Book 11: Chapter 336: The Oracle’s Room (part 2) |
They were quite late. Lunch time was long past, and it was around the time for an afternoon snack. Also around the time when one would get sleepy, as Mira thought.
“No, maybe something happened to her!”
It was true that the oracle’s life was in danger, but this room was extremely secure, and the chances of an assassin getting through were almost zero. That did not rule out accidents or some sudden illness however, and as soon as the idea crossed Alma’s mind she rushed up.
“Hmm…”
Mira still believed that Iris was just napping, but just in case she followed Alma upstairs, where they entered a room on the left side of the second floor.
Alma slammed the door open and rushed in, and after a short moment Mira peeked inside to scan the room, saying “so..?”
There did not seem to be a clear theme to the items furnishing the room, but that made it the ideal living room.
The first things that stuck out to her were a large couch that could also be used as a bed, a wide table, a simple water tap, and a small fridge.
There were also bookcases along one of the walls, with one of them holding something different. Records, which could be listened to with the nearby gramophone.
(This looks like heaven for a shut-in…)
It was not Iris’ fault that she could not leave, but Mira could not help but get that impression after seeing the room. The only things missing were a TV, a way to get online, and a game console to make it the perfect place for a modern kid.
While Mira was busy evaluating the room, Alma turned to her with a desperate voice saying “Grandpa, Iris is gone…”
According to Alma, Iris spent most of her time in that room, unless something out of the ordinary happened. And Alma’s worrying only got worse seeing that Iris was neither on the couch or the rocking chair next to the gramophone.
“She’s probably in another room then.”
They had barely scratched the surface of that huge place. There were plenty of reasons why one would break off from routine, and Mira was starting to think that Alma was just behaving like an overprotective mother.
Mira knew how much Alma cared for the oracle, and it was that same concern that was clouding her judgment at the moment.
“Hmm… Alma, I think she’s on the floor above this one.”
Mira tried to calm down Alma, patting her shoulder and using Life Sensing to search the surroundings. That revealed a clear reading, likely Iris, located right above their current location.
“Above… Ahh, that makes sense!”
Mira did not know what was on the floor above, but whatever it was, it seemed to connect the dots in Alma’s mind, as she quickly darted up the stairs.
“She could really use a deep breath.”
Mira still thought that Alma was worrying too much as she also made her way upstairs, getting around halfway there.
“Aaahh, Iris!!”
And then she heard a loud shriek from Alma.
“Hm? What happened?”
Maybe something serious had happened after all. The reading from Life Sensing was strong, so Mira did not think Iris was in peril, but just in case, she ran up to see what was happening.
The third floor looked like a dining room. To the right there was a large kitchen, and to the left a table with chairs, large enough to fit at least twenty people without feeling cramped.
Alma was in a corner, kneeling down while holding a blonde girl in her arms. That girl had to be the oracle Iris. who appeared completely immobile.
Mira rushed up to them, already thinking of summoning a healing specialist, the White Serpent Asclepius, in case Iris really had been afflicted by some sudden illness or accident.
“Just what happened to her?”
Iris had a slight frown, like she was suffering, but there were no external wounds, so it was likely some illness. That was as much as Mira could tell from looking at Iris, so she asked Alma if Iris had been dealing with a chronic disease of some sort, but the answer was negative.
At that point there was no other choice but to rely on Asclepius’ diagnosis, so she got ready to summon.
Only to notice Iris’ eyes slowly opening.
“Iris! What happened to you, Iris?!”
Alma called to her in desperation, and Iris weakly looked at her.
“I’m…so hungry…”
Her voice rang like she was using all her strength to produce those words. Iris was thoroughly famished.
In the end, it turned out that Iris had simply fainted from lack of sustenance, and was out of danger as soon as Mira gave her a bottle of Apple au Lait. With the crisis solved, Iris looked down embarrassed.
“Well then, I’m Mira, your new bodyguard. I won’t let any scoundrel touch a single hair on your head for as long as I’m here. You can rest easy now!”
Mira and Iris sat across the table, and Mira introduced herself, her voice brimming with confidence. The mission was to keep Iris safe, so she needed to make sure there would be no room for Iris to doubt Mira’s strength.
“I’m Iris! Nice to meet you!”
While Iris looked older than Mira, it seemed like her firm introduction had left a good impression, as Iris replied with a polite bow, and then added “…and umm, sorry for causing a scene,” looking down in shame again.
“Don’t worry about it. In a way it’s my fault for returning a bit later than expected after all.”
To be precise, it was her lengthy call with the Fifty Bells’ headquarters that had delayed everything. But Mira would never admit that, instead giving vague explanations about some complicated process to place the call to excuse herself.
“And don’t forget, it was all dragged out even more because she didn’t even think about letting me know she had planned this for lunch.”
In the end, Mira shifted all of the blame to Alma, who was preparing lunch in the kitchen. The lunch she planned was a special one meant to build trust between Mira and Iris so soon after meeting, so despite being the empress, she was giving it the finishing touches herself.
She was trying to keep everything a surprise, so Mira and Iris could only see her arms moving around, while her hands and the food remained hidden.
“Esmeralda also complains about that a lot! She keeps saying that Alma is always thinking up surprise parties without telling anyone, like that time she was told out of nowhere to come visit, and then it turned out to be the Twelve Apostles’ 30th anniversary. There was a lot of food, but it was so late that everybody had already had dinner, so they hardly ate anything…”
“That sounds rough…”
Alma seemed to have a thing for surprise parties, but would always gloss over the important parts and the timing would never work out.
In a way, their current one had worked out decently well, as the only setback was a delay. Thinking of such things, Mira added “I wonder what she’s making over there this time,” as her anticipation continued to grow.
“I can’t wait!”
The hungry oracle was also excited for it, maybe because she had been waiting for food so long that she collapsed.