Chương 22: Dusk Manor

"So basically, you want me to attend that ceremony?" Nerez and Cerys were now making their way through the streets of Empyrean Peaks behind the High Arbiter, Cassian, and his assistant Dililei.

"That is correct, Your Exaltedness. The Ceremony of Beginnings marks Eryndea's emergence as its own world and will allow the mortal souls of the first peoples to enter," Cassian replied, adjusting his glasses.

"Your Exaltedness? Is that actually a thing? Nerez is fine... But more importantly, what do you mean by the first peoples?"

"Allow me to answer that! Nere... Lord Nereziel!" Dili corrected herself immediately after a single glance from the High Arbiter.

"By the first peoples, we mean, in essence, the souls who will give rise to Eryndea's future races: humans, elves, goblins, and so on..."

"Currently, this world is inhabited only by animals, monsters, and immortal beings such as spirits," Cassian added.

"The ceremony will open the gates to mortal souls capable of reason."

"And where do I come into all of this?"

"While Her Holiness, Lady Lirien, will be the one to open the gates of the Silver Sea, Lord Nereziel, you must create the path back to it," Cassian explained.

"In other words, Lord Nereziel, you must sense the river of death with your mind and connect it to the Silver Sea," Dili added.

"Exactly. As things stand, souls that fall into this world are destined to remain here forever," Cassian continued, adjusting his glasses.

"Generally, that is not a problem, but it also means there is no true death." I want to ask what happens when not even the Silver Sea can grant you a true death, but I doubt they'd know. They'd just start peppering me with questions...

"So you want me to magically find this river of death with my mind and then connect it (who knows how) to the Silver Sea?"

"That is correct," Cassian answered without so much as blinking.

"Only you, as the one who governs the laws of the hereafter in this world, can do that."

"And what happens if I don't go...?"

"We cannot compel you to do anything," Cassian stated, adjusting his glasses.

"But the goddess of life would likely take it as a personal affront, since it would mean standing her up."

"Oh! I like that idea!" Cerys suddenly exclaimed.

"I've wanted to fight Lirien ever since I first laid eyes on her!"

"..."

"What?"

"I suppose I don't have much choice but to go. I don't need more problems," Nerez sighed, pointedly ignoring the redhead.

"Hey!"

"Lord Nereziel, the river of death is a sacred place and a great source of power for whoever controls it," Cassian explained.

"It is what we gods call faith, though other beings can use it as a form of energy as well."

"The river itself gives you faith? I didn't know rivers could be believers..."

"Faith is basically spiritual energy, only less pure," Dili explained.

"Just as humans can share their spiritual energy with the gods through it, sacred places and objects have their own as well." The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"I explained that too," Cerys grumbled.

"I see... so the river's spiritual energy, or rather its faith, comes from the souls it carries."

"Exactly," Dili confirmed with a smile.

"What I find strange is that the river of death wouldn't already be under the god of death's control..." Nerez commented, one hand on his chin.

"The river is part of the world itself, though you're right that only the god of death can truly draw out its full potential," Cassian replied.

"Lord Nereziel, if you manage to sense where it lies, I would advise securing it as soon as possible."

"Mmm, well, the river is going to be in the underworld... which is basically a cave... and it'll give me faith, so I wouldn't be poor anymore. With that faith, I could also fortify the cave so no one would bother me... But the river itself could also attract a huge number of problems... Mmm... The road to the perfect cave is a steep one..."

"Cave?" Dili asked, turning toward Cerys.

"Don't mind him. It's just something he likes to say," she replied with a shrug. Cassian came to a sudden stop, which in turn caused Dili to walk straight into his back.

"Very well, Lord Nereziel, we've arrived." While Dili rubbed at her aching nose, Cassian gestured for all of them to look at an opulent manor.

"Like all properties in Empyrean Peaks, it is exempt from taxes for the first few centuries. That gives the gods time to settle into the world."

"To think even gods have to pay taxes..."

"It is necessary to keep Empyrean Peaks running," Cassian explained, adjusting his glasses.

"Of course, that applies only to this city. In your own domain, you set the rules."

"Still, it really is an impressive mansion..." Nerez remarked, looking at the gigantic gates that revealed vast gardens and an enormous complex of buildings beyond them.

"Among the mediators, we've been calling it Dusk Manor! Ever since it was assigned to you, of course, Lord Nereziel."

"We are at the highest point of the highest peak in the city," Cassian added.

"Not far from here stand the mansions of Her Holiness Lirien, goddess of life, and His Eminence Aion, the god of time." God of time... The purple-haired, lilac-eyed guy. I only saw him from afar when I was sent back to the Palace of Concord plaza. I knew he smelled like trouble.

"It's an incredible place, but maintaining something like this must cost the faith of an entire religion. On top of that, I'm in the dangerous part of town... Mmm, all right, you've convinced me... to leave. There's no choice but to finish that ceremony quickly, then go find the river of death and my ideal cave!"

"Yay! Let's show the underworld who's boss! We'll beat the stuffing out of anyone who gets in our way!"

"... Let's try talking first, okay?"

"Tch..."

"By the way, High Arbiter..." Dili whispered into Cassian's ear.

"Aren't the clothes they're wearing worth way more than the mansion?"

"Dililei, it is rude to whisper about people behind their backs," Cassian replied, adjusting his glasses.

"Though, of course, that is only to be expected from His Exaltedness, the god of death."

Dusk Manor, or "the place I'm going to keep until they start charging me taxes," as Nerez called it, was a cluster of buildings, each one grand enough on its own to count as a royal mansion. But in essence, it was still mostly empty. There was some luxurious furniture, but little else. No decorations, not even flowers in the gardens. That was only to be expected, given that everything was brand new and the place was being occupied for the first time.

It had clearly been meant for its new owner to furnish however he pleased.

"A garden for sacred beasts?" Nerez asked after Cassian and Dililei had left.

"Or mythological creatures. One of the gardens was designed for that," Cerys replied, lounging across one of the luxurious sofas in the spacious, almost empty sitting room.

"I think a cat or a dog would be enough for me..."

"I want a three-headed dog!" Cerys exclaimed, sitting up.

"..."

"What now?"

"Nothing... it's just that you really should've been the god of death..."

"And only now you realize it? In that case, the main bedroom is mine!"

"Of course not. One thing is one thing, and another is another. They're completely separate matters."

"Tch... cheapskate."!! Nerez did not know whether it had something to do with the nature of the manor, which according to Cassian had its own barrier, but he sensed someone waiting on the other side of the gates.

"Ugh... I don't have the energy to see anyone else right now. Cerys, tell them to come back some other day."

"Why me?!"

"You have to earn your room and board somehow." The redhead kept muttering complaints, but she got to her feet all the same. It would have taken a normal person quite a while to get from the sitting room to the manor's entrance. But Cerys opened the window and, in barely a couple of leaps, vanished from sight.!!! This time, an uproar at the entrance nearly sent Nerez reeling backward.