Someone other than the receptionist led me to the apartments here in the capital which were reserved for Rank Three Liberomancers. Instead of actual small houses available for rent like back in Arconia, due to the limited space on the hill, these were more like traditional apartments back on Earth. They were rows of blocks neatly piled atop one another, up till five stories tall.

Back on Earth, the higher or greater your reputation was, the higher the floor you worked or lived on usually would be as well. The CEO's office was often located on top of the building, and hotels had their VIP suites at the very top. This was only possible because of the invention of modern elevators - in earlier times, it was the opposite. The floors on the bottom were more expensive, because it was far more cumbersome to take anything to the upper floors.

Thankfully, there were still some buildings whose ground floors were empty even with them being more coveted than their higher counterparts. You'd probably be hard-pressed to find empty housing in this city, but this was all reserved for Rank Three Liberomancers; who usually preferred to live in fancier places than this as they had the means to do so. But it was perfect for someone like me, who was traveling as it was far cheaper than a similar hotel room would be like.

The inside was minimally furnished with just the bare essentials when it came to furniture, but that was fine with me. It was rather spacious though - I estimated it was between two to three times the size of an ordinary apartment would've been, and it had a good number of windows.

That might seem like an odd thing to compliment, but I knew from talking to a few people in Arconia that a large number of apartments only had a single small window with very poor ventilation. I remembered someone telling me that at minimum you would want two, ideally opposite to each other, so that air could easily move in through one end and out the other, ensuring a good amount of circulation throughout the day. However, many people could not even afford that kind of luxury.

"How do you find the accommodations?" my guide asked. He was a short man wearing glasses, and had worn an unchanging poker face throughout our entire interaction.

"Wonderful, I can't complain."

"Right, regarding this-" my guide continued. "-I do wish to inform you of one thing. We received a complaint, to put it mildly, from the Liberomancer's Guild back in Arconia. I'm afraid you will be limited to at maximum two servants while staying here, Master Liberomancer, and that we might occasionally send someone to check up on such at some times. We request you comply and cooperate with us in this regard, otherwise we might have to strip you of your privileges of renting out a place like this in the future."

I realized what he had been getting at - did news of that stunt I had done with some of Granny Qi's villagers really spread this far? Well, I guess it was only natural that the two Guild branches would talk to each other. I was expecting that. I just hadn't expected for them to take such offense to what I had done. At the time, I was only trying to help out some people who would otherwise be homeless - but I think what really had burned them was the fact that they had invited even more people in on top of it.

They had even charged me a higher cleaning fee than usual when I had moved out and back in with Granny Qi once the siege had ended, but I had thought that meant that it was all just water under the bridge and the matter had been settled. After all, I was not only a Master Liberomancer, but a war hero to boot. Surely they wouldn't hold a grudge over something that small - such had been my line of thinking.

Clearly things were more complicated than that. Or, maybe there was another way of looking at things - it was because I was respected so much that they were even giving me this second chance and not just revoking my privileges immediately after that incident.

"Don't worry," I said, reassuring the man. "I had only been trying to help out some of the relatives of someone who I knew by offering them some kind of employment during the siege - I hadn't been aware they were going to try to bring in more people behind my back. I don't know anyone like that here, and the siege is over - regardless, there's nothing for you or the Guild to be concerned about. I can promise you that." I relied on the guild for a lot, and I didn't want to risk offending them in a way that would lead to an irreconcilable difference between us.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"I see," he said. "Would you like for a woman to be arranged for you then?"

"Eh - what? Excuse me?" I sputtered out incredulously.

"If you don't know anyone in the city, we can find someone to help clean and cook for you," he said. "The guild doesn't keep such people on its payroll, but we could find you someone reliable on your behalf, and quickly at that. Of course, you'd still be expected to pay their salary."

"Oh, like a housekeeper or maid?" I realized, fighting to keep my face from flushing. When he had 'offered a woman' I had thought he had been referring to something else. But of course, the Guild might've done quite a lot for me if I asked, but they obviously weren't going to indulge in arranging that kind of service. "No thank you, I can handle things on my own."

While I had gotten used to many of the privileges of being a Master Liberomancer, I still couldn't really get with the whole servant thing. Coming from modern time, it just felt weird. And I honestly didn't want anyone else where I was living, touching my things. I did remember something else though that might've been helpful. "Back in Arconia, I was given some ink and paper every month to help me with making grimoires and the like. Would the same service be extended to me here?"

"I will have to check up on that, but I will get back to you," he said. When I didn't add on anything for another minute, he added, "Will that be all?"

"Er, yes, thank you very much," I said.

He left and I walked into the apartment. I had very little to unpack, and just tossed my stuff in a corner. I then washed myself before almost collapsing in the bed.

Back on Earth I read about people in old times traveling for weeks or months on end to get to where they wanted to go - though it never really hit me how exhausting it would've felt! I had taken a long flight with my parents for vacation once - it lasted fourteen hours, and even that had felt like it had drained a lot from me. And yet, that was nothing compared to the time I had spent coming here.

That was why I really wanted to find a way to fly - it would've made the journey so much shorter and far more convenient, and I wouldn't have gotten into that odd situation with that Liberomancer who had tried to rob me.

The bed was comfortable - almost too comfortable after time spent sleeping either on the floor or on rough and doughy mattresses in villages. It was like I was sinking into a giant spoon of mashed potatoes.

And yet, sleep came anyway.

I woke up a few hours later, feeling a bit refreshed.

Now, it was onto business.

First off, I was too tired to cook so I got something off the street. A lot of houses in the capital, I'd heard, didn't have working stoves. Some of them back in Arconia didn't either - but it wasn't because of a lack of cheap fuel - no, it was because in many buildings it would be a massive fire hazard.

I hadn't exactly been forbidden from cooking in the apartment, though I had been warned to be careful. With [Create Water] I couldn't see it becoming an issue, but I was already on shaky ground when it came to this whole apartment thing and the guild, so I was definitely going to be very cautious about that.

Much like back in Arconia, most of the street food was seafood. I bought a fish skewer from a local vendor, noting the fact that it had been overcooked slightly but not bothering to really care in the moment. I just wanted something to fill my stomach.

Next, it was time to seek an audience with the king. I hadn't received any specific date or time, just an invitation to meet with him, as it had been unclear when I'd finally be able to leave Arconia, but it would take time to settle this out, so it was the next thing on my to-do list.

While Lance, the governor of Arconia, had lived in a palace, the king lived in a proper castle. It was designed, much like the rest of the city, entirely for defense. Many of the guards wore proper plate armor, which you didn't see often back in Arconia - they mainly used wooden lacquer pieces combined with leather jerkins there. It did not look like a comfortable place to live in and even had something of an oppressive aura to it. With that being said, there was an air to the place that spoke of several centuries of history and culture behind each and every brick or stone used to build it, even if it didn't look nearly as comfy as Lance's palace.

As could be expected, there was a long line of people who were seeking an audience with the king - humans and lizardmen alike. The line led to a building right outside the castle walls. People were not allowed to enter the castle grounds proper unless deemed to have good reason for such.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.