Book 11: Chapter 336: The Oracle’s Room (part 1)

She Professed Herself The Pupil Of The Wiseman (WN)

“Thank you, Grandpa. I learned a lot!”

After jotting down all the potential improvements, Alma thanked Mira with delight.

“I barely broke a sweat.”

Mira replied with a resplendent smile, and then added “But I’ll expect a favor in return.” She had noticed what Alma was trying to do halfway through, so she decided to be even more meticulous so that Alma could not back off.

“Ack…”

Knowledge from the Nine Wisemen did not come cheap, so Alma hesitated realizing the price she would have to pay later on, but did not regret it, meekly saying “Of course…’

After a tour through the large indoor garden, they finally headed to the living area where the oracle was staying.

The whole place was far too large to really be considered a room. The ceiling was twenty meters tall, it spanned a hundred meters from one side to another, and it was fifty meters deep. Around 60% of the area was covered by the garden, 30% was the actual space where the oracle Iris lived, and the remaining 10% was the space in between, with benches and places to relax.

“And it doesn’t get any less impressive…”

Past the garden that was almost like a forest, they reached those benches, and what could best be described as a housing complex, still more than just a room.

It was built like a four story apartment building, with no walls next to the balconies. It was an extreme architectural decision, which was only possible to realize because this space was indoors, turning the entire garden into some sort of large open atrium.

“I can already see at least seven rooms there…”

Because of its open nature, Mira could see into the building, spotting various rooms, at least seven to her count, and all of considerable size.

Seeing such an unorthodox living space made Mira stare in amazement, thinking that not even the richest people would get to live in such an extravagant place.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?”

Alma looked awfully proud of it all. As it turned out, most of the layout of the ‘room’ as a whole had been thought up by Alma, and she had poured her own private funds into building it up.

It was the ultimate result of her desire to allow Iris to not feel caged up despite not being able to leave her room.

“You really didn’t think twice about building all of this, did you?”

All of that had only been possible because of the influence Nirvana had, and the palace that was many times larger than Arkite’s castle. The efforts Alma put into building this place for the oracle was something Mira could also admire, and she also voiced the next thought that came to her mind.

“At this point this is even more luxurious than your own room.”

That was Mira’s direct impression.

She had first seen Alma in that calm ten tatami sized room, followed by the gorgeous suite next to the office, which was certainly befit of an empress, but paled in comparison to the oracle’s room. This entire place was on a whole different level.

“Well…I don’t know how but it just ended up like this.”

It was hard to tell whether she simply had no self control, or was too softhearted. She just laughed nervously as she said that all she wanted was for Iris to live without much stress. And there was not even a speck of regret in her face, if anything she seemed proud of herself.

Mira could approve of that, and had gained a new admiration for Alma. Now, newly motivated to see what the result of Alma’s obsessive spending looked like, she continued walking to the building.

The first floor of the oracle’s room’s living area looked like a fancy hotel’s lobby at first glance. There were tables and chairs neatly lined up, with a large hall at the end, just in front of a magnificent staircase.

At closer inspection it was clear that it was not quite a lobby. Behind what had initially looked like a receptionist counter were shelves lined with bottles.

It was actually all a bar. The only reason why it had looked like a lobby at first was because it was still bright outside, and the place lacked the nighttime look of bars.

That was a rather odd decision for the oracle’s room. Was Iris, a fourteen year old, really seeking the comfort of alcohol? At first Mira was puzzled by that question, until she took a proper look at the bottles there.

“Oh, I’ve never seen Adzuki au Lait before.”

The bottles were filled with a novel Adzuki au Lait and various other types of juices. And even more impressive was that the shelves were actually fancy transparent refrigeration cases. A combination of cutting edge technology and traditional Japanese flavors, truly a place that surpassed even the empress’ private chambers.

“Those are custom made by my chef. Originally they were requested by Esmeralda, you know how much she likes her Japanese sweets, and Iris ended up liking them as well.”

Alma stood next to Mira, peering into the transparent cases, when she exclaimed “Ah, it’s about time to restock” and opened her Item Box.

“Huh, so you’ve been bringing her everything yourself too?”

As Alma switched out the empty bottles with new ones, Mira noticed how smoothly she was moving, like she was used to doing it.

The answer was positive. As she explained, the only people who could enter were her, and the Twelve Apostles who would be needed there in case of an emergency. Currently the Twelve Apostles were all busy with the tournament or their secret missions, or impeded by Iris’ phobia. Alma was also extremely busy, but since the was the only one constantly at the palace, she had to do all those chores herself.

“Sounds like hard work…”

Mira was starting to feel some pity for Alma, until she noticed the cupboard and felt the indescribable sense that something was off.

There were plenty of glasses there, enough to throw a huge party. And there was more, just like in a bar, there were wine glasses, shot glasses, beer mugs, small sake cups, and so on. All vessels that would never be used to serve juice.

It was obvious that this place was being used by someone else other than the oracle, prompting Mira to stare intently at Alma, who happily muttered “I should get some more stuff in here too”.

She did not notice the look Mira was giving her as she opened a locked compartment inside the refrigeration cases and muttered “This could use some more ice.”

Alma claimed everything had been built and set up exclusively for Iris, but Mira was suspecting that was not entirely true. Shortly after they moved from the bar counter to the stairs further in.

“Iriiiis, I’ve brought your new bodyguarddd!”

Leaning forward and looking up, Alma called to the oracle. Technically they were already in the oracle’s room, but from the second room onwards was Iris’ private space, so even the empress Alma would stop at the stairs and call to Iris before going up uninvited.

They waited for a response, but even after ten seconds or so there was no response.

“Huh? Did something happen?”

Alma tilted her head puzzled. Usually Iris would answer right away and come running down to meet her, but this time there was no sign of Iris.

After calling to her again, the result was the same, everything was dead silent upstairs.

“Maybe she just fell asleep while waiting?”