After returning to the royal capital from my grandfather's territory, I decided to start looking for a base of operations.

“Can you recommend a cheap single-family house for rent? Preferably somewhere accessible from both the commoner and slum districts.”

I didn’t mind if it was far from the noble district, so I asked Johnson.

“A place accessible from both the commoner and slum districts… hmm,” Johnson pondered.

Since Johnson’s store doesn’t handle real estate, I figured it might be a tough request.

“Oh, come to think of it, there is a place like that.”

Really? Johnson’s connections run deeper than I thought.

“Where exactly?”
“It’s right on the border between the commoner and slum districts. However, there’s a bit of an issue…”
“A hesitation like that—does it mean it’s a haunted property or something?”
“It is a haunted property, but it’s even more troublesome than that.”
“Hmm?”

More troublesome than a haunted property? What does that mean?

“It’s the Manishas Manor.”
“Whoa!”

Suddenly, someone else’s voice chimed in, startling both Johnson and me. The voice belonged to Pal, who had been quiet up until then, so her sudden outburst took us by surprise.

Pal was a beautiful woman with lustrous black hair and a tanned complexion, dressed as a maid. She’s a Dark Elf, with an impressively full figure. I didn’t need to reintroduce her, but I couldn’t resist mentioning her impressive assets again.

“Pal, you almost gave me a heart attack.”
“I nearly had one foot in the grave myself,” Johnson joked.

But with Johnson, such jokes feel a bit too real.

“Master, I wasn’t concealing my presence; I’ve been here all along,” Pal replied.
“Y-yes, I know... but please, could you refrain from startling me like that?”
“Yes, yes,” she replied, though not entirely convincingly.

Pal is a Dark Elf and has looked around twenty years old since I was a child, though her actual age is in the hundreds—

“Master, were you perhaps thinking something rude just now?”
“N-no, not at all.”
“Very well then. But be careful.”

The chilling aura she gave off made me break into a cold sweat. Even thinking about her age seems to set her off. I’d forgotten that her age is a no-go topic.

“Is Palmyris trying to stop my heart?”
“Oh, Johnson, you won’t die so easily. Save your complaints for after you’re gone.”
“I can’t complain when I’m dead!”

Pal and Johnson go way back. They bicker like this constantly, but they’re actually quite close. They’ve known each other since Johnson was a little snot-nosed kid... but I shouldn’t dwell on that either.

“So, what’s the deal with this Manishas Manor? What’s the issue with it?”
“Apologies. Yes, the property I was going to suggest is indeed Manishas Manor. About 20 years ago, the entire Manishas family was brutally murdered there, and ever since... it’s said to be haunted.”
“Haunted? By an evil spirit or something?”
“Exactly, Sir Saijar.”
“But couldn’t you just call in a priest to purify it? It would cost money, but that should solve the problem, right?”

Even if they’re stingy, priests are still specialists in purification. Anyone calling themselves a priest but unable to exorcize spirits is just a fraud.

“They’ve tried several times to get it purified by priests, but unfortunately, the evil spirit is so powerful that it has even cursed some of the priests to death.”
“So priests have stopped going near it altogether?”
“Exactly.”

Interesting. I’d love to see this so-called evil spirit.

“Is the manor yours, Johnson?”
“No, it belongs to a merchant acquaintance of mine, but since even priests have given up, it’s practically unsellable. In fact, someone did buy the manor once and tried to demolish it, but they died within days. A relative of that person, who happened to be a noble, demanded a refund and returned the property.”
“Does this merchant believe I can purify the evil spirit?”
“With the blessing of the Goddess of Creation, I think you could, Sir Saijar.”

Johnson is one of the few people who know about my blessing. As my grandfather’s right-hand man overseeing various merchant guilds in the capital, he’s someone who needs to be in the know.

“Heh. This is so exciting it’s giving me chills.”
“Master, please don’t wet yourself,” Pal teased as she pressed on my waist.

“I’m already 15! I’m not going to wet myself, so could you stop touching me there?”

Pal has taken care of me since I was little, though she tends to tease me, sometimes excessively.

“Haha, you’re embarrassed!”
“Of course I’m embarrassed! What are you even doing in public?”
“Tsk. Johnson, this is your fault for being here!”
“I am innocent!”

Pal brandished a dagger at Johnson’s neck, making him look to me for help. Reluctantly, I put my arms around Pal to restrain her, but she purposefully pressed her chest against my hands.