C11
“Hey, Shirone! Didn't you say you finished your work? Why are you still here?”
As he opened the door, Rian fanned his hands and coughed due to the dust.
Shirone just smiled.
“What's the meaning behind that expression? Something good happen?”
“Rian, show me around your house.”
“Huh? What?”
Rian's eyes swung wide open with shock.
He wanted to enter his family's house. Knowing Shirone, Rian was sure he wasn't kidding.
At that moment, Rian found a book lying next to Shirone.
“You… are done, aren't you?”
“Yeah, there's nothing left for me to read. At least not in this library.”
There was nothing more to read.
Even Rian, who stayed away from reading, seemed to understand how cool that sounded.
'Really?'
The sunlight that shone through the window seemed to be just for this moment.
“Hahaha! Did you really? You're a real piece of work, dude!”
Rian congratulated Shirone as if sharing in his friend's accomplishment.
Though, he did it as the aggressive swordsman he was, and due to that, Shirone's eyes went in circles.
“Ahh! I'm dizzy!”
Even after pushing him away, Rian watched Shirone turn in circles.
'He's an amazing guy!'
He felt like he finally understood Shirone.
Knowing who Shirone was and despite his background and status, Rian was only thankful.
'Honestly, I would have been quite upset if he had treated me as a Lord's son.'
Rian agreed without hesitation.
“Good! If you want to come to my house, you're always welcome! My family isn't at home either!”
It didn't really matter to him, but it was much better for Shirone.
After arriving at the mansion, Shirone was overwhelmed by the size of the building.
'It's really big.'
He could guess why ancient people built buildings to honor the glory of God.
“Come on in.”
However, Rian, who lived in said house, pushed the door open using his shoulder as if he were too lazy to even open the door.
Shirone asked with an uneasy look.
“Rian, what if we get caught?”
“What are you so worried about? The library relocation work is done anyways, so you're not tied down by the contract. Besides, my family won't be back until the evening. Alright, alright, come on.”
As they went up to the second floor, Shirone's eyes were greeted by the countless rooms littering the hallway.
As they approached the very end of the corridor, Shirone saw the family's room.
Although there was no special decoration like a family crest, the interior was especially pink.
Instead of swords and shields, piano and unknown instruments were on display.
From the musical instruments littering the room, Shirone could tell It was the eldest daughter's room.
The number of rooms were overflowing, so there would have been many options, but Rian decided on the last room.
Shirone felt like he had seen a side of the alienation Rian must feel despite being part of the family.
“Well, here it is. This is my room.”
As a passionate swordsman, wooden swords were piled up in the room and books related to swordsmanship were also visible on the bookshelf.
However, there were no professional books. Most of them were novels about myths.
'I wanted to come here at least once!'
Thought Shirone, as he considered Rian a friend.
Rooms were said to represent a person's character. And that saying was not incorrect.
'He really has no interest in decorating at all!'
For Rian, who was always covered in dust, this place seemed meaningless except for when he wanted to sleep.
The two chatted away because they had nothing to do. But when that got boring as well, they played a card game.
The game ended in just 30 minutes.
It was a complete defeat for Rian.
Shirone asked while sweeping the chips.
“One more round?”
“I'm not doing it! Damn it. It's a gamble based on luck anyways. I guess I'm just unlucky.”
Shirone spoke again while organizing the chips.
“You have a habit of moving cards outside when the ace comes in. And the time you take to bet is different depending on whether you have a pair. I'm guessing the reason why is because when you have a pair, you're taking the time to think of a strategy, but when you don't have a pair, you just give up. But if there's a time difference, it stands out. Just knowing those two things gives me the higher probability of winning.”
Tags:
Infinite Mage (Novel)
