Chapter 53

"Alright, it's time for another day of rigorous training from the mentor."

"Right... Vel, do you think purifying a haunted house is easier than this?"

"Don't even ask..."

Vel and Louise were about to set out from the mansion they had received as a gift from the suspicious Mr. Linenheim, who had given it to them as a token of gratitude for the purification.

In reality, it was more like they had exchanged the purification for the mansion, and Vel felt no sense of gratitude towards Mr. Linenheim.

Later, Vel went to Cardinal Hoehnheim to complain about the suspicious Mr. Linenheim. Elise accompanied him, and when they arrived at the Hoehnheim residence, Cardinal Hoehnheim was already waiting for them, and he said:

"Linenheim is a well-known man in the sale of high-end properties. But he is also famous for the sale of problematic properties."

He would buy properties that seemed impossible to sell at a low price, convince the owners to pay a high commission if they sold, and then purify them through his own connections to turn them into normal properties and make a profit.

Most of these connections were with the church, and he seemed to be using the funds for these connections adequately.

"Somehow, he is good at spotting potential sites for new churches."

He would prepare the land in advance and appear with a smile, offering to sell it at a slightly lower price than the market rate. Though suspicious, he had a talent as a real estate agent.

"So, the purification has a high priority?"

"He doesn't skimp on donations, so he is very popular among priests from humble backgrounds."

According to Cardinal Hoehnheim, Mr. Linenheim was sensitive to people's desires.

"Grandpa! To suddenly ask an amateur like Vendelin to purify something so difficult!"

Elise, who had interrupted the conversation, was once again highly agitated and presented her grievances to Cardinal Hoehnheim.

"I'm sorry. For making your dear husband do something so difficult. But yesterday, you and your dear husband purified the place together, so it's all good, right?"

"Dear husband..."

But, as expected of someone with experience, he easily deflected the criticism and even retaliated, making Elise blush and look down.

"It was good practice for purification, though."

"Besides, even if you, the son-in-law, earned it yourself, imagine buying a mansion in the upper-class district with a large sum of money. What do you think would happen?"

"What, is it that bad?"

It seemed that Vel, being the eighth son of a poor knight, was not well-received. If a newcomer suddenly bought a mansion in the upper-class district with more than enough wealth, they would be labeled as an upstart and gossiped about, saying, "What an upstart newcomer..." and "A mansion in the lower-class district would be enough for you."

"So, you were tricked by the suspicious Linenheim and the church behind him, and had to purify several problematic properties. Considering the effort, a baron's mansion is not too much to ask."

According to Cardinal Hoehnheim, such consideration was necessary for upstarts. The bad reputation from the nobles was directed at Mr. Linenheim, who had used Vel to make a large profit.

In his case, the bad reputation was even more pronounced because he was already known to be suspicious.

"The problematic properties you purified can be sold normally."

"There are people waiting in line for suitable mansions in the lower-class district. In a way, you, the son-in-law, have done them a favor."

Just by buying a mansion, Vel was starting to lose his understanding of the nobility. Being a former commoner, he found it even more difficult to understand.

"By the way, the free mansion you received was also haunted."

A young woman in a maid's uniform appeared, saying with a smile, "Is it you, sir? If it's you, I'll tear you apart while you're still alive," and everyone, including Vel, was speechless.

Elise quickly and gently persuaded her and purified her with a light purification spell.

"What? Linenheim even gave a haunted mansion as a reward?"

"I probably thought Vel and Elise could purify it."

"Still as unreliable... I'll have to squeeze him a bit later."

The next day, was Cardinal Hoehnheim the one who squeezed him? Mr. Linenheim came to apologize and offered another mansion, handing over the deed.

When they went to the mansion listed on the deed, it turned out to be a mansion that a certain royal family had used.

It was a vast estate with a large mansion.

At the same time, it was also a top-tier problematic property, with hundreds of evil spirits flying around the estate, and talismans from the church were pasted on all the surrounding walls.

"It was the mansion of the seventh-generation prince, who enjoyed torturing and killing his servants, retainers, and their families in the basement. But it's a secret, you know..."

It was a terrible story, but if it were to be revealed that the prince was a mass murderer, it would be a problem. In the end, the prince was said to have died of illness.

However, due to the secret execution, the anger of the people who were killed lingered in the mansion and the estate. It had become a disaster-level problematic property that even the church had given up on.

By the way, all the mansions in the same block were unoccupied. The upper-class nobles, who knew the origin of the mansion, were hesitant to move into the neighborhood.

"That fraudster real estate agent!"

"Mr. Vendelin?"

"Just by owning it, it's a nuisance!"

In the end, Vel and Elise had to purify the mansion together. However, since it was a property that had even made generations of church officials give up, it took a lot of time and magic power to purify it, and they had to skip their training with the mentor that day.

"To purify that property! I wouldn't even consider it!"

It was a property that even the mentor, Armstrong, said was that difficult, but they managed to purify the mansion. It was only possible with Elise's advice and cooperation.

If Vel had done it alone, he would have definitely failed, and Elise didn't have enough magic power to do it, so it was impossible.

"Would that fraudster real estate agent come to consult about selling it with a smile?"

"I probably thought Vel and Elise could purify it."

"Still as unreliable... I'll have to squeeze him a bit later."

If that happened, Vel would be so angry that he sold the purified property to a real estate agent that the Baron of Brechleiter was on good terms with, and it sold for fifteen platinum coins.

"By the way, all the surrounding mansions in the same block were bought cheaply by Linenheim Real Estate..."

"Sure enough, a suspicious real estate agent."

"He's even famous among his peers for being suspicious."

Still, after a while, all the surrounding mansions that were bought cheaply were sold, and he sent a large sum of money as additional compensation. He seemed to have some sincerity, but Mr. Linenheim was still a very mysterious person.

In the end, he was still suspicious.

"The purification-related jobs from that fraudster real estate agent pay well, but the level is high."

After that, they occasionally took on such requests as practice for purification magic. The clients were about half from the church and half from Mr. Linenheim.

The pay was good, and it felt like they were actually practicing magic, unlike the training with the mentor, so they ended up taking the jobs.

Recently, Vel and Elise had started going to the lower-class district and the commercial and industrial districts with Elise, but all the requests were for purifying problematic properties.

"If it's a certain level, it should be left to the church, I think."

For the purification of long-unpurified evil spirits and wraiths, Vel's rare and powerful magic, which could instantly eliminate them, was more effective. The mentor, who was of the same kind, was apparently not good at holy magic.

"This is better, but the mentor probably just beats them to death, right? It's good practice for magic, but in a different way from the mentor's training."

The training with the mentor, which was almost every day except on rest days, made them stronger, but they couldn't confirm the skill they learned from Mr. Blantark. Moreover, the training content was only magical martial arts, so Vel almost forgot that he was a magician.

Louise also almost forgot that she was training in magical martial arts. She emphasized that magical martial arts were more elegant and skillful.

"Have a good day."

And there was Elise, Vel's fiancée, who saw them off as they had such a conversation. She knew that Iina and Louise had been living with Vel since the time they were in the Brechburg mansion, and once the mansion renovation was complete, she moved in with her belongings.

In the world, this would be called living together before marriage, but Elise didn't care about such rumors.

She might have a surprisingly calm personality.

Furthermore, all the necessary servants for the new mansion were gathered through the connections of the Hoehnheim family. She also cooked meals and made pastries for Vel, brewed tea, and did other household chores.

According to Louise, she had become a "young mistress" of the house.

Well, even so, they hadn't gone that far yet.

In this world, it was strictly forbidden for unmarried women who were to become noble wives to have premarital relations. Despite this, there seemed to be a lot of talk about concubines and mistresses.

Vel wished that a kiss could be allowed as an extension of a greeting. He was sure that other nobles did it too.

"Elise, you're really enthusiastic."

"If only I could get a bento..."

It's not that Elise was a bad cook. It was one of the mentor's training exercises to obtain one's own sustenance. In simple terms, it meant that they had to go into the forest and catch their own lunch.

Vel and Louise did cook and eat what they caught, but the mentor only bled the catch, cooked it with salt, and ate it, and he even recommended it to them as the main dish.

"Mentor, are there other ways to cook?"

"It's unnecessary. I prefer this way of cooking."

He was born into a prestigious noble family, but as the second son with magical talent, he entered the adventurer profession to develop his abilities. He wasn't kept in a room like a second son, thanks to the support of his childhood friend, the king, and the existence of a third son.

It seemed like a drastic change in environment, but he was the kind of person who could enjoy such changes. He enjoyed the rough, spicy food and cheap, strong alcohol that he couldn't get at home, and he quickly adapted to the adventurer profession.

"Wild camping was also fun! Catching a rabbit, bleeding it, and cooking it."

He became fond of this cooking method. However, he couldn't eat it at home or in his viscount's house.

This was one of the main reasons why he started to prefer going on missions for the king.

During the Parzenia Plain reconnaissance mission, he spent several days patrolling the plain and enjoyed wild camping.

In a way, it seemed to suit him.

"I want to eat Elise's bento."

"I'm tired of everything being bled and salted."

But that wasn't going to change. As they were about to leave the mansion, Vel's senses, which had become sharper due to the mentor's training, were at work.

Louise probably noticed it at the mansion's entrance and was giving them a