Chapter 43: Preparations

Chapter 43: Preparations

Mid Morning - Mid Spring : Kingdom of Kaelallan

Seeing Father and Sarah arguing about something, I turned to go and explore the rest of the room but was stopped by Oliver.

His forced smile looked a bit uncomfortable. "So how about I give you a little tour while they're.. doing that."

-He sure has good timing, huh..- "Sure, that'd be nice."

"Alright, well, let's start with the house and storage then." Seeing me casually agree, he finally started to ease up.

As we walked, I decided to ask a question weighing on my mind. "Isn't this place a bit too secure to just be a shelter? Is the vault or treasury here as well?"

The question caught Oliver a bit off guard but he still answered without much hesitation. "Yes, although this place was mostly built to give our family a place to come if something major happens above ground, it also contains our vault. It's in that building over there along with a few years worth of food supply." He casually motioned towards a crude stone building not far from the cottage.

-Isn't that a bit crudely built compared to the house?-

The storage was crudely cut out of stone, compared to the gorgeous 2 story wooden cabin. -They're both sturdy but man is that storage ugly..-

"Out front we have a small grass area, and in the back we have a basic garden. The 'real' garden is in the stone building over there though."

-Im sorry, what?-

As I was thinking, Oliver turned around and looked at me like he was waiting on me. "Do you want to take a look inside?"

-Oh whoops..- Quickly turning back into my humanoid form, we made our way inside.

The layout of the house was simple, with a large open area by the entrance, an office, full size kitchen, and 4 bedrooms with 2 baths. It was far beyond what I was expecting considering the era this world was in. Everything even had running water, albeit using artifacts.

Next was the storage building, although it was simply stone on the outside, the inside was rather intricate.

The building was divided into 3 sections, with the largest being a solid farm, easily enough to sustain a family.

It used artifacts to regulate everything from temperature and humidity to light cycles to simulate time of day.

-Wow..- "This is quite the feat of engineering.."

"Engineering?"

"N..nothing."

As we walked back into the main hall, we peeked our heads into the next area. Simply put, it was a massive produce freezer, using artifacts to keep everything frozen.

It was filled with everything from quality meats, to various sauces, vegetables and even juices and alcohols.

- Michael Cotorel ~

Finally making it to the palace, I was stopped by the guards at the gate. "Sir please show your ID and reason for being here."

Already having them out, I handed the knight the meeting notice from the guild and my ID. "I have a meeting with his highness to actuate my promotion."

"Hm. Sir Cotorel, please wait a moment while I confirm this information." He showed forced formality as he walked inside the gate and called over his superior.

The man he handed the papers to gave a harsh glare before handing the ID back to the knight.

"You're free to pass, congratulations on your promotion sir Cotorel." The knight handed me back my ID as he opened up the gate.

"Thank you." Putting it back in my pocket, I quickly made my way inside. -I wonder what kind of person the king is..-

For the citizens of Kaelallan like me, the king was not seen very often and had even earned the name 'Hidden King', but that didn't mean people didn't like him.

It was actually quite the opposite, the citizens absolutely loved him. Not only was he a king who was a strong leader, but he was also someone who loved his people, and went as far as to give policies and opportunities for peasants to climb into the middle class. It was something almost never seen elsewhere.

He was a king I could take pride in serving so I wanted to make the most of this opportunity. -I need to make a good impression at all costs..-

"Sir Cotorel, his highness is getting ready. Please wait here for a moment." The maid I followed inside motioned me into a room just inside the main door.

As I sat down, I reached onto the table and grabbed myself a bit of buttered white bread. -Wow.. That's really good..-

Truly fluffy white bread was a rarity even for royalty in other kingdoms so to be able to have any at all was bliss.

But my enjoyment quickly came to an end. "Sir Cotorel, his Highness will see you now, please follow me."

Quickly wiping my mouth, I set down my plate and cup of tea to follow the maid. -Alright! I need to look good, feel good, and sound good. I got this!-

It didn't take long to arrive at the room.

"This is the meeting room, his highness will be with you shortly." She gave a polite bow as she opened the door for me.

Behind the door was a simple room with two couches facing each other and a table between them. The table also had a small basket of sweet pastries on them but I dared not touch them. -They're probably for the royal family and not me..-

As my nervousness started to build up, there was a long and eerie silence that filled the room.

It made my gut feel like something bad was going to happen but I was quick to suppress it. -Now isn't the time for doubt.-

*Click*

Hearing the door open, I quickly fixed my posture and calmed my nerves. -There's no reason to be worried..-