2

Soon after we arrived at the front of

the manor, Eliza immediately ushered

me inside. She started to drag me to the

backyard, so I never had the chance to

look around the inside of the manor. A

few seconds later, we reached a wide

clearing that seemed to be a training

ground. There was a wide space at the

center and the sides were filled with

open-air pavilions and rows of racks

that were filled with different kinds of

weapons; from swords, to spears, bows,

etc. "Guys!" called Eliza in a cheerful

manner. A figure practicing the sword

caught my eyes at the center of the big

space. He was wearing simple clothing

and his moves looked really fluid and

majestic. His light brown hair looked

like it was glowing under the sun and

even at the distance I could see a pair of

sky blue eyes. We stopped at a pavilion,

which seemed to be the biggest, where

a boy was sitting. The boy was playing

a stringed instrument and he looked

the same age as Eliza. He also had the

same black hair as her but instead of

dark blue eyes like Eliza he had eyes

the shade of the sky. Just a few meters

away from him was a mysterious figure

with dark blue hair that was leaning

on a pillar with his eyes closed. A spear

was strapped on his back and from the

aura he was emitting, he seemed like

the silent and calm type. I noticed that

all three of them, plus Eliza, looked to

be the same age. "Eliza, you're a lady.

You shouldn't run around like that."

commented the boy that was playing

music a while ago. Eliza only pouted

at the comment. "Don't say that Ed."

inserted the one practicing the sword

as he made his way to us. "You're her

brother, shouldn't you be used to it now?

And besides, she's still thirteen, let her

enjoy her childhood first. Welcome back

EL" I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow

at the latter's statement. His words

didn't seem like the type to be spoken

by a child like him. "You're also thirteen

Seb." retorted the former, Ed. "That's

enough already!" Eliza interrupted them.

"This is not criticize-Eliza' day!" "Hey

El, who's that?" asked the last unknown

boy. His eyes were no longer closed so

I could see a pair of piercing grey eyes,

and they were directed at me. "Oh, that's

what I'm here for," she dragged me in

front of her "This is Luna and starting

today, she's also a member of the House

of Celestine! And is therefore our sister!

Luna, these are Edmund, Sebastian and

Zach. They also live here." I wanted to

shy away at the stares they were giving

me. Especially from the one called Zach.

But I bowed anyway. "Hi. My name is

Luna Hysi," "You went with Aunt Zaira

to investigate an incident up in the north

and you came back with a kid?" the one

called Edmund questioned. "What's

going on?" "Aunt Zaira agreed already.

And you know her personality. If she

wants to keep someone, she really will."

Eliza commented, "Hey little Luna."

said the one called Sebastian. "I'm

Sebastian. I'm thirteen years old. And

starting today, I'm your older brother."

As someone mentally older, I knew trust

wasn't that easy to give on someone

you had only met for the first time. But

somehow, for some reason, the boys

in front of me, even though Zach was

staring at me intently, seemed really

trustworthy. I didn't know whether it

was 'my instinct or the real Luna's.

"Hello Luna." greeted Edmund. "I'm

Edmund, Eliza's twin brother." -No

wonder they look alike. "Younger twin

brother." Eliza inserted. "You were only

like five seconds older than me." "Hey! I

learned a lot in those live seconds!" Eliza

exclaimed. "Don't mind her." Edmund

said with a smile. I couldn't help but

chuckle at the twins' interaction. "That

silent guy in the corner is Zach. Don't

worry, he's a nice guy. He just likes

being silent." "Oh. Nice to meet you." My

transition into the Celestine Manor was

quite easy. Eliza and the rest took really

good care of me and the servants of the

house were really friendly. The only guy

I found very hard to approach was Zach.

I still felt a little intimidating around him

despite being only fourteen years old.

During my stay in the Celestine Territory.

I also learned a bit of its information.

The Celestine Territory used to be

a monster-infested land just in the

northwest of the Praiji Empire territory.

Well, it was still monster-infested even

up to the present and the entire territory

only had five human settlements,

including the Celestine Manor. The

land was gifted by the founder of the

Praiji Empire to Aunt Zaira for her

contribution in slaying the demon king

more than a hundred years ago, together

with her noble status as Archduchess

of the empire. I didn't believe it the first

time I heard it. If that was really the

case that would mean Aunt Zaira was

more than a hundred years old! Then

why did she look like a young woman in

her middle twenties? Eliza said it was

because she was a powerful sorceress,

who had a massive amount of magical

power inside her and could access all

types of Magic Arts. She was currently

the most powerful mage in the entire

Central Continent. After hearing that. I

got sold. Anyway, the Celestine Territory

had the most population of monsters, as

well as had the most number of active

dungeons in the entire central continent.

No regular citizen would want to live

in it if they were sane enough. Most

people that lived in it were warriors who

wanted to get away from the complexity

of the big cities or those that worked

for Aunt Zaira. "Then how will people

earn money?" I asked Sebastian one

time when he was explaining it. "That's

simple..." To earn money inside the

territory, they only had to hunt monsters.

collect its cores and any valuable parts,

and sell it to the archduchess store

placed on each of the settlements or

bring it to the cities themselves and

sell it there. The archduchess' men in

return would sell what they bought

to merchants, or to any various guilds

that would deem the items valuable. It

was one of the ways the archduchess

and her land could earn. That and the

people's taxes, as well as the magic ore

mines. The Celestine Territory had the

most and biggest magic ore mines in

the empire. "What are magic ores?" I

asked again. "You don't know?" I only

shook my head. "Wow, I can't believe

your amnesia made you forget even

such a basic knowledge like what magic

ores are!" I only stared at Sebastian

with a deadpanned look. He noticed it

and started explaining anyway. Magic

ores are energy sources with magic in

it. They're formed from the energy of

the surroundings and the magic/aura

of the monsters. They're used to store

magical energy, and many mages and

knights use it as a back up if they run

out of magic power themselves. Magic

ores are also used to power up different

weapons that needed magic power.

Regular people also use it for many other

things. It can also be used as currency

between mages and has more value

than gold coins. "Whoa! Doesn't that

mean, Aunt Zaira is really rich?" I asked.

"Maybe, but she doesn't like spending a

lot. Also, we pay a huge yearly tax to the

Praiji Empire," "Hmm... Makes sense.

How about people from outside the

territory?" Sometimes hunters who were

not locals of the territory would visit to

hunt or try to clear a dungeon. Anyone

who wished to hunt in the Celestine

Territory of course had to follow the

rules of the land if they didn't want to

be banned. Some of the rules were to

never overhunt, and to never hunt the

intelligent monsters that also lived inside

the territory. Well, the Celestine Territory

was a very interesting and dangerous

land. It certainly wasn't a place for

sightseeing. It was also not a place to get

lost to if a person never had the plans

to be monster kebab. Two weeks after

my arrival, I had fitted quite well in

the manor. I had recuperated and the

most exciting thing was I could use my

original ability from when I was still a

fox deity. Mystic Arts. Although it was

quite weak, my current body was quite

compatible with it. I had been training to

get a full grasp of using mystic arts in the

mortal realm. It might take some time.

but I decided to just go with it. While

I was meditating in my room, a magic

message suddenly appeared in front

of me. Magic Message was a method

to communicate with someone. The

sender would write his/her message in

the air using magical energy and send it

to his/her desired receiver afterwards.

The receiver would receive a written

message only he/she could see floating in

the air. The message said: ["Come to my

study. -Zaira"] I stopped my meditation

and made my away towards her study. It

took me minutes to realize that I actually

got lost. "Tch. The house is a huge maze."

I muttered. "Where am I supposed to

go?" Taking my chances, I continued

walking but I seemed to become even

more lost. Just as I was confused on

I couldn't help but smile. That time, I

realized Zach was actually a pretty nice

guy.

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