Chapter 109: Whispers of Elresel

The port city of Aiden.

It was one of the main sea routes of Kerthen County.

Most of the imports came in through here.

And perhaps because of the nature of a port city, exotic people were everywhere.

Elisa was so absorbed in marveling at the city that she couldn’t focus on anything else.

“So many different kinds of people.”

Most of the places she had visited were ancient ruins or typical inland regions. That’s why a city with an ocean view felt so intriguing to her.

As she walked down the street, bubbling with excitement, Evan followed her with a faint smile. While they were passing through the port city, something caught Evan’s eye.

A crowd had gathered in front of the Merchant Guild.

Everyone was making a commotion, shouting noisily without exception.

“Ah, looks like they’re gathered there because of the Guild Currency.”

Alan turned his head in the direction Evan was looking, spotted it, and explained.

“Nothing else is worth that much fuss these days except for Guild Currency. Seems like it’s starting to spread even within the Earl’s Territory.”

But then, Reynold fidgeted with his pocket, as if he had something to say but hesitated.

“What’s wrong? That’s not like you, being at a loss for words.”

Evan asked Reynold.

Reynold scratched his head sheepishly and then pulled something out of his pocket.

What Reynold took out was a yellow coin engraved with the image of a wolf.

However, its surface was rough, shoddily made, clearly a poorly crafted coin.

“What’s this?”

When Evan asked, Alan sighed heavily and scolded Reynold.

“Reynold, you bought one of those too? When did you buy it?”

“Haha, well. The rumors around were good, so I thought I’d give it a try too. It’s the Wolf Guild’s currency.”

“This is Guild Currency?”

Evan frowned.

It looked like a coin, but the workmanship was shoddy. It didn’t seem to have any value.

Seeing Evan’s displeased expression, Reynold explained things Evan hadn’t bothered to ask.

“This is from a new guild, so the coins are still rough. But eventually, they say it’ll be worth gold coins.”

“They say that’ll be worth a gold coin? No, I mean, if it was at least a properly minted coin I could understand…”

Evan trailed off, speechless.

Seeing Reynold so proud made Evan feel a bit sorry for him.

Reynold timidly asked Evan for permission.

“Uh… May I go check the notice board for a bit?”

“Oh, sure. Go ahead.”

As soon as Evan gave permission, Reynold dashed off to the Merchant Guild’s notice board.

Moments later, Reynold was shouting and wailing just like the others.

“What’s going on? Why is he like that?”

Evan asked Alan.

He didn’t know the details, so he couldn’t understand Reynold.

Alan gave a wry smile.

“There’s only one possible reason. The Wolf Guild tried to build a tower and failed, and when the tower collapsed, the value of their currency dropped.”

“Tsk. Poor guy…”

Evan clicked his tongue and began to ponder the Guild Currency that would soon be introduced into the Merchant Guild.

‘If you sell coins like that, the funds would flow into the guild in no time. Now I understand how that helps rapid growth.’

The cultists had really thought things through.

He couldn’t help but admire the idea of raising funds this way.

Evan gestured to Alan.

“He’ll probably keep that up for a while. Go bring him over. We don’t have time to waste.”

“Ah, yes.”

Alan shook his head and went over to Reynold.

“…Heh.”

At that moment, there was a soft chuckle nearby.

When Evan turned his head, Elisa was holding back her laughter, barely managing to stifle it.

This was her first time experiencing a situation like this.

She could count on one hand the number of times she’d traveled with others.

It seemed she was enjoying the novelty of traveling together again after so long.

Only after Alan managed to drag Reynold back did Evan’s group resume moving.

***

Baron Rahel’s Mansion.

This whole area was a ruin, filled with collapsed buildings and graves.

And since people had stopped coming here, the atmosphere was eerie.

It was questionable whether such a place even existed within Kerthen County.

Evan looked ahead.

A prison-like iron fence surrounded the mansion.

Beyond those bars was an overgrown garden and a large manor house.

The mansion itself, judging by its unique style, seemed to have been built long ago, unlike anything else commonly seen in the Earl’s Territory.

It really did look like a prison.

An uneasy feeling crept in even before they went inside.

Only now did Evan understand the meaningful words Duke Rohim Reveshu had said when introducing this place.

But Evan noticed something strange.

“They say this place has no owner, but for that, it’s far too well-kept and the buildings are in good shape.”

Then Elisa offered her thoughts.

“Perhaps the previous owner put a preservation spell on it. That happens sometimes. Depending on the sorcerer’s skill, it can last anywhere from a year to even over a hundred years.”

Hearing Elisa’s explanation, Evan grew wary.

“This mansion might actually be dangerous. We should be cautious from here on out. The owner of this house was a pretty dangerous fellow.”

He’d thought the mansion had been abandoned, but if there was a preservation spell, the story changed.

There could be traps.

But that also meant there was an opportunity.

‘If that’s the case, it means there’s still something here that must be protected.’

Elisa stepped forward and placed her hand on the gate leading into the mansion.

“Hold on. I’ll check if there’s a spell on it.”

Elisa’s red eyes glowed as waves of mana rippled out from her.

And then, the iron fence surrounding the mansion started to shimmer with mana.

She had drawn out the flow of mana.

Elisa warned Evan warily.

“This mansion… I think there’s something besides a preservation spell. It might be dangerous.”

At that, a smile spread across Evan’s lips.

“Looks like this is the right place after all. Seems the owner was hiding something here.”

Reynold shrank back.

“Are we really going in? I feel like a ghost is going to come out, or something.”

Evan looked surprised.

“I didn’t know you were scared of things like this.”

“I’m not! I just… If it’s something without a real form, I can’t fight it…”

Reynold trailed off, shivering a little.

Elisa, watching this, laughed again.

“Enough with the nonsense. Let’s go inside. There might be a clue here that could decide the fate of the kingdom.”

Evan took the lead, pushing open the gate and stepping in.

At that moment, a message window appeared before Evan’s eyes.

[You have entered the Grand Mansion of Elresel.]

[You have collected the second clue. (23%)]

[Clue for the Main Quest: Path of Shadows.]

‘This won’t be easy.’

With this, Evan was certain.

If the Main Quest clue could be collected here, there was definitely something important inside.

Evan crossed the garden and walked toward the mansion’s entrance, the rest of the party following behind.

Upon entering, they found what looked like a research facility.

Inside the large space were research desks and alchemy tools used for experiments.

Everything was left in a mess.

Shattered glass flasks littered the floor everywhere.

Crunch!

As Evan stepped inside, the sound of glass breaking echoed.

“It’s quite a mess in here. And everything looks ancient. Even from before the Lupes Royal Family took power…”

Elisa began inspecting the mansion’s interior with a look of fascination.

For her, seeing ruins like this always stirred her curiosity to explore.

“To think such a unique relic remains intact within the Earl’s Territory is truly amazing.”

“Be careful. That means there could be plenty of traps too. Let’s just find the data we need and get out.”

Saying so, Evan split them into two groups.

“I’ll take the lady and search the first floor. You two take the second. We’ll join you as soon as we’re done here.”

“Yes, young master. Please be careful.”

But Reynold didn’t look well.

He stuck close behind Alan, trembling in silence.

Seeing this, Alan pretended to be tired and dragged Reynold upstairs.

“Let’s get started.”

He didn’t know how much his knowledge of archaeology would help, but the Elresel’s status window showed its transfer count was one hundred.

That meant the entity had moved bodies many times, and its origin went back a long way.

Evan and Elisa started by checking the disordered desks.

He picked up a book that looked like a research log.

“Research Records on the Human Body, Synthesis of Humans… Forced Awakening, Lichification.”

The contents of the books were astonishing, one after another.

He could guess at the gruesome experiments that had taken place here.

Evan set the research log down.

‘Not this stuff. Something more like a clue about the entity, or maybe a hidden piece.’

He looked around and searched the desks, but nothing in the central hall seemed like a clue.

Evan turned to look at Elisa.

She was sitting, reading through research logs, completely absorbed.

“My lady. Have you found anything?”

Evan spoke, and Elisa snapped out of it.

“Ah, sorry. I got so caught up in reading without realizing it. All these research logs are from ancient times. Judging by the language, probably from three generations ago. I’ve never seen such well-preserved materials! Most are about gruesome experiments, but in the past, those were actually quite common…”

She must have known a lot about history, as all kinds of information flowed from her lips.

“So they really are that old.”

The age of the records proved just how ancient Elresel’s existence was.

“My lady, we should focus on finding anything about Baron Rahel in particular.”

Elisa nodded and put down the document she was holding.

“There’s probably nothing else to see here. Let’s check the rooms instead.”

“Yes.”

Evan carefully looked through all the rooms on the mansion’s first floor.

If this central hall was used as a laboratory, then several rooms branching off looked like storage.

He opened the first door carefully and entered.

“My lady, let’s be cautious from here just in case.”

Once inside, he saw bookshelves packed full of books.

There were books everywhere.

This room must have been used as a study.

“This could take a while.”

Elisa’s eyes sparkled as she approached the shelves.

Evan cautioned her.

“Don’t take too long, or it could get dangerous. Just look for what’s necessary.”

“Okay. I’ll be careful.”

Even as she replied, Elisa was already engrossed in a book.

Evan also approached the bookshelf.

He scanned the book titles, searching for anything that could be a clue.

As he browsed the shelves—

Something caught Evan’s eye.

A thick book with a red cover.

Faintly, that book was emitting a dim light.