Volume 7, Chapter 5 – The Acting City Lord

It didn’t take long for Yisi, Camilla, and Mary to reach the residence of Gota’s city lord by carriage.

“Is this really the city lord’s residence? It looks like an ordinary guild hall.”

Raising an eyebrow at the courtyard before her, which was neither grand nor exquisite, Yisi couldn’t help but check her [Omniscient Map]. This was indeed the residence of Gota’s city lord.

“Even though it’s the city lord’s home, it’s only two stories tall. It’s not even as impressive as the shops we saw on the way.”

Just as Camilla said, the residence of Gota’s city lord was exceptionally plain. Apart from being several times larger than an ordinary house, even the exterior walls were the same earthy yellow as the ground. Although there was a walled courtyard, looking through the iron gate, one could see that the person tending to it was not very skilled; all the flowers and plants looked sickly, as if they could die at any moment if the sun got any stronger.

“In any case, let’s go say hello to the people inside.”

Patting Mary’s shoulder to signal her to stop, Yisi and Camilla dismounted the carriage together. Seeing visitors arrive, a man dressed as a soldier at the gate quickly approached. He was dressed like a soldier, but his armor was quite shabby—not only was it not a magnificent full plate, but it even had a few inconspicuous dents.

“May I ask if you are here to see the master?”

“The master?”

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“Ah, you must have mistaken me for one of the city guards. I am just a slave bought by the master, the lord of Gota.”

“I see.”

That would explain why he was wearing such tattered armor. The living conditions for slaves were poor in most cases.

After explaining their purpose to the man with a sympathetic gaze, Yisi and the others were warmly welcomed into the residence. Upon hearing that someone who had been granted the Crest of Saint Mistilteinn—a status equivalent to a cardinal—had arrived, the lord of Gota had intended to arrange a banquet. However, because Yisi had an appointment to meet Tiffany at noon, she politely declined the offer. Yisi did not meet the lord of Gota during this process. According to a servant, the city lord was currently bathing in preparation to meet an important guest.

Now, the three of them sat in a relatively cool room. It was about thirty square meters, sparsely decorated, with the smell of dust lingering in the air. A few cobwebs remained in the corners of the ceiling. A single glance was enough to tell that the room hadn’t been used in a long time.

Putting down her teacup, Yisi’s expression turned complex after tasting the tea.

“I’m starting to wonder if this place is having financial problems.”

“Yes. Either they are treating you this way on purpose, Onee-sama, or they are truly struggling. I recall that in the Hels Kingdom, slaves are only allowed to do heavy labor like chopping wood and pulling carts. Having a slave stand guard at the gate would make them a laughingstock.”

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“Even you think so, Camilla…” Yisi gave a wry smile. The city of Gota had the name “mining city,” which sounded quite wealthy, yet the lord’s residence was pitiful. “I’m no tea connoisseur, but even I can tell this is cheap. If any other cardinal came here, they would surely flip the table and leave in a rage.”

As if not understanding their conversation, Mary picked up her cup with both hands, looking puzzled.

“Huh? Does it taste bad?”

“You wouldn’t be able to tell, Mary.”

Everything tasted delicious to Mary.

“Hmph, I feel like Master is being looked down upon.”

Creak.

With the sound of the door opening, the long-awaited lord of Gota finally appeared.

A man of about forty, with rough skin, a small and thin frame, and a slightly balding head, walked in. His plain attire made him look more like an unsophisticated commoner than a city lord. When he saw Yisi and Camilla, his already reserved expression became even more unnatural.

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“I-I believe you are Lady Yisi Enya? To think a cardinal would grace Gota with her presence, and I have failed to host you properly. I am truly sorry.”

Yisi stood up with a smile.

“Not at all. I have only come to Taris this time to find something. I will not trouble the lord of Taris—how should I address you?”

Yisi’s friendly demeanor put the city lord at ease.

He wears his thoughts on his face. He’s not a qualified city lord.

“Ah, forgive me for not introducing myself. I am not the lord of Gota. My elder brother, Dominic, is currently leading a group of adventurers deep into the underground mining district. I am his younger brother, Derrick Taris, the third son of the House of Marquis Taris. You may simply call me Derrick, Your Eminence.”

No wonder he didn’t seem like a city lord; he was just a temporary substitute. Yisi couldn’t help but size him up. Before they arrived, Refina had mentioned that the second son of the House of Marquis Taris—the lord of Gota—was greatly favored by the Marquis. If she could get on good terms with the lord, the man named Dominic, she could have the ‘Margaret’ opened in the Marquisate of Taris.

The group sat back down on the sofa. As the third son of the Taris family was extremely reserved, Yisi had to be the one to start the conversation. His gaze kept shifting between her and Camilla, but since there was no lecherous feeling in it, he seemed less like a pervert and more like a virgin who had never seen a beautiful girl before. So, Yisi politely pretended not to notice. As for the look of disgust on Camilla’s face, he seemed completely oblivious.

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“I have come on behalf of the 24th Pope, Evelyn Anna Ymir Shalu, in search of an item called the ‘Source of Mana’. Have you heard of it, Derrick?”

“Source of Mana?” Derrick, sitting across the coffee table from Yisi, pulled his gaze away from her gently rising and falling chest. He froze for a moment, then frowned deeply. After a long moment of recollection, he rubbed his hands together sheepishly. “I’m sorry, Your Eminence Enya, I have never heard of such a thing. But I think you might be able to find some clues in the northern mining district. It is an inexhaustible treasure trove; you can find anything there.”

Like a male bird showing off before a female, the third son began to ramble on about the treasures produced in the northern mining district.

Yisi felt a twinge of pity. He definitely didn’t have a girlfriend or a wife. Going on a long-winded monologue to a girl he just met would only disgust her. However, this wasn’t a casual meeting or a blind date arranged by parents. Yisi let his words go in one ear and out the other, nodding politely in agreement while her mind was completely on her own affairs.

Just as I thought.

As she expected, the Source of Mana wouldn’t be that easy to find. If she could find it just by asking a random person, she would have to worry about the Demon Lord’s intelligence.

And the [Omniscient Map] didn’t show it either.

Yisi had been keeping an eye on the map the whole way, but the words ‘Source of Mana’ had never appeared. Either the Demon Lord was deceiving her, or he was deliberately using a riddle-like expression, intentionally not using the item’s real name so that she would have to find clues from the slightest traces.

Of course, there was a third possibility: the Source of Mana was known only to the Demon Lord, and the Demon Lord was not currently in the Hels Kingdom. Therefore, the name of the Source of Mana appeared as a question mark on the [Omniscient Map] and naturally would not show up in the search results.