Volume 10, Chapter 19 – The Cornelia’s Mansion

Because the city of trade, Wilfred, was quite large, with a population of at least two hundred thousand, Yisi’s group had to take a carriage to get to the mansion. After crossing several arched bridges and passing countless buildings of various colors, they finally arrived at an exceptionally quiet, open area far from the city center.

“Honored guests, the mansion we discussed earlier is right here.”

“Mhm, I see.”

“Um… about the carriage fare… I forgot to bring money before I left.”

The elven woman—it was more appropriate to call her Miss Solanya now—reminded Yisi with an embarrassed look. Yisi smiled and said.

“Let me get it. Miss Solanya only came here because of us, so of course, we should pay.”

After paying the carriage driver five copper coins, Yisi and her companions got off the carriage—or rather, it was more appropriate to say they jumped off. A box-style carriage with a roof was usually the exclusive transportation for the wealthy and the old nobility. The carriages that could be hailed in the city at any time had no roof, and were merely flatbed carts with foot-high railings nailed around the wooden planks to prevent people from falling off. Their appearance was quite crude.

Furthermore, Edith felt that riding in such a carriage was unbecoming of the eldest daughter of a Count, so she refused. Instead, she returned to the inn and had Refina drive Yisi’s carriage to the mansion. Because of this, Yisi had also entrusted Refina with buying some things they would definitely need on the way back, like brooms, rags, and magic lamps for cleaning. If possible, she was also to contact some carpenters. After all, it was an abandoned mansion where no one had lived for a long time. The furniture inside was likely rotten, and she would need to get new furniture.

“Just from the walls, the mansion doesn’t look like it’s in disrepair. Do you take care of this mansion often?”

As soon as she got out of the carriage, Camilla crossed her arms and sized up the four-story mansion in front of them. Yisi couldn’t help but feel that if Camilla were wearing glasses right now, she would definitely give off the feeling of an intelligent, mature woman.

The revealingly dressed Solanya gave a wry smile.

“Rather than saying I take care of it often, it’s more like I haven’t been to this mansion in several years. When the lady of the house entrusted this mansion to me ten years ago, it looked just like this. It hasn’t changed at all.”

At this, Solanya pointed to the main building in the center, and the two buildings on either side, which, along with the main building, formed a ‘冂’ shape. The three buildings were not connected; they were separate, multi-story structures. The open space enclosed by the three buildings was set up as a garden path with a small fountain. This was the first time Yisi had seen a fountain set up in a private residence. The moment she saw it, Yisi felt the impulse to buy this place, no matter what.

“The main building, where the owner rested, and the other two buildings of unknown purpose are all under a barrier. Only the open-air courtyard can be entered freely. In the past, when I still had ideas for this mansion, I used to hire people to clean the courtyard. But later, whether it was commissioning a curse-breaker to remove the barrier or digging a tunnel from underground into the main building, all attempts ended in failure. So I completely gave up on this place. Now the garden is a mess and full of weeds. Please forgive me, honored guests.”

“Ah, it’s fine,” Yisi waved her hand. “But this mansion still technically belongs to the original owner, right? Where is the original owner?”

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If the original owner suddenly came back and demanded the mansion, paying her again would be a small matter. But if the other party didn’t want money, only the mansion, then it would be troublesome. From what she’d overheard of Solanya’s chat with that man, this mansion had only fallen into Solanya’s name, who was in charge of its upkeep, because the original owner had gone far away and hadn’t returned for a long time.

Solanya, who had long expected Yisi to ask this, took out a stack of yellowed, old papers from the bag hanging at her waist. While explaining to Yisi, she showed her a certificate bearing a red fingerprint. Although her lifestyle was indecent, Solanya’s work ethic was impeccable.

“Our elven longevity and our characteristic of keeping promises make us very suitable for the work of safeguarding items and contracts. When the owner of this mansion handed it over to me, she signed a contract. If she didn’t return within one year, it would prove she was already dead, and I could dispose of the mansion as I saw fit.”

“But why would she hand the mansion over to Miss Solanya? There’s no benefit in that.”

Solanya spread her hands helplessly. Her magnificent chest almost leaped out of her indecent clothing, making Yisi feel like she didn’t know where to look.

“Who knows. I never knew the owner of this mansion. I just remember that when she came to me, she had an expression like she might never come back. It reminded me of when I was still an adventurer, of those people who delved deep into ruins to save their companions. That girl was probably like that. As for why she came to me, I guess there was something in the house she wanted to give to her friends. Didn’t she set up a barrier? Someone who doesn’t know how to break it can’t get in. Unfortunately, no one else ever visited here, so the mansion became my property.”

Solanya took a pipe from her bag and lit it. The image of an elven big sister smoking was something Yisi couldn’t help but want to snark at, but the elves of this other world were a race that, aside from also having pointed ears, shared nothing in common with the elves she was familiar with. Yisi could only try her best to keep her expression from looking too strange, so Solanya wouldn’t notice.

“…I see.” Yisi carefully read the contract, which was stamped with the original owner’s fingerprint. “As long as the original owner doesn’t return for one year, this mansion belongs to Miss Solanya, and Miss Solanya can dispose of it as she wishes. Is that correct?”

“Well, that’s right. But receiving this money for free makes me feel a bit bad. I’ve always only acknowledged gold coins earned through labor. If you really do break the barrier and give me the money for this mansion, I will only take a small handling fee from it and save the rest. That way, if the original owner ever comes back, it will be convenient for me to give her an explanation.”

“Miss Solanya is such a good person!”

A star-like light of admiration flashed in Mary’s heterochromatic eyes, and she clapped her hands in small motions.

Solanya turned her head, embarrassed, and blew out a ring of smoke.

“I’m no good person. Young ladies, you should let the angel try to break the barrier first. Here is the key to the main gate, although it’s not necessary right now.”

The barrier only protected the houses; the courtyard and the main gate were not within its range. Due to years of erosion from rain and lack of maintenance, the iron gate was already severely rusted. Even a person with little strength could pull it apart with a slight effort.

Taking the key, Yisi crossed the weed-filled garden and arrived at the foot of the main building. Considering that the process of breaking the barrier might require powerful magic, Yisi had Camilla, Mary, and Tiffany stay behind to distract Solanya, while she and Laxy entered the main building. Originally, Tina was supposed to stay with Camilla, but for some reason, after seeing the main building, Tina had frowned as if she had discovered something and adamantly insisted on following Yisi to the front of the building.

She tentatively reached out her hand. When she was still about five meters from the main building, her palm felt as if it had hit an invisible wall, unable to advance an inch. Tina tried to inject magic power into her palm, and a sphere, crackling with zzzz sounds and flashing with black electricity, instantly appeared. However, the black sphere, which looked extremely powerful, merely let out a soft pop and dissipated into a puff of smoke upon touching the invisible wall, causing no damage to the barrier.

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“Tsk. Although my current power is indeed weak, this barrier can actually repel even the ‘authority’ of a Demon Lord? This has already surpassed human technology.”

“Did Tina discover something?”

“A Demon Lord’s ‘authority’ is enough to break all human barriers, but it was just repelled. This means that this is not a barrier set up according to human magic principles. It’s only natural that a curse-breaker couldn’t undo it. That angel over there should know something.”

“My Lord, this is a barrier technique that borrows the power of the ley lines to exist for a long time. In our Kingdom of the Gods, we often use such magic circles. But the composition of this barrier is somewhat different from the barriers we angels use. It’s not entirely the technology of the Kingdom of the Gods. I can feel that there is something else mixed in.” Laxy frowned, murmuring in a low voice. “But how is this possible? The magic script used by angels is already the optimal language system. Apart from Lady Trino, no one can make improvements on existing magic. Otherwise, it would cause the magic to contradict itself and become unusable…”

My only choice is to open it and see?

With a bit of curiosity, Yisi chose a spell one tier lower than [Seraph’s Blessing]. When she had used [Seraph’s Blessing] in the Demon Lord’s barrier, the whole world had become as bright as day. If she used it here, it would probably make people think the sun had fallen from the sky, which would cause a panic.

[Archangel’s Breath]

Holding out her palm and making a gesture of blowing something away, Yisi lightly exhaled. Immediately after, like ripples spreading across a lake’s surface when a strong wind blows, the invisible barrier that had been covering the mansion suddenly turned white, and unstable ripples appeared on its surface. If someone were to observe the barrier from the side at this moment, they would definitely discover that it now looked like a bubble being blown by the wind, on the verge of being squashed flat.

However, the deformation, which looked like it could shatter at any moment, stopped there. After Yisi’s breath passed, the bubble-like barrier quickly returned to normal.

Subconsciously, Yisi frowned.

“It didn’t break? Interesting.”

Even though [Archangel’s Breath] was one of the lowest-tier seal-breaking spells she had, it still had the effect of breaking barriers up to level 80. The fact that it couldn’t break this barrier now meant that its power was at least at a level 80 standard. The original owner of the mansion was no ordinary adventurer.

“What if I use it a few more times?”

Only after using [Archangel’s Breath] three more times in succession did the barrier finally, due to an insufficient supply of magic power, disappear with a pop. Immediately after, the components of the barrier turned into a blue stream of air and all drilled toward Yisi. However, because Yisi’s magic resistance was too high, these blue streams couldn’t get into her body and could only circle around her, fading at a visible rate.

“My Lord, please deactivate your defensive magic.”

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“Yisi, quickly get rid of your perverted defenses!”

“Hm?”

Although she didn’t know what was happening, seeing Laxy and Tina both looking anxious, Yisi still dismissed several of the statuses she had that were specialized in resisting magic attacks. Then, the blue streams of air circling her, as if they were a swarm of bees that had found their hive, drilled into Yisi’s skin and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

“Hm?”

Feeling a warm current wash over her body, Yisi subconsciously looked at her status bar and let out a light sound of surprise.

A new status called [Master of the Mansion of Cornelia] had suddenly appeared on her status bar. Just like when she obtained [Third Form Awakening], Yisi felt as if some knowledge had suddenly been added to her mind. She couldn’t help but wave her hand at the main building.

“Open.”

Click.

As if it had a will of its own, the ornate, carved double doors opened at Yisi’s command.

“So that’s how it is…”

“My Lord, how do you feel?”

Laxy walked up to Yisi with concern and asked. Yisi waved her hand at Laxy.

“Ah, I’m fine. I think we can live here without any worries.”

According to the newly acquired memories, this mansion was the residence of a girl named ‘Cornelia.’ Before she left, Cornelia had placed a magic barrier on the mansion. Anyone who could break her barrier would gain control of the mansion, the various treasures buried beneath it, and the magical knowledge Cornelia had compiled over her lifetime. As for why Cornelia had left these things behind, it seemed she didn’t want her magic research and life’s work to be lost.

Well, it’s not very useful to me, though. Yisi felt a bit resigned.

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In the new memories, Cornelia had very proudly stated that she was a level 99 magic caster who had reached the world’s limit. However, from Yisi’s perspective, Cornelia, who thought level 99 was the max level, was simply too green. The things she left behind weren’t of much use.

“By the way, did Laxy and Tina know what that blue stream of air was from the beginning?”

“Yes. When a young angel is just born, we Angels of Guidance use this method to bestow various low-level spells upon them.”

“We demons have a similar inheritance. For example, this one can use knowledge bestowal to turn a low-level demon into a high-level demon. However, such a bestowal is limited to unforgettable and not-too-complex knowledge. Otherwise, once the bestowal is performed, the bestower will lose the corresponding knowledge, and there is a high probability that the recipient’s brain will be unable to bear it, leading to mental collapse.”

“Hey, hey… doesn’t that mean I was just at risk of a mental collapse?”

With her hands on her hips, Tina’s eyebrows gathered in the middle, looking like a mother looking at her disappointing daughter.

“You, you’re not satisfied even after getting such a benefit? You knew that blue stream couldn’t possibly harm you, yet you still didn’t accept it. When this one saw it slowly disappearing, this one’s heart ached. If you don’t want it, give it to this one. This one would be more than happy to take it.”

“No, I’ll pass. I’m very satisfied.”

Besides, I don’t even know the method for bestowing knowledge.

Tina’s explanation did clear up one thing. The reason Cornelia had said in the memories to go to the underground storage room to learn everything, instead of directly telling her the answers through knowledge bestowal, was probably because she was afraid the amount of knowledge was too large for Yisi to handle.

Speaking of which, after I accepted the massive amount of information from [Third Form Awakening], I only slept for a while and didn’t have a mental breakdown. This body is really something else.

“My Lord, should we go in and investigate first, or go back and get Camilla and the others?”

“Let’s go back. It will only feel like a new home if we all go in together.”

Next, I’ll give the money for the mansion to Miss Solanya, and then commission her to help hire some gardeners to trim the plants and some maids to clean. If possible, it would be best to hire some guards for the gate as well. On the way here, I saw on the flatbed cart that the residents along the road all looked sallow and emaciated. It seems that far from the city center, people’s living conditions aren’t very good. Stealing is a small matter, but it would be terrible if some pervert secretly peeked at me and my companions while we were bathing.

However, just as Yisi was making plans for the future and leading Laxy and Tina across the overgrown courtyard toward the main gate, an unexpected visitor suddenly appeared in her field of vision—a squad of Norta Empire soldiers was surrounding Camilla and the others, saying something.