Chapter 108: The Room

Ren stopped once in front of the open door.

Not left open by mistake… no.

From inside came the sound of cloth rustling, and low conversation.

Ren pushed the door of his room wide and took a step in.

Inside, the place was already full of people.

Two servants had the wardrobe open and were checking through it. Cloth had been laid over the floor, and a measuring rod stood propped against the wall.

And his mother and the steward were in the middle of the room. Ren’s eyes went round the room of their own accord.

Bed. Desk. Chair. Wardrobe.

There was nothing on the desk. It was all in the “small box” — no half-finished work, no feathers, no letter boards.

The wardrobe was close to empty too. Only clothes he had grown out of. He had few changes of clothing to begin with, and what he could still wear was kept in the “small box” in case he needed it.

The room was tidy, and thin on any sign of life.

His mother, seeing Ren, spoke with her usual calm expression.

“Ah, welcome home, Ren.”

“…I’m home.”

How long had it been since his mother met him at the door? He had been given the words of a welcome, but in this situation there was no gladness in it. Unease was rising in him instead — that something was about to start.

His mother looked round Ren’s room and let out a small breath.

“…There’s nothing in this room, is there.”

“…”

There was something in her tone that felt like being blamed, and Ren couldn’t answer.

“…But that suits us well enough.”

“Eh?”

“This room — I’d like it left free for a short while, for the guests coming to the celebration.”

“…”

His heart gave a lurch. It went on beating hard afterwards. A strange feeling. The guests coming for the celebration were coming from far away. Of course they would be staying the night.

He understood that. There weren’t enough rooms, no doubt.

He could imagine that much too.

But—

They’re telling me this now? They went into my room while I wasn’t here?

The more he tried to push the feeling down and be reasonable, the more the clouded thing inside him swelled.

“Young Master Ren.”

Simon, the steward, came forward.

“Welcome home. As there was no time, we took the liberty of entering your room in your absence. The guests were originally to be lodged in the annexe, but we’ve had instructions from the Dowager…”

“From Grandmother?”

“Yes. The annexe alone won’t suffice, it seems.”

His manner was courteous, but there was a sense that the next words were already settled.

“Young Master Ren is to be moved to another room.”

“…This suddenly…”

“Yes. It’s sudden. But I beg your understanding.”

Simon bowed his head. Ren looked from his mother to Simon and back. His mother, he felt, thought of it as something that couldn’t be helped.

He glanced into the room. Everything he needed was in the “small box”. There was nothing for them to take. The room was only being given up for a while.

It can’t be helped, I suppose…

He did follow the argument that rooms were needed for guests staying over. His grandmother had presumably not been satisfied with the annexe alone.

But that it was Ren’s room they were using — that stayed with him a little.

His mother looked round the room once and gave the servants instructions.

“Leave this shelf as it is. Change the bed for one that’s easier to move.”

“Very good, my lady.”

The servants began working, matter-of-fact.

Ren stood where he was and watched.

Nobody asked Ren what he would like. There was no need to ask — he could follow that too.

The steward turned back to Ren.

“Young Master Ren, your new room will be a part of the storage section of the annexe, made ready for you. It’s small, but for a short stay there will be no difficulty.”

His mother added a little to it.

“It’ll be over soon. It’s only that the relatives’ visits overlap.”

How long that “soon” might be was left vague.

“My lady, at this rate the move can be made by tomorrow morning.”

“I see.”

Listening to the exchange, Ren had turned his eyes to the top of his own desk.

Leaving here…

Thinking it, Ren felt that he had after all grown fond of this room. And the thought of handing it over left him with mixed feelings. Even temporarily.

The steward said to Ren,

“Then please move by tomorrow morning.”

A courteous bow.

Ren looked around the room one last time.

The evening light coming in at the small window. The familiar shadow of his desk. The small scratches on the wall.

He answered briefly and shifted his grip on his bag.

He was on his way out of the room when hurrying footsteps came pattering along the corridor.

“Excuse me. Simon-san, are these books to go into storage?”

Ren caught sight of what was in the wooden crate the servant was carrying and started. He could see the words Overview of Basic Magic. The crate was packed with books he knew — the books from the study room. It seemed the study room was to be cleared as well.

“Ah, those are…”

Simon paused a moment, thinking, and while his words were halted Ren spoke up.

“Shall I keep them in the room I’m moving to?”

“Ah — that would be a great help.”

Simon agreed, and so the study room books were put in Ren’s keeping in his new room.

The servant carrying the crate of books showed Ren the way.

“This is your room.”

Dark. Cramped…

He was shown to a corner at the back of the annexe. One look at the room was enough for that thought. It was a room meant for storage. The window had been put in for ventilation and was small, so little daylight came in; the slanting sun was falling through it and still the room was dim.

That night — he had been told the move was for the next morning, but Ren was already in the storage room copying out textbooks.

The light of the “small box” lit the room brightly. He gave first priority to copying out Field Notes for Squires, which set down the knights’ methods of making camp.

Several pages in, Ren gently prised apart the next page where it had stuck to the one after, and sighed.

“Getting to keep the books was lucky, but… this is going to take a while…”

A soft tearing sound. Sighing, he looked at the page he had carefully separated.

《

▪ Simple Barrier

In making camp, a Simple Barrier may be used to keep magical beasts from approaching.

Performed by one with an aptitude for wind magic or water magic.

The wind-attribute practitioner places a wind magic stone at the centre.

The water-attribute practitioner places a water magic stone at the centre.

Set the magic stones of the two remaining attributes around it, forming a ring.

Channelling mana into it obtains an effect lasting roughly one night.

Magical beasts become less able to perceive the interior of the barrier.

For details, see the Barrier Arts Textbook, Volume Three.

》

He had been set on copying and nothing else, but that entry caught his eye.

“Simple Barrier!”

Ren remembered the magic tool that stood in front of the hunting hut.

He hurriedly took out the sketch he had made of the inside of it. A largish magic stone at the centre, with magic stones set in a circle around it. In the magic tool they seemed to have been tied together with a special thread, but the arrangement looked the same.

“So the centre can be a wind magic stone or a water magic stone…”

Ren took out the magic stones he had and laid them out. Water, wind and dark — he had them all.

“…Just laying the stones out only lasts a night, but does a magic tool last longer…? No — just for the night might be enough…”

Ren held down the urge to arrange the stones in a circle and set them off there and then. Doing something he had never done before, out of nowhere, and having it go wrong would be no joke, he told himself.

“Tomorrow…”

Ren’s eyes, resting on the laid-out magic stones, were full of expectation.