Chapter 131 – Meeting at the Royal Castle

“Young master. We’ve finished transporting all the materials,” a voice called from the doorway.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“Not at all. Well then, we’ll be taking our leave.”

The merchants who had brought the materials bowed their heads and departed.

When I stepped out into the garden, the weather was quite pleasant. With such clear skies, it was the perfect day for some DIY work.

In one corner of the garden, the materials brought by the merchants—bricks, lumber, and such—were piled up.

Since we were letting Claudia use the basement, I decided to quickly build a storage shed. I had secured space in a location that wouldn’t interfere with training.

“Well then,” I said, taking a breath before starting work.

—In one hand, I held a grimoire on construction that I’d borrowed from the Peresford Academy library.

Recently, the Academy had approached me about maintaining my enrollment. Apparently, they’d be grateful if I remained enrolled…

They’d given me a certificate allowing free use of facilities, browsing of library books, and borrowing privileges. Since it was quite a favorable condition, I paid a year’s tuition and decided to keep my enrollment at the Academy.

So that’s why I decided to build the storage shed with reference to actual examples of magic construction.

Technically, it would be an extension of the main house. I had officially purchased this house and completed payment. It was no longer a rental but my proper home, so I could remodel as I pleased without anyone complaining.

As long as I could secure about the same space as the basement, that would be sufficient. By slightly adjusting and arranging the spell formulas described in the grimoire, I could create a storage shed of the required size.

“Can we take the items out of the basement now?”

“I don’t think it will take much time. I’ll move the large, heavy items later with golems and Levitation, so if you could just move the smaller items to the hallway side, that would be helpful.”

“Understood.”

After responding, they nodded and went inside.

With grimoire in hand, I deployed a Magic Circle. Using Earth Magic, I leveled the ground and created the foundational base.

The techniques used in magic construction are derived from spells like Create Golem and earth defense magic such as Clay Wall and Stone Wall. Since these were applications of magic I already knew, arranging them and performing precise control wasn’t particularly difficult for me.

Once the foundation was complete, it was time for the lumber shaped with Wood Magic. I had the golems erect pillars, assemble beams… then moved on to wall construction. Standing inside the storage shed, I formed everything at once except for the entrance and ventilation windows.

After the walls came the roof. Following the control of the spell formula, stone materials floated up and formed an arched roof.

Using parallel processing with the golems, I quickly laid wooden planks for the floor. The planks had a Magic Array drawn on them for material transfer. This way, materials from the labyrinth would be sent to this location.

I also had Magic Arrays prepared at the workshop and Adventurer Guild. I changed the transfer destination depending on the purpose and disposal method—items to be processed at the workshop versus items to be sold immediately at the Guild.

I carved out an entrance connecting to the main house and garden, crafted the door section, and finally installed wooden windows to complete it.

Stepping out to the garden side, I examined the finished product. As expected from a grimoire written by a magic construction specialist. Even with an amateur like me imitating it, the result was quite presentable.

Perhaps because I had adjusted the descriptions, the color scheme and design matched well with the main house, making the extension feel quite natural.

It wasn’t as romantic in specification as the house Mother had built… but for my first magic construction, this seemed about right.

“It’s already finished?”

“That was fast.”

As I looked at the finished product from the hallway side through the storage shed, Grace and the others who had returned were wide-eyed.

“This should be about it. Take a look inside, and if there are no problems, we’ll leave it as is.”

I let everyone see inside the storage shed. Seraphina seemed to find the newly built shed interesting, happily flying around—going out through windows and coming in through the entrance—apparently enjoying herself thoroughly.

“It’s spacious and nice, isn’t it?”

“But it might be a bit dark.”

“Then I’ll make a skylight around there.”

After this, all that remained was to transfer the luggage to the new storage shed, lay carpets in the basement, place furniture like desks and chairs to improve livability, and then it would be complete.

“What about durability?”

“I think it’s fine.”

When I asked, Seraphina, peeking out from around the beams, answered with a smile. If she gave her approval, it should be fine.

“Next is—shopping for furniture, I suppose?”

“That’s right. Well… rather than relying on my aesthetic sense, it might be better to leave this to everyone else.”

The basement would primarily be used by Claudia, and in that case, I had a feeling Claudia would be happier if Irmhild chose the furniture.

“I want to go too—”

So it was decided that Sheila and Seraphina would go furniture shopping together.

“I’m—on dinner duty today.”

“In that case, I’ll stay behind too.”

Grace and Ashley would remain at home. Would it be better to leave Caduceus at home? With Lavigne there too, security should be fine.

“What about Marlene?”

When I asked, Marlene, holding the magic tool she’d received from Alfred, smiled. She seemed intent on immediately starting independent practice in the garden.

“In that case, I’ll join you too. I can’t hope to match Theodore-sama, but I thought we could do exercises using Aqua Golems.”

Ashley and Marlene exchanged smiles. With her along, there would be less worry about injuries from unfamiliar magic tools. It would probably be good training for Ashley’s magic control too.

“Understood. Then I’ll make sure to return by dinner time.”

As usual, we agreed they should contact me via the Communication Device if anything happened, and I rode in the carriage with Alfred toward the Royal Castle.

“So, about this person you want to introduce me to…”

When I asked, Alfred nodded and replied.

“Ah. It’s better to tell you in advance. It’s the heir of House Broderick.”

The eldest son of the Marquis’ house. Considering the information from Alfred and the introduction from King Melvin… it didn’t seem like it would be too troublesome.

“His name is Sir Malcolm, and he works as an official in Termwills. And—apparently a few days ago, the Marquis sent a messenger by Dragon Palanquin to his family home. The second son is in the territory, so…”

“He’s summoning the second son?”

“Father seems to think so.”

If King Melvin was making moves… he probably intended to preempt the Marquis.

When we arrived at Theoreme Castle, we were taken not to the King’s Tower but to a room in the Guesthouse near the Knight’s Tower.

“Your Majesty, I heard from His Highness Albert that there’s someone you’d like me to meet.”

“Indeed. Well come.”

King Melvin seemed to have arrived first and been talking with someone. Next to him was an unfamiliar person. This would be the eldest son of the Marquis’ house… probably around Father’s age or slightly younger. He was a slender man. For some reason, he looked quite pale and his expression was gloomy. It was as if the end of the world had come.

“Theodore. This is Malcolm. He works at the Royal Castle.”

“Pleased to meet you, Sir Malcolm. I’m Theodore Gartner.”

After being introduced by the King and introducing myself, Malcolm bowed so deeply he seemed about to break.

“Malcolm… Broderick. I cannot apologize enough to you, Ambassador… I heard that my father and foolish sister have committed grave discourtesies, and so I have presumptuously asked His Majesty to arrange this meeting. I humbly beg… for your gracious forgiveness.”

He offered his apologies so directly.

Um. Was that why he looked so pale?

Well… I had absolutely no intention of holding him responsible for what the Marquis and Kathryn had done.