Chapter 36: New Guests
Going through the slums i felt sunny's discomfort, and he wasn't the only uncomftorable one, I also felt very uncomftorable with the situation of the outskirts.
Even though i was never burdened by being in the outskirts or even seeing them before, i was still sympathetic toward sunny.
Looking over at Nephis i saw her looking at the people around us, she wasn't showing as much pity as she was showing calculation.
'Ahh right, she is a legacy through and through.' I already knew that the only thought on her mind was how to get out of this palce.
Before coming to the city i already told everyone about the fact that the gateway was compromised.
And being the 'genius' she was, nephis had already realized that the bloody battle in cassies vision would inevitably become reality, so she was probably planning to gather up forces for her army.
'>>Talk about charming.<<' regis transmited to me, he was nestled in my core, even though his was filled to the brim it was best for him to remain in there.
Taking a left we went for the staircase and as we went we were met with two guards guarding the gate.
Both of the young men barring our way wore armor-type Memories and wielded their weapons in the open, as though trying to warn anyone approaching not to test their patience.
They looked at me without even trying to hide their disdain.
"What do you want, rat?"
>>Don't they know a cockroach when they see one?<<
(It's better for them to underestimate you, so don't do anything rash.)
[I'm not a child, plus why should I care what some cliché punks think.] Nephis ascended after me, and the two guards were caught by surprise for a moment.
[See? Ogling like that... a bunch of sorry excuses for guards, I say.]
>>You're just sorry you got called a rat, ain't ya.<<
[Just zip it.]
Nephis took a step closer and held out her soul shard. The guard who had called me a rat looked at me and Cassie, who was to my left, and noticed our own soul shards.
He chuckled and took the one Nephis had handed to him. The other guard just snatched the one I held out and took the one from Cassie's hand.
"Quite the escorts you got there, little missy." He smirked, while the other guard just sighed before opening the gate.
He looked back at us and said flatly, "Someone will meet you inside."
Nephis ignored the rude guard and walked past him, not giving him the time of day.
I followed behind her, and Cassie held onto my shoulder, but not one to take an insult, I turned to the guard, and he looked me in the eyes.
"The hell you lookin' at, little cunt?"
>>Such profanity. Say the word, and I'll bite his head off.<< Regis excitedly transmitted, and I felt Sunny's nervousness.
[Geez, I'm not that much of a baby. I won't kill the clueless dickhead… I'll just scare him... a bit.]
Smiling slightly, I looked him in the eyes and activated [Sternritter], to which the guard's eyes widened. His knees shook, and his eyes dilated.
The other guard noticed me lingering and gave me an impatient look. I bowed with an apologetic smile and headed inside.
Nephis waited for me and Cassie. The gate closed behind us, and as we made our way in, from outside I heard a blood-curdling scream.
Cassie looked back with worry, and Nephis looked at the gate indifferently, but she turned her gaze to me with a knowing look.
"My, hopefully there's no Nightmare Creature outside." I whistled while walking past her.
In the background i heard the hurried steps of other guards, likely coming towards the sound.
>>Good choice.<<
(Weren't you gonna act like more of an adult?)
As we walked, a large hall opened up before us. Hearing a strange rustle from above, I raised my head and saw tall windows with stained glass panes soaring to the distant ceiling.
Looking around, several young women were nimbly moving from one window to another, draping them with thick sheets of crude fabric.
The makeshift wooden ladders they used creaked and cracked, creating a strange and almost melodic sound.
It seemed as though the sheets of fabric were being fastened in a way that prevented even the smallest glint of light from escaping the castle during the night.
Before us stood an opulent wooden desk that looked completely out of place in the grand hall.
Behind the desk, a gaunt young man with nervous eyes was writing something down on a piece of paper.
[What do you guys think? Should I spend a soul shard for some pieces of paper?]
>>Why not just create them?<<
[Well, I would, but I'd rather reserve my soul essence. I do need it, since a certain gluttonous companion of mine needs a lot of it.]
>>Maybe you could make something that would help that companion—something you can create quite easily even.<<
[Maybe I don't want to get consumed by power. Maybe I want to grow used to working for what I get.]
>>MAYBE! You should hop off your high horse and just reap the benefits of what you asked for and what was given to you.<<
[MAYBE! I don't want to take the easy way out on anything, and MAYBE! I want my companion to grow by his own devices.]
(MAYBE! You should stop arguing and stop scaring the poor man behind the desk!)
Getting out of the conversation, I noticed the receptionist looking at me worriedly, nervously tapping the desk with his fingers.
Realizing he was anxious, I grew confused until I understood that I was scowling—something that, with Sunny's appearance, would look just as scary as a Nightmare Creature.
Nephis elbowed me, and I sighed, nodding apologetically.
She approached the gaunt man, Harper, which made the poor guy even more nervous.
"We were told someone would meet us inside."
Harper almost yelped as he got up from his seat, chuckling before swallowing hard and giving her a tentative smile.
The young man had a thin face and a pale, unhealthy complexion. He looked hungry and weak, more like one of the poor souls from the outer settlement than someone living in the castle.
His clothes, however, were clean and tidy, without the wear and tear you'd expect from someone outside.
"Ah, guests! Sorry, you gave me a fright there. Welcome, welcome to the Bright Castle. Whoa, you were just in time. A couple more minutes, and the gates would have been closed."
Nephis didn't respond, and Harper looked past her toward us.
He turned to the other guards, who looked away awkwardly. "Anyway, my name is Harper. I'm responsible for guest accommodations today. Let's get you... oh! I don't seem to recognize you guys. Is this your first time paying the tribute?"
"Yes" Nephis responded, and Harper smiled even more.
"Congratulations! You might not suspect it, but I was once in your shoes. In fact, just a few months ago. But ever since Lord Gunlaug graced me with his kindness, I've been living safely in the castle. You'll love it here too, I'm sure."
>>To think he signed up to be the king's lapdog without even getting a treat. That's rough.<< Regis snickered.
Silently agreeing with him, I stepped past Nephis, giving Harper a smile.
"Simply wonderful! To think the great and exalted ruler of this castle is benevolent as well! Simply wonderful! Please, do tell us more!"
Blinking in confusion, Harper just looked at me without saying a word.
(What are you doing?)
[Kissing ass.]
(Ahhh... right.)
>>Wow, you're really pulling out all the stops, huh? Next thing you know, you'll be offering to sweep the floor for him.<<
[It's all for the benefits. I need to keep the image of a subservient little rat.]
>>Mhm, right, right. I understand. But don't go all Fang Yuan on him.<<
[Don't worry, I won't be feeding anyone to bears—or bear-like Nightmare Creatures, I guess.]
Nephis pulled me back and simply asked Harper for rooms.
"Of course... I'll just need your names to mark when the three of you paid the tribute. We have a lot of spare rooms here, especially in the Tower of Dusk. It's very quiet. How about I settle you there?"
Nephis nodded in agreement, and Harper asked for names.
"Well, I'm Sunless, and this aloof lady here is Nephis. And the other young lady is Cassie."
I Interrupted Nephis before she could speak, Harper looked at her for confirmation, and she nodded. He promptly wrote down our names and got up from his seat.
We followed him through the halls, passing more handmaidens as they worked.
Along the way, Harper explained that we were to have good manners, show respect to the hunters, and follow basic rules.
Taking a few staircases, we soon reached the Tower of Dusk, standing before an eerily empty corridor interrupted only by old wooden doors.
"Uh… I forgot to ask. How many rooms would you guys like?"
Without thinking too much, I answered at the same time as the other two:
"One."
"One."
"Three."
We all froze and looked at one another. Cassie blushed while Nephis seemed to contemplate. I just looked at Harper and sighed.
"Then we'll take two rooms: one one-bedroom for me, and for these two, one room with two beds. And we'd appreciate it if the rooms were as close as possible—preferably just a door away from each other."
Harper looked at the other two, and they nodded. He smiled somewhat amused and led us to our rooms that had the doors facing each other.
He gave me a key and another to Nephis for their room, but I could really open any door with [Door Opening], so I'd just store it away somewhere.
He then departed with a few words, leaving us in the empty hallway.
Looking at the other two, I tossed the key to Nephis, who caught it.
"I won't be needing that. I can open the door by my own devices." She nodded, looking at me.
"And what are you going to do?"
I shrugged. "Just going to meet someone. He's a real charmer, but not as charming as I was. I'll introduce you." I turned and began walking down the hall but stopped after a few steps.
"Oh, and by the way, Caster's here. He's been sent by Anvil as the little assassin."
Nephis snapped her head up and gave me a serious look, "You're certain of this?"
Grinning, I shrugged and replied, "Have I ever been wrong? Just stick to the plan you wished to use on me. Use him while he still thinks you don't know he's the assassin."
Cassie interrupted, "What do you mean by original plan for you?"
"Oh, didn't she tell you? Hmm, to think she wouldn't share one of her secrets when you've already told her a very important one."
Cassie paused, her mouth hanging slightly open.
"Well, that's not important now, but basically, she thought I was the assassin from the beginning and was planning to use me to further her own plans. Pretty neat, eh?"
Nephis looked thoughtful for a moment before responding, "You've already made it clear you were aware of my plans. There's no need for this."
"Sorry, I just like hearing myself talk." I continued, "But don't worry. He'll listen to you like a little dog and only try to kill you when you're at your most vulnerable."
She nodded. "Yeah, I guessed." Without further comment, she said a simple "bye" and headed to her room.
I looked at Cassie, who had guilt written all over her face. Though she seemed like she wanted to say something, I didn't bother waiting and left, moving through the corridors.
(Why are you so mean to her? Did she do something to upset you? You could have at least talked it over with her.)
[Well, she didn't wrong me per se… but she did reveal a very sensitive subject to her.]
(And what subject is that? One of your countless secrets?)
[Not one of mine.]
Traversing the corridors was simple. I could just use [Position] to locate Kai. He was in a room with multiple people looking toward him.
He was standing on a podium, singing to the little crowd.
Deciding to meet Kai was an easy decision, but while I was in deep thought, I heard Regis clearing his throat.
>>Just a thought, but is it really a smart idea to recruit so much of the cohort? Wouldn't it be better to have a disguise?<< Pondering over the idea, I realized it wasn't bad at all.
[What kind of disguise do you have in mind?]
Seemingly excited, Regis immediately responded giddly, >>Maybe like one of Klein's identities. You know, like his marionettes or maybe ones before that even.<<
Sunny was taken out of his thoughts and seemed a little excited too.
(Who's Klein? An old friend?)
'He really has no shame about questioning now, does he?'
'>>Why don't you play along? Maybe our identity could be that your a progenitor of the unknown and me as one of your, I dunno, ancient summons or whatever. Your whole backstory could be that your wife and family were killed by one of the gods, and in your fury, you took revenge and killed gods and daemons!<<'
Knowing that his personality was based on the original novel Regis, I had my suspicions about him being all about the whole chuunibyou thing.
Even in the novel, he was all about making names for Arthur's abilities.
Now, there was also the additional parts of my memories and some parts of my personality and ego.
'[Well, I will say, that is a good plan. But maybe we should think about it a bit more later when we can relax. So, let's play along with Klein being our friend.]'
Clearing my throat, I slowed my pace a little and smiled slightly.
"Since I don't want to keep too many secrets, I guess I'll just tell you plainly." I focused on transmitting through my mind.
[Klein was kind of like me. He was transferred to a body that wasn't his own, but he had full control over it—unlike me.]
(So, did he completely erase the other person?)
[Nope. The original killed himself after witnessing... the truth. Klein, who actually went by another name—Zhou Mingrui—decided to take the name of the original.]
(What happened next?)
[Well, that's a long story. But after a lot of trials, he ascended to godhood, though he became the vessel of a dreadful being. Eventually, he was placed in a dream meant to help him resist being taken over.]
(Wait—you know a god? Well, I guess you did kill one. Is he still in that dream?)
[I don't even know. But I do know that some of his servants were planning to free him.]
I paused, thinking for a moment, and then the perfect idea struck me.
While i was in the castle i was planning to mess around with the people in here, or would it be better to say...
Clowning around.
Next Chapter:Pitiful Circumstances
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