"Damn."
That's all I could say when I saw the inside of my Manor. Ulrich didn't lie when he said that the Crown Prince went all out when he made the Manor.
It was even better than Ulrich's Shack. Sivath even seemed drawn to something as she left my shoulders and started to head in a certain direction of the Manor.
I had a decent feeling as to where Sivath was heading, as I was able to see where the mini-forest was built as it was designed in a more natural manner. There were many parts in the manor that had a more natural look or feel to them. Almost as if someone who was really good at their job made the manor or someone who is well versed in nature magic.
"Alright pick your jaw up from the floor, we still have a few things to discuss. Come follow me to your study. Don't worry I couldn't have gotten in if I wanted to." Ulrich started to laugh in an odd way as he started to head down the hall. "It requires your verification to gain access."
I just nodded my head as I continued to look around at the manor as what Ulrich said to me clicked for a moment.
"Wait when-." I stopped myself from speaking as I started to remember a fuzzy, yet clear memory.
"Hum, you say something Bastion?" Ulrich asked in a elderly tone.
"No, not at all. Must have been the ghosts." I answered with the first thing that came to my mind, but after I heard wait I just said I sighed in pain as a very small voice started laughing in the background.
Ulrich stopped on the dot as he started shaking while turning pale as he turned to look back at me.
"Gh-gh-gho-ghost, ghosts!! Then we need to call the Ghost Tamers!" Ulrich shouted out in fear as he started to look like a ghost himself.
I just started laughing as I thought what Ulrich just said was the funniest reaction to what I said. But after a short while I noticed that Ulrich didn't seem to be joking as I swore I saw tears starting to form in the corners of his empty holes for eyes.
I did what I could to stop laughing as I told Ulrich that I was joking. Seriously the Manor was just built, how could it possibly be haunted already. Ulrich let out a huge sigh of relief as it looked like what just happened never did as he continued to walk to the where my study was located.
Ulrich took me to the top of the Manor, which was a lot of steps to reach the top. They didn't even have a basic elevator or hoist. I even made a mental note to talk to Siegbald about putting one in.
But when we reached a certain floor Ulrich stopped as he turned to face me. "Alright this entire top floor is your personal area. I've gone through the entire house, even tried to use my special technique and it still didn't work which quite surprised me."
I gave Ulrich a blank stare as I spoke in a monotone voice. "I get going through the rest of the Manor, but why are you so interested in my area? Like what is up there that draws you to invade my area?"
But the answer that Ulrich gave me surprised me.
"The Crown Prince personally built that entire floor." Ulrich said with a smirk as he pointed to the door. "All you need to do is place your hand on the door and you should gain complete access."
I smiled as I nodded my head and stood in front of the door. But just as I was about to place my hand on the door I stopped as a smile formed on my face.
"I think I'll wait to go into my area. Besides, we have more important things to discuss. Let's go to the mini-forest to talk. I'm pretty sure Sivath would like to hear what you have to say as well." I spoke in a serious manner and turned around to see Ulrich's face twitching slightly.
"But, we have to go back down all those steps. The doors, right there." Ulrich strained his voice as he pointed a shaky hand to the door behind me.
"Sure we have to go back down all those steps, that's how we get to the mini-forest. And besides it'll be good exercise going back down all those steps. Come on, Ulrich." I smiled as I started to walk back down the steps as I heard Ulrich curse under his breath from behind as I heard him stomp down the steps in anger.
I smiled all the way down the steps and into the mini-forest as Ulrich continued to stomp as he followed. But stopped halfway through as I'm pretty sure he twisted his ankle.
The mini-forest was beautiful. There was even a personal fishing spot. The trees looked like they have been there their entire life. There were even some small forms of harmless looking wildlife that roamed the forest.
I even heard Sivath's hissing in the background from time to time followed shortly by the sounds of fighting. I found a nice spot by the fishing spot and sat down as I gestured for Ulrich to sit down.
"Sit, let's enjoy the nature around us as we talk. Allow nature to help calm yourself as we talk." I almost didn't want to talk as I was finding it hard not to take out my fishing rod as I heard the sound of splashing water.
Ulrich sighed as he sat down with a groan. "You're right, maybe nature will help to calm the mind. So I'm guessing you ran into Livina and her group since you received an invitation. But what I want you to know is that the Crown Prince has never done anything like this before."
"Yeah I figured. With a name like Siegbald of the Abyss I can't imagine him as the party type." I nodded as Ulrich seemed to smile.
"Yes, that is true but he always made sure to appear at anything that the Kingdom threw. But this would be the first time he has ever thrown one himself. And it seems as if he has invited every single baron in the Kingdom." Ulrich spoke with a slight smile as he looked over at the water.
"He only invited Barons? Why?" I asked with slight confusion in my voice.
"Simple he's the Crown Prince. He can invite whoever he wants. You could do it also if you were just as powerful. If anything it's like I said earlier." Ulrich smiled as he pointed towards me. "It's because of you Bastion. You're the very first Otherworlder to have not been summoned in the Temple of Summons, the only Otherworlder in the Otihame Kingdoms history to become a Baron, and you are a part of the Crown Princes camp."
I could only scratch the side of my cheek as I let out a light laugh. "Well I did figure that out, but the Baron thing I didn't know about. Major red flag by the way. Plus I'm pretty sure there will be multiple others that will try to find a way into the party so I need to get strength as quickly as I can. So can you look at one of the corpses of the Red Boar Riders and tell me what his strength was."
I didn't wait for Ulrichs answer as the corpse of one of the Red Boar Riders popped into view and fell to the floor with a thump.