“Hmm… This is quite a challenge”

“Are you sure you don’t want to leave it to Reina, Donnovan? Or maybe Liam, he quite quick on the uptake. Not that I mind you trying your best!! But you know, everyone has things that they good at…”

“No, no, no your Grace. A proper butler should endeavor to be proficient in catering all of his master needs. Unfulfilled needs bring distraught and distraught of one such of your station, Your Grace!! It’d affect us all! From the lowest serf to your peer!! Thus, this isn’t so much as my personal quest, this is my duty to the you and the domain your Grace!”

“You say that, but… SLOWLY! Slowly Donnovan!”

“Ah, yes, I seems to be a tad bit spirited from the honor, Your G–“

SPLASH.

“….”

“…ah.”

“You spill all of the oil, Donnovan.”

“It seems to be the case, Your Grace.”

“This is the third batch you ruined and that’s the last of our limes. I can’t spend any more magic on this you know.”

“It seems to be the case, Your Grace.”

“Donnovan.”

“Yes, your Grace?”

“I hereby banned you from the kitchen until further notice.”

“That’s fair your Grace.”

“I suppose that conclude our “cullinary excursion”. I’ll take my afternoon walk then. Don’t follow me.”

“Understood, your Grace.”

“That include you Deborrah.” I cast sideways glance to a supposedly empty space while suddenly, Deborrah, clad in what I think is a stylized battle-maid uniform. appear.

Invisibility.

Well, Greater Invisibility, more likely. Ninja-maid. Give me a heart attack when she shadowing me for the first time. Almost burn her and myself to cinder with fireball. One of our unfortunate incidents. Yes. Plural. It’s turn out big blast of fire doesn’t differentiate caster and enemy. Flesh is flesh. Now I know why Corrinth include Resist Element as Evoker’s mandatory spell list. Common sense for this world people I suppose. She apologized for spooking me though. Even though in my opinion, I supposed to be the one who apologize, you know, for blasting her with freaking fireball? I kinda got catatonic there. So, yeah…

Thus, motivated by the duty to see her whelp of a master don’t kill himself by accident (Even though I promise to be more careful). Here we are, performing the same encore all over again.

“You need protection.”

“Yes I do. But not in the castle ground nor the temple land. Nothing lives there. You know that. You’re the one who told me.”

“…You dies easily.”

“Deborrah Alcot. We’re not having this.. this.. debate again! You shall respect my wish of privacy and that is that!”

“Is that an order?”

“Yes!”

“…by your will.”

***

The outer diagram shimmer, the connecting line flicker, and the interlocking insigninia burn bright. A language that known, yet unknown; familiar, yet not, envelop me. I felt my consciousness dim, like the last gibberish thought before falling into sleep. Then with similar sudden thrust, it wokes me.

“I’ll never get used to teleportation.”

Headache. It’s throbbing. So annoying. Thanks heaven for the teleportation gate. I’ll never able to cast it by myself. Too much mana. It measure by weight and by gram. I mean I’m sure there is a more efficient version that is not done by imagining the magic and letting my cheat do the work. But –OH GOD! It’s pounding! Gah! Whatever!

“Light that fades, fire that flickers, moon that wanes, age that lived. Like everything in this world, this too shall pass. State of mind!“

“That’s better.”

And here I am. Again.

Expands of white. Crumbling concrete on the stone pavement; white-washed by the element. No rooftop, not even a second floor to the remnant of Amerainette high stories, save for the floating castle and the temple ground of course. It was empty. Only few foundation bricks that yet to be cleaned by the caretaker golem. Even after these years, the castles only managed to reclaim the former emerald to a slight northwest of twin tributaries junction. Well, there are only twenty of them to be fair. The maximum number that can run with ambient mana. Twice as tall as the tallest human and crafted with dexterous digit, including an opposable thumb. They’re like a little company of wall-E, barring sentimentalistic dancing and outerspace romance.

Walking always help me thinks. It shush the part of my brain that scream of uncertain agonizing future. It’s been two month since my ascension to be the Duke of Valitius and despite my struggle with this… isekai, life goes on and so should I. I try to insert semblance of normalcy with a side of healthy paranoia. As a matter of proof, I woke up at 9 and spend only 15 minutes brooding how to protect myself today if somehow, Donnovan or Deborrah suddenly reveal that they’re a part of some crazy cult that will welcome the return of their master using my body as the vessel. You know, a reasonable concern. Then I’ll have my breakfast, usually a garlic bread, poached egg, with milk and salad before going on with my day.

It was horrible. The cullinary pursuit of this world I mean. It’s severely lacking. Their bread is unleavened. They don’t have any other dairy product beside milk. They season with only salt. Even sugars only came from honey and fruit, which is rare. Fortunately my imaginary magic covers green thumb. So, that’s and a zealous scouting to the misty forest had grant us a spectacular meal. Well, spectacular for the rest of the staff (I refuse to call them servant) it’s only okay-ish for me. We get’s some garden now with basic aromatic like garlic and onions. Tomato and chilli still eludes me, but I’ll find them.

That’s why I’m pretty stiffed with Donnovan today. Turn out I’m not omnipotent. Shocker, I know. My magic requires mana and this is the most horrible resource-management game I ever play!

“Status.”

Name: Vincent Valitius

Occupation: Duke of Valitius Duchy

Available Mana : 378/????

Skill : Magic, Portal of Procurement

Mana need to be filled and it need to be filled like old water basin. Manually. Ambient mana doesn’t automatically goes on around your body, and attracted to you. Nooo It’ll be to easy. You need to meditate or trance according to Corrinth. Lotus position and all that. I tried chanting “Ohm…” but it doesn’t seems to help. Worse, the refilling speed left something to be desired, one mana for ten minutes meditation. Which is both boring and awful. It likes those pay to win game, when you wait 8 hours if you want to avoid the paywall. At least I can read while I’m meditating. Seems “in the zone” were counted as clearing your mind. But still, I can’t move too much or it’ll break the concentration.

20 mana. Ugh. That three and half hour meditation. I shouldn’t use the state of mind. It’s so expensive. But it’s not like I could find willow tree bark around here torelieve teleport headache. There’s always potionmaking in the library. Banish the thought though. I’m not keen on doing unknown alchemy into my body thank you.

“Finally.”

I lied. I lied to Deb. I lied that I’ll only take a walk on the temple ground. Of course I lied. Evil Cultist, remember? On the front of me is a ten meter visibility. A dark wood, with a haunting silence, and ever present white mist.

I arrive at the misty forest.