Chapter 35: Chapter 35 – Guest at the Palace! (Intermission 2, II)

We followed Dunal’s footsteps through the well-decorated corridors, filled with a large assortment of various artifacts ranging from artwork, plants and a plethora of vases. The decorations were well-made and must have cost a fortune compared to the other stuff I had seen thus far. When compared to the Krossa Manor, it definitely left that in the dust. But I guessed that was normal after many years of goblin occupation, not to mention, the destruction that had been caused during the battle with Lanakis.

A few moments later, we arrived at the guests’ quarters where the corridor filled with doors on both sides at regular intervals. Two guards were stationed at each end, plus there was a giant service room where the maids and butlers ran around, trying their best to ensure everything was up to the royal standard. I got a feeling the prince had arrived out of the blue. I remember Azer and the twins previously mentioned that the duke was the one in charge here. Why is the prince even here, then? Maybe this'll all be explained when we get called for this so-called ‘Discussion.’

Dunal produced a bell from within his pocket and gave it a ring when the doors of the guest rooms opened up and the maids lined up in a perfect line. “Maids, we have special guests at the request of Prince Edmund, please ensure their needs are catered for. If there are any issues bring them to my personal attention in the greatest of haste.” The maids just bowed their heads in agreement without question.

Artos and Atreyu both got lucky and were given the largest of the rooms in addition to extra maids. This resulted in Artos looking slightly embarrassed but ended up just thanking the butler for his hospitality. Atreyu looked like he had just won the jackpot and already began eyeing some of the better-looking maids, but Artos swiftly put an end to that with a hard elbow to the belly. For the rest of us, we were pointed to the normal ones.

“Again, I offer you my sincerest apologies. We were unaware we would be having extra guests staying over.” Dunal finished before a stout bow and made way for the service room where it looked like there was a ton of water being warmed up for our baths.

I let out a sigh of relief as I couldn’t wait to get myself in that relaxing warm water and stepped into my room. There was hardly any light in here apart from some that escaped through the little slit in the wall at the other end, just enough for me to notice that a maid was running around completing the final touches. When she saw me, she stopped in her tracks and bowed.

“My lord… you must be cold. Let me light the fire.” She scurried to the fireplace and began striking flint and steel but failed miserably countless times. Her hands were shaking to the point that no proper sparks were even being produced. “Sorry, my lord. I can’t get it to work.”

“Erm… I’m not a lord… Just Ali is fine.” I corrected her before walking up to the fireplace and putting my hand forward. The palace was freezing cold, probably due to its massive size, and I couldn’t be bothered staying cold one second longer. “Don’t worry. I got this.”

“Sorry, my lord.” She apologized once again before giving me a confused look as to why I didn’t take the flint and steel that rattled in her hand with every shiver.

I got a proper look at her face and noticed she was still in her early teens and most likely a new starter here. That explains the nervousness and the inability to start the fire. Must be a town girl thing. “Hey, you might want to take a step back.” When she was a safe distance away, I blasted the wood with a minute amount of fire which caused me to dip into my MP reserves slightly.

[You cast Stream of Fire: +5XP]

[Ali’Creed Level 9: HP: 147/236, SP: 171/236, MP: 0/214, AP: 50/50]

With a poof, the fireplace came to life and drenched the room in light. Ahh! Much better now. The maid jumped back in astonishment as the flames shot towards the fireplace, a worried expression filled her face like she hadn’t seen magic before. “Relax, it’s just a little bit of magic.” I shrugged before taking a better look around.

The room was bigger than the one I was given at the inn, but the quality of its construction was so good it even beat most five-star hotels on earth. These people weren’t simple, and it showed in the expert quality of their work. The cobblestone walls had been plastered over and painted in a neutral beige, and a large four-post bed was resting snugly against the far wall under the thin open slit for a window. A soft whistling wind occasionally blew inside, along with small specs of snow that swiftly melted away before touching anything as the room had now become warmer.

The maid just looked at me, confused, and seemed too terrified to even utter a word. “Hey… it’s just magic.” I scratched my head. I didn’t mean to scare the poor girl. Then again, it was stupid of me to use the spell as I could have just used the flint and steel for the same effect, especially after Azer’s warning about people being dubious of magic around these parts.

The young lady composed herself, “Yes, my lord… if you may give me your armour and clothing, I will take them to get cleaned by the staff.” She handed me a woollen gown to change into.

“It’s alright…” I assured her, “this armour repairs and cleans itself with something called a self-repair enchantment. And please, just call me Ali, I’m not a lord nor anyone with a title… now… about that nice warm bath.” Since my last bath, I had travelled many miles, fought goblins and a frost drake, the stench was getting too much to handle, and I wasn’t sure how this maid was coping with it. Sorry maid… I guess!

“Ah... right, I will prepare it at once… sir.” She said before scurrying to the door.

“Hey, just one more thing. What is your name? I don’t want to be calling you ‘Maid’ all the time.” I asked just as she was about to leave.

“Oh, my name… It’s Ismanna.” She glanced back before vanishing into the corridor.

I was so tired I dropped backward on the bed and closed my eyes for a much-needed nap when a loud scream erupted from one of the other rooms. It sounded like a lady’s voice, and I had no doubt it was that of a maid. Annoyed with the disruption, I scurried out to investigate.

I peered in the direction of the other rooms and noticed a maid slamming the door to the goblin caster’s room. Ah Great! Dunal came running from the service room and the guards closed in on the room's door with their weapons drawn with the maid crying her eyes out and shouting unintelligible words.

I just realized the cause of this must have been her noticing her guest was in fact a drunken crazy-looking goblin. Shit! We should have really notified them about this.

The others by this time had poked their heads out of their doors with Atreyu bursting into a fit of hysteria. “Never seen a Goblin before, I bet.” He carried on laughing and went back inside.

Dunal arrived at the door and tried to calm the maid down, “Are you alright. What happened?” the only reply he got was more sobbing and some awkward pointing to the room that had been given to Lanakis.

The goblin caster opened the door and poked his head out and shrugged as the guards were thrown off balance, even Dunal stood there with his mouth open.

Before the guards could mount an attack, Artos managed to get in between, “Hey, it’s alright. He’s with us… we forgot to tell you he’s our Goblin…friend. Just put your weapons away… you don’t stand a chance. Quickly, before he gets annoyed.”

Dunal sighed before grabbing the guards by the shoulder and pulling them back, “Get back to your posts,” he ordered before turning to the maid, “get back to the service room and prepare the food.”

The maid wiped her tears and ran towards the service room, still in shock.

Dunal turned to Artos, “Apologies, my lord. We weren’t expecting non-human guests, in the future, please notify me of this so I can better accommodate your needs. I will replace this maid with someone more experienced.”

“Don’t worry, it was our mistake.” Artos scratched his head before heading back to his door, but not before giving me a quick frown, followed by shaking his head as if this was all my fault for bringing the caster along.

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I replied with a shrug and got back to my room, but not before the goblin caster scoffed a few curse words at now not having a servant to do his bidding. That was just tough luck, and I couldn’t be bothered with this nonsense anymore.

[You un-equipped Light Elven Helmet]

[You un-equipped Light Elven Armour]

[You un-equipped Light Elven Gauntlets]

[You un-equipped Light Elven Leggings]

[You un-equipped Light Elven Boots]

[You equipped Woollen Dressing Gown]

Another few moments had passed, I had removed the elven armour, got into the nice woollen dressing gown, and waited patiently near the giant round bathtub in the far corner of the room. Ismanna arrived with a couple of other maids who carried iron buckets of boiling hot water and quickly filled the tub before making sure the water was at a desirable temperature.

“What?” I asked as they all stared me down, scrubbers in hand.

“Take your gown off, we will scrub you down,” Ismanna said, looking embarrassed.

“I can scrub myself down, thank you very much,” I replied before motioning them to leave the room. There was no way I was getting naked in front of them, especially with all the goblin blood still covering my body. They nodded their heads in agreement and left the room.

[You un-equipped Woollen Dressing Gown]

Once I was done, I wiped myself down with the towels left neatly stacked to the side and got into another clean gown before making my way to the bed and getting all nice and snug in there. There was some water near the bed that had been put there by Ismanna earlier, I gulped down a few mouthfuls before letting it settle. I closed my eyes once again, hoping there wouldn’t be any more distractions to prevent me from drifting off like a new-born baby.

[You equipped Woollen Dressing Gown]

A loud thud at the door awoke me from my slumber. I yawned and tossed over to the side, wanting to drift off again. That was when another knock came from the door, like one of those annoying alarms that forces you to wake up. Annoyed, I jolted awake, “What is it?” I asked before stretching.

[You are well rested. +10% to stats.]

[Ali’Creed Level 9: HP: 259/259, SP: 259/259, MP: 236/236, AP: 50/50]

“His grace, Prince Edmund, has requested you and the other guests to attend the meeting room with haste. Master Dunal is waiting at the door to take you there once you are ready.” Ismanna explained from the other side.

“Alright. I’ll be out in just a moment.” I replied before I could hear her footsteps receding away from the door.

From the abundance of knocking, I bet the others were also jarred awake like this, with some knocks getting so loud It felt like my door was being bashed in. Time to get ready! It would have been nice to get some more sleep but there was still so much left to do here, and besides, I really wanted to know what this discussion was going to be about.

I washed my face with the water placed near the bed and opened the inventory screen to equip the elven armour once more. It was clean now and made me look all the more presentable as I was certain there would be other high ranking nobles present. I hurried to the door and once I was on the other side Dunal gave me a nod as I was the first one out.

[You un-equipped Woollen Dressing Gown]

[You equipped Light Elven Helmet]

[You equipped Light Elven Armour]

[You equipped Light Elven Gauntlets]

[You equipped Light Elven Leggings]

[You equipped Light Elven Boots]

[You dropped Woollen Dressing Gown]

We waited a little longer before the others were out, their clothes and armour had been cleaned and looked almost brand new, apart from the usual battle scars that were there previously. No amount of polishing would have taken them out.

“If you follow me, I will take you to his grace, Prince Edmund,” Dunal stated before leading us through a few more corridors to the meeting room.

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