Chapter 298 - What is Pairing (Patreon)

When the night comes, someone knocks on the door. Stopping my training, I also poke Vega and head towards the door. When I open it, the man stands there, neatly dressed and holding two sets of clothes on hangers.

“Your clothes, Mister Gwyn, Miss Vega,” he hands them to me as if not even expecting a refusal, “I shall wait outside and lead you to join Sir Butler and Lady Housekeeper.”

After that, he just closes the door and stays outside.

Me and Vega look at each other. Our clothes are somewhat cleaned up, and we even took baths, so that shouldn’t be a problem.

I’m about to throw them to the side and head out like that when I notice the way Vega looks with shiny eyes at the pretty yellow dress that is meant for her. Just from looking, I can guess that it will most likely fit her nicely.

With a sigh, I hand her the clothes. Just tonight, I will be nice to the silly disciple of mine. She is constantly training, even beyond what I'm expecting of her. So yup, it's totally only a small reward for that, nothing else.

“Do you know how to put them on?”

She looks confused, so I spend a bit of time explaining and then send her to the other room so she can put them on.

Meanwhile, I examine mine. The style is similar to the 4th-floor elegant clothes I took to the auction, just a bit simpler. The clothes have thinner and somewhat stretchy and extremely comfortable cloth. They are light gray with a black vest underneath and just a bit of golden embroidery. Even the shoes are black with a hint of gold.

Well, I can put them on and sell them afterward.

After getting ready, I wait for Vega, and a bit later, she exits the room. She is moving somewhat awkwardly and shyly.

Her clothes look like a nice yellow dress with a bit of white. They are also simple and from nice materials. They complement her light brown hair and make her red eyes even more striking, as well as her tiny black horns. She is also wearing a pair of new shoes that are in a similar color to the dress. The shoes look sleek and comfortable and perfectly match the dress.

I mean, Biscuit is clearly the cutest being that ever entered the tutorial, but Vega is also cute.

“Come here,” I tap on one of the chairs without a backrest, and the little half-demon climbs onto it.

Taking a few steps, I grab a brush from the dresser and start brushing her hair. At the first touch, Vega freezes, and I can sense her kinetic demon heart start beating wildly, but after a moment, she realizes what's happening. Still sitting stiffly, she allows me to continue.

“I used to brush my sister’s hair. She always pretended like she didn’t need it, but she liked it,” I tell Vega. “One time I annoyed her, and she forced me to learn all kinds of ways to tie her hair or style them.”

I put the brush to the side and take another one, carefully continuing to not pull her hair.

“How is master’s sister? Is she similar?”

“Similar?” I think about it for a bit, “I think so? But she is a few years older and more decisive and stubborn.”

“She sounds like a strong person.”

“Yes, she is strong.”

“Is master scared of her?”

That almost makes me laugh. Vic would sooner set the world ablaze than hurt those she cares about. Not answering I use my hands to style Vega’s hair. It’s not even up to her shoulder, so there is not much I can do.

“We are done. Time to head out. As I said before, always stay near me, you can stop examining your area or sensing people. It might be considered rude. Do not touch anything or anyone, and do not attack anyone. You are Vega, I'm Nathaniel. We are travelers, and we stopped by the Sanctuary and head further north. According to the map, there are a few more bunkers and survivors. We did not attack the Bastion, we are not heading towards the Valley. We never saw a group of deer and didn't kill them.”

“Yes!”

“Good, let's go then,” I open the door, and the man leads us outside.

We pass through the streets, unhurried at all. The man walks first with hands folded behind his back, and on the streets, people seem to recognize him. The streets are empty, and even when we meet someone, that person quickly clears the way, and not even a few passing guards stop us.

Eventually, we reach an inner wall that is thrice my height, and the gate opens for us, revealing a beautiful garden and a sidewalk made of beautiful white stone and framed by vibrant green grass. All of it is nicely lit by soft light shining on our way from lamps placed all over.

Using the sidewalk, we start moving uphill, heading towards yet another wall made of the same kind of stone as the sidewalk. This wall has beautiful paintings all over it, a vibrant blue, green, and yellow color mix. Figures depicting fights. Floating islands. Exotic places and animals.

Even though there is so much of it, it doesn't feel like too much or amiss; all of the paintings are placed perfectly to reach that effect.

The next gate that opens isn't even guarded and reveals a straight road towards the manor in the middle. The manor itself has plenty of entirely glass walls, a red roof made of some stone, and plenty of light blue crystal pillars. There are a few more buildings around, each different from the other.

“That's as far as I will go, please enjoy your evening Miss Vega, Mister Gwyn,” the servant that led us here bows and leaves, his steps sounding in an otherwise quiet place.

“Vega, doesn't he feel like a douchebag to you?” I ask my disciple while watching the man leave.

“Yes, like a douchebag!” she then hesitates, “What does douchebag mean?”

“It means an obnoxious, offensive, or disgusting person. But I'm not sure if that poor man deserves to be called that,” the woman exits the house we were heading to. “It's nice to meet you Miss Vega, Mister Gwyn,” she smiles and bows, but only a tiny bit.

The woman is similar in height to me, her figure slim, and her movements energetic. She has wavy black hair and violet eyes and is wearing a pale blue dress. There is no weapon on her, yet she shows confidence similar to the Butler from before.

“I'm the Housekeeper, allow me to welcome you to the Bastion. Shall we head inside?”

[Ethereal Duelist - lvl ??]

“Sure,” I answer simply, but the woman doesn’t seem insulted and moves first.

Each of her movements is sharp and dangerous. Movements of someone very used to fighting using their body, which her class confirms.

So the Butler is a ranged class, and the Housekeeper is close range. If fighting happens, I will have to defend using barriers while fighting the woman. Both of them are probably 20-30 levels higher, so it feels somewhat manageable, the only problems are Vega and whatever defenses they have here.

The man with the criminally majestic mustache is already inside and greets us as well, while they lead us to the table. All of it feels extremely pretentious and boring. I was never the type to care about this kind of stuff, but I go with it for now.

After sitting behind the table, Vega moves to my right, while the housekeeper is opposite of me, and the Butler to my left.

At least the food is good and safe to eat.

In the middle of the dinner, the conversation finally starts.

“I have noticed the signature of an item when you entered the Bastion, Mister Gwyn,” the Butler starts, “Tens of years ago, we gifted a similar item to Darren’s predecessor. A silver collar.” The man pokes a piece of meat and puts it into his mouth. Each of his movements is smooth and elegant, even the way he sits.

“Interesting story. I found something similar, I think then it was on… cattle I met by chance.”

“Cattle, you say. I wonder what happened to it.”

“Me too. I just set it free after taking the collar.” I take my glass, and while drinking, I make sure to slurp slightly.

The man doesn't react to that provocation.

Vega copies me instantly and she starts slurping from her glass, just much louder than me. That makes every one of us look at her, and she blushes and quickly looks down at the table.

“That cattle probably had owners; I wonder what could happen to them. Such cattle can be really dangerous,” the Butler continues.

“Me too,” I repeat.

"I see. Well, to change the subject, I have noticed a blade…”

The Housekeeper finally joins the conversation, “Damn it, Butler, your eloquent behavior sometimes makes me want to punch you in the face,” she sighs and turns from the man to me, “I'm a warrior, and unlike my colleague here, I'm not patient enough for these conversations, and it takes me only a second to guess you are neither.”

I lift my glass towards the woman and take a sip.

That makes her smile. She is still sitting there elegantly. Her shoulders are revealed by her pale blue dress and her body a deadly weapon, yet she throws a part of that mask away.

“The Voidsteel blade you have can be only from one being, so I wonder. Did you get it by chance or did you deserve it?”

Nothing changes, but something tells me the way I answer the question is extremely important.

Well, I don't think they will answer all of my questions, so let's make an offer to ensure at least a few of them get answered.

“You can ask three questions, and I will ask three. You can decide not to answer, and me as well, but we will try to get to answer three questions for everyone. Does that sound reasonable?” I offer.

This time it's the Butler who answers, “That much would be appreciated. And please forgive my colleague; she is perfectly capable of behaving properly but likes to slip up. A mark she bears from the times when she used to be just a simple brute.

“Come on, Butler, our guest doesn't care, and even the kid is getting bored. Plus, he isn't from here; there is no need for decorum, it's stuffy.”

“I understand, Housekeeper, I will keep decorum, but you shall behave a bit less… proper to please our guest. As for our first question, Mister Gwyn, I would like to ask you where did you get the Voidsteel blade. If you give us a longer answer instead of a simple one, we will be more considerate in answering your questions.”

“I fought against the Veil Guardian in the city near the Sanctuary. I was able to separate the guardian's arm and get the blade. The monster is still alive, but it's something that I will change in the future.”

“Ha! I told you, Butler! You didn't trust me, but I know men like him. Just seeing the way he looks is enough for me to tell that he didn't just steal it or find it!”

The Butler looks at the Housekeeper for a moment, almost disappointed by such inelegant behavior before turning to me.

As he speaks, I watch his mustache move. It's like a living being, “The Veil Guardians are powerful opponents, so allow me to congratulate you on your skill or luck, Mister Gwyn. I believe it was a tough fight.”

[Focus - lvl 45 > Focus - lvl 46]

“A little bit,” I nod. “It's my turn, so I want to ask. What happened to lead to all of this?” I decide to ask the question that could finish one of my side quests. The one with the reward of 5 thousand shards.

The two of them exchange glances but do not ask anything; instead, it's the Housekeeper who answers, “The Gardener could know more, but there is a bit I am able to answer. The simple version is that 120 years ago, we got Paired with another planet, and through that connection of planets…”

“Wait a moment, can you explain what is Pairing?”

“Would you like to ask that as your first question instead?”

“Yes.”

She nods and looks at the Butler, who adjusts his clothes and straightens up, “The Pairing is an event that is caused by the system. We are not sure how it's decided, if it's random, if beings are overseeing this, or if it's even some natural process. During the Pairing, two planets are connected, and once the Pairing starts, it takes years for them to Pair fully. Sometimes it is just a few years; in other cases, it's tens or even hundreds. The speed of Pairing is influenced by the natives of each planet.”

He moves a plate away from him and swipes off an invisible speck of dust before fixing his sleeve.

“Usually, each of two planets has a being called Absolute, and the Pairing speeds up when one of the Absolutes is dead. There might be unlucky planets that get paired without having an Absolute, but that's rare. So with only one Absolute remaining, there are usually no enemy forces capable of killing an Absolute, and the planet with one tends to win, if you want to call it that. The winning planet then grows stronger and bigger after absorbing the other planet.”

I have dozens of questions, but he stops there, his expression knowing what is going through my head, “This one is a free answer to show our goodwill, Mister Gwyn. You might lack information about our planet, but it went through a Pairing long ago; that's why we have information about it, and currently, the second Pairing is still in progress.”

***

Next Chapter