Chapter 23: The Crystals

“LIAAAAA!!”

“I’m home. Mom, dad.”

Cecilia was immediately swarmed by her parents who held her in a tight hug as soon as the door opened. They cried out loudly and blasted Cecilia with questions as they checked her body vigorously.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did the school treat you well? Did you eat well? Was the money we sent enough? Are you really okay? Are you really not hurt?”

Among the bullets of questions, Cecilia only answered with yeses and noes. Both of her parents sighed of relief until one more question they asked. “Did you… Pass the exam?”

Cecilia answered with a big smile on her face. “Yes!”

The married couple’s faces brightened up even more and they both shouted, “congratulations!”

“Was it hard? Was it easy? Was it dangerous? Were you hurt?”

“Yes. No. Yes. Yes, but I’m fine now.”

“Phew~ how did you manage to pass it?” They both asked.

To answer that question, Cecilia pried herself out of their hug and turned to her friends who had been watching all this while. “I had help from them.”

Finally noticing the presence of the others, the Nobles switched to a more formal way of speaking. “Ah, so you all must be Cecilia’s friends. I humbly thank you for accompanying my daughter.” The man said in a bow.

Matthew spoke as a representative. “It’s, it’s fine. No need to thank us.”

“Perhaps it is best that we discuss more over dinner,” said the mother.

“Ah right. Please, you are all welcome.” The man gestured with his hand for them to come inside.

Matthew was about to decline the invitation, but before he could, Cecilia was already tugging at his sleeve with hopeful eyes. Matthew gave up on the idea of declining, and accepted it instead. Night fell as they all headed inside the white building.

The interior was very fancy, tidy and clean. The lighting above could be reflected by the floor if not for the blue carpeting. The walls inside were soft orange in colour with white rim on the bottom and top of them. The hallway was decorated with fancy vases and paintings that were neatly sorted from each other. There were also wooden doors along the hall. The maids that welcomed them along with the red haired one followed behind them.

At the end of the hallway was a staircase that led to the second floor and third floor. Upon arriving at the stairs, the man turned to the group, “we were not expecting this amount of visitors so it will take some time for the chef to prepare dinner. You all may clean yourselves up first while waiting. I will have the maids call for you when dinner is ready.”

“Erm okay, but if I may?” Matthew raised a hand.

“Go on.”

“We… Didn’t bring any change of clothes.”

“Ah, I see. I’ll have my employees handle that as well.” Then he directed to the maids. “You heard me. Show our guests their rooms and hand them some spare clothing.”

All the maids present bowed in unison. “Yes sir.”

The Noble turned back to his guests and said with a smile. “Go on.”

“Please, this way.” The red haired maid led the way up the stairs while the others followed.

…..

Matthew put the temporary clothing that was given by the butler before he went for a bath. There was an abundance of clothing prepared by the butler for him to choose, in the end, he only chose a simple white t-shirt and a pair of black trousers.

He looked at himself in the mirror. He chuckled at himself. “I look like a retired old man.” After fixing his hair a bit, he sat on the bed as he stared out the big window.

He recalled the moments that he had been through to come this far and even pass the exam. While recalling, he remembered that mysterious gaze that he felt while fighting the basilisks back then. At the time, he focused on the basilisks but while he was free right now, he decided to think about it.

“Who or what could that gaze be?”

Matthew stared deeply into the starless night. Pondering on the matter. It could be a random creature, but it felt like it was from a person. Even if it was a creature, that creature has to have some level of intelligence. That gaze felt sharp and full of interest. And also, very strong.

“From ‘that’ person maybe? Or maybe… From that figure in my dreams? Or something… Beyond…?” The more he thought about it, the more confusing it got. He decided to stop it there. “Thinking about it without any leads won’t do much. Guess I’ll set it as a side quest while the main one being finding a way home.”

Matthew stood up and paced around the room. He had nothing to do. If this was back home, he would be in front of his computer or laying on bed with his phone. Which reminded him of his uncle and aunt.

“I wonder how they are while I am trapped here.”

His aunt probably would’ve cried while his uncle would be stressing himself out trying to calm his aunt. Matthew chuckled, but he was also worried.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

Matthew turned to the door when he heard the knock. A woman’s voice passed through the door, muffled, probably a maid. “Sir, may I come in?”

Matthew checked his room for no reason before answering. “Sure.”

The opened slowly as the maid revealed herself. “Dinner is ready sir. Please follow me to the dining room.” She said with a bow.

Matthew checked himself out once more. “Alright then.”

…..

Dinner was already served when the guests came down. The food was fancy and very bountiful that they had to put some of it on a different cart. It was comical to see such an amount of food served for the number of people. Matthew, Rose and Yuki all ate quietly as to respect the noble atiquate. The actual Nobles on the other hand…

“Lia I know you’re still hungry~ here, eat some noodles, ahh~”

“Yes mom, I’d love some noodles!”

“Lia, you must still have an appetite right? Do you want more steak? Or perhaps grilled lamb?”

“Yes dad, I’ll have them as well.”

The Noble family in front of them showed no signs of a Noble at all. Matthew, Rose and Yuki could do nothing but watch with a straight expressionless face while whispering to each other.

“Hard to believe we’re eating with a Noble.” Rose whispered first.

Yuki replied. “You said it.”

“I’m starting to think that they forgot that we’re here.” Matthew said as he slowly chewed his food.

“Yeah… I don’t blame them really. They must’ve really missed their daughter,” said Yuki.

“Hmm probably. Well, as long as I get free food, I’m fine with it.” Matthew continued to shove a piece of steak into his mouth.

“You… Seriously…” Rose stared at Matthew.

A few more minutes passed, all of them were done eating with exception of one who was slowly enjoying her strawberry cake. The mother was still doting on her daughter, however the father had straightened himself and crossed his fingers on the table.

“Now, I believe you are all done eating now?” He started.

“Yes…” Matthew answered. ‘A while actually.’

“I almost forgot to introduce myself. I am the Lord of the House of Crystal, my name is Gustav Edelei Crystal.”

The introduction was continued by the other Noble. “And I am Emilia Crystal. Pleased to meet you.” She said before immediately continuing to dote on her daughter. Gustav shook his head when he saw his wife like that.

‘You should look at yourself a minute ago!’ The three screamed in their hearts.

"Now, may I know just who you all are?" Gustav gestured with his and across them.

Naturally, Matthew started first. "I am Matthew."

"My name is Rose."

"Yuki," she said bluntly.

Gustav was slightly surprised. "I thought you seemed familiar. It is you! Yuki Nakamrua, the Dead-Eye Archer! My, how could have not recognised you?" He slapped his forehead.

"It's fine sir, I'm nothing but a Hunter."

Gustav let out a scoff. "A Hunter who is great enough to earn a title. Not many can achieve that."

"It is nothing big. Anyhow, let's not talk about me."

"Yes, yes, I do have other things that I want to talk about. First and foremost, I want to thank you all for staying with my daughter and taking care of her. I hope she did not cause any trouble, did she?"

"Well, no. She was a big help in fact." Matthew answered.

Gustav sighed in relief. "Good to know that. So how did you meet her? Were you in the same academy?"

Rose answered, "no, we only met her during the first phase of the exam." Then continued by Matthew, "and we stuck together till the end."

"I see, I appreciate you both for staying with her. I would like to give each of you something as thank you.”

“Eh there’s really no need sir. You don’t have to give us anything.” Matthew refused. However, Gustav pressen on giving them anyway.

“Please, it is the least I can do to repay. Nama anything you’d like as long as it is my power.” Gustav spread his arms out to show how open he was.

“But-” Matthew was about to refuse again, “I want a new pair of boots,” however someone else butted in, Yuki.

“Yuki! What are you saying?” Matthew whispered to Yuki.

“Matthew, the guy is willingly giving us gifts and it would be rude to not accept it.”

“But-”

“Hush~ just accept it. The guy ain’t stopping until we accept it anyways.”

Matthew was speechless. Gustav had caught wind of their conversation actually.

“I would be quite upset for someone to refuse a gift that I want to give. Please name anything.”

What Gustav said made Matthew even more hesitant.

Rose however had the same idea as Yuki and named her item. “If it’s not too much, I’d like a catalyst.”

Gustav lifted an eyebrow. “A catalyst?”

“More or less like a mage’s weapon. It amplifies the output of a mage.”

“Ah… I see, then I guess I should get one for Cecilia as well. Boots and catalysts then. That leaves one more.” Gustav turned his head to Matthew.

Matthew felt the pressure now that the other two had already named what they wanted. However, “I.... Don’t have anything in particular that I want.”

“It doesn’t have to be an object. You can also ask for service, you know? Massages, transportation, a location you want to go to…”

Matthew cupped his chin, “I may need more time to think about it.”

“That’s fine, that’s fine. You are welcome to stay here for as long as you’d like anyway, so take your time.”

“HUH??” This time, all the Hunters including Cecilia gasped in question.

“Oh, right, I didn’t tell you yet. I intend to let you all stay here.”

“Eh? But why?” Yuki asked first.

“I have my reasons. Hopefully it would not hurt you to not be informed of my reasons.”

“... That’s… Fine, but stil, to let outsiders stay in a Noble’s home is…”

“Improper?” Gustav continued Yuki’s sentence. Yuki was baffled for a moment but she nodded. “I do not care heavily about my Nobility towards anyone. Only in necessary situations do I have to exert my power. Other than that, you may consider me as any other person. No-one special.”

“Besides,” Emilia finally spoke, “you are all friends of Lia. That makes you a special guest. Enjoy your stay.”

At that point, they all understood that they were left with no choice. The phrase “enjoy your stay” would mean that the other party had already prepared everything for their stay.

“What are we gonna do?” Matthew whispered to Yuki.

“I don’t know. I mean, to be honest I’m not gonna refuse it but at the same time…”

“It feels wrong to just stay at a Noble’s home but it also feels wrong to not accept it.” Rose added.

“Then what now?”

“Well, it’s not like any of us have our own houses. So why not?” Said Yuki.

“Now you’re just saying that we should.”

“Because I am! But I also don’t want to…”

Rose stole a glance at the Noble who were waiting patiently. “I think they are going to let us go either.”

“You make it sound like they are bad guys!” Matthew said.

“I didn’t say that! Well, now that you mentioned it… But that’s not what I meant. They are probably the type that would force people to accept, like the gift earlier.”

“...” All of them were silent now. They stole glances at each other and at the Nobles. All of them sighed. “Well, I guess we’re staying here for a while,” Matthew said. The others only nodded.

Hearing that, Gustav and Emilia had a big smile on their faces. “Welcome!”