IV

Grimoire

『S-day +8』

『High Servant's Quarters』

“Uh, okay. What?”

Reading the words that were in my mind I was left completely in a state of confusion and awe. Suddenly, pixelated aberrations started to form in front of me. Slowly it formed into the shape of a thick book. Smooth black surface with hexagonally embossed purple lines. In the center was a design similar to the engraving on my sword: a triple three leaf clover pointed inward in a silver circle background.

Okay…

It was simply floating, yet when I moved my hands to grasp it it had weight to it. Heavy, but easy to move and had a texture of velour. When I let go it remained floating. A single finger can push it to and fro. Taking it in my hands once more I opened it. It's pages felt like parchment. As I was caressing the page words began to form as if ink was flowing within the parchment.

Prompt: Language Available: Epistylian Unlock Requirements: 10 Skill Points

My finger moved over the words pressing down as if it were a touchscreen.

Native Language: Epistylian. Learn language? [YES] | [NO]

I tapped yes. Suddenly a sharp pain went through my head as if a hundred needles simultaneously stabbed into my brain. After a minute or so the pain was gone.

「Native Language: Epistylian Learned」

“Um, ow?”

The message faded leaving a blank page. I tried flipping the pages, but found that each was blank. Going back to the first page I started feeling around curious if there was any buttons or switches. There were none nor were there any icons to indicate any contents.

Is there a main menu?

The page changed showing a list of different items.

「User」 「Encyclopedia」 「Quest」 「Synthesis」 「Conversion」 「Shop」

Knowing what my stats are is important, but seeing 「Shop」 was more interesting and piqued my curiosity. If I could just by an item to go back to earth then problem solved. The story is done. The end. Fin. When I tapped the item and a few pages turned automatically. A new prompt appeared.

Grimoire Shop: Locked Unlock Requirements:

1000 Skill Points

Mana Storage

Synthesis

Information:

Able to purchase any unlocked items using stored Mana.

I couldn't progress any further as I would need to unlock the shop to view the items. After going back to the menu I wanted to look for 「Mana Storage」, but since it was unlisted I went to 「Conversion」. The pages flipped once more.

Conversion: Locked Unlock Requirements:

1000 Skill Points

Mana Storage

Information:

Able to convert Mana Stones into stored Mana.

Able to convert stored Mana to Skill Points.

Able to convert Skill Points to stored Mana.

Nope, still no 「Mana Storage」 and this thing needed it as well. With stored mana being the main currency for the Grimoire maybe I might need to shift my focus on gathering mana rather than gold. Next up, 「Synthesis」. Looks like I found what I was looking for.

Synthesis: Locked Unlock Requirements: 1000 Skill Points Information:

Synthesizes Grimoire Shop items.

Requires stored Mana to synthesize.

Mana Storage: Locked Unlock Requirements: 100 Skill Points. Information:

Able to store excess Mana (Must be at full Mana to transfer).

Able to store converted Mana.

“Yoshi, purchase.”

Prompt: Unlock Mana Storage? [YES] | [NO] Skill Points Available: 1144 Prompt: Mana Storage Unlocked. Skill Points Available: 1044

This was a good start. With this I can start saving up for when I am able to eventually make purchases. Now to check out what quests I can do.

Quest: Locked Unlock Requirements: 100 Skill Points. Information:

Able to spawn quests to gain rewards.

Only 1 Grand Quest and 5 Subquests may be active.

Prompt: Unlock Quest? [YES] | [NO] Skill Points Available: 1044 Prompt: Quest Unlocked. Skill Points Available: 944 Prompt: Spawn Quests? [YES] | [NO]

It did not look as if there was a cost to spawn quests and I was curious what kind of rewards I could get. Money? Holy sword? Ancient relic of unimaginable power? A brand new car? A nice boat? I hit [YES] and a list appeared.

Grand Quest:【Cure The Oss Curse】 Information:

User is afflicted with the Oss Curse, a disease which may alter humans into an Ossian.

Discover a cure.

Rewards:

50,000,000 stored Mana

1,000,000 Skill Points

Gift of Veiovis

Quest:【Debt】 Information: Personally visit the Combat Instructor and collect debt owed. Rewards:

Collected Money

100 Skill Points

500 stored Mana

Quest:【Learn Auramancy】 Information:

Grimoires can be damaged or destroyed.

Learn Auramancy (Native: Sentiomancy) to add self-preservation mode.

Rewards:

Auramancy Spells:

《Lie Detection Level:1》

《Vigilance Level:1》

《View Intent Level:1》

Quest:【Learn Animancy】 Information: Limited Grimoire functions may be used without spawning physical Grimoire to add layer of protection. Rewards: Animancy Spells:

《Mana Regeneration Level:1》

《Health Regeneration Level:1》

《Stamina Regeneration Level:1》

Quest:【Magic Bag】 Information: The Magic Bag is a lost technology. Rediscover it. Rewards: 10 Random Magic Stones (Synthesis Required) Quest:【Unlocked】 Information: Unlock remaining Grimoire Menus. Rewards:

5000 stored Mana

100 Skill Points.

“Oss Curse? What the fuck? That's my Grand Quest, not 'Return to Earth'?”

The quests flickered before settling on the current selection with the grand quest was quickly set. As interesting as my other quests were the grand quest had me concerned. What the hell is an Oss Curse? I went back to the main menu and selected 「Encyclopedia」 wanting to find information about it.

Encyclopedia: Locked Unlock Requirements: 1000 Skill Points Information: All information User learns becomes recorded Data. Prompt: Insufficient Skill Points Skill Points Available: 944

“Tch.”

An expensive unlock just for an information gathering tool. Even if I get the remaining amount of skill points needed, I still have not seen my character sheet. I need to deal with that before I can deal with this. This is too much.

「User」 did not need to be unlocked and when I selected it new menus appeared.

「Information」 「Attributes」 「Magecraft」 「Skills」 「Items」 「Crafting」 「Achievements」 「Titles」

Selecting 「Information」 gave me generic information about myself. Name, age, height, blood type, weight, fetish, favorite foods, etc. all types of things were listed and were mostly correct. I have no interest in what was listed in the fetish panel so it was obviously incorrect. Obviously… yes, obviously. There is no way that I derive arousal from the way Alicia calls me 'onii-chan'. Definitely not the reason why I ended up dating her.

...Shit. Fuck it, whatever.

Completely brushing off that awkwardness I looked further and there was a list of languages. It was just a list of what I have learned. I would probably need to go into the skills menu to do any upgrades. Looking through the list I had a lot of languages unlocked, but many were marked as 'level 0'. Even if I have the spoken version unlocked I did not have the written version for each of it unlocked and vice versa. This was probably due to having played certain games that exposed players to other languages or the different people I have met.

Back at the 「User」 menu I skipped 「Attributes」 and went straight to 「Magecraft」. I would like to confirm my magic using ability. 「Magecraft」 is the umbrella term for magic users, 「Mages」. The Grimoire states that 「Divination」 and 「Diviners」 are what the natives of this world call it, respectively.

Each 「Mage」 had a primary 「Magecraft」, which is attuned to one's highest affinity. In addition to a primary, each person is able to learn any type of 「Magecraft」. There were six categories in which magic is divided into from most common to rarest: 【Elemental】,【Alteration】,【Protection】,【Domination】,【Creation】, and【Temporal】.

Each category was given a basic explanation. Elemental manipulated anything considered elements. Alteration changes the state of something. Protection contained healers, curers and barrier projectors. Domination had absolute or near absolute control over something. Creation was able to spawn items, possibly includes Necromancy. Temporal affected time and speed.

My 「Magecraft」 is under the 【Domination】 category.

Primary Magecraft: Proficiomancy

Category: Domination Information: Learned Mage

A passive Magecraft which has no discovered spells.

Allows User to learn and strengthen Magecraft, Spells, Skills, and Crafting at an accelerated pace. Gain bonus Skill Points when Skill Points are earned

“Heh~, so that's how I learned those spells so easily.”

It would be a good idea to try and learn those two magics to complete the quests. But before that I should finish checking my other magic.

Prompt: Unlocked Magecraft:

Mantramancy[III]

Pyromancy[II] (Native: Ignimancy)

Aeromancy[II]

Terramancy[III]

Aquamancy[I][!]

Glaciomancy[I][!]

Mantramancy? I wonder what that is and what are those superscripts? The page turned and I read the details.

Magecraft: Mantramancy Category: Alteration Information: Mantra Mage

Allows User to utilize words of power as mantras.

Replaces chants. Current Spells Unlocked: 3

Mantra of Pain

Information:

A gift from Angerona.

Allows User to inflict pain towards a target.

Chance to temporarily paralyze.

Single Target.

Higher grades may cover Area of Effect.

Words of Power: [Agony. Torment. Pain.] Mantra of Concentration

Information:

Allows User to concentrate power to increase damage and increase mental processes.

Higher grades allows granting to target.

Words of Power: [Fixed. Focused. Concentration.] Mantra of Tranquility

Information:

Allows User to bring tranquility to self or target. Reduces aggression.

Higher grades may cover Area of Effect.

Words of Power: [Calm. Comfort. Tranquility.] Magecraft: Pyromancy Category: Elemental Information: Fire Mage

Allows User to control and manipulate fire.

Current Spells Unlocked: 2

Magecraft: Aeromancy Category: Elemental Information: Air Mage

Allows User to control and manipulate air.

Current Spells Unlocked: 2

Magecraft: Terramancy Category: Elemental Information: Earth Mage

Allows User to control and manipulate earth, sand, stone.

Current Spells Unlocked: 3

Magecraft: Aquamancy Category: Elemental Information: Water Mage

Allows User to control and manipulate water.

Current Spells Unlocked: 1

「WARNING! User has anti-affinity with Aquamancy.

Penalty: +100% increased mana cost. Increased casting time. Unmodifiable.」

“What the hell?” Is that why I felt weird this morning?

Magecraft: Glaciomancy Category: Elemental Information: Frost Mage

Allows User to control and manipulate ice, freeze water.

Current Spells Unlocked: 1

「WARNING! User has anti-affinity with Glaciomancy due to Aquamancy.

Penalty: +100% increased mana cost. Increased casting time. Unmodifiable.」

“Oh, what the fuck is this? Well, fuck you too, Aquamancy.”

It seems two of my personal mantras had turned into spells. The superscripts turned out to be the number of spells unlocked. I was granted two skill points for each spell I had unlocked, but I still do not know where the larger amounts come from.

When I checked the other magic types they had the descriptions of standard elemental magics. I had two spells unlocked for pyromancy called 《Fire Strike》 and 《Fireball》. As it turned out 《Fire Strike》 was the skill I had used when I killed the giant turtle. It was nothing more than a blade of fire launched at a direction I chose. 《Fireball》 was the same. Just nothing more than a ball of fire that I had created in the kitchen.

Aeromancy had the spells《Gust》and《Concussion》. Terramancy had three spells《Earth Shatter》,《Earth Shape》 and《Create Gravel》. The last two were just a 《Waterball》and《Freeze》. There were literally hundreds of spells available, but all had been marked 「Undiscovered」. It was the same with other magecrafts each one had hundreds of potential spells that could be discovered.

Two of them were concerning however. The [!] sign accompanying the magic which was a warning turned out to be poor magic ability. Usable, but costly. I do not understand my anti-affinity with those two magecraft, but it seemed that affinity would decrease mana cost while anti-affinity increased mana cost. Water and ice would have been a great magic type to use, but with the increased cost… how much mana do I have?

I felt it was now important to understand my stats and see if I could use my skill points to increase it.

Health:

64/100

Stamina:

25/25

Mana:

71/100

Life Force:

100/100

Stored Mana:

0

Strength:

17

Intelligence:

45

Precision:

73

Wisdom:

47

Dexterity:

14

Willpower:

13

Endurance:

18

Perception:

22

Toughness:

45

Charisma:

20

Resistance:

52

Luck:

1000

Health Recovery:

1

Stamina Recovery:

1

Mana Recovery:

1

Life Force Recovery:

1

Skill Points:

944

Status Effects:

Abdominal Injury (Healing)

Special Effects:

Blessing of Angerona

Oss Curse

Toxicity Resistance

The special effects interested me and I went straight into checking it. When I tapped the blessing the information displayed said he or she was a god involved with pain, sorrow, torment and suffering. Basically a being that sounds like a bdsm god.

The blessing itself dulled any pain I suffer by 50% which explains why the pain I had was not as bad as it was on earth. Add to that my constant intact of painkillers, probably makes it closer to 90% pain resistance. Another effect was that it controlled or inhibited the Oss Curse.

The Oss Curse on the other hand was not great. The description matched what the grand quest described, but had an extra detail. It limited my healing from spells by 80%. Not only that, it increased the mana cost to heal me by 100%, consumed a constant rate of mana and increased stamina cost by 100%. Awesome.

Bonus was my Toxicity Resistance. I had an 85% resistance to any toxins, poisons and venoms. I think the medication I had been consuming was giving me the resistance. That could explain why I do not get as drunk as most people or when I have never overdosed on my painkillers even though I had taken over thirty pills that one time I tried to commit suicide. I just ended up feeling really good then nauseated for around fifteen hours then vomiting in the bathroom.

Going back I looked over my stats. It was all an inconsistent low, medium or high number mixed all about. My luck was at 1000 for whatever reason. Made zero sense as I was pretty unlucky or at least I thought so. Or maybe whomever decides what luck is is some kind of sadist. Could be that Angerona person, bdsm god. Hmph.

Maybe coming to this world and getting a chance to find a cure that wouldn't kill me might be considered lucky.

I started to distribute points here and there. Health, Mana and Stamina became 200 each. I put a single point into each of the eleven stats as well. I did not feel anything when I did that though. I checked what each one meant and it was pretty standard fantasy RPG descriptions. The cost to upgrade was a single skill point, however it becomes more expensive at certain thresholds.

It also stated that there was a cap to the stats. One thousand points for each of eleven stat items, but interestingly Luck was capped at ten thousand. For the four pools and recovery stats there did not seem to be a cap at all.

The recovery stats looked to be defaulted at one point per hour. Life Force determined regeneration rates at certain states such as consuming food or resting, but was also important to one's own life. At full Life Force along with resting stats can be recovered faster. At zero Life Force a person is dead, same as if Health became zero. Health can be considered physical while Life Force can be considered non-physical.

At zero Mana a person will not die, but will suffer from mana exhaustion. If one forces magic use in this state then Life Force will be consumed. At ten percent Life Force a person goes into a coma. This state is called 「Mana Burn」. The body will simply shut down to force the person into prioritizing regeneration of Life Force even if it is in the middle of combat. The comatose length is dependent on regeneration capabilities.

For now I added ten points to each of the four recovery stats.

「Skill Points Available: 518」

Moving along, the 「Skills」 Menu listed every none magic ability I had. Cooking, chopping, slicing, sauteing, cleaning, sewing, jogging, sprinting, push ups, kendo moves, languages, marksmanship, etc. All sorts of things were listed and each could be leveled up to ten. Leveling costs were exponential with level ten costing five-hundred and twelve points for a total of one-thousand and twenty-three points. I leveled up the native language from level zero to level five which cost thirty-one points total.

1 = 1

2 = 2

3 = 4

4 = 8

5 = 16

6 = 32

7 = 64

8 = 128

9 = 256

10 = 512

「Items」 simply listed everything that I considered my personal property. Everything was divided into different categories from 「Weapons」 and 「Ammunition」 to 「Clothing」 and 「Medical」.

When I looked into 「Weapons」 I noticed my sword had a name: 【Fortunes Unbroken】. It came off as a little chunni, but it still sounded quite cool. I needed to have 「Encyclopedia」 unlocked to learn it's history, but it did give me some details.

The weirdest thing about the sword was that the material was called mithrite. It was such a fantasy sounding word I had wondered how my ancestors came upon it. Is that the name of mithril? is it pure mithril or something else? Why is it blue?

“But it's weird, how do I have a mithril sword? It doesn't even feel light either.”

All that was left to check was 「Crafting」,「Achievements」 and 「Titles」. 「Crafting」 was simple, anything I learned that is considered 'crafted' fits in this category. Culinary was the only thing listed even though I new how to do other things. Tapping on it it showed a single recipe: 「Sandwich」. It seems I would need to unlock other things one by one.

「Achievements」 showed things that the Grimoire considered noteworthy and rewarded something. I had three listed achievements:「Summoned to Another World」 gave me my ability to use magic,「Jungle Turtle Slayer」 gave me one-hundred skill points and 「Blessing From A God」 gave me one-thousand skill points.

「Titles」 showed earned titles that were 'displayable'. Not too sure how it was to be displayed though. How one would gain a title is unknown, it just shows up for any reason at all. Four titles were listed for me: Summoned, Champion of Angerona, Samurai, Unpoisoned. Checking each title showed that it did not give any benefits, it was merely cosmetic.

But why the hell do I have that title? Samurai, is it because I am Japanese? Is the Grimoire some racist asshole or something? Well, at least it sounds cool. Ah that reminds me, I need to visit the blacksmith or whoever has my turtle stuff. I suppose I can make samurai armor with it, since I am obviously a samurai. With samurai training and discipline. And obviously because I follow Bushido, obviously.

Asshole…

With the Grimoire practically explored I wanted to send it away. I closed the Grimoire, but had no idea how to make it go away. When I thought to make it disappear it did so the same way it had appeared with the digital glitching. Now with nothing to do I took a nap.

Health:

84/200

Stamina:

200/200

Mana:

91/200

Life Force:

118/200

Stored Mana:

0

Strength:

18

Intelligence:

46

Precision:

74

Wisdom:

48

Dexterity:

15

Willpower:

14

Endurance:

19

Perception:

23

Toughness:

46

Charisma:

21

Resistance:

53

Luck:

1000

Health Recovery:

11

Stamina Recovery:

11

Mana Recovery:

11

Life Force Recovery:

11

Skill Points:

518

Status Effects:

Abdominal Injury (Healing)

☘ ☘ ☘

『Location Unknown』

“Pfft hahaha ha haha. He actually said 'deus ex machina'! Hahahaha! My sides! My sides are killing me! Oh I haven't laughed like that in years. Were you able to establish communications?”

*fua* “Yes, it was exhausting, but he has unlocked the 【Grimoire Magic System】. Encrypting the communication line so the others would not find out took a lot out of me.”

“There, aren't you happy? You got to speak with your precious champion. Then, now what? Even if you wanted him to travel here the humans summoned him at the other side of the planet. It was reckless what you did, trying to pull him away from the others. He could have ended up in the middle of an ocean or worse, the others would discover the summoned.”

“It turned out fine didn't it?”

“Just barely. From where he is it would take years to travel to our location. What will you do?”

“I will wait for as long as needed.”

“We are not as immortal as we make the lower beings believe. You are the last of your blood. Your death ends your line. Same as that girl over there who refuses to speak. My line has only two left, but even they are at risk of early death. Keeping them alive along with us keeping the summoned from being known to the others is already taxing our mana reserves.”

“We will meet him soon. And there is something we can do about replenishing our mana.”

“If you say so.”

“By the way, what do you think of my beloved champion?”

“I can feel that child's anger, he should express it more, I very much enjoy seeing such seething rage. I would find him more interesting if he released himself. What about you little girl, you haven't been manipulating things in secret have you?”

“Hmph.”

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +8 – Late Afternoon』

『High Servant's Quarters』

*click*

“Ehehe, onii-chan is so cute~.”

I felt the bed move. A warm feeling entered my mouth as I lay sleeping. Curling around my tongue with a sweet taste. Another feeling intruded, distracting my sleep. A hand grasping, caressing between my legs. This woke me up. As I opened my eyes I saw Alicia above me. Noticing me awake she released our kiss.

“Mm, morning~. Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

“Welcome back. Actually, I have to use the toilet.”

“Ooh, so romantic. You really know the right words to make a girl swoon.”

“Funny, help me up?”

As we walked towards the bathroom I could hear rustling in the kitchen. Two people walked out and upon seeing us, bowed, then left.

“So how did it go?”

“Fine, found a lot of stuff, but I had to use some money to hire carriers since it started to get heavy.”

“That's fine. Did you happen to find any soybeans or rice?”

“We found a bunch of beans, but I don't know what soybeans look like and no rice either. I tried to describe it to her, but I don't think it exists here.”

Damn.

After using the bathroom I was helped back to the bed to continue resting. Alicia stayed by my side laying her head on my shoulder.

“How are you feeling?”

“I'm feeling good. I should be able to move around tomorrow.”

“Don't push yourself.”

“I'm fine.”

The servant girl came in after a few minutes. She probably spent time organizing the things they bought.

“Master, this one has returned.”

Eh? What? No way, the thing worked?

I should not let her know I could understand her. I had to ignore her for now, I think that is what I had been doing when I did not understand her. Damn, I cannot remember how I acted around her now that I can understand what she says.

“Veronica will come by soon to make dinner, I’ll also introduce you to our servants. Well, not like I know their names or anything.”

“Sure, I am starting to get hungry. Also, I could really use a bath.”

“Nope, you are absolutely not doing anything strenuous yet. You might rip your not-stitches. I’ll wipe you down with a towel if you want. Or better yet, maybe have that girl do it.” She smirked.

Um, why did she smirk? She's planning something...

The both of them left the bedroom and came back a few minutes later with a pot of hot water and some towels. After being stripped I felt the hot towel on my skin. So relaxing.

“Onii-chan, can I play with your tablet?”

“Hm? Yeah, sure.”

She had grabbed the tablet that had been sitting outside in the balcony all day. Since the sun was no longer on this side of the building there was no need to keep it outside. While Alicia was playing with my tablet the servant girl continued wiping me down. Very relaxing.

Alicia showed the tablet to the girl and she nodded. After putting the tablet away Alicia came back to bed with me. Snuggling up against me. Resting her head on my shoulder.

“Onii-chan, that girl is pretty isn't she?”

“What are you getting at?”

“Who knows.”

The girl then went between my legs and took me in her mouth.

“Wait, Alicia, are you okay with this?”

“Shh, just sit back and relax. She's so cute. Look, the way she's bobbing her head. Oh, look look, she's staring up at you onii-chan. She has such pretty eyes doesn't she?”

“Ah, god.”

“Wow, she swallowed it all. Did she also swallow last time?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Oh fuck...” I felt her shiver next to me.

When I looked over her face was red and eyes closed tight. Her breathing ragged. She relaxed shortly after with a glowing look and a twinkle in her opened eyes. The girl left the room after cleaning me while Alicia moved above me once more and kissed me.

“Onii-chan, you can fool around with any girl you want. As long as I approve of her. You can play around with my servant if you want. Even Veronica, but you can't force her or anyone else. Ah, but you are absolutely forbidden from going near Zoe and Emily.

“You can't touch them or go near them. They will try to seduce you. They're terrible people and I don't like them. But if you do want to fool around with someone just point her out to me so I can make sure she's good enough to sleep with you. If you want to use your servant or even my own to practice then go ahead. You can have me anytime, just say so.”

“Why do you want me to sleep with other girls? I’m not interested in being a harem king. Alicia is good enough for me.”

There was no answer. Instead she kissed me before leaving the room to get the food I now realized was already cooked. There was a scent of garlic and onions that snaked into the bedroom from the kitchen.

Dinner was soup for me and Alicia was spoon feeding me while I sat up in bed. We talked about what she had bought and if there was anything that resembled earth food. Much of what she described was pretty much what the Romans would have had back on earth. Though she did not know what soy beans looked like and there were not any potatoes, tomatoes and rice. It was unfortunate.

As I watched her feeding me I could see the look on her face. Each time she moved the spoon to my mouth. Each time she wiped away any spills. Each time she smiled as I asked for more. She cared for me. She genuinely cared about me. Her feelings for me were real. Was it wrong to think I could or should use her? What I had plan for the camping trip would have devastated her.

I should complete the grand quest.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +9』

『High Servant's Quarters』

I was finally able to get up and walk around, but Alicia did not want me leaving the apartment until I was fully healed. So I asked her to go to the place that had health potions and get some mana potions and whatever ingredients they had. Also if they had alchemy stuff like a distiller or retort or whatever. Mana potions could work as a shortcut to farm stored mana.

Alicia took the girl to have her show where the potion shop is. After they left I went to inspect the fridge. It was still cool how there was a fridge here and I wanted to know how it worked. But I could figure that out later. I took out all of the contents that Alicia had bought that was inside the fridge, there were more in containers elsewhere in the kitchen.

I saw familiar fruits and vegetables, but a few I had no idea what they were. It was still early so I could not try to taste test it, but smelling some of them were pretty familiar. I looked for the beans and saw some that were familiar, but no soybeans. Alicia was right, there was nothing that resembled potatoes and tomatoes. No New World Crops like corn, agave, cocoa, cassava or even strawberries. Oh no… that also means there is no coffee. Dammit.

There were somethings that seemed out of place. I picked up a crimson thread looking spice and gave it a sniff. It was familiar to me as I had had this once and it had a distinct scent. Saffron. There were other things I recognized such as ginger, peppercorn, turmeric and even tamarind. This would mean that there was an India-like region here.

Aside from vegetables and spices there were numerous fruits, nuts and meat. Easily recognizable were the apples, grapes, peaches and cherries. There were some figs, pomegranates, dates and different kinds of berries.

Two kinds of meat looked familiar, pork and chicken. There were other kinds that were wrapped in cloth as well as sausage. There were some fresh fish as well. I was unsure what many of them were, but I did recognize the eel.

Almonds and pistachios was easily noticeable. As well as the smell of hazelnut.

I put everything back to where it was except for one amphora. The liquid was white and creamy. Unsure if it was cow's milk or not I placed it back in the fridge. The other amphorae that were stored on shelves were all olive oil. Next to the olive oil was a glass jar of honey. There was also no wine. That needed to be fixed.

Interestingly, I did find chickpeas. I had learned that people with soy allergies could not use soy sauce so a soy alternative was made. One was using coconuts some how and another was using chickpeas. I could make a soy sauce alternative with this. But this would take months or even years to produce and do not have much time. I need to find a way to prolong my life, complete the quest and find a way home.

Leaving the kitchen I went back into the bedroom. I spawned the Grimoire in order to check my mana. My status showed I was still healing and that the injury was making the regeneration slower. With my mana full, mana was being stored. I decided to increase mana recovery to one-hundred and bring up some of the other attributes to thirty points.

Health:

177/200

Stamina:

200/200

Mana:

200/200

Life Force:

200/200

Stored Mana:

18

Strength:

30

Intelligence:

46

Precision:

74

Wisdom:

48

Dexterity:

35

Willpower:

30

Endurance:

30

Perception:

30

Toughness:

46

Charisma:

30

Resistance:

53

Luck:

1000

Health Recovery:

11

Stamina Recovery:

11

Mana Recovery:

100

Life Force Recovery:

11

Skill Points:

374

Status Effects:

Abdominal Injury (Healing)

Mana is full and recovery looks good. Now I want to try learning a specific type of magic. One that is necessary for modern worlders. I went to my rucksack and pulled out my USB cable and wall charger.

Stepping on the balcony I took my tablet that was charging and disconnected the solar charger. I sat down and laid the solar charger down and took the cable connector. Next, I pressed my finger to the connection pins, nothing happened as a connection could not be made. I needed something to reach the pin. I went back and took a safety pin from my med kit and tried again. It was faint, very faint, but I felt something. A very mild vibration.

〈Ding〉

I picked up my Grimoire and checked what had been learned.

「Electromancy Discovered」

「《Detect Electricity》 Learned」

Magecraft: Electromancy Category: Elemental Information: Lightning Mage Allows User to control and manipulate electricity. Current Spells Unlocked

Yoshi. With this I can understand electricity. Moving my electronics away from me just in case I focused on my thumb and index. I have felt this before from carpets and rubber balloons.

*zap*

“Got it.”

〈Ding〉

「《Static Shock》 Learned」

Good, now I needed to control it more. I took my wall charger which had built in regulators to prevent overcharges and power surges and connected it to my tablet. With the lowest power I could attempt i started zapping the two prongs of the wall charger. I had to be careful not to blow the charger up since i only had one.

The tablet started to charge.

〈Ding〉

「《Electric Control》 Learned」

「《Electric Charge》 Learned」

“Haha, too easy.”

I was successful! But I was also tired. My mana went down quite a bit. It was fortunate that I had an affinity for 「Electromancy」 or I would have accidentally drained all of my mana. I needed Alicia and the girl to come back with those potions since even with the increased points I have terribly slow mana recovery and I had used quite a bit.

☘ ☘ ☘

『High Servant's Quarters』

Not long after I stopped my tests and put away the Grimoire Alicia and the servant girl came back. They had brought back many ingredients and tools from the potion shop and had put it away where ever there was space for it. The girl had prepared food for us so while we were eating we went through some of the ingredients. Quite a few were recognizable like cinnamon, rosemary, garlic and oak leaves.

After having Alicia talk to the girl we sent her off to get some wine. Hopefully it would take some time. If no one knows about the existence of Grimoires then I do not want her leaking this to the princess or anyone else. Now that she had left I could talk to Alicia about it.

“Alicia, do you trust me?”

“Uh, duh? What's up onii-chan?”

“Can you keep a secret and also can Veronica keep a secret, since I’m sure you're going to tell her?”

“Yeah, easy. I have tons of secrets that even you don't know and Veronica isn't someone who gossips. What's wrong?”

“Okay, ignoring that thing about tons of secrets for now… have you been hearing any ding sounds since coming to this world?”

“Yeah, it's annoying as hell, but from what I understand it's just a way of life here. Something about doing things correctly or whatever. Why?"

“If I told you that this world was some kind of weird video game world would you believe me?”

“Sure.”

“'Sure.' Just like that?”

“Just like that. Does my boyfriend have a reason to lie to me?”

“...No.”

“Then, what kind of video game are we in?”

“Keep what happens here a secret, it is absolutely important no one that doesn't need to know about this find out. Say 'Grimoire', but don't panic after what happens.”

“Huh? Okay, 'Grimoire'.”

Apparently she had heard the same thing I did and freaked out a little. The same pixelated aberrations eventually formed and a book was floating in front of us.

“What the shit is this?!”

“I said don't panic...”

“Onii-chan what… I don't understand what this is.”

“Okay, you should get a language prompt.”

“Yeah, there it is.”

“Right, before you accept it I have to warn-”

*tap*

“Ow… OW! Fuck, ow oh my god! Ah it hurts. What… what the fuck. Why did it hurt?!”

I held her close until she recovered. When she did I brought out my Grimoire and showed her the basics. Learning the attributes and skills and now she had unlocked the native language.

Alicia's magecraft was something called 「Vindicomancer」, which was in the 「Creation」 category and could manifest items like weapons, shields and tools for a short time. She did not have many skill points, but I showed her how I managed to get a few. We could not go further as we heard the girl return and I made her put it away while explaining my reasoning.

Primary Magecraft: Vindicomancy Category: Creation Information: - Avenging Mage

Allows User to spawn items for offense or defense.

Current Spells Unlocked: 1

“Master, this one has returned with the wine requested.”

“Holy shit, I can understand her.”

“Mistress?”

“Girl, can you understand our words?”

“Yes master, this one understands.”

“Umu, then, would you kindly tell me your name?”

“Yes master, this one is named Saya Servilia of the Servilia House, High Servant serving the one before me.”

Saya, huh? That's a cute name, but isn't that oddly Japanese?

“Saya Servilia of the Servilia House, I am Naoki Kuroba, Kuroba Clan Head. Tell me about your name and what a High Servant is.”

“This one is a descendant of a previous summoned hero. Those with the heroes blood may be given names left behind by the previous heroes. High Servant are slaves that is permitted to use magic as well as given higher education. A regular Servant does not possess magic, but is given an education. A lower slave is used for labor or for the use of the plebs.”

Heh~. This is interesting. We can finally get a lot of answers now.

I nudged Alicia.

“I am Alicia Tachibana… Kuroba, wife of Naoki.”

“Wife?”

“Shh.”

Ehh~…

“How long ago was the previous summoning?”

“One-thousand one-hundred eighty-two years ago.”

“Who was the person that died at the 【Summoning Ritual】?”

“That… He was Prince Ralla Reperius Epsitylia, brother and betrothed to Princess Minervina Galeria Epistylia."

“They were siblings?! That means siblings can marry… onii-chan isn't that great news?”

“Excuse me?”

“It's almost time for dinner. Saya, help onii-chan with his bath, I will go get Veronica.”

“Don't just ignore me, wait, come back. Dammit, what the hell?”

Alicia bolted out the door without even a second thought.

“So… siblings can marry? Even the peasants or whatever they are.”

“Yes master, there are no laws against siblings and first cousins marrying, but only to that point. Other familial relations are forbidden. Men may also have multiple wives on the condition that each wife can be supported by the husband and vice versa.”

This… isn't Rome at all. I remember learning that such things were illegal in roman times. But here it is all fine and dandy? This place is weird. And what was up with Alicia? Fucking hell. Did she see my user information? It is a misunderstanding…

“I see, then, let's go take a bath.”

“Of Course master.”

“Ah, let's, um… let's repeat the first day.”

Did she blush? She did. Dammit she is cute.

As we both sat in the bath soaking in the heated water Saya was sitting on my lap with my hands fondling fun parts. This was a good chance to get more information from her. She did not understand the term fridge since the people here just call it an Ice Box, original. From what she said it was powered by magic. Specifically 「Magic Stones」and more specifically 「Frost Stones」.

「Magic Stones」are naturally occurring in this world and can be mined, grown or found in dungeons. To grow a 「Magic Stone」requires slime creatures. Those can also be found in dungeons. She did not know much about dungeons, but said that what can be found there is usually what various creatures and Ossians carry.

The 【Summoning Ritual】 that brought us here was powered using 「Altar Stones」. Which were destroyed when something happened. It is also used somehow in dungeons. Though no one knows how, it seems to be some kind of ancient tech. In the capital there are street lamps that are powered by 「Glow Stones」 I just never noticed it before.

The water in here as well is powered by 「Water Stones」. I asked if they can be purchased and she told me that it was possible, but it would be cheaper near a dungeon town.

I also wanted to know what kind of mage she was since I remember her using healing magic. Her magecraft was called 「Viseremancy」 which allowed her to learn from observing. Which explains why she kept making me sandwiches that were almost identical to the one I had made and why she constantly stares at me. I then asked her if she knew of an 「Animancer」 and 「Auramancer」.

“「Auramancer」? This one does not know.”

“What about a 「Sentiomancer」?”

“Yes, the Princess is an 「Sentiomancer」,but this one does not know of any 「Animancer」.”

“Heh~, is that so. Is she willing to teach it?”

“This one is unsure.”

“Then I have some things I want to do tomorrow. First, I want to visit the potion shop.

Second, I want to visit the idiot instructor for payments owed. Third, I want you to set up a private meeting between the princess and me. Then if we have time I want to visit a magic stone shop.”

“Yes master.”

☘ ☘ ☘

Veronica and Alicia along with their servants were already waiting for us as we left the bathroom. The two were sitting at the dining table while their servants were cooking.

“You two took a long time in there. Did you have fun?”

Saya blushed while I rolled my eyes. I think I saw Veronica blush too. I told them my plans and that I wanted Alicia to come along. Both of them were fine with this. Dinner was served and we ate. After dinner Alicia whispered to both servants, both of whom had startled looks on there faces.

“I'm leaving these two with you tonight, I have to have a talk with Veronica. We'll see you tomorrow.”

I knew immediately what Alicia wanted to talk to her about. They will most likely spend all night learning about the Grimoire undisturbed.

“Wait, the both of them? The bed isn't that big.”

“Don't worry about it. Goodnight.” *chu*

God dammit, I’m not going to fuck them…

☘ ☘ ☘

“Ali, are you really okay with letting him sleep with them?”

“Of course, I want him to be happy.”

“And that is what will make him happy, having sex with different girls?”

“Yup, you're more than welcome to be his lover as well. 'Veronica Kuroba' sounds pretty cute or do you want to hyphenate your last name? 'Veronica Tieu-Kuroba' doesn't really roll off the tongue.”

“Ali, no. what the hell? I’m not going to be part of some harem thing you're trying to put together.”

“If you say so.”

“… does he remember you yet?”

“Nope.”

“You need to tell him already.”

“He needs to remember on his own.”

“Alicia, knock that shit off and tell him. It's pointless to keep it secret. Does your sister remember him? You said something about talking to her about him right?”

“Yeah, when I called her that morning to find out what medication he's taking I mentioned his name. At first she didn't know who I was taking about, but then she remembered calling him 'Nao Nao' when we were kids. I had to hang up when I saw him at the gates.”

“Just tell him already. He'll be happy knowing you two were reunited. I saw the look on his face when he saw you that night. He was relieved that he got to see you again.”

“But, it'll be better if he remembers on his own.”

“God dammit Ali! If you keep too many secrets from him you might just drive Naoki away. What happens if Zoe seduces him? Then you walk in on him fucking her! Then what?! You know what she's like. What she and Emily does! I’m not even the first girl they did that with… if you don't tell him, I will.”

“Fine... Hey Veronica, see that prompt that says 'Learn Language'? Tap [YES].”