BXBX NOVEL Chapter 29 - 29
The bedroom was well furnished and quite bourgeois, even for the time period of this world. Fancy carpets, colorful drapes, and stylish settees. It was like a bedroom, office, and lounge all in one.
Nobody with a conscience would complain about being assigned such a room. Darius also felt like he learned a bit more about Shanks indirectly, especially his meticulous and thoughtful nature.
Who would expect a noble guest to come all the way out to their homestead in the wilderness? Realistically, it should be no one, but Shanks had assumed it could happen one day and had spent his money to make sure that he was prepared for such an occasion.
Darius turned to Derek and Portia, nodding. "This lodging is more than fine, and I thank Sir Shanks for his consideration."
Derek smiled widely. No son would be averse to hear his father be well spoken of, especially by an actual noble. Portia giggled a little and turned to her brother.
"Derek, you can leave to fulfill your duties. I shall remain to take care of Master Darius."
Derek's face scrunched up in suspicion as he gazed at his sister and Darius, but apart from his lips twitching slightly, he decided not to say anything on the matter. He simply turned around and left Darius and Portia in the bedroom.
Portia smiled slightly and turned to Darius. Immediately, her finger rose up to her hair and began twirling it almost subconsciously. She gazed at Darius, with her eyes extremely expressive and her cheeks slightly flushed.
"Erm, does Master Darius need anything…?"
Darius, for that matter, smiled amiably but groaned inwardly. He wasn't in the mood to deal with some young girl's crush.
His sudden appearance must have made her think of him as some prince-charming noble scion with endless talent, not that it was too far from the truth and it didn't really help that he was handsome by default, as his Charisma stat was 5 points above average.
To make matters worse, she was also at that impressionable age where such flights of fancy and fantasies would sprout. Usually by the age of 20-25, most males and females would become more down to earth about affection and romance, but below that age?
For young boys, anything in a skirt would cause problematic reactions in their pants and for young girls, any handsome fellow with the slightest desirable features would set their heart aflutter.
Puberty. Truly a troubling period of time that any adult would hide their face when reminiscing.
"I'm okay for now. I may need an assistant to help me with my training and my experiments in the future. Might you be available and willing?" Darius replied to her query gently.
Moved by his consideration, Portia nodded with excitement, her face flushing further. "Yes! If you need my help, I'll certainly be there for you!"
Darius nodded gratefully. "Thank you for your kindness, Portia. I'd like some time to settle in and rest if you don't mind."
Portia clasped her hands together and bowed. "Not a problem, Master Darius. If you need to bathe or have your attire cleaned, simply summon me. I shall handle all of such tasks for you."
Darius smiled. "A bath after my journey would be much appreciated."
Portia bowed once again and quietly left the room, closing the door behind her. Once Darius was left alone, his pleasant expression faded into a grimace. What he feared most had come to pass.
The small Infoblock had contained many things about the Andrato Kingdom, including some basic laws. As the Andrato Kingdom functioned similarly to medieval Europe in more ways than one, it also shared the morals and laws of such a time.
Darius had been a fan of media containing the medieval age - which was why he had been able to adapt to their mannerism so quickly - but he had failed to account for one of the greatest flaws and evils of those times.
The sexual morality… or better yet, the lack of one.
At least by modern Earth standards, the medieval era had been full of pedophiles from top to bottom. This was reflected in the Andrato Kingdom, since they had a very troubling law concerning the Age of Consent.
For a boy, the age of consent was 14 years of age, while for a girl, it was 12 years. However, this was in the situation that an 'adult' partner was interacting with them sexually.
No, it was the second half of this law that made Darius want to vomit. For what would be considered as minors on Earth, the age of consent was… 7 years old.
In other words, while it was illegal for an adult to touch a 7-year-old boy or girl, as long as both partners were 7 years old they could… could…
Darius had to cover his mouth to prevent the urge to throw up. While he had been a vile bastard, such things had never been in his purview.
Assassination of rivals, corporate espionage, slandering opponents, entrapment, warmongering, emotional manipulation, and swindling he could navigate with ease.
Sexual debauchery and immorality of such nature? Out of the question. Just because something was legal didn't make it palatable.
Darius decided to distract himself by opening his Character menu so that he could finally allocate his Skill Points into his Basic Lancer Arts.
[Name: Darius Stone
Race: Human
Class: Itemancer
Subclass: Magus
HP: 70/70
MP: 75/75
Level: 3
Experience: 120/300
Strength: 7
Agility: 10
Endurance: 10
Intellect: 25
Charisma: 15
Luck: 15
AP: 0
SP: 0
Skills: Basic Lancer Arts - Lv.4, Analyze - Lv.1, Skinning - Lv.1, Butchery - Lv.1, Cooking - Lv.1, Washing - Lv.1
Spells: Sparks - Lv.4, Ember - Lv.1]
Darius was satisfied with his growth so far. While it might seem slow, it was because Darius had lacked a set base of operations so far, preventing him from advancing through the lower levels quickly.
This was exactly why he had questioned Derek about the local monster and bandit distribution. Killing them would certainly be harder, but more lucrative than killing beasts. Maybe not in terms of experience, but in terms of drops or at the very least the things he could harvest from their bodies.
With his newly learned and improved Lancer Arts as well as his magic, Darius was convinced that he could navigate battle somewhat competently, and not have to eke out every bit of wit he had to survive.