4 Chapter 4 - Welcome to the Manor (1/2)
”How about we pick out a room for you so we can drop these off before I should you around?” I asked as we walked out of Alice's study, both of us carrying a few books.
”That sounds good,” she said in her Australian accent.
I smiled while I mentally chuckled, thinking about how much I liked girls with accents like hers and Ella. I led her down the hallway and up the stairs at the end. Most of the rooms were taken, but there were still two open on either side of my room by design. Gustavo's room was on the opposite side of the house and the other girls had given me space in hopes of limiting the underlining awkwardness that was ever present with the manor. I could only mentally sigh as I considered if I would have to asked Yue to setup a sound barrier ward in my room. The walls were thick, but I never, ever wanted to overhear my brother and one of the girls. Thankfully, I didn't think there was too much danger at the moment if she can't touch him.
We rounded a corner and I pointed to the middle door. ”That's my room in the middle, but the other two are free. The one on the left has a tub in the bathroom while the one the right has a standing shower that can double as a sauna.”
”Ooo!” Katye exclaimed as she headed straight for the room on the left.
She walked in right away and looked around. It was a bit bare, but it was much like my own, without the lived-in feel. Two comfortable chairs with a table inbetween was arranged in a nearby corner while a full sized bed was pushed in the opposite corner. A suitcase was sitting next to the dresser, no doubt whatever the oppratives thought was important to her in her old apartment. We had to be careful, but there were a few items that Sophia had that she could use to return to her home and say goodbye to whoever she was leaving behind. I was sure Alice had already explained that since she didn't seem to be antsy and even seemed excited in a way.
I set the books I had on the table while she dropped hers on the bed while she continued on to explore the bathroom. A squeal escaped the bathroom and I walked over out of curiousity, finding Katye sitting on the edge of a tub, large enough to be a hot tub. I chuckled which caused Katye's face to flash with red as she stood up quickly.
”I haven't had a tub since I moved out of my parents' house,” she explained.
”If you like this then follow me,” I said with a smile.
I turned around and headed for the door. Although I couldn't see her, I could still sense her movement as she skipped over behind me. I held in a laugh and was glad she couldn't see my face since I was sure it would betray me. She followed me out the door, shutting it behind us, and back down the stairs. I went straight for the back of the house and gave the outside a sweep with my sense to make sure Gustavo wasn't in the onsen. I wouldn't be able to sense anyone else through the wall, but my brother gave off a unique feeling I could sense as long as he was close enough.
With no sign of him, I opened the door and motioned for her to go in first. She stopped just after a few steps as she looked around with a bit of wonder in her eye. The onsen was very relaxing, to the point I wouldn't be surprised if Alice had set up some wards to enhance the effects. The hot spring was lined with a cool, dark gray stone up to the bed where the bamboo was planted to form a wall. The steam shrouded the stone golem that gave massages was in its spot in the shallow end, but I still knew what it was... however, Katye did not.
”What... who is that?” she asked me quietly.
I laughed, ”Don't worry, you'll get used to them, it's a stone golem. Think of them like robots that can only do a specific task and can't talk. The one here does massages, just tell it where and the level of pressure. It's great after a long day of training then you can soak in the hot spring. A warning though, most of the girls use it naked. My brother only uses it at specific times and will hang something on the handle so that we don't accidently cross path.”
”Gustavo is your brother?” she asked.
”Yeah... there are some strange things going on in the manor that you will understand in time. It's more than a little awkward and embarrassing to explain, but I'm sure you will pick up on it quickly. General rules of the house are don't enter a room with something hanging on the handles, someone has requested privacy. Typically, only Gustavo will mark the onsen, so just a heads up.” She gave me a puzzled look, but shook my head and refused to budge on the subject as I said, ”If it gets to the point where its important to know, Gustavo will explain.”
”What? Is he sleeping with everyone?” she asked with a laugh.
”How about I show you the kitchen and dining room?” I asked, ignoring her joke.
Her expression froze and looked at me with shock. ”You can't be serious,” she gasped.
”Look, I get it, I do. I'm literally living trapped in my brother harem. If you need to know, you can also talk to Melissa about it, if she doesn't find you first. I've never been good with people, even so less now, but everyone here is a good person and will have your back no matter what you're facing. We are stronger together than apart.”
”This is all really strange,” she said quitely after a moment.
”Just wait until you start entering the Rift... it won't make anymore sense, but you likely won't care as much,” I said with a shrug.
”What's the 'Rift'?”
”Come on, we can walk and talk,” I said as I turned to the door. ”Alice will give you a long, drawn-out explination of what the 'Rift' truly is, but how I have understood it as the 'Rift' is a parrallel Earth where, the people she calls the 'Old Ones', dirverted the follow of mana to which removed magic from the world. The 'Great Ward' is the only thing keeping the world seperate which is why, once it fails, everything will change so quickly. For whatever reason, the creatures within the 'Rift' are stregthening the mana in the other world, so when Alice senses openings in the ward, she'll send some of through to kill as many creatures as we can before we are pulled back,” I explained as we walked.
I showed her around the house and reintrocuded each girl we ran into. Melissa was in the library, reading through an antomy book. We talked for a few minutes, before we moved on. I only pointed out the workshop since a silver tassle hung from the handle, but I guessed Sophia and Lesedi were just working on their project they had been all secretive about in the morning. Ella's study was also marked for privacy, but that was normal while she was working because one mistake and the scroll she was creating would blow up in her face, literally. I showed her the kitchen and told her when meal times were. Normally, the golem would make all the meals, but every now and then, someone would feel like doing the cooking. The main room was the last important place within the house which was empty this time of day since everyone was doing their own thing. It wouldn't be until the evening, when everyone stopped for the day, that we gather and watched tv, play cards, or something.
”So, there is the garden and the training field left to show you. Where would you like to start?” I asked as we walked out the front door.
”The garden sounds nice,” Katye replied.