The next morning I met up with Eleanor and Albion for a light breakfast. Eleanor seemed very intent on becoming friends with me. I wasn't sure if she was attracted by my powers or if she genuinely liked my personality.
Something told me it wasn't the latter but I obliged her anyway. She seemed elated by every word we exchanged and the end of the breakfast was dragged out for at least half an hour.
Finally, Albion excused himself saying he needed to go welcome the raiders who headed to the Galli kingdom.
"You are quite fast when it comes to taking action. You only promised those raids yesterday and today your people are already returning."
"My husband left yesterday after the banquet and personally led the night raid. He isn't much for talking or magic but when it comes to hacking things in two with his axe he does excel."
"Right. He barely spoke a word during the entire banquet."
"That's just how he is. Albion thankfully inherited some of my gifts for making conversation. But enough of all that, we aren't here to gossip about the royal family today, are we? We are here to take a look for the place the future branch of the grey merchant guild will be."
"Nothing is set in stone yet. If both buildings aren't to my liking I'll simply leave establishing a branch here for later."
Eleanor looked at me a little shocked. As the queen, she must be unaccustomed to being contradicted in such an outright way. However, she quickly regained her bearings and guided me to the first location with her usual smile.
We arrived at the noble's mansion shortly after. It was only a short distance from the palace and the area around it was wide open. The mansion looked quite majestic from the distance but I could feel an ominous atmosphere from it. As we got closer I could feel the aura of multiple vengeful spirits radiating with the mansion being the center of it all.
"Say, Eleanor, were there ever any, I don't know, ghost sighting around the mansion?"
"Well yes, but isn't that just stupid superstition. Only servants ever talked about it and their accounts were never consistent."
"So, you believe in a goddess but think ghosts and spirits are a matter of superstition. Not very consistent."
"How can you compare our goddess with some random made up spirits? We can see the miracles produced by our faith but those spirits, we can't see them."
We had arrived before the mansion's front gate during our conversation. Eleanor truly seemed to believe that spirits were a thing of mere superstition. However, if seeing them was all she needed it could be done.
I put my hand on Eleanor's shoulder and let spirit magic flow into her body concentrating in her eyes. I wasn't a fan of seeing spirits but I also used spirit magic on my own eyes.
The view before our eyes changed. The empty air around the mansion was now filled with vengeful spirits. White silhouettes of humans floated through the air without aim.
That was until we laid eyes on them. Vengeful spirits, despite their name, were generally quite peaceful and left random passersby alone. However, they had an unusual hatred for being seen by those of the realm of the living.
It must be reminding them of how they too were once alive but now no more. A vengeful spirit that was enraged would charge at the person of its anger and directly attack their spirit.
For the record, spirit, soul, and mind are three terms that albeit describing approximately the same thing hold vastly different meanings.
Receiving the attack of a vengeful spirit head-on could mentally cripple an ordinary person if they got unlucky. To someone like me on the other hand it wouldn't bring any harm even if thousands of them tried simultaneously.
To ensure Eleanor's safety I focused my killing intent on the vengeful spirits and made them recoil in fear. Spirits in general were much more sensitive to intent since their remaining connection to the world could easily be sever using a strong enough intent.
Feeling the profoundness of my intent that had been honed to near perfection by all the killing I had partaken in the vengeful spirits didn't dare approach. Instead, they all fled away from us and disappeared into the mansion by phasing right through its walls.
"What were those things?"
Eleanor's face had become pale as a sheet. Seeing a spirit and a vengeful one at that for the first time was quite the experience. And she had been able to clearly feel the malice those spirits held when they were angered by being seen.
"Those were the vengeful spirits that haunt this mansion. Do you still believe they are merely made up by some superstitious servants?"
"I admit that they seemed real but how come I could only see them now?"
"Using magic they can be made visible to the naked eye even if they do not wish to be seen. But as you just saw, they don't take well to being discovered. Anyway, I think we are done here."
"Wait a moment. If you can make them visible, can you make them go away?"
"I could but ridding a haunted house of a bunch of vengeful spirits is such a bother. Additionally, it's unclear how they came into existence so I'd have to take care of the source too... Just ignoring it is way easier."
"But couldn't those spirits harm someone if they are left alone?"
"They could and probably will but this isn't my responsibility. I'm not a hero so I don't have much of an interest in doing good deeds if the process is too bothersome."
"What if I cut the price of the mansion in half in exchange for you clearing the spirits away? That way it wouldn't be a good deed anymore and you would even gain something out of it."
"What's the mansion's price?"
"50'000 gold coins. After deducting half of that you'd be left with only 25'000."
This way I could afford both buildings and still have a good amount of gold coins left but 25'000 still seemed a little much for a haunted house.
"Please don't use the word only when you are talking about such a substantial amount of money. If I have to clear out the spirits myself I won't pay any more than 20'000 gold coins."