Philip and Justine entered the mansion. They went towards the Lounge Area in the main hall of the mansion. There, the residents of the mansion were waiting with Jude and Mathilda serving tea and snacks
"Justine nee-san! What happened out there?"
Natsume asked as she felt Justine's presence
"It's nothing, they'll come back after a few weeks to talk with Philip"
"Talk about what??"
Mathilda chimed in
"It's classified information. We can't say anything to you guys"
"Then why is Philip allowed to know that?"
Justine narrowed her eyes at Mathilda. She was aware of Mathilda's circumstances but she was surprised at how she was treating Philip
"Because he's the owner of the mansion now?"
Mathilda could not reply but furrow her eyebrows and grit her teeth. Jude shook his head upon seeing Mathilda's behavior
"By the way... Where are Vanessa and Kyouko?"
Justine asked after not seeing them for a while. She had an idea to where Kyouko is, but it was strange when Vanessa wasn't present at all
"I think Vanessa is still in her room and Kyouko is also in her room with her door locked"
Mathilda answered
"Ah, could you please call them over? I have gifts to give for everyone"
"As you wish"
Mathilda followed Justine's request with respect and bowed his head. She left the Lounge Area
Mathilda went closer to the others and sat down on the sofa. She intentionally bumped towards Natsuki and Natsume as she sat down to be playful
Alucard, who had his eyes closed and sitting on a luxurious chair, stood up with a smile on his face. He went around the chair and stood behind the chair
He opened his eyes and looked at Philip
Philip understood what Alucard was trying to do and he uncomfortably walked towards the chair and sat down
He was still not used to these people and he was walking in front of them. Granted that two are kids, two are almost the same age as his, two old aged people, a Swordsman, and the owner of this land
What's more, he sat on the chair which everyone can easily see him, like he was the center of attention. Alucard was even standing behind him which surprised the few of them, especially Justine
"How was your trip, Justine?"
Camille asked, she was very curious to where Justine was travelling
"It was okay... Like the previous trips. I also completed most of my missions and gathered interesting things"
Justine started talking about her trip. She told the story of most of her missions
~~~
About several months ago, she intercepted a terrorist group that were cruising across the Atlantic Ocean. The terrorist group were a small group called Returners and they stole from a castle in England. The owner of the castle is a very close friend of the Queen of England and they were very wanted
Justine didn't know the identities of these group but she received an information that they are a very dangerous group and they just succesfully stole from a very important person
In an instant, she eliminated all of them by making them sink through the ocean floor
She followed them on the ocean floor to make sure no one survived. Instead, she spotted an odd looking ring that was being swept by the water current as the cruise ship was sinking
The ring caught her eye and her Energy Contemplation tells her that the ring is a cursed item. She grabbed the ring without thinking twice and kept it
She used Vector Contemplation to make sure that everyone is dead in the sinking cruise ship and no one survived. She made sure that there were no pockets of air that has the possibility of a survivor surviving from it. She also made sure that she made the all life jackets unusable
There will be no survivors or clues left behind as she brought everything down to the ocean floor using Vector Manipulation and flipping the seabed to cover the entire wreckage
A few days later, Justine visited England and toured around. She met the Queen of England and informed her of the elimination of the terrorist group
The Queen asked her what reward that she wanted and she'll grant it the best that she can. Justine was a humble person and she only asked for a simple reward
An audience with the Pope in Vatican City and the permission to browse their treasury
"That's it? Then that's easy!"
The Queen granted Justine's request as a reward and gave her a scroll that has a Royal Decree written and signed by the Queen of England
~ As the Queen of England, I hereby request an audience with the Pope for Justine Miller. I also request permission to allow her to browse the Apostolic Treasury of the Vatican and allow her to pick one item if she ever found something that she wanted as a reward for saving my life ~
Justine read the Royal Decree in front of the Queen even though it is forbidden to do so and the recipient, which is the Pope, is the only one allowed to read it. She was not afraid of the consequences of her actions. She then looked back at the Queen incredulously after reading the contents of the scroll
The Queen was smiling with a hidden motive behind it. There was a lie in the Royal Decree and the Queen wanted to get a reward for Justine in the Vatican. She was not contented on just granting Justine's request
Justine thanked the Queen and left the castle to go towards Vatican City
The Queen was aware of Justine's prowess and tried to be in her good side for the future. The ministers questioned the Queen but she silenced them as she had an ulterior motive, and a good one at that
In the future, the Queen made a very crucial decision that saved the kingdom and made the land prosperous because she helped Justine. But that's a story for another time
A few more days later, Justine arrived at the Vatican City. As soon as she arrived at the city, she could feel the abundance of Mana in the air. Her Energy Contemplation says that the Mana in the air is very pure and there are more mystical energies mixed in the air
Upon more contemplation, her Energy Insight says that the other energy signature present in the Vatican City are Divine Energy, Holy Energy, Blessed Energy, Spiritual Energy, Heavenly Energy, Faith Energy, and surprisingly, traces of Demonic Energy and Cursed Energy
She immediately visited the Apostolic Palace and handed the Royal Decree directly to the Pope. The pope immediately agreed to the terms of the decree but decline the audience to him as he was tired
Instead, Justine was allowed to browse the Apostolic Treasury of the Vatican
Justine was lead to the entrance of the treasury and she was greeted by a large golden circular shute that was covered by Divine Energy
The shute was opened and it led to a staircase that spiraled towards the bottom, about several kilometers underground. Upon reaching the bottom, Justine discovered that the second largest Mana Hotspot in the world is located here as she saw the Divine Star that was floating around a glass tube that was protected by golden chains infused with Divine Energy
Around the glass tube are hallways that leads to eight directions. There are also statues of an angel before the entrances to hallways, next to the walls. The area are also well lit by stones that emit yellow light
The stones are infused with Blessed Energy according to Justine's Energy Insight and that's why the stones emit yellow light
Justine only wanted one treasure from the treasury and she wasn't even sure if what she was finding was located her
She then used her true ability, Energetic Vectors, the combination of Energy Manipulation and Vector Manipulation that has both Energy and Vector Contemplation and Energy and Vector Insight
She found a specific signature and it was coming from the northeast hallway. She walked through the hallway and saw a large treasury full of gold coins and goblets. There were even swords of different kinds and crowns and different sizes
Justine walked forward ignoring everything else, only one treasure is on Justine's eyes, it was a blue colored wooden coffin with yellow lining and a silver cross embedded on top
The item that Justine was searching for lies inside the coffin as Pure Energy, Demonic Energy, and Hatred flows out from the cracks of the coffin
Justine forcefully opened the coffin which made the lid fly into a wall and an explosion of Demonic Energy and Hatred bursted from the coffin. Of course, Justine manipulated these energies and compressed it back to its source, the wooden stake that was sitting inside the coffin
The wooden stake was 12 inches in length. Holy Energy and Blessed Energy was infused on the wooden stake but it did not contain the Demonic Energy and Hatred that was seeping out of it. Justine empowered the Holy and Blessed Energies to contain the Demonic Energy and Hatred temporarily
She immediately kept the Holy Blessed Wooden Stake and left the Apostolic Treasury of Vatican
She thanked the Pope and left Vatican City. The Pope did not ask what Justine took from the treasury because he believed Justine will use it for good. Especially since the Spirit of the World gave an Oracle to the Pope
A few months later, Justine decided to explore Japan and become a tourist. There, she met different kinds of people including a Blacksmithing Master that was in seclusion in the mountains
The Blacksmith forged different kinds of swords and tools in his own free time and just for fun. He lived alone and he didn't have any families. He only have his own Blacksmithing Skills and Abilities that he learned during the Mysticism Age
Justine befriended the Blacksmith as she felt different energies from the swords and tools that he forged
Later, she asked the Blacksmith to forge an oddly designed rod that had a spherical shape on both ends and a gap in between the stem
Justine gave the blacksmith the metal that she had that was composed of Titanium Alloy, Gold Alloy, Aluminum Alloy, Cobalt, Nickel, Osmium, and Platinum with crystal chunks melted in between and Iron. The metal was forged into an ingot in a Damascus Steel type
Therefore, this metal might be the strongest, hardest, and durable metal in the world
But, the Blacksmith didn't back down and accepted the challenge to forge the oddest tool he has forged in his life
After a few weeks, the Blacksmith has finally forged the rod and gave it to Justine. She was surprised by the product as she can feel a very powerful aura emanating from the rod
"Thank you"
As Justine was examining the rod, she heard the voice of the Blacksmith and looked at him. As she looked at him, the Blacksmith was lying on the floor
She immediately knew that he died according to her Energy Contemplation. She buried the Blacksmith on top of the mountain and offered prayers. She then demolished and destroyed the Blacksmith's house and workplace until nothing's left
On the other hand, Justine saved the Blacksmith's works and buried it altogether next to his grave
She then left Japan and decided to travel towards southeast until she spotted a bizarre island in the middle of nowhere in the Pacific Ocean. The island had structures built in it but the structures seemed to be demolished or destroyed
She decided to check out the island and landed in front of what used to be the entrance of the building. The building looked like a facility that had three floors but it only had one floor as the building collapsed on itself
Justine looked around the wreckage to search for clues, only to see foreign symbols and characters on a sign that was burried on the ground
She didn't know which language was on the sign whether it was Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or something else. The only common occurence on the characters is that it always had lines and less curves
Justine entered the ruined building to explore and search for clues as to what happened in this place. She discovered that island was a man-made island and it never existed in the map in the first place
She found bullet holes on the walls and claw marks. There were signs of cracks due to earthquakes. Burn marks that charred the concrete and the ground were seen everywhere
As Justine went in deeper in the ruined building, she saw broken equipments that are used for experimentation, torn books and papers, and shattered glass. At one corner of the building, there was a mass of rebar and clumps of concrete that was melded together, as if someone used to be caged inside
She then passed the whole building and exited the other side without finding any more clues as to what happened in this island
Eventually, using her Energy Contemplation, she detected the flow of wind at the southern side of the island that flows past the surface. Meaning, there was either a cave or a hole
Justine walked towards the opening and saw that the opening was hidden well. Large trees and shrubbery were blocking the way and hid the opening
As Justine arrived at the opening, she could see a hatch that was peeled off like paper. The opening lead to an underground bunker. As soon as she peeked her head in, a swarm of stench filled her nose that it almost crumpled. The stench was dry and it was the smell of the dead
Justine rubbed her nose with her palm with strength as it was very uncomfortable to her. But that did not lessen her curiosity as to what lies inside the bunker
She immediately manipulated the vector of wind to get rid of the stench and jumped down. The bunker was dark and small emergency lights were barely functional as a few of them flickers randomly
Justine casually manipulated the vector of light from the outside and let light flow across the hallway of the bunker. There, the inside of the bunker was illuminated and gave light to the abhorrent scene in front of Justine
There were rotting corpses across the hallway with thousand of maggots squirming inside the sockets and skin of the bodies. The bodies wore a heavy armored suit and some of them wore an agent-like clothing
What made Justine confused are the skeletal remains that was near the entrance. The remains were something that decayed over several months ago and then there were fresh bodies that are rotting
This could only mean that some people discovered this island and explored inside here, only to be met with death. But what caused it?
Justine courageously walked forward and stepped on the pungent and sticky blood. Dry blood are also splashed against the walls
As Justine walked further, more and more bodies was on the floor. Although, the rotting bodies decreased in number and the skeletal remains increased. This shows that whatever happened in this island, surely happened several months ago and they were protecting whatever was deep inside this bunker
It was unfortunate for the explorers earlier that died near the entrance. They probably died from the intense smell when they weren't prepared
A few minutes later, Justine finally reached the end of the hallway and found a blast door that was peeled and folded like paper. Justine looked around and saw mountains of skeletal remains, which belongs to heavy armed men, scientists, soldiers, and what looks like inmates. The walls, floor, and ceiling were dyed completely red, showing that there was an explosion of flesh in this area that covered all surfaces
Justine entered the room and met an empty white tiled room. The tiles had scratches, gunshots, and burn marks here and there. This should probably be a safe that stored very important items and research papers from the infiltrators and it was just cleaned up by them
After going this far, Justine refused to believe that there was nothing and no clue to what happened here. She would be happy if only an item was left for her as souvenir
Instead, she used Vector Contemplation and tried to detect any secret compartments in the room. Surely there was a very secret place that kept something just around the corner. If this something is kept in a very secret compartment, then it should be very important, and if Justine managed to find one, then it would be very confusing as to how the infiltrators did not find it
Justine felt all the vectors around her and manipulated it; gravity, light, wind, sound, and transfer of heat. A few seconds later, Justine found a compartment at the very corner of the room
Justine safely opened the compartment with Vector Manipulation and found five vials that contained strange colored liquid inside. The vials were securely locked by a cork and it was held by metal grippers
Justine immediately grabbed them and tried to identify the liquid with just Energy Contemplation. She could differentiate whether a liquid is water, lava, acid, or juice
What she could make out of the vials is that the energy circulation and transfer in the liquid is very chaotic, as if it was alive
She then wrapped the vials individually with cloth and kept it inside her backpack. She then immediately left the bunker and flew to the sky
After seeing the aftermath of the ruination of the island, Justine decided to remove the man-made island on the face of the Earth
She lifted her hands in the air and large walls of water shot up towards the sky that surrounded the island. The circular containment rotated and swirled to shrink down towards the island
The intense pressure and current of the rotating pillar of water decimated the whole island and destroyed it. The man-made island was no more and Justine also flipped the seabed to cover the rest of the debris
After the pillar of water calmed down, Justine felt a burst of energy coming from the south, particularly from Antarctica
The energy signature was very strange and she immediately flew towards the direction the burst of energy came from. The energy was very strange because Justine never felt anything like it before
After a few days of searching the entire Antarctic Continent, she finally found the source of the strange energy. The source of the strange energy was rather a very bizarre creature
It was a Golden Retriever puppy
The puppy was limping and crawling across the freezing terrain as it left a trail of snow. The ice blizzard blows intensely as the puppy struggled to crawl and survive. It's puppy eyes began to water, only for it to become frozen and chip away from its eyes
Just then, a silhouette of a woman appeared in front of the puppy, behin the curtain of the ice blizzard
"What the heck?"
Justine blurted out after seeing a puppy in the middle of nowhere in Antarctica
The puppy growled at Justine and showed its sharp teeth. The puppy tried to stand up only for it to fall back down
"Don't worry, I'll take care of you"
Justine said with a smile as she began to manipulate the energy around the puppy to make it warmer. She also used Vector Manipulation to close of the wound on its leg with the help of Energy Manipulation to give the cells accelerated growth to fully heal the dog. It was also in order to feed the puppy without giving it food
The puppy looked at Justine with sad and wary eyes but it closed its eyes after it comprehended that Justine helped
Justine picked up the puppy and wrapped the wound with a small cloth as it takes time for the wound to fully heal, even with her Energy Manipulation, covered it with a towel and tucked it inside her backpack. The puppy is small enough to fit in her backpack
"Looks like I need to go back!"
At this moment, Justine thought that she should return to the mansion and visit the residents
"But I need to gather gifts first! To Hawaii then!"
Justine instantly flew to the sky and headed north to Hawaii bringing the ring, the stake, metal rod, five vials, and the puppy for five particular people
Justine flew northwards to which she approximately mapped where Hawaii should be located. She can precisely pinpoint landmasses through air currents and water currents with Vector Contemplation. She studied where the air current and pressure flow around the world, as well as the sea currents
She can also analyze Earth's Magnetosphere, albeit slightly, and she will accurately know where the cardinal direction are and she can never get lost around the world
A few hours later, Justine arrived at Hawaii and she stayed for at least a few days. She first enjoyed herself and toured the islands while sightseeing
She then went to the island where the Kīlauea Volcano is located and found a shop that sells different kinds of rocks
The rocks had variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Justine browsed the stones with interest and the shop clerk was staring at her
One stone particularly caught Justine's eyes. It had a hexagonal shape and it was ash in color
Justine picked it up and examined the stone with a closer eyes
"Oh! You have a good eye there miss! That right there is a blessed stone that can protect the bearer from accidents and criminals!"
Justine panned her eyes towards the shop clerk and looked at him with undiscerning eyes
"I'll buy it"
Justine immediately said without entertaining the shop clerk more. She also had a slight smirk on her mouth
"R-really?!"
Justine then disappeared after leaving a few gold coins on the desk of the shop clerk. The clerk was confused but he'll take it
She then quickly flew towards northeast. She made a decision to pass Los Angeles as she wanted to find a gift in Library of Congress in Washington DC, the largest library in the world
Upon flying through the Pacific Ocean in a very clear sky in noon, a twinkle caught her attention at the very corner of her eye. The sparkle came from a small island that was several kilometers away from her. Even though it was very far, it caught her attention
Satiating her curiosity, she took a detour and went towards the small island
As soon as she landed, she immediately felt the flow of Mana in the air and it was a Pure kind
Justine walked around and saw the different kinds of plants, trees, and flowers. Even the grass was always swaying around as it follows the flow of the sea breeze
There was a palm tree that had hanging teardrops under the leaves, there was also a small plant that had spherical leaves and a swirl of green and violet colors gave the plant the appearance
There were hundreds of new species of plants that were scattered in this island. Justine looked around and found out that this island was an Uncharted Island and it was never placed on the map
Justine wanted to take the entire island for herself and bring it near LA because of the diverse species of plants, but she also knows that she can't do that, even if the island was just approximately 100 meters in diameter especially since she just discovered something as she walked further
A Mana Hotspot
There was a very small opening of Mana Hotspot in this island and it was a very small hole that spouts the Pure Mana in the air. This is also the reason why the diverse species of plants has grown in the island. She was also unsure if new plants also grew underwater
Now, Justine finally found the object that caught her eyes from a mile away
A kind of flower was sitting next to the opening of the Mana Hotspot. It sways as the spouting from the Mana Hotspot was swept by the Pure Mana
The flower had three inverted bells that faced upwards in a spiral staircase manner. The color of the flower had a mix of pastel purple, pastel pink, pastel orange, and white on its petals and stems
The pistil of the flowers are yellow in color and it was glowing with faint light while pulsating ever so slightly
What made the flower so special is that it generates a particle that was changing its shape in the air as it falls down to the ground out of thin air. The particle was sparkling everytime it changed shape and emits shiny dust and glitters that disappears in the air
The particles also emit a sound that seemed very enchanted. It's as if the chimes were being caressed very sensually
Justine was very mesmerized and watched the flower for a couple of minutes
Eventually, Justine woke up and decided to take the flower with her. She unearthed the flower using Vector Manipulation on the flow of the wind and made a pot made of wind. She also covered the flower with Pure Mana from the Mana Hotspot to nourish the flower during her travel
She placed the plant inside the backpack and it luckily fit, even though the sleeping Golden Retriever puppy was in there
She then regrettably left the island and resumed her flight towards Washington DC. She took a mental note of the location of the island so she could visit it in the future and probably make a small house on the side of the island