Lost Change

Chapter 69

We checked out three houses in total over the next few hours. I was surprised at how easy it was - I had expected we would just glance at the outside and move on, but we were actually able to look at the inside, too. Minna simply held her hand on the door control for a few seconds, and after that it opened for us.

I assumed the system kept some kind of record of who went into the available houses and would let somebody track down whoever caused problems, but it was still a bit odd to see it running off of what was essentially an honor system.

The houses all seemed like mansions to me. The ceilings were even higher than they had been in Minna's apartment, which I had come to expect from Kymari dwellings - they were larger than humans had been, which meant they needed larger rooms - so I had plenty of room to fly around in. There were lots of rooms in each house, with some rooms repeating themselves for reasons I couldn't understand - there were multiple kitchens, rooms that were obviously intended as parlors or living rooms, rooms whose size and proximity to the kitchens meant they would be natural dining rooms, and so on.

I couldn't understand why anybody would need so many rooms. Every member of a typical family could host separate events for friends and never get in the way of anyone else, if they wanted to. It seemed... unnecessary.

Or, a darker thought occurred to me, they could continue on even if part of the house was inaccessible. Perhaps due to a disaster, or an occupying force.

Once I had that realization, the Kymari architecture began to make more sense. This wasn't a mansion - it was a castle. And castles had always been built, first and foremost, as fortresses.

The multiple rooms were there in case the residents had to retreat, and were all organized in a system that gradually moved deeper into the house. The hallways were more than wide enough for me to enjoy, but they were cramped for Arlia and Minna - a single defender in the hall could block anyone from getting past them. The doors and walls were pretty, but solid.

There was a significant home-field advantage to each of the houses we looked at.

I was happy with all three of the houses, though I could tell Minna really only cared for the third one we saw. It had plenty of room on the upper floors, and for some reason I got the feeling that was important to Minna - she spent most of her time looking through the rooms up there, as if she was visualizing where she would put things. I suspected she would probably spend most of her time upstairs.

She also seemed interested in my reactions to the houses, but by the third one I think she realized I would be happy with anything she decided on. The only items of any particular interest were the yard, and each had lots of space and enough low trees to relax in, and the power outlets.

I was happy to finally get a proper look at the outlets without any furniture blocking the view, and spent a few minutes puzzling out how they were able to carry power throughout the house... but I noticed Minna growing anxious the more I poked around them, so eventually I gave up and just watched from her shoulder. I could always take a closer look at them some other time, when it wouldn't make her nervous.

I didn't really have much of an opinion on the houses otherwise. Without any furniture inside it was just a bunch of empty rooms. The stairs actually turned out to be my favorite 'room' in the empty houses, since the steps and banister were the closest things to perches in the entire place. It was also kind of fun to fly up and down the stairs.

It was late at night when Minna and Arlia finished exploring the final house and closed the door behind them. I was getting tired by that point and sprawled on Minna's shoulder to rest while they said their goodbyes and parted ways. Minna was quiet while she walked back to Terron's house, but she would occasionally reach up to pet me during the trip.