Eyes of destiny-Chapter 36: First Day in the castle part 2

As Edo walked toward the dining hall, he glanced at the wall and immediately noticed a familiar silhouette. It was someone he recognized instantly. "Klein, the Fifth Royal Knight." He stood nearby, his gaze fixed on their table, as if he were attentively observing something.

Edo smirked, tilting his head to the side.

" Oh? What are you looking at... Royal Peeping Knight,"he teased, his tone full of amusement.

Klein practically jumped at those words. His eyes widened in sudden shock, and his hand, which had been resting at his waist, clenched involuntarily. He immediately glanced behind him, as if to check whether Edo was talking to someone else instead of him.

"I see you're diligently performing your duties, even in the dining hall," Edo added, still smiling.

"H-Hey, it's not what you think!" Klein almost shouted, visibly flustered. "I just... it just happened this way! Because... well... I-I don't have to explain myself to you!"

"Suuuuure... Alright, I'm heading back. Royal Peeping Knight." Edo winked at him before turning on his heel and walking back to his table.

"HEY! DON'T CALL ME THAT!!!" Klein almost ran after him but stopped halfway. "...Please..." he added in a quieter voice, but Edo didn't hear it anymore.

At the table, Leni was waiting for him.

"You already finished eating?" Edo asked, stunned. "That was over six plates of food, woman..."

Leni was just finishing her last bite. She swallowed calmly, then shrugged.

"You know... I eat pretty fast, and you were gone for over ten minutes. So I had plenty of time to devour everything! What about you? Are you planning to eat more?"

Edo shook his head.

"No, I'm full."

That, however, was a lie. Most of his food had ended up in the toilet earlier.

"Then shall we get going?" the mage asked.

"Yeah, let's go," Edo replied, standing up.

As they walked toward the exit, Leni suddenly gave him a curious look.

"Oh, right, Edo, I have a question. How did you know where the guest rooms were yesterday? Did you find them on your own?"

Edo glanced toward Klein's table, then nodded in his direction.

"No, that young man helped me."

Leni looked at Klein, who, the moment their eyes met, quickly averted his gaze as if suddenly fascinated by something else entirely.

"Ooooh, so Klein helped you. He's a good guy. He showed me around the castle once too," she said approvingly.

As they continued walking, Edo gave her a sidelong glance, as if contemplating something.

"Listen, maybe I shouldn't ask this... If you don't want to answer, you don't have to. But... do you have any friends here in the castle? In general... over the years, have you ever had a real friend?"

Leni fell silent for a moment, staring ahead.

"Not really," she admitted eventually. "I've only been in the capital for three years, and I've been the court mage for one. I still don't trust people much. There are some I like, but I wouldn't call them friends. I prefer the company of demons. After all, you and I are demons... and every demon is my friend." She finished with a smile.

Edo smiled to himself, but a different thought surfaced in his mind.

" A demon, huh... Well... My black hair and short stature—features characteristic of demons—made everyone here actually believe that. So far, it's been working in my favor... But things will get tricky if the truth comes out."

He glanced at Leni from the corner of his eye.

" So I'm her first friend... Heh, I'm honored. I can't blame her, though. I've seen the harm people have done to her—especially those from Quri Empire, who once tried to kidnap her when she was young..."

Suddenly, his thoughts jumped to something else entirely.

"Oh, right! I need to visit the library today and learn more about this world! I haven't had my Library Arc yet!"

Edo couldn't help but chuckle, feeling proud of himself.

"What's so funny, Edo?" Leni asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing... I'm just happy you consider me a friend," the boy replied honestly.

***

As they left the dining hall, Edo turned to Leni and said, "Hey, how about we go to the library?"

Leni raised an eyebrow and looked at him with mild surprise.

"The library, huh? And why's that? I didn't know you liked books."

Edo nodded but then shrugged.

"Well, I'm not as big a fan as you, but you see... I have to start my Library Arc!" he said with a wide grin.

Leni tilted her head, scratching her temple.

"Library... Arc? What does that even mean?"

Edo waved a hand dismissively.

"Doesn't matter. I just want to learn something."

The mage clapped her hands together and smiled.

"Well, the library was one of the places I wanted to show you anyway!"

Edo sighed before grinning and raising his hand in the air.

"It's time for my Library Arc!"

Leni furrowed her brows.

"I *still* don't know what that means..." she muttered under her breath.

***

The library looked even more impressive during the day than Edo had expected. Enormous, ornate shelves stretched almost to the ceiling, and sunlight streaming through tall windows reflected off the gilded covers of countless tomes. The place was bustling with people—scholars, mages, and ordinary readers moved between the shelves, searching for books. Despite the crowd, the library was so vast that there were still plenty of open reading spots.

Edo gazed around in awe, but his excitement was quickly overshadowed by a worrying thought.

"The most important thing is checking whether I can even read... Because I haven't tested it yet. Partly because I was afraid it wouldn't work..."

"Alright, so what are you interested in?" Leni asked, interrupting his train of thought.

"Well... I have a question. Is there any kind of book classification here? Like categories or sections?"

"Of course!" she answered enthusiastically. "There are all kinds of sections, from history books to novels. You can find anything here!"

"Perfect!" Edo nodded. "For now, I'm more interested in the first category—history books. More specifically... something with a map. A current one, ideally a world map with descriptions."

Leni gave him a skeptical look, frowning slightly.

"Booo, are you seriously playing geographer? Of all the books available, you're picking geography...?" she sighed, disappointed. "Alright, they have them, but... why? You *should* already know what the world looks like..."

Edo nervously scratched his cheek.

"Uh... well... I just... like geography! Yeah! I'm curious how different authors depict the world in their maps!"

"There's no way I can tell her I have no clue about this world!"

Leni rolled her eyes, sighed, and walked toward the bookshelves.

"Fine, fine... Follow me."

After a short walk, they stopped in front of one of the library's largest bookshelves.

"Here it is," she pointed at the tall shelves filled with thick tomes. "You'll find geography books detailing various parts of the world, their cultures, and key information."

Edo stared at the massive shelf, frozen in place.

"I didn't expect there to be so many..."

His eyes landed on a plaque attached to the shelf's side. It read, "Historical/Geographical."

A wave of relief washed over him.

"So I *can* read! I did it! I skipped one of the biggest hurdles of any Library Arc—the language barrier! Now it's all smooth sailing!"

He clenched his fist in triumph, but his joy was interrupted by Leni's gloomy expression.

"Why do you look so down?" he asked, noticing her disheartened face.

Leni sighed, running her fingers along the spine of one of the books.

"When I was little, my village was full of these kinds of books. *Too* full. Because of that, we barely had any other reading material. Well, thanks to that, I know a lot about the world, but... you get it. How many times can you read the same thing?"

Edo nodded in understanding.

"I get it."

"So, pick whatever you want. I'll go find something more interesting for myself..." she added before walking deeper into the library.

Edo looked at the bookshelf packed with books and sighed.

"Alright... I'm on my own. Now... which book is the best choice?" he muttered, running a finger along the spines of the tomes, unsure where to begin.

***

After over an hour of searching, Edo finally found a book that interested him. Like anyone else, he initially wanted to choose one with the most interesting cover, but he remembered how many times he had fallen for that trap. More than once, beautiful covers had hidden boring or even worthless content inside. This time, he decided to focus on the contents—he chose a book that looked well-organized on the inside, had clear maps, and plenty of illustrations.

And that was exactly what he found. The book had a simple, almost academic title: "Geographical Guide." At first glance, it didn't seem very thick, but as Edo flipped through its pages, he noticed it contained many detailed pictures and descriptions.

Satisfied, he sat down in one of the comfortable reading nooks. He leaned back, cracked his fingers, and mentally prepared himself for reading.

"Alright then... Library Arc!" he thought, feeling excited.

He didn't intend to waste time on introductions. He opened the book to pages 56-57, where there was a two-page world map. The level of detail immediately impressed him—carefully drawn continents, marked cities, rivers, mountain ranges. In the bottom right corner was a legend explaining the meaning of various points and symbols.

"Whoa... this is impressive. Okay, let's start with the basics. I need to learn the locations of the countries and remember how many there are. I can't afford to look like someone who just crawled out from under a rock in front of important people..." he thought, staring at the map.

However, the longer he looked at it, the more puzzled he became. The world was vast, that was a fact, but... there were only five major countries.

"Well... that's actually better for me. I'll learn faster."

He focused on the center of the map.

"Alright, here in the middle is The Kingdom of Ero... Oh, and here, marked with a castle, is the capital, Inormi. But why is the capital so close to the border with the demon country, Serot? Shouldn't it be more central?" Edo furrowed his brow. "Well, I'll think about that later."

He shifted his gaze westward.

"Okay, so here is Serot, the country where Leni comes from... It's true, compared to the other nations, there aren't many marked locations here. The rest of the map is full of points indicating cities and historical sites, but here... there are very few. Hm."

He also noticed that Serot was larger than Ero and, more importantly, was the only country with access to the ocean.

"Interesting... It looks like this is the only ocean in this world." He furrowed his brow, tracing his finger along the map. "Oh, and here was Serot's capital, Gopei... But now it's gone. Did it disappear?"

Edo leaned back and looked at the entire map as a whole. The world looked... strange.

"It looks like a broken wooden board... as if something had once torn out a massive chunk of land, and in the place of that tear, an ocean was formed."

Rivers spread outward from the ocean, running through the entire continent and connecting the different nations.

"Alright, now let's deal with the rest."

His gaze traveled east.

"To the northeast, we have The Kingdom of Satop, and to the southeast, The Empire of Tygon."

Both of these countries bordered the largest nation on the map—The Quri Empire, which lay on the other side of the ocean, directly opposite Serot.

"So that's how it is... five major nations."

Edo ran his finger over the names and began repeating them to himself:

"Kingdom of Ero – Capital: Inormi.

Kingdom of Satop – Capital: Koh.

Country of Serot – Former capital: Gopei.

Empire of Tygon – Capital: Aqua.

Quri Empire – Capital: Dequri."

"It's not that much. As long as I remember the cities and historical sites, this should be enough to avoid looking like a total ignoramus."

His eyes fell on the ocean. Among the many nameless islands, only one was marked with a name.

"Unum Island..." he read aloud. "Something important?"

He found no additional information on the map, so he flipped the page, searching for descriptions of the countries. To his delight, they were right there, just a page away.

"Alright, let's see what we have here..."

"Kingdom of Ero – Named after the great wind mage Ero, who aided in the fight against the gods. A culturally advanced country, open to various races. The people are kind, but the government is not particularly strict, leading to a lack of competent individuals in high positions. The capital, Inormi, was named after a legendary knight who defeated the first demi-god of death ten thousand years ago.

Country of Serot – Named after the great fire mage Serot, who also fought against the gods. Devastated after the war with Ero, during which almost the entire population was massacred. If not for the Reaper of Serot, the country likely would have collapsed. Primarily inhabited by demons, full of monsters, and rich in natural resources. The former capital, Gopei, was named after a distinguished swordsman who developed a unique combat style that enhanced weapons with elemental power—'Serot Style.'

Kingdom of Satop – Named after the great earth mage Satop, who aided in the fight against the gods. A spiritual and cultural nation that is constantly at war with the aggressive Quri Empire. Its capital, Koh, was named after a sage who was the first to enter the spirit world.

Empire of Tygon – Named after the great water mage Tygon, who helped in the fight against the gods. It considers itself the most important country but avoids wars, except for its ongoing conflict with Quri. Its capital, Aqua, was named after a scientist who discovered the healing properties of water magic.

Quri Empire – A militaristic powerhouse founded by ruler Quri, who nearly conquered the world six thousand years ago. Strength is the law—only the strongest, such as the Thirty Generals and the Emperor, hold power. The capital, Dequri, was named after the most powerful general in history, who, alongside the Emperor of Quri, almost took over the world.

Unum Island – A sacred, religious island that worships the one true god, Unum, the creator of the world. It has been guarded for ten thousand years by the great light mage, Peter."

Edo let out a low whistle.

"Whoa... this is really interesting... If I were reading a light novel and got this kind of lore drop, I'd have to come back to this Chapter multiple times... But this isn't a light novel, this is my reality. I need to remember this! When I know more there will be a greater chance that I will find this demi-goddess of wisdom who knows all things. This is my first clue to finding a way back home!"

Just then, Leni sat down next to him.

"So? Did you find what you were looking for?"

This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.

"Yeah! And... you... WHAT IS THAT?!"

Leni smiled, holding up a book with a title that immediately set off alarms in Edo's head.

"This is my reading for today!"

"That sounds like a hentai! You know what... I'm going to my room... I need a moment to process all the information I just learned and... accept the fact that you read... things like that."

He got up and left. Before exiting the library, he returned his book to the shelf and left Leni alone.

"What's his problem?" she thought, opening her book "———" from the... erotic literature section.