After accepting her punishment, Mapel began training in the courtyard, while Aisen went to the study.
The study was located in the middle of the third floor, the highest floor of the castle. It was not large, with a glass window directly opposite the door. A desk and chair were placed in front of the window, and bookshelves lined both sides of the room, filled with various books.
"Hmph! Your Family has quite a collection of books, as expected of a wealthy noble."
Wenster knew that all these books were made of parchment. Each book was extremely valuable, and commoners could not afford them.
Arriving in front of the bookshelf, Aisen stretched out his right hand and brushed it over the books on the shelf, a nostalgic expression appearing on his face.
"These books are the accumulation of the Aisen Family over many years. My father loved books very much and often read to me from them when I was little. Influenced by this, I also gradually grew to love reading. I have read every single book here."
"Alright, alright, stop reminiscing! Hurry up and get to business!" Wenster urged.
"I know, don't rush me."
The so-called business was for Aisen to quickly browse the books, allowing Wenster to acquire and decipher the writing of this world and store the textual data in the database.
There were many benefits to doing this. For example, Wenster could directly provide translated books or blueprints from the other world, and when Aisen's System was upgraded in the future, it could also be changed to text he recognized.
Aisen casually picked up a copy of "Morning Light History," held it open in his hands, and began flipping through it from the first page. His browsing speed was very fast; after all, he didn't need to read word for word.
Even so, Wenster kept urging Aisen to flip faster, faster, and even faster.
Is that still too slow?
Finally, Aisen had no choice but to press his thumb against the edge of the book, using the book's curvature to quickly flip through the pages, finishing a book in about ten seconds.
He then used the same method to flip through several more books until Wenster told him to stop.
"Is that enough? I flipped so fast, were the words in the book recorded?" Aisen questioned this.
"Yes, not only were they recorded, but the deciphering work is also complete."
"Ah? It's already done?"
Aisen was very surprised. It only took such a short time to decipher unfamiliar text. Is this the high-tech power Wenster spoke of?
"Haha, it's nothing. There will be more things to surprise you in the future."
"Oh? Then I'll look forward to it."
With the text deciphering work complete, Aisen had the personal guard at the door call Ryan over, while he himself sat at the desk to deal with the documents that had piled up from yesterday.
Knock knock!
Before entering, Ryan knocked on the door, then bowed to Aisen with his hand over his chest: "Master, did you need me for something?"
After writing the last word, Aisen put down his quill and looked up at Ryan.
"Yes, Ryan, take some people to clear out the innermost storage room on the first floor of the castle. Move the miscellaneous items elsewhere, then hire people to dig a square pit in the center of the room, about one meter deep, and covering half the room's floor area. Finally, fill the square pit with sand."
"As you command, Master."
Having said that, Ryan prepared to leave to carry out the task.
Aisen suddenly remembered something and quickly called out to him: "Wait, also, the windows need to be covered with curtains."
"Yes." Ryan nodded. "Are there any other requirements?"
"Hmm… No, you may withdraw."
Ryan bowed and withdrew, and Aisen continued to handle the documents at hand.
As the castle's steward, Ryan was undoubtedly very competent. As long as it wasn't a dangerous matter, he never questioned it, diligently and efficiently completing the tasks his master assigned him.
The reason Aisen wanted to create this sandpit in the castle was to facilitate the transfer of items from the other world in the future.
As for why sand was needed? This involved something Wenster called conservation of mass, which Aisen didn't quite understand.
It was said that the mass of two parallel Universes is constant and equal, and the transfer of items between parallel Universes must be a two-way, equal exchange. Otherwise, if one parallel Universe's mass increased for no reason while the other's decreased, it would cause a major problem.
Wenster explained the principle of transfer to Aisen in simple terms: it was exchanging things from the other world with an equal mass of sand.
…
Aisen spent the entire morning in the castle handling affairs. In the afternoon, he took Mapel, who had completed her training, out. Their destination was the experimental field where the accident occurred yesterday.
As soon as they left the castle, Mapel raised her vigilance to the highest Rank. She walked in front of Aisen, her right hand constantly on her sword hilt, her eyes fierce and cold. Passing commoners all chose to avoid her.
"Hey, is your Knight going to kill someone? She's so fierce." Wenster teased.
"It's all your fault!" Aisen cursed inwardly.
However, Mapel's appearance would harm Aisen's reputation as the lord, which was not good.
Helpless, he could only advise: "Mapel, you don't have to be like this. Yesterday's accident won't happen again."
"That won't do." Mapel stopped and turned around. "Yesterday, I also thought it was very safe, but an accident still happened. Protecting the lord's safety is a Knight's responsibility, and I must ensure that nothing can approach Master Aisen."
"So, to protect my safety, you won't even listen to my words, is that right?"
"This…" Mapel was momentarily speechless.
Disobedience meant disloyalty, and a Knight is the Incarnation of loyalty. When Mapel was appointed Chief Knight, she had sworn loyalty to Aisen.
This made it difficult. She was immediately caught in a dilemma, unsure of what to do.
"Alright, Mapel. I know you've never liked to use your brain since you were little, and I can't bear to see you so troubled."
Aisen smiled and shook his head, then said: "Guardianship and loyalty are both very important. You don't need to choose between the two. It's just that your actions to protect me were excessive. Look at that little girl over there. I know she admires you very much and once even gave you flowers, but now she doesn't even dare to approach you."
Mapel looked in the direction Aisen pointed, and it was indeed the little girl who used to give her flowers. Now the little girl was hiding far away, clearly afraid of her.
After Aisen's explanation, Mapel realized that she had overreacted.
"I am truly sorry, Master Aisen." She showed a look of guilt. "Perhaps a dull Knight like me is not worthy of being your Chief Knight."
"Don't say that, Mapel."
Aisen's expression grew serious as he corrected her: "You have been my playmate since childhood. I understand you very well and trust you completely. Besides you, no one else can serve as my Chief Knight. What's more, last winter you excellently completed the task my father assigned you, thereby saving the lives of many people, including myself. You are an extremely outstanding Knight; this is an undeniable fact, and I forbid you from denying yourself in this way."
Praised so highly by Aisen, Mapel's cheeks flushed, and she lowered her head, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"Yes, Master Aisen, I will definitely fulfill the duties of the Chief Knight."
"That's good, let's go."
This time, Mapel honestly followed behind Aisen. Looking at Aisen's back, her lips couldn't help but curve slightly upward, and her heart felt warm.
"What happened to you last winter?"
On the way, Wenster couldn't help but ask Aisen about this, wanting to find out the truth.
"Hmm… I'll explain it to you in detail when I have time later. For now, let's focus on the main business."
"Alright then."
Signed, contract just sent, status will change in a few days.