Exploring The Manor

Nathan continued to lurch forth, attempting to yeet off the carriage.

With all of my strength, I held him back from throwing himself out of the carriage. Many people were looking and pointing at us. They were whispering with one another. Surely only good things about me, as I was preventing a suicide from happening.

That makes me an upstanding citizen, no?

It wasn't as though the carriage was all that fast, but even tumbling out of a slow-moving vehicle would still cause pretty bad injuries if one was just throwing themselves at the floor. Especially so if it was done with the intention of dying too.

A wild strength was coming out of Nathan which nearly sent me flying out of the carriage too. But thankfully, due to my stroke of genius, I hooked my foot underneath the seat, giving me just enough of a foothold to keep him afloat.

As for the carriage drivers, they didn't seem to care about the scene at all, just continuing to drive at the same speed. Eventually, Nathan eventually calmed down his tantrum and I was able to bring him back into the carriage and close the doors.

While panting rather heavily, I set him down in the seat next to me. He sprawled out onto it like a dead fish. Although he no longer tried to kill himself, he didn't seem to function like a proper human being either. His death was just a matter of time at this rate.

...There had to be a way to fix this, right?

I noticed Jess was glaring at me like she was going to kill me. As she opened her mouth, I cleared my throat as loud as I could, cutting her off.

"As just a side question that doesn't really matter, Jess, do you particularly dislike Natan for any reason?"

I had a feeling that the situation might've been a misunderstanding, and even if it wasn't I doubted that she hated Natan. Maybe she hated me, but she literally just met Nathan, so there was no way she actually hated him, right?

...Though I guess his recent display would put some people off.

Jess crossed her arms.

"I guess there is no reason for me to particularly dislike him, but how is that relevant?"

Nathan suddenly sat up straight and cleared his throat.

"Ah, is that so?"

Jess looked at him strangely.

"...I would not lie about something so trivial."

Nathan let out a strange laugh.

"I see! I see!..."

He seemed to be basking in a sense of relief. I pat his shoulder a few times.

"There was that thing we wanted to talk about in private, right?"

Nathan looked at me stupefied. I shot him a glare, which made him flinch, causing him to finally remember.

"Oh yeah! That thing, of course!"

Jess looked at us strangely.

"And what exactly is that?"

I coughed.

"It's private, you shouldn't ask about something like that."

Jess stared blankly.

"I... see."

Though she still seemed quite displeased, it looked like she wasn't going to ask any more questions. Although an awkward silence lingered after, it did not last long as the carriage ride was finally over.

Once I looked at the manor that I supposedly lived in, I couldn't help but feel awed. It was... big. That's the only real way I knew how to describe it. Honestly, aesthetically it wasn't that good compared to some of the stuff in the modern world, but at the very least the size made up for it.

As I stood there, I quickly realized that while I made it home... I had no idea where the hell anything was. The redeeming feature of this place, its size, was my downfall.

I blinked a few times.

"Anyways, uh sister... what are you going to do now?"

Jess clicked her tongue.

"I'm going to my room to study. Leave me alone."

I blinked a few times.

"...Say, do you think our rooms are far from each other, or close?"

Jess looked at me strangely.

"You were the one that asked for them to be separated further, no?"

Nathan was making various facial expressions, but I ignored him for now. I cleared my throat.

"Ah, so would you say they are far apart?"

Jess frowned slightly before nodding.

"Yes, I would say that."

I smiled and waved casually.

"I see, I see! Anyway, that's all I wanted to talk about."

From there, I dragged Nathan along, but at the same time, I kept looking at Jess from the corner of my eye. Nathan waved at Jess enthusiastically.

"Bye!"

I really wished he did not do that, but I knew his brain functioned at a lower level whenever something involved Jess. From there, I casually followed behind Jess at a distance where I could see her.

She went through the palace and up the stairs. Occasionally, she would look over her shoulder, after which I would look to the side and begin whistling.

Thankfully, it seemed like she didn't catch on as she eventually made her way to her own room. After she entered it, I shook Nathan, who was still a little dumbstruck.

"Alright, she said that my room was far away, so we just gotta search a little further away from here."

Natan blinked a few times before shaking his head.

"Oh, that's why you did all that?"

I ruffled his hair aggressively.

"Get Jess out of your damn mind! If you really want to save her, then we have to be serious here! If we don't get to my own room, then we won't be able to talk about that stuff freely."

He sobered up very quickly after I said that.

"Alright, then let's look."

I rubbed my chin.

"Since I wanted a room far away, that probably means it's a little far from here. There's no point in checking out the rooms next to them, so let's look at the others."

Nathan gave a thumbs up.

"Let's get to it!"

From there, we began opening doors. The first one...

"Ah! Lord Bryson?"

I ended up opening the door to one of the maid's rooms. She looked rather terrified. I coughed awkwardly.

"Uh, sorry. My friend here just wanted to take a look behind this door."

Nathan glared at me, but I ignored him as I slowly closed the door.

How did I mix up a servant's quarters with my own room?

...Stop asking questions ok?

We opened another door, and both of our noses wrinkled. It was the washroom. As if that wasn't enough, there was currently a butler using it. He looked at us dumbfounded.

"Lord Bryson? This is the servants' lavatory..."

I coughed.

"My friend here wanted to use it. If you are still using it, then it can't be helped."

From there, I slowly closed the door while Nathan was glaring at me once more.

After opening another door, we were blasted with some steam. I heard someone yell rather loudly.

"Who DARES?"

It was Jess. As Nathan processed the situation, he suddenly widened his eyes and tried to step into the bathroom. Going out of my way to save this idiot's life, I got a chokehold on him and dragged him away, while he struggled against me intensely.

Thankfully, we were able to get out of there before Jess realized who it was.

Once we got out of there, Nathan complained a lot but got over it quickly because he knew that Jess would probably kill him if he got caught peeking.

We then opened another door. I had a pretty good feeling about this one.

"Eh? Lord Bryson? It's a little early for dinner, but we have finished cooking."

It was the kitchen. Several chefs were in there working away. I was a bit disappointed that this still wasn't my own room, but honestly, I was kind of curious about what kind of food there was. Thinking of Nathan, I asked them for something more.

"Oh, is there enough for my friend here too?"

The chefs looked at Nathan and couldn't help but cringed slightly.

"Sorry, give us a little bit more time to prepare for him."

I was a little confused because I saw quite a bit of food ready, but decided to ignore it. Though I was unfamiliar with this place, I was at least able to navigate to the dining room. It was rather large but felt very empty.

It appeared that despite living in the same house, we ate our meals individually. Nathan sighed after taking a seat.

"How have we not found your room by now? I feel like we've explored most of this place... Will we just have to meet outside of the house?"

I rolled my eyes.

"...First off, I need to know where my room is, and second outside is probably even less secure for conversation."

Nathan sighed.

"Fair enough."

Soon after, the chefs brought along various dishes back to the table. They put many different kinds around me, while Nathan only got a bowl of what looked like pottage. I blinked a few times.

"Uh, why does he get that?"

The chefs looked at each other as though confused as to why I would ask that question. One of them spoke up.

"It... it is the food fitting of a commoner."

I blinked a few times and looked at Nathan. He had a bitter smile on his face, one that said he was fine with the situation. But at the same time, I feel like eating a noble's meal would probably be something pretty cool to do.

Maybe he could just have one try.

"Hey, we should switch seats."

Nathan looked a little surprised.

"Are you sure?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"Well, you're going to be getting used to commoner food, but wouldn't you at least like to try this kind of stuff once? You won't have to worry about me because I can just eat this kind of stuff whenever."

Nathan nodded, going along with that logic.

"Ah, alright."

The servants around us began panicking.

"L-Lord Bryson! That..."

I waved my hand dismissively.

"It's fine, it's fine. Just leave us be."

From there, I picked up a spoon and began eating the pottage, while Nathan began trying out all of the foods placed before him. Natan gave a satisfied nod.

"Mm... this is pretty good stuff. Even better at the stuff at home."

I couldn't help but notice that the servants had expressions of disdain. However, I knew what he meant by 'back home' was when we were still on our own Earth. I didn't clear up the misunderstanding for obvious reasons.

I also gave a nod of my own.

"Hm, this pottage tastes better than the one severed at the school. It's not bad."

Nathan looked over with curiosity.

"Oh really? Can I have a try?"

I nodded.

"Sure."

I handed the bowl over, which caused many of the servants to gasp.

"L-Lord Bryson!"

I waved my hand once more.

"It's fine, it's fine."

He ate a bit and nodded.

"You're right, it is a decent amount better. Oh, you should really try the shrimp though, they did a pretty good job with that."

Nathan picked up one with his fork and then plopped it into my bowl. Once again, the servants gasped, and one of the maids put the back of her hand on her forehead and directly fainted.

They all were watching me, which I found a little strange. I decided to just eat the shrimp, which caused many shocked gasps.

...Why were these guys being so dramatic?

I just tuned them out and focused on the meal. At some point, Nathan leaned back in his chair and sighed.

"Why would you would want to get a room further from your sister anyway?"

The servants looked at Nathan confused. A butler spoke up.

"Eh? What are you talking about?"

I looked at them strangely.

"Huh? Didn't I move to a room further away?"

The butler scratched the side of his head.

"Well... when you were younger your older sister insisted that you shared rooms, thus that was how it was. However, a few years ago you insisted that you be given a separate room. As such, you were given the room next to her."

I could feel a blood vessel in my brain expand several times over.

...What the fuck, Jess? How is the room right next to you far away?