Arcadia's Ignoble Knight: The Lich King

Chapter 16

Calidum Vere was a village built around a natural hot spring. Located deep within a heavily forested region of the Ruudon Province, it was only one hundred kilometers away from the mountainous peaks of the Andolian Mountain Range, which spanned much of north and eastern Arcadia, separating the nation from Helheim, Takama no Hara, and the tundra where the lich king had possibly come from. It took Caspian and Elincia two days to travel there on foot after parting ways with Maddison.

They ran into very few undead, and in fact, Caspian was surprised that between the two days they had traveled, they had only been forced to fight a handful of times.

Calidum Vere wasn't a large village. It was considered a resort town, where rich nobles went to get away from the tedium of daily life, and a place where those same nobles spent exorbitant amounts of money on various services. Back when Caspian was in the academy, Julius had often spoken of how he would come to this village with his father and how all of the women there would treat him like he was a god.

Julius had always been full of shit.

"Oh, wow! This place is so big!" a voice rang out in his mind.

Elincia gazed at the gigantic structure in front of them with the gaze of a shocked child. Her jewel-like eyes were sparkling.

Caspian nodded in agreement. "And it doesn't look like there are any undead here either."

It was a little odd not to see a village swarming with undead, but they hadn't run into anything, which either meant there were none in this area, or, more likely, they were waiting to ambush them. The few times they had been forced to fight, he and Elincia were ambushed.

"Does that mean we can take a break?"

"We'll only stay if this isn't an ambush, and even then, we won't be able to stick around for more than a day."

"I know."

The entrance to Calidum Vere was marked by a marble path, upon which he and Elincia tread, passing by several corinthian columns on either side. Up ahead stood a large building that presented a startling contrast with the viridian of the forest. It sat on a masonry. Numerous columns stood tall and proud, supporting a lintel made of granite. A large pediment depicting the various spirits who represented rest from each spirit clan sat proudly on the lintel.

As they walked underneath the lintel and between the columns, they came into a large room. The white marble floor shimmered underneath the natural sunlight that filtered in through several sunroofs and the space beyond. There were no walls, which gave the illusion that this room was larger than its actual size.

Someone else was present. She stood behind a long, crescent-shaped desk made of polished marble. However, upon noticing their presence, she immediately came out from behind the desk and walked up to them, a broad, professional smile on her face.

"Hello!" The woman, whose dark hair seemed to absorb sunlight, greeted them with a cheerfulness that made Caspian think of a stewardess. "Welcome to Calidum Vere. How may I serve you today?"

"Um, hello," Elincia said, taking the lead. "I am a sorceress representing the Sorceress Council. I would like to speak with the noble in charge here please."

While it was sad to think about, a place such as this, where money passed many hands, would definitely be owned by a noble. There was no way the nobility would let a commoner own something like a hot spring resort.

"I am sorry." The woman apologized with a bow. "However, Lady Satsuki is currently unavailable. If you would like, I can make accommodations for you to stay until she is able to meet with you."