Chương 103: 100. Fifty Percent

The first day passed slowly as Adolin enjoyed himself. He didn't do much other than lie around all day, taking a few naps in between. No one disturbed him throughout the day, except for the foreign mana that kept intruding on his room. That wasn't anything he worried about. Whoever was behind it would be left in terrible pain after having their mana burned, and the effect would usually last for a few hours. The next morning, Adolin spent a few hours studying the painting.

For some reason, he kept going back to it, and even after two whole hours, he hadn't managed to figure out anything new about it. He got irritated at one point and almost left his isolated room to get Revel, but thankfully, he resisted the urge and didn't destroy his little paradise. To take his mind off the painting, he sat at the table and made himself some tea. Then, he took out the robe artifact and placed it on the table. It was a grey robe with silver engravings along the front.

It also had a second piece—a cape attached to the robe. After finishing his tea, he decided to try it out. It was a struggle… putting on the robe was one of the hardest things he had ever done. Because of the way the cloak was attached to the robe, it had multiple openings that looked like they could be used to put it on. After three attempts, he finally managed to get it on. He walked toward the door leading out of the room. Just before the door, on the left wall, was a mirror bigger than the door itself.

He watched himself in the mirror. Well, he looked good. That was the first thing that came to mind. It was as if the robe had been made specifically for him, which he guessed was a magical effect of the artifact. It maintained the perfect temperature around his body, slightly chilly, but that was what he preferred. His hair was longer than he would have liked, and it was… messy. He would need to get that fixed when he left the estate. His blue, almost cyan eyes complemented the robe perfectly.

As he watched himself in the mirror, tiny needles pierced his lower leg and began a painful climb that lasted several seconds. A few long seconds later, the kitten was lying on his shoulder, staring into the mirror. Its blue eyes were lighter than his. Adolin spent the rest of the day after his shower lying on his bed, occasionally staring at the painting. Even though Cleanse was enough to clean himself and even left him smelling like his favorite perfume, he still chose the mundane bath.

It was one of the little pleasures he'd never let go of, even when he was the strongest archmage in his world. Eury's mana attempted to destroy his peace a few times, but Adolin prevented it. The bastard had taken precautions, and Adolin couldn't burn his mana as easily as he had the first time. Wasn't he supposed to go back to the dungeon?

"Whatever," he muttered as he returned to the bed after taking out the kitten's favorite food from his inventory. His isolated vacation would come to an end tomorrow. With a frown, he closed his eyes. … In the morning, Adolin was back in the dining room as his isolation had ended. He would have preferred a few more days, but he knew that would be too much.

He had to maintain a balance, because falling back into his old ways of never leaving his home would be too easy, and he didn't want to repeat the same mistakes in the new world. Breakfast was almost the same as a few days ago. The only difference was that Clay was missing, while Blaise was wide awake, yet he didn't utter a word. The tension was the same; only Ellen seemed unbothered by it. Even Adolin was starting to feel the discomfort.

Still, he didn't plan on involving himself in whatever his party was dealing with. He had the same breakfast: warm bread and an assortment of jams. The bread was even better than the previous breakfast. Eury was learning fast. Since Revel didn't look like she would enjoy explaining the painting to him, Adolin decided to ask Ellen.

"Tea?" Adolin asked. There were probably better ways to start a conversation, but the last time he'd asked, it had turned into a conversation, even when that hadn't been his intention. Ellen smiled and nodded.

"I was beginning to think you'd never ask." Adolin glanced around the table and shrugged.

"Well, I didn't want to get involved with whatever is going on," he whispered. Yet, he was pretty sure everyone in the room had heard him. It didn't really bother him. They didn't look like they were going to say anything. Ellen didn't look like she wanted to comment on the room, so she simply slid the cup toward him. Adolin chanted under his breath, and soon both of their cups were filled with hot tea. He took a sip, enjoying the fragrance and taste.

"I must compliment you on your taste in art," Adolin said, ignoring what he'd said before. Ellen slowly put down her cup.

"Thanks," she said with a smile.

"Which piece did you find the most interesting?" Adolin looked deep in thought.

"The one with the shepherd? At least, that's how I see it."

"Interesting. Every guest who has ever stayed in that room eventually comes to the same conclusion."

"That the painting is about a shepherd?" Adolin asked. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Ellen nodded.

"Yes. Why do you see it that way?" Well, he had no clue how to answer that question. Even after spending far too many hours staring at it and noticing all the little details, he always came to the same conclusion: the painting was about a shepherd. He had no idea how to put it into words. It felt like every other conclusion he'd reached was wrong. Only when he thought of the man as a shepherd did he feel like he was seeing the painting correctly.

"I'm not sure," he said after a few moments.

"There are a lot of things within the painting that point to the man not being a shepherd, and yet, in the end, I still think he is. If… that makes sense." Ellen nodded.

"It's the same conclusion everyone comes to in the end."

"Why is that?" Everyone at the table listened to their conversation, but no one uttered a single word. The atmosphere had improved somewhat, but the tension was still there. It mostly radiated from Revel, with a little coming from Blaise. Lira, meanwhile, was caught in the middle of whatever had happened while he was away.

"I don't know," Ellen said.

"The painting has been in our family for a long time, and we've had quite a lot of people study it. It was impossible to reach another conclusion. Well, at least for those who weren't trying to lie about it." Adolin had no idea what that meant. Well, his explanation for why there were predators among the sheep was that the shepherd wasn't human, and whatever he was, his profession was probably a little different from that of a human shepherd. The conversation with Ellen lasted for more than an hour.

She told him about some of the con artists who had come for the reward, but the truthseeker had caught them before they could receive it. Her father, and his grandfather before him, had both tried to study the painting and uncover its secrets. They had even involved several archmages during their time, and yet they hadn't managed to discover anything. According to the records, the painting had been found in an underground ruin alongside a dozen or more other paintings.

Most of them were gone, but one more was in Revel's estate, three were in the Emperor's palace, and a few more were scattered throughout the Empire. The only thing the paintings had in common was a signature on the back of each one. The letter L. He would have to check the signature when he returned to his room.

"Every time I get an interesting guest," Ellen said, "I give them the room in the hope they'll discover something new."

"And no one has ever done so?" Adolin asked.

"No. There is some kind of magical influence. That's the only thing that would explain it." Adolin nodded. He hadn't sensed any mana coming from the painting, but he still agreed with Ellen. Whatever was influencing everyone who tried to study it was unnatural. There were other types of energy capable of producing spells or miracles. Like the divine energy the priests in his old world used. The corruption in this world was another example. But whatever it was, he didn't have enough mana to study it.

At least not yet. He would in the future, though. The spells capable of discerning and analyzing other types of energy used a lot of mana. More than using Calamity at its full strength. Most of those spells had been created centuries, if not more, before his time. The scholars of his world referred to them as ancient magic. Adolin himself had never had the time to study them, so everything he knew about them came from the records of scholars and old fogeys.

The only reason he'd learned the spells was because his mentor had forced him to. They turned out to be quite valuable in the future, as they had helped his party deal with the god's influence for some time. Breakfast soon ended, and Revel had promised to let him study the painting they had back at their estate. Other than that, the girl didn't say anything else. She simply listened to their conversation in silence. On his way back to his room, Adolin was confronted by Eury.

The boy was wearing a kitchen apron and was covered in flour.

"Bastard," he whispered as he got closer.

"Why do you keep ignoring me?" Adolin cast a bubble of wind around them to prevent anyone from listening to their conversation. How was he going to explain to them that the brat in front of him was an old fogey who had lived for multiple centuries, and not a nine-year-old? And that he was actually the Demon King?

"I told you I'm taking a break."

"You did no such thing!" he spat, pouting.

"I didn't?" Adolin asked.

"NO!"

"Whatever," Adolin said. He did say he was taking a break during breakfast when he arrived at the estate. It wasn't his problem that the brat wasn't in the room.

"That's all you've got to say?"

"Weren't you supposed to go back to the dungeon yesterday? What are you still doing here? And why do you keep baking bread?"

"Umm... Well, you see... I would just be wasting my time there if you don't help me with the core."

"I already gave you a core to study. Isn't that enough? And why did you avoid my question?"

"Let's take a walk! The estate is beautiful, and you haven't left your damn room to see it!" Eury said as he turned and walked away from his room.

"Whatever," Adolin muttered and followed behind him, still keeping the spell around them. They left the building through a back entrance that led to a garden. Everyone with some power and coin in the world had gardens. The garden looked like it had been covered in snow. The flowers and plants were white, light blue, and some were light purple. In the middle of the garden were trees with purple crowns that contrasted perfectly against the lighter colors. Adolin saw three gardeners tending to the plants.

The difference between this garden and the ones he'd seen in the capital was that there were a lot of vegetables and fruit. The gardens in the capital didn't have many edible plants.

"It's really beautiful," Eury commented.

"I would have killed for something similar in my castle! But the damn continent couldn't keep anything alive for too long." The boy kept talking about the garden for the next few minutes.

"Is that why you're bothering me? To talk about gardens?"

"Well, not really. But I had to tell someone!"

"Did you learn anything new from the core?" Adolin asked as he sat on a bench beneath the Purple Tree. He wasn't sure if they had another name, but since the forest was called the Purple Forest, he guessed it would be something similar.

"No," Eury said with a frown.

"The cursed corruption had already destroyed everything that made the core a dungeon core. At least, that's my guess."

"And what's your problem with the bread?"

"Tell me what you want in return for helping me with the dungeon."

"Why are you changing the conversation?"

"That's irrelevant. Name your price!" Eury said, staring into Adolin's eyes. Adolin scratched his chin, as if deep in thought. Was this the moment when he would get his percentage of the Demon King's business? It looked like the perfect moment for him.

"Fifty percent…" Eury tilted his head.

"Fifty percent of?"

"Umm…" Adolin straightened, recovering his confidence.

"Of the dungeon." Eury blinked.

"You want fifty percent of my dungeon?"

"No… just the earnings…"

"Are you crazy?"

"It's fine if you don't want my help," Adolin said as he took out a cup and filled it with tea. The aroma spread around them. Eury stared at him with his mouth wide open.

"Five percent," he spat after Adolin took a sip. Adolin just shook his head, saying nothing. He knew Eurynomos well enough to guess how the whole bargaining would end. If he was lucky, it would go over the twenty percent he'd initially wanted.

"Seven."

"I guess you don't want my help after all. In fact, you can also return my core."

"Hey! Let's not rush this. I can give you… fifteen percent. That's the maximum I'm willing to go." Adolin finished his cup and stood from the bench.

"Goodbye, old friend," Adolin said as he strode toward the entrance to the building.

"Wait!" Eury shouted as he tried to keep up with him, but his small legs made it difficult.

"Is this how you treat kids? Trying to steal everything from them?"

"Fine! Twenty percent, and don't even think about asking for more!" Adolin slowed, then, after a few more steps without hearing a word from Eury, stopped and turned. Eury stood just a few meters away from him, his arms crossed over his chest, pouting.

"Deal!" Adolin said. Eury's face darkened.