Chapter 113 No

At some point on our way home, a home I had never been to before, I fell asleep. And, in the end, this carriage ride was just another peaceful little ride. No more than another obstacle standing in our way.

For us to pass this obstacle, and get our reward by the end of this little escapade, all we had to do is wait. The old man only ever did that, waiting for me after he sent me out, but it was a first for me. Was it complicated? No.

At some point, I arose from my short nap, and we were here. The carriage had come to a full stop a while ago, and with my head still buried deep within my lap pillow, I groaned.

"Slept well, my boy?" Two warm eyes interrogated me from above as the royalty cradled my head in both hands. I felt warmth coming from her and smiled back at her. "You guessed right! We have… dun, dun, dun… arrived! At destination! Yay~"

Thus I was informed that we had arrived. My "new" home, said the royalty, but it wasn't like I had had any before. It was my first home.

"Want to see it? Wake up, wake up~ Uncle has already gone inside carrying… Cetha, right?"

From the cheerful royalty, I demanded a report, and I was told it had been no more than five minutes since we arrived at our destination. Also, she hadn't woken me up right away because the most esteemed uncle of mine was considerate enough to point out that I must have been worn out after today's work. And why wake me up when the royalty herself wasn't taking off right away? Though I didn't know why exactly, I was also told that the old man still had some business with the royalty.

But anyway, I thanked the noblewoman who had taken care of my team. I had a rather fancy house waiting for me just around the corner, after all. That wasn't free, so I made sure to be polite and express my gratitude.

"No, no. That is simply part of our agreement, is it not? You can go take a good look at it, by the way, I'm not keeping you here, fufu. Well, not today, at least." Of course, not today as she didn't require my services as her secret soldier servant yet.

The girl had fulfilled her function and brought the monster here, within the Capital. Now that she had, I could probably go. Homeless one day, and filthy rich the next.

Like a book full of words and wonders, the capital opened itself to me. Or well, no, it didn't, but the aristocratic alley I was in was indeed exposed bare to my eyes as I devoured it all. And, like a cat cautiously exploring a new potential territory up for grabs, I strode steady with purpose and slowly with curiosity.

Princess Elina had granted me, her pet soldier, one of the properties she owned. It was so I had a place to live in, since, for some reason, the inns or apartments of the poorer areas of the common people wouldn't cut it for us. Around me, the paths and roads didn't bustle with people.

There were a few chariots here and there, but they were stationary. The neighborhood was a blend of the rich countryside with greenery and the sophistication of a great city. My property, just like the district, was designed for the upper-class people, but not exclusive to nobles and aristocrats.

In a few words, my surroundings were classy but plain. Classy but lacking in eventful attractions.

When the hooded royalty stuck her head out of her carriage to ask me whether I was already lost or what, I told her I was just looking at the area. After a second, I walked a path of cobbles cutting through the lawn, found the doors of the regular aristocratic mansion ajar, and entered my sophisticated cave.

The mansion was a two-story residence. While it wasn't so imposing, from the inside, I could see how large it was.

"Old man. Hey. So how do you like home? Well?"

"Plenty, do I not." I liked it, too, the residence. After I said as much and we exchange a few words by the entrance of the residence, the old man urged me to navigate it soundlessly. The fever of Cetha was ostensibly getting better, but she still needed to sleep a great deal. "Now, mind you, I step outside."

To sum up the inside of the residence, it was open and straightforward. There wasn't much furniture, but still enough so it didn't look empty. Again, in a similar fashion to both the neighborhood and the outward appearance of the residence, the inside had a refined air of refined aristocratic values. The smell of wood and papers invaded my nostrils.

A broad hall encompassed most of the place after I passed the entryway where many opened rooms blended into one another, forming the foundation of my cave. To one side there were a carpet and sofas of the same expensive fabric arranged around a coffee table. On another side, there was a long, long table with a half-dozen chairs around it. A few windows gave on the long table, but curtains dimmed the light they gave to the residence.

Randomly visiting, I pressed open a door of marble, and the master bedroom winked at me. Inside, there were two bizarre ball-like creatures each called a "Mopping Slime" by the AR display of the System. Rolling and bouncing around, the mopping slimes were smart cleaning devices. Since Cetha was soundly asleep, I randomly headed for the other half of the broad main room where I fiddled around with a few kitchen stuff in the open kitchen. All of this was new to me, and I was surprised to find a sink in the modern-looking kitchen and tap water.

Well, I wasn't yet familiar with the term "tap water," but a person I would meet in the near future, whose name was Haruto, would be surprised to see a similar water-producing device elsewhere and exclaim, "Whoa, so they even have tap water here!"

"Elemental Stone: Water," the System displayed when I cocked my head at the unknown. Following the System's descriptions to the letter, I played around with my mana with the sink, and freshly produced water poured down from the tap.

After a while, the old man came back home: "Welcome to my humble abode, stranger!" Exchanging a few words with the old soul, I was basically told not to mess around too much and watch the volume of my voice. The old uncle carried loads of boxes and stuff inside. That was from the royalty.

Apparently, the princess meant it a hundred percent when she said she would be taking care of my every need, even the ones even I didn't know about. "So, do you need help? Also, you tell me, now. What about Cetha's fever? You figured it out, didn't you?"

"'Help'… It's fine, son. About the elf maiden's condition, I shall tell you afterward. This old man shall be quick!"

As he appeared, he left again. After he'd come back again, he wouldn't be carrying any baggage to take in any more, so, right now, he was probably just going to have a quick word with the royalty.

For a quick minute, I had time to visit the rest of the residence—there was a fancy full-white bathroom, on the first floor and a few other rooms and bedrooms upstairs—and then, I sat with the old man around a long table where he and I talked. There, I was reminded that I swore to White-haired to take care and protect the elven princess in his stead.

I pulled a chair for my old uncle, indicating to him to sit, then pulled a chair of my own sideways to his and sat my butt, too. If moments earlier, the atmosphere could be felt as light and relaxed, at present, the air floating around us was thicker and heavier.

Moments earlier, I simply mindlessly visited my own residence, honestly not caring much about it, just for the sake of it. At present, I was to be informed about lots of things by the old man who supervised my growth and safe travel out in the Outside World.

"Tell me everything I should know, you who I have chosen as my advisor," I politely spoke, looking less like the teenage boy my youthful appearance suggested I was. The concepts of adulthood or childhood were irrelevant when describing the monster. You could say that I was young, but couldn't say I was a child. The old man knew that and wasn't taken aback by my mature demeanor. "You gathered and put together the information in your old head; I want to hear it."

The old man sagely put his elbows on the refined table and crossed his fingers.

"Young lad," the old man began. "Firstly, tell me more about your ability. 'Dwelling,' I recall you call it. Your… most unusual ability to hold, control, infiltrate, or take over one's body. To climb into one's skin, I recall it is how you presented it. This old man wants to—pardon me, needs to hear it. Before you had the forest's spirits help you, young lad, from what you told me, it was mandatory for you to be constantly using such a competence, was it not? I believe you have been using said competence on the elf maiden, have you not? Incidentally, you, as of today, cannot wield such a power's effects as freely, can you? For reasons you do not know, this and that happened to be, and then…"

Well. The old man, when speaking of science, knowledge, and more generally what instigated curiosity in his mind, spoke lots and lots of words. This, to no end. And basically, I had to nourish that curiosity of his by answering all his questions. Not because he wanted me to, but because he needed me to.

After all, all the questions he asked about me, my nature as a unique and unclassified monster-type creature, and the unique skills I had been granted upon spawning, were meant to answer a question of my own: What was Cetha sick for — how to protect her, cure her, and ensure my protegee never ever suffered the same condition again?