Elena has turned into stone, I guess her shoulder being grabbed by the person she looked up to might’ve been a bit too much stimulation that her brain short-circuited. So, I’m gonna leave my assistant for a while and go to the main operation: impressing the empress she forgot all about the water pillar, saving me from the horrors of being burned alive.

The empress looked at me, then looked at Elena who had moved into a bowing position once more, then looked at me again, before twirling her finger before semi-transparent red mana came out and formed a dome around me and her.

“Your majesty, this is…”

“It’s a sound barrier, we can talk freely without being heard. So, I’m assuming she knows about the research too?”

“Yes, your majesty. I didn’t notice she was watching when I was experimenting. I suggest having her memory wiped- and if possible her existence as a whole to not leak any secrets that could be detrimental to my research and maybe the empire.”

“There’s no need for that. I can trust her, and being friends with someone closer to your age is not such a bad idea.”

“With all due respect, your majesty, and I’m saying this as politely as possible, if I want to befriend a snake then I’d rather choose a venomous one that’d kill me if it looked at me once than Elena. And, as you know, I’m not a child, I’m just stuck in a child’s body.”

“You’re not a child, but you sure do act like one. She’s not gonna get her memory wiped and I want you to befriend her. Also, your research about the weapon of mass destruction thing will be postponed.”

“What?! But I need to do my research, your majesty!”

“No, as long as she's here, no research about weapons of mass destruction.”

“Then… if it’s not about weapons, is it okay?”

“Hmmm, I suppose so.”

Delighted that I wouldn’t have to spend the rest of my days bored with nothing to do, I ran out of the dome and opened the drawer where I was keeping the mana lamp hidden. I turned back and showed the empress, who already dissipated the soundproof dome, the magnificent orange light that was bright enough it could light up a whole tunnel.

“Will things like this be okay, your majesty?”

“...What is that?”

“This is a mana lamp! Though it’s still very much inefficient, with a bit more research this could replace lanterns all around the world.” I said as I wrapped the mana lamp with a blanket so as to not blind the people in my room.

“If it’s like this, then I will let you continue your research.” She said as she walked over to me and ruffled my hair before continuing, “you did a great job.”

I wasn’t expecting to be treated like a kid would bring me so much happiness that I couldn’t control the bright smile plastered on my face. I guess the empress was right about me acting like a kid from time to time, maybe it’s due to my brain actually being a kid’s brain that I’m acting like this. Wait… Does that mean I have to go through puberty again? No, I’ll think about that when it happens. There’s a more important matter to attend to.

“Your majesty, about the water pillar…”

“Yes, yes, It was just a joke before, but after seeing that I’ll let you handle it.”

“That’s not it, your majesty I want to be-”

“I have something urgent I need to take care of. So, I’m trusting you with the water pillar.” She said as she pointed her finger behind me.

At the corner of the room, the armored lady from before was standing there motionless. I was wide-eyed, my jaw almost dropped to the floor, and my vocal cords were about to let out the most haunting shriek ever, but honestly, I’m more tired than anything. I think it’s about time I accept that things will never go my way and I’ll just have to take it like I took that wrecking ball that brought me here in the first place.

“Well, I’ll be going now, you two kids have fun!” Said Empress Josephine before teleporting off with the armored lady.

All that’s left in the room is a blanket with light shining through it, Elena who’s still stuck in a bowing position, and me who’s in the middle of accepting my role in this world as a push over with no luck.

+++++

The empress said I needed to take care of the water pillar within a week back in the ‘royal court’. Well, it’s three days away from the deadline and the water pillar is still going strong. I was hoping that it’d shrink if I leave it alone for a couple of days; It did shrink, but only by a tenth of its original width. So, today, I decided to test some stuff with Elena. We're currently back in the woods where the water pillar is, and are taking cover under a tree so we don't get too wet.

"You said we're about to do something today? So, why are we standing here doing nothing?" Said Elena.

"We're waiting for General Julian. We need him for the experiment."

The experiment today is digging up the dirt around the water pillar so that the part where the pillar is coming out of can be moved. It's pretty simple and if done correctly it may lead to a solution, but if done incorrectly there could be a whole lot of problems other than a slight drizzle for the royal palace.

“Why don’t we just dig right now?”

“Using the weak arms of two kids? Yeah, we can’t even pick up a rock bigger than our palm.”

“Speak for yourself.” Said Elena as she moved towards the water pillar.

She stops in front of it and walks around the water pillar, looking like she’s making some kind of plan on where to dig. She then started making lines that would form a rectangle that surrounds the water pillar.

Even though the ground is easier to dig due to it drizzling since a few days ago, making the ground wet, I don’t think it’ll be any easier for a kid’s muscle to dig. And we don’t have a shovel, so unless she’s going to dig a foot hole using her bare hands then I don’t see this going anywhere.

She then planted her hands down, into the ground, and yanked them out. The line she drew became a guide where the ground was lifted up by her. She’s currently lifting up a comically perfect cut of square ground which houses the water pillar. So, basically, she’s lifting up a water hose that could probably bring the flood into the empire.

“HOLY SHI- PUT THAT DOWN!”

“Alright… alright-”

“SLOWLY YOU IDIOT!”

As she was lowering it down, her face soured after I yelled at her. She then turned her head towards me and gave me a menacing smile before directing the water pillar towards me, sending me flying inside the denser part of the forest. I thought I was a goner, but a pond cushioned my landing and saved me from being turned into a puddle of incoherent red goo.

She only directed the water pillar — or more like a water hose — for a split second, but it felt like my whole body was being punched by a giant fist. Everything hurts and I can’t move an inch of my body; there is something even worse though, the pond that saved me might also be the one that kills me, considering how deep it is and I can’t even move the tip of my fingers, I might drown. My consciousness is starting to fade and my vision is starting to turn black, but before I passed out, I saw a little kid with green hair swimming really fast towards me.

Hah! such a cliche… I’m thankful though.

+++++

I woke up feeling very comfortable, as if my whole body is being covered by a very soft and warm blanket. And as I opened my eyes slowly, I can see a familiar green light hovering over me; it was Elena’s hand, its glowing green similar to how the empress was treating me back when I got promoted from a mere slave into a butler apprentice. Elena’s eyes lit up when she saw me wake up, then she helped me prop myself up before continuing to use healing magic on me in silence.

I scanned the area to see that we’re in a clearing, surrounded by very dense trees and bushes. The pond that I fell down into and almost killed me has this murky green color that blocks sunlight from entering too deep inside it. Overall there’s nothing really striking that could be found in this clearing. So, I decided to see any landmark that can be used so we could get back to the royal castle.

I tried to get up and see the area much more clearly due to there being high grass that was obstructing my view of the surroundings, but I wobbled and almost fell down. Thankfully Elena was there to catch me and hold me up. She seems pretty shaken, probably due to seeing me beat up and almost died; I’m not gonna say that it’s not her fault I became like that, but I’m not entirely innocent either. When we get back, I’ll have a chat with her once we get back and well-rested-

I didn’t notice before thanks to all the high grass blocking my view, but now that I’m standing, I can see something terrible. Every time I see it, my heart aches and starts beating in my chest really hard like it’s trying to get out. My legs started to shake uncontrollably and felt like they were begging me to run away. And my vision started to blur after being blocked by water that came from a broken dam inside my eyes; I started crying, crying at the sight of an abandoned mansion in a clearing.

I’m sorry Elena, I think you need to wait for just a bit more for that well-deserved rest. I need to know what that mansion is and why it makes me feel like this.