Chương 14: New people & Embarrassment
Alexander found himself staring at the ceiling in his new room, not being able to sleep. He looked around and took in his surroundings.
He was lying down on a big comfy bed which made his body feel like it was on a cloud instead. By his side was a nightstand with a still-lit magical lamp, a luxury exclusive to the nobles or merchants as he found out.
His room had a small library with luxurious looking books. He also found out that books themselves, nevermind the ones he had, were very expensive in this world. Still they are limited to nobles or merchants.
Overall, the whole room's decor is full of expensive and luxurious things. So, Grandma Rose wasn't joking when she said she's a noble, he thought.
When his gaze returned to the library, his cheeks turned red from embarrassment on the previous incident :
---------Flashback-----------
(This is Alexander's POV/Thoughts):
Mast- No. Grandma Rose pulled my hand excitedly to the back of the store to show me my room. Huh, while she is very considerate of me, getting used to calling her grandma will take a while though.
On reaching the back of her lab, she opened the door and dragged me inside, When I saw the room I got stunned — a massive space with expensive looking wood on the walls, with the occasional stone pillar embedded into them.
There was this big fireplace with made of stone — is that marble? Looking ahead, I could see two brown, glossy leather chairs. Ahh~ I want to try how comfortable they are... Wait, why are there two of them? Didn't she say she was living alone? For the guests maybe?
I shrugged that thought and looked around, Wow! A piano! I always wanted to learn piano as a kid! But then laziness came in, well who plays piano instead of computer games?
I looked at my right, and there was an enormous room with a luxurious dinner table with many seats around it. The place's decoration is full of wooden pieces of furniture and paintings on the walls. The pictures on the walls had various people that looked a bit like grandma. Maybe her relatives? Wait! In the first place, where does this even fit in the back of this small store?!
I looked at my shoulder, and Lilly (Though I don't dare call her that) looked equally stunned, either that or she is hungry, judging by her open beak.
I look at grandma, and she seemed to be holding back a smirk but, her eyes are giving it away. I sighed slightly in laughter and decided to ask her:
"Grandma-" When I called her that, her smile got so sweet."-, How does this vast space fit behind the small store?"
Grandma's happy smile quickly turned into a proud smirk and wow she does change emotions fast. She waved her hand at the space and said:
"This is nothing! We also have a kitchen at least half as this dining room on the back, not to mention the two master bedrooms, one guest room, and the four servants rooms!"
I opened my mouth wide, making her smirk more. Deep within her eyes, I could see something familiar, an emotion I understood. The need to be praised a child has towards their parents but different at the same time.
I held back my chuckle and asked, not forgetting to ask again:
"That's awesome, grandma! And it's all so beautiful. That doesn't explain how it fits though?"
Grandma had a proud expression at my praise but when she heard the second part, her smile faltered, and her face got a bit red, she explained with a small laugh:
"Hehehe, Silly me. I got an acquaintance that's skilled with both space magic and formations to maximize the room behind the store, while it looks small, it's forty times bigger than it should.
"Oh" was all I said but when I peeked at Lilly, she was stunned when she heard that, must be a tremendous magical feat.
I looked at the space and grandma again and asked:
"Grandma... this place is big, you aren't alone, right? You did say something about servants."
Grandma laughed and pulled my hand towards the table while explaining:
"You heard correct Alex. I have 4 four servants here. One for the kitchen and the other three are for maintaining the house and the rest. They clean, serve and do various odd jobs that I assign to them. They have been with me for years, so they are trustworthy."
She went towards the table and picked up an odd transparent bell made of crystal. I felt a slight movement of mana and almost had my eyes activate but held back. Grandma waved the mana infused bell, and a sweet sound echoed everywhere.
Three people approached from a side door in a fast yet steady rhythm. Their march reminded me of those veterans in the army. There's no doubt that they've trained together.
Their eyes locked in mine as if judging my worth and standing, examining my appearance. I did the same.
One of them looked like a middle-aged man. His clothes looked like those butler clothes I saw in the movies, his stance is elegant and tall, with his athletic frame of around 1.87m(6 feet 1⅝ inch). How envious. His face is handsome with sharp eyebrows and a lighter shade of brown hair and eyes.
The second person was a woman that looked near 30 years old. She wore something that looked like a man's suit, making her look more like a secretary than a maid. That didn't ruin her looks though. Her frame is both athletic and curvy, but it doesn't give someone the same feeling as the man does. While they are both athletic, his gives a more vigorous, strong air while hers is just healthy. She was half a head shorter than the man.
Her facial features elegant and stoic, her eyes and hair the same color as the man, maybe they are siblings?
The third person looked like a girl my age. She wore a maid outfit that would probably give many enthusiasts what they call a 'nosebleed,' she was also about the same height as me. The maid outfit was pretty tight, making you able to see her figure, she looked lean, but she gave you this feeling that she could strike at the slightest distraction. Her face had a strict sense to it, but it's stunning. She has a small mouth with cherry colored lips, a delicate nose and piercing icy-blue eyes that bore into you. Her eyebrows think yet sharp, her hair a reflecting mid-night black that reached to her waist. Above her head was a pair of pitch black wolven ears.
Wait, what! She's a wolf person! A wolf person in a maid outfit. And she's cute as hell! I've never thought of this before, but this world has demi-humans, and elves too. This world is practically a fetish-fest for the enthusiasts, and now I'm here!
While my thoughts strayed in a weird direction, the three came closer and halted at the same time in a seemingly practiced manner. At a distance of around 3 meters(3.2 yards), they stood upright, and at the same time, the two wolf girl curtsied, bowing her head while the man and the older woman did the same with their upper body. They talked with a synchronized voice, reminding me of the army even more:
"We greet the Lady."
Looking over at Grandma, her expression was similar to when I first saw her back at the shop when we met; Apathetic and dignified. Her face was frozen, and her blue eyes looked like they could pierce through the soul. I got a shiver even though I am not the one receiving the gaze.
She let them stay that way for around 10 seconds, and when the pressure was about to escalate, she opened her mouth and talked in a neutral voice:
"You may rise."
They stood straight up almost instantly, Ah that nearly made me flinch. I think all three stole a glance at me during standing? Grandma must've realized that as she placed a hand over my shoulder, and what do they looked so surprised at that? Grandma talked:
"This," Grandma said while pointing her other finger at me." Is my adopted grandson and student, Alexander."
Their facial expressions twitched a bit, they tried holding back their surprise, but their eyes betrayed them, you could see their eyes dilate a bit. The two older ones had it better, and the wolf girl was the one that had it the worse as her face was still twitching a bit.
When they got over their shock, they bowed towards us, slightly inclined to my direction and all three of them said at the same time:
"We apologize to young master Alexander."
Grandma nodded at their response, her eyes mellowing a bit. But I'm confused, what's up? Didn't we meet just now? Why are they apologizing to me? That confusion must've shown on my face as grandma smiled a bit towards to me and said:
"It's natural you know, they are my subordinates, and you are my grandson. They started measuring you the moment they walked on the hall, isn't that disrespecting you and by extent, me?"
Realization dawned in, and I panicked a bit. I turned towards grandma's subordinates and said hurriedly:
"Please stand up; it's not your fault. I'd be vigilant of a stranger being near to my superior too."
They stood up while giving me a weird look, did I say something funny? Grandma had a small smile on your face too, but one wouldn't notice that unless they were close to her.
She looked towards me and started to introduce them:
"The one you see on the left with the butler outfit is Thomas, and as his costume suggests, he is the butler of the house. He is responsible for the management of the house alongside the upkeep."
The middle-aged man bowed towards us and said with a deep manly voice:
"I'm honored to make your acquaintance, Master Alexander. I am the butler of this home if you ever need anything, please inform me."
She then nodded towards the older woman, making her hold her right hand to her heart, bowing. Grandma introducer her:
"This is my assistant, Jamie. She helps me organize the store and is also responsible for dealing with the social aspect of this home. Let her guide on how to deal with nobles in the future."
The older woman talked in a pleasant, clear voice while still bowing:
"It's a pleasure, master Alexander. I'll be glad to guide you when the time comes."
Grandma gave a small nod at her words before I could respond, and looked towards the wolf girl, making her curtsy. Grandma introduced her last:
"And this here is Isabella, she is usually responsible for cleaning the house and serving whatever is needed but from now own, she will be your maid."
I was about to nod but when she said that last part about her being my maid, I freaked out. Do I even need a maid?! I could see that the three of them were surprised too. I was about to refute when grandma interrupted me:
"Alex, I won't take no as an answer. You're too ignorant about many things. You need someone to show you around, plus you are going to need someone with you for your first dungeon diving-"
"But-" I was about to refute that I had Lillian with me for both of those things but grandma as if expecting that, answered instantly:
"-Your little bird doesn't count, while she's contracted now, people are going to after you if they find out how strong she is, while I don't know her race, she must be rare. Besides, she looks like she's informed only about the basics. Also, don't look down on Isabella, she's on the early stages of an advanced Warrior."
I widened my eyes while looking at the lean figure of the girl. Is she that strong? While I haven't seen someone of the advanced ranked, if my fireball spell can leave a hole to a tree, I can only imagine what she can do... I nodded my head reluctantly to grandma, she's right. I need some human presence showing me the ropes around this world.
Grandma gave a bright smile and said:
"Okay, let's have dinner, and then I'll show you your room."
And dinner we had, it was a very luxurious meal with many types of food I've never seen before, Grandma told me that many of them came from magical beasts and that they help improve the condition of your body if consumed regularly. It turns out that nobles eat this stuff often, making them advance more efficiently, one of these meals is comparable to an intense training season, according to her words.
I still wasn't used to being served but, I will have to as nobles in this world are even more luxurious, this is just basic stuff according to grandma. I could also see Lilly in the corner of the table eating something that looked like a muffin, does she only eat sweets? What do magical birds feed on in the first place? Equally magical worms maybe?
While my thoughts were going towards strange directions, the dinner was over. Grandma dragged towards one of the equally luxurious halls, leading me to room. As expected, everything was yet again expensive. She took me towards the small library at the corner, picked a book and asked me:
"Were you taught how to read, Alex?"
"Of course!" I said, while not minding it too much that this is a different world, we are speaking the same language after all aren't we?
And this was my source of embarrassment. Grandma passed me the book with a smile and said:
"Don't get me wrong here, little Alex. I want to see at what level you're at as you haven't had classes like the average mage."
I received the book while nodding. I flipped open the first page and... What is this language?! This writing looks like Russian had a love child with Chinese! What are these impossible letters? How can you have characters like this? They look like drawings!
My face turned red in embarrassment, how is this possible? Aren't we talking the same language? How can there be much difference? Grandma probably saw how red I became and asked:
"Is everything okay, Alex? Are you having any trouble reading it?"
I must've turned red, but I decided to explain the truth to grandma:
"There seems to be a gap between the language we are speaking and the one I know... The characters I know are entirely different. I don't know how to explain it."
Grandma assumed a thinking posture and answered after a few nervous seconds with a nod:
"This seems to be the work of some polyglot charm, such a thing while expensive, it does exist. It's just that I don't see any items on you."
My eyes must have held a questioning look because grandma started to explain after glancing at me:
"It's like these robes or staves you saw on my store. You felt how they seemed to repel the elements. You felt how others felt like they were able to resist the elements, and others attract them right?"
I nodded, making her continue with a small smile:
"That's some enhancing charms. The polyglot charm is adding an ability to the item instead of enhancing it. But it's challenging and expensive to make. I, of course, can make such things but the problem is that you don't have any such items on your person."
What she said made me confused, if I don't have an item like that on me and the language is indeed different, then how am I able to talk with everyone? Has someone added that thing on my mind maybe? Is that even possible?
Grandma probably saw how anxious I was and she gave me a small hug. I am grateful that I chanced upon her, Lilly was right. My luck is too high. Grandma didn't even doubt me when I said that the language I know of is different, she just took it as granted and started thinking about how it's possible.
She stopped hugging me after one minute and gave me a small kiss on the forehead. With a small smile, she told me to sleep well and left the room, leaving Lillian and me behind. I lied down at the bed, thinking about this whole day, falling asleep.
============Flashback End=====================
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elfriche
elfriche I was thinking of not posting out a chapter per day in order to improve the quality of the novel, I have more time to think things through that way. Opinions?
Enjoy the chapter and as always, thanks for reading.
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