novelraw Chapter 19
Chapter 19
Chapter 19: The First Step Toward a Happy Life!
“Big Sister Lina, a, are you really okay?”
“I’m... fine...”
Lina sat on the bed, looked at Annie and Sibyl who had hurried over, and could not help but cough out another puff of pitch-black smoke.
“Uh, what is going on here?” Sibyl looked at Lina, whose eyes were lifeless and whose hair was standing straight up, and somehow felt that this scene looked a little familiar.
“That move I used to deal with the cultists yesterday,” Lina sighed. “You know... forbidden power always came with a price.”
“Do you need me to help call a doctor?” Sibyl’s voice carried a trace of concern. “You look like... you’re not in very good shape?”
“It’s fine, this move deducts HP by percentage and acts directly on ‘fate’. It won’t cause external injuries, it just hurts a bit.” Lina bared her teeth and pushed herself to her feet. “What time is it now?”
“Eight thirty in the morning,” Annie answered honestly. “Sibyl and I were originally planning to come up and ask Big Sister Lina to have breakfast... We didn’t expect something like this to happen.....”
“Uh... sorry for troubling you,” Lina turned her head away awkwardly. “Help me pack a portion, I’m going to take a shower. I still have to go to the Witch Association to take care of something today.”
After Annie and Sibyl left, Lina soaked alone in the bathtub, and that bizarre, eerie dream from last night surfaced in her mind once more.
There was no doubt that it had been a real piece of ‘history’, but no matter how Lina tried to recall it, that memory was like it had been veiled in a layer of thin mist, and she could never clearly see the details within.
She only vaguely remembered that she had indeed returned to the era of the Kanniat Dynasty through Fantasia’s magic, and after some time had folded back into reality. As for what exactly she had done and what she had experienced, she could not remember any of it.
“The Kanniat Dynasty... hmm...” Lina thought while recalling the information she knew about the Kanniat Dynasty.
Legend said that the world had gone through four “Great Cataclysms”, and the end of each cataclysm was marked by the erasure of a civilization. The Kanniat civilization was the civilization that disappeared in the fourth Great Cataclysm.
During that cataclysm, the entire Kanniat civilization had been abandoned in the dust of time, and disappearing along with it were their unique magic system and every trace that they had ever existed.
Yet one branch of that civilization’s descendants had still remained to this day in a special form... it was just that they could no longer be called complete ‘lifeforms’.
Records concerning the four Great Cataclysms had been sealed within Astrania’s underground library, and Lina in her previous life had never read through that material.
Not for any special reason. It was because when she played games, she was not a lore researcher, but a pure power gamer.
But Lina still knew some ‘common-sense’ information.
The history of the Kanniat civilization had been sealed inside a certain special “world” and suppressed beneath the jungle temple of the Highlands.
It was said that the histories of those civilizations that had vanished because of the Great Cataclysms would turn into ‘pollutants’, and the temple would isolate those pollutants from the real dimension.
And some beastman priests living in the Highland jungle region would regularly cleanse this ‘pollution’.
Among them, the most famous priest was the current Witch of Wind, Filin, but even she had never deeply understood what had happened before the Great Cataclysm.
So... that ‘Observer’ who had dragged her into the dream had actually wanted to ‘observe’ the truth of the Kanniat Dynasty through her perspective?
But there was still one more point that was extremely concerning...
The deity worshipped by the Kanniat Dynasty was the “God of Dreams”... God of Dreams... Door of Dreams?!
Lina gave a start, shaking the droplets of water from her hair.
My memories about the Door of Dreams are blurry too. Could it be that... the Door of Dreams is also connected to my experience of returning to the past back then?!
Lina steadied herself and withdrew her thoughts.
This dream had not ended, and that ‘Observer’ probably had not obtained the answer it wanted either. There would definitely be chances to continue investigating in the future.
Lina stood up from the bathtub and began drying herself.
Mm, no point thinking so much for now... I’m just a Slacker Witch, why am I even worrying about this? There’s still proper business to take care of today!
After changing into a brand-new witch robe, Lina walked out of the guest room with her head held high and chest out, only to run straight into Annie, who had come to bring her food.
“Big Sister Lina, is there anywhere else that still hurts?” Annie asked with great concern. “Do we really not need to call a doctor?”
“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Lina waved her hand and peeked behind Annie. “Where’s Sibyl? Isn’t she with you?”
“Didn’t Big Sister Lina mention renting a house after dinner last night?” Annie blinked. “Big Sister Sibyl has already gone out to contact the landlord. She asked us to go find her at 66 Narcissus Street after we finish eating.”
A trace of warmth rose in Lina’s heart. It seemed that this young lady Sibyl had not been acting on a whim, but had truly regarded her as a friend.
From now on, Lina could also help her within the limits of her ability.
That was simply the kind of person Lina was—soft responded to softness, but not to force.
After finishing breakfast, which still carried a faint smoky smell, Lina followed Annie out of the hotel and headed toward Narcissus Street.
About twenty minutes later, they arrived at a raised area in the eastern part of town. Quite a few newly built homes stood there, somewhat like row villas, and most of them had ‘For Rent’ signs hanging outside.
This place was far from the industrial district, free of noise pollution, and only a five-minute walk from the nearest market.
These houses used the traditional Koberen architectural style: gray walls, trapezoidal roofs, and exquisite stone-carved pillars, but they were also mixed with some industrial-era aesthetics—neat, uniform interior design and practical, simple drainage systems.
At least from the outside, they looked pretty good. If the border town location was taken into account... the weekly rent for a house like this should be around 5 Gold Dragons.
Before long, Lina saw Sibyl talking with a man.
Lina and Annie walked over, and Sibyl noticed them as well. She took a step back and introduced him to Lina and Annie. “This is Jimmy, the sales manager of the Garden Community.”
The man with short gray hair took off his hat and held it against his chest, then gave Lina and Annie a very proper salute. “Good day, Miss Lina, Miss Annie. The Garden Community has welcomed the three most beautiful flowers today, and that gives me immeasurable honor.”
“Mm, good morning, Mr. Jimmy.” Lina nodded and asked directly, “Are all the houses on this street owned by your company?”
“Yes, Miss Lina.” Jimmy revealed a polite smile. “Both of the new residential communities in the southern and northern parts of Narcissus Street are sold and rented out by our Milancarle Joint-Stock Company. That includes property management and energy supply, all of which are handled by us.”
“Milancarle is a very large real estate company,” Annie said softly to Lina from the side. “Their reputation is quite good. They have developments in many major cities.”
“Yes, Miss Lina.” Jimmy nodded. “Miss Sibyl has already briefly described your needs to me. Next, please allow me to introduce the available rental layouts for you. I guarantee it won’t be as boring as Lancaster salted dried fish.”
At the words salted dried fish, Lina’s eyebrows visibly twitched.
“Mm, sorry for the trouble... by the way, from your accent, you’re not a local?” Lina asked casually.
“Your sharpness is truly astonishing, Ms. Lina.” Jimmy smiled slightly. “Yes, my mother was from Solennam, and my father was from Koberen. Ah, of course, they were both devout believers of Lady Vitalis, the Goddess of Harvest, and so am I. I lived in Solennam until I was thirteen.”
After saying that, he devoutly traced the prayer symbol of the Goddess of Harvest across his chest, three horizontal strokes and one vertical.
“I’m not used to giving unfamiliar ladies a Koberen-style hand-kiss greeting, so please forgive me.” he added humorously.
“I remember there isn’t a church of the Harvest Church in this town, right?” Lina asked casually.
“That’s right, so every Sunday I need to go to the nearby Gaul City for worship.” Jimmy replied.
Lina nodded thoughtfully. “I see... right, where were we... oh, right, looking at floor plans. I need a place for two people to live in. The house doesn’t need to be too large, but the environment should be a bit better.”
Lina really could not stop worrying about Annie. This pure and adorable little girl trusted people far too easily. If Annie lived by her side, Lina would feel much more at ease.
After all, this was her future eldest disciple. She had to keep her close as soon as possible!
And with two people living together, they could at least split the rent a little...
“Mm, for two people... even our smallest layout here may be a bit too spacious.” Jimmy took out a booklet from the briefcase he carried with him and showed its contents to Lina and Annie. “One is the smaller layout at ‘Sunflower No. 17’, a little farther north. It has five bedrooms, two living rooms, and two bathrooms, and there is a terrace on the second floor. You and your companion can enjoy morning tea there while admiring the sunrise.”
“The layout is about two hundred sixty square meters, including the complimentary small garden. It comes fully furnished, and you can move in with just your bags... ah, though as a witch, you naturally wouldn’t even need bags, only a storage ring. It is only a three-minute walk from the Witch Association and a five-minute walk from the market.”
“The weekly rent for this layout is 6 Gold Dragons, including water fees and magic fees. Naturally, that also includes the property management fee.”
6 Gold Dragons... about the same as I estimated. If Annie and I split it, it would only be about 12 Gold Dragons a month each. That was a bit expensive for ordinary people, but extremely affordable for witches.
Lina nodded, signaling for him to continue.
“The other layout is at ‘Moonlight Grass No. 34’ in the center of Narcissus Street. Although this house is on the shaded side, it still has good north-south ventilation. From the terrace on the second floor, you can see the Rubis River behind Osselro Town, and every afternoon you can enjoy the sunset while having afternoon tea.”
“The layout is about two hundred eighty square meters, including the complimentary garden. Like Sunflower, it comes fully furnished. The weekly rent for this layout is 5 Gold Dragons and 6 Silver Lions. It is a five-minute walk from the Witch Association and a seven-minute walk from the market... but in a month, a station for the town’s magic-powered public carriage will be built within a one-minute walk of your area, so transportation may become even more convenient in the future.”
Mm... shaded side, and the transportation is a bit worse.
“Take me to see both of them,” Lina said. “Since the morning light is good, let me first look at that sun-facing layout.”