6 The Next Step
1462 Words
Janus' excitement was palpable as he browsed through the contents of the Golden Library.
Books like Fighting Slimes for Dummies by Walton East, The Basics of Medieval Camping - How To Make Life Cozy for your Party by Melinda Magis, Elevate your Castle's Bland Porridge by Johnson Peters were just a few that he bookmarked for later reading. Some of these were formatted in a very familiar way, like he was reading blog tutorials from websites. Some had even video and audio that he could follow along.
He also tried to find out the best types of information that he could upload in order to unlock the more advanced books. Kalesia was an interesting continent, but all he had read about was the history of conquest and wars in this kingdom. That wasn't enough, it seemed like the Golden Library was more interested in current events than historical data.
Nothing within the castle walls really stood out to him. What was the specialty of this land? If he wanted to improve everybody's way of life (including his own), then he should start to work on unlocking those other books.
There was one thing that attracted him the most while browsing. The thing that he really missed in his previous world was the food. If there was something he particularly craved, then that would be the first order of business.
Noodle Dishes from Ancient to Modern times by Jane Liang flashed in bright colors, just after the bread and pasta making section.
His mouth salivated. The taste and scent of ramen crept up to him in a wave of nostalgia. His stomach growled. He knew that flour existed in this world. He had already been eating bread that grounded through his teeth. He had to acquire that book.
It had a padlock icon beside it with a Contribution Point cost of 500.
500 CP? How much would that be? There had to be something around here that he could collect.
The upload mechanism was quite familiar, it had capabilities of collecting images and video, as well as scanning text from the pages of a book. The only requirement for contribution points was that it had to be a unique characteristic in this world.
The shelves and the tables weren't accepted. It wasn't any different from the ones in his college library.
He inspected the rugs on the floor. The colors weren't anything special at all, but the weavings had unique patterns that he had never seen before.
He scanned the data and it was accepted -- 30 points in total. That was a start.
He wandered around the castle to see what else he could gather.
He found another room that fit the bill. It looked a lot like a chapel -- the artifacts displayed inside were accepted and came to a total of 120 points. There were various idols and statues of varying symbols - A dragon, a sword, a sun and a blindfolded lady. Janus didn't recognize what they were about, except that they were references to the Holy See.
There were stained glass windows here, although not as elaborate as those he found in his world. There were scenes of knights slaying dragons, of elves raining down destruction in a sea of orcs. There was one scene that depicted the founding of Galedon, where one knight was holding up a sword with a pile of dead goblins and orcs around him. Hundreds of spears were jutting out of the ground. It must be an important scene, as it occupied most of the glasswork. These things brought him up to 300 points.
Just a little more, he was closer to his favorite food.
Another thing that he found interesting was the design of the chairs in the lounging area. They had carvings which were ornate and had delicate patters inscribed to them. Upon closer inspection it looked like they were magically enchanted -- it was as if threads of wood were stitched together so that it could adjust to the body shape of the person sitting on it. It was really comfortable, and presumably expensive. It tallied up to 300 points, giving Janus enough to unlock the book of Noodle recipes with some more to spare. He also got a book about bread, hoping that it would improve the staple food inside the castle.
He went down to the kitchens to see if the ingredients were available.
#
The thick smell of unbathed workers greeted him along with a few rats scurrying across the halls. He tried to suppress his aversion and tried not to be annoyed, but it was hard.
He discovered that the servants' mood towards him hadn't changed at all. Amys smiled when she noticed Janus, but that was the only incident of pleasant interaction he received. The others wouldn't so much as look him in the eyes, and they would only bow as he passed by. Valda was even worse. She hurried off when Janus approached, not even wanting to be in the same room as him. When he asked for the chef of the castle, things grew even worse.
Rufus was one of the chefs. He was around his fifties, with thickset arms and a full beard. He looked heavier than the rest of the house help. He reminded Janus of his uncle who always cooked during family gatherings. A look of shock flashed across the chef's eyes.
"Ah Master Janus. I see that you are well. I am terribly sorry for the other day." Rufus looked down and stared at his hands, he seemed to be trembling.
The other day? What happened the other day to make this man afraid?
Janus saw Valda peek from a far off distance before hurrying away.
Right... Valda must have told him about my stomach ache the night before.
"No I'm not here about that. The food was good, I was just weak and frail and the medicine didn't help at all." Janus tried his best to look pleasant, but the smell was strong in this room.
"Ah your highness, you are most kind, but you don't have to make excuses for me. If a punishment is in order--"
"Oh no, most certainly not Mr. Rufus." Trying to deflect the situation. "I only want to ask for your advise on these recipes that I have collected." Janus showed him the list.
The type of flour that the book used was not stocked in the kitchens at all. But Janus still wanted to try it out according to the recipe's instructions. It wasn't like he had any work to do, and entertainment in the castle was non-existent.
He wanted to work in the kitchens, but the combination of the smell and everyone's demeanor towards him soured Janus. He couldn't concentrate at all. Whenever he bumped into someone, he would be flooded with bows and apologies. Whenever he wanted to do something himself, someone would swoop in and insist in doing it for him. He tried to make the bread himself but one of the chefs would come in and question the servants on why they did not help the Prince. It was a nightmare, and Janus couldn't concentrate.
The Prince left a large amount of damage that stained his relationships with the house help. He remembered the murder of Deena, and was suddenly hit by the realization that they might still be afraid of that happening to them.
Janus sighed. He naively thought that things would go well after he fixed the tangled mess between the King and his brothers, but there was more in store for him. As long as the servants were not comfortable with him, he cannot live well in this castle. He decided that helping the servants should be a higher priority.
He found an empty stone table in one of the empty chambers and tested the dough. It was no good, it wasn't workable at all. And it didn't react in a way that flour was supposed to when introduced with water. In fact, it was like working with cement. Rufus' hands must be as strong as a shovel to work this flour.
He went back to Rufus for advice. Looks like he needed the right kind of flour after all.
"Ah yes your highness, we do not usually have this type of flour in the kitchens. But this is one of the main crops in your manor. Perhaps you could ask for an order? How much do you need?"
It was either Janus forgot, or he didn't want to hold on to too much responsibility at once. The King had direct control of the profits of his lands, but he was still in charge of it. From the old Prince's memories, he didn't know anything about the manor at all - except it was managed by one of the stewards.
"Your Highness? How much do you need?"
"I need as much as I can." Janus said.
- Writer
