Chapter 11
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: First Days in the Castle
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The impossibly vast castle, spanning a total of 120 square kilometers, truly lacked nothing.
There was a sprawling training ground set aside solely for the Sword Saint's practice, and a grand banquet hall capable of easily accommodating thousands of people. Naturally, there was a library filled with the history and teachings of various races, as well as several empty rooms whose purpose was a complete mystery.
The castle held not thousands, but tens of thousands of rooms. It would have been impossible to use every single space within.
After taking a moment to pay my respects to the dwarven artisans who must have agonized over designing the building's interior, I sighed while staring blankly at a vacant chamber.
“That is a room with no current designated purpose. If you wish, we can summon artisans to convert it into a training ground, a practice hall, or a library for you.”
A gentle voice explained from behind me as I gazed at the empty room.
“No, I don't think that will be necessary...”
A servant had been assigned to me. He was a middle-aged man with the classic appearance of a butler: neatly styled hair, a crisp tuxedo, and a large white towel draped over one arm for reasons I couldn't fathom.
The kind of servant who looked like he might break into a dance if you didn't go to bed on time.
“For now, please show me to my room.”
The middle-aged servant told me to drop the formalities, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.
I've lived my entire life in a land where age dictates respect; how could I speak informally to someone who looked old enough to be my father?
It just felt instinctively wrong.
“Your room is this way.”
We walked down a really.
Really.
A really, really, ridiculously long and wide corridor.
“Wait, let's just rest for a moment.”
How long and arduous was the journey? So much so that while following the servant's lead, I had to collapse on the spot twice to catch my breath.
“Then please rest well. If you require anything, ring this bell, and servants will come to your room shortly.”
After we arrived at the room.
The middle-aged servant placed a small golden bell in my room and departed. I immediately lay down on the bed and massaged my legs, which were sore from the exhausting trek.
It was the first proper bed I'd lain in for nearly three or four days. The sheets were soft and the blanket was plush; I felt like I could fall asleep the moment I closed my eyes.
“Fuck…”
But comfortable as the bed was, my mind was anything but at ease, like a deer cornered on a cliff's edge.
In the end, I had joined the Sword Saint's party.
A novice thrown into the game world less than a week ago, joining a party far beyond my station...
The thought of what lay ahead sent a chill down my spine.
I would be exposed to countless dangers.
High-ranking demons would be the norm, and there might even be times when I'd have to face Overlords like Maltiel or Raguel. Sometimes, I might have to fight powerful monsters like dragons or ancient spirits, not just demons and mutants.
To avoid dying, I had to get stronger.
Fortunately, or perhaps not, the people around me misunderstood me as either the second key to humanity's salvation or a once-in-a-generation genius who would go down in magical history.
If I wanted, I could probably get my hands on most equipment or grimoires with ease.
On top of that, the leaders of the Round Table had promised to assign me a personal magic tutor.
They seemed excited to see how much stronger I'd become with formal training, given I had none so far... but honestly, I wasn't very confident.
I was the kind of person who dropped out of high school and left home to become a composer.
Someone who'd never properly studied a day in his life was now suddenly diving into the new academic field of magic.
I couldn't help but worry, ‘Can I really do this?’
“I'm in deep trouble.”
...I could already picture the look on my future tutor's face.
‘Basic training and studying are a must, but to survive on the high-level battlefields where that Sword Saint bastard roams, I'll need to use some tricks.’
Just studying honestly won't be enough to catch up to the Sword Saint—a man treated like a living ultimate weapon—in three years.
‘Finding and acquiring 'artifacts' would be one of those tricks, and seeking out the forest where the lightning spirit dwells to gain its blessing would be another.’
Fortunately, I knew all about the various elements that could power up a character in a short amount of time.
I would have to mobilize every bit of knowledge and every method I possessed.
‘Just make it happen. You're a genius.’
A misunderstanding with high risks and high returns.
I would have to perform a precarious tightrope walk on this thin line of misunderstanding.
If I misstepped even slightly, I'd meet a pointless end on the battlefield. Or I'd be sent to the execution block for deceiving the leaders.
“I am a genius... I can do this... I will survive... I am a genius...”
Like a witch chanting a bizarre spell, I lay on the bed and began to idly hypnotize myself.
...In truth, it wasn't very effective.
That damned [Composure] trait was preventing me from going crazy even when I wanted to.
And so, I spent my first night in the kingdom lying in bed for a long while, lamenting my fate.
***
The second day arrived.
The [Composure] trait's effectiveness was undeniable.
To think it allowed me to sleep like a baby even in this insane situation.
After waking up, I even found myself sitting at the table in my quarters, calmly brewing tea to shake off the morning grogginess.
‘What can I do? Things turned out this way. I'll just wake myself up with some tea for now. Since they've already started misunderstanding me... I might as well make the most of it.’
The anxiety from last night felt like a distant dream.
...It almost made me wonder if I was truly going mad. How else could I be leisurely brewing tea in a situation like this?
“Well, what's done is done. I just need to focus on what I can do.”
Having settled my thoughts, I rang the golden bell the servant had left for me a couple of times.
Soon after, a young servant, different from yesterday's, knocked and entered.
“You called for me.”
...This one also looked like he'd break into a dance if you didn't go to bed on time.
“Here, it's a list of the magical tools and clothing I need.”
I handed the servant the list I had filled out in my notebook last night while frantically chanting those spells to myself.
It included not only basic equipment like a crystal orb, grimoires, robes, and a hat, but also fundamental books explaining how magic worked.
‘First, I need to at least understand what magic is.’
I had been using Blooming instinctively, and even though I had played the game this world was based on for a whopping 5,000 hours, I had no idea what 'magic' actually was.
This place was reality.
In front of a computer, a few clicks of a button could summon a massive pillar of fire, but reality was surely different.
I had to learn the mechanics of how magic worked in reality before meeting my tutor, didn't I?
“Oh, and I have one more request.”
“Please, go on.”
“...Could you let me know when an orc named Rex and his subordinates arrive in the capital?”
“Rex, you say... Are you referring to the orc soldier? Might I ask your business with him?”
“...I owe them my life. I thought it would be proper to at least attend the funeral.”
At my answer, the servant simply gave a quiet nod and left my room.
That afternoon, most of the items I had written on the list arrived in my room.
After checking the sizes of the equipment I needed to wear, like the robe and hat, I opened a book and began to study, something I'd never expected to do in my life.
As I started reading the words in the book, it felt as if time itself was accelerating.
It was as if everything around me blurred and receded to the edge of my vision.
My concentration was so intense, even I found it hard to believe.
‘...This is easier than I thought.’
Contrary to my worries, knowledge related to magic entered my mind with incredible ease.
Was my abnormally high Magic stat playing a part in this?
I had devoured about twenty books—which I had planned to stack up and read slowly over time—in less than three hours.
Unlike in reality, it seemed my mind was surprisingly sharp in this world.
Well, I did have a Magic stat of 20 when ordinary mages only managed about 13 or 14... It wouldn't make sense if my intelligence didn't match up.
Just as the arrogant thought that I might actually be a genius crossed my mind, a sharp pain shot through my eyes.
The pain felt like needles pricking them, and I pressed my hands to my eyelids as I stood up from the desk.
Having sat in one position for three hours, I suddenly felt dizzy upon standing. It was a classic sign of anemia, and I forced my burning eyes open just long enough to collapse onto the bed.
Someone once said that studying, too, requires stamina, right?
It seemed this cursed body couldn't even endure sitting still and reading a book for more than three hours.
As payment for the intense weight training session of sitting and reading for three whole hours, I was forced to spend the rest of the day lying in bed, tapping at my eyelids.
It seemed my hope of perhaps becoming a real genius was nothing more than a delusion.
***
Around noon on the third day.
Having learned my lesson from yesterday's pain, I made sure to stretch after every thirty minutes of reading and then rest in bed for twenty minutes.
I had learned yesterday that this ridiculous body couldn't even sit still for three hours without periodic breaks every thirty minutes.
Stamina 1, Strength 1, Agility 1.
As I sighed once more at the stats that made my chest tighten just by reciting them, and leaned back on the bed, an unsummoned servant knocked on my door.
I dragged my leaden body to the door and pulled the handle with great effort.
“Squad Leader Rex and his members have returned.”
The young servant delivered the news of my saviors' return with a solemn expression.
“...Please lead the way.”
The young servant, as if he had memorized the entire layout of this insanely large interior, led me with practiced steps to where a carriage was waiting.
We walked for about thirty minutes.
Seeing me out of breath and sweating profusely, the servant suggested we take a short break, but I refused.
I could rest in the carriage.
A four-wheeled carriage, prepared in advance by the servant, was waiting for me at the castle entrance.
And so, the carriage took me straight out past the castle walls, following the well-paved roads of the capital toward the national cemetery for fallen soldiers.
After a journey of nearly two hours.
In the distance, at a cemetery on a hillside, a funeral was already in progress.