Chapter 29: Chapter 29 : The merchant’s grave

"We’re here" the man said, adjusting the monocle on his left eye, he stepped out of the carriage.

"This is—" Zeres stared at the house.

The shop stood quietly at the corner of Helva district, towering over the nearby establishments with its three-story structure. Though abandoned, it was easy to tell the building had once flourished.

The faded walls still carried elegant engravings, while large glass windows reflected the afternoon sunlight beneath layers of dust. The wooden double doors were slightly worn, their dark oak surface scratched by time and weather.

A rusted signboard hung above the entrance, swaying softly with the wind.

"It’s bigger than I expected," Ryu muttered as he stared at the building.

The sound of heavy doors creaking open echoed as the three of them entered.

"This shop is still good, how does no one has bought this yet?" Zeres turned his head at the man from the merchant guild.

"Well, the things is; this place was quite famous for merchants, they’ve given it the nickname of ’merchant’s grave.’

"And why is that? " Ryu asked, his hands touching the stairs wooden handrails.

"The merchants who have bought this place all told us one thing; they all heard a woman screaming at them in their sleep....This shop’s also famous as all of the merchants who’ve used this place failed in their business miserably." The man explained, glancing anxiously around the house.

"Will you still buy it? " Ryu nudged him at his side, there was a crease between his brows.

"I’ll take this" Zeres nodded. He didn’t really care about such thing, if a ghost was there—it can just be exorcised, and he love it, living inside the academy didn’t really fit him.

"Then we can start signing" The man nodded, his hands gently pulling out a yellow parchment inside a brown envelope.

"Phew, finally done" Zeres wiped the sweat that had formed on his forehead.

"Ryu, get ready—we’ll have to fix this place."

Ryu nodded, a bucket of water and a cloth was already beside him.

"Where the hell did your get that? " Zeres’ brow arched.

"It’s outside, looks like the former owners left it all."

"That’s normal, after all he was even begging us just to sell this." the man butt in, then he smiled "What business are you planning for? "

"An appraisal shop" Zeres replied, his gaze drifting to Ryu as he smiled.

"An appraisal shop huh, a good choice, although this is called one of the merchant’s district, multiple well off families also lived here"

"I’ll have you informed by a pigeon if the process for your business permit is done" the man smiled as he adjusted his monocle, then he boarded the wooden carriage.

"Thank you" Zeres bowed his head politely, then he glanced at the upper floors. "Ryu, the third floor will be our rooms"

"Okay! " Ryu beamed. "What should we fix?! "

"The door, and the window panes" Zeres looked up, hands on his back.

"We’ll start with the appraisal shop, build our connections then begin the information guild" he mumbled, a smile on his face before he went off to buy the materials they’ll need.

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One day had passed.

"It’s finally good to look at" Ryu smiled, bumping his fist with Zeres.

The shop now looked completely new, as if it was reborn. The elegant engravings in the wall was now visible, the double doors had been completely renewed and the large glass windows had now been renewed.

"Though I’m still worried about what the man from the merchant’s guild had told us" Ryu sighed, then he drank a cold water beside Zeres, they stood at the entrance gate, carefully looking for things they’ve missed to fix.

"Are you scared of ghosts? " Zeres laughed, his hands ruffling Ryu’s auburn hair, then they both entered.

The ground floor has now been fixed, devoid of the dusts that tightly cling to the furnitures.

"We’ll be starting on making artifacts collection" Zeres said, a smile tugged at his lips.

"Thankfully, I knew of one artifact that can appraise all items"

"Go up now Ryu, we’ll eat at the second floor" Zeres then went upstairs. The place now give him some comfort, not like the tension he felt on the dorms.

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"Good night" Zeres smiled, patting Ryu’s head, be watched Ryu went on his room.

"It’s time for the main business" he whispered to himself, heading downstairs, he went straight at the corner filled with shelves; he had noticed something there earlier.

"Here it is" he smiled as he pushed through one huge book shelve. Behind the shelves, a concealed door blended seamlessly into the wooden wall.

"A basement? " he muttered, then he pushed open the wooden door.

"It’s dark" his steps were the only sound that echoed inside the silent basement.

"Still, this is too long, how wide must the basement be? "

"Huuu, finally" a breathe escaped him as he finally landed on a flat ground. All of a sudden, all the torches hanging against the wall flared to life.

"Is there something in here? " his fist clenched slightly, the atmosphere in the basement gave him a feeling of unease he can’t quite place.

A long wide hallway stretched far before him, multiple wooden doors lined up.

Zeres chose to ignore the doors for now, he headed straight at the wide hallway, his steps echoing before he arrived at a wide place.

"What the—" his whole body froze as he stared at the place before him. Countless skulls were etched on the walls, an ancient bloody throne was situated atop of the countless bones on the ground, and a statue of a woman was there on the side.

The statue of the woman looked familiar—too familiar, he could vividly remember that face; how could he not? When he himself had seen that goddess when he first transmigrated!

"What’s going on? " he staggered backwards. This wasn’t a coincidence he could just brushed off—it was far too suspicious.

"Then the woman the merchant’s told the merchant’s guild? Who was it? "

"Wait, what is even inside of the rooms in the hallway? " he felt his spine shivered, sweat soaking his white linen shirt as he walked quietly across the wide hallway.