Chapter 66 — In which they have plans (5)

“Esteemed Lady is very lucky.”

“How so?”

“If it was any other family’s house, it would be burned down a long time ago. Or taken by someone else. But as people of this region are quite superstitious, when that poor couple died in that plague, they were deemed cursed and no one dared to come close. Their neighbors even moved out. That’s how this road ended up like this.”

Mimosa’s guide pointed at the abandoned and overgrown with weed road.

They were currently heading towards the family house where Golderodi grew up.

According to the guide, it was abandoned about ten years ago, when Golderodi’s parents died.

Mimosa looked at the guide, a middle-aged woman, who would appear completely ordinary, if not for a bush of fire-like red hair.

“Miss Golderodi was only fifteen… It must have been hard for her.”

“Indeed, at the time she wasn’t here. Because of the quarantine, she was stuck in Topal and wasn’t able to participate in their funeral… she was only able to honor them after the epidemic ended.”

“Did you know her well?”

“Not really. No. She took a few lessons from me, but her parents wanted to provide her ‘something more’ and sent her away.”

“With the Eternal Happiness Foundation?”

“Yes, exactly.”

The guide nodded and then recounted some of her memories about Golderodi, while moving quickly without breaking a sweat.

A few hours ago, when Mimosa asked Apric’s parents if there was a reliable guide in the town, who would also know the Golderodi’s town and would be able to lead her, she was surprised when they recommended a local children’s teacher.

She was worried that a simple teacher may not be able to keep up with her and the travel would take longer than she wished for, but her worries were unfounded.

Rather, it seemed that her two subordinates, who she took for this mission with her, had trouble keeping up with the guide.

“Did you notice anything strange about Miss Golderodi after she returned from her tuition at the Eternal Happiness Foundation?”

“Strange…? Ah, yes. I thought it was strange that she looked exactly the same.”

“Yes?”

The guide nodded slightly with a frown on her face.

“Yes. I thought it was very strange. You see, Esteemed Lady, that girl changed so much during her time there, and yet her looks didn’t change at all. She had the same hairstyle, the same clothes choice, the same favorite colors… If you’re reborn, wouldn’t you expect something to change? She became a new person there, but you couldn’t tell on the outside at all.”

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Then the woman suddenly raised her head, jumped a few steps forward and pointed at something.

“Look there, Esteemed Lady. That’s our destination.”

Mimosa followed her finger and saw a rundown building.

Though the sandstone walls held up well, there were cracks here and there, some windows were broken and the front-yard was muddy and full of debris.

It was a sad sight of an abandoned ruin, but Mimosa was frowning for another reason.

‘There are no plants…’

The road was overflowing with weed, but the house itself was strangely clean.

“It really looks cursed.”

“Haha! Even Esteemed Lady thinks so! I once heard that some townsfolk wanted to even hire a priest and went to the border temple, but the priests probably threw them out, when they learned they weren’t believers.”

The guide laughed, while Mimosa’s two subordinates looked at her with strange faces.

Mimosa voiced their question.

“Do people here often hire priests?”

“Ah, that depends. If something bad happens, they curse ‘purple bastards’ or spit on some religious symbols, and when drunk they sing about fucking gods. But if you’re in need, and there is no one to help you? Then you may sneak out and go to try your luck among those ‘purple bastards’.”

This region was boarding with Purplus, so people’s experiences with them were much richer than people’s from other regions, like capital city of Topal.

And though Flavun’s relationship with Purplus wasn’t that strained as it was with Rubrun, which held hands with Gemma and attacked Flavun, there was still a lot of superstition about the land of ‘sorcery’.

“Okay… Let’s go then.”

Mimosa hid her complicated feelings and headed towards the building.

“I’ll wait here for you to finish your work, Esteemed Lady!”

Followed by the words of the guide, Mimosa and her two subordinates stepped inside.

About half an hour later…

“Nothing, My Lady.”

“Same here, My Lady.”

Mimosa frowned as she stood in the center of the main room.

Their investigation yielded no results.

It was an ordinary house of an ordinary family.

That was actually to be expected.

And yet, something irked Mimosa’s nerves.

She looked around the dusty room, while recalling the words Saffra left her with when they parted.

— I hope it has nothing to do with what I’m thinking about, but just to be safe. If you find completely nothing, try dropping a droplet of your blood on the floor. All vampires were blessed, so if it moves…

Mimosa took out a needle hidden in her sleeve and pricked her finger.

“My Lady?!”

Her subordinates were startled by that sudden action, but Mimosa signaled them to stay quiet and let her blood drop on the ground.

A red droplet on the dusty floor looked quite conspicuous, but that was all.

Nothing happened.

Just when Mimosa sighed and was about to turn around…

Rustle.

With the sound of rustling leaves, a warm wind flew through the broken window and then…

The droplet of blood moved.

Slowly it formed a bloody arrow pointing towards the empty wall.

After a split second of hesitation, Mimosa approached the wall.

She slowly checked it, but there was nothing there.

No switches, no hidden messages or rooms…

‘What do you want me to find here…?’

She saw nothing out of ordinary.

Her subordinates, with better sense of touch than her, already checked the wall for hidden protrusions…

Then there was only one method to try.

Mimosa brought her nose to the wall and closed her eyes.

After a moment…

‘Bingo.’

She smelled something.

It was an oily smell mixed with something she couldn’t recognize.

It seemed that something was drawn here. A long time ago.

Yet the smell remained.

Mimosa took out the pencil and started to draw something, tracing the smell.

Then she opened her eyes.

Before her was a bizarre symbol.

An inverted sun symbol, surrounded by what seemed to be some kind of magic circle…

Mimosa, who glanced at it for just a second, suddenly sensed a mortal threat.

‘Run!’

Without a second thought, she grabbed her two subordinates and jumped out through the window, and then took out the bomb from a hidden magic pocket and threw it inside.

Three seconds later.

The building exploded.

Kieeeeek!

There was a strange scream from the inside…

And then the fire enveloped the entire house.

‘It’s gone.’

Whatever Mimosa just evoked was gone.

She sighed and checked on her subordinates.

They were safe, though slightly pale.

Clap clap.

Suddenly she heard clapping.

Turning around, she saw the guide looking at her with a happy face.

“Splendid performance, Esteemed Lady! As expected, you truly have a power to fight even dragons! And you’re also beautiful and wise like a great river and…!”

She continued to compliment Mimosa without a care about burning down building.

Mimosa simply thought:

‘Border people are so strange…’

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