I opened my eyes slowly.
Tears were dripping from my eyes. "I feel like I saw a very nostalgic dream, yet… I can't remember anything about it" I mumbled, as I wiped the tears off.
"Ed, are you awake?" a familiar voice knocked on my door. "Ah, yeah!" I stood up from my bed, and went to open the door.
As I did, I saw a familiar smile... I saw Russell's usual soft smile.
"Good morning, Russell" I greeted him, with a bit forced smile. "Same to you, Ed. Breakfast's ready, we should head downstairs!" he stated.
I nodded, and followed him.
…
"Hmm, where's Niahl?" as we reached the dining hall, the absence of the guild's leader had reached my sight.
I sat down beside Hugo and he answered, "Father is sleeping at his room, right now"
"They went on and drank for many hours, last night. So, he is bedridden thanks to a hangover, right now" Qhuial continued on, as Russell sat down beside him.
I mumbled, "I see…"
"Right!" Hugo gasped. "Why don't I and Qhuial gave you all a tour around the Edelweiss, after breakfast?"
Gino hummed. "That looks like a good idea!" he nodded, as Forth tilted his glasses in agreement.
I wanted to talk about many things with Niahl. But since he is down right now, I guess I don't have any things to do.
"Let's go later!" I smiled at Hugo.
…
"Then, let's start with the sleeping quarters!" Hugo cheered, as we left the dining hall and walked to the sleeping quarters.
It is a two cylindrical tower connected by small building. The sleeping quarters is separated from the main building of the Edelweiss.
"First floor of the east tower is where Father's room is" Qhuial stated, as we entered the building.
Gino tilted his head to the side. "Should we go bother him?" he smirked. "Do not bother a tired person, they say" Russell cleared his throat.
"Instead of a tired person, you should rephrase it to drunkard…" Gino mumbled, and Forth tilted his glasses.
Anna spared a gaze at Reina who seemed to be fidgeting a bit, beside her. "Did you want to go bother Mister Niahl?" asked her.
"N-no, of course no" Reina insisted, while looking away from her friend.
Anna giggled and Lux looked at the two of them, before tilting his head to the side, out of confusion.
"Well, the east tower is pretty much like the west tower where your rooms are at, so let's leave it aside" Hugo walked straight to where the building was leading to the west tower.
I followed him, with the others and Qhuial.
"By the way, who are the ones who have their rooms at the east tower, beside Niahl?" I went beside Hugo and asked him.
Hugo smiled, as he looked at me. "The vice-leader of the guild and some executives of the guild sleeps there" he answered.
"Executives..?" I mumbled. "Yeah! Well, you're sure to meet them someday, so I will leave the introductions to that day" Hugo looked away.
I'm kinda looking forward to that day. My mouth unconsciously made a short smile. Well, let's leave that aside for now.
The west tower had our rooms on its third floor, while, my siblings' room and the twins' room are at the second floor.
East tower and west tower both have four floors, with the highest fourth floor empty and without any rooms, just stairs to go there and to leave from that floor.
It also doesn't have the fountain which acts as a boundary at the middle, of every floor.
"So it served as some kind of observatory floor, eh?" I mumbled, as I went near one of the big windows.
Hugo nodded with a smile.
"Do you like places like this?" he asked, as he went beside me. "Yes, whenever I look at places from this view, I am always reminded of how a small of a person I am" I mumbled.
If I were to be seen by God, surely he will only be able to see me as a dust or maybe he doesn't even see me at all.
And such dust can even bother his sleep. Somehow, that kind of thought makes me forget all of my problems.
I pushed the wall, to go away from it. "Let's stop talking about sad things! The tour, we should continue it, Hugo" I tapped his shoulder, and walked away.
"Okay…" he looked at the outside, before following me.
We were on our way back to the main building of Edelweiss, when something caught my mind.
"Hey, Hugo!" I called him, with a tap. "That hole, what is that for?" I asked him, as I pointed at a hole filled with snow.
Qhuial smirked, and went in my front. "That is an endless pit. Once you fall inside it, you will never be able to go back again" he tried to scare us.
The only ones who got scared was Anna, and Reina looked so interested about the pit, as if she was a kid.
"No, you're wrong!" Hugo hit his brother's head with a karate chop. "Qhuial is lying, and that is the training hall. It looks like that because of the snow, okay?" he explained.
We all nodded, while Qhuial rubbed his head that was hit a bit strongly.
…
The main building was a bit large, if confirmed to the sleeping quarters, and it also has up to three floors.
Once you entered the main building, the first thing you would see are two curved stairs leading up to a big door.
"That is the door of the strategy room" spoke Hugo, as he noticed the fact that we were staring at it.
We turned to look at him and put on a face saying, "I see…" after getting a bit embarrassed.
After that we went around the building with Hugo telling us about the rooms and people we passed by.
"This is where the library is" Hugo opened the door. with a smile, revealing a mountain of books inside.
Yeah, there really is a mountain of books…
"Uhm, Hugo. I think there is a person beneath that books" Russell pointed at the mountain of books, that was just in front of the door.
Hugo turned and look. "Emerald hair…" he mumbled, as he saw a bits of an emerald colored hair.
"Ah, Noel!!" Hugo rushed to help the person beneath the books, and we followed him.
After a few quick seconds, we managed to move all the books away and save the person beneath the mountain.
"Thank you, mister Hugo. I really thought that I was gonna die and be killed by my beloved books, for a moment there" the emerald haired guy bowed, as we panted out of panic.
Hugo puffed, "I-it's fine"
"More than that, you should introduce yourself to these kids" Qhuial crossed his arms, while short quick breath left his mouth every word.
The emerald haired guy looked at us, and smiled.
"My name is Noel. I am a commoner so I don't have any last name, so please feel free to call me Noel" he placed his right hand on his chest, and bowed his head slightly.
We all introduced ourselves in turn to Noel.
…
"Now, can you tell me the reason you were buried down those books?" Qhuial asked. "Well, I found a real interesting book" Noel smiled.
He slowly whimpered down, "But then. When I pulled it out, the entire shelve fell down on me"
"This library isn't used that much, before you came, so I guess the books got stuck with each other" Hugo stated, and Qhuial simply nodded before he suddenly gasped.
He stood up. "Wait, why is the shelve not on you anymore when we found you?" Qhuial asked.
"Well, that is because Mister Mond entered the room, looking for me. Then, he found the shelve down with the book so he cleaned it up" Noel explained.
Hugo spoke, "Means he didn't notice you and left the books down?" Noel nodded. "Mond is as sloppy as ever" Qhuial sighed.
Anna raised her right hand, while her left hand supported Lux that had been there with her since we started going around.
"Uhm, I hate to interrupt but, there is a person waiting for our talk to finish near the door" she uttered, and the twins along with Noel looked at the person.
Qhuial mumbled his name, "Joe" Hugo smiled at him. "What's up, Joe?" he asked.
"Uhm, the leader, Mister Niahl is asking for you all to go to the strategy room" the boy, who they called Joe stated, as he stood up straight.
We all stood up and nodded.
"Then, we will be leaving you for now, Noel" Hugo waved goodbye at him. "Don't be killed by books, kay?" Qhuial stated, with a bit teasing tone.
Noel let out a bit forced laugh, "Yes sir"
"Think Niahl's already fine, and got over his hangover?" Gino asked. "I don't think so" Forth tilted his glasses.
Kirt yawned. "Are you sleepy?" Russell asked him.
"Reina-chan, you seem a bit quiet, but is something wrong?" Anna asked her friend. "No, nothing" she slowly looked at my back.
I wonder what Niahl's gonna say? Somehow, I hope it is about our plan about the things and so on.