(17) Relaxing

A few days have passed since the event of the Fuyuki singularity, the Chaldeans are in a state of peace and tranquility. Although the farewell message of Lev Lainur broke the morale of the Chaldeans, fortunately though, it was only temporary as the moment the sun rises the next day, everyone was able to move on. Like nothing even happened.

Alexander was confused as to why this is the case, but he does not bother to care or investigate the weird phenomenon for as long as everyone is not in a depressed mood or bothers him, he wouldn't care.

There were no worthy events that need to be mentioned that happen in that small period other than the fact that Alexander started to develop the habit of reading.

Although Chaldea has a library containing a large amount of information, the knowledge is mostly related to Magecraft. But that wasn't the reason why he went there in the first place.

The reason is the fact that he needs information about the history or any related topic like history that would better his understanding of this world and its inhabitants. He already knows that this world and the world in his past life are strikingly similar, the problem is, he has no proper education. Or rather, he has no time for it.

In the past, his parents barely feed him, so providing him the opportunity to study is more similar to a pipe dream that will always be out of reach for him.

Even when he became a proper adult, he spends most of his time hiding and running away from the government. In a life and death situation, the thought of educating himself about history is beyond stupidity. The only thing that he spends his time learning is about human biology. Since he needs to learn what to cut in the human body that will produce excruciating pain but also avoiding killing his victims.

Anyway, that is all in the past. Right now, he built himself a library of his own using one of the large spare rooms that are near to his room to which Romani happily obliged to let him borrow the room.

He deliberately decorated the room to have a peaceful and quiet atmosphere. Due to his perfectionist personality that sticks with him in his past life, he decorated this room with the best his mind could think of.

Thanks to the GOB, all the materials he needs are at his fingertips so it only takes about two and a half days to fully decorate the room to what he envisioned. If not for the fact that he's a perfectionist when it comes to this kind of thing, he would have finished the room earlier than that.

Nodding his head, his eyes glittered with pride with his work. The room is much larger than the average room that you will find in Chaldea.

The room, now as a library, is the perfect combination of medieval fantasy style and mother nature. With the help of a magic wand that harnesses the power of nature in the Treasury, he was able to use some of its power to spawn grass, flowers, and tree branches into the floor, walls, and ceiling to simulate the feeling of nature.

(Image.)

The shelves contain a large number of books covering different genres in Fiction and Non-fiction like; Romance, historical, Fantasy, Science fiction, and History, Biographies, self-help books, and much, much more.

He found it unfortunate that he could not add more books since the room only has very limited space, but he was still satisfied with the outcome since it perfectly replicates what he had in mind.

'Looks like I have talents in architecture.' He narcissistically thought.

His train of thoughts was interrupted when he heard a gasped behind him.

"What is this place? It's so beautiful.." Like most women that loved beautiful things, the pink-haired lass said in admiration.

When the juniors entered the room, they were welcomed by a breathtaking view. The smell of nature combines with the smell of woody that came from old books dominated their sense of smell. They felt like they step into a different world altogether.

"It does, it looks like a picture from a fantasy book come alive. Did you do this, Alex?" Ritsuka asked.

"I did." He said with pride.

"Then, can you let us toured around?"

Mash's eyes brightened at the idea. She and Ritsuka glance at Alexander asking for permission. Not wanting to disappoint them, he nods with a gentle smile on his face which delighted the two.

The juniors look around in admiration as they begin to walk around in the room. Alexander chuckle as they remind him of a bunch of kids visiting an amusement park for the first time.

He followed them from behind as they toured around.

"So, do the two of you need me? I assume that you look for me cause you need something?" These were the first thoughts that come to mind when the two of them visited him. He was not used to people appearing right in front of him without an ulterior motive. He knows that the two were honest and respectable people from the small time he spends with them, but that alone wasn't enough for him to fully trust them.

"Ah, no. We just want to stop by since it's been two days since we last saw you, right senpai?" She gently nudges the young man beside her who is busy admiring Alexander's beautiful piece of work.

"Hm? Ah, right. We were a bit worried since you suddenly disappear out of nowhere. We visited your room but you were not there..."

Seeing the genuinely worried look on their face, Alexander's smile softens up.

"Really now. Then who told you that I was here?"

They panic a little as they avoid staring at Alexander's red but intimidating eyes, "O-oh, it's Tamamo-san who told us you were here... She told us that you were busy..."

Speaking of Tamamo, it's been a few days since he last saw her. Due to their awkward moment a few days ago, Tamamo was avoiding him like a plague. Since he was busy renovating his library, he wasn't able to properly communicate with her.

'I'll talk to her after I'm done here.'

Since his schedule for the day is mostly free, he decided to clear any misunderstanding between them, if there were any...

"...But since we were worried about you, we went here early than Tamamo told us to..." Her voice at the start was normal but the more she speaks, her voice becomes smaller and smaller until it becomes barely audible.

"Oh, are sure that is all? But by your body language, I have a feeling that you two need me for something." Alexander teased

Like a deer caught by the headlights, they froze.

"Um..."

Seeing the full-blown panic in their face, Alexander burst out laughing. He couldn't help since they were like a bunch of kids that is been caught by their parents staying up late. It's endearing, to say the least.

"Why are you guys panicking? Do I look like I'm going to eat you? Relax, just told me what you need and I will do my best to fulfill it."

"Um, we wanted to ask you about training us to become a better fighters. Well, it's mostly Mash who wanted to train but she drags me here to join her..."

"Senpai! that was supposed to be a secret!"

The moment her secret was exposed, her face became scarlet as she grabs the collar of Ritsuka and began shaking him back and forth.

"I-i'm sorry, Mash. I just want to let Alex know your determination to become strong."

Mash immediately stops her tantrum as she looks at Ritsuka with widened eyes, she felt slight guilt in her heart as she clumsily fixes his collar as a way of apologizing.

"Say that first senpai, now I feel guilty grabbing you like that..."

"Haha." Ritsuka awkwardly laughs, "Sorry, I'll ask your permission next time."

"Ehem!" Alexander amusedly watches from the sidelines but he knows that if he let the two continue their little conversation in their small little bubble. It will take a while for it to end, so as much as he what to watch the interaction of the two, he had to interrupt to not waste any more time.

"Anyway, what kind of training are you planning, Mash? If you are asking me for advice then you approach the wrong person." His gentle expression was replaced by a serious face.

"Eh? Why not?" They asked in unison.

"Believe it or not, my battles in the Fuyuki singularity were my very first battle."

"Eh?! seriously?"

Alexander's words came as a surprise for them. He couldn't blame them as he mostly relied on his instinct to fight. He has no fighting style or any sort of skills when it comes to battle.

"Although I couldn't provide any advice, I could do the honor of being your training partner."

"Really?! thank you so much!"

"No need to thank me, we still haven't begun the training yet,"

"That's true,"

After their small talk, they continue to tour around the room before the two junior said their goodbyes and retreats to their room.

Since he has few hours before dinner, he plans on killing time by reading... He grabs the nearest book that caught his interest from one of the shelves as he prepared a fancy table beside the window and sat on the chair.

'The Law of Human Nature... Huh, interesting.'

(An: it's a real book written by Robert Greene, I highly recommend for you guys to check it out if you have the time.)

The cover of the book has a simple design of red and blue but it stands out from all the books he saw so far. He flips through the first pages to see what the book has to offer. At first, he was casually reading the book to kill some time. However, when he flips the pages and saw the first law, it struck a chord within him.

'Master your Emotional Self'

His expression warped in a serious one as he continues to read with his full attention. Other than the occasional sound of pages being flip, the room was completely silent. Seconds turn to minutes, then minutes turn to hours, and without him realizing it, he spends more than 10 hours reading the entire book.

Those 10 hours of reading may seem a waste of time for other people but the knowledge he gained was worth it.

Closing the book gently and putting back to its previous location on the shelf, he looked at the time at his watch on his left wrist and he was surprised to find out that the hands of the watch pointed that it was already post-midnight.

'It's so late already? I guess my plan of visiting Tamamo will have to be delayed.'

("You only realize that now?")

The voice of Anna echoed in his mind. He didn't respond since he was embarrassed that he was so engrossed in the book that he lost track of time.

'Am I becoming a bookworm?'

He contemplates the idea for a bit and he was surprised that he found the thought of him becoming one was not a negative thing. These lines of thought put him in a good mood since he was developing a hobby that is considered to be more normal and human-like.

In his past life, he has already given up on living like a normal human being in society. He was aware that he was the reason why his life turns that way. He was not blaming anybody for what has he become, since it's his choice. Although his current life is far from being normal, what he was grateful for is that what he has right now that his past life lack is the freedom to do whatever he desires.

Now that nothing is obstructing him. He made a promise to himself that he wouldn't hold back from doing what his heart desire.

He wants to try different kinds of activities that interested him like cooking, writing, painting, photography, Piano, and more unusual hobbies like winemaking, blacksmithing, and Astronomy.

Those activities were on the future date because right now, to protect the freedom he has, he needs the strength to overcome future endeavors... That's when he remembered something important.

'Anna, I still could summon using the True Grail right?'

("Yes.")

Hearing that, he smiled. Since he has no one in Chaldea that will teach him how to fight. Why not just summoned one?

With the True Holy Grail in his possession, this wish of his could be granted. The only thing that worried him is that he may summon a servant that would not be helpful. But he ultimately shook his head to eliminate any negative thoughts, he could only pray that his one chance this month is enough to provide his need of a mentor.

Since it was already late, he grabs a few bites from the cafeteria and retreat to his room.

Laying in the most comfortable bed his body has ever laid upon, drowsiness overwhelms him as he let his body relax and his mind enters the dreamland.