Chapter 9 - 『Wrath Of Wraiths』

Jack's arms swayed loosely at his sides as he walked along the stone streets of the Fortress City of E-Rantel. His eyes were on all of those around him. Being without the helmet felt a bit weird, especially since he had worn it ever since he had first walked outside. Now, he could free feel the wind in his hair, brush against his nose and his cheeks. His eyes were partially closed as he felt the sun trickling through his lashes.

Brita whom was walking beside him as his escort and guide, lead Jack to the Merchant Guild building.

When they came inside, it was clear that this place was even more extravagant than the Mage Guild and the Adventurer's Guild combined. They were the bankers of the Kingdom, the people who minted and issued the latest coins. Of course they'd have the funding of the government, that was clear from the start! Merchants make the money go round.

So as he made his way in through the front doors with Brita continuing to walk a pace or two in front of him now. He watched as her red hair bobbed up and down with each step she took.

For a moment he was distracted, until he heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. His eyes darted over towards a Guard who was looking over him, curious.

Jack simply shrugged this off however and moved a bit faster to walk beside Brita.

"So this place is the Merchant's Guild... It's pretty big," He chuckled a little as he scratched his chin with the back of his index finger. It was awkward, but he was definitely trying to make conversation.

"You're not wrong," Brita said as she tucked her thumbs into her pockets as she continued to walk. This place was safe, guarded. It was a place of money after all.

Jack and Brita came up to the front desk. A person who was writing with a quill on a piece of parchment, glanced up towards them as they arrived, since they were blocking some of their light.

"How can I help you?" The person was a young man, dressed in a lavish attire with purple and gold. It was clear they were wealthy, probably one of the merchant's sons or a genius in economics.

"This is Jack Graham," She'd gesture towards the man standing beside her.

Jack bowed his head slightly without moving the rest of his body, acknowledging the introduction. He'd take out the letter which Theo had prepared for him and placed it on the desktop. "I'm here in search of possible residence in the Noble Quarter," he'd say with a light smile across his lips.

The young man just looked over the man with the heroic facial features, noting the blue eyes and wavy brown hair. "Of course..." He said before taking the parchment, unsealing it and looking it over. A grin formed over his lips, "Now, lets see what we can do for you!"

The duo would watch as the man took out a leather bound book and dropped it onto the desk, before standing up.

Jack's eyes traced over the cover of the leather bound book. It was a book that contained both vacant and occupied homes.

As the man picked the book back up and tucked it against his chest with one arm, he waved to another man who would come over to the desk to take his place.

"Lets head out and check some of the homes that are good for you, yes?" The young man said, not bothering to introduce himself by name. Before he'd leave the desk, he collected a few blank forms.

Jack didn't really care to know his name, not that it really meant anything. He wasn't going to make it a habit of visiting the merchants Guild, let alone buying houses. He only wanted one and he was sure he could purchase just about anyone of them he wanted.

So as they followed the man out of the building, they would go back to walking along the stone streets. Jack's eyes resting forward, tracking the movement around him simply on reflex.

People, he could see them, giving him a glance. Children who were walking with their parents. Noble women, peasants who've come to trade their crops, common city folk. Was it just because of his angelic nature? Even if he was trying to hide it, his radiance kept attracting attention the more he was noticing them. He could only smile at this.

"It seems I'm getting popular," Jack said as he tugged his hood over his head, chuckling to himself as he did so.

Brita looked over at him and shook her head side to side. "You're wearing vibrant blue robes and wearing an amulet with a water droplet. It's pretty eye catching," her eyes shifted over the sapphire jewel which was embedded in the silver.

"Hm..." Jack looked through her for a moment before narrowing his sights on the back of the man's head again.

After about thirty minutes, they found themselves in the Noble Quarter, or the Noble District. Here the Nobles as well as the wealthy land owners lived or stayed while they were in E-Rantel.

The first manor they came up to was gated in with brick and metal bars. The property had a sizable yard, though the bushes were overgrown and some of the windows were broken. It had two levels above ground and a single basement which acted as a wine cellar.

It wasn't really all that bad at first glance.

Looking over the front gate door, it seemed to have a rounded top. Someone could easily scale it if they tried. That also didn't really matter either.

His eyes rested on the dark and light grey stones which made up the first floor of the large home and up toward the dark wood siding which made up the second level. That's when his eyes rested on the roof which had a sizable crack in it.

Water damage perhaps?

It was time to go see the inside, maybe?

Looking over towards the Merchant, he raised a brow. "We taking a look inside?" He'd ask and the young man nodded.

Walking up to the front gate, he unlocked it and opened the door. Gesturing for the two to follow him onto the property. They waltzed on up to the front door.

"As you can see, since no one lives here. Some things haven't been maintained, but I'm sure you'll have no problems getting those fixed up?"

Jack shrugged as they approached the front door. He pressed his hand against the stone structure. He'd proceed to look over at the young man who took out a nice old iron key and unlocked the door.

The duo followed him once more into the house. They immediately found themselves in the foyer. It was rather sizable. Continuing through towards the living room, which was slightly elevated. He glanced over the simple furniture which was covered by white cloth that appeared to have been eaten by insects.

"Huh... So how long has this place been left like this?"

The young man opened the book to take a peak, "For a few years it seems. The last owners just up and disappeared."

"I see..." Jack uttered as he walked towards the furniture and started to pull the sheets off the furniture. Faded colors, stuffing missing or sticking out of the fabrics. The wooden furniture was clearly plagued by termites. This place was in disrepair.

A frown was printed over his lips and when he glanced towards Brita, she was shaking her head slightly with her arms crossed over her chest.

Looking up to the ceiling, he could see there were plenty of spider webs and cobwebs alone here.

Sniffing the air, the place tasted subtly like death.

"Hm..." Jack walked over towards the steps to go upstairs and paused as he heard something that sounded like a gentle whisper.

Someone else was inside the house? That was interesting. A small grin formed over his lips, he looked over to the young man who was standing in the middle of the common room.

"Is there s--" The young man blinked seeing Jack put his finger to his lips. Lowering his voice, he wadded on over to the robed stranger. "What's going on?"

"There's someone else in the house," Jack whispered as he pointed upstairs. When he said that, everyone became dead quiet and the dainty sound of footsteps could be heard.

It was likely there were squatters here since the house had been left alone for such a long time. With no residence, it was only destined to happen especially since no patrol officers checked the place.

Jack slowly made his way up the steps, making little to no sound at all. When he reached the top, he rested his booted feet on the dark wood floors. His eyes would then rest on the back of a young woman in a white dress, facing away from him.

Raising a brow, his eyes moved down to her hands which were dangling from her sides. Then back up to the back of her head which was covered in brown hair.

He sniffed the air again, and his lips formed into a frown, disappointed. Squatters was what he expected. Turning his head to the side as Brita stepped up behind him, he raised his hand slightly to tell her to stop.

Yet as her foot rested on the wooden floor board, the aged wood would squeak. And just as that happened, the woman in the white dress swayed side to side as they began to turn around.

"Who is...?" Brita's mouth opened slightly as a half torn face with one eye turned to meet them. "Oh..." She tensed slightly, standing erect now.

Darkness took over the dress, and soon enough there was an ogre sized undead floating there with tendrils of dark grey and black cloth. It was a Dread Wraith floating there, it was a much higher tier than the typical low-tier Wraith. A dark and evil ghostly being which preyed on the living. It was likely the form it had just been portraying before, was its original form it had in life.

Jack let out a light sigh as it was readying to charge in an attempt to tear their souls from their bodies.

『Turn Undead』

The moment he had recited this spell out loud, the Wraith would explode into what appeared to be dust and ectoplasm. He had completely decimated the monstrous existence, even though he very much could have taken dominion over it. The undead however didn't necessarily interest him, but the reason why the Young Man didn't follow did.

Both Jack and Brita turned to look down the steps, the young Man was peering around the corner to see if the two of them were still standing.

"Did you kill it!?" The young man shouted up at them, seeing them looking down at him. It was clear that he had known the Wraith was there.

"You've got to be kidding me..." Jack and Brita frowned heavily, it appears that Theo had used him for a favor, to exercise the house of an undead that had taken a liking to the place.

Just moments after realizing this, two more Dread Wraiths raised from the dark shadows that lined the corridor of the upstairs. Jack would let out a light sigh and glance over at them. "There's more of them… Probably the previous inhabitants."

"M-more!?" the Young man said, taking several steps back.

"You're lucky I don't feed you to them..." Jack said inaudibly, only Brita hearing him which caused her to shake her head and laugh nervously.

"You can take care of these two right? I don't have anything for ghosts!"

"Yup," Jack rolled his eyes at the panic in her throat. " Double Magic!『Turn Undead』!"

Suddenly the two that had appeared and went to charge for them, much like the last one, would explode into ectoplasm and dust.

Sniffing the air as he had done before, he chuckled quietly to himself as the scent of death had already lifted. "Lets find the bodies..." He'd utter before walking down the steps, brushing passed the young merchant and heading towards the basement cellar.

Brita followed after him, giving the young man the stink eye before going to the door as Jack opened it. As they were going down the stone steps, it smelled quite stuffy down here. It was damp, the smell of spoiled wine fermenting burned the nose.

"Hm..." Jack looked over the various barrels and broken bottles of wine. As his eyes moved to the back of the room, his eyes rested on two skeletons huddled together. "Disappeared my ass..."

Brita covered her mouth slightly, "You're not getting this house, right?"

Jack raised a brow, looking over at her. "The conditions not bad, and I already exercised the… Corrupted spirits. It'll take a short time to repair everything."

Brita blinked several times and shrugged to herself. "I suppose," she was rather confused as to why he wanted this place after what had just happened.

"They're going to be giving me the house," Jack uttered as he walked to the steps, springing himself up to the door as he skipped some of the steps.

As he returned to the living room, the young man was standing there, tapping his fingers against the leather book. "S-s-so it's all taken care of?"

"Yes. Yes it is," Jack retorted sharply as he walked up to the man, glaring into his eyes. "I expect compensation." His eyes were cross, angry. He was used without being asked and he clearly didn't like the idea of being manipulated into doing someone else's job.

All they had to do was ask!

"R-right!" The young man for some odd reason couldn't stop his knees from shaking in this person's presence after what had just happened. The priests of the local temples wouldn't even touch this place!

Jack held out a hand, "The deed?"

The man's head shook in a collection of several short nods. He would go through the forms he had brought with him before taking the one out particularly for this house, stamped it with his personal stamp, and then held it out to him.

"Thank you," Jack smiled now before patting his shoulder with his other hand as he took the parchment, stuffing it into his item box. He then watched as the man went rushing out of the house, slamming the door shut before rushing back to the Guild.

Turning to look at Brita, who was standing behind him, snickered. "I guess you're really not a priest, but … You did pretty good with exercising those undead. Are you sure you don't want to be an adventurer?"

"I'm sure, I rather be a worker or an independent Magic user." Taking out four gold pieces, he held them out for her to take, dropping them into her palm as she held out her hand to receive.

"I have a question," Jack said as he watched her try to hold her composure as not to explode into joy by having these coins in her hands. She could buy more than two healing potions with these.

"Hm?" Brita looked up at him, curling her lips into a beaming smile.

"There were some adventurers with silver tags, one of them has short brown hair and blue eyes. Childish face… Do you know who they are?"

Brita pursed her lips slightly before nodding, "Silver tags, short brown hair and blue eyes… Sounds like Ninya from the Swords of Darkness. He's pretty famous around here. He has Magic Talent."

"He…?" Jack's head cocked to the side, "This Ninya clearly isn't male though."

Brita stared at him for a few seconds before placing her gloved hand on her chin in thought. "Really?"

"Aye. But either way, think you can contact them for me? I'd like to hire them to clean up this place."

Brita almost laughed. He was going to hire Adventurers of Silver rank to clean and fix up the place!?

"Ten Gold pieces per head." Jack stated his offer that he was willing to pay each person who were to come and help. This caused Brita's jaw to drop as ten gold pieces were equal to one of the rare platinum coins used for large transactions. That would feed someone for months, or get them even better gear.

Ten Gold per person, she would be able to get seventy gold coins for her group if she had gotten this offer. "Haha… Why the sudden interest in that group?" Brita wanted coin, she was sure her group would be more than happy to work for this extravagant amount of money.

Jack shrugged, "Ninya looks a bit like my little sister. So I thought I'd have them meet."

"You have a little sister?" Brita asked with a soft smile, before looking over at his hand as he was depicting her height compared to himself. "Where is she now?"

"She's on her way over to the city actually."

"Is she as talented as you are?"

"Hm…" According to YGGDRASIL, his sister was level eighty, but she wasn't really built for combat except for ranged attacks and high defensive capabilities. And so from what he could see, no one here in the City would be a threat to her. "She's good with her hands." He'd gesture towards his amulet, she had been the one who made it.

Brita stared at the item around his neck, before nodding slowly. She had to admit, she couldn't make something like that.