the first, and arguably most important invention I will show to you today.”
I walked over to the sphere, and saw the bafflingly complex patterns on it, each of them glowing with the light of mana circuits.
Huh. I didn’t even know it was possible for mana circuits to be made like this.
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Author's Note:
Sorry I spent so long getting such a short chapter out.
I've had to spend time getting ready to move for college, and pack my stuff.