Chapter 12: Too Coincidental To Be A Coincidence
With everyone seated and the tense exchange passed, Amarant then began chatting with Dr. Halloway, while Eleanora would say a few words as well.
However, Ariana suddenly raised her hand as if she were a student wishing to ask a question.
"Yes, Ariana? Is something the matter?" Amarant asked, struggling to hold back a Fatherly grin at how adorable his daughter's actions were.
"Mhm! I was just wondering. Sam, where is Miss Solace? Is she still on the Albatross?"
The other Royal Children were surprised that apparently there was a missing guest.
However, their questions were soon answered.
Hearing Ariana's question, Sam turned to face her before a voice came out of the speakers on his helmet.
"I'm still here, Princess."
Hearing the feminine voice come from Sam, the others at the table flinched, wondering if they'd heard correctly.
However, Sam lifted his left palm to face upwards, and Solace appeared, giving a light wave in Ariana's direction.
Needless to say, other than those who'd met Solace previously, the rest stared at her in wonder and shock.
'Mana Fairies' were considered rare treasures, but none have been known to be sentient enough to communicate.
Thus, in the eyes of the other Royal Children, Solace was an extremely rare variant of 'Mana Fairy', something which sparked the greed within one of the onlookers present.
Ariana beamed an adorably wide smile, waving back at Solace and giggling all the while.
She had been a little upset, thinking Solace was left out of the group meal. But, seeing that she had been with Sam all the while, Ariana was pleased.
Before long, the doors on the side of the hall leading to the kitchen opened, allowing a flood of servants to enter, bringing an assortment of food with them.
Each plate was placed before the Royal Family members first, before being served to Regina.
Before any of the people at the table could begin eating, however, a sudden movement from Sam caught everyone's attention.
The Royal Guards tensed and reached for their swords; however, Amarant once again stopped them with a raised hand and observed Sam's actions.
Sam had pulled up a schematic on his HUD when the food had been placed and, with the help of Solace, generated a puck-like device within the palm of his right hand, which he held up towards the table.
Soon a blue light pulsed over the table and the surroundings, which caused the Royal Family, the servants present, and the Royal Guard to flinch before it receded as if it were never present.
"All clear." Was all Solace had to say before the device in Sam's hand broke down into nanobots once more, returning to the storage devices on his sides.
Seeing this spectacle, Amarant could no longer hold his curiosity, asking.
"May I know what the purpose of that was?"
"Of course, Your Majesty. I apologise. Sam and Solace should have explained their actions before performing them; however, they are unaccustomed to the proper etiquette for these types of settings. The device Sam just used is a type of scanner. It performs an in-depth inspection of its surroundings down to a molecular level. It is AHSC protocol that when escorting a V.I.P, all food should be scanned prior to consumption."
Seeing that Amarant and the rest still appeared confused, Regina tried to think of a way to explain it more clearly; however, Sam suddenly spoke up, asking,
"Permission to speak, Sir."
Hearing Sam's words, Amarant looked at him and said,
"Granted."
Nodding in response, Sam said,
"Although this is just speculation, I believe it would be easier to understand if I were to describe our actions as performing an [Analysis] or [Appraisal] Spell on the food to detect any harmful substances."
With everyone's eyes shining with the light of understanding, before they nodded their heads, Sam returned a nod before standing at attention once more, with Solace still standing on his left palm.
Regina, however, was inwardly praising herself to high heaven for her unexpected foresight.
The fact that Sam could make these connections based purely on his childhood novels made Dr. Halloway feel a surge of vindication every time it occurred.
"I see; that is perfectly understandable. However, that is quite surprising. For something like an appraisal spell to be able to detect things such as poison is marvellous. Usually, we'd require a specific [Detect Poison] Spell to be cast. Not to mention that other specific spells would need to be cast in addition to it in order to detect anything else. Something so encompassing is truly a step above the rest."
Moving on, Amarant decided to address the questions on his Children's minds. Thus he asked,
"Dr. Halloway, this might be a bit of a nuisance, but I believe it would be best if it were heard from you directly. Would you mind re-explaining your circumstances so that the rest of my Family can be caught up with us in our future conversations?"
"Gladly, Your Majesty," Regina replied, despite inwardly agreeing that such a thing was a nuisance.
Thus their entire story, from the start of their troubles to arriving on this Planet, meeting Ariana, and till present, were explained once again, allowing the rest of the Royal Family to get caught up to speed.
Unsurprisingly, the story baffled those listening, much like it did the Monarchs and Ariana the first time they heard it.
However, this time, Aiden, the Second Prince, had a new question, one he voiced immediately.
"Umm… Father, may I ask a question?"
Hearing his Son's words, Amarant replied,
"Of course, My Boy. Go ahead."
Aiden nodded his head before turning to Dr. Halloway.
"Greetings, Dr. Halloway. My name is Aiden Von Arcadia, Second Prince of the Arcadian Kingdom. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"The pleasure is all mine, Your Highness. Do you have a question for me?"
"Yes, apologies, but there seems to be a slight or rather major inconsistency with what you have told us and from what I've observed."
"Oh? Please, do explain." Regina replied, a little curious as to where the inconsistency lay, though she had an inkling of what it might be.
"You described your origins to be a place that lacked mana, therefore meaning it lacked spells and the like. However, from the previous exchange between Sir Sam and my Father, it seems as though he has a minor understanding of Magic, especially so when he is capable of using terms that allow us to understand your technology. Unless, of course, Sir Sam has managed to obtain such knowledge from your short time in this world, if your words are to be believed, Sir Sam should lack any kind of knowledge on the subject of Magic, thus, where the inconsistency with your story lies."
Hearing the Second Prince's explanation, the rest of the group at the table nodded their heads in agreement.
In fact, the Monarchs themselves were surprised that they hadn't picked up on that as well.
It was actually a significant inconsistency, one they were ashamed for not picking up on themselves and proud that their Son had analysed such a thing in the brief period he'd heard the entire story.
"Ah, I see. Haha, in fact, the truth of the matter is quite amusing, coincidental even. So much so, the odds of something like this happening are so minuscule; it almost seems mystical to my eyes."
"Do explain, Dr. Halloway," Amarant said, trying his best not to narrow his eyes in suspicion.
"I believe Samuel should answer this question. Would you please, Sam?"
Hearing Regina's words, everyone focused on Sam. Eleanora even activated her [Iwari Iro] spell to identify any falsehoods Sam might say.
"Understood," Sam replied.
"Where we come from, terms like Magic and mana are considered mere fantasy or even superstition. Many fictional pieces of work, such as novels, included subjects like Magic, Dragons, Elves, Dwarves, Fairies, Undead, Gods, and the like. In our home, such things were the mere figments of countless people's imagination; stories created either through mythology and legends of our past civilisations or merely for entertainment purposes, not actual subjects to be studied or races to be known. The reason I am able to make such connections is purely because I indulged in such fantasy novels as a pastime or hobby as a child. The reason for this can be summed up with a famous quote from our homeland. 'Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from Magic', of course, that merely applies to those who lack understanding how such technology functions."
Hearing Sam's explanation, the majority of the listeners were understandably sceptical.
Such a coincidence seemed like merely a lame excuse.
However, before anyone could voice such thoughts, Eleanora spoke.
"You either truly believe such a thing and are being deceived, or such a coincidence is actually true. Because so far, you haven't spoken a single lie." Eleanora then turned her attention to Dr. Halloway, asking,
"Is it truly such a nonsensical reason?"
Hearing the Queen's question, Regina sighed before nodding,
"Everything Samuel has said is the truth and nothing but the truth. In fact, I was the one who introduced him to such genres of novels. So imagine my surprise that such knowledge, which was merely to prepare him for the unknown, would actually apply in a world completely unknown to us."
Hearing Regina's words and detecting no falsehoods, Eleanora's jaw couldn't help but slacken slightly.
It was such a specific coincidence that it couldn't have been one. Meaning there might actually be more behind this than either of the two guests had realised.
After all, Magic and Fate had a way of making themselves known in the strangest of ways.
If such things manifested themselves through the imagination of countless others where they came from, maybe it was never actually as fictional as they had thought it to be…
…
..
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With the conversation regarding the guest's origins out of the way, the group finally decided to begin with their meal. At the same time, Amarant informed his Children about what Dr. Halloway and Sam would be doing as they stayed in the castle.
However, he kept the details regarding the particular 'deal' he'd made with Sam about learning Magic to himself.
Amarant would rather Sam be a known figure within the castle and among his Family while still being a secret card he could play, should a situation arise where a particular set of skills were needed.
With the conversation during the meal consisting of questions being directed at Dr. Halloway and Solace, the food on the plates of those dining seemed to vanish rapidly.
Most of the Royal Family's attention was focused on their guest's answers rather than the food they were putting into their mouths, seemingly on autopilot.
Thus, as the meal came to an end, Amarant then spoke up,
"Your quarters have been arranged, Dr. Halloway. You are welcome to retire to them to get some rest from your journey if you would like."
"I appreciate the offer, Your Majesty. However, I'm a little more interested in the location where I can begin my research if that isn't too much of an inconvenience."
"Not at all; in fact, the two locations are one and the same; thus, I shall have a servant lead you there. Also, Sam, your lessons and training in Magic will begin later today. After you have escorted Dr. Halloway to her living quarters, I'll have Ariana come to fetch you at the appropriate time."
"Understood. Thank you, Sir."
"Mm."
Amarant then turned to face one of the butlers that were standing at the side of the dining hall, stating,
"I trust you have already arranged everything as previously ordered?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. The entire top floor of the Northern Tower, including its five rooms, have been remodelled and are prepared for the guests. In fact, the architects and corresponding Earth Specialised Mages are awaiting any further modification our guests might require."
The Northern Tower, much like the rest of the castle, was a massive structure.
Each floor of the 30-floor tower was roughly 25 metres in diameter. The ceiling and floor of each level were approximately 7 metres apart, allowing for ample space on each floor for different purposes.
The tower had a built-in teleportation system on each floor that allowed people with the corresponding clearance to appear on any floor of the building they desired instantly.
"Excellent. Please escort Dr. Halloway and Sir Sam to the North Tower immediately.
"At once, Your Majesty."
With one final nod, Amarant turned to those seated at the table and said,
"Well then, you are all dismissed."
Everyone then rose from their seats and headed off to continue with their day.
Sam fell into position behind and to the right of Dr. Halloway as they followed the butler to their destination.
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