When it come to halting supplies, me and Selinus seem to be of the same mind, maybe because he almost fell for the same trick the hour after prescribing the Duke with stomach medication.
He would be caught dead if he got played by the same play he started. I guess testing it out himself during the testing faze with Dawn really did a number on him huh.
So far, I would say it is a pretty satisfactory end both for my wallet and my mental health.
I would be lying if I said i haven't thought about giving a part of that money back to the Duke and Duchess since it is technically their money, but Selinus drive a hard bargain to turn down.
So...
Let me introduced you to the entire original floor plan of the Laurel estate.
Don't asked me how he had it.
I have no clue.
Heck, the Duke managed this estate, and he didn't even know it still existed and Selinus gave it to me right in front of his face. Apparently, he dug it up with Dawn by the far end of the library among the things being tucked away in a bunch of chests while researching.
He claimed it was entirely legit and propped open a secret door in the middle of the hallway. At that point, everyone was already invested in a new game to play since the current building plans compare to the old one was missing a lot of hidden mumbo jumbo. Among the arguing voices, mainly the Duke trying to reason and get the old map to the estate keepers and update the current plans, everybody started to bid.
And right where everyone gather, Selinus thought of of the brilliant idea to start an auction for this new mystery. The family fell for hook, line and sinker for it.
Numbers were being thrown around like dust in the wind, as the tired Duke sigh and leaned back on his chair, clearly understanding his place in the odd hierarchy of the Laurel family.
' But I am the Duke god damn it.' You could practically see it in his eyes - the powerlessness of the youngest child in the family.
The Duchess patted his back, somewhat comforting him but also didn't lose out on bidding.
Not like I have anything to defend myself about...
Anyway...
It certainly cost me a hefty buck. Almost 3/4 of the money from the prank show was use to buy it into my hand, plus this thing look absolutely ancient too.
I did promise dad-... The Duke that I would let him confirm the safety of each entrance first before my ass dived straight into some ancient trap that would straight up end my just after I barely come back alive.
After about two hour of exercises and playing with my sad mana pool, I got the map back. Whoever restore this thing should get an applause, it seems like this thing actually have some kind of mana circuits running through it. Certain part of the map showed foot steps of people walking about the estate, some were marked with name, other with a blank slate. I could see everyone movements in real time.
It is something straight out of a certain England magic school!
Luckily, the original designer of this ancient estate is just somebody who really love secret entrances and not booby traps. So I got the go ahead from the Duke to have all the fun I want but with a reminder to join everyone for dinner after I have my fun. It is sadly not 3D tho, and is still just a 2D paper map so I hope my navigation skill is on par with the pirates in the sea because this thing is gigantic.
They had fixed up the frayed corner and some small tears before passing it back to me. However, this map seemed to be just a copy of the original map that was made around 20 to 30 years ago. The Duke has ordered the librarians along with the record keepers to scourer those chests to find any other important missing records left behind.
The neat thing is that we could fold it in super tiny, but the not neat thing is that it is so damn big. We have to clear out most of the stuff in the common room just to fully extend every corner it.
Of course, talking of sneaking about(with permission this time:D), I had my little entourage following me as well, the twin who had sneaked away from their class and Isolde who wrapped up her training early to follow me around.
The other had their own thing to do, not like they didn't try to sneak away but couldn't. The family servants are armed to the teeth, not to mention the knights and tutors who are all master in their own field.
Safe to say, they will be there until they are done with whatever they needed to do. I luckily got off easily since they won't forced me to learn to much in this state, maybe also because I speed run all necessary classworks so I could mess around with the system several night before.
A giant pile of daily rewards has piled up in the hidden compartments of the cabin so I think that much hoarding is enough for the time being.
___________
{ SUPRISE QUEST! }
[Azimuth Pointer]
Just like the true angle that always pointed North, this map is made by a curious mind of your family almost two decades ago to record all the mystery of this estate. Despite being thoroughly disappointed by the lack of thrill by this surprisingly safe palace, they still decide to leave this map behind for anyone who needed it.
Task: Explore the secret passage and learn about the one who created this map.
Reward: ???
___________
Hmmmmmmmmmm.
The maker of this map.
Considering the year, this should be created by one of the elder in the family right?
" Little spark, look here." The twin sounded in unison, both pointing at the upper corner of the map where a small line of lettering could be seen.
' To our youngest' - L.H.L
Neat handwriting trace over the top of the folded corner, time has stained the map enough for to be considered dust and mold instead of anything eligible but if you squint real hard it could almost be seen.
It is fortunate that the message was short, if no it might have already been lost to the paper mites, and the paper scraps cut away from the restoration.
" Is this addressing my dad? " I turn to asked them, since honestly they probably know more about this than me.
" No. I am sure this is not for uncle."
" As far as I know, none of the... living elder members of the family is particularly talented with cartography. Not to mention, If it was for uncle, the dead ones wasn't too fond of him either."
They added casually.
Ok. Probably things I don't know yet.
I don't feel like knowing either.
Skip.
" But then... if this thing wasn't made by our parents nor could it encompass our grandparents. And it wasn't meant for any of them... Would that mean it was made for me? That wouldn't make sense. How would they know I would exist back then?" What a head scratching moment.
The 3 of them exchange agreeing look as they too join their brain cells into this thought.
Huhhhhhh...
After less then 30 second, we collectively give up on it and focus back on finding a secret route to try out.
They pointed out some of the one the already knew about and marked them with their pen. Most of the route in the Winter and Summer palaces were already covered which we immediately skipped over visiting them since it didn't lead to anywhere interesting that could be reached on foot.
That leave two of the biggest palaces for us to become the new wall rats in. Of course, we covered all the escape route leading to outside the estate first. These are generally common knowledge already, but some turns were obscure and block off from sight.
Since we did snuck by the Duke's room, we could be sure that some of the knights and landscapers will come down and inspect them to properly and fixed what can still be use.
The Laurel estate had been here way before the Hycarpo empire is establish, but before the actual family settle here, it was actually an cathedral and a war refuge. After the expansion of the holy kingdom Euantria next door, many churches and cathedral were forced to move and re-establish their church within its ground.
Not wanting the once sacred land they lived to turn into a wasteland, some of those very nuns and cardinal decided to stay behind and turn it into a settlement for people instead. Since it was created in troubled years, they expanded largely underground, which created such a complex system that once moved to a more peaceful era, was instead use mostly for storage.
----
When the Kingdom of Hycarpo was founded, those same people came to their newly ascended king and made a request,
' A lord fair and just to safeguard our home, wise enough to ensure our prosperity and peace.'
And by their plee, the common born king ushered his dear friend who has aided him from his very first steps.
' Come on now, our fair and just lord go and introduced yourself.' The Royal said gleefully.
For a land that had safe so many even himself, it is deserving for the one who had outwit the old regime and topple it to the ground to be the one to lead it to the future. Glad as they were, certain tradition still need to be kept.
So first let us toast, fill each cup to the brim and spilling golden ichor just like the vigor of our victory.
Second, before the crown, kneel in the light for you were the one who meld the old and craved it anew with your own hand.
And lastly, may the land bless your grace and wit as heaven guide us forward.
To thee, oh, our protector.
----
" The Royal family corniness surely is more eternal than the glory of our family name." Isolde look at the old newsletter with disgust, clearly had experienced such thing first hand.
The twin were shuffling through old photos, peaking over me and Isolde every once in a while. Each one of us is covered in dust from head to toe, having dug through a mountain of stuff.
There was nothing much left behind that was legible or important enough to speak of other than this cut out which was stored in a box along with some carefully preserved drawings. We planned to bring it back to the Duke first before pivoting our exploration toward the more internal tunnels.
" I need a bath after this." I held up my jacket that accidently land on the floor and instantly become a dirty rag within two second.
" Let go back quickly, the chef just came up with a new dish recently."
It is almost dinner time after all.