After finishing eating, I stood up and walked over to the mosaics on the wall. I was really hoping these were a staple of dungeons and not a one-time thing. Now that I could see this one, I could start uncovering the truth about this mansion. Well, none of the mosaics told a full story. It was all given in pieces, and if I missed a mosaic, who knew what part of the story I was missing.

I had no delusions I’d be capable of finishing the lore this time. Destroying it is the most I could hope for. It would be a lot less DP, but finishing the lore involved strange and unknowable conditions. We already solved the lore in the last place, and I still couldn’t tell you 100% what we needed to do to fix it. Was it us reliving the scene differently that did it? Or was it the sister showing up and finally bringing closure to the necromancer? These were questions I didn’t have the answers to.

“What are those, they’re pretty?” A small voice asked from behind me.

“Isn’t this your mansion? Shouldn’t you know?” I shot back

“Geh!” The fairy was eating her third bowl of stew. “That is… I’ve seen them before, but master never explained what they are!”

She quickly downed her bowl, blocking her face from my incredulous glance. She seemed like a glutton, but she was small, so three bowls for her was only a single bowl for me.

“This mosaic tells a story,” I explained. “Would you like the hear it?”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Hah… yum!” She slammed her bowl down, seemingly very carefree, “Stories? I like stories! Read it to me!”

“Very well… but bear with me a bit, I have to extrapolate a lot. I only get pictures and they never tell the whole story.”

“Okay…” She fluttered up next to me, sitting on my shoulder.

She was actually pretty heavy. It was like a house cat jumping on your shoulder. However, I ignored her. I didn’t want to get on her bad graces. That was all. I cleared my throat and began.

“This tells the story of a boy.” I started. “He was a noble, born to a generous and loving mother and father. One day, when he was very young, he ran into an escaped animal girl. She begged him to let her go, but he was a noble boy who was taught right and wrong, and he knew she was a slave. He turned her in. She looked at him with hateful eyes, but he knew slaves shouldn’t run away.

“He decided to wait with her and the authorities until the slave’s owner arrived. It was an old, ugly, angry man. The noble boy smiled and told him not to be too hard on the girl. The old man responded by pulling out a whip and beating her right in front of the boy. He was horrified. He tried to make the man stop, but he simply kicked the kid aside. When the kid turned to the guards he had brought the girl to, they said it was the slaver’s right.

“He could do nothing but watch as the girl was beaten to unconsciousness. This was the day It caused a thick knot to grow in his heart. He no longer believed he knew what was right and wrong. He no longer believed that the nobles were right, or that what the guards did was justice. His path turned down a different direction.”

That was really strange. From what I had heard from the Chalm citizens, Karr aided in freeing slaves. He abhorred slavery. If this was the story of a young Karr, then everything seemed to fit fine. Well, everything except for the house fairy. I glanced over to her sitting on my shoulder, looking at the colorful mosaic with bright eyes. How did she become the slave of a man who abhorred slavery? There was much more to this story than it seemed!