Arthur's Point of View

The Slums Outskirts

I left Elincia and the others to clean up a few days ago. In the meantime, I've been on alert for the last few days in case someone else decides to show up. Ever since coming here, there's been no breaks for me. Deal with stupid shit from the Priestesses and their students. Got transported to the past into a three-year war that ended with me being betrayed. Returned to only deal with more bullshit while still wounded.

My wounds still hadn't closed entirely, but they were doing far better than they were when that mystery High Elf showed herself. Naturally, Augustus and Cassidy were rather worried. While it made me feel thankful for having them around, it didn't change anything in regard to keeping them at a distance. Now, I stood before I giant mansion that looked so out of place it was funny.

My eyebrow twitched as I turned to Elincia. "Please tell me you're joking?"

The Priestess in question gave me a confused look in return. "About what?"

Sighing, my eyes closed in annoyance. "I appreciate the thought behind this, but why?" Opening my eye, I gestured to the mansion. "Why would you build a mansion this size?! This looks like it has over a hundred rooms!"

"As our Knight, it is expected that you will eventually enter into a lordship and become a noble. A Knight is essentially a noble, but without the title. Not to mention you are our highest ranking general." Elincia explained and then smirked as she gazed at the building in a proud manner. "Everything has been made so you have room for any servants, personnel, or other officials you might have in the future."

"I'm not having any of that." I told her with a small frown. "I just wanted a small house…"

"A small house?" Elincia repeated.

"Two bedrooms would've been fine. This is overkill." My words seemed to surprise her.

"You would rather have a small home compared to an estate of this magnitude?"

Rubbing my face, annoyed, I answered. "Yes!"

Elincia became quiet, and I looked over at her. "I see." Turning away as an image of her younger self flashed through my mind, she spoke. "Have I done something to offend you, Arthur?" She inquired.

Confused, I replied. "No. Why do you ask?"

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"You have been avoiding my gaze as of late." She pointed out.

Lying was always important in these types of situations. "I assumed you'd be more uncomfortable with my eyes. Many others have been."

"I am not many others, so do not feel obligated to look away from in such a manner."

"I'll do my best." Crossing my arms as I looked at the massive estate, my attention looked to the side where the Hollow Forest wasn't even two hundred feet away. "There a reason you put it almost on the tree line?"

"Assuming any more animals or monsters wander out of the forest, your estate will be the first thing they see. This helps them from getting too close to the lowest rung of Helmsforth." She answered and gestured to the Reed Family Farmstead. "Only others who have issues are the Reed Family since they are their farm gives the animals more places to hide."

"I remember."

We were quiet for a moment before she gestured to the mansion. "Would you like to take a look inside?"

Eyeing it for a moment, a chuckle escaped my lips. "Part of me wants to say yes, while another part wants me to say no." Walking forward, I gestured for her to follow me. "Let's see what we're working with."

The 'house' was enormous. So much so that it was rather off-putting. Two separate wings the formed a 'U' making it annoying to even look around. All in all, the building was two stories, with the master bedroom up a grand flight of stairs that wrapped around from both sides of the walls. From there, the house was split into the main section, where I would live, and the east and west wing, where I would avoid.

Rooms by the dozens made it impossible to even remotely want to explore. Ignoring the second story, I made sure to ask where the kitchen was, the storeroom, pantry, bathrooms, etc… The enormity of the estate made me feel guilty in a way.

While I did live in a castle for several years until just recently, everything was rather barren in my own living quarters, and I never did any decorating or redecorating. Meanwhile, everything here was already furnished with couches, dressers, mirrors, and much more than you would think would be given to someone. It was annoying.

"You truly do not like this home?" Elincia asked after seeing the expression on my face.

I sighed and put my hands on my hips as I looked around. "I don't know what you expect me to do, but this place is way too big. I'm probably going to just ignore the wings entirely and live here in the main section." Pointing upstairs where my room was, I continued. "Everything I need is relatively close. Bedroom and the bathroom are connected, and the kitchen is off the side of the main entranceway."

"You just described two rooms in an entire estate." Elincia pointed out in surprise. "That is all you require?"

Shrugging in response, I answered. "It's worked for me so far. I might make an office and make sure there is a living room in case people visit, but yeah. That's pretty much all I needed." Looking around the entranceway and up at a chandelier made me cringe. "Had I known you were doing all this; I probably would've stopped you." Then I shrugged again. "But I wasn't here at the time."

"I see…" Elincia didn't question me about where I was this time, which was nice. "While I understand your reasoning, I am surprised no one is here to celebrate with you."

"Maybe they finally learned to leave me alone?" I offered in response. "No offense, but your students are a bunch of assholes. Well, with the exception of Cassidy. Floyd tetters here and there, but he is annoying too."

Elincia rolled her eyes. "Always great to know that you view our students as assholes."

"Call em like I see em."

Sighing, the Priestess changed the subject. "There are a few basic things I would like to go over with you. First, your pay. Given your status as a knight, we are under no obligation to pay you for your services." Elincia stated.

"Wow. That fucking sucks balls." I stated in a plain tone. "Kind of a bitch move, don't you think?"

Closing her eyes for a moment, she continued as if I never responded. "However, since you also hold the rank of general and have saved Helmsforth, along with me and my sister's lives, there are other ways to compensate you." She opened them before continuing. "You will also need to choose a Town Guard who will be your second in command. A Captain of sorts who will answer to you. Do you have anyone in mind, or shall we offer you some suggestions?"

"Captain Greigh Nasa will do just fine."

"I was unaware you and Captain Greigh got along so well." Elincia commented as she gestured to me.

"He's close by, can fly, and knows the area better than I do. The Captain will do just fine."

A few more things were discussed back and forth, but things went surprisingly well. There didn't appear to be any magical spells cast in the area, and Elincia was actually not a bitch about anything. Plus, everyone else kind of fucked off too. It was nice in a weird way. Hopefully, it'll stay that way for a little bit.