~ Cynthia's P.O.V ~
"We have some lovely choices according to your requests," the selling agent had smiled at us. "A house with at least ten rooms, four bathrooms, a large kitchen, a large living space..." She read out loud our wish list, glancing down on her clipboard.
"Don't forget the open and large garden yard!" Avelyn piped in, unable to contain excitement at the thought of the garden. I gotta say, I was pretty excited too, a nice large yard would be a great training spot.
The agent simply chuckled at the peppy brunette, "yes, an open and large garden yard. All within an area with some privacy meaning no neighbours and a short distance from the Eden Radices Guild..." She turned to us. "Is that all?"
"Ah yes," I nodded, feeling a little nervous. Our requests did seem quite outrageous and we weren't sure what the marketing price was around here. I wouldn't be surprised if she can't—
"Alright, then I have the right place for you girls!" The female agent beamed, completely cutting my thoughts off.
'Wait what? Already?' I blinked stupidly at her. She already has a place like that? Dang, I underestimate this woman.
"Oh really? That's amazing!" I grinned, nudging Kathryn who was close by. "See, we already have a place with all our requests. It wasn't that hard" and she said it won't be easy.
Kathryn only grunted back, "we got lucky," she was still being uptight as usual. I rolled my eyes before returning my gaze back at our selling agent.
"Actually I found three suitable houses that suit your requests," the selling agent—what was her name again?—had said. Seriously, I'm slow with remembering people's names sometimes...
Anyway, I shook my head at that and gleamed at her in return. "Oh, then you'll be showing us these places?" I sound pretty excited, not only did we have one but three choices to choose from. Even our budget is pretty high thanks to *cough* the donation from our families *cough*. So I guess we can afford a large place.
"Of course!" The selling agent smiled as she immediately led the way. Ooo I am so excited!
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~ House Number 1 ~
"Woah....it's a mansion?" I sweated as we stood before the large building. You have gotta be kidding me...
My brows furrowed as the female agent beamed. "Correct, it's a fifteen bedroom and fifteen bathroom mansion with five kitchens, three living rooms along with a large garden in the back." She was already opening the door to let us in. "Oh, I almost forgot to mention that there is a maze connected from the garden!"
She was talking so passionately that I couldn't find it in myself to interrupt her. Dammit.
I looked around pleadingly at Erina who had caught it and sighed before turning to the selling agent. "Um, Miss Amber, isn't this place a bit...too much?" Erina also looked pretty overwhelmed as well.
Amber...right, that was her name. Noted. Anyway, we all were looking around and right near the entrance, there was a grand staircase. Damn, if this place doesn't remind me of home, I don't know what does...and by the looks of everyone else, I could tell they feel the same way.
"Hmm? But doesn't this house fulfil all your requests?" Amber tilted her head. "This mansion is well-affordable and right underneath your budget," she glanced at her clipboard. "Not to mention as an adventurer, the large garden and maze would be the perfect place for outdoor training"
"True." Kathryn sighed. "But fifteen bedrooms and bathrooms? With five kitchens and three living rooms?" She furrowed her brows. "Aren't that exceeding our request of ten bedrooms and five bathrooms with the one kitchen?"
"Why yes but there's no harm having extra rooms." Amber smiled. Like it isn't a problem...
"Yes Miss Amber but maintaining them would be quite difficult," Erina sighed, leaning against her palm. I think she would know best, being a maid and all. "And as you just mention, we are adventurers meaning we'll have less time to maintain such a large mansion"
Amber slumped a bit, "oh...I see." While Erina only gave the female agent an apologetic smile. "Yes, I hope you understand"
Avelyn nodded to her statement, "plus while a large garden is great but it'll need a lot of maintenance much less a whole maze..." The brunette sweatdropped.
"....we could get lost easily..." I heard Lily mumbled. I also agreed with her, knowing my terrible sense of direction.
Amber, the selling agent, could see we were dissatisfied with the first she had shown us. "Oh...but we still have two more houses," she tried to keep a bright smile. "I'm sure one of them would catch your eye"
I hope so...
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~ House Number 2 ~
"Is that a pool?!" Roselyn had gasped once we entered the second house. I was also gawking at the sight of the large pool. Dang, this place really looks kinda modern.
"This is one of the few designed houses we got around here," Amber explained. "It got ten bedrooms as you requested but there are six bathrooms instead. Although, this house has a pretty large living space including a patio, a swimming pool and a large kitchen." She showed us the nearby kitchen.
"This is closer to our requests," Kathryn hummed, looking around.
"And the garden?" Avelyn frowned, noticing that most of the yard was sealed with concrete tiles. There wasn't much green grass nor trees like she wanted. Shame.
Amber also had noticed and looked at her apologetic, "unfortunately due to having a pool, most of the yard had been covered in concrete tiles so there isn't much of a garden."
I sighed at the look of disappointment on her face. She was really hoping for a garden. "This house is beautiful....but..." I trailed off. How do I say it?
"Too much of a vacation home?" Kathryn suggested, which made me snapped a finger at her. "Correct!"
"Plus with a pool, I see that we would neglect the care of it over time..." Erina furrowed her brows at the pool. "And we don't really need a pool"
True, a pool would be cool but I doubt we would actually spend time in one especially when we start going on more quests.
"I like the pool," Yumi suddenly said. "And the area we're in," she glanced at the bench that was nearby.
"But...this place is kinda far from the guild," Lily stated. Oh, right. This place did take a while to get there so it would be troublesome to go back and forth between the guild and this house.
Amber slumped when she knew that we weren't really satisfied with this house. "Then I'm sure the third one would suit you better"
Yeah, it should be our last option...
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~ House Number 3 ~
"A waterfall?" I gaped before the house.
"What interesting structure...." I heard Kathryn murmured behind me. Yeah, I agree with her. Compared with the other houses we've seen, this place is uniquely built with the waterfall behind it and all.
"This place doesn't seem to have a garden nor a yard..." Avelyn slumped in depression. Poor girl, she was really hoping for that garden.
Amber though instead giggled, "don't look so sad just yet, Miss Avelyn." She smiled with her eyes shining. "Actually this house is a ten bedroom and four bathroom home. It also has the large living space and kitchen you requested." She exclaimed as she opened the door to lead us all in. "Two bathrooms at the end of left and right..."
"What about the garden?" Avelyn huffed, crossing her arms. I held back a chuckle and patted by the shoulder. The female agent had gotten her hope up.
Amber though only smiled, "well, there is something real special about this particular house," she said, leading further into the house. We were right in the middle of the house but right in the further back of it. All of us were looking at the selling agent in confusion when we had arrived at a door?
It was an old-looking door, painted black with faded silver designs. Though the neat looking thing about it though, it has three red gems curved above the doorknob.
"Just tap the middle gem first then the first and third one..." Amber did as she said before turning the knob. "And walla~"
Avelyn instantly lit up, "it's a secret garden!" She along with the rest of us were completely marvelled by the sight.
"W-What?" My jaw dropped. "A-Are we inside the waterfall? How?" My blue eyes widened, catching sight of the dripping waterfall.
"This door is laced with a teleportation spell, connecting the house to the waterfall." Amber explained, gesturing to the doorway that went through the cave. Oh my gawd, sometimes I forget that we're living in such a magical world.
"A cave garden behind the waterfall? Incredible," Kathryn mumbled underneath her breath.
"This used to be the previous owner's hidden sanctuary and he really loved the cherry blossoms," Amber explained. "However, you can replant any you wish. Not to mention, there is plenty of space to train"
"Replant it?! Heaven no!" Avelyn had immediately clung to the tree's side. "This beauty has lasted for so long, how could we simply remove it?" My lips curved wider, looking at the brunette who was hugging the tree for her dear life.
"If I'm not mistaken, I sense some magic coming from the tree." Yumi had stared intensely at the pink-coloured tree. Amber beamed at her statement, "correct, this tree has been fused with magic by the previous, sustaining its beauty for thousands of years"
"Wow," both me and Roselyn gaped in awe.
"Oh look." Erina chimed, drawing our attention. "There's a pool area here so..." The pale-blonde girl smiled directly at Yumi. Ah right, she wanted a pool, didn't she?
Yumi nodded, "yes, that is nice." And I even caught a faint smile just then. Aww, she really did want a pool. Good on her. I'm happy when everyone gets to be happy.
"Miss Amber," Kathryn suddenly called out to her. "Yes?" The female agent smiled. Our green-haired friend had such a serious look on her face. "If we were to use this area for training, how strong is the structure of this cave? This place isn't a normal cave, is it? Not just the tree but I can sense magic all over this whole cave." Kathryn's amber eyes narrowed.
"Huh?" I blinked. Now that she mentioned it, I did sensed magic all over the place. Wow, how the hell did I not notice that?
Though Amber's reaction surprised me more, the selling agent erupted into giggles. Okay, creepy but moving on.
"Sharp one, aren't you?" She had said, covering her mouth with her palm. "Yes, you're correct. This isn't any ordinary cave. And to be honest, this place wasn't supposed to be on sale." She admitted.
"What?" I looked buffed while Lily had asked the question that lingered in my mind. "Then why did you show it to us?" Lily frowned, looking more uneased. Poor girl, I grasped her hand in comfort. The white-haired girl smiled a little back, now closer to my side.
"Let's just say, you girls have quite the large backening." Amber smiled, keeping it vague. I could only raise a brow at the older woman. Does she mean our families? But they had promised to stay away including providing any help once we started our journey...so who did she mean?
Somehow the smirking face of Luna Hayden came to mind. 'Could it be her?' I lowered my brows at the thought.
"The whole cave is definitely enchanted and would only properly answer to the owners," Amber notified, breaking me out of my thoughts. "Right now, it's lying dormant since the house no longer has an owner but..." We looked at the anticipation, waiting for her to continue. "I can guarantee you'll find plenty of surprises if you become the owner yourself. Make it into a sanctuary, a training ground or even a banker." She beamed at us.
I had glanced at everyone with the obvious question in mind. Do we take it? Nods and smiles were all I received therefore I had turned to Amber with a confident grin plastered on my face.
"We'll take it!"
~ Time Skip ~
After a quick transaction and paperwork, we were allowed to move in this very day. So that was what we were doing right now.
"This place is really beautiful," Roselyn swooned as we all were unpacking our things. She couldn't help admiring our new place. I don't blame her, the place had already been furnished with furniture and decorations.
Though as I was carrying my bags and box in, I had gone further into the house. I gleamed at the sights of our bedrooms.
"I call this room!" I immediately called dibs, rushing to a room that I wanted. It was the furthest to the left and closed to the bathrooms.
"Eh?! We're calling rooms already?!" Avelyn had panicked before rushing to a room, which was closest to mine. "Then I take this one!"
However, Kathryn didn't look pleased. She was carrying a box in. "Oi, wait till—"
"I call this one" Yumi announced, cutting the green-haired girl off. She too had rushed into the room she desired.
"Hey!
In the end, I along with Avelyn and Roselyn had decided on the left side of the house, following that order of the rooms with me at the end. While Kathryn, Erina, Yumi and Lily are on the right side with Kathryn at the end. Nice~
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~ Third Person's P.O.V ~
"Huh? You guys sure you don't want to go to the guild?" Roselyn had asked in consideration. She along with Lily and Avelyn wanted to visit the Guild to get to know more of the guild members or simply relax within the cafeteria.
Cynthia shook her head. "Nah, we're good," she tiredly grinned. "We're pretty tired from all that moving but you guys can go without us..."
"Alright," Roselyn smiled while Avelyn had chirped in, "want us to bring back something?" The brunette referred to anything they wanted from the guild.
"Maybe some lunch?" Lily had suggested, tilting her head.
"It's alright, don't worry about us. Just enjoy yourself!" Cynthia smiled as she saw them off at the front door. She was waving at them until their figures could no longer be seen. She had let out a tired smile after closing the door.
"Huh? Whatcha all doing?" The blonde girl blinked at the rest of her friends who were all in the living room, sitting around the table. She even raised a brow when she recognised the familiar black book in the centre. "The grimoire?"
"We haven't checked on it for a while..." Kathryn sighed, leaning on her elbow. She was flipping through the pages.
"Yeah." Cynthia hummed, taking a seat beside Yumi, who was munching on fresh-baked cookies that Erina had made. "But there's nothing new," Cynthia also leaned on her elbow.
Kathryn groaned, "and that's what frustrating." The girl's amber eyes were practically burning holes into the blank pages. They had spent years trying to crack this book but they got nothing. This grimoire was supposed to be a textbook of magic yet the book had chosen to lay dormant all those years. It had become nothing more than an ordinary book.
"Interesting grimoire you girls got there," they all jumped when they heard a sudden chime from behind.
"M-Miss Luna?" Erina sweated upon the sight of their...new mentor.
The blonde woman was just standing there casually...and was she munching on some cookies?! Wait, when did she get there?!
So many questions had popped into their head at the sudden appearance of their mentor.
"How did you get in here?" Cynthia furrowed her brows. Last time she checked, she locked the door.
"Never mind that," the older female waved it off. "About this grimoire..." She reverted back to the book before them. "Is it a secret between you four?" Luna raised a brow, noticing the lack of three other members. "Oh my? Keeping secrets even from your own teammates?" She tutted them.
"....um this is something we found when we were younger..." Cynthia sighed, there was no point in lying. By the looks of Luna's face, the older woman already knew what they were dealing...better than they did.
"A-And we never wanted to hide anything!" Erina tried to defend themselves. "B-But—"
Kathryn had cut off their pale-blonde friend, knowing that she was going to scramble over her words even more. "We found out that this thing..." She had glared down at the black book. "...this grimoire is quite dangerous. Upon just discovering it, it had drained the reader to exhaustion...even to the point of collapsing." She had left out the part of Cynthia that had been possessed before.
"I see yet you still hold onto it." Luna held her chin thought but her eyes had glinted with clear answers. "Despite how dangerous it is?"
"Yes, but we believe that it may hold some connection to us." Cynthia stood up from her chair. "It may hold some answers to some of our questions..." She bite her lips.
"And what type of answers do you desperately seek?"
With a shared look between them, Cynthia did something that surprised the other three girls. "Do you believe in reincarnation and other lives?" The rest snapped their heads at her. The blonde girl was really taking a gamble here.
"Well, living in such a world, such a concept isn't that strange to me" Luna hummed before narrowing her eyes. "Though if we're talking about the Dark Arts..."
Cynthia nervously smiled but forced the words out of her mouth. "Then would you believe that we—"
"Woah hold up, Cynthia!" Kathryn halted the girl, standing up from her seat. The green-haired girl looked concerned. "Are you sure you want to tell her everything?" She furrowed her brows. One couldn't blame her distrust since they did just met the Duchess not long ago.
Cynthia forced out a bitter laugh, "do we got any other choice?" She could only give them a tired smile. "We're literally at a dead-end here. We found nothing in the last four years, we need the help we can get." The blonde girl had said before turning to Luna.
And with a single breathe...she told the older blonde woman everything. From their reincarnations to finding the grimoire. She told her every single detail.
"Well, isn't that...interesting..." As rare as it is, Luna was actually taken by surprise. "And a game you say?" Yes, Cynthia even told her about this world being part of a game. She may have let it slip somewhere in her explanation. Well, there is no point going back now.
"Yes," Cynthia bravely looked her in the eyes. "I was supposed to be the Villainess and Roselyn..." She sighed, recalling her original fate. "...is the Heroine..."
"I would say you four are mad" Luna rubbed her temple before sitting down on a nearby chair. "Just absolutely bonkers...." She breathed deeply. "If only we weren't living in a world that basically runs on magic." The older female looked at them with a sigh.
"I'm actually surprised you literally told me everything." Luna looked directly at Cynthia.
Cynthia awkwardly smiled, scratching her head. "Well, to be honest, I don't know why myself but despite everything you put us through since the day we met you—"
"Which was just a few days ago" Yumi reminded, munching on a cookie.
"—yes that," Cynthia sweatdropped before turning serious once more. "I felt that out of anyone really, you would be our best bet in finding out all this mess." She gestured to the black grimoire that lay alone on the table. "Plus as the Duchess, I doubt even with this information, with reincarnation and everything is nothing out of the norm really..."
"True." Luna leaned forward, crossing her legs. "There were many claims of powerful beings getting reincarnated over the millennia but people from other worlds?" She tried to recall. "I don't think it was possible one could keep their memories from their past lives without any other outside factors." The blonde woman looked at the four in fascination.
"I must applaud you lot for trusting me with such valuable information," Luna placed her hand before her heart. "I'm quite touched," she had smiled nonchalantly but the four girls could tell that the woman was being genuine at least from what they could see.
"W-Well, you are going to be our mentor, it would be odd to not trust you." Erina smiled back timidly, fiddling with her skirt. Though they were hesitant or perhaps they were just tired from being burden alone on this truth.
"Indeed, that would explain your somewhat odd behaviour." Luna held her chin as she recalled back to the quest she had created. "And not to mention why you're so cautious with Anthony," Luna had grinned at Cynthia.
"Yeah, I knew he was manipulative bas—" Cynthia coughed. "I mean prince," she scratched her head. "Though with everything I know, nothing is really set in stone." She explained hastily. "I had acted differently from the original Cynthia."
Kathryn nodded with her. "The very least, the game only gave a peek of what to happen surrounding the romance between Roselyn and the other target characters," Kathryn concluded. "And from what we see, none of our actions or any changes that differ from the game cause any drastic consequences..."
The blonde woman grew silent as she took it all in. "I see..." She had looked quite composed with the sudden revelation that had befallen upon her. At least that's what Cynthia and her friends thought.
Luna had drastically been surprised by their secret. She knew that they would be up to something but she never thought all four girls would be reincarnators from a completely different world. Though with this new information, she could easily consider them a threat...if only she hasn't found their resolve somewhat admirable.
Fate had been cruel to her and she too had fought back against what many had told her was her only fate. She's more than delighted to have such interesting young maidens as her disciples.
"Fine, since I dabbled a bit in the Dark Arts and Curse Magic, I can help you" Luna held her chin, narrowing her eyes at the black book. "And I may find more information we need due to my vast network..."
"Thank you so much!" Cynthia along with Erina cheered in gratitude, hugging each other while Kathryn sighed in relief. Yumi, however, was still trying to finish off the last cookie.
"But," Luna halted their short celebration with a finger. "Only under a few conditions." The female had looked strangely more serious than she usually does.
The four girls looked at one another in concern. Cynthia was the one who asked, "what conditions exactly?"
"One, you don't hide anything about this from me, your Mentor." Luna gestured to herself. She wouldn't want them to stumble onto something dangerous without her supervision.
They nodded at that. That was understandable.
"Two, you don't hide anything about this from the rest of your team." She really surprised them with the second condition.
"W-Wait, you don't mean—"
"Yes, I do," Luna sternly said. "No team can function well with secrets creating barriers..." She sighed at the possibility.
"But what if they wouldn't understand!" Kathryn slammed her hands. "They'll—"
"Don't you trust them?" Luna raised a brow, crossing her arms. "Do you have that little faith in them?" She had narrowed her sky blue eyes right at them.
"Of course, not!" Erina quickly denied her claims. "We just don't want them to be involved in something so dangerous..." Her lips trembled.
"And adventuring isn't?" Luna looked unimpressed with their arguments.
"Y-Yeah sure but this is riskier?" Cynthia's defence even sounded questionable.
The older woman simply sighed at them before speaking again. "Roselyn is a rare light element user, quite strong too." She held one finger up. "Avelyn from what I see is quite well versed in world of flora and fauna." She held up another finger. "And lastly, Lily despite her shy demeanour shows real potential in ice magic, I would know." She now held three fingers up in the air.
Luna raised a brow, "these three are such resourceful allies not to mention how they are loyal to you four." The woman found their hesitation reasonable but they had just revealed their deep secret to her. Couldn't they find the same trust in their own teammates?
"Y-You're right," Cynthia hung her head in shame. She wouldn't deny it, she found it guilty always hiding this all from them. "B-But if anything were to happen—"
"I'll be there to help," Luna rolled her eyes at their worries. "And I'm sure Roselyn, Avelyn and Lily can prove that they're much tougher than you give them credit for," she said as she leaned back on her chair.
"Okay okay, you convinced us." Kathryn sighed in defeat. "We'll tell them after they return," the green-haired girl was still hesitant but was willing to try. And she speaks for all of them.
Luna immediately beamed once they agreed. "Goodie~ and when you're here, I'll show you what I got you all for a housewarming gift!" She grinned in glee. What joy she has.
"R-Right..." Cynthia nervously smiled. Now she doesn't know what she dreaded more, seeing the reaction of her other friends upon finding out the truth or receiving Luna's 'housewarming gift'.
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Author Note:
Hey everybody!!! Sorry for the late update!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, the suspense is there! I wonder how they'll act? Wait till the next chapter!
However, as you wait check out my new story that I just publish! Also, fantasy-anime based but it focused more on the popular isekai trope!
Bye-bye ~