Stepping outside

"Rise and shine, Leeevi!" exclaimed Thunder while he opened the curtains, letting in morning light through.

Levi groaned as he opened his eyes to a happy Thunder.

"This is a nightmare," coarsely said Levi.

"You'd feel better in the morning if you slept properly, really," pointed out Thunder.

"Just thought I'd read a little," replied Levi.

"Yeah, but the servants are telling me you haven't slept in your bed yet, maybe that'd help."

Levi stood up, stretching his back that felt sore from the position he slept him, while Thunder watched him with an 'I told you so' look on his face.

"This is boring, what is it today? Will we be choosing between equally uninteresting paintings, or maybe we'll deal with the life-threatening 'how should the bushes be cut' question? I'd lean toward a square shape, but if you argue with me enough I'd accept something with round edges-"

"Real funny Levi," reacted Thunder while genuinely laughing.

"I wish we grew up together, would've had a lot of fun. Luckily for you, we'll be heading to the Adventurers' Guild today, get your card issued."

"Finally!" jumped Levi.

He quickly turned around, but Syllia was still asleep.

"She'll wake up eventually," said Thunder.

"Why isn't she waking up like everyone else?"

Thunder took the available chair across the table and sat down.

"I needed to talk to you about that," replied Thunder.

Levi sat down as well.

"What we think happened-" started Thunder.

"We?"

"Grant and I," said Thunder, "is that when you let your Goddess' domain out you have little to no control over it. We believe you're capable of a lot of things, but you're kind of randomly letting everything out at once at different strengths."

Levi arched his eyebrows, surprised.

"So it is all my fault."

"Yes," replied Thunder directly. "There's no point in ruminating about it. You would be dead if you had done nothing."

Thunder put both his arms on the table.

"Here's what we're thinking: The Goddess uses her powers through you, but you're too weak to handle it. You're borrowing her directly, as a Goddess, which is why she gets out."

Levi stared at the ground, but Thunder continued with a lighter tone.

 "Man, honestly, you'll have to give me your technique, Syllia, Lydia, Aya and even a Goddess, there has to be a secret. My God sure never visits me I'll tell you that..."

"Yeah, as if they were all into me," sighed Levi in exasperation.

"Sure... keep your secrets," winked Thunder.

Thunder got up, and pushed the chair under the table.

"Anyways, the best thing we can do is avoid her ever coming out again by making you stronger, so you rely on what you can do."

Thunder started walking toward the door, and Levi slowly followed him while thinking about his own strength.

"And maybe you should start thinking about what your purpose here is," said Thunder.

After he exited the room, thunder turned around. "he's all yours, ladies."

The servants who had waited outside poured in. Lydia and three others came in with clothes and buckets in their hands.

~-~

Levi approached the main entrance, uncomfortable with the clothes he was wearing.

As he opened the doors, rays of light blinded him while his eyes adjusted to the brightness.

As he squinted his eyes, the clear blue sky and its minimal clouds made it through. Paired with the bright green gardens, Levi had a hard time believing this was where he lived.

A few servants were still working on the gardens. It was quite basic compared to the palace and Thunder's mansion but still looked good to Levi with its diverse flowers and trees.

The one he liked the most was the willow tree in a corner of the garden. It was bigger than any he'd seen before, covering meters of the garden with shade, with a single bench under it.

He could only imagine what it would be like to read under such a tree on a day like this.

Levi walked down the stairs, as the carriage was just ahead.

"Alright, let's get moving !" Yelled Thunder who was waiting beside the carriage.

As Levi reached Thunder, his eyes opened wide.

"Is this?" asked Levi.

"Yup."

The design he had made the previous evening was on the carriage's side door, while the carriage itself was mainly black and dark blue.

The coat of arms that had his crest was exactly like he pictured it, only this time it didn't look like a kid had drawn it.

"I asked him to only use gold on the crest. The rest is pretty much black and dark blue paint, which isn't that expensive."

"It looks better than I thought now that I see it," said Levi.

"Ah, finally you see some positives in being a noble," playfully said Thunder.

"All of this," Levi pointed at the gardens, the mansion, and the servants, "is too much."

Levi sighed.

"I was raised in poverty. The biggest place I've lived in is as big as the smallest room in this mansion. I've never had employees, never managed land. Hell, I don't know anything about the social structure of this world. Is slavery a thing? I don't even know."

Thunder listened while his eyebrows just arched higher at each statement Levi made.

"I know this was forced on you but I'll be around to help a bit. This is all just for show," said Thunder, nodding at the mansion.

"Just for show?" 

"Yeah, you're not expected to stay here forever, but it will officially be yours soon, and everyone will be made aware. We'll find someone to manage your property and you'll be free to do as you please."

Thunder turned toward the carriage and reached for the door handle, before briefly turning around again.

"Ah, and uh... we're not savages, buying people isn't a thing here... but you can hire people, that'd be fine."

"Wha- hey! I didn't mean-" 

"Sure, now you didn't 'mean', but it sounded different, I'm just saying..." 

"Wha- you're sick, Thunder. Truly, you're a sick person, and I'd get that checked out," replied Levi, while Thunder had an uncontrollable laughter that resounded far and wide.

Levi followed Thunder inside the carriage, as he stepped in someone he recognized was already sitting in it.

"I'd let you buy me if you wanted," said Lydia who sat opposite to Thunder.

Levi's face instantly turned bright red, while he stared at Thunder's face for a second. Flushed, he looked at Lydia again. "Listen, I'm not buying anyone. I was just asking questions and Thunder, like always really...-"

"Hahaha, I know, I heard, it's fine," laughed Lydia, as joyful tears were forming in her eyes.

"I have to say, I think we've chosen the right clothes, Lord Thunder," said Lydia.

"I think so too," added Thunder as they both looked at Levi who sat next to Thunder.

Thunder's old garments were replaced after they had given him a good scrub. He had squirmed the whole time they did it, insisting he could do it himself, yet nobody seemed to hear him.

The new clothes he was given looked a lot better and weren't what he expected.

He thought he'd get the 'typical' noble robe, but was surprised with a nice black leather armor, with it mainly covering the shoulders and some parts of his chest.

 The rest was a dark and thick cotton-like cloth. He thought he'd die scorched in it with the sun around, but despite how thick it was, it felt light and breezy. 

Paired with the cape that covered part of his shoulders, and that could even fall on his chest with some adjustments, he truly felt like an adventurer.

"I could've washed myself, I didn't require help," said Levi barely audibly.

"Don't worry, I didn't look," laughed Lydia.

Levi tilted his head slightly while frowning.

"Actually, what are you doing here?"

"You want me to leave?" Asked Lydia, with a concerned look.

"Oh no, it's just that I thought we were simply getting my adventurer's card, thought it'd only be me and Thunder," said Levi. 

"Ah, I did forget to mention," replied Thunder, "Lydia is to become an adventurer with you. She'll be your first party member."

Levi's eyebrows raised to his hairline, while no sound came out of his mouth. Thunder crouched over, tapping on the window next to Lydia, telling the driver to get going.