Chapter 42 - 『Meeting』

Jack stood there on the top of the roof with Arche, watching as the door of the carriage opened.

"He didn't even send a courier before heading over himself?" Arche raised a brow slightly at this, though it couldn't be seen beneath her bangs.

Shrugging, "An Emperor can do as he pleases," he responded with a light sigh.

Two male armored Imperial Knights, Baziwood Peshmel and Nazami Enec, came ducking out onto the sidewalk and approaching the gate. With the Path Clear, Court Wizard Fluder and Emperor Jircniv emerged, their eyes looking right up towards him. Behind them following closely were Leinas and Nimble, all of the Four Imperial Knights were here.

As they made it to the gate, the first two knights opened it without reservation.

Jack immediately, with the use of silent magic, teleport to the grounds of the Courtyard with Arche beside him, keeping her balanced with his hand on her shoulder.

Blinking a few times and swaying from the sudden change of position, she shook her head slightly. "A little warning next time?" She brought her hand to her face and rubbed her eyes with her fingers.

Jack glanced over at her with a light smile before reaching over with the hand on her shoulder, to fix the turtleneck of her shirt. The last thing he needed was the Emperor to point out that her shirt was like that. It'd not only embarrass her, but it wouldn't do her any good.

"Thank you..." Her cheeks gained a pinkish tinge once again before calming down quickly enough for their guest's untimely arrival. Her eyes locked on her former headmaster.

"No problem," Jack's hand trailed down her arm before grasping at her hand, his smile becoming more evident. Then he turned his gaze towards the Emperor as the group of six entered within a ten meter distance.

"Welcome your Majesty," The two of them would state, both bowing slightly, whilst Arche lightly tugged on her sturdy outfits skirting.

The young blonde emperor stepped forward, his violet eyes looking over Jack and the girl who stood beside him. His eyes tracing down to their joined hands. It almost immediately confirmed what he had thought last night, about their 'relationship,' between the two of them.

"It is a pleasure to be here, Graham." A friendly, warm, smile was across his face as always. He then looked towards Fluder who bowed his head slightly.

"It is good you see you, Court Wizard Paradyne-dono." Jack smirked lightly as it seemed Fluder had been castrated since their last meeting. Probably due to the fact that he was pestering someone who could use eighth tier magic the entire night he had been at the restaurant.

"Head Master," Arche bowed her head in acknowledgement.

Jack's eyes rested on Leinas, who in turn had already been looking at him, the man who had healed her of her supposedly incurable condition. However he could definitely feel a slight trace of jealousy.

The eight of them would head inside, Jack in the front, Arche beside him and the rest coming in behind him. He lead them through the foyer, a casual stride with no urgency despite his majesty being present.

The moment the Emperor entered the building, his eyes gazed over the place. It was cleaner than he had last seen it when he held the purge of nobility. HIs eyes also rested on a handful of slaves moving about, most of them being of elven descent. They were dressed efficiently for the individual jobs they were given. Their ears seemed to have been recently healed as well and they were exceedingly clean to look at. Even pleasing to the eye.

He quickly took note of the fact that they seemed well looked after. It seemed he cared for those beneath him. His eyes then trailed over towards Paradyne who was smiling creepily.

"Control yourself gramps," Jircniv was tempted to slap him, but being obsessed with his own appearances, he decided not to. Instead, he rather let the Wizard sink himself should it be necessary.

His eyes then trailed on over towards the two humans and a small elf conversing near the entry way to the kitchen. He blinked a few times seeing the cooperation, the smiles. When they noticed Jack and the Guests, they bowed respectfully.

They didn't seem as if they had been forcefully broken, instead, it appears they had been benevolently conditioned? He was beginning to wonder how well this man treated others.

Soon enough they would be heading up to the second floor, heading for the master study.

The moment they reached the top of the stairwell, they made their way into the corridor.

Two half elves were using levitation magic to move couches into the study. They had already placed two of the couches in, and were placing the last one in.

The eight arrived just in time when they rested the last couch down before turning to face them.

It was the magic using half-elf sisters, who bowed to them as they entered. "Welcome, your Majesty." The only way they recognized him was due to his clothing and accessories. Mostly the crown.

"As you are," Said with a light wave his hand. He then paused and looked over towards his guests, gesturing with his free hand towards the couches. "Would you like refreshments?"

The Emperor blinked a few times, his smile briefly vanishing from his lips before resuming its position. "Of course," he would make his way over towards one of the couches and sat down.

Quickly he almost sank into the seat, much to his surprise due to how soft it was. He leaned back and squirmed slightly as he nestled into place. "This… Quality, where did you have these couches made?"

"My sister is a prodigy, she crafted them herself since she had a problem sleeping last night."

"Your sister… I do not believe I've had the pleasure." Placing one leg over his knee, he raised a brow.

"She's rowdy, just a forewarning." Jack would look to the Knights, using his eyes to tell them to sit down. They quickly did. Two of them sitting on either side of the Emperor, one of them being Leinas.

The other two, the commoner and the older grey haired one, sat on the other couch.

Light on their feet, the two half-elf sisters had left the room in order to collect the coffee table which Eve had made last night to complete the set.

These couches were made from dark wood, matching the floors and supports within the manor. Their cushions were thick, fluffy and a pastel toned foam green, specifically made to match similar to her brother's wings he usually displayed towards others freely.

Within a few minutes the coffee table was placed in the center of the three couches, and quickly the three would proceed to leave the room, keeping grace in their steps.

"I see your servants are well off," The Emperor made an observation, "One doesn't usually cloth their slaves in luxury." His eyes then flickered to Jack after tracing over the artisan coffee table made of wide dark wood panels and single thick glass panel.

Eve would frivolously walk into the room, her fingers playfully wiggling at her sides. "Hi! Hi!" She waved suddenly, bouncing upon one foot into the center of the room, immediately after the Emperor caught a glimpse of her.

Raising a brow, his eyes moved from Jack to the girl, and then back. "Sister?" He continued to smile warmly, appearing not to be bothered by the childish antics.

Eve would dive over the arm of the empty couch, flopping onto it, her legs kicking up behind her as she laid on the cushions.

"Yup," Jack spoke informally as he watched his sister humming away on the couch. "So, tea?"

"Tea?" Nimble spoke out of turn excitedly looked over at Jack as if he had said a magic word.

Jack stared at Nimble for a few before nodding slowly, "Yes. Tea."

Releasing Arche's hand as she had been patiently standing beside him, he opened his item box.

Paradyne would sit down beside the two Knights on the couch, leaning forward as he watched Jack access some sort of dimensional storage magic that he didn't recognize.

Taking out what appeared to be a couple of black boxes with shiny golden branches painted upon them, he placed them upon the table and opened each of the lids.

In one box was fine powder, green and rich, it almost looked like ground chalk. Clearly this green powder was Matcha. In the other seemed to be roasted Platinum++ Asgard Pekoe, a high class tea which originated from YGGDRASIL's Asgard.

He then proceeded to draw eight drinking bowls from his item box and placed them in their respective places. "High Grade Teas. Matcha and Platinum Pekoe."

"Platinum Pekoe?"

"It's a very rare breed, it could only be harvested during a certain season from the Kingdom I am from. Sadly the last of the crop was thought to have been burnt by the beastmen of the East." Jack said with a regrettable sigh as he scratched his neck slightly.

Sadly again this was another fabrication from the truth, as Pekoe was found on Asgard in the game. From as far as he knew, these tea leaves didn't exist here in the New World. Hence, making them an ultra rare commodity.

『Create Greater Item』

The moment he used this spell, Fluder's eyes widened as he watched a contraption appear on the coffee table. It was a dark navy blue with a transparent container attached to the side of it. It was something akin to an automatic tea brewer.

Jack then proceeded to take small tea bags from his item box and place them beside the Pekoe tea's container. "My sister can prepare the Matcha tea if you'd like to try some. It's a bit more complicated..." He'd glance over towards Eve who glanced up at her brother with a smug smile across her lips.

Nimble on the other hand was having his eyes dart back and forth between the two items.

"You can try both of them, one at a time." Jack said as he would sit down on the couch, causing his sister to immediately sit up correctly.

Arche smiled slightly seeing the little sister somewhat behaving. So as everyone was seated, she went to make her way to the other end of the couch.

However, before she could even pass Jack, she felt his arm wrap around her waist and she was planted between his legs. His arms wrapped around her, her face turning a slight red as she then felt his head on top of her own.

The Emperor grinned slightly seeing this, before watching as Eve reached forward and activated the brewer. A green light turning on and the sound of water heating could be heard.

"So… As you had given me the parchment with the themes and foods on it, I think I've made up my mind." The Emperor would rest his chin on the back of his hands as he rested his elbows on his knees.

"Oh?"

"A masked ball seems to be a rather interesting idea..." Holding out one of his hands out towards the female Knight sitting beside him, the Emperor would receive a piece of parchment and unfold it.

Peering it once over, he set his eyes back on Jack. "I've picked ten different dishes that I'd like to have at this ball you want to host..." He'd rest the paper down on the table and pushed it over towards the fellow young man. "I was wondering if I could sample these?"

Eve reached over and plucked the parchment from the table and looked over the items which the Emperor had written down. "The Slaves are still being trained," she said tamely at the start before looking up towards the Emperor, "So I'll be the one to prepare these for sampling."

Nodding as he watched the little sister, who couldn't be an older than twelve. "Your sister is impressive," his eyes moved towards Jack, having complimented his family.

Jack bobbed his head in agreement, "It was how she was made."

Eve gave a weak smile towards her brother as she slipped off the couch. "Born," she said quietly as she passed him, making her way out to go to the kitchen in order to prepare the food.