NOVEL NEXT Chapter 36 - Exploring the 2nd Floor
Exploring the 2nd Floor
The second floor had guest rooms, nap rooms, meeting rooms, and an archive. It seemed the room where I took a nap yesterday was one of the nap rooms on this floor.
Like the first floor, it was circular, with a pillar at the center. The nap rooms were on the immediate left after climbing the stairs, and the guest rooms were on the immediate right. It was a good thing I’d instinctively walked towards the stairs after my nap yesterday… If I’d gone the other way, I’d have walked a considerable distance for nothing! That was close!
“Guest rooms are mainly for clients. Simple requests can be handled at the reception desk, but for complicated matters or when a client has special circumstances, we talk to them in a separate room. That’s what these rooms are for. And they’re also… specially designed.”
That was the room where I ate the Oran jelly. But specially designed? It looked like a normal room to me…
“See those magic stones embedded in the door? There are five of them.”
As he said that, I looked at the door, and sure enough, small stones were embedded at equal intervals, forming a semi-circle. Two red stones on the left and three blue ones. They were all very beautiful.
“Before entering the room, you hold your hand over one of the blue stones. That activates the room.”
“Does it use madgic?”
“No. It’s designed to react to magic power. Just holding your hand over it opens the door.”
I see. But why go through the trouble? And blue stones? What about the red ones? Reki continued explaining before I could ask.
“While this looks like a single room, there are actually five identical rooms. The red stones indicate that the room is in use, and the blue stones indicate vacant rooms. The doors of occupied rooms can’t be opened normally, so it protects the client’s privacy.”
There it is, isekai specs! Or rather, Ortus specs? A single door leading to five separate rooms, what a mysterious room!
Not only could they create larger spaces, but they could also increase the number of rooms! It felt like a complicated structure, probably even more difficult to build than simply making a larger room. It would take a lot of time… and money.
“Only those truly acknowledged by Ortus know how to open an occupied room. So, I don’t know how. Not that I need to.”
Considering the client’s privacy, it made sense. Come to think of it, Saura-san entered and exited the room normally. She was in charge of the guild, so she was probably one of the most powerful people here. Tiny but incredibly capable. I was in awe.
Anyway, what I really wanted to know was how many of these “mystery rooms” there were in this building. D-Don’t tell me all of them…? So it was question time.
“Are all the wooms in the guild like that? Special?”
“No, not all of them, but most of them are enchanted in some way. Even if the room itself isn’t, they might have magic tools installed. You could say this guild is obsessed with security and comfort.”
“O-Obseshed…?”
“It’s not an exaggeration. That’s the kind of person the Don is. He doesn’t think conventionally.”
Reki’s face softened a little as he said this. He respected the Don. To be able to evoke this kind of reaction from the rebellious Reki… The Don must be both capable and charismatic. I was curious about this Don…
But I didn’t want to meet him! I mean, I’m interested in learning about national leaders or world-famous people, but not to the point of wanting to meet them. They’re like gods to me. I respect them, but they’re too distant, too unreal. I’d be happy just catching a glimpse of them someday.
But one thing was clear: the Don was also a unique individual. The reason this guild had so many strange… no, unique people, was because, well, you know. Birds of a feather.
We passed by the nap rooms and the archive after a brief explanation, and since the meeting room wasn’t in use right now, he allowed me to take a peek inside.
It was a round table, giving off a solemn atmosphere. Apparently, it was circular to symbolize the equality of all participants, even though there was a moderator.
“But can you make difficult decisions, or come to an agreement, when there are differing opinions?”
“I’ve never been in a meeting, so I don’t know. But Saura-san is usually the moderator. …You don’t think it works out?”
“…It sheems like… they can come to agreement.”
The theory that Saura-san was the most capable person in the guild was becoming increasingly likely. It made my heart race.
“We’ll go to the third floor next… but you can’t enter any of the rooms. We’ll just walk around and come back down.”
“What kind of wooms are there?”
“Private rooms.”
After a thorough explanation and a tour of the second floor, during which I learned about various guild rules, we stopped at the top of the stairs, and Reki said this. Private rooms? Meaning they had personal rooms in the guild? So some people lived here? He confirmed it when I asked.
Apparently, the guild was set up so that those who came from faraway lands could live here, making it easier for them to work. So it was like having company housing within the company.
“Those who live nearby commute. And those who are often sent on long-distance assignments don’t need rooms.”
“Like Gil-shan…?”
The thought of Gil-san made my heart sink again. I hoped he was doing okay. No, no, I have to do my best too, or he’ll come back and ask, “What have you been doing?” Cheer up, Meg!
“Gil-san is an amazing person, he’s been here since the guild was founded, so he has a room. Or rather, it’s more accurate to say that the Don had one built for him.”
“Had one… built…?”
“The founding members are family to the Don. And this is the Don’s home. He insisted that it was only natural for family to live together.”
Reki’s words about the Don made me realize something. It sounded just like something my father would say.
When I was young, my mother passed away, and my father had to change jobs, which meant moving to a place that was a bit far. But he refused to sell our house, saying it was a precious place that he and my mother had chosen, and commuted from home.
My grandparents were still alive back then, so I told him he could just live alone near his workplace, but he said,
“We’re family. We shouldn’t be apart. We should all be together, living in the same house. It’s only natural, Megu.”
That’s why, somehow, I felt a strange sense of familiarity towards this Don.
“But for someone who calls this place home, the Don is rarely here. He takes on requests from all over.”
I see. He really was a busy person. Then I probably didn’t have to worry about running into him. …Not to try and set off any flags.
“What about you, Reki? Do you live in the guild?”
“…Yeah. I don’t have… a home to go back to.”
Ah, did I ask something I shouldn’t have? The words died in my throat. I thought I had to say something, but Reki simply started climbing the stairs, as if nothing had happened. Yeah, it seems like keeping quiet here is the best thing to do.