Chapter 125 - 124 The Haunted Estate (2)

Taking the directions from the employee from the office of land management, Marcus went down a number of roads before he began passing through a large residential area for nobles and the most affluent merchants.

Looking out Marcus could see many estates with mansions that ranged from around ten thousand square feet at the smallest to a select few that were absolutely gigantic, Marcus estimating them to be over a hundred thousand square feet.

'Damn half of the area of the inner city must just be the estates of nobles, which are even further cornered off by more walls and gates.'

While Marcus was looking around at the noble estates around, he eventually saw one that was in a state of disrepair and was even given some extra space in between it and the other nearby estates.

Seeing the place that was obviously his destination, Marcus directed Blitz in the direction of the estate and the employee that had been guiding him visibly gulped when they saw the mansion in the distance.

Pulling up right next to the gate that separated the estate from the road, Marcus pulled out a key had been given along with the title for the estate and unlocked the gate.

"Creeeeee."

With a loud creek the unmaintained gate slowly moved open unblocking the path to the mansion of the estate that Marcus had recently obtained.

Marcus then turned around to thank the employee from the office of land management but found that she was already running away in fear since she had completed her assignment.

Shrugging his shoulder Marcus walked up to the carriage and opened the door and said to Lilia, "Lilia if you would not mind please wait here while I go check out the estate's mansion, and once I am sure it is safe, I will come back and get you."

With an inquisitive look Lilia looked at Marcus but she quickly figured that he had some reason not to let her enter now, so she just nodded her head and went back to the book she was using to study.

With that settled Marcus looked back towards the mansion and started walking towards it.

Slowly getting closer while keeping his guard up, when he got within a thousand feet, he could feel that the mansion had a sinister aura about it.

Narrowing his eyes and looking intently at the mansion Marcus could make out a flicker of movement and knew that something was watching him.

'That was quick as soon as I was within a thousand feet whatever it is has picked up on my presence. At first, I thought it might have just been a bad rumor, but I am pretty sure there is something in there of a spiritual nature.'

Working up his nerves Marcus continued to walk towards the front door and when he arrived, he could feel as if something was trying to probe him.

Of course, normal people would not be able to feel this probe but as a purely spiritual being Marcus was able to pick up on such things.

'Hm, I wonder what it just tried to do, maybe it was checking the strength of my soul, it could have also been some type of attack, but my soul was too strong for it to penetrate.'

After thinking about it for a few minutes Marcus decided that the risks were worth it since he thought it was unlikely that the being in the mansion was supremely powerful.

'If it was incredibly strong it probably would have killed the persists that tried to exercise it.'

Marcus thinking that whatever the entity was might not be too strong, put the key into the doors lock and opened up the mansion.

When the door opened Marcus immediately felt an eerie cold but since he could do the same trick since level one it was really just amusing to him.

Walking inside Marcus immediately noticed how dusty the mansion had become as no one had lived there for a few years.

'This place is going to need a good cleaning; ah I am almost certainly going to have to hire a few people at least to maintain this place, otherwise I am going to have to change my race to housebound ghost great spirt of cleaning.'

Walking into the front entry Marcus cast his tier one spell floating lantern and sent it into the air allowing him to get a good look at the entire surroundings.

Looking around Marcus could see that the front entry was shaped like an upside-down T with a main hallway going forward and two other hallways going right and left.

He could also see a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling as well as a few doors along the walls of the main hallway.

'Hm, whatever it is, is still watching me but it does not appear to be getting close to me or making any type of move. Guess I will just tour around the building until I have seen everything and if that point it has not come to me, I will go to it.'

Deciding to head down the left hallway first Marcus soon came to a door which he opened to reveal just a simple closet.

Sighing Marcus continued down the hall and into a massive kitchen.

Looking around Marcus could see all manner of appliances such as stoves, a grill, and even a fridge.

However, as Marcus inspected these items, he found that they were worn out and it seemed that the fridge and grill were out of commission. But Marcus did find that when he sent mana into the stove it began to heat up.

'Well at least one thing still works.'

Marcus then looked around the rest of the kitchen finding that there were still full sets of silverware, plates, bowls, and knives, although they definitely needed some cleaning.

There was also a large table in the middle of the room that while dusty seemed to be made out of sturdy wood and in good condition.

Satisfied with the things he found in the kitchen Marcus opened up one of the doors and found that it was a large pantry that was easily the size of a large bedroom.

Alas, after opening the door Marcus was assaulted by the smell of molding food and he could see that things had been growing in the pantry for quite sometime making a huge mess.

Slamming the door shut Marcus decided he had enough of the pantry and opened the next door which led into another hallway.

Walking down this hallway Marcus came across a set of stairs leading to the second floor and made note of this since it was the first time, he found a way to the second floor.

Continuing along the hallway Marcus came out into a large dinning room with a table big enough to sit twenty people along with that many chairs.

Again, the quality of the wood was still pristine and only need a bit of cleaning and maintenance to be usable.

Marcus quickly left through the next door and found the room he entered to be a massive living room with a number of couches and chairs.

Unfortunately, their quality was starting to decline as the cloth and leather used on them was beginning to degrade and mold, and Marcus figured he would have to get rid of them.

Sighing Marcus looked at the furniture before continuing on his tour of his new mansion.

'All of the bedrooms need new curtains and beds, the bathrooms definitely need work with their plumbing, and a few of the windows have been damaged and need to be replaced. At least the large library has plenty of books left in it, but all of the furniture made with cloth or leather is going to need to be replaced.'

After around two hours Marcus had toured nearly the entirety of the mansion making note of all of things, he was going to need to do to get the place into shape.

However, whatever entity was inhabiting the place had stayed a fair distance from Marcus not making its presence know.

'All that is left is the hallway on the ground floor leading to the right, since the kitchen was to the left, I wonder what is going to be in that direction.'

Walking down the last hallway Marcus came across another set of stairs leading to the next floor and eventually came to another room.

Opening the door Marcus could smell something putrid emanating from the room.

Looking around Marcus realized that this was actually an attached apartment with another smaller living area with an attached kitchen.

Marcus while holding his nose walked over towards the kitchen and opened the pantry expecting to find rotting food, but there was nothing inside.

Looking around Marcus tried to find the source of the disgusting smell and soon found it was coming from another door leading elsewhere in the apartment.

Opening that door even with his nose held shut the stench in the air was almost visible and Marcus nearly resorted to using his ghost form to escape the smell but using his better judgment did not since he did not want to take the chance it would spook the entity in the house.

Walking down the set of stairs in this room, Marcus illuminating the place and could see that this used to be a wine cellar.

However, it appeared that every bottle that had been down there was shattered their contents leaking out and creating an awful smell.

'It looks like an earthquake went through this room and destroyed every bottle. This is the first room I have been in that had obvious signs of destruction, so I wonder if the something bad happened to the entity here, or maybe they just hate alcohol.'

Marcus continued looking around the cellar and on the other side of the room he saw another staircase leading up.

'Must have missed that one, maybe its exit is on the outside of the house I suppose that is a possibility.'

Marcus wanting to find where the other door would lead walked down into the depths of the cellar.

However, when he put his foot on the ground, he felt the temperature of the room begin to drop and in the corner of the room he could see an area that his floating lantern was not illuminating, and Marcus could sense that the entity was hiding there, watching him while releasing its malice.