Mirrond: It took us some time, but we’ve finished it, and let’s all be happy about that. I mean, it’s quite a success considering that Resus recently decided that he wants free weekends.

  Resus: Just because I occasionally don’t have classes during weekends doesn’t mean that you can use me to write this…

  Mirrond: YES IT DOES, SHUT UP.

  Resus: As you can see, our dear readers… all throughout the chapter I have to add exclamation marks after his shouts… Because he always ends them with a simple period xD

  Mirrond: *Here should be a smart riposte, but screw it.*

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  Chapter 13: Silence (in the library) before the storm

  The next day I wake up early in the morning, which means that I have some time to think… About many things.

  Up until today I spent too much time on complaining and negative thoughts. The reasons for that were mainly my hatred for Shadow, my own pessimism, and all the cultural and religious differences that kept showing up. I can only try to fight the second one - and hopefully I’ll eventually succeed - and I am absolutely content with the first one. But then there’s the last reason.

  I still feel like an Earth resident and that’s stupid, as I’ll never return there. I keep commenting events and things like I’m an outsider. The only ‘progress’ that can be seen is the fact that, for some time now, I think of myself as Varth Veles… and that I treat Meritri and Lena like my relatives. I even use the word ‘father’ when talking about Naharius… albeit a bit reluctantly.

  I need to get rid of this ‘Earthling Identity’ of mine. Ok, local tradition may look ridiculous, but this isn’t some sort of xianxia story. I am not overpowered, I can’t be above the local culture. I need different approach than ‘that’s just so stupid’… I need to assimilate.

  Yeah. So, from now on, less pessimism, less complaining, less raging over unimportant details… and I need to finally get used to living here. If I’m going to spend my entire life here, I’ll better like this place.

  Thinking about my previous attitude took me so long that Gavlan had to come in and get me out of bed. That’s actually quite sad. I woke up earlier than usual, and I wanted to spend some time just lying in my bed, hugging a pillow or something… beds here are just extraordinarily fluffy, and the bedding hugs you like a soft cloud of bliss…

  I reluctantly get up, and proceed to the bathroom. There I brush my teeth just like a good little boy should do every day. But in case I would turn out to not be a good little boy I’m watched over. I’m given a little bit of privacy only when the time comes to dress myself. Then comes time for breakfast, that I eat alone… aaand it’s more or less free time for me. I can’t describe how boring this free time really is. No computers, nearly no books (all of those that I managed to find on my own were just some account records…) and lack of other kids means nothing interesting to do. Meritri doesn’t count, as all her relation with me is based on The Book, and we had to leave it in school.

  I’ve never thought it would come to this, but I’m actually grateful that I was given homework. Mainly reading practice with some absolutely basic writing. Sure, it’s absurdly easy, but it’s still a way to spend time.

  In the end it only lasted for about… five hours, according to the HUD’s clock. And even that only because I was doing it the same way I was learning for most exams on Earth. Five minutes of concentration, ten minutes of lazing around… This Saturday is especially lazy as grandfather, father, uncle and Iverie (so, basically every important person in the family) are out doing business. Normally there’s at least a dinner we eat more or less together.

  After I finish doing my homework I’m practically desperate to find anything interesting to pass more time with. And there is Gavlan… Since yesterday he’s in a very good mood for some reason, so… maybe I’ll question him some more? But… Is there anything left that I can ask him about, without making it sound suspicious? I asked him about the Council and the Houses, so that’s out of the question. I definitely can’t even mention the Old Gods or Lost Deities, as that would be suicidal. What else? Well, surely I could ask him about the place he comes from - what was it called again? Leana? But that’s not really interesting now, is it? So let’s call it a plan B. So, what else? Slavery?

  Hmm, that may ruin his mood, as, judging from what I know, it’s a pretty sensitive topic for him. But I think I should know something about slavery as it’s a pretty important business here, right? If my life is to go on in a cliché way, as a reincarnated person I‘ll probably end up as an owner of a small ‘orphanage’ full of liberated slave girls, haha! … Let’s forget what I just said, for some reason I ended up talking like Shadow. Madness must be infectious.

  Gavlan noticed that I am gazing at him, and now he gazes at me. I guess that he expects me to ask him something, but he says nothing because of hope that in the end I’ll just get back to lazing around without bothering him. Sorry, not this time. Because I just thought of something interesting!

  “Gavlan, I have a question.” He sighs. Poor bodyguard, he can see his worst nightmare unfolding right before him and there’s absolutely nothing he can do to stop it. “Why is your collar grey? The slaves in the Temple wore collars that were either half violet half green, or entirely violet.” Look on his face is decisive sign that it’s a painful matter for him.

  “Color of the collar indicates a type and status of a slave. Gray color of my collar means that I can carry a weapon and, as long as my master orders me to, I can use it. Bodyguards, bouncers and sailors in Resian Navy, they all belong to this category.” Interesting. Now I wonder who is held responsible if a slave kills someone. Owner? If he issued an order, then probably yes, but how will they prove that he did it? Can a slave just attack someone if he wasn’t specifically forbidden? Is there even a written law regulating things like that?

  “The violet collar is a sign that slave belongs to the Temple, this means that they are heavily protected by law. Even members of the Great Houses can’t harm them, and they are treated with respect by a free people.” I guess this really is a theocracy… Becoming a violet collar slave seems like a dream for every unfortunately enslaved. Even Gavlan has visible envy in his eyes when he speaks about them. He’s silent for a short moment, then he continues.

  “Black collars are worn by soldiers and officers from Res’s military. The collars… ensure their… loyalty, to the Goddess. But beside that, their actions are practically not restricted. They protect the city from outside threats, and are responsible for enforcing laws in it. In other words they make sure that nothing bad stalks good kids at night.” Gavlan, Gavlan… seriously, don’t try acting like a nanny, this doesn’t suit you at all. The ‘WTF’ look on my face isn’t there because I can’t understand, but because I’m admiring a splendid idea. I mean, using any kind of slave army normally would be stupid, but with these magic collars? You can just order them to not retreat without a specific order, and tell them to fight with all they got, and you have an army that doesn’t bother itself with things like morale… It’s really, really ingenious… and really, really not humanitarian.

  “Green are servants.“ Gavlan continues after a while. ”Blue are workers, orange are craftsmen. Red collar is a sign that the slave can use magic. They either work for the Council, or are a part of an army… rarely you can see a red collar slave in hands of Houses, not to mention free citizens. Then there are yellow and pink collars… ummm…“ He… really look as if he just said something stupid. “I can’t talk about those until you are older.” Now he tries to avoid losing face… yeah, he is just so easy to read… it’s not even about what he says, it’s all written on his face!

  Well I can pretty much guess why he can’t talk about the last two categories. Sex slaves. That’s something I expected from the start. I’m only a bit surprised, that with their belief that slaves are somehow inferior the people of Res actually publicly announce that they are using them for… stress relief. I mean… as long as there is a sex slave there is also an owner, right? Only… why divided? I never saw a yellow collar… but I think I saw a pink one, I just can’t remember where… oh!

  I remember now! That one slave girl who gave birth to my unfortunate brother had a half green half pink collar. It’s nothing strange that I didn’t remember her at the beginning, as she - for obvious reasons - doesn’t participate in our family dinners, and only serves my father. That means I barely had any contact with her, as he keeps her really close. She’s also surprisingly normal looking and very silent young woman (no more than twenty years old I think). And even after all of this mess she remains my father’s replacement for his unfaithful wife. One would expect him to use some stunning beauty for stress relief, but instead he sticks with that average looking girl. Maybe he actually loves her? That would be… I have no idea what would it be, I just can’t picture him being in love with a slave. He may also have some strange tastes, although… No, I don’t even want to think about it.

  So, getting back to the actual topic… maybe pink means something like a ‘personal escort’? Urgh, such a pretty little euphemism for being a talking sextoy… that’s another matter I would prefer to not think about, it’s disgusting. But… if I am right about this, would that make yellow collars prostitutes or something?

  Damn it. My blessing is silent for some reason, so all this speculating leads me nowhere. I’ll have to wait until I’m older and people start talking with me about such things… or I might’ve to find books about history of slavery. Because one thing is sure - a six-year-old kid asking it’s caretaker about social and historical genesis of slavery and legal status of various types of slaves would be suspicious as hell. Well, maybe I am overreacting, but if some ‘gods’ really are after me, I definitely prefer to be extra cautious. I read enough about ancient execution and torture methods on Earth to know that I don’t want to be exposed as some sort of otherworldly demonspawn. And for some reason I doubt that Amnesty International has a bureau in Res.

  There are still holes in my knowledge about slavery that I’ll have to fill sooner or later. Why to class slaves, when you can just order them to do whatever you want? Is there a law about that, or is all of that just a matter tradition or something? So many question, so few answers.

  This talk and my subsequent thinking give me like half an hour of occupation. Then, once again, I’m getting bored to death. Damn, I better find myself a hobby or this is going to be a loooong childhood. Time to do something.

  “Gavlaaan.” I can see him suddenly getting tense. “Is there something to read in the mansion?” I can be really dense sometimes… six months of learning how to read and I never thought about the origin of all the books my tutor used to teach me. I don’t think he got them from the Temple, so there should be real, readable books hidden in one of many still unexplored rooms, right? All Hail The Great Me for gaining this wondrous revelation.

  Surprisingly the books around here aren’t as rare as in medieval times, as the locals already discovered the printing press. Or, I should rather say ‘rediscovered’, as according to my knowledge they copied some Old Empire’s artifact. I think - I mean it’s more like just a theory of mine, created from scraps of knowledge that I connected with baseless speculations only barely supported with my blessing. But, of course, practically every printing press is under control of the ‘Gods’ which I assume must mean than they are Temple-controlled. So I doubt that I can find a good thriller or horror, but hey, even stories made for five to six year old kids are better than nothing.

  “Yes, there are books in the library.” THERE IS A LIBRARY HERE?! AND I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IT?! “Do you want me to take you there?” I don’t even have to answer. One look at me and Gavlan rolls his eyes, and leads me out of my room.

  As it turns out, the library is behind one of the doors I never saw opened. And I rather quickly discover why. It’s small, and… well… I doubt that many people even visit it. All books I can see look brand new… so I doubt that this library was created for anything beside allowing Veles to boast that ‘but of course we have a library, knowledge is important’ blah blah blah nonsense… And I think that there are fewer books than in my ‘Earth bedroom’… which still means plenty of reading, as I actually owned more than eight hundred books. Yay! I just hope they are all written in local language… it’s not like people are using them besides learning how to read, right? How many books do you need like that?

  Gavlan seemingly wants to get me something to read as fast as he can. He might think that it’s the only way to prevent me from asking him more question. He quickly takes one book from the top shelf and hands it to me. It’s small and has black cover, and I don’t think he knows what book it is, because I doubt if he can read. He probably just picked one that didn’t look ‘to heavy for a child’ or something…

  There is a place for reading. A table and few chairs… so it looks like I’m going to spend the rest of the day here. Well, it seems like I’ll have to leave my bedroom from time to time… unfortunately.

  The contents of the book are actually quite engaging, despite terrible writing… It seems to be some kind of novel with quite a few characters and their daily struggles. I can’t see the conflict yet or a point of this story… And after roughly half of it behind me I’m starting to think that pointless dialogues and inconsistent descriptions were in fact intentional. But I still can’t grasp the big idea behind all of this.

  Only after I reached more or less three fourths of the book I finally noticed. On my defence I’d say that it really wasn’t that easy… It’s a fucking porn… Or, what might be regarded as porn here. Behind all those roaming dialogues and twisted descriptions, between piles of euphemisms and generalisations, in hints so subtle that took me so long to ‘click’... This whole goddamn book is about people fucking. And I literally didn’t notice. Did they do it to make Temple print it without a censorship problems? … Smart.

  What actually, finally let me understand the real context was… ‘baker’s cucumber’… This whole time it was his ‘loaf’ and then, when fifth woman in a row visited his house… she referred to ‘it’ as a cucumber. I went back a few pages and this revelation changed what seemed to be a poorly written novel into a horribly idiotic idea of a small town where everyone screws everyone else… And the writing is still terrible.

  Although it’s still hilarious. I mean… WTF! It’s so bad and so idiotic that it’s actually funny. I’m laughing - hard, and I just can’t stop… And there’s something even funnier - Gavlan’s face, full of relief that I can only translate to ‘He’s laughing, so it must be a funny kid’s book, so it looks like I chose right.’ I mean, IF ONLY HE KNEW WHAT HE DID!

  I manage to finish this… ‘book’ in two hours. Good mood really makes reading faster. Funny thing - there is no author mentioned by name, and I’m not sure if this is because of some local custom, like early medieval european - ‘God writes book by using author’s hands, so authors are to remain anonymous.’ - or if author just wanted to remain anonymous because of… well… the contents.

  But there is a dedication in the end. I notice it right before Gavlan tells me that it’s time to return to my room. The dedication says: ‘To Varthia. For the one night I shall never forget.’

  I. Don’t. Want. To. Think. About. This. I just don’t. Let’s pretend I never saw this. That will be for the best.

  * * *

  Sunday. Just one more day of this boredom.

  I find it strange. I mean, I always loved it when I had free time, and attending school was always something completely opposite. So it’s quite peculiar of me to actually wanting to return there… And it’s even stranger considering what a bunch of arrogant, racist and plain idiotic classmates awaits me there.

  STOP - I think to myself. I’m lying in my bed early in the morning, thinking. And, of course, it quickly got much too pessimistic for my liking… Just one day after I decided to stop doing this to myself. Urgh, God, sorry for being such an incorrigible idiot!

  I lie there for maybe twenty minutes… hugging my unbelievably soft and simply awesome pillow, all the while forcefully thinking about optimistic parts of my new life… but I quickly run out of them. Damn. In the end I leave the bed. It’s already morning - or at least there is some light coming in through the windows - and it’s not like there is a time limit for breakfast. Servants should be already working, as most of Veles family wakes up much earlier than myself.

  So, now I should inform Gavlan that I’m awake and that I am to proceed with all morning rituals, right? Eh, they really should just let me wear this crossover between fancy nightgown and pajama for the entire day and, instead of me going anywhere, simply bring books and food to my room… urgh.

  I’m almost at the door, when I can hear someone speaking.

  “...he’s asleep right? So, we can talk for a moment. Besides tomorrow you’ll be mostly free, again, right?” That voice definitely belongs to a woman, but I don’t recognize it. I would give her… well, she is definitely somewhere between twenty and thirty years old. Blessing is silent, urgh, sometimes I just wish there was a button to activate it...

  “Yeah. Tomorrow he goes back to the Temple… I’ll find you.” Could it mean… well, that explains why he suddenly become much less angry at everything during the first week I spent in the school. He found himself a woman! I kinda want to suddenly open door just to see who is it. Or rather which slave it is, as I doubt it could be anybody else.

  I decide to give him some time. I brush my teeth, and dress myself. Once again I feel sorry for Gavlan… that’s totally not the work he should be doing. Absolutely no talent for bodyguarding. He should notice movement in my room, and check it just in case somebody entered through the window and is now strangling me or stabbing… He is probably a competent warrior, but that’s just not his line of work. I just hope I won’t get assassinated (again) because of it… because one thing is sure, I am not going to complain loudly. I actually like him - he is a decent person, and his reactions are quite funny - and if he was branded as incompetent, then considering the strange ways of this family, he could end up being send to mine or something… Sometimes I think I should just get more evil for my own sake, urgh.

  So, I finally finish getting ready for the day and open the door to the corridor. Gavlan is standing by them, leaning against the wall. When he sees me he says that I’ll have to wait a moment for breakfast. Is this just a polite way of saying ‘It’s not ready yet, because you never get up so early you lazy fuck’, or I am overthinking it?

  Soon a slave brings my food, and I proceed with eating. I must admit that local food is tasty. Although, that’s probably mostly because Veles are rich, so the ingredients are top quality, cooks are rather talented and the species are used in appropriate quantities... BUT IT’S JUST TOO MUCH MEDITERRANEAN FOR ME! Well, at least most of it is, as there are plenty of… strange things mixed in. I would kill for a good pork chop… or a chicken breast… like the ones my father from Earth used to make every Sunday… aargh, I swear, if I’ll ever actually go on a world conquest, I just HAVE to find a place where they have a good cuisine and conquer it at once. Yeah, I’ll definitely do that.

  When only I finish eating, I send Gavlan my most beautiful smile. I can see him cursing at me in his head.

  “Can you take me to library again?” He only nods, and leave the room.

  * * *

  Well, it’s actually pretty surprising to see someone beside me - and visibly bored Gavlan - in the library. Although the person we run into thankfully isn’t Iverie. Which is a little bit surprising, as I tend to think about her as some sort of herpes-woman, that just keeps popping up when you don’t want to see it… and when you least expect it.

  The person in the library is our family chief bookworm Ni’ren. In a way it’s not even all that surprising. I mean, all the books she read must’ve came from somewhere, right?

  “What are YOU doing here, little cripple?” Yeah, I love you too, my oh so lovely cousin… No seriously, can’t they just fuck off of my walking problems? IT’S A TOUCHY SUBJECT OK?! What, are there no other insults they can think about? That’s actually pretty insulting for both Ni’ren and Kiera… although Sabir’s only contribution is calling me also a bluehead…

  “And what can I do in the library? I’m looking for a book to read.” I’m in no mood to escalate this… But now that I think about it, my answer here might’ve been a little bit too mature because Ni’ren actually seems surprised and doesn’t bother me any further. Well, at least it worked, all hail the great me.

  This time I decide to choose the book myself. I don’t want to rely on Gavlan any more. His yesterday failure wasn’t really his fault, but it’ll be better if I won’t let him repeat it. I am studying the bookshelf thoroughly, and… surprise! I find a reaaally big book, with ‘Theories on Old Empire’ printed on it’s cover. Well, okay, maybe it looks… tough… and the letters are surprisingly small… but at least I might gather some important knowledge!

  Or not… I spent about four hours trying to decipher it, and my efforts turned out absolutely pointless. Oh, sure! There must be all kinds of knowledge hidden there… BUT I CAN’T READ IT! Too many words I don’t know yet… most likely some rarely used and complicated - as I can’t even figure out how to pronounce most of them - that a six year old kid just isn’t supposed to know. And for some reason I’m nearly sure that this is just a translation… of a translation… and a really poor one at that. Must be my blessing speaking.

  Thankfully Ni’ren left some time ago, so she’s not there to witness my failure in battle against this book. That would be humiliating.

  I put the book back on the shelf where it belongs. I’ll have to try again when I’m older.

  Unfortunately, now there is no time to start reading another one, as I still have to do my writing practice. Yesterday I decided to left it for today so that I’d have something to do… but it was before I found out about this library! Procrastination will kill me one day.

  I, along with Gavlan, return to my room as fast as I can and begin my writing homework. Mainly unspeakably boring - writing the same words over and over… but sometime when near the half of it is done I suddenly have an idea. What if i were to become ambidextrous?

  I’m young, right? Still many years before I’ll begin any serious fight-oriented training, right? And as far as I know, being ambidextrous has it’s advantages in both combat and normal life. So, I have several years to train my left hand! And what’s a better way to train that than writing?

  I need to gain all advantages I possibly can! Even if teachers will probably think that I’m retarded and can’t even write properly… well, who cares about their opinion? Besides, I can just alternate between my hands when doing homework. Or write everything again with my left hand on a separate piece of paper. Yes, that’s a great (albeit a bit terrifying, as it requires me to do more things than I have to) plan!

  In actuality, I barely manage to finish the exercise normally and once more after that - with my left hand - before it’s time for me to go to sleep. Trying to write properly with my off-hand is damn hard! And it takes plenty of time. Well, at least now I’ll have something to spend my excessive free time on. I mean, library, writing practice… maybe my second childhood won’t be as boring as I thought? Let’s just think about it as a God’s reward for no longer bothering him with my useless complaining about everything… although I doubt he can hear me from here… eh, and here I go again. I guess trying to stop being an Earthling will be a much harder than I initially anticipated…

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  Resus: I know that this chapter was slower (I really don’t want to use the word “boring” xD), but in the next one the “Teamwork Project” kicks in… and that’s gonna be practically lore free… and right after that comes a timeskip… So we just needed this “just a little bit more lore and resolutions” chapter right before that :P

  Mirrond: At least we finished it, that’s something…

  Resus: You say that after every chapter.

  Mirrond: Because for me it’s always surprising.

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