Just A Reincarnation Story (Summoning Japan Edition)

Chapter 55: What the Compass Points To

Later half of Caleomens 1615 Central Calendar

Eyes of the Order, Holy Milishial Empire

Magister Sorath the Illuminator's private office within a certain place belonging to the Order of the Ancients took the appearance of a spacious two-story library filled with small tables, leather chairs, and sofas, along with a projector and a white canvas standing in one of its corners. Overall, its aesthetic was fashioned in a style popular in the late 1500s era that took the woman behind the mask's fancy out of all the decades that she had lived throughout the High Imperial Era.

Dark blue wallpaper with an elegant white pattern adorned the walls, complemented by wooden panels and a gallery of paintings with ornately carved frames. Sorath's desk stood at the center of the room, placed upon a red patterned carpet. The surface of the desk was another tableau of curiosities, from a sailing ship in a bottle to other intriguing ornaments that took a portion of its free space. Flanking the desk, two staircases ascended to the mezzanine floor on each side. While this office was windowless just like the office of Sorath's fellow Magisters, she had taken the trouble to transform her workspace into a presentable suite for a select number of visitors required to report to her presence in contrast to, for example, Eblis the Summoner and his nondescript office.

One can say that in the end, it was a reflection of Sorath's personal preferences, and they will not be persecuted for pointing it out. Other than being one of the leaders of an ancient keeper of the great tree that is the Holy Empire, the face behind Sorath was that of a woman of many, many interests.

With a piece of instrumental music from an even older time period playing to banish the silence, a figure was seen pulling a book away from its brethren on the first floor, deftly scanning its pages before stopping on a certain section which the figure promptly read aloud.

"...Not by angels or by demons... not Heaven or Hell... Death, like a great parent, comes and sweeps them all through one darksome portal, all his children... unto the kingdom of perpetual night."

"...For your information, it helps if you are not acting so foreboding every time I enter this room. That's not even the excerpt from that book, you're just mixing quotes from different authors at this point."

The corner of the figure's lips quirked into a thin smile. It was not Sorath who occupied the room since earlier, as the masked woman was only arriving at her own office just now. A human male standing around the high 180 centimeters tall with shoulder-length blonde hair and gleaming green eyes, this person was clad in a navy-blue overcoat generally associated with a certain organization, but his possessed silver trimmings in place of the usual golden colorings, which was nevertheless still present as the color of his uniform's epaulets and a braided cord (aiguillette) around his right shoulder. Serving as the office's caretaker and Sorath's aide, his choice of clothing would be rather... curious, for an average Milishian person given the aforementioned information.

The Magister's flawless adherence to her schedule had resulted in her arriving at almost the exact same minute every working day, provided there was no prior disturbance that required a change. As a result, this curious man, feeling like doing it today, decided to perform a small narration for some entertainment, timed to precisely 'coincide' with Sorath's arrival.

However, Sorath's distorted voice still could be heard sounding frustrated despite the mask she was wearing, not at all pleased by the occupant's humor.

Still, the caretaker playfully chose to ignore that. "...Why is that? Are you scared of the dark abyss?"

"No, it's not that," Sorath, still standing by the doorway, answered.