Chương 102: 99. Shepard

Adolin paced around his room inside Revel's estate. Calling it an ordinary room was an understatement. It was big enough to fit five, even six, normal bedrooms inside it. A huge bed stood in one corner of the room, with a huge window beside it that had blinds capable of making the room completely dark, even during the day. The room was filled with furniture carved from brown wood with a hint of purple. Adolin guessed that the wood was from the Purple Forest, Revel had mentioned to him.

Every wall had a unique painting, and every single one seemed to tell a story. That's how he'd spent the last four hours. Instead of sleeping and resting his tired body, he was trying to uncover the story behind one of those paintings. The one he was currently trying to decipher was a painting of a man surrounded by every kind of animal: wolves, sheep, a horse, and a few others. Every animal in the painting was mundane; there were none of the mana-enhanced creatures or monsters. The man's body was...

well, it looked like he was made from wood, and his legs turned into roots just below the knees. The roots disappeared into darkness beneath him. He leaned on a beautifully carved giant staff. Behind him stood two ancient trees, each with a giant serpent coiled around its trunk, while the branches held all kinds of birds. The painting was really confusing to Adolin. His first guess was that the man was a shepherd, but now he wasn't so sure. What kind of shepherd let wolves roam among his sheep?

Maybe some did; he really wasn't that knowledgeable about anything outside magic, as his exposure to such things had been fairly limited. And why was there darkness beneath the man? He was also really bad at interpreting paintings. He pondered the painting until his eyes started closing on their own. Well, uncovering every mystery in the world wasn't something he was meant to do... or he could always ask Revel later. Yup, that would satisfy his curiosity about the painting.

The other paintings in the room were beautiful and interesting. That was the best he could describe them, as he was really bad at art. But they didn't give him the same feeling as this one did. After one last glance, he returned to the soft, comfortable bed. He didn't even need to take out his own mattress here. After leaving little Eury at the gate, one of the servants had led him to his room, where the kitten was already asleep in the opposite corner. It even had its own small, soft bed.

The little one hadn't even registered his arrival. There was also a small plate filled with thinly sliced fish beside it. Revel was really looking after the little one—or perhaps Lira was? It didn't really matter; he would thank both of them. He was curious whether Eurynomos had managed to sneak into the estate. He didn't really feel bad for leaving him outside. The dude was old enough to take care of himself, or at least make people pity him enough to give him a bed for the night... Adolin closed his eyes.

By tomorrow, he would have enough mana to isolate the room from the outside world, and he planned on spending the entire day doing absolutely nothing. … Adolin sat inside the dining room… hall. It was a huge room with a single long table in the middle. Just like his room, this one was filled with paintings of all kinds. It seemed that Revel's family was really into art or something. Lira and Clay sat on his left, while Blaise and Revel sat across from him.

At the head of the table, on his right, sat a woman in her early thirties with long black hair, just like Revel's. From what little he could gather, she was Revel's cousin. There was a strange tension in the room, and he had no idea why. Clay looked like he'd woken up on the wrong side of the bed. Lira stared at her plate; awkwardness practically radiated from her. Blaise was his usual sleepy self, looking like he could collapse onto his plate at any moment.

Adolin was fairly sure he had no idea what had happened either. Then there was Revel. She kept glancing at Clay, and whenever she did, she looked almost apologetic. Something had happened after he left his party. He wasn't sure he even wanted to find out, so he focused on the food laid out on the table instead. There were several kinds of fresh bread that smelled fantastic, along with a variety of berry jams. There were plenty of other dishes as well, but he felt like this morning was meant for bread and jam.

He took a small loaf of bread filled with all kinds of seeds and nuts, spread butter over it, and added the first jam he could reach. After taking a bite, he had to set the bread back on his plate and savor it for a few moments. Sweet, with a hint of savoriness. It was delicious. No one else at the table was eating except Revel's cousin, whose name he still didn't know. He acted as though he didn't notice the people around him and took another bite. Afterward, he took an empty teacup and chanted inwardly.

Moments later, the perfect cup of tea sat before him, its aroma spreading throughout the room. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Tea, anyone?" Just as he'd expected, everyone ignored him. He shrugged, took another bite of bread, and washed it down with tea. Less than a minute later, he was already on his second piece of bread, this time with a different jam. It was green.

"So, you're the mage Revel told me about," the woman sitting next to him said. He wasn't really in the mood to talk since he'd already planned his two-day isolation, but he preferred this to the silence hanging over the room.

"Not sure what she told you, but I'm a mage," Adolin said, immediately regretting it. It felt awkward the moment the words left his mouth. Whatever, he thought.

"Ellen," she said with a soft smile. Adolin finished chewing.

"Dareth." He really needed to sort out the name issue soon.

"How do you find our accommodations?" Ellen asked, straightening in her chair.

"I've got no complaints," Adolin said, taking another sip of tea.

"Lovely," Ellen said.

"Oh, and..." She winked at him.

"I'd like a cup of tea." She pushed her cup toward him. Even after their awkward conversation, the atmosphere in the room didn't change. If anything, it grew even more oppressive. He really needed to finish his food and get back to his room. Adolin cast another spell, filling Ellen's teacup. She continued talking to him throughout breakfast—or whatever was happening in the dining room. Ellen spent a few minutes talking about the history of the estate, which bored Adolin to no end.

It wasn't anything he was particularly interested in. So, to change the subject, he asked, "Who made the bread? It's really good."

"A boy," Ellen said.

"I think he came with you last night. What was his name again?" She paused, thinking.

"Euryn something... The kitchen staff called him Eury."

"Oh..." The brat had managed to get into the estate, and for some reason he was baking bread again.

"I see." Ellen nodded slowly.

"He is a really talented baker." Adolin nodded as he reached for another piece of bread. Well, he had to agree with Ellen. The bread really was that good—much better than whatever Eury had made in the forest. Ellen continued, "He also asked to meet with you whenever you're free." Adolin smiled.

"Sure, in two days. I have a lot of research I need to get out of the way first, so I'll hardly be leaving my room." Ellen nodded.

"I'll have one of the staff notify the boy." After finishing the last bite, Adolin stood and glanced around the table once more. The tension hadn't eased. Not at all. Well, except for Blaise, who had somehow fallen asleep. He couldn't blame him. The room was far too quiet, and he probably would have drifted off as well if he hadn't spent the whole breakfast eating. Lira gave him a brief, apologetic smile before returning to stare at her plate. Whatever was going on, he wanted no part of it.

He excused himself and quietly left the dining room, heading straight for his room. He wanted to explore the mansion, but he didn't want Eurynomos finding him and bothering him, nor did he want to get involved in whatever his party was dealing with. Everything could wait until he was well rested. In just a minute, he was back in his room, the door closed and locked. He didn't want to rely solely on mundane means, and his mana had already recovered from the last-stand spell.

So, he cast Lock and Mana Chains, then followed them with a few more spells to isolate the room from any noise outside. Satisfied with his work, he threw himself onto the bed. There was no sound except for the soft breathing of the kitten sleeping in the corner. He let himself enjoy the silence for a few minutes before pulling one of the chairs closer and taking a teacup out of his inventory. He drank his perfect hot tea and lay back on the bed.

"This is life," he muttered. He spent the next hour simply lying in bed and staring at the ceiling. Even the ceiling was pleasant to look at. It was covered in some kind of artwork—knights, soldiers, or perhaps both. He didn't really think about it; he simply stared. Some time later, the kitten woke up. After enjoying a quick breakfast of fresh fish, she climbed onto his chest and began purring while Adolin absentmindedly petted her. He probably should have borrowed a few books from the library, but he hadn't.

The only thing he had to occupy himself with was the tea spell tome. He took it out of his inventory, studied the cover for a few moments, and began reading it again.

"Mother of Earth and Hearth, wake what rests within the leaf. Let water carry its essence, and the vessel take its form." He read the incantation a few more times, trying to figure out what it actually did. Mother of Earth and Hearth. What did that even mean? Did the spell call upon some being, who then completed the spell form through their intervention? Or was it something else entirely? The next sentence was easier to decipher... or so he thought.

Let water carry its essence was straightforward enough, but the rest was far more difficult. Could the tea itself be the vessel? Or was the incantation referring to the water? Nope. He really had no clue what the second sentence meant. None at all. He would probably need the help of one of the Count's cryptographers.

"Meow." The kitten meowed the moment he stopped petting her, so he immediately resumed. He reread the tome several more times and reached the same conclusion. He had no idea how any of it worked. Even if he wanted to learn to cast the spell without chanting, he couldn't. To cast spells the way he did, he first needed to understand what the spell form actually accomplished, and he had no clue what the spell form for making tea actually did. Adolin frowned as he put the tome back into his inventory.

He needed a larger sample before he could begin his research. At least ten or twenty spellbooks. Since he couldn't spend his time studying the spell, he made another cup of tea and closed his eyes, enjoying the pleasant aroma. A few hours had already passed since he'd left the dining room, and no one had called for him. It was really lovely. He conveniently ignored the fact that he'd placed a dozen spells around the room to make sure no one could interrupt his peace.

And yet, he felt a foreign mana probing his defenses, looking for a way to unravel his spells. It belonged to Eury.

"No," he muttered.

"There is no foreign mana interrupting my peace." He nodded to himself. A moment later, the smell of ozone filled the room. Someone's mana had just been burned.