Chapter 4: Storefront, Kitchen, and Soul Fire
"This place is called the Duchy of Huntington, and the tutor's name is Mebucha Huntington... Hmm, the same surname as the country, and he was able to obtain the Dark Arts Charter from the king... So, could this tutor of the owner of this house be a royal relative?"
As Jiang You speculated, he removed the small piece of paper from the "Dark Magic Charter" and unexpectedly discovered a sentence written on the back of the paper: "Now that you have become a legal lich, I have repaid your mother's kindness. If you get into trouble in the future, please don't mention your name as your master—"
Jiang You couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth. So in the eyes of this tutor, how unreliable a student was the owner of the house, Mi You?
"Hmm... From the information I've gathered so far, it seems the owner, Mi You, is truly untalented in magic... No, to be more precise, she's at least an apprentice with no talent for dark magic. Her mentor, on the other hand, seems to be a powerful figure with ties to the royal family.
This mentor likely accepted Mi You as his disciple in order to repay a favor owed to Mi You's mother. Judging by the powerful time-controlling cauldron left behind by the owner's mother, this mother might be the true master of magic.
Jiang You first put down the "Charter of Black Magic" and the room full of magic books. She planned to finish investigating upstairs first, and help the unlucky owner get rid of the box of picture albums that would cause the deceased to suffer another "social death", and then come back to slowly study these magic masterpieces.
——After all, even if one has [Magic Affinity], it is impossible to transform from a magic idiot into a magic master in an instant.
"Now that I've become a lich, I have an insane amount of time to slowly study magic. Although learning magic is much more interesting than learning other knowledge, it's still learning after all... I'd better put the learning aside and explore the other world first... At least after I finish exploring this house!"
The basement housed a strangely designed lich-making and magic research lab, while the upstairs was much more normal. The ground floor walls were constructed of stone and plaster, solid and heavy, yet possessing a touch of ancient, cold charm.
The first floor can be divided into two parts: the front and the back. The front hall looks like a storefront.
In the middle of the front hall, there was a long, quaint stone counter with a classic, brass mechanical hand-cranked cash register on top. There was an opening against the wall, fitted with a wooden trapdoor that could be flipped upwards, resting on the stone counter, for the owner to enter and exit.
Jiangyou was extremely interested in the hand-cranked cash register. She had always liked this kind of medieval steampunk retro gadget, and now that she had touched a genuine steampunk product, she couldn't let it go and fiddled with it for a long time. Whether it was the hand-cranked handle or the various mechanical round buttons, she pressed them over and over again.
The cash register clanged and emptied every small drawer under her 'ravage'. Unfortunately, Jiangyou only took out three copper coins... It seems that the financial situation of this [Brewery] that sells something unknown is extremely grim!
The rows of empty low shelves along the wall looked like they had been covered in dust for a long time. Jiang You bent his creaking bones and walked to the only dusty shelf where a small pink bottle was placed. He picked up the triangular-shaped label on the shelf and struggled to make out the blurred earthworm handwriting on it: [Love Potion].
Jiang You: "..." Can anyone tell her if this is the only product that can be sold and they have too much stock, or if it's a product with such poor sales that they can't sell a single bottle?!
She put the bottle back on the shelf and turned to look elsewhere.
The first-floor door, including the threshold and doorframe, was made of wood, already warped by the elements. Jiang You tried to open the door, swearing she'd exerted all her strength, but it only swung a few times and remained motionless, seemingly stuck firmly in its warped frame.
Jiang You: “…” I traveled to another world, but I still had to teach myself carpentry… Never mind, I’ll fix it later.
Behind the stone counter is a door, which appears to be the owner's living area. The room connected to the front counter through a large door is the kitchen, and on the other side of the kitchen is another door that connects to a dining room.
The kitchen is not big, but it has everything. The owner is probably a foodie who likes to cook. The kitchen is kept very clean, with all kinds of pots, knives and cutting boards. There is also a stove ignited by magic energy, and a sink with a faucet and drain that can continuously generate pure water as long as water magic energy is input.
The knives were sharpened and all the kitchen utensils were neatly placed in convenient locations. They looked like they were often used, but they were well maintained and there was no stain at all.
Takumi Yuu: "Love it! The magical world is surprisingly convenient!"
The only thing that made Jiangyou dissatisfied was that there were very few seasonings in the kitchen. Apart from salt and sugar, there was only pepper, and not even a drop of soy sauce, vinegar or wine.
Takumi Yuu: "...It's a brewery, but they don't even make sauces? No wonder they're facing bankruptcy due to poor management!"
...Wait, look at those dusty shelves and the door that can't even be opened. Maybe it has been closed for a long time!
"...It's not a big problem. I have the recipe and the crucible. As long as I can get the magic energy, I should be able to make soy sauce..." Jiang You thought about it while walking around the restaurant.
The restaurant is not big, but it has a south-facing stained glass window. The sun is shining brightly at this time, and the light shines through the window and onto the square dining table by the window. The light and shadow form a colorful rose.
"Wow, so romantic!" The soul fire in Jiangyou's skeleton's eyes lit up. The amazing thing was that she seemed to smell a sweet scent similar to rose candy coming from her body.
She looked down curiously and saw a faint pink soul light in her ribs. She subconsciously reached out and a pink soul fire appeared in her bony palm, emitting an alluring sweet rose candy aroma.
Jiangyou suddenly felt "hungry". She rubbed her non-existent, empty abdominal cavity, held the pink soul fire, and licked it carefully - or rather, she felt that she made a "licking" gesture, and her soul attached to the skeleton suddenly turned into a non-existent tongue, absorbing the energy and taste of the soul fire.
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