novelraw Chapter 47
Chapter 47
Chapter 47: Strange Uncle
Mira’s home was located in a relatively quiet corner of the small town. It was a wooden cottage with a courtyard. The courtyard wall was covered in unknown vines, blooming with small white flowers that gave off a faint fragrance.
Pushing open the wooden door, a middle-aged man wearing an exquisite monocle was sitting at the table in the center of the living room, reading a thick roll of parchment by the light of an oil lamp.
He wore a neat linen robe, with a dark wool vest over it. His hair was combed meticulously, and his refined, scholarly bearing seemed somewhat out of place against the small town’s rough atmosphere.
Hearing the door open, he raised his head, his gaze passing over Mira and landing directly on Lina.
“Uncle, I’m back!” Mira said cheerfully. “This is Miss Lavinia. I met her in the forest! She seems to be a saintess from the Holy City, but she lost her memory for some unknown reason.”
“Erich Veylan, Mira’s uncle.” The man stood up and gave a slight, well-mannered bow. His gaze lingered for a moment on Lina’s unusual clothing. “Welcome to my humble home, Miss Lavinia. This child Mira is always overly warmhearted. I hope she has not caused you any trouble.”
“I should be the one thanking Mira for her help.” Lina returned an equally proper smile.
This Erich gave her a somewhat strange feeling. She kept feeling as though he were deliberately hiding something.
Dinner was simple stew, brown bread, and cheese, but in this era, it was already quite good.
Mira enthusiastically recounted how she had found Lina in the forest, and how Lina had used “miraculous magic” to heal the small injury on her forehead (she omitted the part about being hit by a headbutt).
Erich ate in silence most of the time, only occasionally reminding Mira “not to speak while eating” when she became too excited.
He ate very little, and his movements were elegant. During the meal, Lina could clearly sense that his seemingly casual gaze would always fall on her, as though he were scrutinizing her and keeping his guard up.
After dinner, Mira rushed to clear away the tableware. Erich gestured for Lina to sit in the chair by the fireplace. The fire crackled, reflecting in the deep eyes behind his lens.
“Miss Lavinia,” he lowered his voice, making sure Mira in the kitchen could not hear, “thank you for taking care of Mira. However, Kalinte is a small place, and I fear there is nothing here worthy of entertaining a person of such noble status as yourself. If you need to go to the Holy City or somewhere else, I can prepare some travel money and a map for you tomorrow.”
Lina’s heart jolted, but her expression did not change: “Mr. Erich seems very eager for me to leave?”
Erich pushed up his monocle: “Please do not misunderstand. Kalinte has not been peaceful recently. Many new types of magical beasts have appeared nearby. A saintess like you, who possesses healing abilities, should return to the Holy City to treat those warriors fighting against the Dark Tide. If you were injured by magical beasts here, the Goddess of Holy Light would also feel regret.”
Just then, Mira came out of the kitchen while wiping her hands. She happened to hear the last few sentences and immediately cried out in dissatisfaction: “Uncle! How could you do that! Miss Lavinia just arrived, and she may still need our help to recover her memory!”
A trace of helplessness flashed across Erich’s face, but his tone remained firm: “Mira, do not interrupt when adults are speaking. I was only considering Miss Lavinia’s safety.”
“But……”
“Enough,” Erich stood up, cutting off Mira’s words. When he turned to Lina, he had once again resumed that polite distance. “The room has already been prepared for you. It is at the end of the corridor. Please rest well. As for the matter of leaving, please consider it carefully.”
He nodded slightly, then turned and walked toward his study, closing the door.
“Big Sister Lavinia, don’t mind him,” Mira leaned over, her face carrying an apologetic look. “My uncle usually isn’t like this. He’s actually a very good person, it’s just…… maybe he ran into something troublesome in town today, or maybe he’s worried about your safety. He’s usually very kind to people who need help!”
Lina looked at Mira’s sincere yet slightly puzzled face, then glanced at the tightly shut study door.
“It’s alright, Mira. Thank you,” Lina gave the pink-haired girl a reassuring smile. “I understand your uncle’s concerns. Take me to the room first. I’m indeed a bit tired today.”
Returning to her room, Lina took off her boots and lay down on the bed, gently closing her eyes.
The strange sense of incongruity she had felt during the day grew even stronger. She kept feeling as though she had inadvertently overlooked something important.
Just as she was about to fall asleep, a thought suddenly flashed through her mind!
When exactly did Erich prepare the room for me?!
Her eyes snapped open—
—but what came into view was a familiar ceiling.
“Shh…… Big Sister Lina has fallen asleep!”
Annie’s voice came from not far away. Lina rubbed her eyes and slowly sat up from the sofa, her gaze still a little dazed.
Why did she suddenly come back?
Right now, Lina’s mood was like watching a movie halfway through—just when the male and female leads were about to kiss, the theater suddenly lost power with a snap.
“Ah, Big Sister Lina is awake!”
Lina raised her head and saw Sibyl braiding Annie’s hair.
Sibyl sat on the other side of the sofa, with Annie sitting on her lap. She held a light purple silk ribbon between her lips, her hands deftly weaving through Annie’s blue hair.
A long braid passed behind Annie’s ear and was tied into a small mini ponytail at the back of her head, adding a touch of liveliness and playfulness to the originally cute and well-behaved girl.
Finally, Sibyl tied a beautiful bow with the ribbon on Annie’s ponytail and reinforced it with wind magic.
“All done, Annie. Take a look in the mirror?” Sibyl gently patted Annie’s shoulder.
“Huh, that fast?” Annie said in surprise. She jumped off Sibyl’s lap and ran in small steps to the full-length mirror by the door.
Annie lifted her white nightdress and spun in front of the mirror: “Wow, it’s so pretty! Thank you, Big Sister Sibyl!”
“It really is very pretty,” Lina nodded in approval. She looked up at the clock hanging in the living room—the brass hands had already turned to noon.
She had slept the whole morning…
Lina suppressed the emotions and thoughts that had accumulated during her dream deep within her heart. She still had other important things to do today.
After her conversation last night with Shirley and Kailin, Lina learned that they had been transported into the “trap” prepared for Sibyl after coming into contact with two dolls from the Howard Workshop.
Although the missing workers had still not been found, it could basically be confirmed that their disappearance was inseparably linked to those two dolls.
The mansion of the Vampire Princess from yesterday had also once been Howard’s residence.
Although these two matters did not seem to have any direct connection, the source of all these strange events appeared to point toward that highly skilled yet downfallen noble dollmaker. While there was still no concrete evidence proving that he had direct ties to the cult, the Wizards’ Association had already decided to place him under “protective custody” at a later date.
However, Lina had something even more important in front of her right now—going to the Wizards’ Association to collect her commission reward!
Sitting on a chair by the door, Lina rolled the black stockings that came with her uniform into a loop and slipped them over her feet. Her toes tilted slightly upward as both hands pinched the edge of the stockings and pulled them back. The elasticity of the fabric relaxed slightly, shifting from opaque black to semi-transparent. As her hands released, the stockings snapped lightly against her slender yet firm fair thighs with a soft “pa.”
Then she noticed several holes on the surface of the stockings.
Her brand-new clothes were already damaged! She had barely even worn them!
But when she thought about how this outfit had endured who knew how many C-rank magical attacks last night, her mindset quickly steadied again.
Yesterday’s commission would earn her 90 gold dragons. As for the three evil entities from last night, even if she only received a quarter of the reward, it would still be at least 50 gold dragons. After all, the bounties for the dependents of an Evil Lord were far higher than those of ordinary evil entities of the same level—not to mention that they had even captured one alive.
With that kind of money, getting a new witch robe wouldn’t be a problem. She could even buy a few sets of everyday clothing while she was at it.
While planning her next steps, she continued getting dressed. Fastening the tie of the shawl across her chest, Lina firmly settled the witch hat atop her head.
Aside from the holes in her stockings, the dark blue dress had suffered damage in several places as well. Through a noticeable tear in her shirt, one could even faintly glimpse the toned lines of her abdomen.
The Slacker Witch (battle-damaged version) made her grand entrance!
Lina shook her head and took out the old, worn apprentice witch robe from her storage ring, draping it over herself.
Sibyl’s clothes were too large, and Annie’s clothes were too small. Although wearing this wouldn’t grant her any attribute bonuses, at least it could cover most of the tears.
And so, wrapped up like a rice dumpling, Lina headed out.