The road itself honestly felt like it went on a whim. After my town disappeared into the horizon, I just fell into my thoughts once again and lost track of time
We only stopped twice along the way. During those stops, I went out to look for any magical plants that I could find, but that didn't bring me anything
Meanwhile, I continued reading the Herbal Guide, even though it couldn't tell me anything useful other than descriptions of various plants. There were no bottles in my possession right now, if there were then I would try doing potions with that bunch of Sillias
As I was looking at the landscape that we passed I wondered what potion would be made out of them. I stopped on possibility of "Potion of Flying"
On the way to Eryben there wasn't much to see, just simple planes and forests. Occasionally we passed through a village or a town, but none of them had anything interesting, almost copies of my homeland
And then we finally got to the capital
The city is built around the "Castle Efeus", the biggest fortress there is - and also the place where I will spend the next few years. It is one of the most protected places, surrounded by Delias Mountain Ridge and urban areas that stretch for a few kilometers around it
The wall surrounding the city grew as we approached the gate. We stopped as city guards needed to check driver's documents, which did not take long
All of the buildings in the city were at least 3 or 4 stories tall, made from stone bricks and curved light wood. The roads were all made from stone bricks, while other places had dirt paths. Dozens of citizens walked on the sidewalks and carriages swayed in the center
"Finally there.." I heard the driver talking to himself
We continued moving from one neighborhood to another, from one inner gate to another, deeper towards the castle. As we went deeper into the castle grounds, the class of the citizens visibly increased: all of the nobility lived as deep inside the city walls as they could afford
I noticed a few other carriages that were identical to ours, so I guessed that I was not the only one who was late
As my journey came to an end, we passed the last gate that surrounded the castle grounds and the driver stopped near the entrance. I looked around and saw nicely trimmed bushes surrounding the path that lead to the main door, and even though everything is nicely done, it is all completely shadowed by the close sight of the castle which seems to be reaching the sky from here
I see an old man with a mustache in an elegant butler cloth approach as the driver gets up from his seat and walks towards him. They shake hands and share a few words which I couldn't hear. Then that man opens the door of the carriage
"Izuru Hideki, my name is Elias Moonfort. I will guide you from here" He tells me while helping me get out with one hand, with the other behind his back "Let's go inside"
I followed his lead as we proceeded towards entrance door
He opened it before me and we quickly started going through a hall covered with a nicely done green carpet, which had a gold colored engravings on its ends
"Where are we going right now?" I asked, looking around
"Straight to your new room, young sir" He calmly explained as we went through twisting halls "And speaking of which, here is your key"
He handed me a black metallic key with the number 945 on its handle
"I am going to have my own room?" Before I thought that I would be living with other people rather then given personal space for free
"Even though every student is given their own room, there are still dozens more that are not used. This castle has so much space that it would be a waste not to use it!" he said, gesturing with his hands, while we were climbing the staircase "If you will need space to do something in the future, feel free to ask. The Principal would be happy to provide it"
"Excuse me, but how many more steps will we need to traverse before we get to my room?" I asked "We've been walking for a while and nothing suggests that we are close"
"You will get used to such travel, young sir " he smiled while stroking his long, elegant mustache "Meanwhile, let me introduce you to your new life here"
"Please do, I am listening with all ears"
Elias motioned with his hand. "This castle has approximately 100 floors, but the academy only takes its lower half of them. You are allowed to walk anywhere you choose on those floors, except the noble quarters, and few other restricted areas"
He continued speaking while we went through a pass with windows on one of its sides, from the view I presumed we were around floor 6. Then from the other side of the hall a guard went, going in the opposite direction. He was completely covered in armour and had a sword sheath on his left side, with his movements felt like they were mechanical. I did not find a guard patrolling the castle weird, as that was not the first guard that we stumbled upon
"Does this academy only have one guard?" I sarcastically interrupted Elias
"No, but there are in fact very few of them here. Most of the academy's students are reincarnates, who tend to be more powerful than common people. For that reason guards here need to be of the top class to be effective at their job. Because of that there are only 2 guards on each floor, which is not much of a problem as some students take 'keeping order' as their own task" he went on without taking a breath while we were once again climbing a flight of stairs
As we're going higher and higher, we see more and more faces. On the lower floors there were butlers and other staff, but now my peers in student uniforms started appearing frequently, giving me a glance as they walked past us
"Now, let me tell you about some points of interest!" he proclaimed, once again stroking his mustache "Here we have almost anything you might want, in the boundaries of the law of course! There is a gymnasium on floor 23, in the west wing. It has all possible equipment and a huge list of weapons that could be used for physical practice. You might have heard about the royal library, it is located in the north wing of the 41 floor, students are given complete access." He once again spoke without stopping for a second to breathe, while I started to breathe heavily from the cardio workout that I had for the past few minutes "There is also quite a beautiful garden in the east wing, located outside of the first floor. I know that it means a lot of walking again, but I suggest you go there sometime"
'Ooh, I will absolutely go there, don't worry!' If I could then I would say that out loud, but it would be quite hard to do that now
"There is an art gallery that takes up almost half of floor 28. If you go on floor 29 and take your way towards the south-east, you will find an astronomical tower branching off. On floor 46 there is blacksmithery with all needed equipment. And I also heard there was a pool somewhere...?" He finally took a small break, allowing me to process at least a bit of information that I was just given, before continuing "Cafeteria is on 19 floor, in the west wing. The breakfast, lunch and dinner are served at 9 AM, 2 PM and 6 PM, respectively and only for one hour... Oh! And here we finally are, Mister Izuru! Your room!"
I leaned against the wall for support as we finally got there. My room was on the 26 floor
"H-How... How do people here travel all this distance every day?" I asked while still breathing heavily
"As I said, you get used to it. But magic isn't limited here that much, so some students use it for transportation" he proclaimed as I took my key and opened Room 945
"And lastly, you came quite late compared to others, on the last day before actual classes begin, but that is fine! Today do what your soul desires, but tomorrow you will have your first class. Your classroom is located on the 38 floor." This part he was saying extremely slowly compared to his previous speech "It will start at 10 AM and last for 2-3 hours. Teacher's name is "Firiada Airden". She will answer any questions related to education, so don't be late! Now, before I leave you to yourself, do you have any questions for me?"
I remembered what floors had places that were actually of interest to me, and after a quick moment gave him a negative answer
"Farewell, have a nice day" He bowed and left me, disappearing around the corner
I finally opened the door and could see the interior of my room. It was large, more than 3 times as big as my room back at the orphanage. Everything was red-rose colored with the wood being dark for contrast. To the right stood a large queen-sized bed and near it were a few empty cabinets and shelves. To the left there was a cupboard for clothes built inside of a wall, which had a few pairs of school uniforms hanging in it. Next to it was a door, presumably to the bathroom, and a writing table with a chair. As a finishing touch, there was a large window right on the opposite side of the door, with sunlight wafting through it
I closed the door and proceeded to check out my new home more closely. I dropped my bag on the bed and then went closer to the window to inspect the outside. The view from the 26th floor was quite a sight to behold, with a nice position to see the garden from the top
'Now, while I still have time' My eyes quickly caught a clock above the door that told me it was 3:53 'I would be glad to see what that astonishing garden over there has to offer, but I fear my legs won't endure such travel again. And so I have only one nice choice, library..."