Syl

Vee hopped onto my shoulder, and I left the room. After Paeris closed the door, he began to lead us to our next destination.

"This telepathic speech will be handy to keep things obscured," Paeris began explaining. "Especially in case of emergencies where I need to inform you of a situation or prevent you from making a mistake. However, be warned that Llewel did look it up after the demonstration yesterday, and some skills or traits can detect it or even eavesdrop on it, so it's not infallible."

"I'd hope they are rare?" I asked.

"Llewel was unsure, as such a form of communication is not exactly a common occurrence unless dealing with the Fey," he answered.

"It's still got to beat talking out loud," Vee replied. "I bet there are vastly more abilities for listening in on a normal conversation compared to a mental one."

"Yes, which is why sensitive matters should remain strictly in sealed rooms," Paeris answered. "Certainly do not mention your task without proper security."

I nodded in response.

As we walked, I started trying to take in my surroundings. Thanks to our attempted escape via teleportation, I knew we were inside a tree, but honestly, it felt like we were in some grand mansion instead, and I had a hard time even telling we were inside a trunk. The sheer magic of it all was truly awe-inspiring.

Cycling through various senses, I could see so much life glowing through the tree, indicating that despite being majorly hollowed out, it was still very much alive and flourishing. Other than furniture that had been added after the fact, anything structural appeared as if it had simply grown and naturally formed that way—even the stairs!

"I feel like we've fallen into a fairytale," Vee commented as she admired the enchanted wood.

However, there were remarkably few elves present, a grim reminder of their strict population controls that Gramps had mentioned to me before. Instead, there were plenty of plant-based servants, far superior to the ones Trixie had mass-produced, that seemed to handle the more mundane tasks. I even spotted a friendly dryad and treant patrolling the halls, much to my surprise.

I can understand why they value [Nature Magic] so much and are abhorrent to [Corrosion Magic] as clearly they need it to supplement their low population numbers. It's probably the exact reason why they treat their [Bonded Companions] so well.

The few elves I did see politely bowed as we passed; no words were spoken, although Paeris did give me a mental warning not to talk to them. It was a stern reminder that I was a noble from their point of view.

I just have to hope that the elves don't behave like the human nobles I ran into. I think I might break if I'm expected to treat everyone as beneath me and wasting my time. What are the chances that I could delegate this? If I could train a [Sub-Core] to act and talk for me, I could sit back and relax!

Well, not precisely sitting back since I'd still be stuck to the body—imagine if I wasn't restricted to being connected! I could send my [Sub-Cores] out and stay in my room all day playing with magic or hunting in the forest. That would be the dream life!

I also couldn't help activating [Spatial Sense] for the first time outside of the prison room and found my head spinning. I had to applaud Vee for somehow keeping this trait active at all times. Meanwhile, I was already thinking of delegating the task to a [Sub-Core] so I wouldn't have to worry about it.

As we paced the halls and up various flights of stairs, I could sense a growing worry in my mind. This was a perfect recipe for getting myself lost in these endless halls!

"Sorry, but how exactly do you know where to go?" I asked.

"Years of familiarity; however, if you are concerned, you can simply ask the tree to help you find your destination, and it will provide a path for you to follow," Paeris explained.

"You have a magic tree GPS system?" Vee asked.

"The tree is certainly magical, but I do not know what this… GPS is?" Paeris commented, looking disturbed by the foreign words Vee was spouting. "Speaking of which, it should go without saying, but do not harm the tree."

"I'm guessing the tree can and will report those things?" Vee questioned.

"Naturally," Paeris replied.

Wow, I'm glad we didn't decide to use the acid-melting strategy—that could have been disastrous!

"Does that mean it's constantly watching us? Cause that's rather creepy… do we not have any privacy?" Vee frantically asked.

"No, the tree cannot be used to spy that way," Paeris answered. "It can sense presence and, depending on its familiarity with you, can identify your current location. That's not to say it can't detect unfamiliar intruders, but they'd be labeled as unknown presences. Since you will soon be labeled as the heir of the branch, you will be able to request the location of almost anyone within the tree."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"That's convenient," I replied happily.

"I'm just glad it won't be watching us," Vee sighed. "Do you think the tree would be mad if I set up a few webs?"

"Assuming they aren't harmful to it, I don't see why not. You are hardly the first spider companion, and such arrangements aren't uncommon. I only request you try to keep them hidden and off the floors, as the cleaners will dispose of them."

"Oh, I definitely plan on keeping them hidden," Vee replied. "I'm not going to let any assassins get the drop on us!"

Oh! That's clever… Vee mentioned being able to sense things through her web. We will have a massive advantage if she keeps our living area webbed!

I made sure to convey feelings of encouragement and gratitude to her through our bond.

We eventually arrived at a hallway, which formed a door handle when Paeris reached for it. Opening the door revealed a massive entryway with high ceilings and even a candelabra centered around two symmetrical open staircases leading to the second floor.

"This will be your living quarters; every room here is yours to do with as you please," Paeris explained. "It's fully furnished and supplied, but if you find it lacking, feel free to request it, and I'll seek to fulfill it to the best of my abilities."

"Holy crap, we've moved up in the world! We have our own mini tree mansion inside a giant tree!" Vee exclaimed excitedly. "We even have little plant servants!"

I looked to where she indicated and saw that a few plant sprites were cleaning in one of the other rooms.

"They respond to simple instructions even if you aren't their creator," Paeris answered.

I tried reaching out to one telepathically but was met with a brick wall.

"Telepathy doesn't work on them," I said with a frown.

"No! How am I supposed to communicate with them then?" Vee cried.

"Gestures or perhaps a written sign?" Paeris suggested. "Assuming they don't perish and need replacing, they should retain any small tasks or communication methods you teach them. Or simply ask Lady Sylthaeryn to inform them."

Oh great… I'm going to have to get used to that. I already miss my old name.

"Teaching them a sign for fruit delivery should be our number one priority," Vee replied firmly.

"Greedy spider," I commented.

"Says the gluttonous slime," Vee poked back.

Paeris cleared his throat, grabbing our attention.

"Shall I leave you two to explore your home, or do you have any requests for me?"

"Some of the promised knowledge would be great," I replied. "I don't know whether you have any of it in written form or if it needs to be relayed verbally or from someone in particular, but I'd love some information to go through on either my class or tamer classes and what skills I could potentially learn or earn."

"Yeah, if you have a bestiary on spider monsters, that would be amazing!" Vee quickly added.

Paeris sighed and nodded, "Very well. Llewel has already done some preliminary research since yesterday and found some books. I'll go fetch them while you two settle in."

"Wow, he's proactive. Does that come with being a Chronomancer?" Vee asked.

"I cannot confirm, but I have experienced him quite frequently having some fortuitous foresight," Paeris explained. "Whether that's from his class, luck, or otherwise, I do not know."

"He's totally looking into the future or something!" Vee replied confidently. "That's what I'd do with time powers! Look into the future for stuff to warn me about."

That's… oddly terrifying if true.

"Plausible, but it could just be his natural curiosity at play. He witnessed you with a rare class and you with an uncommon species of spider and likely sought some answers of his own," Paeris said.

"I'm surprised you don't know the answer. Can you not ask him? Or is that considered rude?" I questioned.

"Asking sensitive details like that would most certainly be a faux pas," Paeris promptly answered. "I'd certainly say that outside of your mother, you should keep any details of your rare class or otherwise to yourself. Also, Llewel technically outranks me, as he is halfway to joining the Feirelle branch while I am merely sworn to it."

"Thanks, Paeris," I replied.

"Just doing my duty, Lady Sylthaeryn," he replied with a quick bow. I had to commend him for keeping up the act even though we were alone in this abode, as far as I could tell.

"If that is all, I will leave you to make yourself at home or perhaps freshen up a bit. In the meantime, I will go see about securing those books for you…" he replied, making a quick headway to the door to leave.

I bet he's tired of acting like this around me, ha!

I waved Paeris off and then turned to Vee after breaking him from the telepathic connection.

"So… how's the princess life?" Vee teased.

"Tease me about that when we are alone and I swear I'll recreate the exploding worm right here and now," I grumbled.

"Sheesh! Okay, okay," Vee replied in a panic. "Still… looking at this place is not too shabby! I thought the inn we were staying at was luxurious, and then our prison cell was above and beyond, but this! It's literally a mansion! In a tree! A tree penthouse!"

"I'm glad you're excited about it," I sighed. "I'm still irked about the fact that they want me to literally pretend to be her. Not to mention the way they responded to the dead dwarves…"

"Yeah, they really don't care about anyone but themselves, do they? I can sort of understand it; people would often joke that humanity would only truly come together when aliens invaded."

"Aliens?" I asked, tilting my head.

"Err… they come from space, little green men?" Vee offered an explanation.

"Goblins come from space!?" I replied with shock.

"No! Not goblins! Ugh… never mind! It's stuff from my old life, at least I think it is. I'm still not too happy about all my memories and experiences being blended together."

"Sounds like you got far more than me. I don't know whether to be thankful for that or upset."

"Well, enough about that, let's explore the place! I bet there's more than one bedroom, although we should probably stick to the same room for safety's sake."

I nodded, "It's definitely better to stick together. Also, I loved the idea of you turning the place into a big spider nest."

"I just have to avoid the cleaners," Vee giggled and pointed a leg to one of the plant sprites climbing the stairs.

We began exploring our new home, and while Vee was ecstatic about it, I felt it was a little too much.

Why the hell would I need two bedrooms, three bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, a lounge, and a study! And that's not even including the entrance foyer staircase thing. I'm a damn slime and used to live inside of a hollowed-out tree or hole in the ground.