Chapter 16: Chapter 16: Intruder
The carriage came to a halt before a house situated on the outskirts of the capital. The surrounding land was bare, creating an air of isolation around the property.
This was the house my father had bestowed upon me, the place I would call home from now on.
As the carriage came to a halt in front of the house, I stepped onto the dusty ground, my eyes scanning the structure before me. The unassuming house stood there, a modest structure with faded hints of its past grandeur, silently narrating its story through the aging features... whatever it was.
"Young master..." The old man's voice made me turn towards him.
"What?" I asked.
"...nothing," he sighed, but I gave him a stern look to continue, and he said, "Isn't this the house that the late Madam bought to help Baron Malxum?"
"Yeah," I nodded as I dug inside the carriage and picked up my stuff. "Your service ends here... Pedro. Have a great day." I turned around, leaving the carriage.
The worn pathway leading to the entrance was cracked, overgrown with stubborn weeds fighting for survival. I tread carefully, the crunching of gravel and dry leaves beneath my shoes echoing in the silent air. My gaze wandered, noticing the wild garden that surrounded the house, its untamed nature indicating a lack of care over time.
Approaching the porch, I observed the weathered wooden railing that flanked the entrance. The door, once sturdy oak, now showed signs of neglect, its brass fixtures dulled by time. As I turned the worn handle and pushed the door open, a musty scent of aged wood and faded memories greeted me. "Been here only thrice in all these years."
Stepping inside, the narrow foyer welcomed me with its peeling wallpaper, revealing faded patterns that hinted at a distant era. The modest parlor to my left held well-worn armchairs and a faded rug, the wooden floor beneath bearing the marks of countless footsteps and years gone by.
I moved to the dining area adjacent to the parlor. The table and chairs, once gleaming, now bore the marks of their age—scratches and subtle imperfections etched into the surfaces. My gaze wandered to the staircase, its wooden banister showing signs of wear, evidence of the many hands that had gripped it over time.
Climbing the creaky stairs, I followed the corridor leading to several bedrooms. Each room, though spacious, told a story of bygone elegance now tinged with weariness. The faded yet functional appearance of these rooms echoed the house's silent plea for rejuvenation, a desire to reclaim its former glory.
As I explored further, I couldn't help but feel a sense of faded elegance, a place that had seen better days...
I found the master bedroom on the second floor and settled my stuff there. There was a lot of dust here and there.
"Let's clean up," I cracked my neck sideways.
***
[Two Hours Later.]
I fell onto the hardwood of the bed as I disposed of the mattress full of bugs and leeches. It took me a lot of time to clean a single room.
About the whole house? I'd hire someone to do it for me. Money. I have to put my money into Elmer Vault too.
I groaned as my stomach grumbled from hunger. Getting up, I looked for the black box that I brought with me along the way.
It was placed on the side table of the bed. I picked it up and opened it to find a whole roasted chicken, rice, and a whole lot of sides inside.
Finishing everything inside the box, I let myself fall back onto the bed—only for the wood to hit me quite hard.
I rubbed the back of my head as I jumped out of the bed and looked around. "Not time for sleeping, I guess," I said as I picked up all of the books that I had brought with me from the library. The next fifteen days are going to be quite hectic, to be honest.
The first book I looked at was the continental history.
"...haa, I always hated this book," I rubbed my temples as I picked up the book, which was as thick as my biceps.
Turning the leather cover, I saw the world map on the first two pages.
The map showcased the three continents: Vistara, Zandros, and Orath.
While Orath was in the center, Vistara was shown in some opaque color to indicate that it's now sunken under the water.
It used to be a continent to the southeast of Orath, roughly twice the size of Orath.
As for Zandros, it is in the northeast direction of Orath, and both have a significant amount of ocean between them.
So yeah, a few hundred years back, there used to be three continents, but now only two remain: Orath and Zandros.
While Orath is divided into three different kingdoms—the Megla Empire, the Esteros Kingdom, and the Country of Marinor.
The Megla Empire is under the emperor, as its name suggests, but it's mainly known for its mining settlements and business hub.
There are six major cities and twelve mining settlements, along with thousands of towns and a significant number of nobles and people who keep the empire going.
The capital is called Lumonara, named after the dead goddess...which she herself gave it—narcissistic as always.
I opened the grimoire that I brought—one is about potion making while the other is about the history of gods.
Gods are beings that were once humans, like myself, but then they formed a soul contract with Seraphs who were ready to trade their souls for merging.
Yeah, it's possible for humans and Seraphs to merge their souls, and the thing that is created after that mix is called a god.
The god is neither a Seraph nor a human in any way; it's something completely new and defies a lot of what we understand in Seraphical theories.
Moving on—there are three Origin Gods: Glacia, who's dead; Inthos, who's in Zandros; and Lumonara, who was killed by Lark when he took over Orath.
Do gods die? Of course, they do if it's another god that killed them. But my question has always been...are these gods even alive to begin with?
"Haaa," I yawned as I picked up the epic poem and began turning the pages, my hand scribbling notes one by one.
The papers kept stacking onto each other until my eyes drifted away, and I fell asleep.
[Third Person View.]
The night was quiet, and Asher was fast asleep in an awkward position, holding a pen and a heavy book. Suddenly, he stirred as if he heard something strange. His eyes shot open, and he quickly got up from his chair.
He heard a noise downstairs, like something had fallen. Asher, feeling a little nervous, picked up an iron bar he was going to use to hang curtains and quietly made his way down the stairs.
As he reached the bottom, he saw a faint light from a candle. It illuminated a shadowy figure standing near an armchair. Asher's heart raced as he cautiously approached the figure, not recognizing who it could be. His senses were on high alert as he tried to figure out what was happening.
Thud! Another noise echoed through the house as something fell to the floor. Reacting swiftly, Asher swung the iron rod he held, leaning to the side while gripping the handrail for support. He pulled his hand back slightly and...
Thad!
"Ugh!" A groan followed as the rod made contact with the silhouette.
Tud!
With a soft falling sound.
"Kyaaa!!!!!!" A high-pitched scream filled the air, alerting Asher to the fact that there were now two people in the house.
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Satan03
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