I Hate Systems

Chapter 12: Weird Architecture

The moment he entered the room, Compass Carburettor quickly scanned around, noticing that it seemed like a normal room, except for the weird aesthetics of the place in that there were humanoid figures carved into the pillars at the corner of the room.

He judged they were carved because they weren’t lifelike and only spanned a centimetre-thick protrusion. So, he determined they wouldn’t be the puppets from before that could try to assassinate him during the night for political reasons.

‘Still, I have to be careful. That talk before was just the first of the tests. I am still a suspicious individual, so the Queen would probably try a couple of other things to probe me.’ He thought, walking a little as he came across a full-length mirror, noticing his appearance.

As he had been called for an interview, he was fully dressed up for the occasion. So, the clothes he wore were of the finest quality fabric. And now, it had become dirty. But the moment he looked at it, the first thought that came to his mind wasn’t his appearance. ‘The cause that dirtied my clothes was the soil in the System World. If they were carried over with me, does that mean I can bring items of the System World with me?’

He pinched the end of his pant, rubbing the bit of mud that came off as he inspected it, ‘Looks no different to regular mud.’

He then noticed the window in the room and walked towards it, peering through it as he noticed a training ground. It seemed the barracks was situated there and soldiers were currently training.

Compass Carburettor noticed the soldiers held what was a small cylindrical rod in their hands. It had a slight curve to it that allowed a better grip as they held it. Each cylindrical rod ranged between 10-20 centimetres in height depending on the individual.

And, what was shocking was the fact that a mysterious energy of sorts exited from the rods and had been shaped into a weapon each that they wielded during their training sessions. Some formed shields using the rods as a handle, some formed swords where the rod formed the hilt, etc.

And soldiers training with each set of weapons formed their respective groups, forming a mechanical drill. As it seemed interesting, Compass Carburettor watched them in amusement, soon noticing in surprise when the swords of some of the soldiers fluctuated for a couple of seconds before vanishing.

The respective soldiers sighed as they were punished by the drill instructor to run a couple of laps around the training grounds. Soon, the weapons of many soldiers fluctuated similarly before vanishing. The drill instructor sent them away to rest in the barracks when another group assembled before him.

He continued to make them repeat the same as the previous batch. After seeing them for a while, Compass Carburettor thought, ‘Interesting.’

He then heard a knock on the door before a couple of servants entered inside. Compass Carburettor smiled wryly as they didn’t even ask for his permission and simply entered the room. ‘Welp, I’m just a suspicious guest and not someone they have to honour while staying.’

One of the servants made a formal bow in his way as she said, “Her Majesty has asked for your presence during the evening session. Please change into this set of clothes after you take a bath first. We’ll notify you when it’s the time to visit.”

He nodded, glancing at the set of clothes to see that they were made from a material resembling silk. They then arrived beside him, beginning to remove his clothes when he waved his hand in a hurry, speaking, “I can do this myself.”

They nodded and stood a couple of steps back, continuing to stare at him silently. Even though he was used to the attention and the stares of people, it was still embarrassing enough. He then looked around, heading into the bathroom as he took off his clothes while inside and then left his clothes out, thinking for a moment as he pointed at his shoe and watch, “Not clothes.”

The two servants stared at the closed door for a good while before one of them approached it and picked up the clothes placed on one side. The other servant picked up the watch and the shoes before leaving the room.

A couple of minutes later, they returned and stood in their previous spots, silently staring at the bathroom door.

Once he entered the bathroom, Compass Carburettor sighed as he looked around to see something that resembled a bathtub. There were a couple of pipes for water flow. He experimented with them, seeing that one was for hot water and the other was for cold water.

There also seemed to be a solution in a bottle beside that worked similar to soap. “Well, that works.”

Sighing, Compass Carburettor took a bath and refreshed himself, finally draining the water when he looked around, noticing that there were no towels around. He then gently peeked out the door by craning it open a little to see the servant standing beside, a towel in hand.

Taking it from her, he quickly dried himself and took the clothes from her next, looking at the first thing he always wondered about during such stories, sighing in relief when he noticed there was an underwear.

He then pinched its ends first, stretching it a bit while inspecting it thoroughly from all sides, finally heaving a sigh of relief at the end, “It’s a new one.”

Once he dressed himself in the weirdly designed robe, he exited the bathroom, noticing the two servants bow once as they took the towel and exited the room, “We’ll inform you later when it’s the time to make an appearance.”

Once the door closed with a thud, Compass Carburettor looked at the place where he left his shoe, realising that his shoes and watch had disappeared. Frowning at his oversight, he arrived at the door and pressed the doorknob, realising that it was locked.