Mirrond: So, we’ve done it. How beautiful. All this torture… and pain… and… things… damn, I am too tired to think.

  Resus: It’s literally 1AM… and yes - we’re done writing the chapter… But I still have some tables to write xD

  Mirrond: *sounds of loud snoring*

  Resus: If you happen to find a mistake… PLEASE TELL US! We’re too tired to actually proofread this thing… Again.

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  Chapter 12: One book to rule them all

  First things first - I need guidelines. I can’t just wait for something to happen that would help me turn this whole situation in my favour. And yeah, it’ll be hard… going to school was always a pain for me - mainly because of my classmates - so I’d rather stick to myself and only react to the actions of others… but this time I need to act on my own. So, what did I learn today about my classmates?

  They suck. Shadow summed it up perfectly. They’re a bunch of rich, mean, spoiled brats… and their surprisingly racist for kids this age. The ‘bluehead’ name this horned aryan gave me stuck pretty hard. To the point that I actually got called that a couple times today by other kids. Although, I’m not the first one to be honored by a name like that - my cousins, Kiera and Ni’ren also seem to ‘suffer’ that kind of treatment.

  And that’s pretty much everything I know after this first day. So, I, most definitely, must gather more intel. Without knowing who, why and with whom… I can’t do shit here. I’ll just be stuck as a ‘bluehead’ for ten years if I correctly recall the length of my sentence. Starting tomorrow, that’s my main objective - to learn as much as I can about my classmates.

  And it looks like Shadow agrees with my point of view, although I didn’t expect him to quote Sun Tzu… He takes all this ‘conquering’ far too seriously. I mean, it’s not like people will be actually dying here, right? Right?

  * * *

  A week has passed… and I must say that attending this local version of school is tough.

  I decided to adapt a noninvasive approach and remain in metaphorical shadows, at least until I’ll get to know the people I’m here with… My two cousins are obviously totally useless as informators for me.They were here for half a year before me and yet when I ask them about anything they either don’t know, or pretend to be too busy to answer me. And I thought that there was something wrong with me, when - back on Earth - even after a full semester of studying I still couldn’t remember the names of half of my classmates…I think it’s also because kids this age don’t really care about gathering such knowledge, but it won’t stop me from judging two girls as useless… and mean.

  Still, even on my own I’ve learned quite a few things, like names - it’s surprisingly hard to learn someone’s name when he doesn’t even want to bother to honor you with a conversation. Or even to introduce themselves to you… I had to limit my attempts at name gathering to waiting for those rare occasions when the teacher decided to call someone by name. And truly it was a tedious task. Especially because of Shadow’s apparent decision to make my life harder and when it comes to my classmates - actual, informative Codex Entries show up only after I know their name and surname (unlike the ones describing only my own interactions that person)… for fuck’s sake, why?!

  There was, in fact, only one easy case of getting to know someone’s full name - The Nymph. I actually managed to speak with her for quite a while… although I must say that she creeps me out. Whatever god created the Nymphs here, must’ve had a strange sense of esthetics… She looked like a drowned person, kept underwater for few days, with seaweed as a replacement for hair… permanently wet seaweed… And her smile is much, much too wide. To the point that when she speaks or eats it look like her entire head is opening. It’s… well, if someone like that were to show up before me back on Earth, I’d probably run away, screaming about a monster wanting to do unspeakable things to me. Most likely involving a lot of bone breaking… and chewing. One thing is sure - if I’ll ever become crazy enough to seriously start building a harem, she’ll definitely won’t be a part of it. Although, surprisingly enough, she herself is a bookworm quite like Ni’ren.

  I confess, keeping myself from really running away from her was tough. Miraculously I succeeded in that task but failed the next one - I couldn’t say a word. It was actually her who started our short conversation. A that time I was sitting at my table - together with Meritri, who was busy with her writing practice - reading a random book I picked up earlier from a shelf. The Nymph approached me and introduced herself as Kaelcy Elidan.

  At that point I was still too dumbfounded to utter a word… and so she continued…

  “What happened, cat got your tongue? I know you’re Veles, but you should say your full name.” That was oh so very funny… Almost as if she’d actually think that it’s so easy to talk to a person who looks like her. It was a bit creepy to see a person without cheeks, talking. All those teeth… But finally, after too many milliseconds for it not to become awkward I thought that it’s time to get my act together… And that I really need to stop being such a failure of a reincarnated ‘hero’.

  “N-no, you just surprised me a little.” I tried to conjure a smile, but I’m not sure if I succeeded. “I am Varth Veles.” She was the first classmate outside of the ones from my family and the bullies to actually talk to me… Thankfully this time my blessing stayed silent, so I didn’t think there were any traps ahead.

  “I just saw that you’re reading Chronicles of the Celestial Orders: The High Sorcerer. Did you read the first two books?” But before I could even think of an answer, she continued… “I’ve read them here and wanted to start the third one today, but you took it first…” At that moment I decided to stop her speech.

  “Sure, I actually didn’t even notice that it’s not the first volume.” I didn’t even read the name when I picked it from the shelf… And in retrospect it’s pretty strange… what is it, a local version of Harry Potter? Really lame name… seriously. Well, I gave her the book and asked if it’s actually a good one. Now I kinda wish that I didn’t.

  “It’s about those two legendary chivalric orders, they were protecting the world from evil and demons, and black magic, and all the kingdoms from war. And they only accepted the best warriors, and knights, and mages… And in the first book they only just get together, and get their castle, and there’s that evil they don’t know about yet, but you know because it’s taking about destroying the world in the beginning, but the orders don’t know. And there are two orders to keep the balance, Order of the Sun and Order of the Moon, and the moon one is so much better, but they always get the boring stuff to do… Anyway, there’s that evil they don’t know about, and they have those signs that something bad is happening, and they have to find out about that evil and organise an expedition to vanquish that evil. And there are traps and trials on the way there… But I’m not gonna say how it ends because it’s just too good so, you’d have to read for yourself. But the second book is even better than the first because the orders know from the start that there’s that Dark One, and he wants to enslave everyone and the whole book is about the orders travelling all around the world searching for powerful warriors and mages so that when this Dark One comes they can beat him. But later it turns out that he sent his armies first and the orders have to fight their way through those armies. And there’s that one mage from the Order of the Moon, and he’s so awesome, he can control the lightnings and fry his enemies, and again I can’t tell you what happens because it’s so much better when you read it…” She stopped, because she finally noticed that I was gaping at her as if she was an alien or something… Her entire enthusiasm instantly disappeared.

  I guess that with her looks, even around here, she was nearly as loved as humans. Especially because she also seems to like books which makes her something of a weirdo, at least at her current age. So, me showing interest in her favourite book was pretty much like blowing up a dam… but after seeing me lost like that she must’ve been thinking something along the line of ‘oh, I scared him’. I thought that, if left alone, she might eventually grow into a terrible introvert bookworm. And… that she may not be the first grade of a potential ally, but hey, she’s pretty much like myself back on Earth so tossing her away would be pretty hypocritical. Besides, I have to start with someone, right?

  “So… can we talk about it again after I read the books?” Oh, a small light of optimism flashed on her face. “And can you tell me where is the first volume?” And, at that moment, my choice have been instantly rewarded.

  For some reason I was nearly sure that this was my last easy victory in this war… she practically surrendered unconditionally without putting up any resistance.

  So, I took the book… and I spend the rest of that day - or, to be precise, the rest of that day’s free time - reading. And it turned out to be quite decent. Not exactly Harry Potter or anything like that, more like a compilation of short stories with a shared theme, all with a moral at the ending. All fantasy-themed… although here it should actually be called ‘realism’... If I were to describe it in one sentence, it would be something like: “a bastard child of Disney and Dungeons & Dragons”. Yeah, that would be pretty fitting. Although I also smell a little bit of Lovecraft-like themes but… Well, whatever.

  And during all that reading I could also feel someone’s gaze on me. She really must be lonely… I just sincerely hope that in the future she won’t turn yandere or something… that would be unbelievably disturbing. I need to find her more friends. As soon as possible.

  The book was quite long for a collection of stories for kids and I was still reading it when we were allowed to return to our rooms. Once again in my life I could feel, so well known to me, ‘One More Chapter’ syndrome - taking over me completely… I should probably mention that, unlike in my family mansion where candles were the only light source at night (with few exception, like the lighting in my father’s ‘bunker’) here we had actual artificial light. However magic and not technology based. Still, it allowed me to read comfortably after the sunset. But, as I was reading, the fact, that I wasn’t going to sleep and instead was busy doing something made Meritri curious.

  “Is that the book from that scary girl?”

  “Yeah. But she only looks scary, so she’s much better than that blondie.” Oh, so it looks like Kaelcy wasn’t the only person to watch me today… “Can you read?” I never actually asked her about this before… Probably because this was the first actual conversation we ever had. She blushed a little before answering.

  “Not very well. The letters are easy but not when there’s so many of them.” I know that pain…

  “You want me to read it to you?” She visibly got interested and lightened up after I said that. I still don’t know if she wanted to listen to the stories Kaelcy described earlier… or just enjoyed attention from me. Even though the second option is so highly improbable.

  So, I started reading the Chronicles of the Celestial Orders: Duty of The Knights (that’s the title of the first volume) again, this time aloud. And so it continued throughout the following evenings. Later that week, I also had a talk about the book with Kaelcy, as she just couldn’t wait until I read more… so she engaged me in a lengthy discussion about the first one the moment I reached it’s end. She looked so unspeakably hyped about it… I would call it cute if she didn’t look like she wanted to feast on my flesh with that smile of hers.

  I must also admit that Meritri turned out to be surprisingly courageous little girl… or just one that decided to blindly follow her cousin’s - my - words. Near the end of the week I happen to run into her, when she was in the middle of a very… fast - yes, that’s a good word - conversation with no one else than Kaelcy. And let’s guess what was the topic? The Book. I already started to use capital letters for it in my thoughts… it’s no simple book, it’s THE BOOK. The one that forged plenty of friendships in our little kindergarten… and is a potential foundation for my future, probable ‘Conquer the World’ plans. It’s in the very same time epic and lame.

  And they even forced me to join their conversation. Woe is me.

  But this past week wasn’t all that pleasant. The trio of bullies… yes - there’s three of them. It just so happened that the third one didn’t make it to school on monday. I don’t know why and I don’t even want to know… His existence all in itself is enough of a pain. So, the blonde succub’s name is Sabir. That was actually quite easy to find out since no matter who’s the teacher of the day, blondie’s name is spoken frequently as a part of short scolding. As far as I see it, he doesn’t have problems with learning - quite the opposite. When asked, he answers most questions rather easily. However, being silent for a long time is a major pain for him and his whispers keep interrupting the teacher. Coincidentally, that’s also the reason why I know the name of the third class bully - Rilas. Oh, and he’s a pyromancer. They’re constantly talking with each other… What worries me about it though, is that I managed to eavesdrop the word ‘bluehead’ many more times than I’d like. It’s almost like listening to a pair of villains slowly designing and polishing their plans regarding their victim. Oh, and the minotaur - his name’s Saamor - is more like their mindless follower. Well, maybe not exactly mindless, but he definitely doesn’t give off the vibe of a future philosopher. He prefers to listen to the other two instead of speaking. Although, he also isn’t really active when it comes to attacking me, as he just follows the group.

  And so, throughout the week the trio gradually done their best to make my life just slightly worse. And that’s quite an achievement, considering what this world, and Shadow in particular, has already done to my life. First two days were somewhat peaceful, only once they succeeded in taking away my chair while I was trying to sit… Only the first time, to be exact, as later I took precautions like grabbing the chair’s seat before actually sitting. The third day, during the dinner part of the ‘class’, was what I’d call my lowest point. It just so happen that as a result of a hand surprisingly pushing my head from behind… My face landed in a bowl full of meat stew. The laughter resounding in my ears even after I came back from the nearest bathroom was the reason why I consider this to be my lowest point. However it doesn’t mean that later it’s going to get any better.

  After that, things like kicking away my crutches began happening on a daily basis. I tried not to let it affect my efforts in gathering information… And I failed. The bullying apparently ostracised me from a semiregular group that was the class. Granted - I’m still friends with Kaelcy and Meritri seems to not be aware of the whole situation, but… In everyone else’s minds I’m reduced to ‘just a victim for the bullies’. It’s almost like everyone is happy that it didn’t happen to them.

  Getting Kaelcy to join my side was in fact so easy mainly because she was ostracised too. In her case the ‘I won’t play with them because the bullies may target me as well’ didn’t work, because she already was their target. Looking at it that way, we are currently an alliance of class losers… wonderful. I kinda hope for the bully trio to attack another classmates, as then I would have another potential recruit… It’s just so pathetic… THIS ISN’T HOW I IMAGINED MYSELF IN A FANTASY WORLD!

  There are just two more things I need to mention. One is the final observation about this class - it’s structured as a lot of small circles of friends that somehow obey a bigger hierarchy. I know it’s strange to talk about such complexity regarding kids in kindergarten… But it’s not really that complex if you think about it. Everyone knows everyone, but they play and spend time only with their close friends or family. Nevertheless there’s still that bigger hierarchy on top of which seems to be the trio of my self proclaimed tormentors.

  The second thing I need to point out is that I think the teachers got to a similar conclusion about this class’s social structure… and decided to poke at hornets nest. Thier idea of helping us work together and experience new friendships is a ‘teamwork project’. I still don’t know the details as it was only mentioned at the end of friday’s classes… But I’m terrified of what might be the result.

  * * *

  The version of Gavlan who picks me up after the end of the school week is completely unlike the previous one. Looks like a five days long leave can make wonders to a man. He still doesn’t look friendly, at least not entirely… but it seems like he at least tries to be friendlier towards me. Even though his hatred for my family always gets in the way. However, he still looks much better.

  I don’t have any occasion to speak with him while still in the carriage ride back to the mansion, as my three cousins are here with me. Especially Meritri is surprisingly clingy… but she benefited from this week no less than Gavlan. This time she at least tries to retort when Kiera and Ni’ren starts their usual picking on her, that now looks for me more like their way to recover from all the bullying… She isn’t all that successful, but at least she tries.

  After we arrive and get back to our respective rooms there’s unpacking and things like that… of course I didn’t take everything back with me, but there still considerable amount of stuff to be removed from my coffer. Only after that task is done I finally get a chance to speak with Gavlan in private.

  “Gavlan, I have a few questions.” He sighs loudly to that. Well, I can finally ask a few more important questions without making it sound suspicious, so you have to bear with it. “How many Great Houses are there in the city?”

  “Eighteen.” He simply answers. He must have seen the next question in my eyes before I even asked it, because he immediately continues. “Three of them deal in food production, transport and trade. Those three Houses are Ijo, Elidan and Az-sar. Dryads, nymphs and pyromancers.“ That’s quite logical, if they were to leave entire food industry to just one family and it suddenly went bankrupt because of some stupid reasons… that would be pretty bad.

  “Then there’s ship construction…” Gavlan continues after a short break. ”…that’s divided between coralies from Traceal and Altal Houses.“

  I don’t think I saw any of them in school, so I guess currently there’s just no children of eligible age from those two families. “Transport ships belong to hydromancers from House Bethdam, warships to wolfmen and minotaurs from Houses Zarau and Saorg.”

  “They both protect the city from outside threats, and local merchants from pirates.” And of course they serve as pirates whenever they have an occasion… it would be strange if it were to be any different. I mean, our merchants have rivals from other Free Cities, don’t they?

  “And… succubi?” I ask to make him move unto the most important part.

  “House Sivalis.”

  “They deal with jewelery... gems… um, colorful stones and… um, apparel addons?” He definitely struggles with it… I kinda feel sorry for him. On the other hand, does he really think that at my current age i don’t know what jewelry is? Making him my guardian wasn’t my father’s best decision in life… his skills in dealing with kids are ABSOLUTELY NONEXISTENT. I try to look natural so I give him a blank stare, he sighs and continues.

  “Foxmen from House Nasha deal with fabrics… umm, clothing. Bearmen from Sothrag rule over Res’s metal industry. Wood import and processing is done by dryads from House Enlil.“ DID HE JUST SAY THAT DRYADS ARE CUTTING TREES?! This world is seriously ridiculous. And… Enlil? I think there was a sumerian god with that name…” Alcohol… dammit, special adult drinks that I am not supposed to talk with you about, belong to Catmen from House Fanshir. Stone Working and buildings construction is done by crystallings from Taratze family. Then… damn, which one I left out?...“ I really didn’t know that part of him before. He remains deep in thoughts for a few seconds, until I help him.

  “Titans?” I remember them from race entries in the Codex and from my class, and he still didn’t mention them.

  “Ah, yes. They deal with… urgh, I have no idea how to describe it.” What? Brothels? THEM?! They certainly didn’t look like brothel owners to me. “Oh, I know! They lend money.“ Ah… that’s what he meant… not like there’s any major difference between the two. Maybe beside the fact that bankers have better earnings. “And the last one… the last one…“ Argh, he’s stuck again. Is there any race I know that he still didn’t mention? Yes, now I remember!

  “And… the winged?” On his face - a serious relief.

  “Yes. House Ashur. They deal in pottery.” Pottery? They look more like pillow makers. And FFS, this time I remember similarly named assyrian god… This world’s creator has some serious copyright issues. “Is there anything else you want to ask about?”

  “Actually… yes.” His face is just so full of sadness… and ‘oh my gods, why are you wasting my time’ unspoken comment. “I heard a name, but I don’t know what it means. What is a Council of Eight?” I still remember what happened to my brother… and I’m sure, that to revenge him I have to firstly gain some clues as to who helped Iverie.

  “It’s an organisation composed of all eight mages that reside in Res.” Can you stop quoting - well, nearly quoting - my Codex? That’s pretty fucking counterproductive. “They serve under direct orders of Res, who speaks through the Grand Priestess.“ Thank you for your cooperation. By ‘Res’ he must mean the goddess… I think. “They are also really powerful, and reaaally scary.“ Did he just try to scare me from continuing this subject? Whatever he tried to achieve, he failed miserably. So he decided to continue. “When one of them… leaves the service, another one is chosen from local magic users and receives great power from the Goddess. They also change their names when they join. Their current leader is called Firewind, and there are similar organisations in most cities all around the world, serving other gods. That’s all I know.“ Now, why am I so sure that ‘leaving the service’ means dying? Must be my blessing speaking.

  Ok, additional informations are always welcome. For some reason I’m sure that sooner or later I’ll run into this Firewind fella… and it’s not even the blessing, just me knowing how shitty my life is.

  However this currently leads me nowhere. It’s practically a useless knowledge. I’m still just a kid… and even if I suddenly were to become the family head, I’d still be far below them. I’d be like a fucking ant trying to investigate what’s happening among elephants… There’s only one, albeit very risky way, to get through with it - I need to find someone within this Council I can trust enough to tell him or her that they have a traitor among them… Firstly I need to raise my position to the point where I won’t be treated as a madman. Then - I’ll need to clear my suspicions on at least a single one of them, so I can risk revealing my informations to him or her. And this practically requires interrogating Iverie… However that won’t happen anytime soon.

  For now I decide to push the matter of the Council for a bit more.

  “I want to hear more, can you tell me the names of the rest of these magicians? And their races?“ I try to give him puppy eyes. He looks resigned.

  “First there’s Firewind. He’s a fire dragon.“ Wait, what? Dragon? Seriously? That’s just... “Then… Stormfang, catwoman. Killchain, dark elf. Silverblade, winged. Bloodflower, dryad. Waterslicer, hydromancer. Sculptor, wolfman. Aaaand… which one did I… oh, I remember. Ironfist, and he’s a stone golem.“ Wait… A STONE GOLEM?! And a mage? WHAT THE F… Em, actually? I’m not that shocked, I got used to it… a bit… “Does that satisfy your curiosity?“ He looks so damn relieved when I nod… I seriously pity him.

  Yeah, and I pity myself if this shit will ever pop up when I’ll be hiding in some spooky place. Sure, only I can see it, but the windows appearing from nowhere are just always surprising. One I’ll day die of a heart attack because of it… Well, nevermind. I politely thank him - which isn’t a typical way to treat a slave, but I try to be a good person - and, as it’s already evening, I go to my room to prepare for my only relief from the way this world treats me. I just love sleeping as no one bothers me then… And for some reason I always fall asleep believing that the next day will be better.

  I’m much too optimistic.

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  Mirrond: So… you’ve read it… and you probably pity the existence of MC just like me. And yes, The Book IS important. Not only to Kaelcy and Meritri.

  Resus: Why would you tell them that?! I seriously don’t understand… Why?

  Mirrond: In fact… I don’t know… Few hours ago I thought that it’s important to tell them … now I just don’t remember why… maybe I will remember that after the most important thing in my life? I WANT TO GO TO SLEEP, I can hear my bed calling me.

  Resus: Yeah… Sorry for trying to write this thing today so that I can have a free weekend… and play Factorio xD

  Mirrond: Now you can’t tell that I am not… damn, I forgot what I was supposed to say… CAN WE END THIS FINALLY?! I’m, let’s say, active like… fourteen hours straight? I can’t write a single word without messing it up and correcting it a few times…

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