Being Shown Around House Ark Gate

Apparently, a hallway ran in a complete loop around the first floor of the House Ark Gate manor.

Important rooms such as the family head’s office were located on the second floor, so for now, Shia would only be showing me around the first.

Even so, the manor was enormous, and she introduced me to many rooms before we had even turned two corners.

She showed me the reception room where we would all be gathering later, as well as a training hall where magic could be practiced.

The training hall in particular was somewhat different from the one at House Fols, and what stood out most was the large number of unfamiliar training devices inside.

For places like the servants’ quarters, she simply explained what they were from outside the door, but during the tour we passed or encountered several maids and butlers, all of whom bowed deeply to me.

Every one of their bows was so polished that it was almost mesmerizing to watch.

Right after we turned the second corner, Shia opened the door to one of the rooms.

What I could see beyond her back looked like a small classroom.

There was a blackboard at the far end, with two small chairs placed in front of it.

There were also luxurious sofas and tables, making it a space where children could comfortably spend time.

“Ah, I’d forgotten we had a room like this.”

“…Shia?”

Unlike the clear explanations she’d been giving me until now, Shia spoke as though she hadn’t entered this room in a very long time.

As I shifted my gaze toward her, I caught sight of the small chairs, which looked as though they hadn’t been used in years.

“Um… I believe this was a classroom for studying magic. I occasionally went to the training hall we saw earlier, but this place had nothing to do with me, so I’d forgotten about it.”

A place that had nothing to do with her.

In other words, it had probably been somewhere the young Shia wasn’t allowed to enter.

Just as no one at House Fols had taught me anything, perhaps she hadn’t even been allowed to receive instruction in magic.

I felt a little guilty for making her remember something unpleasant, but there wasn’t a trace of darkness in Shia’s current smile.

Perhaps she had already put it behind her, thinking of the past as the past and the present as the present.

Still, I looked into the room one more time.

There were two chairs, so they must have belonged to Shia’s older sister and Aurora-chan.

Thinking that, I looked at Aurora-chan, and when our eyes met, she tilted her head.

“Well, there’s no need to dwell on this room. Next door is… the library. Let me show you that.”

Shia closed the door and headed toward the one beside it.

Just as before, I followed her, with Aurora-chan behind me.

“This is House Ark Gate’s library. Naturally, it contains books on magic, but there are also many other kinds of books stored here.”

Shia opened only one side of the double doors and stepped inside, and I followed after her.

The moment I entered, towering bookshelves reaching all the way to the ceiling came into view.

“Whoa… this is… incredible…”

House Fols also had a room for storing books, but nothing on this scale.

The House Ark Gate library was packed with so many books that it reminded me of the library in the Royal Capital, and there was even a counter near the entrance.

At the moment, two women in servant uniforms were bowing to us, but they were probably normally responsible for managing the books.

Several books had been left open on the counter, which seemed to confirm that.

I noticed writing above the shelves and moved closer.

Labels such as “Hunting” and “Commerce” showed that the books had been sorted by subject.

I walked along, casually looking over them.

“Anyone is allowed to borrow the books here.”

Keeping Shia’s words in mind, I continued walking.

Near the ceiling, signs indicated what kind of books were stored in each section, and I followed them farther into the room.

A little farther in, I came to a shelf labeled “Swordsmanship.”

I hadn’t expected House Ark Gate, renowned for its magic, to have books about swords as well.

Though there weren’t very many of them.

“Ah, of course you’re free to borrow any of these too, Nova-san.”

“If it’s Nova Onii-sama, I think it’d be fine to just give them to you.”

Aurora-chan, who had barely said anything until now, suddenly spoke up with that suggestion.

I wondered whether she should really be saying something like that in front of Shia, the family head, but—

“Yes, that’s perfectly fine.”

Apparently, it really was fine.

“No, that’s going a bit too far.”

I gave the two of them a wry smile and looked over the shelves again.

I already knew most of the books there, so there was no real need to take any.

I’d been thinking it might be nice if they would sell some to me cheaply, but apparently there was no need for that either.

Leaving behind the shelf that probably interested me most, I moved on to the next section.

The sign near the ceiling read “History.”

I hadn’t expected to see a shelf like this either, but apparently most of the books there dealt with events from the distant past.

There didn’t seem to be anything that would tell me much about the more recent history of House Ark Gate or House Fols.

Then, after passing the next shelf, labeled “Cooking,” which didn’t interest me very much, I stopped in front of a large window beside it.

This was the room at the very back of the House Ark Gate manor.

In other words, what I could see through the window was the land behind the estate.

Beyond the trees swaying in the cold-looking wind, something especially conspicuous caught my eye.

(What’s that? A tower?)

A large structure rose above the treetops, only partially visible.

I couldn’t see the whole thing, but it seemed taller than the manor itself and looked like some kind of tower.

“It’s a prison. A cage that no criminal can ever escape from.”

I turned toward the voice and found Aurora-chan explaining something for the first time.

But there was a dull light in her eyes, and all emotion had vanished from her expression.

She had called them criminals, but what did she mean?

“…Criminals? What kind of crimes did they commit?”

“I wonder what crimes they committed.”

Aurora-chan, who had looked almost like a doll until then, suddenly smiled beautifully as though a soul had returned to her body.

It was almost as if she were telling me not to pry any further.

Shia’s sigh reached my ears.

“It’s just an ordinary tower. There’s nothing there, no one inside, and it isn’t even being used.”

“I-I see.”

Could there really be nothing there after Aurora-chan acted like that?

Thinking that, I moved over to the neighboring shelf.

The label on it read “Law.”

Looking more closely, I could see books about crimes and punishments sitting right at eye level.

Wait. Could it be…

“…Aurora-chan, you only said that because you saw this shelf, didn’t you?”

“You caught me.”

When I turned and gave her a flat stare, she responded with an awkward smile.

Apparently, the tower really was nothing more than an ordinary tower, and Aurora-chan had simply wanted to scare me a little.

What a troublesome girl.

“Honestly…”

“Ahaha…”

When I moved on to the next section, I found shelves labeled “Magic.”

They occupied multiple bookcases, and there was no question that magic was the subject with the largest collection in the entire manor.

“…I guess this really is a famous family of mages. There are so many…”

“When you think of House Ark Gate, you think of magic, after all.”

“Shia, how many of the books here have you read?”

“All of them.”

“All of them!?”

I was stunned by how casually she said it.

Shia merely gave a small laugh.

“Nova-san, I’m sure you’ve read every book on swordsmanship at your family home too.”

“I have, but the number of books here is on a completely different level.”

Once again, I was reminded just how remarkable Shia really was.